There was a major diplomatic row between the Netherlands and Belgium this week, after the Belgian minister
of Foreign Affairs called Balkenende a "en mix van Harry Potter en brave stijfburgerlijkheid, een
man in wie ik geen spoortje charisma kan ontwaren", which the good people at Expatica.nl
translate as:
"a mix of Harry Potter and goody-goody rigid, old fashioned conservative attitudes; a man in whom I
cannot detect any trace of charisma".
A harsh verdict in any language, but I doubt many Dutch voters would disagree when they read these remarks in
their morning papers last week. Like we say here, Balkenende just projects the smell of Brussel sprouts or
cabbages. He is the type of person who takes offense at people dropping litter in the street but saw no
problems in supporting the war in Iraq. I'm not sure anybody, not even his own cabinet ministers take him
seriously.
(It seems that this Belgian foreign minister suffers from foot in mouth disease anyway, last year getting
into trouble for a bit too frank an opinion of the leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Also,
a bit weak of him to try and blame his current troubles first on a "misquote". Tut. Tut.)
This is just a place for me to jot down some random thoughts and reactions to the news so I don't have to yell at the television or radio, or mutter to myself whilst reading the news.
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