How about this whole Oil For Food scandal for starters? France has some issues to deal with.


GD

How about we all put politics aside no matter where you're from.

Raining_Smoke Wrote: How about we all put politics aside no matter where you're from.

Eh? If we can speak about politics(Int. and Domestic) honestly and in logical terms then what's the problem?


GD

ghostdragon Wrote: Raining_Smoke Wrote: How about we all put politics aside no matter where you're from. Eh? If we can speak about politics(Int. and Domestic) honestly and in logical terms then what's the problem? GD

Because it all leads to flame wars.

Raining_Smoke Wrote: ghostdragon Wrote: Raining_Smoke Wrote: How about we all put politics aside no matter where you're from. Eh? If we can speak about politics(Int. and Domestic) honestly and in logical terms then what's the problem? GD Because it all leads to flame wars.

Logical discussions lead to flames? By those who shove candycanes up their asses and intentionally start trouble yeah, but for the most part people interested in domestic politics might want to be informed about politics overseas.

We'll just guillotine the tosser who start shit and throw their bodies into a firey pit to burn if it gets out of hand.

Now, let's start talkin' about int. stuff shall we?


GD

Raining_Smoke Wrote: ghostdragon Wrote: Raining_Smoke Wrote: How about we all put politics aside no matter where you're from. Eh? If we can speak about politics(Int. and Domestic) honestly and in logical terms then what's the problem? GD Because it all leads to flame wars.

Look, I don't mean for this to be about debate, so much as education. The MKO community has a wide range of nationalities, and I think too many Americans in general are too ethnocentric. As VQ and BAV said in the other thread, every country has an effect on every other country. If we can learn a little about a variety of countries, I think it will help us understand politics in our own respective countries better.

I'd like to see mature, reasonable discussion. If you're going to result to flames and name-calling, this thread probably isn't for you.

ARGH! Might as well say something substantive.

Concerning this Oil For Food scandal that the U.N. and France have, it's really a big issue that is being underplayed by the media.

With Kofi Annan's son being apart of the whole issue, it casts a shadow over the U.N.'s moral standing I feel. Even if it turns out that he did nothing wrong, the mere notion that his name even came up initially should give everyone pause.

The fact that banks in France are involved shed's ligh on why they opposed the war in the first place. Eventhough I didn't support the implemintation of the war, the Fact that France (Chirac specifically) had dealings with Saddam makes me questoion his sincerity towards the U.S. I'm shocked that the people of France aren't as critical of their leader as they should be regarding this issue.


GD

What is currently dominating Belgian politics, or rather, Flemish politics (this country is a federal country, and right now there aren't much federal issues), is the rise of the fascist party Vlaams Blok (Flemish Block).

Vlaams Blok wants to seperate Flanders from Belgium. Although this claim has some legitimate roots (i.e. there are as many Wallons as Flemings in parliament, yet Belgium only has 35% Wallons), and more than fifty years ago Dutch was surpressed by a francophone elite, seperatism is, according to me, not an option.

Be it as it may, what concerns me more is that their leaders all have Nazi or Neo-Nazi pasts, and that their party programme has been convicted as racist. For anyone with half a brain cell, it's clear that they're doing a bad job at covering up their past (although they try) but unfortunately people here are as dimwitted as they are everywhere, and on an agenda of hate- and fear-mongering, Vlaams Blok keeps growing bigger.

Now, we have a multi-party system, and all other parties have agreed not to work with Vlaams Blok, but in the 2004 regional elections, they reached up to 30% in some districts. For a region with six major parties, 30% is a staggering number. They are the largest single party in Flanders right now. They especially thrive on issues of integration and crime (we have problems with North African immigrants).

I am very afraid that they will once rise above 50%. That they are Neo-Nazis is not the only problem, however, they are also complete amateurs. Right now Belgium ranks 6th in the list of developed countries (measured how wealthy its citizens are), and is 10th on the list of exporting countries in the world. If Vlaams Blok comes to power, it will be the ruin of Belgium.

If they ever do come to power, I will flee my country, probably to Norway or Ireland (I can speak a bit of Norwegian). No one has any idea how we should fight Vlaams Blok.

I am also a member of the local left-wing liberal party (a very small party, but I support its ideals very much).

