比利时铸硬币纪念滑铁卢之战惹法国不满

LONDON — Perhaps befitting a battle that ended French hegemony in Europe, Paris, it seems, has been outflanked once again.

伦敦——或许与终结法国在欧洲的霸权的那场战役一样，巴黎似乎再次被打败了。

After it objected to a decision in March by Belgium to introduce a new 2 euro coin to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, the Belgians retreated, scrapping 180,000 coins they had already minted.

为了纪念拿破仑在滑铁卢战败200周年，比利时于今年3月决定推出一款新的2欧元硬币。但是在巴黎对此表示反对之后，比利时人作出了让步，销毁了他们已经制造出来的18万枚硬币。

But victory for France is proving elusive.

不过事实证明，胜利对于法国来说似乎转瞬即逝。

This week, Belgium decided to circumvent French resistance by invoking a little-known European Union rule that allows countries to issue euro coins of their choice, provided they are in an irregular denomination.

本周，比利时决定援引一条鲜为人知的欧盟规定，从而绕开法国的阻挠。根据这条规定，各国可以自行选择发行欧元硬币，只要面值不常见即可。

That led to the unveiling of a 2.50 coin — a first in Belgium — and 70,000 of them have now been minted. The coins, which can only be spent inside Belgium, display a monument of a lion atop a cone-shaped hill on the site of France’s humiliation, as well as lines indicating where troops were positioned when forces led by Britain and Prussia defeated Napoleon in the countryside near Brussels.

于是，比利时推出了面值为2.5欧元的硬币——这在比利时历史上是头一遭——并已铸造了7万枚。这些硬币只能在比利时境内使用，上面的图案是一座狮子纪念碑耸立在法国受辱之地的锥形山丘上，下方还有线条代表着由英国和普鲁士带领的军队在这片靠近布鲁塞尔的郊区击败拿破仑时军队部署的位置。

Johan Van Overtveldt, the Belgian finance minister, insisted on Monday that the new coins were not meant to provoke Gallic anger.

比利时财政大臣约翰·范奥维尔威尔特(Johan Van Overtveldt)周一坚称，铸造这些新硬币并不是为了挑起法国人的愤怒情绪。

“The goal is not to revive old quarrels in a modern Europe — and there are more important things to sort out,” he was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. “But there’s been no battle in recent history as important as Waterloo, or indeed one that captures the imagination in the same way.”

“这样做并非是想在当今的欧洲重燃旧的纷争——我们还有更重要的事情需要解决，”法新社(Agence France-Presse)援引他的话报道。“但是在近代历史中，没有哪场战役比滑铁卢战役更重要，也的确没有哪场战役像它一样激起人们的兴趣。”

There is no doubt that the European Union has bigger struggles to wage at the moment. But in its small way, the skirmish has signaled the challenges facing European integration, and the limits of Europe’s open borders at overcoming old nationalist impulses.

毫无疑问，欧盟有更大的问题需要处理。但从小的方面来看，这次纠纷表明了欧洲一体化面临的挑战，以及在克服由来已久的民族主义冲动方面，欧洲开放的边界存在的局限性。

Tensions among the 19 countries that use the euro have mounted as Greece teeters perilously close to defaulting on its debt.

随着希腊债务违约的风险加大，使用欧元的19个国家间的关系也愈加紧张。

Yet history has its own currency in Europe, which even a common currency has yet to overcome. Back in March, officials in Paris wrote a letter to the European authorities insisting that the Battle of Waterloo, which took place on June 18, 1815, and altered the shape of European history, had a deep and damaging resonance in the collective French consciousness.

不过在欧洲，各家自有通行的历史论断，即便使用统一货币也不能改变这一点。今年3月，巴黎的官员致函欧盟当局，坚称滑铁卢战役深深伤害了法国民众的集体情感。这场于1815年6月18日爆发的战役改变了欧洲历史的格局。

France protested Belgium’s plans for its original coin by saying that basking in France’s defeat threatened to undermine European unity, troubled enough already. The 2 coin, it said, could spur an “unfavorable reaction in France.” In Belgium, the victory embodied in the 2.50 coin is being lauded as if the tiny country had itself triumphed on the battlefield.

法国反对比利时的铸币计划，理由是以法国的战败为乐可能会破坏欧洲的团结，而这里的麻烦已经够多了。法国称，这款面值2欧元的硬币可能会在法国引发“令人不快的反应”。在比利时，推出2.5欧元硬币代表的胜利却受到了人们的称赞，就好像这个小国自己在战场上打了胜仗一样。

“Belgium creativity at its best!” Jean-Yves Jault, the Brussels-based head of corporate communications for Toyota Europe, boasted on Twitter.

丰田欧洲(Toyota Europe)驻布鲁塞尔的企业公关部门负责人让-伊夫·若(Jean-Yves Jault)在Twitter上夸赞，“这是比利时最好的创意！”

Nevertheless, the move has inspired no little annoyance in France. An article on the website of Bfmtv, the French broadcaster, noted that 200 years later, the defeat of Napoleon was “still hard to swallow.”

尽管如此，此举在法国引发了不少恼怒情绪。法国电视台Bfmtv的网站上有一篇文章指出，200年后，拿破仑战败的事实“仍然让人难以接受”。

The article asked whether France was a “poor loser,” even as it stressed that the 2.50 coin would not be legal tender outside of Belgium, where it is to be sold in plastic bags at a cost of 6.

这篇文章提出，法国是不是一个“输不起的败者”？但又同时强调，除了在比利时，这款面值2.5欧元的硬币不属合法货币。在比利时，它装在塑料包装里售卖，标价6欧元。

In Britain, where the 19th-century poet laureate Robert Southey called the Battle of Waterloo “the greatest deliverance that civilized society has experienced” since Charles Martel repelled an Islamic conquest of Europe in 732, the new 2.50 coin aroused similar adulation.

19世纪的英国桂冠诗人罗伯特·骚塞(Robert Southey)称，滑铁卢战役是自查尔斯·马特尔(Charles Martel)于公元732年击退攻取欧洲的伊斯兰大军以来，“文明社会经历的最伟大的解救”。这款新的2.5欧元硬币引发了类似的吹捧。

“Well done Belgium beat the French at their own game of finding ways around EU rules, the English should take note!!” Michael Dunn, from Stratford-upon-Avon, wrote on Twitter.

来自英格兰埃文河畔斯特拉福德镇的迈克尔·邓恩(Michael Dunn)在Twitter上写道，“干得漂亮。比利时用法国惯用的想方设法绕过欧盟规定的把戏击败了法国，英国人该好好看看！！”

Others were less impressed. On Facebook, Manuel Di Pietrantonio suggested that the value of the dispute was about 2.50.

其他一些人则没有这么强烈的感觉。曼纽尔·迪彼得兰托尼奥(Manuel Di Pietrantonio)在Facebook上表示，这场争端就值2.5欧元。