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Article: Reaching out from the heart of Europe. (MEED Special Report: Belgium Luxembourg and the Middle East)
- Article from:
- MEED Middle East Economic Digest
- Article date:
- March 3, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 MEED Middle East Economic Digest. All Rights Reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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LIKE many former colonial powers, Belgium lives with a legacy of close relations with the territories. it once controlled. For Brussels this has meant a continuing military and financial commitment in Central Africa but at a cost which is now being questioned. in a crucial debate in mid-february, Beigium's senate asked aloud whether such ties were any longer a priority for a country whose gaze is family fixed on Europe.
There was no clear answer but both Belgium and Luxembourg, bound together in the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union (UEBL), have export-oriented economies and a profound interest in markets far beyond their borders.
Central Africa does not ...