Belgium is coming apart at the seams. Last time I talked about it, they were still having a helluva time putting together their national government and talk about dissolving the country into Wallonia and Flanders had gone from being a national joke to a national crisis.
Now, everyone is serious about the breakup, but the sticking point is what to do about Brussels. Brussels is traditionally French-speaking, but it is located deep within the Flemish-speaking region of Flanders. There had been some discussion about turning Brussels into a separate city-state governed directly by the European Union (since Brussels is the capital of the EU), but apparently that was a non-starter.
The map above is from an article in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir (en français), which briefly details a new plan being offered by the Belgian Senate to create a Francophone corridor linking Brussels to Wallonia. While Flanders would have to cede the territory to Wallonia to make this happen, in return Wallonia would cede a similar portion of territory to Flanders that has been a sticking point for the Flemish speakers. If you read French, I highy recommend reading the comments posted at the end of the article, which take both sides of the argument. It’s obvious that the Belgians collectively still haven’t quite wrapped their minds around the idea of separation, but that political forces beyond their control might make it happen anyway.
Thanks to the always-interesting Strange Maps blog for the picture and the link to the Le Soir article.
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