Belgian Erasmus

" The surrealism of its linguistic, economic and social problems will soon become very real”- Marc de Vos, from Wall Street Journal. Situated on the borderline between the Latin and German cultures in Europe, Belgium was formed almost by accident in the 19th century. It was founded as a strategic state between France and Great Britain. Artificial in its origin, Belgium's profound cultural differences—symbolized by different languages and an international capital whose identity is to have no identity—have been compounded by its own history. The newly born Kingdom of Belgium imposed French as the official language despite it has a Flemish majority. This historic discrimination originated the fundaments of the Flemish autonomy movement. This movement was the first who fought for equal rights and since 1970 has fueled the gradual evolution from a unitary kingdom to a federal country, with ever more regional autonomy. Belgium has acquired a linguistic border, formally s