Old adversaries Nigel Farage and Guy Verhofstadt have opened a new front in their long-standing war of words after the long-time Brexit campaigner claimed that Belgium did not qualify as a country.

Farage opened fire after Belgium prime minister Charles Michel spoke passionately in favour of the European Union in a speech before MEPs.

"The truth is there are two parts of Belgium. They speak different languages, they dislike each other intensely, there's no national TV station, there's no national newspaper,” Farage said.

"Belgium is not a nation and maybe that's why you're happy to sign up to a higher European level.”

Passionate Europhile Verhofstadt, himself a former Belgian prime minister, hit back on Twitter, referencing rumours that Farage, whose wife is German, had considered taking German citizenship.

“Nigel Farage said Belgium is not a real country. He’ll see how real Belgium is when we play England in the World Cup! But perhaps he’s still exploring German citizenship and will be rooting for ‘die Mannschaft’”

England play Belgium on June 28 in the World Cup in a match which could decide which team progresses through to the knock-out rounds.