Euskadia

[Roger Hicks]

A question for our Basque friends

I am from another of the small/hidden countries of Europe: Kernow (population about 500,000, or 1/4 the size of Slovenia).

But what would be the actual benefits of independence?

To leave the EU woulld be lunacy.

Inside the EU, we have to accept immigrants from all other EU members.

To be sure, there is a moral/emotional satisfaction in independence. But what other benefits are there?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Pitxu,

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

My apologies for my grievously deficient command of the Basque language, though in my defence I'll say it's one of the most difficult in the world (and I say that as one who lived in Malta and has worked for the Tibetan Government in Exile).

The last monoglot speaker of Kernewek died in 1792 -- indeed, I'm not sure I've spelled the word correctly -- so it's a bit different from Basque. But equally, unlike Geordie and Scouse, it was a language, not a dialect.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Pablito]

Well, gents, you have struck a chord here. The question of independence is always simmering in the Caribbean basin; a place of colonies, post-colonies, semi-colonies and quasi-colonies. The oldest colony in the world today, is, in fact, in the Caribbean, and the issue of language there is as political as anywhere else, if not more so. The notion of nationhood sits deep in the psyche of the people, yet few publicly support independence. The Yankee dollar reaches far and wide......