Wilders wants Dutch merger with Flanders

Tuesday 13 May 2008

Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, should be united with the Netherlands, says Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration PVV party in an interview with the Telegraaf.

Wilders says the recent political crisis in Belgium means the country is once again ‘in a mess’. The Dutch have more in common with the Flemish-speaking Belgians than they have with their French speaking compatriots, he says and calls on the Dutch prime minister to take up the challenge and sound out his Flemish counterpart on the possibility of a merger.

But Jan Peter Balkenende answers the paper that he has no intention in telling the Belgians how to run their country. Meanwhile Wilders warns that such a move must be voluntary. ‘The idea isn’t to send troops to the south,’ he tells the Telegraaf.

The paper says an opinion poll last year showed 60% of the Dutch were positive about a merger with Flanders.

© DutchNews.nl

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