Flemish lion asserts itself around the Belgian capital

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2007

ZAVANTEM, Belgium (AFP) — Tens of thousands of Belgian Dutch speakers, many on bicycles, encircled Brussels Sunday to mark the region's Flemish "character" amid political turmoil between the linguistic communities.

Organisers estimated that more than 70,000 people turned out for the 27th annual "Gordel," or "belt" in Dutch; a series of rides through and around the outer suburbs of Brussels, a largely French-language part of Flanders.

The event had a distinct political flavour this year, as divisions between the two main communities -- there is also a tiny German-speaking minority -- hold up the formation of a federal government.

"I've come for some sport but also for a bit of politics," said one young father. "I'm not a separatist but we can't just let...