A group called “Ronse bilingual – Ronse tweetalig” put the French inscription RENAIX back under the Dutch name Ronse on a yellow sign with a red edge that indicated the administrative border of a municipality. The group claims that this is in violation of the linguistic law, and that they will do everything to restore respect for citizens. They chose to do this on April 1st, not for the traditional “fish”, but because it coincided with the famous Flemish classic that would see thousands of cyclists and “Ronde” spectators parade through their city. For the group, this was a perfect opportunity to remind everyone that Ronse is a commune with facilities, part of the population of which speaks French. However, their symbolic action apparently made some people cringe and on April 2nd, the Ronse inscription had disappeared once once more.
As they had done before, some members of the group “Ronse bilingual – Ronse tweetalig” put back on Saturday, using self-adhesive letters, the inscription RENAIX (in French) under the name Ronse (in Dutch) on the yellow sign with a red edge which indicates only the administrative border of a municipality, considering that it is in violation of the linguistic law (all similar signs, which were still bilingual a few years ago, have now disappeared): “The political majority in Ronse refuses to submit to it. Our movement will do everything to restore respect for citizens“, they had announced on their Facebook page.
If they had chosen April 1st, it was not for the traditional “fish”, but because this weekend was going to see thousands of cyclists and “Ronde” spectators parade through the territory of their city, the famous Flemish classic.
For them, it was a perfect opportunity to remember that Ronse is a commune with facilities, part of the population of which speaks French.
But as they suspected, their symbolic action apparently made some people cringe and on Sunday April 2, the inscription had, as had already happened before, the word Ronse had disappeared…
The debate around language rights and bilingualism in Belgium is ongoing, and the actions of the group “Ronse bilingual – Ronse tweetalig” demonstrate that tensions still run high. While some see their actions as a symbol of resistance and the defense of fundamental rights, others see them as a provocation and a threat to the unity of the country. As always, the truth is probably somewhere in between, and the only solution will be a dialogue that takes into account the diversity and complexity of the Belgian society. For now, the inscription “Renaix” in French may have disappeared from the sign, but the issue is far from being resolved.
