Dit is hilarisch: buitenlandse kranten over BHV
The Dutch daily De Volkskrant does not understand what all the fuss is about. "The issue nearly makes one despair. Outsiders can hardly understand it."
"When they go to the butcher's in Brussels, Flemings have to speak French. So what? I think it is a perfect opportunity to learn some French," Bart Dirks of De Volkskrant writes.
"Belgium has its own Gaza strip"
The Dutch daily De Telegraaf made an effort to explain the problem, by comparing Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde to an international problem: "Belgium has its won Gaza strip, on Flemish territory near Brussels, where many French-speaking citizens live."
"Every year, large amounts of Flemish money flow from the richer Flemish region to the poorer Walloon region. The Belgians can drink each other's blood."
"Explaining B-H-V? No way!"
Others are more reluctant to write about Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.
Roy Watson of the British daily The Times: "B-H-V? Oh my God! Nobody would understand the problem." Should the Belgian government fall because of B-H-V, Watson will only write two lines about the problem.
Martin Hallusa of the German daily Die Welt: "The problem is too small for us to pick it up. If the government falls, we will write about it, yes. But explaining B-H-V in detail? No way."
Jean-Pierre Stroobants writes for the French newspaper Le Monde: "We haven't written about it so far. Our readers would not understand it anyway. To be honest: I don't understand it myself."
"-houding.