比利时铸硬币纪念滑铁卢之战惹法国不满_时事

比利时铸硬币纪念滑铁卢之战惹法国不满

LONDON — Perhaps befitting a battle that endedFrench hegemony in Europe, Paris, it seems, hasbeen 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 Belgiumto introduce a new 2 euro coin to commemoratethe 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s defeat atWaterloo, the Belgians retreated, scrapping 180,000coins 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-knownEuropean Union rule that allows countries to issue euro coins of their choice, provided they arein 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 nowbeen minted. The coins, which can only be spent inside Belgium, display a monument of a lionatop a cone-shaped hill on the site of France’s humiliation, as well as lines indicating wheretroops were positioned when forces led by Britain and Prussia defeated Napoleon in thecountryside near Brussels.