At first, the government didn"t know what was going on and was completely indifferent, then it wanted to sweep everything under the carpet until after the elections, and ultimately it was responsible for a panic reaction which was out of all proportion and which led to the entire world boycotting so-called Belgian products, although it was my country, Flanders that suffered most from this, since the lion"s share of so-called ‘Belgian’ exports are, of course, Flemish exports.
Le gouvernement ne savait tout d"abord pas de quoi il retournait, s"en souciant aussi peu que de sa première chemise, a ensuite voulu étouffer l"affaire jusqu"après les élections et s"est enfin rendu coupable d"une réaction de panique tout à fait exagérée qui a provoqué, de part le monde, le boycott soi-disant des produits belges, boycott dont mon pays, la Flandre, a cependant le plus souffert puisque dans ce qu"on appelle les exportations «belges», les exportations «flamandes» se taillent en fait la part du lion.