Belgium, politics...
Another lesson about my country..Not sure how i can explain our political system to outsiders... even allot of belgians don't understand how it works.
But believe me, no matter what you may end up thinking.. It does work in the end... Its just the belgians way.
We have 3 offcial languages, dutch, french and german.
With that also comes we have 3 cultures, 3 mentalities, 3 cultures, 3 histories. And we have to combine all that in 1 nation. It doesn't take a scientist to know that these differences lead to conflicts almost on a daily bases. We don't agree on anything.
The flemish are very liberal, the French are very social. I won't mention the german part because they are almost Always like the flemish or in the middle.
The French part is very focused on france, even more then on the flemish part of their own country.. while the flemish part is more oriented towards the english speaking countries such as Uk and USA.
YOu might have heard before about the differences between north and south europe... The border of those differences goes straight true the middle of my country.
One of the most important struggles in my country would be the different view for the future. Flemish want more independance and more respect for our language and culture.. while the wallonian want to get more united once again but they also want to push out the dutch speaking and dutch culture of the flemish.
Untill today we have been able to compromise on all major issues and i have faith we will be able to do that in the future... Not sure how long .. and i do believe independant flanders would be a great next step for my part of the country.
Belgium is also very active in europe and world politics.. Herman van Rompuy as first president of the european council does what my nation is famous for. Unite the ones that can't be united. My nation has transformed itself to one of the most diplomatic countries in this world.
Comments (8)
and thankyou for your indepth description of the many facets to your wonderful country !
You have , as you promised last night you would , described so very well your nation and all its diversities !
Thankyou so much
Serenity
Thank you for the post , it is nice to learn more about your country as I somewhat have heard a lot of it from a friend who used to live there when she was a child, and her mom lived in Antwerp to work in the Sailor Church there. She even speak some Flemish, but can not write it. She has told me a lot about the country and her mom has more to tell, she has just been there for a week or so to help out. So it is interesting the you tell this, so I can learn more and maybe some day go see the country with my friend.She showed me photos of the nice chocolate shops you have, and they sure looks nice and must be a heaven to a chocolate lover as me...LOL
Wow, I didn't know there is a German part in Belgium.
I know Belgium. I lived there from 2003 to 2005, in Ixelles in Bxl.
Interesting that Brussels or Bruxelles is in Flanders but French speaking.
I visited Bruges and Liege but not Ghent or even nearby Anvers or Atwerpen.
Oh I miss the waffles and chocolates. I knew of the various beer types when I lived in Paris, France. My colleagues loved the Belgian beer and visited Bruges every year too.