Belgium in Brief has had a hiatus but Belgian affairs have been rumbling on. In the political arena, government formations are falling into place – a refreshingly swift process in Wallonia and Flanders whilst a Federal Government is taking shape. Brussels will take a bit longer.
Meanwhile schools have broken up for summer holidays and the bustle of Belgium's capital has subsided. Those still in the city are sporting seasonal attire: shorts with umbrellas.
And though the media has lately been animated by football and a rollercoaster presidential race, Belgium is quietly building towards National Day. The bunting is lining Brussels streets and traffic is being diverted as preparations are made for military parades and public parties.
Of course, readers of The Brussels Times couldn't have missed our National Day coverage, in which we took the opportunity to delve into deeper questions of identity, being Belgian, dining Belgian, and how this unassuming landmass has become home for so many expats who were pulled into its orbit and grew to love the peculiarities that escape explanation.
Though 21 July is hardly an outpouring of patriotism, with festivities generally muted in a country famously fractured, the complexity that runs through national affairs, language communities, and culture is enthralling. Could Belgium even provide an unlikely model for how stark differences in political persuasion and background can actually make a nation stronger, rather than irreparably divided? Let @Orlando_tbt know.
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