Belgium in the EU

[@AntonDuhBuh]

Belgian here. Your video was very well researched other than the fact we have six parliaments, not seven (the Flemish Community and Regional Parliament have been combined into the Flemish Parliament). I might add as well that the divide between the Flemish and the Walloon region has to do with politics. During the last decades, the north has been increasingly leaning to the right, and the south has been increasingly leaning to the left. This has made it very difficult to form federal governments, as the federal government has to consist of both Flemish and Wallonian parties.

[@thimo7396]

Technically there are 7 different parliaments. when community subjects are discussed, only representatives from Flanders speak. but since Brussels is part of the Flemish region, some Brussels representatives must also be present at meetings about regional subjects, so it is not exactly the same

[@maidensvirus666]

Belgian here too, It's not just the political divide. Vlaams belang, formerly vlaams blok, has been riding high in the 90's as well when the flemish region was not voting for the majority right wing parties. I think the main difference is that the economical reality in both sides of the country lead to different political evolutions. In flanders people voted right wing in recent years because they're scared to lose their wealth and they feel it's slipping after all the economic crisis' of the last 10-15 years. In wallonia they vote left wing as they're already dealing with far more poverty and social problems due to a weaker economical situation which meant those economic hits did much more damage to the average person there. That combined with the rise of populist right wingers who focus on immigration which seems to be something that is especially fertile in flanders amongst the angry lower middle class populace that is getting impoverished in the last years.

[@DreZzBE]

Brussels is just their own country Flanders pays for their things but they want to be with the Walloons... and the most hate between the Flemish part and the Walloon part is the Flemish part pays more for everything, and in Walloon you don't need to learn Dutch but is your choice what second language you take while in Flanders you need to learn Dutch, French and English, sometimes German@@thimo7396

[@HenriZwols]

Belgium is the region traditionally used by Germany and France to settle disputes. Nowadays they do so by democratic means.

[@Murmilone]

You probably mean peaceful means as I don't think there's a popular vote every time they need to settle something.

[@anirban5262]

Yes Belgium🇧🇪 and Luxembourg🇱🇺 act like buffer between larger France🇫🇷 and Germany🇩🇪

[@Microphunktv-jb3kj]

ah the "cannon fodder" area... like Estonia is the battle ground of Germany vs Russia, Sweden vs Russia disputes lol. nothing ever changes.. Baltics/Poland/Ukraine always the battleground of West vs East big wars. I feel like the western world should pay "roof tax" to Baltics for being frontline cannonfodder. like u pay protection to mobs..

[@pontiuspilatus7900]

Used to be a buffer. I am so glad that I can move freely throughout Europe. It is great to be European!@@anirban5262

[@anirban5262]

@@pontiuspilatus7900 yes it is indeed..... That's the matter I like the most---- the European integration

[@bubee8123]

First thing he mentions is a chocolate. Obviously most important Belgian thing. Now that is out of the way, we can focus on other less important stuff.

[@cddragon1396]

i think fries are even more important than chocolate for the majority of belgians. (source: me, a belgian).

[@bubee8123]

@@cddragon1396 Sorry I am just a Croatian assuming as usual. If you say its fries than let it be fries. We will give chocolate to Switzerland, Austria or Italy?

[@cddragon1396]

@@bubee8123 we still have the best chocolate (and beer) of the world. But i mean fries are probably more important in our day to day lives.

[@bubee8123]

@@cddragon1396 I am just messing around. Much love!

[@waltzsx4042]

​@@cddragon1396 We all know that you import your chocolate from Switzerland. You can't hide this anymore. Love your fries btw

[@Elias-zv9bn]

Save the small mistakes pointed out in other comments, you really did right by Belgium with this video! A lot more wholesome than most other Belgium explained videos.

[@louis-philippearnhem6959]

I was born in 1963 in Flanders. Around that time and till the seventies there were brutal fascist dictators in Portugal, Spain and Greece. The east was a communist bulwark and equally brutal. Northern Ireland was in a state of civil war and I can remember the Northern Irish children that came over to Belgium in the summer to find some weeks of peace here. There were borders everywhere (except in the Benelux and in Scandinavia), and no freedom of movement as we know it now over more than 4.3 million square km. The European Union is primarily founded on the values of peace, respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities... a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between men and women prevail. I am very proud to be part of that project. Greetings from Belgium, EU.

[@swyveu]

No no, the European Union is primarily founded on the value of 'money', the rest is feel-good propaganda. The fact that the far-right is rampant here completely debunks your statement. The party leading the polls (VB) is extremely racist and bigoted agaist minorities. How can you use 'tolerance' and 'solidarity' when the two leading parties want to break up the country? You are propagating a fantasy. 0pen you eyes and grow a brain.

[@Lamalas]

I'm a belgian and I have to say the information you provided was spot on! I'd also like to add that in spite of the high tax rate I'm very happy to live here. It's good to be a belgian!

[@dannywest7587]

Naturally, being the side kick of both Germany and France has massive benefits for Belguim,one clear example being the numerous fines accumulated being swept under the carpet in exchange for guarantee political support no matter the topic.

[@jeromedeurinck716]

Agreed🤙

[@JohanEngelen]

I'm Belgian and left in 2009 and never looked back. A state that stole hundreds of thousands of 💶 from me, is blocking the sale of 2 houses since 2004 for a project that will never be realised. Never again will I live there.

[@wimve4719]

@@JohanEngelen If in the US, you'd be living on the streets for the rest of your life. Not saying you're wrong, but this is the Internet .... **Salt**

[@JohanEngelen]

@@wimve4719 don't think so. I started all over from 0 three times in my life. And even so I have now a homestead and a house on the other side of the world. I'm worse than a cat. They only have 7 lives.

[@Olafje]

Thanks for making this video about our rather small but important country. 🇧🇪🇧🇪🇧🇪 Dankuwel Merci bien Danke schön

[@EUMadeSimple]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@pwaegemans]

Also, if you go a little bit further in history, this is where the epicenter of the Frankish realm was found. Even if Paris and Aachen eventually became more important cities of Frankish culture, the roots were always heavily involved.

[@KingdomofHainaut]

Yes and Charlemagne is technically Belgian

[@MM-un3ob]

With the EU elections barely 7 months away, we need a video explaining the stances on various issues of the 7 groupings, I think.

