BELGIUM

IN 1994, NATIONALISM, OR ETHNICISM, BECAME MORE IMPORTANT IN BELGIUM'S DOMESTIC POLITICS, AND FEDERALIZATION DID NOT REDUCE THE TENSIONS BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH. THE FLEMISH INCREASINGLY EMPHASIZED SEPARATISM, A POSITION ADOPTED NOT ONLY BY THE LEADERS OF THE NATIONALIST FASCIST VLAAMS BLOK BUT ALSO BY POLITICIANS BELONGING TO MAINSTREAM PARTIES. BY THE END OF 1994, SEVERAL ETHNIC CRISES HAD THREATENED THE STABILITY OF THE GOVERNING COALITION, BUT PRIME MINISTER J.L. DEHAENE MANAGED TO HOLD IT TOGETHER.