In Belgium, this simple bilingual “hello” on a train turns into a national controversy

BELGIUM – Simple as pie? Not so fast. In Belgium, a controller despite himself launched a linguistic controversy. A ” bonjour » in a train traveling in Flanders earned him a complaint from a Dutch-speaking traveler, unhappy to hear him speak French. An incident which ignited the political debate.

The scene, recounted by the controller himself on his Facebook profile, took place last October 7 at rush hour, on a train linking Mechelen, in Flanders, to Brussels, the capital. A short distance of about 25 kilometers.

As he greets travelers entering a car with an audible (and bilingual) ” Good morning ” (« bonjour »), this French-speaking controller is corrected by one of them. “We're not in Brussels yet, you just have to use Dutch!” »tells this Dutch speaker.

The Flemish passenger filed a complaint after this incident with the Permanent Linguistic Control Commission (CPCL), responsible for monitoring the use of languages ​​in the administration, according to Belgian media.

“Dusting off legislation from the last century”

It must be said that in a Belgium divided between Wallons, in the French-speaking south, and Flemings, in the Dutch-speaking north – and where Brussels is the only bilingual region – the event immediately took a political turn. He even burst into the debates on Thursday December 19 in Parliament.

Questioned by two Flemish deputies, the Minister of Mobility, the French-speaking ecologist Georges Gilkinet, defended the controller, Ilyass Alba, and called for “dusting off legislation from the last century”.

“Train attendants do their best to be of service to travelers, whether they are daily users or tourists, Flemish in Wallonia, French-speaking in Flanders or foreigners. Using several languages ​​to say hello doesn’t shock me”launched the minister, who has authority over SNCB, the public operator of Belgian railways. He pointed out that in a small country like Belgium, regional borders are constantly crossed by trains.

“It’s just nice”

The rule on the use of French and Dutch on Belgian trains remains complex. In theory, controllers – called attendants in Belgium – must only use both languages ​​on the territory of Brussels and in the few so-called municipalities. “facilitated”where the administration is also bilingual.

Elsewhere, they must always express themselves in the language of the region where they are. On the Flemish side, the president of the Christian Democratic Party (CD&V) Sammy Mahdi stepped up to the plate. “As a public authority, we cannot throw our language legislation overboard like that. We need respect for Dutch”he said.

This earned irony from the minister for this party leader engaged for six months in difficult negotiations to form the future government. “I am surprised that some consider this to be the priority of the day when they also have a government to formtackled Georges Gilkinet. You are running behind your nationalist colleagues! »

For its part, SNCB considered that “it is the interest of the traveler that must take precedence”. “We need a little more flexibility in the application of regulations, said one of the company's spokespersons to AFP. Saying hello in several languages ​​is just nice, we can only thank our guides for that”.

The CPCL, having received the complaint, will “ask SNCB for additional information on its application of the rules”declared one of the commission's lawyers. It has 180 days to issue an opinion, which is non-binding.

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