[@EUMadeSimple]

Love the idea. Will look into it. T-6 months kind of video

[@dmyt58]

Its kinda simplistic to refer to the independence of 1830. We were only part of the Netherlands for 15 years, since Napoleon. There has been a deep cultural divide for a long time. Flanders was part of the Roman empire, part of the Burgundian Empire, an independent state under France, part of the Spanish Empire which all drove a cultural split. Brabant was part of the HRE even. If you want to go there you need to look at the provinces which explains a better story. Today Flanders is actually only half of original "Graafmanschap" Flanders and has big portions of Brabant and Limburg added to them. The most southern portion of Wallonia is the French part of Luxembourg, which decided to be part of Belgium instead. Belgium had the same number of divisions on the French and German borders respectively. Outlining the distrust towards the French. Belgium also linked the montary systems very early with LUX. Later formed the BENELUX with showed the West how to make the EU shortly after.

[@Subher0]

That cultural divide was never really that deep. The divide was mainly religious, which I guess is part of culture (as is everything) but I would categorise as such: religious. The fact we speak the same language attests to the cultural similarity, not divide. The main reason for the south to hate the Dutch king was because of French speakers who were in control of political life in the south, alongside Catholic grievances which were shared by all in the south.

[@janvandergeert8680]

I am half Belgian (half Fleming and half Italian) and I confirm that the country is still divided, my grandfather hated French speakers and of course he doubly hated Italians who he considered like rats, this is the reason why he no longer wanted to see my mother after she got pregnant by my father and in fact I never met him in person. I think this is very sad.

[@Donald_Monaghan90]

I see you ended up adopting a Dutch/Flemish surname though

[@janvandergeert8680]

​@@Donald_Monaghan90 Obviously! For reasons of convenience, my parents decided to give me my maternal surname, to hide my Italian origins. Having an Italian surname would have been hell for me, while a Flemish surname is generally appreciated in Italy too.

[@dprout3392]

You are lucky, it seems that your grandad was not a very open minded worth knowing figure.

[@janvandergeert8680]

@@dprout3392 I think he was simply a child of the context in which he was born, in his village hating walloons (and French speakers in general) was normal.

[@97Corvi]

Wait, Is that bad to be Italian there ? Che problemi hanno con noi ?! 😳😳😳

[@nathanboterdael5657]

Apart of some mistakes in your explanation (we have 6 parliaments, not 7 as the Dutch-speaking Communal parliament and the Flemish Regional parliament merged. And the fact that Walloon-Brabant wasn't included on the map as part of the French-speaking community) you actually gave a very good explanation about how our country works. Personally, I'm quite pro-European, but not to the extreme. I used to be in favour of a European federation, but considering the fact that Belgium itself is barely able to manage 3 languages, how can one expect to form a federation that has so many more languages? But yeah, I like the EU, it should defo stay and its responsibilities should be further expanded.

[@MDP1702]

I'd argue that having more languages and 'division' is actually favorable. It will cause people to more quickly use a common language (like English) on the EU level. And without any group holding most/much power in the EU, it will be easier to manage the differences because a gridlock is more difficult to impose (if the veto at least dissapears)/it will go more about general policy/views.

[@pionieresvizzero2224]

if Switzerland manages to manage 4 linguistic communities (and 2 religions) and Belgium cannot, perhaps the problem is not the languages, but the Belgian political system which favors internal divisions. In Switzerland I don't think there is a relevant party that is based on discrimination against other linguistic groups, as happens in Belgium.

[@yvesgysel9834]

​@@pionieresvizzero2224As a Belgian I must agree. The biggest problem is 💰 MONEY. So Flanders is much richer than Wallony. However since income tax is a responsibility of the federal government, some Flemish parties want that to be changed, because Flanders would be better off, financially. Extreme Right in Flanders want actually an independent Flanders. However all the parties in Wallony do not want that ever to happen of course. Like I said 💰!!! Has nothing to do that Flemish people dislike Wallon people or vice versa.We actually like each other a lot. Than you have also the German speaking region, with their own regional government and they are watching this political turmoil from the sideline.😂😂😂

[@pionieresvizzero2224]

@@yvesgysel9834 but I don't understand one thing, the tax/welfare issue should be something more individual than collective, a low-income Flemish worker could benefit from a greater welfare state, while a Walloon entrepreneur could want fewer taxes and fewer regulations, which is why it seems to me that it is politics that pits one against the other.

[@janickpauwels3792]

You can argue that we do have 7 parliaments, but two of them are “done” by the same group of people. So depending on how you look at it, we have “6 or 7” parliaments.

[@sharklex8813]

I was born in Brussel and lived in Brussel all my life, went to school in the 3 regions. I'm pro europe and think belgium should always stay in 1 country. Love the diversity in my town. You can just go to a bar and meet people from all over the world

[@W.Binderei]

@@Macristo People are blind to the problems caused by diversity, brainwashed really by globalist propaganda. At least when they express themselves about it. There is no toegetherness of the different cultures, every one stays within its community. Well, I think it's normal and the ultimate reason different cultures are generally better off staying in their countries, people just shouldn't be hypocrite about it.

[@PSVfanaat]

I'm from the South of the Netherlands. We share a vast linguistical, political and cultural heritage with was is now referred to as the Flanders region. In fact, we're more closely related to Belgium than to the rest of the Netherlands. Within the Netherlands we Southerners are often referred to as semi-Belgians, but we're actually proud of that instead of being offended. 😁 The Dutch province of North Brabant (where I'm from), together with the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, both Flemish and Walloon Brabant as well as the Brussels Capital Area once formed the mighty Duchy of Brabant which also played a key role in the birth of Belgium. The Belgian coat of arns and its tricolour derive directly from the Brabantian coat of arms and the Belgian national anthem is called the Brabançonne or Brabant Song. Great video, by the way! 🙂

[@provokedfob]

Hey man, also belgian here. Great video man, you've got our history better than my historyteacher when i was like 13ys old (26 now)

[@EUMadeSimple]

That's awesome! Haha thanks

[@Alexandre-Marius-Jacob]

Not a lot of Belgians even know this nowadays but back in 1790, we already did a first revolution against Austrians and declared the Republic of the United-States of Belgium, before France even did. It was crushed within a year due to internal divisions by the Austrians and then invaded by Revolutionnary France when we were asking for their support for months against Austria.

[@bestgamescore4953]

Fun fact! There once was a king who disagreed on a law, so we just dethroned him signed the law and give hik his power back. Thank you for listening.

[@pjhgerlach]

A a Dutchman I can tell you that Belgium will remain Belgium.

[@the_real_XO]

🤣🤣🤣

[@erikl.1860]

This is an EXCELLENT presentation about Belgium. Glad you mentioned the EGC (coal and steel); wished you had also mentioned the BeNeLux. (I am from Belgium)

[@NonaknowsNot]

I think this is one of the best depictions of my country that I have seen on this platform, the only thing you forgot is our obsession with fries.

[@EUMadeSimple]

Thank you !

[@matthings4133]

As a Belgian living in Brussels and having a lot of family members that worked/work in EU institutions I am very much pro EU and pro Belgian unity eventhough I am dutch-speaking.

