“The different measures taken by Belgium and the Netherlands to contain the further spread of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) have led to one store only half a store being allowed to open on the border.”
– See story in The Brussels Times
Category Archives: Belgium
Quotes: On the European Union
From Robert Menasse’s acid satire of the European Union, The Capital:
“… the general loss of faith in European institutions was a consequence of poor growth, the menacing threat of right-wing populism – clearly if there were more growth there would be no growth in right-wing populism. And how could we generate more growth? Through greater liberalisation, of course. Instead of the Union stipulating common rules, each Member State ought to axe as many rules as possible for itself. Although there would never be a real union, there would be growth, and this would be best for the Union.”
Enjoyable Series on Europe
Have a look at the British journalist Matthew Engel’s current series of travelogues in The New Statesman
The most recent is Slovenia – the happy country that should be even happier. The previous two in the series are
Travels in Belgium, the dysfunctional, fractured state at the heart of the EU and The slow train to Tallinn, about Estonia.
(Photo is Tallinn, capital of Estonia. Click to enlarge.)
The European Question
In light of German politicians’ inability to form a government, the German Question has been turned on its head. Post-Cold War, the German Question asked how the unification of East and West Germany might be achieved without creating an economic and political juggernaut, with all the baggage that prospect carried.
Suddenly now, wonders Handelsblatt Global, is Germany “becoming incapable of assuming enough leadership to guide and champion Europe in a globalized world?” In the same week, Matthew Engel’s Travels in Belgium, the dysfunctional, fractured state at the heart of the EU reminds us that that country “went 589 days in 2010-11 without a fully-formed government.”
Meanwhile, Brexit still means Brexit and we can all see how that’s working out. Just ask, (among just about anybody else) anyone living along the once and future Republican/Northern Irish border.
Can European governments govern? That is the new European Question.
Reading Around the Web
Looks like my second book, Visiting Chernobyl, is on track for publication by the end of next week. The day it’s up on Amazon I’ll excerpt it here and send the first chapter to everybody who signs up over on the right (Go ahead, sign up now). While I’m tending to that, here are a few entertaining, well done or arcane things to spend some time with:
– A Night under Concrete: Albanian Tourism Project Puts Beds in Bunkers
– Tom Christian, Descendant of Bounty Mutineer, Dies at 77
– How a high school-educated drug smuggler built a fleet of submarines—in the middle of the jungle
– The Enclaves and Counter-enclaves of Baarle
– I Went on the World’s Deadliest Road Trip
Rainy Day Reading
We've been a little scarce here at CS&W as we try to finish up some longer-form writing and get set for a trip to Rapa Nui that's about a month away. More on that as we get closer.
For now, here are ideas of interest from all over, if you're so inclined:
– Not long ago, my pal Rick Lewis moved to Cotacachi, Ecuador. He blogs about it at brokedownpalette.
– Alfred Molon, a Dane, has some 23,000 photos here, from much of the world.
– Albanian Tourism Project Puts Beds in Bunkers, from Der Spiegel.
– Kebabistan, a Eurasianet food blog, is worth a look.
– Update on the state of things in Ukraine, from Salon.
– The Enclaves and Counter-enclaves of Baarle, on the Dutch/Belgian border, from Big Think's Strange Maps.
– And you might have seen that the British have invaded nine out of ten countries, from an upcoming book.
