Letters to the Editor
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“Goodbye, Belgium”
Re: “Goodbye, Belgium” (editorial, September 11). Having served for five years as U.S. ambassador to Belgium, I can assure your readers that the Belgium of my experience is totally different from yours. If a democratic government represents all the people, Belgium’s coalitions are more democratic than the current government of our own country. That Belgium has not yet formed its new government following the June 10 elections is its way of guaranteeing that all the people are represented. When it comes to government bureaucracy, Belgium’s is dwarfed by the bureaucracy in the United States.
Seventeen hundred U.S.companies find Belgium to be the country of their choice for both manufacturing and operations in Europe. On Memorial Day when we are cooking hamburgers and frankfurters, tens of thousands of Belgians are attending services in our three cemeteries in Belgium. One ceremony dates back to World War I, and, in the town of Ypres, every evening of the year taps is played while our flag is lowered.
When you state that the Social and Christian Democrats collaborated with the Nazis in World War II, you insult the thousands of them who were serving the government in exile in London and who were fighting and dying in the Resistance in Belgium. Where there are cultural differences between the French- and Flemish-speakers, they have always been dealt with peacefully. Noone has ever been killed. During my term representing our country, Belgium became the model for the solution in Bosnia. It was Belgium, when our Congress would not fund peace efforts in Croatia, which made the peace. Finally, Belgium is the home of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union because, as an open and democratic society, it is the obvious place from which to build a stronger, more prosperous Europe, a Europe which is America’s best friend.
Alan Blinken
Former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and Chairman of the Washington Center
New York, N.Y.
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