[@Berstalin]

Ofc your pro Eu if your paycheck is 5k a month for doing the bare minimum. You dont bite the hand that feeds you.

[@matthings4133]

@@Berstalin so why should anyone be dissatistfied in Belgium about the EU?

[@Berstalin]

@@matthings4133 Ik zal het u in het nederlands zeggen dat gaat iets makkelijker. Vindt u het ok/normaal dat men voor de simpelste functies van schoonmaker, kok, administratieve medewerker en wat nog allemaal in de Eu instellingen al makkelijk 3 - 5000 euro net kan verdienen terwijl het gemiddelde loon voor die betrekkingen veel lager ligt in de privésector? Dat is pure verspilling van belastingsgeld. De lonen in de EU instellingen moeten een weergave zijn van wat een normale burger verdiend. Het is wraakroepend voor de gewone mens die in Belgie een gemiddelde belastingsgraad van 56% heeft op zijn jaarlijks inkomen. Met zulke hoge lonen wordt men wereldvreemd. Als je 4-5k per maand verdiend lig je niet wakker dat de benzine/gas duurder wordt. Of dat plotseling uw winkelkarretje met een derde duurder wordt. Met zo een loon is er nog reserve maar niet voor de gewone mens. En dan nog maar om die vergroeningswaanzin nog maar te zwijgen. En u weet goed genoeg dat je bij de EU niet binnen geraakt zonder een goede kruiwagen want daar wordt niet aangeworven op talent maar via de ons kent ons mentaliteit. De Eu instellingen zijn er niet meer voor de belastingbetalende Burgers maar om globale politieke spelletjes te spelen waar wij weer de dupe van worden. Waarom zitten we ons in godsnaam in Oekraïne te moeien? Een regime dat even corrupt is als het Russische. Waar oppositie partijen en zelfs de orthodoxe kerk worden verboden en waar het geld verdwijnt als sneeuw voor de zon (40 percent van het gegeven geld voor de oorlog is blijkbaar gewoon verdwenen volgen de NYT). Is dat een regime dat het redden waard is? Of wat met die massamigratie die ons via de EU door de strot geramd wordt. Ze weten verdomd goed dat de gewone man dat niet/nooit wil/wilde en toch blijft men in naam van de menselijkheid verder doen. Maar de inheemse Eu burger die de eindjes niet meer aan mekaar kan knopen door al die geldverspilling wordt genegeerd en als ie durft te spreken/verzetten is het een complotdenker of wordt men weggezet als een racist. En met de huidige censuurwetten die de EU wilt invoeren om de zogezegde "misinformatie" tegen te gaan zijn wel elke vorm van democratie kwijt. Wie heeft de EU het monopolie gegeven op de waarheid? Daarom dat ik tegen de huidige vorm van de EU ben en ook van ons federaal Belgisch landje waar een minderheid een meerderheid kan gijzelen puur door de constructie van het parlement. Het VB belang heeft bij de vorige verkiezingen 300k stemmen meer gehaald dan de PS en toch hebben ze evenveel zetels. Zoiets kan niemand toch fair vinden maar in ons landje is dat vanzelfsprekend. Voila men gal is eruit. Neem aub geen aanstoot van wat ik zeg. Dit is geen persoonlijke aanval tot u gericht ofzo.

[@maru-dy5ld]

because of their horrible "solutions" that we have to follow on the climate "problem" or how our big politicians leave belgium beind in a bad state like charles michel did to go to the european parliament @@matthings4133

[@j3j326]

🇪🇺 Speaking as A Brit Belgium is Such a Unique Country and watching this Video has made me more savvy as a result. 🇬🇧🤝🇧🇪

[@ThatLennyBoi]

Lmao, you haven't lived here yet then. It's a absolute dog shit country, pathetic rules, pathetic laws and pathetic government incl politicians.

[@Killerwale-hk4wy]

Starting Belgium with the netherlands is kind of late. It was only part of the Netherlands for 15 years, Especially Flanders was not an unimportant region. It also was a key member of the Benelux union who were the first to open their borders. What we are not though, is resilient. Belgium has been ruled over by many empires, but history taught us pretty well that defending yourself usually is not the best option. The Great War is a significantly bigger trauma than the second and aside from some very quick revolts, the last time we really defended our sovereignty was in 57 BC against Caesar. However, our culture hasn't been changed by any of our rulers, and that's why we constantly have tiny revolts or change owners.

[@TheBayru]

I once heard a stand-up comedian claim Belgiums alternative punishment to banishment is being elected to parliament and sent to Brussels. Hence the need for so many parliaments. ;)

[@francoisbroukx1244]

I'm Belgian, Flemish parents, born in the German region, French schooling. Everything you said is right, BUT, the division is mostly politics, the population have mostly no problem to communicate. In the history of Belgium I always miss a part: in 1921 the collaboration between Belgium and Luxembourg, and 1944 the creation of BENELUX, the union of Belgium- Netherlands and Luxembourg. So you see, Europe started before 1957; btw BENELUX still exist. So Belgium- Luxembourg are the start for Europe.

[@janvandergeert8680]

Politicians are put into power by the people (in democratic systems), Flemish nationalists are voted in because they have broad popular support. It makes no sense to me to exonerate people for what happens in politics. I have spent about half my life in Flanders, because my mother is Flemish, I know how many people think, many think like this "I don't hate French speakers, BUT they must accept their condition of ethnic inferiority, I don't hate French speakers, BUT they are lazy, I don't hate francophones, BUT we should kick them out, I don't hate francophones, BUT we need to separate from them etc."

[@PDVism]

@@janvandergeert8680 you can find stupid people everywhere. Racists, jingoists, xenophobes and populists are all stupid people that need some commonsense. I'm Belgian and I for one hate the fact that so many of my fellow Flemish people are so easily swayed by the populists, populists that have a history of being on the wrong side of history in WW2. Vlaams belang started by people that were nazi symphatizers, were lots of it's top people had more than a fondness for Adolf. Heck, grab one of the parties top people of every party and the one that looks most like some brownshirt hooligan poored into a suit is 9 times out of 10 the Vlaams Belang person.

[@francoisbroukx1244]

@@janvandergeert8680 You can compare a Flemish Nationalist with a MAGA Republican, the base is the same: people who have never traveled, are scared of everything they don't know and/or understand, and they are manipulated by an extreme right "elite" always pointing, sometimes, real problems but mostly imaginary and who NEVER have solutions. For Flemish people "ons kent ons" and you are not part of "ons".

[@mattiesmusic]

I'm a Belgian, and I gotta say, this is the most informationally correct short and detailed video of Belgium I've ever seen. - Chocolate: Check, all I need to see xP

[@alexanderbossuyt745]

the only mistake he made is that we have 6 parlements not 7

[@bennyloodts5497]

As Belgian, it is impossible to explain our complex situation. This video clears a lot of air. Thanks for the making of, more than well done!

