Feedback Form
Home
Typical Freya

“I would like to make a first name for myself.” With that quote young Freya Van den Bossche, daughter of socialist heavyweight Luc Van den Bossche, entered the political stage in 2000. Ten years later, she known by her first name only, and Luc Van den Bossche is, to most people, “Freya’s father”.
Anja Otte
(March 10, 2010)
Time to cross that bridge

Last week saw yet another proposal for the “third Scheldt crossing” aimed at alleviating traffic congestion in and around Antwerp. The new proposal is unique in that industrials and activists worked on it together. Most politicians have welcomed it, yet this will probably not be the final solution to the problem.
Anja Otte
(March 3, 2010)
Mass demonstration

Last weekend, about 200 people gathered at the Beurs in Brussels to re-enact the “White March” for a new film based on Flemish author Tom Lanoye’s novel Het goddelijke monster. In 1996, no fewer than 400,000 people marched through Brussels to express their disgust at the deeds of the child rapist and murderer Marc Dutroux, their sympathy for the victims and their disbelief at the blundering justice system.
Anja Otte
(February 24, 2010)
The many lives of Frank Vandenbroucke

At the age of 34, the Flemish socialist Frank Vandenbroucke became one of the youngest party presidents ever. He went on to become foreign minister, but had to resign amidst a corruption scandal involving his party (sp.a). Vandenbroucke temporarily left politics, to study in Oxford. When he came back, his economic theories formed the basis of the so called “purple” governments (composed of liberals and socialists) lead by Guy Verhofstadt. Vandenbroucke started a new life as one of this country’s most respected politicians.
Anja Otte
(February 17, 2010)
Poor Flanders?

Over the past couple of weeks, the public broadcasting channel Canvas has been airing Arm Wallonië (Poor Wallonia), a documentary series based on the book by journalist Pascal Verbeken, which tells the story of Flemish immigrants in the southern part of Belgium.
Anja Otte
(February 10, 2010)
A lively speaker

The Flemish Parliament is a stately institution that takes itself very seriously. Its speakers (or presidents) have in the past all shared a certain unobtrusiveness. They were criticised for being too discrete, but that seemed part of the job. This made the Flemish Parliament often a dull place, which rarely saw heated debate. So when Jan Peumans (N-VA) took over as speaker, the first thing he resolved to do was to liven things up.
Anja Otte
(February 3, 2010)
20th-century man

Jean-Luc Dehaene famously calls himself “a politician of the previous century”. When his term as prime minister ended in 1999, he knew right away that he had lost touch with politics – at least in the Belgian sense, where discourse is dominated by perception and short-lived topics. He decided instead to focus on European issues. So has Dehaene finished with Belgian politics? Not exactly.

Anja Otte
(January 27, 2010)
Step by step

The small Flemish nationalist party N-VA and its eloquent leader Bart De Wever are always interesting to observe. N-VA has two ministers in the Flemish government, yet is an opposition party at the federal level.
Anja Otte
(January 20, 2010)
Has he changed?

So, some say the new Yves Leterme has arrived. In his second term as prime minister, the Flemish Christian- Democrat (CD&V) is using an entirely different, more moderate tone of voice than he did two years ago. In parliament, he recently spoke of his “will to calm down” (although it was unclear who or what exactly was to calm down – Belgium? Leterme himself?).
Anja Otte
(January 13, 2010)
A peaceful year?

In 2010, the voters of this country get a break as there are no elections planned. To people from less complicated nations, this fact may not seem worth mentioning. But in recent Belgian politics, a year without elections is quite exceptional.
Anja Otte
(January 6, 2010)