For the Belgians, the unhealthy French joke of dissolution | EUROtoday

In Meix-devant-Virton, two thousand eight hundred inhabitants, within the province of Belgian Luxembourg, the mayor, Pascal François, scratches his head. What will occur to its twinning with Guérigny, in Nièvre, the place the National Rally (RN) received 42.17% of the vote on June 9? “Here, we know what the extreme right is worth and we don't want it, explains this socialist who has been running this village for thirty years. She recently presented a list with a guy convicted of pedophilia. » Will the former railway worker still go to France if the RN is in power tomorrow? “I don't actually know. We can't punish everybody.”

In Meix, Virton and all the municipalities in this part of Belgium, along two invisible borders, the one with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the one with France, there is no mayor or town hall, but a councillor and town halls on whose pediments the blue, white and red flag often flies. In many homes, people watch more French channels than Belgian ones and they follow closely the upheavals of French political life. “It’s so much more exciting than back home,” believe Marylène Pierre, professor of history and French at Virton, and her daughter Zoé, law student in Louvain-la-Neuve.

Exciting, but worrying about the future consequences of Emmanuel Macron's choice to dissolve the National Assembly. “Morally, can a head of state do that? “, asks the professor. Deputy mayor of Tintigny, 10 kilometers from Meix, the liberal Benoît Piedboeuf can be shocked: “Of course, a French president needs a majority, but there, the game is really dangerous and could especially suit Vladimir Putin.”

In this inexperienced nook, persons are incredulous at the specter of seeing one other founding nation of the European Union swing to the acute proper. “Many of my fellow citizens ask me: 'Macron, what's gotten into him?' explains Vincent Wauthoz, the liberal mayor of Virton. He knows France better than I do, but has he chosen the right moment to make voters face up to their responsibilities? However, it is for Eric Ciotti, the president of the Republicans, who advocates an alliance with the RN, that this right-wing elected official reserves his arrows: “He betrayed both de Gaulle and his country, like Pétain. »

Exclude the far right from majorities

On the night of June 9, whereas the Belgians had additionally voted for his or her federal and regional deputies, it was the French president's speech that the Virtonais have been ready for. In entrance of the Chez Neuch bar, two college students wishing to stay nameless say satirically: “The Belgians are world champions of political crises and quarrels between Flemish and Walloons? I feel our French pals are properly on their solution to beating us. »

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