[@raresremetan2001]

Romania is also part of that Latin region, together with Moldova…

[@michaelthijs6813]

Dont feel bad he also forgot denmark and other nordics

[@nancyvandergucht9295]

Surprised to see this video pop up ..didn't know anyone ws interested in our little country ..you painted a rather accurate image ,and as a Belgian living in Flanders we are fortunate to live here . In these unsure economic times, we can count on several security systems in case of health issues, jobloss, education and trainings to change job, etc. Many belgians are house owners ,as it is said over here we are born with a brick in our stomach 😀..so considering all and in spite of much political arguing ,it is not bad to be a Belgian! 🙂😊❤

[@Shaquille_Oatmeal_with_mayo]

A Belgian here, a well-researched video and very good pronunciations of the Belgian parties and names.

[@axome235]

Eendracht maakt macht ! L'union fait la force ! Wallons et Flamands sont des frères. Lang leve België ! 🇧🇪

[@PutsOnFlipFlops]

Hitler agrees

[@mpk4712]

good video, much interesting information

[@cianoreillycork]

Great video and a really fantastic series! :)

[@CBSDaddy]

belgium here i love that i am a belgium its very nice here. heb een leuke dag

[@rondo122]

lovely video, hello from Belgium!

[@ferrevanbroekhoven819]

this was an amazing video as a belgain myself i can tell you that your infirmation is right. I am a proud belgain

[@francisdebriey3609]

Very good accurate overview of Belgium! Congratulations you studied very well your subject. SUBSCRIBED !

[@joppefrans8393]

As someone studying political science in Ghent, your video is (besides a few mistakes here and there) pretty accurate. Thank you for explaining our politics with care.

[@floppywoppy9740]

as a certificed Belgium citizin i can sat that the most important thing about Belgium is that is belgium fries and not french fries.

[@swyveu]

"french fries" is not about France at all. It comes from the verb "to french" (french - frenched - frenched) "Frenching" is a way of cutting ingredients for even cooking, basically a julienne that aims to expose all sides of an item, such as potatoes, to the heat of an oven or fryer.

[@floppywoppy9740]

@@swyveu it probably got the name frenching from French fries even though it is from Belgium

[@TotallyFred]

quite hard to summarize Belgium, but you did a very good job.

[@charlesdeco3821]

As a french, I can tell that we love Belgium in france !

[@markholland7322]

All very nice to start Belgian history with the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, but lets not forget there was a tome before this this state was created by a coup in 1813 following Napoleons defeat at Leipzig, and was formalised in 1815 by forging the result of referendum held in the southern Netherlands (the provinces that are today Belgium voted against the union with Holland, but these results were changed by scraping some because they were catholics and adding some, thus changing the result from a no to a yes to join the united kingdom of the Netherlands.) The southern Netherlands today known as Belgium have a long history of semi autonomous provinces within a larger state, and only when a state forces centralisation and unification, as the Dutch tried in 1820s, the people rebel, prefering some kind of regional autonomy. Belgium has been a European trade hub since the 12th century, with a good balance between tradition and innovation.

[@sinannn000]

When you live in Belgium you understand why it was pick to be the capital of EU. It is such a unique deverse country that is almost impossible to seperate from EU. The Vlaamse side will determine the future of Belgium.

[@piebit101]

Personally I would prefer if germany or austria were the capital of the EU, much more central and easier to access

[@felipethecommunist]

@@piebit101Austria you can't acces by sea belgium u can acces by 2 of the biggest ports in Europe, one is currently being used to ship tanks from America to Ukraine.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

@@piebit101 Belgium has always had geography at its side, Germany COULD have been a contender or Amsterdam in the Netherlands, but Antwerp is often seen as the shipping gateway to Western Europe after Rotterdam. And due to Belgium being so diverse and half pro one European country and pro other European country, the choice was easily made. Brussels is a mix of everything in Europe. Amsterdam could only wish to be so Internationally attractive as brussels. (Despite English being spoken everywhere in Amsterdam)

[@istoppedcaring6209]

they chose it because it was centrally located and none of the great powers wanted the capital in any other great power, so Belgium was the go to choice

[@capusvacans]

Most latin european countries would not want the capital to be in Germany. Aaand likewise, most germanic countries wouldn't want it to be in eg Paris. It is in Belgium for a reason, it's the only centraly located country in the EU (at least before the expansion southwards) which also sits astride the latin/germanic divide. Along with that, while it is a rich country it has never been antagonistic against any of the other countries in the EU. It has never invaded anyone, never chosen sides with one country over the other during wartime (except when invaded of course). And due to it's nature it has experience in bringing diverse ppl together within the same tent, as it has always had to deal with diverse groups within it. It is and always has been a patchwork of different groups. Even Flanders, unlike what many would lead you to believe isn't a unified "nation", there are vast cultural and linguistic differences between flemish regions. Just ask a West Flemish person what he thinks about Antwerpians (especialy) and Brabantians, and trust me, unless they make their money in tourism or real estate, they won't be very positive about them. The lack of any strong feeling of belonging to any "nation" within Belgium and it's regions is it's main strength in the international diplomatic arena. There is no such thing as a Belgian, Walloon or Flemish culture. Those are just groupnames fora patchwork of other cultures within them. And don't be misguided by the many votes that nationalist parties get, as all right wing parties are nationalist parties. Meaning that if you want to vote for eg stronger immigration policies or other right wing things other than nationalism, there is no non nationalist alternative. Even the leader of the NVA has acknowledged many many times that there is no desire within flanders for a separation from Belgium, or even for the confederalism that he preaches. There simply isn't any historic antagonism towards it, which is something that no other EU country can say. And when it is about being the seat of a diplomatic union it's pretty important to be seen as a neutral non antagonistic country, with no real historical gripes against it from other EU nations.

