England Backs Flanders

From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Sat, 2007-09-29 12:44

A quote from the Huntsman on his blog, 29 September 2007

One important point that was made concerned the degree to which England has over the last one thousand years had so much to do with The Low Countries (a phrase that is now in desuetude but which I use here as neutral code for both Flanders and The Netherlands), often to the mutual commercial benefit of each party and often in ways which enriched us culturally as well as economically. […]

So the relationship of England and Flanders over the centuries seems to have been largely a good one, built on sound economic ties and not marred by the sorts of constant warfare which have characterised, before 1603, our relationship with Scotland (and the odd little blip since then) and, until the Great War, our relationship with France. […]

[T]here is in all this a sound message is that if Belgium splits, England might care to look to Flanders to develop anew a close relationship built on mutual respect, history, shared economic interests and development of a more Atlanticist approach to the many mutual interests that exist. And if Flanders should ever want to come knocking at our door with a proposal….well, we should look at them as our equals from whom we can learn much (not least how to make those wonderful chocolates!) and who would be a much more attractive partner than the Painted Picts who cost us an arm and a leg and who show no real signs of wanting to give up their Wallonia-style Socialist and Statist model.

And, if Flanders wants to go it alone, she should know that many here will be understanding of her motives and will wish her well in her great undertaking which now seems to have a degree of inevitability about it and that many of us will hope to refresh the ties of friendship which have long existed between us.

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@ Schaveiger

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Mon, 2007-10-01 21:03.

You are an intelligent person,of course you agree with my last statement. ;-)

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@ Atlanticist

Submitted by Schaveiger on Mon, 2007-10-01 19:55.

1. The UK is IN the EU.

2. The UK determines but some Scots are not happy with them.

3. That's what they do, despite the sabotage by a bunch of inpatriotics.

And I agree with your last statement.

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@ schaveiger

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Mon, 2007-10-01 15:03.

My position is consistent and unrelenting:
 
1 The UK gets OUT of the EU.
 
2  The UK determines its own internal relationships.
 
3 The Belgian people decide what happens to their artificial country.
 
Unless and until these events take place in the REAL world,everything else is speculation and conjecture. 

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@ Atlanticist

Submitted by Schaveiger on Mon, 2007-10-01 14:39.

Just like here where they are Flemish AND Belgian. And just like the Flemish here, a fistfull Scots want to get rid of the British and play it alone. Am only concerned with their mental health and since,like suggested elsewhere, there are some acquaintances between the Scots and the Flemish, the Britons may take the opportunity to offer them a new home (I mentionned Palestine but it could also be Afghanistan or Irak, where plenty of space is available now).

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@Schaveiger

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Mon, 2007-10-01 13:46.

They are Scots AND British,which makes them part of the "they" you allude to in your original post.

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@ Atlanticist

Submitted by Schaveiger on Mon, 2007-10-01 13:08.

Nope - they're Scots first.

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Re: Let's move on ( .org )

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Mon, 2007-10-01 12:56.

The Scots ARE British...

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Let's move on ...

Submitted by Schaveiger on Mon, 2007-10-01 11:57.

British have a huge experience in retracing frontiers and relocate people who still are very grateful to them.

Wouldn't it be more human if they move the Israelites to Scotland and the Scots together with the Flemish separatists to Palestine?

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Historically, the Flemish

Submitted by spraynasal on Sun, 2007-09-30 15:15.

Historically, the Flemish consider that their national awakening comes from the Battle of the Golden spurs (1302) , but the Flemish battle organization at that time was inspired, not by England, but by Scotland! Their were using schildtrons, which had been developed at the Battle of Stirling Bridge  (1297)by..William Wallace ("Braveheart")...!!!  

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@Aeneas

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Sun, 2007-09-30 01:14.

Let me 'sleep on it ' over the weekend,and talk to a couple of people.

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Let's get the ball rolling

Submitted by Aeneas on Sun, 2007-09-30 00:34.

Atlanticist - let's set such an organisation up or at least get the ball rolling for such an organisation. If you want you can contact me via the email on my blog and we can start taking this idea forward.

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Go to it Huntsman .

Submitted by THE DOCTOR on Sat, 2007-09-29 19:59.

You already know that I support this wholeheartedly , a straight exchange of Flanders for Scotland . Yes , I could live with that , no , I would damn well love it .

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@Aeneas

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Sat, 2007-09-29 16:13.

What an excellent idea.

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A Special Relationship

Submitted by Aeneas on Sat, 2007-09-29 15:37.

As an Englishman I look forward to good relations between my country and an independent and free Flanders. Together we can work firstly to weaken and then to remove the iron grip of the EU from our countries.

But why wait for the independence of Flanders when people in both countries can start to develop close ties now? Flanders is oppressed by Belgium and England is oppressed by the EU. What we need to do is create some kind of Anglo-Flemish association that would celebrate the things that we have in common, promote the interests of the people of each country, and encourage the development of friendships, cultural exchanges and business relationships.

It would be a very good thing if a new special relationship between the people of Flanders and the people of England could be developed.

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Re: old painting

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Sat, 2007-09-29 14:02.

Tut,tut,tut,Armor.Surely you can do better than that...
 
I've got an idea.Why don't you post your own propaganda video on You Tube? You could call it  "Leave Brittany Alone!"

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old painting

Submitted by Armor on Sat, 2007-09-29 13:14.

An example of the fruitful cooperation between England and the Low Countries.

Attack on the Medway, by Van Soest.

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