Eighty years ago this week, the governments-in-exile of Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg met in London to establish a treaty that would go into force after the imminent liberation of the countries from Nazi occupation. This "London Customs Convention" was the first step of an increasing cooperation between the countries, that came to include the free transport of goods and services, and became the basis for wider European unity which, through intermediate treaties, eventually became the Schengen Area and the European Union itself.
The Benelux, however, has not been fully absorbed into the wider European cooperation. The countries are still bound close together, establishing new forms of collaboration regularly. For example, since 2017, the countries have shared their airspace under NATO responsibilities with the Belgian "Luchtcomponent van Defensie" and the Dutch "Koninklijke Luchtmacht" taking turns for having Quick Reaction fighter jets at the ready.
The epitome of Benelux treaties came of course in 2022, when representatives from The Netherlands and Belgium, by the names of
Wubben and
Elgino, established that neither nation had sufficient numbers to represent itself but with joint forces could rival the best of teams. Also, Luxembourg might as well join because why not. This historic step has lead the dialectic to its logical conclusion: the quarterfinals of the World Cup of Randbats, exactly eighty years after events were set in motion. This is what it all has been for. This is the moment to seize upon the aspirations of the founders (Bech, Van den Broek, Dupong, Gutt, Van Kleffens, Spaak) and take what is rightfully ours. We call upon our champions,
Kipkluif,
Michielleus and
xGang, to complete the comeback and to establish victory!