[@MoyaertsVideoProduc]

The dichotomy between Flanders and Wallonia is not as described. During the federalization of Belgium the regions were created because Wallonia wanted to have greater economic independence. The communities, however, were mainly a request from Flanders. Eventually the main area of power shifted in the country during the 70s, 80s and 90s from Brussels (which was not in favor of federalism, but did not oppose it) towards the new power structures in the country. The main push from many of the Wallonian politicians now is “federalism with 4 states”. This would mean the end of the regions and communities and just make 4 states with them having the power of both the regions and communities. These four states would be Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and East Belgium (the German speaking minority of around 75.000 people). Some have argued that the Flanders should just leave Brussels and give up on it in order to achieve more or total independence, but this is extremely unpopular within much of Flanders let alone within the Flemish communities of Brussels. While Brussels does just constitute 5% of the seats in the Flemish parliament, Brussels is its capital and seat of government. I also don’t think many are willing to see the capital move to Antwerp. The 4 state federalism (mainly in originating from the Francophone left) is also heavily opposed by Flemish politicians, because they fear that this solution will lead to there being 2 French speaking states and just one Flemish one. It is true, however, that Flanders generally wants more economic independence and political competences. The question only is how? For instance, a teacher is payed by the community government but that government is not responsible for their pensions. Pensions are dealt with at the federal level. Hence why the monkey of regional and community governments just look at their own spending and make sure that a lot of the burden is sent to the federal one. Is it enough for Flanders to achieve those competences within a federal structure or is it still afraid that it will be responsible for much of the economic weight of the country at large? Are the current political divides so deep? The complexity of Flanders in turn is also why (at this moment) a majority of Flemish parties outright reject Flemish independence (Vlaams Belang not included, and the N-VA being split about it), since no one knows what would happen to Brussels. Wallonia and Brussels in turn are afraid what would happen with their economic structure if Flanders breaks even more or totally with them. With the upcoming elections, the debate surrounding the structure of the state will be heated once more. And no clear cut solution for Belgium structural government problems appears on the horizon.

[@MDP1702]

Never heard of the 4 state proposal before as a Flemish. And why would Flemish parties be against that? It sounds like it would potentially ship more powers to the region, something that could be rather popular in Flanders.

[@Marti_Monev]

Waiting for helping you with the Bulgaria episode!

[@toazet]

As a Belgian im verry happy that i see more content about my country :D

[@ronnywouters7037]

2:17 That’s historically unaccurate. Bruges, Antwerp and Amsterdam were the world trade capitals and those cities shaped the modern world. Flanders contibuted to the Dutch golden age, Wallonia didn’t. Trough unfair taxation and government force, Wallonia thrived, at Flanders cost.

[@MDP1702]

Repeated polling has shown that there is no popular support for independence, often being somewhere inbetween 15-30% of Flemish people being in favor. A large polling after last election found that only 16% of flemish voters want independence, only 25% of N-VA voters are in favour of independence and 33% of VB. This is perfectly logical, since these parties have grown their voterbase a lot in the last 10-15years, and it is very unlikely independence sentiment also increased that fast. Rather many people also vote on these parties for other reasons (immigration, economy, protest vote, ...)

[@evobsm2328]

Im learning more about my own country from this guy then our own history books.

[@retteketette]

This should be mandatory education material.

[@StormWolf01]

Good video.

[@charlizedejonghe350]

Hello I’m Belgium 🇧🇪 what I would like to see more in your videos is maybe some buetiful places ,food ….. ❤😊

[@razvanciobotaru3089]

The best video for now in my opinion. Next to be about Bulgaria 🇧🇬.

[@BlazeLycan]

7:58-8:11 I think my Belgian contacts would heavily disagree with the state of Belgium being "responsive" or maintaining a "coherent" national policy.

[@Donald_Monaghan90]

"Belgium is a beautiful city" Donald Trump

[@maartenaalsmeer]

Yes. Belgium, the capital of Copenhagen. Amazing. Great city, just great.

[@the_real_XO]

And it Said 'Sir, thank you for calling us a great City' and it was crying @@maartenaalsmeer 🤣🤣🤣

[@Berstalin]

He called Brussels a shithole and he was completely right and im Belgian.

[@RenegadeVile]

@@Berstalin Yeah, Brussels (aside from a few spots) follows the international rule of capital cities being shitholes and irrepresentative of the nation they're a part of. Brits hate London, French hate Paris, Germans hate Berlin, Russians hate Moscow, the list goes on.

[@tidalshooter9778]

Please make a video about the single market. Especially about services single market which actually hasnt been ratified by most countries.

[@infrared909]

As a Belgian I can say you have explained really well. Even on our notorious difficult political system.

[@srj607able]

Merci, dank u , vielen dank. Thank you.

[@stephandepreeuw2479]

eines der bisher besten, vollständigstesn un korrektesten Erklärungsvideos zum politischen Aufbau Belgiens. Nur bei den Zuständigkeiten zwischen Gemeinschaften und Regionen ist es nicht mehr ganz so einfach. Die Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft hat einige Zuständgekiten von der Wallonischen Region übernommen und somit mehr Zuständigkeiten in ihrem Bereich als andere Gemeinchaften

[@bartweijs]

100% Belgian here. Good video, and you highlight some good things and some problems well. However; just like the EU, Belgium suffers from lack of political vision. We need a roadmap, Belgian & european on the following topics: 1. Militairy, because of Ukraïne. On the Nation and EU level. We're almost at war, and if we can't support Ukraïne, we very soon will be at war. And this has to be topic nr1. 2. Energy & climate. Belgium dropped the ball a couple times here regarding promises made, then broken by politicians... And let's be honest; we need more nuclear. 3. Immigration. Diversity is a strength, untill the divide becomes too big and it turns into a weakness. We need the demografics, but we also cannot afford faillures like Sweden ... a good plan, and a roadmap on integration would help; also for uniting countries, because this is a very divisive topic.

[@SFred104]

Finally a outsider that made the proper research about inside affair of Belgium!

[@martinb5367]

I am an Italian citizen, I was wondering to move out to Belgium. I use to live in UK, London, but with the Brexit I left there to Spain, city of Lleida, near to Barcelona. Now I am planning to move to Liege Belgium. I like speak English and I think I could get French easily as I already Speak Spanish, Italian and Portugues. I work on the electronic music industry and I thought there would be good for the logistc.. Is seems near to everywhere. Any advice about it? Thanks a lot, appreciated!

[@slavianalbanovich9025]

ma come diamine si fa a pensare di trasferirsi in Spagna non lo capirò mai...

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

Hi Martin, depends if you have found yourself a solid job in Belgium. Overall it would either be Brussels or a city that has a very good connection to Brussels let's say Liege. Good luck, I am not sure hos jobs are in electronic music industry... Can't say much about that

[@ChantaltheFrency]

Martin my i suggest to move to Leuven, nice city lots students who party… maybe you can find an opportunity there. Everybody speaks English ( not always the older folks) so you have plenty of time to study dutch and live here. Also a nice Italian community in the city centre maybe they can help you with a job while you look for one you like . Also lots of Italian phd students from uni.

[@timmommens901]

Leuven, Mechelen are very nice cities. Lively, diverse, multilinguistic and well maintained. Close to Brussels, good public transport as well the bicycle highways. 😊 Grtz 🇧🇪🇰🇷

[@martinb5367]

@@timmommens901 thank you so much gonna have a look! 😍

[@Esuyt_970]

Hellooo, good video

[@Kirmo13]

this could be better, but considering all other vidoes made on Belgium, this video blows the others out of the water Thanks for making this

[@driesjottier5014]

This is a pretty good description of the situation

[@azura7805]

56% tax rate 🤔 Im Belgian and I dont know how its possible to have a country in high debt and that number of tax on my salary.

