NAZI ELEMENT IN BELGIUM

Southland Times, Issue 22917, 16 June 1936, Page 7

NAZI ELEMENT IN BELGIUM

Flemish Influence MOVE AIMED AT SEPARATION Threat To Security (United Press Assn. —Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 12.15 a.m.) London, June 15. The diplomatic correspondent of The Morning Post, writing from Brussels, says that the progress of political elements in Belgium to further the German policy, even if they are not consciously pro-Gcr-man, is causing considerable anxiety and may endanger the position of Belgium as the keystone of Western European security. The Flemish Nationalists, who revealed unexpected strength at the elections, aim at separating Flanders from the rest of Belgium and incorporating it with Holland in a new Netherlands State extending from Dunkirk to the Frisian Islands, and leaving the Frenchspeaking populations of Belgium, south from Brussels, free to join France. The more immediate demands of the Flemish are:— (1) Complete financial autonomy for Flanders. (2) The suppression of international engagements affecting Flanders, including the Franco-Belgium military understanding. The movement originated in the Great War, and was engineered by Germany as a valuable instrument for weakening the Allies. The Nazis are reported to have financially assisted it during the recent elections, the Flemish Socialists combining to demand the abandonment of Belgium’s plans for the fortification of her Eastern frontier.