Belgian Prime Minister Resigns Over Voting Rights Of French Speakers

Belgium's five-month-old coalition has collapsed over a long-running dispute on the special voting rights of French speakers living in Dutch-speaking areas near the capital Brussels (or should we say Bruxelles?).

Differences between the richer Dutch-speaking Flemish majority and poorer French-speaking Walloon minority often threaten Belgian governments, but has this time lead to the resignation of the Prime Minister on 26 April 2010.

Dutch speakers make up 60 percent of the population in Belgium, where only the capital Brussels is officially bilingual.

Read more about the Dutch & French-speaking language issues in Belgium >>