[@gustaafpeeters6173]

One fact is forgotten: The prime minister is delivered by the 7th political party. I think that's unique in the world. (and not very democratic)

[@bubee8123]

Can someone explain to me how non attached MEP in European parliament works? 10:17 I know they do not belong to any group but why and how does that work?

[@Micha-qv5uf]

I don't know exactly but there are independant parliament members in national parliaments as well. They are usually politicians who gained the most votes in their region but do not belong to a party.

[@MDP1702]

They probably just vote based on each specific topic and work with other parties if they want to get something done. All in all it isn't that different, except for the fact that you are on your own and need to constantly create new cooperations with other groups.

[@ruwuski]

At 7:18 the French community doesn't have Waals-Brabant/Walloon Brabant coloured in green. It would be saddened to find out it doesn't belong to any community at all, poor thing.

[@joancarno1587]

I really love this Serie of "country in the EU" 🍿

[@nico1619]

Hope you make all countries off Europe “in the EU”

[@EUMadeSimple]

I hope so too :). Let's see how many people watch

[@ponchopower]

How could it be an actual accurate depiction of belgian history and culture on the internet never tought i'd see the day

[@EUMadeSimple]

happy you liked it :D

[@Subher0]

Belgian viewer here. A few nuances that need to be corrected: - 2:16 The animosity in those days were not sparked by some jealousy over the economic progress in the south, as you allude here. The animosity came from the entrenched elitism of the French speakers who snubbed their noses at the Flemish and the Dutch language. The French language dominated political life, all institutions and universities, even in the Flemish region. This all the while the Flemish were and are a majority in in Belgium, the capital is in Flanders and a Flemish city etc. You can guess this has bred a lot of animosity in Flanders and has resulted in the current disposition where Flanders is more pro-separation than Wallonia (which will never happen btw). - 9:23 There is no "rising tide" in Belgium, unless you mean the actual tides. Politically, EVERYTHING in Belgium moves slow, very, very slow. There is an unspoken agreement called the "cordon sanitaire" where specifically Vlaams Belang, the racist idiot party, is excluded from any government. This has been upheld for several decades now. Not only that, but federally they would never ever be able to rule, because 45% of the country speaks French, most of whom live in Wallonia. Yeah, you could guess that Walloons never would vote for a party literally called "Flemish Concerns", which is basically Flanders' "Flanders First" party. That means that VB would have to literally convince every Flemming from every corner of Flanders to vote for them for there to be any significant political shift federally. So you'll understand that no election in Belgium in the lifetime of anyone reading this will turn over the reigns to the extreme-right such as Vlaams Belang. Luckily, because they are dumb as f**k. - We have 6 parliaments, not 7. Otherwise a good job.

[@oliviervanrode6362]

I'm also from Belgium, and I loved this. The beginning of this little movie was a bit off, as the origins of Belgium and its 2 main communities dates from way before 1815. Actually we can situate it around the year 1400, when the county of Flanders, the duchy of Brabant, the county of Namur and most of the other parts were united under Burgundian, then Habsburg rule. And the linguistic division can even be traced back to Roman times. The position of Belgium as a founding member of the ECCS, the EEG and then the EU is indeed key. Not hard to understand when you consider the small size of the country, and its history as one of the main battlefields of European history. We even have Waterloo ! To me, our future cannot and should not be outside the unified Europe. The rise of the Right-Wing menace to that unity is my main concern. Let's hope common sense prevails, especially given the existential threats to our democratic views, posed by the new Russian imperialism, Chinese dominance and the threats of other dictatorial regimes. My main nightmare has a 4-digit name : Orwell's 1984...

[@EUMadeSimple]

Happy you liked it :)

[@yasharfarzaneh4695]

Perfect

[@minoarno7415]

I would've loved to see you mention the median income per capita as we rank as the highest and the closest to our average in Europe. ^^

[@GianniDN]

In fact Belgium is ranked second after Luxembourg while your neighbor the Netherlands is one of the poorest in Europe far below average and the median Belgian is 5 times richer. It shows how little GDP per capita means because most Dutch are literally extreme poor people in a country with many of billionaires.

[@michaelgrare8036]

One of the best videos about Belgium and our complex politics. Two mistakes : 1) the mix-up between the 2009 election and the 2019 election. 2) Saying Vlaams Belang has no support in Wallonia is incorrect, walloons are not able to vote for V.B. due to the state structure. I reckon there would be more support than expected and I am not the only one : NVA has a plan to present eligible representatives in Wallonia for that sole purpose in the 2024 election.

[@EUMadeSimple]

thank you for the feedback and sorry for the inaccuracies. I actually noticed the 2009 mistake the second I went Live haha. But didnt think it was worth taking down for that.

[@CASPYBXL]

Verry good and nice video, little edits I would suggest is that "The King" has no power at all, if he veto's or poses objection on anything, he gets temporarily dethroned for 1 day, they pass the law and then reinstate the King, basically the king is purely there for the "Monarchy show" so we can stay a monarchy and not be a Republic or anything else. Also as someone mentioned before we have 6 parliaments and not 7. Also fun fact is we are the only country holding not once but twice the record for the longest period of having no acting functional government. We broke our own first record. 2010 -> 541 days // 2018 -> 592 days, inter-party tensions are the cause of these as it often is sadly.

[@ntsosure3387]

As a belgian I say thank you for the information that you provide because I could not understand my own "government" system

[@blackhole3298]

Maybe you could make a video about EU overseas territories?

[@janvandergeert8680]

He will talk about it when he makes the video on France, since only the French overseas departments (and the collectivity of Saint Martin) are part of the EU. Those from the Netherlands are not part of the EU (yet).

[@Olafje]

Very, very long government forming negotiations is Belgium's trademark

[@wannesverkinderen5613]

I'm also a belgian. First of it was a great video. It changed a bit of my perspectif of the political sytuation in the country. First I thought that we are just bad at making parlement. But after the video I understand why it is so difficult. And as you say in the video we are an country whit lots of differences. And we are a smaller version of the EU. So I think that must be proud of or laeders that the keep our country togheter.

[@THE_VOLD]

at 7:55 you didn't color 'waals Brabant' on the picture of the french speaking parts nor the dutch speaking part

[@thomasmerlin4990]

I remember that a Walloon friend of mine, who lived on the border with Flanders, told me that when he had to go to Flanders he was afraid to speak French because he feared being lynched by Flemish nationalists. This seems truly absurd to me.

