(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – People in the Netherlands are divided on whether their country should add the Flemish component of Belgium to its territory, according to a poll by Maurice de Hond. 45 per cent of respondents think their country should merge with Flanders, while 49 per cent disagree.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – People in the Netherlands are divided on whether their country should add the Flemish component of Belgium to its territory, according to a poll by Maurice de Hond. 45 per cent of respondents think their country should merge with Flanders, while 49 per cent disagree.
Flanders is the Flemish region of Belgium, and is located in the north side of the country. It has its own legislature and government, just as Wallonia, the French south of Belgium. The native Flemings descend from Germanic and Gaulish tribes. Flemish people speak a variant of Dutch, as opposed to the rest of Belgium’s residents. The Flemish provinces were part of the Netherlands until 1831, when the Kingdom of Belgium was established.
A federal election took place in Belgium on Jun. 10. Final results gave the Christian Democratic and Flemish (CDV) / New Flemish Alliance (NVA) 30 seats in the Chamber of People’s Representatives. The NVA calls for Flanders’ peaceful secession from Belgium.
On Aug. 23, the office of King Albert II announced that CVD/NVA leader Yves Leterme was unable to form a coalition administration and would be discharged. Leterme issued a statement, which read: "I realized that it was impossible to move forward with an ambitious government program, the perspective and direction of which the electors clearly defined on 10 June." To this day, Belgian parties have been unable to assemble a national administration.
Some Flemish politicians have called for a larger degree of autonomy for Flanders, but lawmakers from Wallonia have voiced their opposition. Some proposals would entail that Belgium, with its 10.5 million people, would break into two nations, leaving Brussels as a capital district similar to Washington, D.C, in the United States. Brussels is home to the headquarters of both the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
On Nov. 13, Geert Bourgeois, a minister in the Flanders government who founded the NVA, described himself not as a Belgian but as a Flemish national, saying, "I am a Fleming and a European citizen and I have always felt like that."
Polling Data
Would you support or oppose the Netherlands merging with Flanders?
|
Support |
45% |
|
Oppose |
49% |
|
Not sure |
6% |
Source: Maurice de Hond
Methodology: Interviews with 1,000 Dutch adults, conducted on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, 2007. No margin of error was provided.
