December 13, “La Une”, government-funded TV-station for the Walloon region, interrupts its regular broadcast schedule for a life announcement that the Flemish region has unilaterally declared independence. Effectively ending the existence of Belgium as a federal state.
As the story develops, news comes in that King Albert II went into exile, the border has been closed for all traffic and police forces have been deployed at the rise of unrest at the new border. Several politicians are interviewed, among them the chairman of the Walloon parliament.
People start panicking and calling the station and the cabinet of the Prime Minister. Internationally, French newspaper “Le Monde” and American news-station CNBC take interest in the story.
... Or not?
Meanwhile, in the Flemish region, and at the border, all is calm.
Now what?
Halfway through the broadcast, it is announced that what is shown is, in fact, not a special news-bulletin, but merely a so-called ‘docu-fiction’. Meant to catch the attention of the general public to the current political debate about redistributing federal tasks to the individual regions and communities, and the future of Belgium as a single federal state inside the European Union.
(A situation comparable with the current status of Scotland within the UK, where Scotland, England, Wales and North-Ireland each would demand more independence)
As you could guess, by the time the broadcast ends, the entire political landscape is on fire.
Politicians calling it an outrage, a shameful abuse of authority by ‘La Une’, irresponsible, intolerable, repulsing,…
And yes, separatist intentions and questioning the Monarchy is a really politically sensitive topic.
I believe this has got to be biggest hoax in Belgian history ever to be performed by a TV-station. (The government has pulled off some bigger ones)
Was it for a right cause?
Personally I think they’re overreacting out of fear. The Walloon region is currently economically strongly tied (dependant is not a PC thing to say) to the Flemish region. So an actual split would potentially be disastrous, perhaps not economically, but definitely politically.
Some ‘tuff nuts’ have to be cracked in the coming debates, but the time of an actual ‘declaration of independence’ is still a long way of. (Although literally everything would be possible in a surrealistic county like Belgium)
