' or Bye Bye Belgium, also called "The Flemish Secession Hoax," was a

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

perpetrated by the French-language Belgian public TV station RTBF on Wednesday, December 13, 2006. Regular programming on the channel '' La Une'' was interrupted for a news bulletin claiming that the Flemish parliament had issued a unilateral

declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

from the Kingdom of Belgium, mimicking the Belgian secession from the Netherlands some 175 years earlier. Interviews with prominent Belgian politicians (some of whom had been informed about the hoax) as well as staged footage of the evacuation of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

as well as cheering crowds holding the Flag of Flanders were included so as to add credence to the news report. The broadcast of the report led to widespread alarm and consternation in French-speaking Belgium. A hotline set up by the station was swamped by 2,600 calls, whilst RTBF's website crashed. Thirty minutes into the broadcast, on demand of the media minister of the French-speaking community in Belgium, , an on-screen message identified it as fiction. The hoax was the creation of the journalist and had been prepared over a period of 2 years under the

codename A code name, codename, call sign, or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in ...

''BBB'' for ''Bye-bye Belgium''. Its goal was to show Belgians the intensity of the country's issue, and the real possibility of a split of Belgium. In the years coming to the hoax there was rising Flemish separatism and the

Vlaams Belang Vlaams Belang (; ; VB) is a Flemish nationalist, Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered by the media and political analysts to be on the polit ...

party received strong support in the regional elections. Prominent Belgian politicians, including

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Guy Verhofstadt, Flemish Minister-President Yves Leterme and Walloon Minister-President Elio Di Rupo, condemned the report as "irresponsible." International reaction included an angry statement by

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, who said, "This is not the kind of issue you play around with."

References

External links

BBC news reportBelgian viewers fall for TV hoax announcing breakaway state
''International Herald Tribune'' article documenting the hoax.

(in French). Journalistic hoaxes Flanders Hoaxes in Belgium 2006 hoaxes 2006 in Belgian television Television controversies in Belgium Political controversies in television {{belgium-tv-stub Secession

See also

References

External links