[@istoppedcaring6209]

it is absurd and the hate is actually very one sided, walloon media regularly calls us fascist or racist for no reason except that we vote flemish nationalist waloon schooling does not have dutch as a mandatory course, flemish schools have had french as a mandatory course since it became a flemish regional responsibility to decide this the ball is completely in their camp to make Belgium more attractive but they don't, they want Belgium as long as they are the beneficiaries, (Belgium allmost ended when dutch simply became a recognised official language, and then again when public officials in flanders were required to speak it, imagine being angry about the majority of the population wanting their language to be recognized and even so I don't blame walloons collectively cause many of them hate their own government more than we do, and hate the criminallity that came with it. EDIT: yesterday a French speaker at the station in Ghentwas helped by several people that used their best french so he could find where he needed to go (I was one of them) we are not the haters.

[@zenymax8348]

​​​​​​​@@istoppedcaring6209To be honnest, we have had some walloons get assaulted during bike trips near the border or during holidays on the coastline.. but you only need one exception to distort reality and install fear, insecurity or anger. I never noticed our media mention flemish people as fascist eventhough they are indeed left leaning news media. They have reported fascist acts and groups but its mostly anecdotal. The main problem is actually that they dont talk about whats going on in flanders outside election times which is part of why we are so divided. We actually dont know each other when we are not part of a mixed familly. Sometimes there are some polls which include walloons and flemish and reveal that the population is mostly the same.. we are just divided by our media, politicians and economy. As for the ones that call flemish fascists, it was mostly old people that thought that the flemish worked a lot more with the germans during WWII and benefited from it. Its been a long time since I heard that. I dont know if its just another misconception or if there ever was some truth in that feeling but I guess that the election results could have maintained this opinion for some. I just know seeing too much black and white is what always leads most of the population in the wrong direction. As for school, dutch is mandatory in the second and third cycles of secondary education. For primary schools, each school has to do with what they have available. We lack a lot of teachers.. like a loooot, in everything.. some schools even among the finest are crumbling so much they ask for the parents if they want their children to learn dutch or english (and since we have been influenced so much by american culture, it always seem more strategic to chose english) with such a system I started to learn dutch from 1st to 4th grade in my primary school, was good back then, then switched to english for 4 years, couldnt have dutch because I wanted to learn science.. and when I got dutch lessons again I had lost everything and the teacher was too young and unsupported by the system that she only got bullied by the few popular immature dummies of the classroom while the rest of us were trying to learn anything unefficiently. Then same with university, didnt use dutch at all because science is dominated by english, lost everything. Even the english teachers over there were lacking the means to do their work efficiently, more than anything I think I got worse in english once I got to university.. We only ask for better but all we get is more right wing liberal austerity and unefficient social policies. People ask for better public systems, education, security, efficient regulations, a bureaucracy thats favorable to entrepeneurship and aids to get back up in case but during elections we have to choose between caricatures and old fashioned outdated ideologies which will just mix together anyway and be averagely mediocre. Like this PFAS scandal at the moment, honnestly I wonder why people got surprised.. There is this propaganda in flanders that we are lazy... believe me we are not, most skilled workers just work in flanders or foreign countries because thankfully they can either use english or learn dutch with their company, our shopkeepers and restaurants are doing bad and make up almost 1/3 of our unemployed once they go bankrupt, construction and logistics workers are not far behind, most unemployed are from the lower educated population and the rest is either young people who feel unskilled or mislead by the education system and are under some training program or people who got injured/mentally ill/are born invalid (we had 144000 of them in Belgium a few years ago) and a small portion is made of the old ones who dont have the skills needed nowadays .. its not the real problem. We have to maintain the same infrastructures in Wallonia with half the population/revenue and a bit more land surface so of course Wallonia will cost more, this propaganda has always been absurd. If you search for lazy, some of our bureaucrats/politicians are either the lazy ones or unskilled. The ones that actually make this place work are not the ones in front of the cameras.. but god they got a lot of work.. that gets often sabotaged a lot or at least less efficient because of the divide between our regions and their regulations and funding.. when its not because of some corrupt well connected careerist.. For all I know, Flanders is doing better for running a capitalist economy, has all the infrastructure needed for such while Wallonia is in advance on environmental matters outside its struggling big cities and we get scandals like the current one which will add to the change needed. In our current times it seems more than ever like Belgium represents the perfect example of the broad divide in western societies between present economy-focused short term globalized capitalism which leads to rising nationalism as social conditions get worse and a social-environmentally focused highly regulated system undecided between innovation and conservatism which drowns its startups and economy until the skilled minds flee to foreign lands. And Brussels is the international mess in between which is more and more disconnected from the rest with time.

[@daanconen5590]

Your Walloon friend is either a liar or has never gone to Flanders. Never once did I hear about Flemings lynching French speakers.

[@yjlom]

@@phild3936 when it comes to francophone supremacy, don't think Walloons had it better; at least the Flemish still know their language

[@thomasmerlin4990]

@@istoppedcaring6209 it is quite clear that you consider them to be an inferior people, perhaps they are right if they call you a fascist.

[@anirban5262]

Although I am an Asian ie Indian🇮🇳, I am still fascinated by European integrity and unity, it delights me just like 'enchantée'...... Although Belgium🇧🇪 is one of the most important EU member and it's politics is very systematic, I still think that Flanders may join Nederland ignoring historical religious rivalry and wallonia also may join France🇫🇷..... It'll strengthen further French and dutch spending areas of europe

[@felipethecommunist]

Altough i do like your take on this i a Belgian find it better that the 2 regions stays united to further support European unity instead of splitting off into languages and cultures. I idealy see one European identity.

[@tijsblockx190]

People outside of Belgium tend to think that Flemish people are culturally the same as Dutch people and Walloons the same as the French. In my experience as a Fleming however, I find that, except for language, culturally we are much closer to the Walloons than to the Dutch. I think the Walloons are also culturally closer to the Flemish than the French. Historically, Flanders and Wallonia have been together for over 500 years now. We are separated, for example, from the Dutch for over 400 years (except for the short 1815-1830 period) and from the French for even a longer time. The reason why some people want to split the country is mainly economical and this is a vision I can understand, but do not share. In my opinion we better stay united.

[@gdf_6c]

​@@tijsblockx190- I really can't imagine what's so bad about sharing the country with Wallonia. I'm actually fascinated by countries with multiple regional languages; I wish mine was like that

[@anirban5262]

@@tijsblockx190 😲ohhh

[@coleusdominus6284]

As a walloon I’ve got to disagree with you Even though we speak the same language we are quite different culturally speaking. Moreover we’ve got quite the rivalry with the french. I mean plutôt crever qu’être avec ces bouffeurs de grenouilles

[@craftycraftnl098]

iirc in theory we have 7 parliaments, however, The Flemish government governs both the Flemish region and the Flemish community, so actually 6 parliaments in total. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

[@quirijnv6793]

1:30 If that line is supposed to show the religious divide it's a bit too far south especially in Limburg.

