Time.news – A Belgian farmer moved the border stone with France by more than two meters, apparently why annoyed by the slab that was in the path of his tractor. The de facto extension of the Belgian territory – reported by the local press of both countries concerned and taken from the BBC website – was discovered by a history buff while walking through the woods at Franco-Belgian border of Bousignies-sur-Roc, a French commune in the northeast of the Hexagon.
The border stone dates back to 1819, a few years after Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, when the border between France and present-day Belgium was defined for the first time. The Belgian peasant, moving the stone by 2 meters and 29 centimeters, “it made Belgium bigger and France smallerHe said David Lavaux, mayor of the Belgian village of Erquelinnes, to the French television channel Tf1.
The mayor then recalled with irony the moment when he heard the news: “I was happy, my city would have been bigger, but the mayor of Bousignies-sur-Roc did not agree”. The Belgian local authorities – according to the Sudinfo newspaper – intend now contact the farmer to ask him to put the stone back in its original position.
Alternatively, the case could end up on the desk of the Belgian Foreign Ministry, which it is supposed to convene the Franco-Belgian border commission, a dormant body since 1930. Mayor Lavaux noted that the farmer could also face legal consequences if he does not cooperate with the authorities. However, “if he shows good will, he will have no problems and we will resolve the matter amicably,” concluded the mayor.
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