"wfs, can you elaborate your description of the flemish pro-independence parties as engaging in or turning to nazism?"

During WWI, a flemish movement started to exist at the front. Flemish got their orders in french at a time they hardly spoke any french, so it led to several problems. At the same time, the germans stimulated this unhappyness in the occupied part of Belgium (for a map about the frontline of WWI: http://www.a-w-a.be/nl/belgium1.jpg).
After WWI some first changes were made considering the languages in Belgium, although it went terribly slow. The Front Movement started a political party, the Front Party, a party striving for a bilingual Belgium. Since the changes happened so slow, a lot of people got frustrated and turned away from the Movement. These people started different parties in the late '20s and early '30s, and followed the general tendency of becoming extremely right wing and fascist. The new parties were VNV and Verdinaso, who both develloped great bonds with the Nazi party and collaborated with them (Verdinaso even was for a "greater germany") and they became prime suppliers of SS-troops. The German regnum of course stimulated these feelings.
After WWII, the real big changes in languages started, the country was divided in 3 communities (Flanders, Wallonia and the German Eupen-Malmedy) and 3 regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels) with all of them regulating bodies. With this one can say that equality was established.

"as for that wiki article, the impact of the eu aid was ambiguous. footnote #6 itself is ambiguous."

I added it as a 2nd source, as people are more likely to trust wikipedia rather than a random article.

"as for eastern european countries wanting to join eu, was it for the net transfer payments or ease on trade restrictions/tariffs and emigration? i've never heard of the former reason."

Those too, but heavy aid to build up your economy is one too

"p.s. how is frenzy's post less off-topic than BW's yet if not still un-f-modded. if i had to hazard a guess, i'd say nationalism, but that's just a guess."

Cause I simply overlooked it.

Aparently, no one can/is willing to have a discussion about this matter, so I'm considering to close this thread..

<<

Same sentiment as the Yell and I live 'next door'..

i'm guessing now the overall belgian situation isn't that bad.
if walonia becomes a seperate country, they'll be rather far behind, and will probably qualify for a lot of european subsidies as well.

well, i think a wallonia without brussels will never be able to live, as it doesn't have any decent sized cities.

I don't want to offense BW, but it seems that he too neglects discussions (something he accuses me of) when his statements were proven wrong

The only sensible solution is to divide Belgium in half so that there are two states and the Walloons and Flemish and Brusselaren are split between them. That way the ethnic factions are further divided and weakened.

"I give a shit less what the EU "GAVE" to Ireland, or "MAY" continue to give to Ireland.
Really.  I dont care.
I do know that Ireland has a low corporate tax, and they have attracted a lot of business to their country because of this."

You said the EU didn't do anything. "Not caring" doesn't make you less wrong

"As to the Greatly at odds, who knows why they are even called a country, very ununited conglomerate of individual entities (not feifdoms tongue) known as Belgium."
"Why stay under the shackles of a false federal structure known as BELGIUM."

You have absolutely no clue. The Belgian state isn't a suppressing body that prohibits the freedom of it's parts. If you use that standards, then the UK, Sweden, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia, Hungary and some others should all stop to exist. Belgium is exactly like those, only here, they seem to struggle over silly problems like dividing a constituency (that's the wikipedia translation for "kieskring"). I'm sure you wouldn't let the Native Americans claim a region of the USA as a seperate country, would you?

"I cant wait to see the Wallonia Olympic uniforms."

I find that both offensive and racist.

walloons, traditionally, have always exercised in the nude