ISIS Liége

[Vulgarian Visigoth]

ISIS Liége

beak wrote:

In fact, there is no Walloon equivalent to the Vlaams Blok.

There is a broad sociopolitical difference between the two groups. The Flemish (or so it seems to me) have a big chip on their shoulder about having been culturally/economically dominated by Wallonian/Francophone interests, a situation that has been reversed with the decline of (typically Wallonian) heavy industry, and the Flemish successes in all the shite that makes people money these days (service industry and internet stuff I think).

Which isn't to say the Flemish nationalists types aren't as horrible bunch of shitbags as one would expect.

(And it's Vlaams Belang ('Flemish Interest') nowadays. Once found myself sharing the concourse of Zadar airport with a huge contingent from their youth wing. Fucking weird, repellent people.)

Yes, in a way I think a parallel can be made with England, with Wallonia being the North (once a prosperous centre of coal mining and heavy industry, now a scenario of post-industrial decay) and Flanders being the South, more oriented to the financial sector and 'soft industry' and as such more prosperous today, which might have something to do with the chip on Standard fans' collective shoulder.

Also, like the North of England, Wallonia is a Socialist stronghold, while Flanders leans much more to the right.

Of course, in terms of political balance the analogy is inexact when you consider the language issue and the fact that Brussels, while not a part of Wallonia, is francophone.