Languages of Belgium
The Kingdom of Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French, and German. A number of non-official, minority languages and dialects are spoken as well.
Senate (Belgium)
In the past, French was the sole language of government in Belgium, and it was not until 1913 that Dutch was used in Parliament, by the liberal senator Emmanuel De Cloedt, which the French-speaking pro-Catholic newspaper "La Libre Belgique" described as "séparatisme parlementaire" ("parliamentary separatism").