The best possible proof that Belgium is not just a place set up by The Netherlands and France as a network of gas stations to travel between those countries is that the roads in Belgium are visibly worse than in The Netherlands or France (really: you can tell exactly were the border is when driving into and out of Belgium by the change in the condition of the road).

The problem for the Belgium friend is that he’s not keen on admitting that if Belgium wasn’t a real nation but rather a Franco-Dutch partnership, it would be better run.