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BRUSSELS - Hundreds of French- and Dutch-speaking students exchanged blows in a giant pillow fight in Brussels on Wednesday, ridiculing regional and linguistic rivalries that have stalled the formation of a new government.
"We are just people regardless of what politicians or the media on both sides of the region say," said Frank Vanaerschot, an organiser disguised as a giant yellow lion, the symbol of the northern, Dutch-speaking Flanders region.
Belgium is without a government 129 days after Flemish Christian Democrat leader Yves Leterme won a June parliamentary election with a mandate from Dutch-speaking voters to devolve more powers to regions.
The impasse prompted media to speculate that the 177-year-old nation might break apart.
- REUTERS
