Belgian farmer accidentally moves the French border 7½ feet by unwittingly moving historic stone marker that was in the way of his tractor
- A Belgian farmer accidentally moved the French-Belgian border 7.5 feet
- The altered border demarcation was discovered by a local history enthusiast
- The mayors of the two border towns both saw the humorous side of the incident
A farmer has accidentally moved the French-Belgian border 7.5 feet further inside French territory.
The Belgian farmer apparently decided to move the historic border stone after finding it in the way of his path.
The stone is positioned between the Belgian border village of Erquelinnes and Bousignies-sur-Roc, a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
The Belgian farmer apparently decided to move the historic border stone, pictured above, after finding it in the way of his path
The altered border demarcation was discovered by a local history enthusiast while on a forest walk.
The farmer will be contacted by Belgian authorities who will ask him to move the stone back to its original position.
If the farmer refuses to cooperate, the case could be taken to the Belgian foreign ministry and a Franco-Belgian border commission would have to be summoned.
The stone is positioned between the Belgian border village of Erquelinnes and Bousignies-sur-Roc, a commune in the Nord department in northern France
The Mayor of Erquelinnes made light of the incident. Speaking to local TV channel TF1, David Lavaux joked: ‘I was happy, my town was bigger.’
‘He made Belgium bigger and France smaller, it’s not a good idea,’ Lavaux added.
Meanwhile the mayor of the neighbouring French village, Aurélie Welonek, also saw the funny side.
‘We should be able to avoid a new border war,’ the mayor told local media.
The Franco-Belgian border stretches for 390 miles . Both countries have been part of the Schengen Zone since 1995, meaning there are no permanent border controls at the border.