Sophie de Schaepdrijver: “Nothing plucky about breaking up Belgium”

In the Guardian of June 17, Simon Jerkins wrote an inspiring article as a reaction on the electoral victory of the Flemish nationalists titled “Plucky Belgium is leading the way. Today Flanders, tomorrow Scotland”. He summarized the history of ‘artificial’ Belgium, the fate of Flanders, explained parts of the grievance of the Flemings in the current Belgian constitution, made referrals to Slovakia and  Slovenia and continued his article with a strong advocacy for more Euro-regionalism. Monday, The Guardian published a reaction of Sophie de Schaepdrijver, Belgian historian and Associate Professor at the Pennsylvania State University.  In her article titled “Nothing plucky about breaking up Belgium” she was trying to overthrow the arguments of Jerkins with an amalgam of incomplete,incorrect and misleading facts about the New Flemish Alliance completely useless for the readers of the Guardian and out of the context . She was even referring to the viewpoints of (swallow) the ‘brilliant Flemish writer’ Tom Lanoye very well known in the UK…  Consequently we conclude that her reaction was mere Flanders bashing.  Mrs. de Schaepdrijver is well-known in Flanders as a revisionist of the crimes and discrimination of the Belgian regime and for her eager preaches to make every Flemish nationalist suspect. She is also a member of B plus, a Belgian nationalistic lobbying group.