­528 days after the election of June 13, 2010 (!) Belgium finally has a new government, a disreputable record. What was that all about?

For just this one blog, I’d like to go “local”. For me, Brussels is not “the European Union”, it’s my hometown and Belgium, for better or worse, is my country.

This 6 December, 2011, Belgium finally has a new national government, a year and a half after the last federal election, making this the longest political deadlock in the country’s history. It’s probably also a world record, not really one to boast about.

Belgium never was international frontpage news, only after the mid-1990s did it start to appear in the foreign press. I can understand that people abroad know little about my country, it is after all rather small, just 10 million people and the ethnical/linguistic chaos looks rather confusing to a passer-by.

The majority of Belgians are native Dutch speakers, a language they share with their neighbors in the Netherlands.  Yet most foreigners still think it is a French-speaking country. To outsiders, the linguistic system of the country’s institutions is an unfathomable maze and a waste of precious time. Well, I can tell you that Belgians themselves think likewise!

The British media in particular excel in condescending comments when describing the country. That goes back to its origins. Belgium is the youngest country of Western Europe, dating back to… 1830. It does not have a historical past beyond that date. Before 1830, the territory had been part of the Netherlands, France, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Saxony, belonging to the Franks, the Teutons, the Roman Empire… Some English people think “it’s not even a real country”. Well OK, surrealism was invented here.

Unlike the French, the English, the Dutch or the Germans, Belgians have a hard time defining their own identity. Most of the time, people will just say what they are “not”. Ask most Flemish people, and they will tell you just that: I am not a French-speaking Belgian!

So yes, there are good reasons not to be proud of this recent crisis, refusing to form a majority because of some petty language issues while real economic problems abound.

Yet there is also another way of looking at the Belgian “model”. Despite our bickering over linguistic problems ever since 1830, this country has never known a civil war. (The only time it did come close to a civil war in the 50s was over social issues, when police killed coalminers during a general strike.)

Despite our linguistic “troubles”, the country is not, and never was Northern Ireland, the Basque region or the Balkans. Not one shot was ever fired in this fight. And the linguistic conflict never stopped the country from becoming one of the most prosperous countries in the world, boasting a public healthcare system that far outclasses the French, German, Dutch and British national health services.

There is another specific reason to be proud of this government. The new prime minister Elio di Rupo is a child of Italian immigrants, who arrived completely destitute in the country in the 50s. He lost his father when barely one year old, and was raised by his mother, who only spoke Italian.

In primary school, he was a worse-than-average pupil. According to the mentality of the day, he was considered “not very bright”. In those days, it did not cross the teachers’ minds that the young boy was only struggling with the French language.

He was sent to a professional school, destined to become a low-skilled menial worker, where he also had to suffer humiliation and discrimination for being a “rital” (a slur for “retourne en Italie” – “get back to Italy”).  Against all odds, he defied his school counselors and became a civil engineer.

His beginnings in the Wallonian Socialist Party were not easy, either. His dandy attire antagonized many, but once he showed his political abilities, that all changed. Today his homosexuality is not an issue in the media, not that they keep quiet about it, it’s just not a matter of concern. We Belgians judge a man by his actions, not by his private life. Take that, British gossip media.

All this is not to say that the policy choices of his government are to my liking (they are not), but that is not the subject of this blog.

Today, a poor Italian homosexual immigrant is prime minister of my country. Somehow, that makes me feel proud. When a man can overcome so much prejudice, then there is still a future for this country.

PS. Despite what Flemish nationalists keep saying, in a recent opinion poll only 20 % of Flemish people are in favor of a secession.  Again, this country has a future!

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.