BRUSSELS BRIEFING March 2005

News this month

Of two minds

Many politicians in Belgium and the European Union cordially loathe George Bush. But that did not stop them from laying out the welcome mat when the American president spent three nights in Brussels from February 20th-22nd. Before Mr Bush’s big speech at the Concert Noble in Brussels, Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian prime minister welcomed him to the “capital of Belgium and the capital of Europe”. But seated in the front row was Laurette Onkelinx, a socialist and senior minister in Mr Verhofstadt’s government, who had openly told the Belgian press that she wished that John Kerry had won the presidential election.

Even less diplomatic was the youth wing of the Flemish Socialist Party (SPA), one of Belgium's (four) governing parties, which printed special stickers of Mr Bush to celebrate his visit to Brussels. Alas for the American leader, the stickers were intended for urinals, so that Belgians could “make a statement and show in a playful manner that we do not like the policies of the American president and his visit to our country” (as the press release rather politely puts it). The stickers are for sale on the party's website. Presumably, Mr Verhofstadt made sure they were not placed in the urinals at the Concert Noble.

Return of the prodigals

Tax evasion is something of a national sport in Belgium, which has some of the most punitive tax rates in the world. In particular, Belgians are adept at squirreling their money abroad, so they do not have to declare it or pay tax on the interest. But moves to end bank secrecy across the European Union have made Belgians nervous about their Luxembourg accounts. The Belgian government has declared a timely “tax amnesty” for anyone repatriating illicit funds in 2004. The results have been startling: some 18,500 residents brought some €5.7 billion back into the country. Didier Reynders, Belgium's finance minister, claims that an additional €10 billion was repatriated unofficially.

Bruised toes

The troubled relationship between Belgium and its former colony, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), flared up again during a recent visit to Congo by Karel de Gucht, the Belgian foreign minister. Reporters travelling with Mr de Gucht got briefing documents that suggested that Joseph Kabila, Congo's president, is not of Congolese origin. This was not a helpful rumour to spread, since foreign intervention in Congo is a very sensitive subject, following a civil war in which over 3m people may have died. Mr de Gucht said that personal information about the Congolese president and his four vice-presidents were included in the journalists' briefing pack by mistake.

Mr de Gucht has trodden on Congolese toes before. The DRC recalled its ambassador to Belgium after Mr de Gucht’s previous visit to Congo in October, when he questioned whether the country’s politicians could hold free elections and fight corruption at the same time. Both fair questions, but perhaps impolitic coming from an emissary of the former colonial power. Back in October, the Congolese government accused Mr de Gucht of behaving like Tintin, the colonial-era cartoon adventurer.

Split opinions

Belgium’s 175th anniversary has been greeted with fanfare by the government and the royal family. Museum officials have organised special exhibitions—including one on Magritte—for the occasion. But, as ever, Belgium seems split along communal lines about the anniversary's significance. A poll for Le Soir showed that while 69% of French speakers and 79% of Brussels residents regard the anniversary and the celebrations as important, less than 50% of residents of Dutch-speaking Flanders agreed. Geert Bourgeois, the Flemish tourism minister (with a quintessentially French surname), has been accused of instructing Flanders’s tourist office in Germany not to use the word “Belgium” or the colours of the country’s flag in literature promoting the anniversary. He denies the instruction came from him.

Catch if you can

March 2005

Magritte and Photography

Until May 15th 2005

The country’s most famous modern artist is undoubtedly René Magritte, a surrealist who died in Brussels in 1967. The country’s national gallery contains the world’s finest collection of his work. Now the nearby Palais des Beaux Arts is commemorating the artist's work and life in a show of 350 photographs of and by him.

This exhibit starts with a photograph of his parents taken in 1898, and ends with pictures of his funeral. While these will appeal mainly to those who are already familiar with his work, the exhibition captures something of the man and the spirit of his times. It is rather charming, for example, that a practitioner of such a subversive art-form should have chosen always to paint in a suit and tie.

Palais des Beaux Arts, 10 Rue Royale. Open: Tue-Sat 10am-6pm. See the museum's website.

More from the Brussels cultural calendar