Pro-Europeans, some dressed as the ‘Incredible Sulk’ and Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg look-alikes, parodied the promises of Brexiteer politicians, which some condemned as “brazen lies”. The mood was defiant, even as EU leaders just a few hundred metres away were discussing Johnson’s last-minute accord with the European Commission. Many of the participants were British citizens who have lived in Belgium for years but now look forward to an uncertain future.

“No form of Brexit will make us better off, safer or freer,” declared Naomi Smith, chief executive of the Best for Britain campaign group founded by Gina Miller, which organised the event together with Pro-Europa. “This pathetic deal is unlikely to pass through the Houses of Parliament.” She called on the EU to allow more time for a second referendum to take place. “The majority of the UK electorate are now Remainers,” she insisted. “We speak for millions of British people when we say we want to stay in Europe.”

Laura Shields, representing ‘British in Europe’ talked about the 5 million UK citizens living in the EU and Europeans in the UK. She condemned a British government announcement that health care for British citizens living in EU will only be funded for six months after Brexit and highlighted individual cases of elderly cancer sufferers in Spain and elsewhere. “The UK is abdicating any moral or legal responsibility for the most vulnerable people,” she protested.

Nicky James, a UK citizen living in the Netherlands, came close to tears as she spoke of the frustration that led her to set up the ‘Final Say For All’ Foundation. Holland does not allow dual nationality, she explained, but with a Dutch husband in poor health and elderly parents in the UK, she fears losing the right to return to Britain. “Many of us were denied a vote in 2016 on something that is going to impact our lives in such a huge way. There are millions of stories like mine. We are fighting for a final say for all 5 million of us.”

Individual testimonies were coupled with speeches by politicians, including Alessandro Fusacchia, who represents Italians abroad in Rome’s Chamber of Deputies. “You are not alone, and we are trying to mobilise Italians in the UK,” he told anti-Brexit demonstrators. “We are trying to send a message that Brexit will be very bad news also for Italians in Italy.”

Richard Corbett, leader of the Labour MEPs in the European Parliament, insisted that the proposed deal was not what Britons voted for in the 2016 referendum. “We have a minority government in Britain. It’s right to take any deal back to the public, and we will be campaigning to stay in the EU.”

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If the two small Western Balkan states have been disappointed time and again by EU leaders’ repeated postponement of talks, this time they are hoping for a breakthrough in progress towards membership.

Four outgoing and incoming EU presidents have taken the unusual step of personally urging European governments to open negotiations.

“The European Union stands before a strategic choice. Whether the EU decides now to open accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania is a test of the Union’s ability to deliver on its promises and look to the future,” states an open letter from European Parliament President David Sassoli, retiring Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Council President Donald Tusk, and Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen.

“North Macedonia and Albania did what we asked them to do,” declare the leaders, acknowledging however that “there will be a lot of hard work on reforms along the way. »

“We believe that now is the time to open accession talks with both countries,” they conclude.

The move was welcomed by Albania’s acting Foreign Minister Gent Cakaj. “A very rightful and encouraging message for a positive decision of the EU Council,” he tweeted, thanking the signatories for their “leadership and strategic wisdom”.

Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn also welcomed the leaders’ “strong stance for opening accession negotiations with both countries in October”, saying that recognising efforts made by the candidates was key to the EU’s credibility. “North Macedonia and Albania have delivered – now it’s high time that Member States deliver too!”

North Macedonia has had candidate status since 2005, but until 2018 was blocked by the lengthy ‘name dispute’ with its Greek neighbour. Albania became a candidate in June 2014, having applied for EU membership in 2009. Since 2018, the Commission has twice recommended opening talks, but each time the Council put a decision on hold.

Countries like France and the Netherlands have been particularly reluctant to take steps towards further EU enlargement. But in a hopeful sign for the two candidates, the German Bundestag last month voted to launch negotiations.

In a subsequent draft proposal for the upcoming General Affairs Council, the Finnish EU Presidency unconditionally recommended opening accession talks. In the case of Albania, it highlighted progress in achieving reforms. However, that is not the end of the story. The draft is expected to undergo changes, for example, because Germany has added new conditions to be met in advance of the 1st intergovernmental conference – due to be held later this year – and to be included in the negotiating framework. They call on Albania to demonstrate a track record in fighting corruption and organised crime, including the prosecution of high-ranking politician and officials, and reform of the public administration.

