Bart Dirks
De Volkskrant
Some people in the Netherlands think it’s time we annexed Belgium, said Bart Dirks in Amsterdam’s De Volkskrant—or, at any rate, the half of it inhabited by our Dutch-speaking neighbors to the south. Geert Wilders, the populist right-wing member of Parliament, is the latest to push the idea. He wants Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende to bring it up with his Belgian counterpart. On paper it looks fair enough: The 6 million inhabitants of Flanders share our language and culture, and seem increasingly fed up with the French-speaking Walloons. Indeed, Flemish nationalists were so successful in last year’s elections that the resulting standoff resulted in Belgium’s going without a government for much of the year. A union, says Wilders, would boost employment, provide more “space,” and give us access to the port and airport at Anvers. And let’s not forget that the school system in Flanders is good and taxes are lower. Well, yes, fine, the Dutch might well go for it, but don’t you think, Mr. Wilders, that it might be a good idea to ask the Flems what they think? The fact is they haven’t the slightest desire to be swallowed by the Netherlands. For all our “shared” culture, they don’t like us very much. In fact, they look on us much as we do the Germans—as big, patronizing bullies. And with this sort of talk by Dutch politicians it’s not hard to see why.
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