Croatia greenlighted to join EU

Sounds like a throat infection.

edited 28th Jun '11 4:18:13 PM by AllanAssiduity

I still see no problem especially when you think of the fact that "r" acts as a "half-vowel" in the Serbo-Croatian language. Cut the Croats some slack, they have more then enough trouble making their language as "different" as possible from Serbian.

edited 29th Jun '11 12:27:11 AM by AdeptusAlpharius

Great, another financially weak nation that other European taxpayers will have to bail out in the near future. One more reason to quit the European Union, NOW.

edited 29th Jun '11 6:29:58 AM by Shichibukai

Only if it jumps the gun and joins the Eurozone. What's more important is financial stability, not wealth.

That seems to be the pattern with alot of new EU members. Fast-tracked membership of the Eurozone with lack of regard for the financial disparities between members. Oh, not to mention there will be alot of subsidies before there are bailouts. Joy, more money will be pilfered from UK public services, don't you just love being raped by Brussels?

(I know you're nowhere near Europe, so)

edited 29th Jun '11 6:39:34 AM by Shichibukai

If the country is financially stable, there is little reason to not allow it to join the Union.

Making sure it doesn't go the way of Greece helps, too.

So you enjoy subsidising second-world nations?

I don't really know about Croatia, but Serbia focuses only on getting into EU as fast as possible, with no regards for anything else. It is completely ruining the economy, and I can see why other nations wouldn't accept us - we are a failed country in any way possible. I pity what will become of the EU when the Balkan countries enter it.

Technically, it's temporary. Once convergence is more or less achieved, you've got another 100% tariff-free client for your exports, a source of civilized, specialist manpower, and greater world influence for Europe as a whole.

It's an investment, and it often pays off. The EU is vastly more important than what it would've been if it was much smaller.

Schengen is a more constructive tool for European integration than the Eurozone, IMO.

Concur. My Europe-loving self says that they don't need to join the Euro. As long as we don't make the mistakes with the PIGS, we're fine.

We let the PIGS in with over 70% of Nat'l debt. That was a recipe for disaster. But that was back in the days of cheap credit.

I still think that economically, politically, Europe is the best option for Britain. But that is not the topic.

Yeah, I'd argue that Greece's issues are exacerbated by being in the Eurozone.

OTOH, Croatia's leadership should be sane enough not to jump on the Eurozone ASAP.

Agreed. If Greece was not a Eurozone, the collapse would not be so great. But Greece does not represent Europe. The Euro is a different entity to the European Union. The EU can do pretty decent economically and geo-politically without it.

The whole point of the EU is to bring underdeveloped European countries up to developed standards for a stronger whole. If you shy away from letting in financially stable countries which meet the political requirements, then you are destroying the purpose of the EU.

Some opinions from a Croat. 1 Serbian krajina tried to cede from Croatia and join "Greater Serbia". it started a bloody war that spilled into Bosnia, which was a genocidal free-for all. The disaster ended when NATO stepped in and reaffirmed the old borders. Ex Yugoslavia is a patchwork◊ of◊ ethnicities◊ that can't be rearranged to mutual satisfaction. Status Quo is not ideal but the alternative is horrible. Please do not advocate a rerun of the 90s.

2 It remains to be seen if we want in EU at all. Skepticism is high, for all the familiar reasons. Even if we enter EU, we will not have Euro for another 5 years, so no, Croatia will not crash the Eurozone.

Take care

X9 Actually yes. I rather like the idea that part of my taxes goes to helping who though no fault of their own lack the advantages that I have in life. To me it doesn’t matter what country they are in. If I can in some small way help them and they want my help than I take pride in knowing that my taxes help those people.

I have to say this is quite interesting. It's always nice to see the EU expanding. Just because the Euro is failing we shouldn't abandon the whole European project. Next month I should be doing some work with my local MEP so I'll try and remember to talk to him about this.

This whole matter has nothing to do with me nor do I have an opinion about it. But is really comforting to think 'solidarity' is not completely lost.

I love that the person promoting solidarity is from the UK and the two who expressed their support of it are from Finland and Brazil. Shows you how solidarity and internationalism go together. (Plus Finland and Brazil have a lot to do with the ideology with which the word "solidarity" is usually associated.)

So, EU solidarity for Croatia leads to a stronger EU. Go, us!

So how long until Russia joins?

A long long time. Russia is much more likely to (once the memories of the Soviet Union are gone) try and found its own little club. Probably bringing in many of the ex Soviet states. However such a thing won't be feasible until most of the generation who lived though the Cold War are gone and even then it would be a hell of an achievement.

Edit: It appears Putin has been thinking the same thing as me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Union

edited 22nd Jan '12 9:20:38 AM by Silasw

Russia and Turkey won't get to join, ever. I know many see the EU as a jumping board for their own ideological doctrines of internationalism and world unity. This annoys me especially when people outside Europe do so: Judging the EU not by whether it's actually good for its people, but by abstract, global, ideological dogmata.

However, the EU, while itself often dogmatic, isn't based on those doctrines - it is indeed a political organization for Europe, not the world. And for that matter I'm not sure if it's even good for even only Europe.

edited 22nd Jan '12 9:43:28 AM by Octo

German, not Germanic. Or should I call the Turks Huns?

And actually they can gain citizenship. There just is no automatic German citizenship for births in Germany, as Germany has only Ius Sanguinus and not Ius Solis. However, the Turkish community doesn't get German citizenships because of the sanctions in Turkey (I hear it greatly effects inheritance law in Turkey if you lose your Turkish citizenship - and Germany normally doesn't do double citizenships).

And hey, classy of you, defending ethnic cleansing. Bah.

That being said, I advise you to end this derail, as this has really fuck all to do with the EU.

edited 22nd Jan '12 10:07:59 AM by Octo