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama has in the past expressed frustration at what some see as an ideological opposition to the country’s European future. Earlier this year the Dutch Parliament declared opposition specifically to Albania’s membership. Yet public support for the EU among Albanians remains strong. An IPSOS poll published this year found that more than 92% of those questioned were in favour of EU membership, although 58% believed “they don’t like us”.

« The joint letter of the four presidents has been very much welcomed and appreciated, » said Albania’s EU Ambassador Suela Janina. « As rightly emphasised in the letter it is the time to make a strategic choice, which would be beneficial for our countries, the region of the Western Balkans and Europe as a whole. »

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Fernand Obb’s founder and chef Cédric Mosbeux has held the accolade ever since it was established two years ago. Last weekend the judging took place at the eat! BRUSSELS drink! BORDEAUX festival in the Parc de Bruxelles. A jury of earnest food journalists led by Lionel Rigolet of Comme Chez Soi carried out a blind tasting in public, munching their way through serious quantities of the typical Belgian delicacy before reaching their decision.

Mosbeux admits that the new award came as a surprise. “We didn’t expect it. Already the first time it was mad. This time it’s even crazier!” Fernand Obb only opened its doors in March 2018, and yet its award-winning reputation has already attracted long queues of foodies eager to discover the famous croquettes.

“It was quite a weekend,” says Mosbeux, adding that he’s “a little tired”. No sooner was the award announced than he was off to spread the gospel of great Belgian food at the Festival des Tastes en Minervois, in the south of France, preparing several hundred plates of boudin and frites, prawn croquettes and gauffrites – potato waffles – another of the unique and original delicacies that have established Fernand Obb’s name in Brussels. Although the award has been a “gift” in building the business, He has no plans for expansion at the moment. “We’ll see,” he remarks coolly.

What is the secret of “the best” croquettes? Mosbeux explains simply. “We have more prawns in ours, some others don’t put in many,” he suggests. The prize was awarded on a range of criteria, including crunchiness, taste and the quality of the prawns. It means that Fernand Obb Delicatessen can again use the accolade of « best prawn croquette in Brussels » throughout the coming year.

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Indeed, the eponymous production opening this week at the Theatre de Poche in the Bois de la Cambre is the unexpected account of one man’s journey to explore and come to terms with his background, and in doing so realise his ambition to make theatre.

Fritland was – and is – Zenel Laci’s family business. For 18 years – from the age of 14 – he worked there 12 hours a day, sometimes 7 days a week. There’s nothing he doesn’t know about twice-fried chips, fricadelles and sauce andalouse, about the streets of Brussels late at night and the characters who inhabit them. “I have been wanting to write about it for years,” says Laci. Three years ago, he set pen to paper. Now, working with director Denis Laujol he has created and performs a one-man show that captures the humour, drama and pathos of those years.

Laci’s father arrived in Belgium in 1963, after fleeing from Albania and living with his family in refugee camps for a decade. He dreamed of America and discouraged his five children from integrating into Belgian society. But instead of crossing the Atlantic, the Laci’s father stayed, and ironically established the very symbol of Belgian life, Fritland. The whole extended family was pressed into service, working backbreaking hours to win the security their father coveted.

The play started as “a sort of patchwork”, says Laci. But for nearly two years, he and Laujol have worked to select the most interesting anecdotes and create a narrative. It is above all about emancipation. Laci’s love of literature and theatre brought him into direct conflict with his family’s traditional values, until he finally broke away to take up drama studies. The harsh disapproval of his father meant that he too experienced a form of exile.

“Fritland is about becoming an adult,” explains Laujol. “Zenel and I are both great dreamers. But there comes a time when you have to act. It’s not easy to become an artist.”

Not easy indeed for Laci – who never expected to be a performer. But when the Director of the Theatre de Poche saw and liked his script, he imposed just one condition: that Laci should play himself. With a successful career as director already behind him, this will be Laci’s first time in front of an audience: a place where he feels “uncomfortable”.

