BRUSSELS—Belgium is a divided country. In the northern Flemish region, people speak Dutch and in the south, French is spoken.
On the afternoon of May 23, two hundred couples from both sides took part in a symbolic re-marriage at the Grand Market in Brussels. According to news reports, this was their way of showing solidarity between the Flemish and the French regions of Belgium.
The couples, in which one partner speaks Dutch and the other one speaks French, refuse to pay attention to the continuous social and economic disputes between the two regions of Belgium. They said they don’t have any language problems with each other and their children are perfectly educated in the two languages.
It was a lighthearted event organized by the group Save the Solidarity. They want to show that local people from Flanders and Wallonia have had enough of the negative political discussions in Brussels, and said they don’t want a “separation” of the northern and the southern parts.
The specter of partition has loomed over Belgium for years, and political analysts warn that the country could easily split into Flanders and Wallonia—separate French and Flemish speaking lands.
Save the Solidarity wants to show unity between the Flemish and French parts of Belgium in order to maintain the federal social security safety net.
In a simple ceremony, the couples were re-married by the Mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans.
On the afternoon of May 23, two hundred couples from both sides took part in a symbolic re-marriage at the Grand Market in Brussels. According to news reports, this was their way of showing solidarity between the Flemish and the French regions of Belgium.
The couples, in which one partner speaks Dutch and the other one speaks French, refuse to pay attention to the continuous social and economic disputes between the two regions of Belgium. They said they don’t have any language problems with each other and their children are perfectly educated in the two languages.
It was a lighthearted event organized by the group Save the Solidarity. They want to show that local people from Flanders and Wallonia have had enough of the negative political discussions in Brussels, and said they don’t want a “separation” of the northern and the southern parts.
The specter of partition has loomed over Belgium for years, and political analysts warn that the country could easily split into Flanders and Wallonia—separate French and Flemish speaking lands.
Save the Solidarity wants to show unity between the Flemish and French parts of Belgium in order to maintain the federal social security safety net.
In a simple ceremony, the couples were re-married by the Mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans.
