Flemish Secession hoax

Regular programming on the channel La Une was interrupted for a news bulletin claiming that the Flemish parliament had issued a unilateral declaration of independence from the Kingdom of Belgium, mimicking the Belgian secession from the Netherlands some 175 years earlier.

Interviews with prominent Belgian politicians (some of whom had been informed about the hoax) as well as staged footage of the evacuation of the royal family as well as cheering crowds holding the Flag of Flanders were included so as to add credence to the news report.

Thirty minutes into the broadcast, on demand of the media minister of the French-speaking community in Belgium, Fadila Laanan [fr], an on-screen message identified it as fiction.

The hoax was the creation of the journalist Philippe Dutilleul [fr] and had been prepared over a period of 2 years under the codename BBB for Bye-bye Belgium.

In the years coming to the hoax there was rising Flemish separatism and the Vlaams Belang party received strong support in the regional elections.