RTBF reporters kept up the spoof for nearly two hours
The Belgian public television station RTBF ran a bogus report saying the Dutch-speaking half of the nation had declared independence.
Later it said Wednesday night's programme was meant to stir up debate.
It appears to have succeeded. Thousands of people made panicked calls to the station and politicians complained.
"It's very bad Orson Welles, in very poor taste," said a spokesman for Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, referring to the famous director's 1938 radio adaptation of War of the Worlds. That spoof fooled many Americans into believing Martians had invaded.
We obviously scared many people - maybe more than we expected
Yves Thiran
RTBF head of news
"In the current context, it's irresponsible for a public television channel to announce the end of Belgium as a reality presented by genuine journalists," he added.
The French-language TV channel interrupted regular programming with an apparent news report, announcing that Dutch-speaking Flanders had unilaterally declared independence and that Belgium as a nation had ceased to exist.
It showed "live" pictures of cheering crowds holding the Flemish flag, huge traffic jams leading to Brussels airport, and trams stuck at the new "border".
Monarchists rallied outside the Royal Palace after the report
The broadcast came amid an apparent growth of separatist sentiment in Flanders.
Recent regional elections have shown strong support for the far-right, nationalist Vlaams Belang party, which advocates Flemish independence.
The station's website crashed briefly as alarmed viewers sought more information, and 2,600 calls were made to a telephone number given out during the spoof.
"Our intention was to show Belgian viewers the intensity of the issue of the future of Belgium and the real possibility of Belgium no longer being a country in a few months," Yves Thiran, head of news at RTBF, told the BBC.
He said it introduced people to the debate who would otherwise have ignored it, but he admitted some may have taken it the wrong way.
"We obviously scared many people - maybe more than we expected," he said.
Diplomatic reaction
Some politicians were in on the joke, contributing interviews to the programme with their reactions to the "news". But others were not amused.
The minister for audiovisual affairs for the French-speaking community, Fadila Laanan, said the words "this is fiction" appeared on screen half an hour into the broadcast - at her insistence.
"I find it questionable to use such a tactic, which frightened people unbelievably," she said, adding that a number of people had called her in panic when the "news" broke.
The AFP news agency reported that even some foreign ambassadors in Brussels were taken in, and sent urgent messages back to their respective capitals.
RTBF anchorman asking clarification from a reporter standing in front of the Royal Palace in Brussels.

Belgium is a federal state consisting of a three regions: Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern part  (yellow), Brussels-Capital Region is the central part where both Dutch and French are spoken, and Wallonia is the southern French-speaking part. There is also a small German-speaking community in Wallonia (blue striped).

The Belgian French-speaking public television channel RTBF interrupted its programming last night for a special news bulletin  reporting that the Flemish Parliament had suddenly created an independent Flemish state separate from Belgium. However, during the broadcast it became clear that the report was actually a documentary meant to stir up the debate on the position of the states and regions in the federal country Belgium. Walloon Minister of Media Fadila Laanan said that the message "this is fiction" appeared only at her request, after she had received several "panic" calls and text messages.

During the report, King Albert II of Belgium was alleged to have left the country to show his disagreement with the unilateral Flemish decision. Several politicians (Jean-Marie Dedecker, Jean-Marie Happart, Herman De Croo etc.) contributed in the making of the program, giving their reaction to the news and explaining some of their views on Flemish independence. There were images of thousands celebrating in Antwerp and flag-waving independence supporters in front of the Royal Palace in Laken, but also trams stuck at the "new border", and traffic jams in the direction of Brussels Airport. After a while more comedy entered the report; two Flemish policemen where shown to be called into action to patrol the border, and Guy Vanhengel (VLD) was interviewed inside the Atomium, the monument symbolic of Belgium, where he spoke of a "monumental" mistake. The report was followed by a debate on the subject of the Flemish independence movement.

The head of news at RTBF reacted: "We obviously scared many people - maybe more than we expected," and this was indeed the case. A spokesman of Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt stated late last night that the newspaper ''Le Monde'' had already called them, and that CNBC already thought it was not fictional. Several embassies reported the news to their countries, and a Belgian representative in the European Parliament reported "consternation". A survey by the RTBF shows that 89% of spectators admit being fooled by the report, with even 6% continuing to believe it after the fiction notice appeared.

Leaders on both sides of the country spelled out their appall: Elio Di Rupo said it is "...unacceptable to play with the institutions and the stability of the country.", while Yves Leterme, Minister-President of the Flemish government, regretted that some of the Flemish demands were caricatured. Pro-independence politicians such as Filip Dewinter and Bart De Wever didn't hide their approval of the fake news report. Several politicians have criticized the method used by the RTBF, and expect that this will reflect badly on the credibility and reputation of the channel. The usual RTBF news studio and anchorman were used to make the fictional report.

The incident is headline news in Belgium. The report comes at a time of a growing discussion on the topic of granting Flanders more independence from Belgium, one year before the elections in Belgium. Only last week, the pro-Flemish political parties CD&V and NVA announced that they would demand a major constitutional change during the next federal negotiations.