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Article: Jean-Luc Dehaene, Belgium's political glue.(Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene of Belgium, in office since 1992, faces a June election in 1999 )(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 13, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Economist Newspaper Ltd. 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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A POPULAR photograph of Jean-Luc Dehaene, which graced the cover of a local news magazine last year, shows him with one hand round a foaming glass of beer and the other holding aloft a large and very oily herring that he is in the process of swallowing whole. His portly figure and ruddy face suggest that he is no stranger to either of these items. Here, clearly, is a man who is Belgian and proud of it. Here, indeed, is a Belgian of such rare perfection and plenitude that he ranks as one of the last three national figures with whom the whole of that disintegrating country seems happy to identify.
Since the other two figures are Tintin, a fictional boy detective, ...