Straddling mountains is an exhilarating pleasure to King Albert (see cut). Straddling the "language issue" is an excruciating, chronic pain to Belgium's successive prime ministers.
The issue: Belgians are linguistically a mixture of French speakers and Flemish speakers, each faction striving to oust the language of the other from Belgium's schools. Last February the famed University of Ghent was made 100% Flemish-speaking by Parliament. Recently Minister of Science & Arts Maurice Vauthier decreed that no professor from the University of Ghent may teach in other Belgian colleges.
Although M. Vauthier is a Liberal,...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
