Η περιοχή της Φλάνδρας του Βελγίου αυτοαποκαλείται έθνος και ζητά την ανεξαρτησία της. Peumans and Bourgeois in 11 July call for more autonomy for Flemish Nation.

“A right and a duty”

Flanders has not only the right but also the duty to demand more autonomy, according to Jan Peumans, speaker of the Flemish parliament, giving the keynote speech in Brussels’ City Hall during the 11 July celebrations. The ceremony, which marked Flemish Community Day, was attended by representatives of all the Flemish parties, as well as prime minister Charles Michel and Walloon minister-president Paul Magnette.

 

“Flanders is now in the process of becoming a nation,” Peumans (pictured) said in his speech. “As the strongest partner in the construction that is Belgium, we have the right and the duty to demand more autonomy, not only for ourselves but for all the regions.” The sixth state reforms most recently passed must not be considered an end to the matter, he said.
Minister-president Geert Bourgeois, like Peumans a member of the nationalist party N-VA, gave his speech in Kortrijk on the eve of Flemish Community Day. “This Flemish government has great ambitions for Flanders,” he said. “Flanders is a self-aware nation; a nation with a strong democracy, economy, language and culture. We Flemish are sometimes too reserved. We look at the ground when we should be holding our heads high. This government is working resolutely for a strong Flemish nation.”
Bourgeois also returned to the issue of foreign trade, which has become a regional responsibility since the latest reforms were passed but continues to occupy the federal government, leading to a clash earlier in the year when Michel and former minister-president Kris Peeters visited the US.
“We will soon have a ministry of foreign affairs, so the status of our diplomats has to be improved,” Bourgeois said. “Their place in the diplomatic lists should reflect the weight of their region when it comes to protocol. My government will not tolerate that the clock be turned back and that the federal level usurp Flemish responsibilities.”
Flemish Community Day is celebrated every 11 July to mark the day in 1302 when a force of civil militias from the County of Flanders defeated an army of French knights on a field outside Kortrijk. Later named the Battle of the Golden Spurs, it was a notable event in military history as one of the few times that infantry prevailed over an opponent mounted on horseback.