Reform in Belgium remains difficult

The compromise to the year-long dispute over the bilingual electoral arondissement Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV) may have been greeted with enthusiasm in Belgium but the euphoria is out of place, warns the Flemish daily De Standaard, because the fight over Brussels is not over yet: "Brussels is a pars pro toto for the construction errors of the Belgian federation. It is only right that in a bilingual country the minority enjoys a certain amount of protection. ... But it cannot be that a minority is protected to such an extent that it can continually block the majority. ... Laws can't stop people living on Brussels' periphery from speaking French. Nor can peace, let alone friendliness, be imposed by law - steps towards this must be taken by both sides. Belgium's ability to survive depends on this, and on the willingness to tackle the true challenges the future holds without group egoism."

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