Welcome to The Flemish Republic
Why the Belgian federation should be dissolved and Flanders should become an independent state. |
|
 News
Saxe-Coburg Watch: A Culture of Greed
10/30/2009 :: In a televised speech on July 21, the country’s national holiday, Belgium’s King Albert II lambasted bankers and captains of industry for their “culture of greed,” which in his view has caused the present economic crisis. The King told his compatriots that in times of economic crisis, everyone has to live frugally and thriftily.
Barely had he spoken, or the papers revealed that Albert had just spent 4.6 million euros on a new pleasure yacht. The ship, which is the King’s private property, was built in Italy. It flies the flag of the Belgian Navy and is registered as a NATO vessel. In this manner the King avoids paying 970,000 euro in taxes (i.e. 21% VAT) on the purchase of his yacht. Albert used the bulk of this money to buy two luxury apartments in the Flemish coastal town of Ostend, for a value of 1.5 million euro.
Bilingual
Meanwhile, Albert’s son, Prince Laurent, is frugal in his own way. In early September, he sent his 6-year old daughter, Princess Louise, to the Lycée Français in Brussels. This is a school run by the French state. The Princess previously went to a private school, where her parents paid 25,000 euro per year. The Lycée Français, which is subsidized by the French Republic, only charges 500 euro per year.
Prince Laurent receives an annual stipend of 300,000 euros from the Belgian taxpayers – the majority of whom are Dutch-speaking Flemings. At the Lycée Français, Princess Louise will not, however, be learning any Dutch at all, despite it being the language of those who assure her family its lavish income. If Prince Laurent had sent his daughter to a Belgian government-run school, she would have been given a bilingual education in both French and Dutch, while it would have cost him nothing at all.
Previous page
|
|
|
