Have had an enjoyable #be2107 national day around Brussels. A few random thoughts: Europe is much more present even on a *national* day – the King and military saluting the European anthem as well as the Brabançonne, EU flags alongside 🇧🇪 outside the palace.
Even the EU stars on the defence crest (don’t tell Liz Truss). A bilingual pop concert in the park with lots of the artists interviewed talking about multilingualism and @aliceontheroof calling for more cultural crossover between French and Dutch language worlds.
Perhaps I’m Pollyanna-ish but I do have a sense of a growing Belgian identity that is explicitly bi/multi-lingual and bi/multi-cultural. It’s not much reflected in politics but more an emerging cultural space that politics could either kill or support.
After the king’s speech yesterday I also noticed politicians today leaning on inclusion, solidarity and cohesion – though of course if you need to say it …
Anyway, very rough impressions after a couple of beers, and with the caveat that I might have said the same about the UK a decade ago and now look at it being crucified by the English nationalist project – who knows what the future holds.
In any case, it’s good to go to bed optimistic, and sometimes the social shift moves towards diversity and inclusion.
Originally posted as a thread of 6 tweets on Twitter on 21 July 2022. View the original thread.