Belgium has a king, a capital and a flag with which it marched at the 2016 European Championships (group of Italy ...), but in fact it is made up of two nations: Flemish Flanders in the north, mostly Catholic with some Protestant areas; French-speaking Wallonia to the south, with a Catholic culture.
The "of culture" is a must because these days with faith in Europe we must be cautious: fervent squares and bell towers, today it remains the arid imprint of an old continent, so busy escaping from itself that it does not have not even time to remember.
The first differences that are noticed in Belgium, in fact, are linguistic. In Flanders we use the Flemish, the Dutch spoken with scraping; French is spoken in Wallonia. The fiscal and economic distinctions that beyond folklore have seriously undermined the unity of the country in recent years, for now are dozing in the womb of politics, now taken by other emergencies. The federal reform of the state was born precisely on this basis: if many things are there but are not seen, Belgium turns backwards: it shows, but one wonders if it is still there.
From Charleroi airport, under the 23 March bomb alert, just head north to get an idea. On the highway the signs indicate Ghent until it is Wallonia; from a certain kilometer onwards we read Gent, a mix of Flemish genius and punkabbestia madness.
Along the coast of Ostend, intact German bunkers and historical re-enactments speak of the past, which is at home here. Belgium is a table, a country without galleries but that knows the darkness. There is no solution between the plains and the North Sea, gray and restless as the dead soul of a community that drags on without giving itself meaning, without expecting a future.
Who better than this flat earth represents Europe? Belgium is a line and a metaphor; an old page full of tears.
Coming down the Flemish coast, signs indicate Doornik better known as Tournai, the country's old glory. The writings speak volumes on the existing walls between Belgians: in Flanders the road signs for Paris and Lille are written in Flemish but also in French; those for Wallonia instead only in Flemish ... 
It must be destiny: this land is the cradle of the contradictions of a Europe capable of dividing itself over everything except the certainty of its own end ...
Before heading south, from Veurne you get lost in the countryside near Ypres, the city that gives its name to mustard gas. To be devastated and crossed is the fate of Belgium, wedged between two giants: on the green plains between the Meuse and the Scheldt the war also returned to the '40 when the Fall Gelb German humbled the Allied armies. Here history always returns. On the vertical between Sedan and Verdun the wonderful countryside is an open page on centuries of scars. Here Belgium and France merge, repel, stand out and look alike: it depends on the village, it depends on the kilometer. This country is like this: we can also discuss between huitante e eighty... because we are in the heart of the most intelligent continent, we are in Europe.
It must not be a coincidence that the offices of the Council and the European Commission are in Brussels, the bilingual capital of a nation that is remembered at times. It shouldn't be a coincidence either that in Brussels, on boulevard Leopoldo III, there is the headquarters of NATO, which the Walloons like to call OTAN, like the French. After all, Belgium is the founding country of both: the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance.
Looking at them from Belgium the numbers say so many things: 28 members NATO, 28 members the EU. The Alliance countries that are not part of the Union are only 6: Canada and the United States by geography; Norway and Iceland by choice; Turkey and Albania on the waiting list. And always 6 the nations of the Union that are not in NATO: removed the neutral Sweden and Austria and Finland already courted (see article), Ireland, Cyprus and Malta do not seem able to change the planet ...
Is there a link between the torpor of this country, the nothingness of Europe and numerical coincidences?
We can say that many things are decided here that will happen in the world, but none of those we meet contributes to taking them. The vocation of Belgium in reality is precisely this: to be at the center of everything, without counting too much. It will be the size, it will be the neighboring countries, or maybe they will be the distant ones, who knows ...
Just look at the military tool to get an idea. Belgium has a great tradition and a quality standard of excellence, but the question is asked mission of its apparatus: except for the Partenariat Militaire with the Democratic Republic of the Congo tied to historical reasons and a participation in Mali, Belgium acted and acts in absolutely alien frameworks from its natural geopolitics. One wonders if, for example, the missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Estonia and theOperation Desert Falcon against the Islamic State (after the attacks in Brussels it was announced the relaunch with the sending of other F-16) are part of an essential logic for their own interests. After the attacks in Brussels and the discovery of the internal ramifications of Islamist terrorism, the question makes even more sense.
Reflection is necessary. Must Europeans' foreign policy be independent of their nationality? The refrain that alone counts for little is valid up to a certain point, especially if a European identity ready to replace that of individual states was never born. We can bet that if there was still a culture of sovereignty and we had not demonized the idea of defense and national interest, many European countries would weigh even more than many so-called emerging powers: by budget, by expertise, by capacity.
But a country where even the police show bilingual characters, forced to mobilize soldiers for distant missions and at the same time leave entire areas of its territory out of the law, can it still be called sovereign?
Geopolitical scenarios change over the decades as well as how to manage them, but one wonders what remains of a nation if it is not able to survive according to autonomous choices.
Going away through the green hills of Hainaut we would like to say "À bientôt Belgique".... or "Toet ziens wi!"... but it depends on the interlocutor.
Reflections on Belgium with distinct tones and nuances apply to us and to everyone else in Europe. The columns that have formed us are hung by a thin thread, straight and less and less visible in the eyes of a consciousness now on the verge of extinction.
(Photo: Armée belge)
