The captain greeted the passengers in French while he was in Flemish territory, a Dutch-speaking region. The situation has taken on disproportionate proportions across Quiévrain.
An anecdote of which Belgium has the secret. A train controller was the subject of a complaint for saying “hello” while he was on the Flemish side, a Dutch-speaking region. The Belgian national railway company (SNCB) reported that its employee had violated current language rules but was not at risk of dismissal.
The situation, as comical as it was, took on disproportionate proportions across Quiévrain, to the point of being reported by all the major national media. While the train is traveling in Flemish territory, the controller greets the passengers with a “Goeiemorgen” (hello in Dutch, Editor’s note), before using the French equivalent.
It provokes the reaction of a disgruntled traveler. The latter, recalling that he is in Flanders, claims that he should have spoken only in Dutch, and decides to file a complaint with the SNCB. The captain, who has a huge following on social networks, then shared the story on Facebook, far from realizing the scale it would take.
Established linguistic rules
The controversy, taken up by the national media, is growing. To the point that the resigning Minister of Mobility spoke on the subject, calling for more flexibility in the application of linguistic laws. Because in Belgium, the rules stipulate that announcements made by controllers must be exclusively in Dutch when the train is traveling in Flemish territory. Information screens in wagons must also display messages only in Dutch.
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On the other hand, as soon as the train enters the bilingual region of Brussels, announcements can be made in Dutch and French. An exception exists for trains to Brussels Airport, where announcements are made in four languages: Dutch, French, German and English. Why keep it simple when you can make it complicated!
Contempt
SNCB confirmed that it would examine the complaint, but wanted to reassure: “there will be no additional legal consequences”, his spokesperson reported in a local newspaper. The public company also explained that it was in favor of more flexibility in the application of linguistic rules, provoking an outcry in Parliament from the CD&V, a conservative party present in Dutch-speaking Belgium.
Its president described this position as “extremely disrespectful”, believing that it discouraged newcomers to Flanders from learning Dutch. Across Quiévrain, the majority of the Dutch-speaking population considers that the French-speaking minority despises Flemish demands.
His intervention sparked boos on the French-speaking benches. “All my sympathy for this train attendant who certainly had good intentions but, as a public authority, we cannot throw our linguistic legislation overboard like that,” he explained to the newspaper Le Soir. A simple “hello” which summons the history of Belgium’s complicated identities.
