Flemish Secession hoax

Bye Bye Belgium (code name: Tout ça (ne nous Rendra pas la Belgique), on German about: None of this will bring us back to Belgium) is a fictional live report ( mockumentary ), on Wednesday, 13 December 2006 from the Francophone public broadcasting station RTBF aired on channel La Une. They aired unannounced during prime time ( 20:15 ).

Action

It has been reported the Flemish regional parliament in the north had unilaterally declared the independence of the Dutch -speaking part of the country; in Flanders were jubilant crowds took to the streets, the new boundaries are only difficult to pass and even King Albert II, together with wife have already the country with a military plane in the direction of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo to 1960 Belgian colony ) leave. During the nearly two -hour show called over 2600 viewers who do not discovered the parody, the sender, whose website collapsed under the onslaught and was overloaded even on Thursday.

The regular program was - apparently - interrupted by the reporting in the style of a news flash. Appears, but only for a brief moment: While were at the beginning of the broadcast, the words " Ceci n'est peut- être pas une fiction " ("This is perhaps not fiction " German ). " This is perhaps not fiction " was an allusion to the famous painting by the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte, " Ceci n'est pas une pipe" (This is not a pipe ), which is a pipe. However, it took half an hour, until, at the instigation of the relevant media - Minister of the French Community of Belgium, Fadila Laanan, uncomment the line "This is a fiction " was released.

Follow

The Belgian newspaper " Le Soir " reported the coup would have required a two-year development period and the working title "BBB - Bye- bye Belgium" worn.

Politicians of both parts of the country and of all the parties, including Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and journalists who criticized the show. Those responsible for defending; they indicated that they wanted to bring the real existing problem of the Flemish - Walloon conflict in the public debate. Because in Belgium, the tensions between the economically prospering Flanders and Wallonia have tightened, including the right-wing Flemish nationalists contributed decisively from the Vlaams Belang.

Alain Gerlache, RTBF television director explained that the mission had been so " spectacular," had " because not only the audience of public radio station, but also politicians, foreign journalists, ambassadors and international organizations " believed in the statement of the agreed division of the country.