Brussels
-
Press review
Belgium is dead, long live Belgium!
12 October 20111Presseurop -
15 September 20112PresseuropDe Standaard
-
5 July 2011Presseurop
-
23 March 2011PresseuropLe Soir
-
European Parliament
MEPs want to bid Adieu to Strasbourg
11 February 2011PresseuropDe Standaard -
24 January 2011PresseuropDe Morgen
-
Belgium
Invasion of the Eurocrats
23 June 2010La Libre Belgique Brussels -
Belgium
Are last-gasp elections invalid?
4 May 2010PresseuropDe Standaard -
Belgian crisis
Who wants to govern this country?
27 April 2010PresseuropDe Standaard -
Government crisis
Does Belgium still make any sense?
23 April 20107Le Soir Brussels -
22 April 20102Trouw Amsterdam
-
Geopolitics
United, but not with Europe
9 February 20102Wprost Warsaw -
3 February 20101Presseurop
-
2 February 2010PresseuropDe Morgen
-
Language
French takes leave of Belgium
22 December 20094Le Monde Paris -
27 November 20092Cafebabel.com Paris
-
26 November 2009România libera Bucharest
-
european parliament
Mr. Johnson goes to Brussels
8 September 20091The Daily Telegraph London -
Religion
The Islamisation myth
28 July 20092The Observer London
On 11 October, after 485 days without a government, Elio Di Rupo — who will likely be Belgium’s next prime minister — and his Flemish and Francophone partners presented a global agreement on state reforms. The compromise deal, which has been viewed as heaven sent, will stabilise the country and pave the way for an end to its long-drawn out political crisis. 
Thirteen months after the last elections, the francophone Elio Di Rupo has put forward his proposals to unblock the political stalemate. It’s one step forward, says the Belgian press, but the country's future is still not guaranteed. 
Multi-cultural Brussels is often described as a laboratory of ideas for urban Europe. But how do local people relate to the presence of the many European institutions in the Belgian capital? 
The ever-strained relations between Flemish and French-speaking Belgians, which came to a head over the proposed breakup of the bilingual voting district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, are tenser than ever now after prime minister Yves Leterme resigned yesterday. And now more than ever before, the very existence of Belgium is on the line. So is there still any point in keeping the country intact? wonders Le Soir’s editor-in-chief. 
Just two months before Belgium takes over the EU presidency, the 22 April resignation of PM Yves Leterme has once again revived fears that the country is on the verge of falling apart at the seams. At the heart of the crisis, disputes over rights and privileges of French and Flemish speakers in the bilingual constituency of BHV, or Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. 
The good news is that from Asia to the Americas, an increasing number of countries are coming together to create unions inspired by the EU. And the bad news? In the long term these entities may overshadow the EU on the world stage, worries Polish weekly Wprost. 
In turning down Europe’s invite to the upcoming EU-US summit in May, Barack Obama has given Europe a chafing reminder of its own weaknesses. Under the Lisbon Treaty, which was supposed to give the world a single number to call in Europe, the numbers have proliferated, bemoans the press, which quite understands the White House’s exasperation. 
Not just in international institutions but everywhere in Brussels the French language continues to lose ground to English. As Le Monde's Belgian correspondent explains, in a country with no lingua franca, the language of Shakespeare allows speakers to avoid choosing between French and Flemish. 
Attracted by the siren call of permanent employment in a high profile institution, young graduates from all over Europe flock to Brussels with their sights set on jobs in the European Commission. But making the move to the Belgian capital is not always an easy transition. Café Babel reports on the trials and tribulations of those who seek entry to the corridors of power. 
In recent months a series of scoops in the European press have unearthed widespread abuse of taxpayers’ money by MPs and ministers in several member countries. As UK and Italian politicos continue to be pilloried, the European Parliament has started putting its own house in order. 
Aiming to create a more secure investment framework in the EU, the AIFM directive has raised fears in the City over its future as international financial centre. On a recent trip to Brussels to plead its cause, London’s mayor Boris Johnson discovered a futuristic city where, he argues, the real centre of power lies, much to the detriment of Westminster. 
In the wake of the London and Madrid bombings, predictions proliferated in print and on web that Islam was entering a radicial and violent phase. Dire warnings of the imminent “Islamisation” of Europe have turned out, however, to be of little substance, reports the Observer.