VOA常速英语2007年-Talk of Belgian Split Grows Louder as Coalition

By Teri Schultz
Brussels
10 November 2007

Belgium has been called an "artificial country", a conglomeration¹ of three individual states that have no real affinity² for each other: Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia and a small German-speaking community. The Dutch and French speakers have their own parliaments, media and schools and rarely intersect. Now there is one thing all have in common: no federal government. The increasing animosity has added fuel to long-simmering talk of splitting the country apart. Teri Schultz reports for VOA from Brussels.

Belgium is feeling increasingly uncomfortable, even for a country that has weathered tension between two main French and Dutch communities dating back to the country's creation 177 years ago.

Since parliamentary elections in June, the prospective⁴ new prime minister Yves Leterme, head of the Christian-Democratic alliance in Flanders, has been trying in vain to forge a governing coalition⁵ with the Liberal party that won in Wallonia.

Political analyst⁶ Caroline Segasser says Belgium is looking bad on the world stage. "Five months after elections we are absolutely nowhere near forming a government. and it's starting to look like foreign investors⁷ are thinking twice before investing their money in Belgium," he said.

Huge obstacles remain and neither side is budging⁸. Flemish parties insist that regional governments must have more autonomy. With 60 percent of the population, Flanders generates 70 percent of Belgium's Gross Domestic Product. The Dutch speaking area wants to retain more power and tax money, rather than sending it south.

Wallonia's politicians are resisting this, partly because they see it as the first step toward dividing the country, which Walloons oppose in large numbers. "It's very difficult for Walloons and Flamands and for the middle, Brussels," he said.

That is the lament⁹ of Viviane Neys, a French-speaking inhabitant of the "middle", the Brussels electoral district, the focus of another major disagreement and the cause of the latest collapse¹⁰ of coalition talks.

When Belgium created the formal administrative¹¹ areas of Flanders and Wallonia in 1977, it made Brussels a separate area, situated¹² inside Flanders but officially bilingual. Most of Brussels is Francophone, and inhabitants may conduct official business in either Dutch or French and elect members of parliament from either language group.

Flemings have long opposed this because parts of Brussels are predominantly Dutch-speaking.

The issue came to a head on Wednesday, when Flemish parliamentarians in the talks forced a vote on carving¹³ up the Brussels district. The plan would deprive more than 120-thousand French-speakers of the language rights they currently enjoy.

French-speaking politicians walked out of the talks.

While the unilateral vote has no legal consequences, political analyst Caroline Segasser says the symbolism has dealt a blow to the already-fragile process. "It's a turning point in the general climate, definitely. As for forming the government, I would say it's a setback¹⁴ I wouldn't say to square one but very near there," she said.

The vote has heightened the Francophones' feeling that they are being discriminated¹⁵ against and their insistence¹⁶ on the country's unity³.

"We don't want the separation of Belgium - it's not possible!," said Viviane Neys.

But Flemish separatists say it is not only possible, it would be better for them.

Flemish extremists argue that the more productive Flanders region sends more money to the government than it receives back. They say each Fleming subsidizes Wallonia to the tune¹⁷ of 18-hundred euros a year. They claim that Flanders is able to stand alone economically.

The concept is not unpleasant to many Flemings. Hilde Grauwels, who lives in an an affluent¹⁸ bilingual Brussels suburb, says she is not for separation, but she is not against it either. "Some people say Belgium is too small to divide. But there are even smaller countries with less people in Europe and all over the world so why wouldn't it work?," she said.

Few Walloons seem to feel that Wallonia, where unemployment is above 15 percent, could stand alone.

While polls show that most Belgians do not want a break-up, the number who think it will happen is climbing.

With talk of a split growing, neighboring countries are weighing in on the issue.

Fellow European Union members like Spain and France fear a Belgian break-up would bolster¹⁹ linguistic²⁰ or ethnic²¹ minorities seeking autonomy within their borders. In addition, the European Union and NATO, both headquartered in Brussels, do not want to be sitting in the middle of disputed territory or in charge of it.

"There are people who think that would be an ideal situation for Brussels if Brussels was to become a kind of 'Washington, DC' under the direct management of the [European] Commission. But the Commission has never, ever, shown any sign that they were willing to accept that," said Caroline Segasser.

Belgium's king has asked Yves Leterme to continue trying to form a coalition. Leterme says he hopes to bring the parties back to the table next week.

In the meantime, the Belgian Foreign Ministry²², run by a caretaker foreign minister, has reportedly instructed its embassies to reassure²³ political and business partners abroad that Belgium is not breaking up and that a government will be formed "when the time is right."

1 conglomeration   

n.团块，聚集，混合物

参考例句：

• a conglomeration of buildings of different sizes and styles 大小和风格各异的建筑楼群
• To her it was a wonderful conglomeration of everything great and mighty. 在她看来，那里奇妙地聚集着所有伟大和非凡的事业。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 affinity   

n.亲和力，密切关系

参考例句：

• I felt a great affinity with the people of the Highlands.我被苏格兰高地人民深深地吸引。
• It's important that you share an affinity with your husband.和丈夫有共同的爱好是十分重要的。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 budging   

v.（使）稍微移动( budge的现在分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步

参考例句：

• Give it up, plumber. She's not budging. 别费劲了，水管工。她不会改变主意的。 来自互联网
• I wondered how Albert who showed no intention of budging, felt about Leopold's desertion. 对于从未有迁徙打算的艾伯特来说，我不知道它会怎样看待利奥波德这样弃它而去呢。 来自互联网

9 lament   

n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹

参考例句：

• Her face showed lament.她的脸上露出悲伤的样子。
• We lament the dead.我们哀悼死者。

10 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

11 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

12 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

13 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

14 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

15 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

16 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

17 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

18 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

19 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

20 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

21 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

22 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

23 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。