THERE IS NO BELGIUM:

Flemish separatists prepare to shake Belgium up at polls (AFP, 6/08/10)

First confederalism, then independence, that's the main manifesto plank of the Flemish nationalists who look set to become the biggest party in Flanders at the general election on Sunday.

Last Sunday some 1,500 militants from the "nationalist and democratic" New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) held their last pre-election meeting in the velour seats of a theatre in central Ghent, the capital of East Flanders in Belgium's Dutch-speaking northern region.

Just days ahead of the elections they were in buoyant mood. The latest polls see their group coming out on top in Flanders with 26 percent of the popular vote.

Such a level of support for a party which openly advocates splitting from the poorer, French-speaking region of Wallonia to the south would be unprecedented.