The newscast showed fuzzy pictures that appeared to be King Albert II and Queen Paola fleeing the country on an air force plane as a clutch of pro-monarchy demonstrators waved Belgian flags outside the royal palace. Then there was live footage of trams blocked at Belgium's new border. Flanders, the report declared, had proclaimed its independence. Belgium, a fragile federal country of 10 million people, famous for its 300 kinds of beer, its funky designers and its more than a dozen different parliaments and regional governments, was no more. Huh?
At least Beligum got in the news. It's a nice place to visit but other than EU stuff which is generally inconsquential and occasional soccer hooligan problems, they aren't in the news much.
Except for outstanding beer! But the thing is, that non of the viewers saw the: "This is fiction" text in the screen!