Wallonia to join up with France?

Daniel Ducarme, the former prime minister of the Brussels Capital Region analyses in the French daily Le Figaro the possibility of closer ties between Wallonia and France following Belgium's government crisis: "Around half of the Walloons - 49 percent - support unification with France. ... No one knows what tomorrow will bring but one thing is becoming increasingly certain: nothing will be the same as it was. ... A chapter has come to an end. The next page has yet to be written. French-speaking Belgians have four obligations for the future: clarity, solidarity, diligence and far-sightedness. ... Clarity is imperative in asserting our identity. First name: Belgium. ... Surname: France. We are more than just French-speaking, we belong to the French culture by virtue of our values, [our belief in] the pre-eminence of the rights of the individual and a certain concept of the role and mission of the state. ... I am convinced that Belgium must plan its future ... together with France."

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