Big day, no matter what critics say
The woman calling from VRT news was baffled. “Why do the British hate Belgium?”
She was of course referring to the furious reactions in the British press to the possibility of a Belgian taking over as president of the European Council. “You must be joking” thundered the Daily Express in reaction to the idea of being “ruled by a Belgian”.
I couldn’t easily answer her question. The British seem to have a problem with Belgium that goes beyond simple dislike. They are strangely obsessed with that tired old joke about no one being able to name ten famous Belgians and insist passionately that it is the most boring country in the world.
It’s true enough that Herman Van Rompuy is not one of the world’s most charismatic leaders. He is one of those amiable Belgians you see walking their dog on a Sunday morning, stopping off in the baker’s to pick up croissants. He is polite and inoffensive. Definitely not an Obama or a Blair.
But nor is he a man without qualities. Like many Belgians he has an odd hobby (duckpin bowling). In the federal parliament, he cites poetry to disarm his opponents. And he can handle impossibly complicated political issues in four languages.
He is, in a way, the perfect embodiment of Europe’s concept of soft power. He’s a smart thinker, not a frustrated war lord. He won’t lead us into an unpopular military adventure just because his conscience tells him it is the right thing. That’s possibly why, at dinner last Thursday, Europe’s elected leaders chose him as president.
The press reaction was mostly lukewarm and sometimes downright hostile. “Herman Who?” asked one Swedish newspaper. So it’s clear that Herman Whatever is going to have a tough job convincing 500 million Europeans that he is the right man to lead them.
However it turns out, November 19, 2009 will go down an important date in Belgian history. For many centuries, this country has been battered around by the great European powers. Now it has given Europe its first president.
Belgians have some reason to be proud of their prime minister, although you will perhaps have noticed that they celebrated quietly, modestly, without a big fuss. As they do in this country.
Derek Blyth
Source: The Bulletin
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Comments
So what?
The British press forgot to state that their apointee, baroness ashsomething,is equally if not more unknown than Mr Van Rompuy.They always try to mock smaller countries in a vainglorious attempt to feel Imperial,,,,,the scots, irish,welsh are usually the butt of any joke,,,,,but the joke's on them now as their influence in europe after Iraq and their banking fiasco is at an alltime low,,
so three cheers for President Van Rompuy and thank god B-liar didn't get the post.
...what critics say.
We (souverainists) weren't about to be satisfied, whoever got the job. If you'd expected some result or other would have had us saying "Oh, now I get it; the federalists were right all along", you were deluded. Van Rompuy has taken the job, and he gets the grief that goes with it. That includes the (at best) derision of most Britons. So what?
horny vamp manure
Even by Belgian standards, Van Rompuy is a particularly grey politician: I don't the British press was espousing hatred so much as bemusement ('you must be joking' is hardly an expression of vitriol). That said, eurosceptics can now point out that another Fleming, De Gucht, has just landed a huge portfolio (DG-Trade in Barroso II) while other Flemings hold prominent EU positions (e.g. Luc van den Brande, President of the Committee of Regions). So Flanders, a region that accounts for just over 1 percent of Europeans, would seem to be just a leetle overrepresented.
GO,GO,GO! HVR!
Herman Van Rompuy doesn't show off. Just a typical, modest guy.The British doesn't hate him. Those people are but handful of disappointed individuals who tried to use the press for their personal ends, what a pity. It pays to be... simply the best!