The first episode of the language war in Belgium took place in 1968, when the Francophones and the Flemish split the University of Leuven. Afterwards, several waves of separatism, initially spreading among the Catholics and then within various political parties, led Belgium to become nearly ungovernable as a federal state.
Indeed, after the election in June 2010 no federal government was formed for 230 days. This, however, had no significant consequences neither on the European scene, since Belgium performed well as the president of the EU, nor on the economy, nor on the daily lives of the Belgians themselves, i.e., the country has so many layers of administration that it continued to run.
The fact that Belgium belongs to the Eurozone enables the parties to stay strong on their position. The Belgian crisis has certain similarities with the trouble concerning the Euro, and shares the same roots, i.e., a division between the Germanic frugal North and the spend-thrift Latin South.
Compared to the previous crises in Belgium, this one has a unique element; for the first time, an openly separatist party obtained the majority in Flanders. Indeed, by 'putting the gun out of politics', the European integration has two contradictory effects. On the one hand, it helps to solve some conflicts in Europe. On the other hand, it enables the emergence of nationalist parties, for which people do not fear to vote, because they feel no sense of danger.
Within the EU the partition of Belgium will probably not be without consequences; it can pave the way towards divisions in other Member States, especially in the Eastern ex-communist Member States.
However, changing borders is not only far from being the best democratic tool to solve a conflict but also very difficult to implement (e.g., the question of splitting Brussels). This is probably a reason why the Flemish and the Walloons will have to continue to live together.
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