► European Parliament, Strasbourg - 7 July 2010
► Speaker: Nigel Farage MEP, UKIP, Co-President of the EFD group.
► Debate: The Belgian Presidency's programme of activities
► Transcript of speech:
Thank you President, Good morning,
Well you couldn't really invent what's going on here this morning, could you. The Belgian Presidency takes over its six month term and everybody pretends that it's business as usual.
I was somewhat vilified a few months ago for pointing out that Belgium wasn't really a proper nation. But I think the electors of Belgium have rather proved the point. A separatist party is now the biggest party in Belgium.
We have before us a caretaker prime minister, but we all turn a blind eye and pretend that it's business as usual. It simply isn't. You have no legitimacy here, Monsieur Leterme.
And what an extraordinary irony that a country that's on the verge of breaking into two is telling 26 other member states for the next six months what they should be doing.
But perhaps worse than that, of course, is your own shear hypocrisy in this matter. Standing up this morning; being the good Belgian! Let's just remember that you yourself as Belgian prime minister didn't even know your own national anthem. You famously said, back in 2006, that it was only beer and football that held the country together.
But now I suppose with the trappings of power that's all been forgotten.
But nearly everybody in this chamber is in denial because Belgium is a huge embarrassment to you. It is a prototype. It is a model for the entire European Union and it is on the verge of breaking up. Yet none of you can admit it.
What is going on today inside this chamber, frankly, is beyond satire. I would not have thought that there should be a Belgian presidency of the Union. And wouldn't it be fun, if at the end of the six-month presidency there still wasn't a government in Belgium. I hope you're all very proud.
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► Credits:
Video: EbS - European Parliament
Music:
Intro from 'Resistance', by Muse
Ending from 'Red Army is the Strongest', by the Soviet Red Army Choir.
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► EU Member States:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom
