Last Wednesday the Belgian King Albert II appointed the Flemish Christian-Democrat Herman Van Rompuy as his “scout” (explorateur). Mr Van Rompuy, a member of the Crown Council, has to defuse the political crisis ensuing from the inability of Belgium’s parties to put together a government after last June’s general elections. In Flanders, the Dutch-speaking north of the country, where 60% of the Belgians live, these elections were won by parties that aim for greater Flemish autonomy and are no longer willing to subsidize Wallonia, the Socialist-dominated French-speaking south of the country.
 
In 2004 the economic output per person in Flanders was 124% of the EU average, in Wallonia it was but 90% of the EU average. Today the Walloon business paper L’Echo writes that if Wallonia loses the Flemish subsidies, amounting to 3.3 billion euros, this would cost every Walloon 1,000 euros per year. Brussels, Belgium’s bilingual capital, receives 0.2 billion euros from Flanders each year, or 200 euros per citizen. Some Walloons suggest that if pro-market Flanders secedes from Belgium Socialist-dominated Wallonia cannot survive and will have to join France. 40% of the active population in Wallonia works for the government (compared to “only” 25% in Flanders) and 20% is unemployed (7% in Flanders).
 
Mr Van Rompuy belongs to the pro-Belgian wing of the Flemish Christian-Democrat party CD&V. Officially CD&V aims for the transformation of Belgium into a confederacy. This implies that Flanders and Wallonia become almost independent, but continue sharing the monarchy and a very limited number of competences, such as defence and foreign affairs (which, it should be said, the European Union is gradually beginning to assume).
 
The royal “scout” is shunning the media and refuses to give interviews. He hopes that by keeping a low profile the rising political tensions in Belgium will cool down. Last Wednesday a prominent French Member of the European Parliament, Joseph Daul, expressed his concern about the Belgian crisis. Mr Daul is the group leader in the European Parliament of the European People’s Party, to which CD&V belongs. He said he hoped Belgium will be able to solve its problems soon, “although we are worried, because with Belgium one never knows.” International media are gradually beginning to take notice of the crisis in Brussels. Recently BBC Radio 4 devoted its main Sunday news programme, The World This Weekend to the “Belgian problem.”
 
Yesterday Joshua Keating wrote a piece on the blog of the American journal Foreign Policy about the “simmering ethnic tensions” in Belgium. Keating notes that “If nothing else comes from this, it should certainly give EU diplomats some pause before chastising Albanians and Serbs, Palestinians and Jews, or Sunnis and Shiites for failing to coexist. I suppose Congolese peacekeepers on the streets of Brussels would be too much to hope for.” Keating’s editor remarks that “Belgium was ranked number 167 on the 2007 Failed States Index. We’ll be watching closely to see if the country slips at all in next year’s rankings.”
 
Meanwhile, the Walloon Parti Socialiste, traditionally the dominant party in Belgian politics, is embroiled in a corruption scandal involving Pierre-Dominique Schmidt, Belgium’s ambassador to France. France is Belgium’s most powerful neighbour. If the country falls apart, the role of France will be pivotal. The position of Belgian ambassador to Paris is a privilege of the PS. Belgian diplomats need the patronage of a political party. As a rule the position in Paris is bestowed on a diplomat who is a PS party member. He is one of the most important ambassadors in Belgium.
 
Last Wednesday the Flemish weekly P-Magazine revealed that Ambassador Schmidt had forged Foreign Office documents in order to obtain bank loans to pay for his luxurious life style. The ambassador has been throwing regular private disco parties costing up to 75,000 euros. Ambassador Schmidt is a homosexual and a friend of PS leader Elio Di Rupo, the president of the Walloon Regional Government. According to P-Magazine, Mr. Di Rupo, who is also a homosexual, attended some of Schmidt’s parties. The magazine writes that the Belgian embassy in Paris is known at the Belgian Foreign Office in Brussels as ‘la cage aux folles,’ after a French 1978 movie about a homosexual couple that runs a nightclub featuring drag entertainment.
 
On the day the article appeared Ambassador Schmidt was recalled to Brussels. Today the Parisian newspaper Le Figaro provided additional details about the parties of the gay ambassador “that did not benefit the image of Belgium in France.” The Belgian judiciary has opened an investigation. The Ambassador denies the charges of counterfeiting. His lawyer, Marc Uyttendaele, is the husband of Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian minister of Justice, who is a leading PS politician.