BRUSSELS: Scotland's independence vote inspires Flemish nationalists with hope but, with negotiations underway on forming a new Belgian government, they also have their reasons to tread carefully, analysts say.
Born in 1830 as an independent state to act as a buffer between France and Germany, Belgium is an uneasy mix of a Flemish-speaking, more conservative north critical of a French and left-leaning south.
Those differences have become even more pronounced in recent years, with Flemish nationalist sentiment more powerful than ever.
It latest political incarnation, Bart De Wever's New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) won a third of the votes in Flanders in May elections, emerging as the country's single largest party.
As such, the N-VA, which supports independence for Flanders in the long term, is set to be the cornerstone of the new right-leaning federal government now being formed.
De Wever has nevertheless refused the post of prime minister, preferring to continue pulling the strings from his mayor's post in Antwerp.
If one adds the N-VA's 33 percent vote to the six percent of the Vlaams Belang far-right separatist party, "you see that anti-Belgian sentiment enjoys nearly a majority in Flanders," where 60 percent of Belgium's 11 million people live, according to historian Bruno De Wever, brother of the N-VA leader.
If the Scottish National Party wins next week's referendum on independence from the United Kingdom. or "scores a good result, that could inspire the base of the N-VA," political scientist Dave Sinardet said.
But if that happens, the Flemish nationalist leaders must continue to be discreet, partly for tactical political reasons but also because of basic differences in what they want near-term.
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