Municipal employees in Menen (Belgium) not permitted to speak French as of 2014

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Paraphrased from here:
The mayor of Menen in WestFlanders, located right at the geopolitical and linguistic border, will prohibit its municipal employees from speaking French beginning in January.

Nordistes (inhabitants of northern France close to Belgium) from generation to generation have done their shopping in Menen without having the impression of having crossed the border: the main road, Rijselstraat, goes right across the border to Halluin. Some 6% of the inhabitants of Menen are French speakers.

On the city website on the 3th of September, in a bill in Dutch (not translated), the mayor refers to a 1996 law that communities in Flanders are to be administered in French (while those in Wallonia are to be in Dutch). Her statement regarding it: "Speaking another language besides Dutch is not permitted except in exceptional circumstances. The exception must remain the exception, and not become the rule." Objectives: "Sending out a strong signal" and "encouraging the learning of Dutch".
The page on the city website referencing this is here.


So on that note, let's travel from Halluin to Menen. Menen's right across the river.


Agrandir le plan


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