Subject: »NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

And where does brussels goes? Can't give it to the french the germans and the british would never accept that.

Give it too flanders? Hardly 10% of them speaks dutch

As Dos said it is more then that only the language gets the blame..

Then what would you do with the German part of Belgium? :)

Let them choose to join either Wallonia or Germany. Just like I would let Brussels decide if they 1) want to join Flanders (unlikely), 2) want to join Wallonia (less unlikely, but still unlikely) or 3) want to become an independent state (most likely).

Some (not all, so don't say I said all problems would be solved by splitting the country) would be easier to deal with if Flanders was an independent state, I think about failing immigration and integration, large state institutions and failing social system.

It's about if every seperatist can have its way we will have a europe like in the medieval days..

Some of those seperatist say the EU is slow, well if even more members come(remember all the new states) it will be even slower.
Better you come to the belgian forum and read the politic topic it's full of discussion about this =p

With on the one handed the fearsome and also lonesome Rubinho and on the other hand the rest of the belgians.. owh yeah and some weirdos from the far right movement =p

It's about if every seperatist can have its way we will have a europe like in the medieval days..

Some of those seperatist say the EU is slow, well if even more members come(remember all the new states) it will be even slower.

Not true, and you know it. And don't come with the list you once gave me of all the regions with nationalistic movements, like Vermont, Savoie, ...

I think it's an illusion that all those problems would be easier to deal with if belgium was split. After then years a new 'us' vs 'they' group will be created and you'd get exactly the same difficulties.

I don't see how those problems I mentioned would not be easier to deal with if Flanders was an independent state. The political opinions are completely different: the Flemish politicians want a more severe immigration policy, the Walloon ones want a less severe immigration policy, the Flemish are - in terms of economical issues - more liberal minded as the Walloons are more socialist minded, ... You know this is the case. Therefore, I think those issues would be easier to deal with in an independent Flanders.

That was the complete list with every seperatist even the unrealistic ones

But I think Scotland, Catalunia, Corsica, Northern Italy, Flanders and euskadi (that northern part in Spain) are quite realistic. Or do these people don't have wishes for independence?

And maybe the Sami in Finland, Bretagne, Galicia, Bayern

Your view is shortsighted. True as that all may be, it's based on just a few years of political mindset evolution. Their is no reason to believe this 'opposite' thinking will continue in the far nor nearby future.

What i do know is that whenever the country would be split up, a new group of people will be searched to give them the blame of everything. People would tag along this story and you'll get exactly the same problems. That's the beauty of democracy, let the stupidity of common people rule the nation!

Your comparison is not correct because those are all minority groups/regions in their country, Flanders is the biggest part of Belgium!

The four last ones (the Sami, Brittany, Galicia and Bavaria) and Padania are movements for autonomy, not for real independence. And with the other ones you name, I have no problem with Scotland, Catalonia, Corsica, Flanders and the Basque Country to become independent.

Why is that? All the rest is also about cultural differences, discussions about which direction the politicians should take, the clash rich-poor,..

It's not a perfect fit but it's good enough

Btw here is the list the realistic and the unrealistic

Your view is shortsighted. True as that all may be, it's based on just a few years of political mindset evolution. Their is no reason to believe this 'opposite' thinking will continue in the far nor nearby future.

Yes there is. Flanders has always been more right than Wallonia, who has been largely socialist for a very long time. There is no reason to believe this opposite thinking (right-left) will not continue.

What i do know is that whenever the country would be split up, a new group of people will be searched to give them the blame of everything. People would tag along this story and you'll get exactly the same problems. That's the beauty of democracy, let the stupidity of common people rule the nation!

I never blamed the Walloons for everything, so no need to answer that.

Yes there is. Flanders has always been more right than Wallonia, who has been largely socialist for a very long time. There is no reason to believe this opposite thinking (right-left) will not continue.

Not correct, so no need to answer that.

I never blamed the Walloons for everything, so no need to answer that.

True, but you know just as well that a LOT of people do. ;)

True, but you know just as well that a LOT of people do. ;)

Not my problem ;-)

I completely agree with you. Polarisation of political scene is a process happening completely regardless of nations, political orientation or any given group characteristics. It's usually a mere result of critical mass of people within society lacking the will to tackle the real issues. It's simply irrelevant on which side such people group on. It only matters how many of them in total there are. Even if you split them in half, this would only partially help the problem and only if one half would contain significantly more of "polarised" people thus making chances for the other half to reach necessary agreements better.

I'm interested in your view on the split-up of Yugoslavia (and no, I don't say that is comparable with Belgium).