Brussels' new minister-president criticised for poor command of Dutch

Brussels' new minister-president has come under fire for his poor command of Dutch, even from French-speakers.

Over the weekend when taking questions from the press about his new role as the bilingual capital’s minister-president, Boris Dilliès (MR) could barely answer questions in Dutch, stumbling over his words and often just offering “I don’t know” and “we’ll see” as his response.

“A Brussels minister-president must speak Dutch well, period,” said federal defence minister Theo Francken (N-VA) on social media.

“If he can't, then he must learn quickly. If he doesn't want to learn, then he must find another job.

"Flemish people are not second-class citizens. I will continue to communicate with the Brussels authorities in Dutch in the coming years.

"It is my constitutional right as a Belgian, a Flemish person and a resident of Flemish Brabant. If they don't understand me, that's mainly their problem.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by Brussels N-VA leader Cieltje Van Achter and Vooruit’s Bert Anciaux. And in a critical Facebook post, former minister Koen Geens (CD&V) drew a comparison with how French-speakers expected his mother and grandparents to have a perfect knowledge of French.

Dilliès was made aware of the poor impression he made at the press conference when asked about it in the French-language media.

“It's been 20 years since I last spoke it,” Dilliès said.

“At the time, I was working in the private sector at a Dutch-speaking company. When I left that company, my Dutch wasn't exceptional, but I pulled myself together, it wasn’t as bad as it is now.”

Dilliès has been mayor of Uccle for the past nine years and Dutch is also an official administrative language there, although it is only used by a small minority.

“If you stop using a language altogether, it tends to disappear, but I owe the people of Brussels a good knowledge of it – that’s essential, I plead guilty,” said Dilliès.

MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez, who asked Dilliès to become minister-president, said he thought Dilliès’ Dutch was not so bad and that French-speakers have a bad reputation for learning foreign languages.

“He can manage in Dutch, can't he?” said Bouchez.

“Besides, he is of French descent, and the French don’t have the best reputation when it comes to learning foreign languages. But don’t worry, he has already booked a Dutch course.”

The bilingualism of political leaders in Brussels, which is an officially bilingual region, has long been a sore spot in the capital.

Describing Dilliès’ Dutch as “virtually non-existent”, French-language news outlet RTBF noted: “In this context, bilingualism is not simply an asset, it has become a marker of national credibility for the most high-profile positions.

“Gaffes, accents, belated efforts and linguistic activism - from Guy Verhofstadt to Elio Di Rupo, via Yves Leterme, Michel Daerden and Rudy Demotte, the relationship between Belgian politicians and the national languages tells another, highly political story about Belgium.”

As public opinion and the media increasingly expect leaders to be able to express themselves in both languages, those who cannot - even after years of living in the bilingual Brussels - face sharp criticism.