In Halle, a Flemish municipality 20km south-east of Brussels, the local authorities have decided that only Dutch-speaking parties can display their posters on the electoral billboard space.
In Affligem, a municipality also situated in the Flemish Brabant, 20km west-north-west of Brussels, the authorities decided to cover posters in French with white paper.
Belgian law requires municipalities to provide political parties with billboard space to display their posters in the month preceding the elections.
Nevertheless, the municipalities of Merchtem, Beersel, Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Machelen, Ternat, Meise and Grimbergen, which are all in the Brussels area, said they would not provide billboard space, in order to "eliminate" French-language posters from the urban landscape.
Meanwhile, the authorities of Steenokkerzeel, Ternat and Grimbergen are distributing stickers to be displayed on mailboxes, requesting that "only Dutch flyers are accepted".
The French-speaking centrist party CDH condemned what it called "this new blow on the basic rights of the French-speaking population in [Brussels] periphery".
Answering a question asked in the Flemish parliament, Flemish Interior Minister Marino Keulen explained that displaying posters was free and not governed by linguistic legislation.
Brussels is a majority French-speaking city, but its periphery is Flemish. The 100,000 or so French speakers who live there enjoy special privileges, like being able to cast their ballot in the bi-lingual electoral district of Brussels-Hal-Vilvorde (BHV).
But Dutch-speaking parties oppose this privilege and have called for the district to be split into separate Brussels proper and Flemish municipalities. In a sign of protest against the bilingual electoral district, several Dutch-speaking municipalities have decided to boycott the EU elections (EurActiv 10/02/09). This decision could end up in court unless the Belgian government finds a solution, European Commission sources have said.
