Belgium in 2004

Belgium in 2004

Area: 30,528 sq km (11,787 sq mi)
Population (2004 est.): 10,416,000
Capital: Brussels
Chief of state: King Albert II
Head of government: Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt

Elections in mid-June 2004 in Belgium’s three regions—Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels—brought major strains to Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt’s Liberal-Socialist federal coalition government less than a year after it had come into office. Verhofstadt’s own Dutch-speaking Liberal party, VLD-Vivant, fared badly and was pushed into third place in Flanders, overtaken even by the extreme right-wing Vlaams Blok. In November, however, the Supreme Court of Belgium ruled that Vlaams Blok had violated antiracism laws and was thus not a legal party. Elsewhere the main victor was the French-speaking Socialist Party, which consolidated its leading position in Wallonia and overtook the French-speaking Liberals to become the main political force in Brussels. In the complex negotiations that followed, the Socialists ended their previous government partnerships with the Liberals in Wallonia and the Belgian capital and established new coalitions in both regions with the centre-right Humanist Democratic Centre.

The political maneuvers ended the symmetry that had previously existed whereby Liberals and Socialists were driving forces at both the federal and regional levels. The change in political fortunes soon made it harder for Verhofstadt, who failed at the same time in his bid to become European Commission president, to drive through national policies, which required the cooperation of regional governments. This was demonstrated by a crisis in the autumn over the number of night flights over Brussels from Zaventem airport, located nearby in Flanders. After the federal, Flemish, and Brussels authorities failed to reach a settlement with DHL, the courier company canceled plans to expand its European hub at the airport.

The highest-profile event of the year was the three-month-long trial in the small southern town of Arlon of convicted rapist Marc Dutroux. In June, eight years after his arrest, Dutroux was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of two teenage girls and a male accomplice. He was also found guilty of the kidnapping, imprisonment, rape, and abuse of these young women, two eight-year-old girls (who had starved to death in an underground cell), and two other girls who survived their ordeal and testified against him in court. Dutroux’s ex-wife received a 30-year sentence as an accessory, and another accomplice was sent to prison for 25 years. A fourth defendant was acquitted of the kidnapping but was given a five-year sentence for drug trafficking and conspiracy to traffic human beings. Just a few weeks after Belgium’s “trial of the century,” the nation was again appalled when serial killer Michel Fourniret confessed to the murders of nine people, mostly young girls, between 1987 and 2001.

Sobelair, the Belgian charter airline, which had survived the bankruptcy in November 2001 of its former parent company, Sabena, itself went into liquidation in January 2004, and almost 500 jobs were lost. After Sabena, Delsey Airlines, and City Bird, it was the fourth Belgian airline to fold since 1991. Interbrew, previously the number three brewer in the world, moved to the top slot, pushing Anheuser-Busch of the U.S. into second place after the Belgian company acquired a 21.8% interest in Brazil’s Ambev. Following the merger Interbrew changed its name to Inbev.

In January Belgium extended existing legislation on same-sex marriages to allow gay Belgians to marry foreign partners. Previously, the right covered only nationals from countries where same-sex marriages were legal and thus effectively enabled only Belgians and Dutch to benefit. (See Law, Crime, and Law Enforcement Special Report.) Between September 2002, when euthanasia was decriminalized, and the end of 2003, 259 cases of mercy killing were officially recorded. During that period, the number of cases rose from 8 to 21 per month.

BY: Rory Watson