European Diary:Brussels was the venue for an unusual outpouring of nationalism this weekend when thousands of people spilled onto the streets to celebrate Belgium's independence day.
Even in the EU quarter, which is home to thousands of international diplomats, some households hung out the black, yellow and red striped Belgian flag from windows.
In his national day speech, King Albert struck a conciliatory note, appealing to the two dominant linguistic communities in Belgium, the Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloons, to respect their cultural diversity and bury old divisions.
"When enjoyed correctly, our country's cultural diversity is a tremendous asset," said King Albert, who is viewed as one of the few potent unifying national symbols in an increasingly divided Belgium. "It strengthens the bonds between citizens and makes them better citizens of our country, of Europe and in the world," he added.
His appeal comes amid an increasingly difficult relationship between the majority Flemish (six million people) and Walloon (four million people) communities. In recent years there has been growing support for an independent Flanders, which outperforms Wallonia economically. And in June's general election the CDV (Flemish Christian Democratic Party) won the most seats in the federal parliament on a platform to change the constitution to devolve more powers to Belgium's regions.
So when Yves Leterme, who is the head of the CDV and currently trying to negotiate a coalition with several Francophone parties, turned up at Saturday's celebrations one would have suspected a similarly conciliatory theme. Instead, the man tipped by most observers to become the next Belgian prime minister managed to insult the national anthem and undermine the conciliatory message of the king.
Asked by television reporters to sing the Belgian national anthem " La Brabanconne", he mistakenly launched into a few bars of the French anthem " La Marseillaise". To add insult to injury, Leterme, who is the product of a mixed Walloon/Flemish family, was also shown on Belgium's RTBF television station failing to sing along with La Brabanconnein the church. He also made a mistake over the national day, saying it marked the "proclamation of the constitution". It actually commemorates the inauguration of Leopold I as Belgium's first king on the July 21st, 1831.
The public gaffe, which can be seen on www.youtube.com, was greeted with amusement by the Belgian francophone press with Le Soirrunning the headline "This is the Brabanconne, Mr Leterme!" The newspaper also quoted Leterme making a typically robust response to his television interview. "I've much more important things to do than this crap. Those who are after me will pay for it sooner or later," he said.
Yet behind the obvious comic value in watching a future prime minister tripping up, Leterme's performance will not endear him to a sceptical Walloon population.
"I think this could make Leterme's job more difficult in terms of pulling together a coalition that is capable of getting the type of constitutional reforms he wants to achieve," says Rudi Janssens, sociologist and expert on linguistics at VUB University. "The Francophone community doesn't trust him to rule in the national interest. They think as prime minister he will act in Flanders's interest rather than for all Belgium."
The deep scepticism among Walloons is hardly surprising given Mr Leterme's frank comments about French speakers to the French newspaper Libérationlast year. In the interview he criticised French speakers living in Flemish communities of being "intellectually not capable of learning Dutch". He also suggested that the only common things to Belgians are "The king, the football team, some beers."
In truth, knowledge of the national anthem in Belgium is not universal and polls published by RTBF on Saturday show that just one in five people can say why the national day is celebrated on July 21st. But sociologists say this identity crisis is a product of the linguistic and cultural divisions between Flanders, which is considered closer to its Dutch neighbours, and Wallonia, which is closer to the French mentality.
There is also little integration between the two communities outside the cosmopolitan capital Brussels, according to Mr Janssens.
"The school system is completely separate. For example if you live in Flanders you are legally barred from attending a French-speaking school," he says. "Only in Brussels is there some bilingual education and a reasonably high rate of intermarriage between the two communities, of about 40 per cent."
These are some of the challenges that Mr Leterme will face if he manages to cobble together a coalition government in the coming weeks. To reform the constitution and devolve more powers to the regional governments he needs to command a 75 per cent majority in the federal parliament. But given last weekend's public gaffe, he will have to do better to persuade the Walloon community he is willing to act in their interests.