Only one of the country’s dailies devotes its front page to the shabby anniversary. “Nonetheless it still works,” announces Le Soir. However, the French daily regrets that “a new more efficient, structured and pacified Belgium has not been born out of this chaos. In acknowledging that this is not the case today, we feel scornful, disappointed and even disgusted." De Standaard, which contents itself with an editorial on the issue, remarks “we have missed out on 365 days of politics.” The Flemish daily goes on to point out that “the belief that this political Twilight Zone can continue indefinitely is a dangerous illusion."

Still no government in Brussels, and the silence is deafening in Europe. Little by little, Belgium is sinking into a political coma and its neighbours do not seem to be concerned. As Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung recently pointed out, the lack of a government has not put a stop to day-to-day life in the country, which also made a success of its six-month EU presidency.

However, we should bear in mind that Belgium is not just a rank-and-file member of the European Union, but the country that provided the blueprint for most of Europe’s institutions. If it disappears, some serious questions will have to be asked. At a time when attacks on the euro have rocked the EU, Europe’s citizens could do without a further crisis.

Most people, including many Belgians, find it hard to fathom the political games that have been played out in the country since the general election in June of last year. And for populations in countries as far removed from Belgium as Finland, Romania and Portugal, the threat to the collective destiny of the Flemish and Walloon communities may seem like a minor issue. But this is not just a matter of the future of a country of 10 million people or the well-being of Europe’s institutions, the historical development of Europe has resulted in an increased interdependence between member states and their populations and – to paraphrase the famous description of chaos theory – a wing beat in Brussels may have serious consequences in Transylvania or Calabria.

The end of a state founded on the co-existence of several communities will undermine European solidarity, which has already been put to the test by the euro crisis, and have a negative impact on the level of trust between European leaders. At a time when European power is on the wane, the need to safeguard the political and economic tools that provide the basis for European cohesion has never been greater.

That is not to say that Europe should tell the Belgian people what to do, or that the European Union will be unsustainable in the event of a change to the political structure of Belgium, but just to point out that the future of the country should be a matter of concern for all of Europe’s citizens.

According to a poll published by the Francophone newspaper, Le Soir, 44% of the demonstrators were from Brussels, 35% Walloons and only 21% were Flemish. The daily describes the event as “a success,” but warns that if it is to be repeated, “diffuse antipathy to politicians, and the immense desire to safeguard Belgium’s mixed society,” could be quickly transformed into “a display of anger and an outright rejection of politics.”

The French-language daily Le Soir acclaims this Walloon-Flemish coproduction in a country torn by tensions between the two language communities. For this bound-to-be blockbuster – “the most expensive spaghetti Western in the history of Flemish cinema at €9.6m” – the (Flemish) producer enticed animators from the Walloon firm of CoToon Studios, already famed in the “European West” for their contributions to Max&Co and The True Story of Puss’N Boots. “In our country, Suske en Wiske is the perfect example of a great North-South collaboration,” raves CoToon Studios’ managing director. Suske en Wiske and Bob et Bobette are billed in both Flemish and Walloon versions respectively. There is even a special version for the Dutch, who prefer their own accent, of course…