In this age of the Supra-National state (or so we have been told by EU Federalist's - "Ever closer union" and all that), it's perhaps surprising that some people's want to go the other way and proclaim their independence.
But they do, and democracies have to find ways to handle that. In the UK we allowed the Scottish referendum and probably face another such vote before too long.
In other parts of Europe this is not always the case. Now admittedly some the independence claims are weak or even ancient but others such as those by the Basques or the Catalans have both historical and ethnographic backing.
So how Spain and France deal with these claims matters. Recent events in Catalonia suggest that the term 'none to kindly', is putting it mildly. The Spanish government in Madrid chose the path of arrests and force to tackle what it claimed was an illegal referendum in the region.
Effectively they did the job for the separatists for them. The violence on the TV screens will undoubtedly hardened support for an independence that was weak before. Indeed polls beforehand suggested that the vote might well have been lost by the Catalan nationalists. Not now though. The violence by the Madrid forces although mild by non European standards (think Turkey under Pres. Erdogan), will almost certainly path the way for further demands for another but 'official' referendum.
So what was the EU response to all this? Well apart from a couple of the leaders of smaller states condemning the violence, the rest were quiet. ... France and Germany in particular said little.
There are of course Realpolitik reasons for this reticence. Don't forget that many national borders were first set after WWI and then again by the Soviets after WWII. This has left separatist groups littering the continent and no one wants to see them stirred up.
Then of course the EU has, where it's had any united opinion at all, generally not backed separatist forces elsewhere e.g. The Kurds request for a homeland. This has left them on the wrong side of history as events have unfolded as they will, leaving the EU as a bit part player in any 'final solution' (there's a phrase that echoes across the European landscape!).
So it appears that despite the federalist ideals of the bureaucrats of the EU, it's far too early to declare the death of the nation state in Europe or elsewhere.
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| Spanish Police Have Long Had Something Of A Reputation ...... |
But they do, and democracies have to find ways to handle that. In the UK we allowed the Scottish referendum and probably face another such vote before too long.
In other parts of Europe this is not always the case. Now admittedly some the independence claims are weak or even ancient but others such as those by the Basques or the Catalans have both historical and ethnographic backing.
So how Spain and France deal with these claims matters. Recent events in Catalonia suggest that the term 'none to kindly', is putting it mildly. The Spanish government in Madrid chose the path of arrests and force to tackle what it claimed was an illegal referendum in the region.
Effectively they did the job for the separatists for them. The violence on the TV screens will undoubtedly hardened support for an independence that was weak before. Indeed polls beforehand suggested that the vote might well have been lost by the Catalan nationalists. Not now though. The violence by the Madrid forces although mild by non European standards (think Turkey under Pres. Erdogan), will almost certainly path the way for further demands for another but 'official' referendum.
So what was the EU response to all this? Well apart from a couple of the leaders of smaller states condemning the violence, the rest were quiet. ... France and Germany in particular said little.
There are of course Realpolitik reasons for this reticence. Don't forget that many national borders were first set after WWI and then again by the Soviets after WWII. This has left separatist groups littering the continent and no one wants to see them stirred up.
Then of course the EU has, where it's had any united opinion at all, generally not backed separatist forces elsewhere e.g. The Kurds request for a homeland. This has left them on the wrong side of history as events have unfolded as they will, leaving the EU as a bit part player in any 'final solution' (there's a phrase that echoes across the European landscape!).
So it appears that despite the federalist ideals of the bureaucrats of the EU, it's far too early to declare the death of the nation state in Europe or elsewhere.
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