Could Belgium split up?

In 1993, the country of Czechoslovakia agreed to an amicable divorce and divided into two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Some observers are now wondering if a similar future awaits Belgium. Although the country has survived for almost two centuries as a federation with Flemish and French-speaking provinces, politicians there are having increasing difficulties in forming a national government. Time magazine reports on the issue.

Composed of French and Flemish speakers who share little common culture, Belgium has always been a bit of an odd duck. Its viability as a nation has been regularly questioned since its founding in 1830, but perhaps never as much as in the last three months. Since national elections in June, the country’s politicians have proved unable to form a national government, causing more and more Belgians to wonder whether the country can – or should – stay united.

In the past, politicians from both sides of Belgium’s language divide have shown a legendary capacity for cobbling together seemingly impossible coalitions. But the will seems to have dried up this year as trust has shattered between Flanders in the north and Wallonia in the south…

The crisis has stoked a media frenzy about whether divorce is in the air. Every day seems to bring a new twist on how Belgium could emulate Czechoslovakia’s “velvet divorce,” how the country’s spoils might be divvied up, and even whether the split halves would be interested in joining with France or the Netherlands.

Not everyone is convinced that those concerns are real. “If you believe the media, this country is in a state of permanent civil war,” says Dave Sinardet, a political scientist at the University of Antwerp. “This is more a crisis of government than of the country. I expect the parties to reach some sort of solution soon – as they have done in the past – and when everyone calms down, we should see all this talk about splits and independence evaporate.”

Interestingly, the biggest stumbling block towards a separation could be the city of Brussels, as the Associated Press notes:

What would become of Brussels is anybody’s guess, and for the moment, neither the Flemish nor the Walloons are too keen on plunging into a detailed debate on the issue.

It is hard to see Flanders giving up Brussels, the city of 1 million where the majority of people speak French. But it is equally hard to imagine that Wallonia could survive without it.

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