Belgium still struggling with its colonial ghosts

By failing to publish a report on the nation’s colonial history, Belgium signals it is not yet ready to shake off its past.

Belgium’s attempts to confront its brutal colonial past keep running into problems.

After two years of work by a parliamentary commission, a report was drawn up earlier this year, along with political recommendations on the next steps the country should take. But the full report, as well as its recommendations, has not been released to the public.

The point of contention? Apologizing to the former colonies, including the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda.

It comes against a backdrop of a looming national election, and attempts to foster awareness of and contextualize — but not remove — the numerous colonial monuments still found all across Brussels and elsewhere.