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Approved for Release: 2020/08/11 C02000170 CONFIDENTIAL # Belgian Strike Situation The three-week-old Socialist-led strikes which have crippled much of Belgium appear to be gradually receding and now remain concentrated largely in the Walloon areas of the south and the port of Antwerp. An early end to the work stoppages in the "red belt" of the industrial south is not expected, however, because of the 7 January vote by the Socialist-controlled General Federation of Belgian Workers to continue the strikes. Prime Minister Eyskens' Social Christian - Liberal government remains determined to proceed with parliamentary considerations of its controversial austerity program--the omnibus bill--and the lower chamber will reconvene on 10 January to resume debate on the measure. Eyskens has indicated he is prepared to return the bill to committee with certain conciliatory amendments after its debate in the chamber, but he has refused to agree to Socialist demands to withdraw the bill. He has the support of the powerful Roman Catholic trade union federation which has refused to support the strikes. Efforts to mediate the strikes are continuing, but there has been little basis for negotiation because of the refusal of both sides to retreat from their basic positions. In this stalemated situation the Belgian press is mentioning increasingly the possibility of new elections this spring after the austerity legislation is passed or a reorganization of the government. The prolonged strikes have also served to revive antagonisms between linguistic and economic groups and created breaches which may be difficult to heal. On 3 January, Walloon Socialist deputies, meeting without their Flemish and Brussels colleagues, for the first time in the party's history adopted a resolution implying support for an autonomous French-speaking Walloon area within a federal state. The Walloon representatives maintain that the steadily deteriorating economic situation in southern Belgium is attributable to government policies which favor the Flemish-speaking north. CONFIDENTIAL 9 Jan 61 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 4 Approved for Release: 2020/08/11 C02000170

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