Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Separatism in Europe

The Flemish and Walloons in Belgium don't like each other, and the Catalans want out of Spain as do the Basques. Northern Italy is tired of "carrying" southern Italy and Sicily, and the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland are at arms' length.

The Scots want out of the United Kingdom, can the Welch be far behind? The various ethnic groups within Estonia, Latvia, Moldova and the Ukraine don't love each other. And of course the Armenians and Azeris have issues.

In addition to all of the above, there are forces trying to pull apart the European Union. See this Der Spiegel article for details on several of these conflicts. Hat tip to RealClearWorld for the link.