Fritland articulates the pleasure in storytelling. Says Laujol: “We play a lot with the expectations of the audience. It’s a story about emigration, so there’s something tragic, but there is also a lot of humour.” The material to draw on was plentiful. Staying open sometimes until 5am, Fritland became a haven for those with nowhere else to go. Laci recalls Joseph le clochard (the vagrant), the drôle d’homme with his little bonnet who showed up at Fritland at dawn one morning and found Laci behind the counter reading a book.

“He thought that was unusual,” admits Laci, who soon discovered that although Joseph lived on the streets, he was a former French teacher. Together they discussed Laci’s writing and Joseph edited his texts. “He encouraged me, and was the first person, apart from my sister, who really showed me what literature was about – that it has power.”

I wanted to know which writer most influenced Laci. “Dostoyevsky” he replies without hesitation. “He’s a genius. He goes to the truth and has something for say at all stages of life. He tackles universal themes.” He cites a phrase from The Brothers Karamazov which had a profound impact on him: “Every human being has at some time wanted the death of his father”. In Dostoyevsky, Laci found insights into his own personal family conflict. Yet despite the bitter struggle between generations, Fritland is still a homage to his father, who is “omnipresent” in the text, says Laci. Working with Laujol, he became more aware of how the older man struggled to build his own destiny.

A few years ago, Laci set up his own Fritland Theatre Company, and it was then he decided the story had to be told. More than just a chip shop, the staging recreates a space that stirs the imagination of the audience to soar beyond steaming trays of golden frites. “Fritland is what? It’s a fritkot, it’s people, it’s potatoes, it’s Belgium. Everything is there,” concludes Laci. For at the same time it is a kind of Utopia, an imaginary country: Fritland – Neverland, the culmination of his late father’s dreams of America.

The play promises to be a discovery for the audience, with some little surprises added in to recreate the Fritkot atmosphere. It can be seen at the Theatre de Poche until 18 May.

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The Director, Zenel Laci, spent much of his youth serving chips at his family’s well-known Fritland fast-food restaurant next to the Bourse – already in those days a Brussels landmark. But it wasn’t what he wanted to do. From an early age Laci fell in love with literature and theatre, and finally got the opportunity to turn his dream into reality when – at the age of 30 – he started studies in scenography, dramatic art and production.

His parents were sceptical. Having fled Albania in 1952 during the repressive communist regime, they valued financial security in their adopted homeland. But Laci persevered. In the late 1990s, it was the brutal war in Kosovo that sparked his creative imagination. Horrified by the violence against civilians, and especially the systematic rape of women as a way of intimidating and destroying a population, he felt compelled to react.

“I have family in Kosovo, but I’m a pacifist, I wasn’t going to go and fight,” he explains. Instead, he started to research and came across the writing of Sevdije Ahmeti. As a human-rights activist in Kosovo throughout the war, Ahmeti kept an internet diary of the atrocities with the aim of alerting the world to what was going on. Her account was later published in French as ‘Journal d’une Femme du Kosovo’.

Together with writer Safet Kryemadhi, Laci wrote a play ‘Je ne suis pas une Arme de Guerre’ (I am not a weapon of war). The hour-long monologue tackles harrowing issues: rape, the disappearance of friends and the devastating loss of a child. Although prompted by the Balkan conflict, its message is universal. In wars around the world, women and girls are the targets of sexual violence.

As Laci points out, in many societies, rather than receiving help and support, ‘defiled’ women may be rejected by their own families. What can a rape victim hope for from the future? Love? Acceptance? A new start in life? The play, performed by Albanian actress Anila Dervishi with live music by guitarist Afrim Jahja, manages, despite everything, to end on a positive note.

After successful performances in Paris, at the Albanian National Theatre in Tirana, and in Kosovo itself, ‘Je ne suis pas une Arme de Guerre’ can now be seen by Belgian audiences at the Theatre Riches-Claires, rue des Riches Claires 24, Brussels 1000.

Thursday 28th of February to Saturday 2nd of March. More details here

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