[@YD39222]

Slight innaccuracy, in 1:39 you mark Luxemburg (dutch and flemish parts) as part of the north, whilst in reality they were both catholic regions and actually part of belgium for a few years

[@timheye7863]

The reason for the ultimate good result of Vlaams Belang is that Belgium indeed accepts everyone and respects their backgrounds. But that often, very often clashes with young people of foreign origin and the Flemish. Consider again that the French language is being overwhelmed in Flanders because people of foreign origin prefer French as the language to speak to a negative reaction from Flanders and people blame the EU for this. It was even said that Charles Michel had sold the country to the EU to use Flanders as an open country for foreigners, resulting in the results of the Extreme Right. I hold my heart for the next votings.

[@Epic0201]

This vid was pretty spot on, and tbh, those 500 days without a gov was just the 2nd time that happened. Just a detail i feel some might be curious about.

[@wulftjoep5189]

40% belgians and 60% outsiders

[@geertvlaenckx9942]

Regions don't have the same parties. So in Flanders you can't vote for Walloon parties, and in Wallonia you can't vote for Flemish parties, which makes forming federal governments insane. Plus let's not gloss over the fact that the French speaking poliical elite still has an imperialistic mindset inherited from the fact that after independence, french was the solitary language and the Dutch language was being oppressed.

[@michaelthijs6813]

"Dutch" wasnt oppressed since it didn't exist in Flanders back then, only a variety of a 101 (useless) dialects that were oppressed. Details are important.

[@guyvossen1640]

In het Vlaams. Merci , de laatste decennia is Vlaanderen verengelst. Van supprematie van de Franse taal is er allang geen sprake meer.. Als bewoner van een taalgrens dorp spreken wij dus Patois en Bargoens. Fantastische cultuur.

[@Whitehalo732]

00:04 The United Kingdom is also in Western Europe, why doesn't the map you used show that?

[@PuNicAdbo]

You forgot to mark beitain as a germanic region

[@jankwartel1860]

Wat ik zo leuk vind aan Belgïe is dat jullie "zeker en vast" zeggen en wij Nederlanders "vast en zeker" (Ik weet helaas niet of er meer voorbeelden zijn van dergelijke uitdrukkingen)

[@Lynxck1089]

im belgian and i really liked your explanation, personally i dont really like my country but overal i think we are doing good with the EU.

[@bentkennes8418]

We are a small country so being in the EU is definitely favorable for us. The Schengenzone is very good for us

[@CyemePedro]

After all the countries had their own video, you could talk about the candidates, like Serbia, Ukraine ect, and whether they are a good fit or not in the union

[@PutsOnFlipFlops]

They aren't but hey EU will always like to be the lapdog of USA so the media will say of course those candidates are a good fit....

[@WolfNel]

since joining the European Union the Belgium economy has slowly but steadily declined...the national debt to gdp is 106% and climbing....if Belgium did not live on tick they would be in a ghastly depression,,,.debt has masked the deterioration of Belgium and blinded its people to the fact that their joining the eu was a ghastly mistake...

[@ivankintler5282]

The audio quality is so bad, I don't understand why. Its a beautiful video but sounds like the narrator talks through a napkin. In a 90's landline phone conversation.

[@EUMadeSimple]

I am sorry to hear. Can you specify in more detail what sounded bad ?

[@ivankintler5282]

The narrating voice. It's like there is something in between the speaker and the mic. The resonance of the vocal is lacking the timber if you want me to be more specific. It is a mixing problem, the articulation and the accentuation are perfect, the highs, lows and mid tones are not. Its just that with so high quality videos a high quality sound is more suitable.@@EUMadeSimple

[@jackf1841]

I have lived in Belgium for over 8 years and I loved the place. So much to see and do! But I strongly prefer the Flemish part. Flemish cities are WAY more beautiful, clean and pleasant compared to the French-speaking cities of Wallonia (and Brussels). In my experience the French-speaking Belgians don't care about Flanders: they bluntly refuse to learn Dutch and frankly disrespect the Flemish. Even when Wallonia gets billions a year from Flanders to keep their heads above the water. Without the strong Flemish economy, Wallonia would be poorer than most Eastern European countries. That's why I don't understand their arrogance. So if Flanders want to become independent, I support them. They would be one of the richest and most prosperous nations of Europe and the world.

[@pdannysan13]

I think if all the overproducing regions of Europe break away from their larger countries it will lead to madness. I think we have to look at larger perspectives. If Northern Italy breaks away, if West Germany breaks aways, heck if Paris would declare itself a separate nation where would it lead? I do not think this is the right way forward.

[@jackf1841]

@@pdannysan13 It's not just about the money or economy. I've studied the history of Belgium. It was founded as a French state that tried (and tried hard) for centuries to erase the Flemish language (Dutch) and culture. It goes way deeper than the differences in Italy or Germany. Italy or Germany are unified nations (with a common language). Belgium is not a nation, it has 2 very different nations within its borders: Flanders and... Wallonia/Brussels, with each their separate media, culture, public opinion, celebreties,...There's almost nothing that unifies Flemish and Walloons. I agree not every 'rich' region should break away, but in this case I fully support Flemish independence.

[@uglune]

As a young Belgian and as a Walloon, I'm always quite sad seeing the discrepancies between Flanders and Wallonia but I rightfully understand the Flemish considering their history and the arrogance of some Walloons. Still I don't want to brake Belgium apart. The fact that some Walloons just disrespects Dutch, Flemish culture and Flemish history just put me to shame. I'm to blame too : I started learning Dutch when I was 14 and I'm still far from fluent and I'm ashamed of it. The state of Wallonia's cities are clearly in an another century compared to Flemish one's. So yeah, even if I understand the Flemish, I don't want them to become independent. I keep hoping that Wallonia will become great enough, at least enough to keep pace with Flanders in the future.

[@MrKokokill]

As a Flemish person, I speak fluent Flemish, French, English and functional German. I don't have to bother even attempting to strike up a conversation in Dutch anywhere in Wallonia or Brussels, be that at parties, events or work related gatherings.

[@yjlom]

@@MrKokokill can confirm there are some smug Walloons (my own mother forbade I learn Dutch) but for those that do want to learn, there's a bit of a chicken and egg problem in that if you speak poor Dutch, Flemish people will usually switch to English or French; but then, how are you supposed to get practice, and become fluent enough to avoid that reaction?

[@levrainono26]

For the politics, we have a known sentence in here that goes : « if you understand Belgian politics, it must be because you’ve been explained wrong »