To merge of not to merge?

Day 1,122, 13:38 • Published in Netherlands Netherlands • by Fhaemita




I wanted to post a article about a topic that lately seemed to become a hot topic again, the merger between the Netherlands and Belgium. It has been a topic of discussion for many times now since Belgium regained there "freedom" after the resistance war started by the PTO The group" back in October 2009 and a topic that seems to keep coming back as a discussion point.

the last week there been a lot of discussion and also a lot of trolling going on both from the Dutch side and from the Belgian side about a merger. There are a lot of people who still think this is a good idea and a lot of people who still hold ill feeling about the eUnited Netherlands union that we had until october 2009. Personally as I was born only a month after Belgium was freed I don't memories of the merger and who it was. As a newbie you look very different at things and maybe not clearly as there are a lot of things you don't understand. I left the country shortly after the union was broken.

To answer my own question that I asked in the topic title of this article, to merge of not to merge? Personally I still think that a merger between the Netherlands and Belgium is a good idea. Both are small countries and both have problems because of the lack of size and the lack of citizens. A merger would ofcourse not solve all the problems with the country has, but it will solve some problems, make some of the issues better, but will also cause new issues.

Yes there is a difference also in foreign affairs policy as the eNetherlands is a part of Phoenix and Belgium is a neutral country that tries to keep relation with both the two big alliances Phoenix and Eden. The Dutch seems to have taken offense that Belgium has been talking to Eden countries. You can hardly blame them as the new Dutch president AndreasIsaksson has set it as a goal in the elections that he wants to conquer all Belgium regions. Ofcourse Belgium will talk to Eden countries to see if they can defend themselves. I don't see the difference in foreign affairs policy as a obsticale that cant be tackled. I am pretty sure that there is a way

The biggest problem with the merger are the people. There has been a discussion if Belgium and the Netherlands would merge if it would be under the Belgium or under the flag of the Netherlands like the previous union. One of the biggest problems is to give everybody citizenship of the new country that will be the host country of the union. The Netherlands has a big more citizens then Belgium so in that way it would be more logical to let Belgium people take eNetherlands citizenship, but on the other side previous time eNetherlands was the host country so it would be fair to switch places this time. the eNetherlands may have some more citizens but most of them are two clickers and I dont think there is much difference in the numbers of active citizen who would really need citizenship of the host country.

As started my previous a paragraph that the biggest problem are the people who life in both country and beside the logistical problems as I explained in the previous paragraph the people are the biggest obsticle in a merger of the two country or better said the stubborn and proud people of the two people. People should get off their high horse and should be able to set their ego's aside for a second and try to see what is better for their country and not for them personally. People want to keep it how it is for whatever reason they have may it being nationalistic reasons, or having a problem with what happened, being scared of being left out of congress or government. Wake up and smell the roses people both countries wont be able to survive in the long term. Getting in congress is hardly a accomplishment in both Belgium and the Netherlands as you can get into congress with one or in some cases even no votes.

I hope that both eNetherlands and Belgium can start seeing past their difference and stop the trolling and start building on a relationship based on mutual respect and on what they have in common instead of always focusing on what the differences are between the two countries. I do hope that people will see that in the long term a merger in the only viable option to survive.



Onwards in Unity & Solidarity!
Eendragt maakt magt

Fhaemita Malodorous