I don't want to let the politicians off too easily - but I think history is at the root of all this.

For a start - Belgium started life as a made up country. The Flemish and Wallonians didn't come together to form a country, they were pushed together. And - what makes it all WAY worse, they didn't come together as equals. Belgium started life as a francophone namtion, with the wealth and power all down south, and French life and culture pushed on the entire nation from the top down. Not quite penal laws territory, but from the same playbook all the same. Ridiculous and tragic things like officers in WWI only speaking French resulting in Flemish peasants being mown down for not following orders they couldn't understand are still etched deep in the minds of many Flemish people. When you hear my Grandfather talking about how he would re-paint all the road signs in Flemish at night, you get an idea of the level of struggle. Anyone who wanted power had to adopt French ways. No Flemish speaking person could rise in society in any way, in the church, in business, or in politics.

Flanders had to fight every bit as hard as the Irish did for their language and culture - and - it must be noted, more successfully - Flemish is not on artificial life support, it's a living vibrant language!

Historically - the Wallonians always got their way, because their way was the Belgian way. With the successful rise and assertion of the Flemish identity it became ever harder for the Wallonians to get their way. They still want to, and indeed expect to, but they're not, because the Flemish have had enough. Now that Flanders is where the money is, the Flemish are just not prepared to roll over and play dead any more. In their minds, the Wallonians still see their culture and language as superior, and can't understand why the flemish can't see that. The Flemish have no interest in un-french-fying the south, but the Wallonians are hard at work doing the reverse.

When Flemish people move down south they HAVE to speak French, the idea of Flemish being tollerated down south is laughable. But - when the Wallonians come north, they DEMAND to allowed conduct their lives in French. They DEMAND that Flemish tax payers pay for their kids to go to all-French schools in Flanders. In theory the language boundary is supposed to be symmetric, but in reality it's used as a one-way diode, French can flow over in Flanders, but no way in hell is it going the other way! My grandparents tell stories of how town after town has been entirely Frenchified in what was once Flanders. It frightens the hell out of them. They literally feel under siege. That's not mirrored down south.

I don't believe one part of Switzerland ever tried to commit cultural genocide on the other - hence the comparison doesn't hold IMO. I'm not as sure about how to make a sensible comparison with Spain, other than to say that the Flemish and Basque cultures and languages seems to have come under similar attack. I'm not so sure the Spanish are dealing with the Basque country any better than Belgium is. Just imagine if half of Spain was Basque - it would be just like Belgium politically IMO.

It really is all history. There is real resentment that Flemish tax-payers pay for a very generous welfare state for their broke and over-spending southern neighbours, while at the same time, their southern neighbours are still trying to assert their preferences on Flanders, and still trying to spread their language to the entire nation.

I'm all for forgiving past transgressions, but, at some point, some basic ground rules need to be set and respected, like say, the constitution and laws of the land! Till that happens how can there be a future for Belgium?

Bart.