‘I am not arguing in favour of moving regional boundaries or tinkering with political structures. The borders have been created and they need to be respected. The political machinery is what it is and is seen to be functioning properly.

However, what I am calling for is a healthy dose of common sense. We can’t turn the clock back to a time when Flanders was full of Flemish people and everybody spoke Flemish. It should be possible to use another language to promote Dutch lessons or a citizenship course.

It basically comes down to the fact that you sometimes have to put your foot down but you generally just have to show you are open to people as human beings.’

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