Cheers,
VQ

VainQueur Wrote: What is currently dominating Belgian politics, or rather, Flemish politics (this country is a federal country, and right now there aren't much federal issues), is the rise of the fascist party Vlaams Blok (Flemish Block). Vlaams Blok wants to seperate Flanders from Belgium. Although this claim has some legitimate roots (i.e. there are as many Wallons as Flemings in parliament, yet Belgium only has 35% Wallons), and more than fifty years ago Dutch was surpressed by a francophone elite, seperatism is, according to me, not an option. Be it as it may, what concerns me more is that their leaders all have Nazi or Neo-Nazi pasts, and that their party programme has been convicted as racist. For anyone with half a brain cell, it's clear that they're doing a bad job at covering up their past (although they try) but unfortunately people here are as dimwitted as they are everywhere, and on an agenda of hate- and fear-mongering, Vlaams Blok keeps growing bigger. Now, we have a multi-party system, and all other parties have agreed not to work with Vlaams Blok, but in the 2004 regional elections, they reached up to 30% in some districts. For a region with six major parties, 30% is a staggering number. They are the largest single party in Flanders right now. They especially thrive on issues of integration and crime (we have problems with North African immigrants). I am very afraid that they will once rise above 50%. That they are Neo-Nazis is not the only problem, however, they are also complete amateurs. Right now Belgium ranks 6th in the list of developed countries (measured how wealthy its citizens are), and is 10th on the list of exporting countries in the world. If Vlaams Blok comes to power, it will be the ruin of Belgium. If they ever do come to power, I will flee my country, probably to Norway or Ireland (I can speak a bit of Norwegian). No one has any idea how we should fight Vlaams Blok. I am also a member of the local left-wing liberal party (a very small party, but I support its ideals very much). Cheers, VQ

See, this is why I started this thread. Clearly, the fact that a neo-Nazi party such as Vlaams Blok is consolidating power in Belgium is threatening the country's stability. But how much do the Americans here hear about this problem in the news? I'm sure I'm not the only one hearing about this for the first time. Thank you, VQ, for sharing this and educating us about it.

ghostdragon Wrote: ARGH! Might as well say something substantive. Concerning this Oil For Food scandal that the U.N. and France have, it's really a big issue that is being underplayed by the media. With Kofi Annan's son being apart of the whole issue, it casts a shadow over the U.N.'s moral standing I feel. Even if it turns out that he did nothing wrong, the mere notion that his name even came up initially should give everyone pause. The fact that banks in France are involved shed's ligh on why they opposed the war in the first place. Eventhough I didn't support the implemintation of the war, the Fact that France (Chirac specifically) had dealings with Saddam makes me questoion his sincerity towards the U.S. I'm shocked that the people of France aren't as critical of their leader as they should be regarding this issue. GD

I'm not familiar with the Oil For Food scandal. I know people have been saying Chirac had business ties with Saddam (but hey, so did Dick Cheney and Haliburtun), but I don't really know about the nature of this. Could you go into detail about the specifics of this scandal?

xcarnagex Wrote: I'm not familiar with the Oil For Food scandal. I know people have been saying Chirac had business ties with Saddam (but hey, so did Dick Cheney and Haliburtun), but I don't really know about the nature of this. Could you go into detail about the specifics of this scandal?

Here's a chronicled accounting of what's going down. This March 11 article explains everything so far. If I find a more currect one, I'll post it.


GD

xcarnagex Wrote: See, this is why I started this thread. Clearly, the fact that a neo-Nazi party such as Vlaams Blok is consolidating power in Belgium is threatening the country's stability. But how much do the Americans here hear about this problem in the news? I'm sure I'm not the only one hearing about this for the first time.

Actually this was also mentioned in the political series The West Wing (with Martin Sheen). It caused quite an uproar here :).

Cheers,
VQ

A very intersting thread. Congrats to x_carnage_x for being an open-minded citizen. If only more people were like that...
Some very interesting topics have been raised. I had no idea something like the Vlams Blok even existed.

I know that a lot of people will talk about Canada and Quebec. And I know that a lot of people will talk about Australia, so I won't discuss them for the moment (I'll only say that I hate the Quebec separatists and that the John Howard regime is DICTATORSHIP !).

So even though I talked about it already in the "Election is close: issues" and the "Tell me aboout your country" threads, I'll once again talk about the Romanian political situation...

Romania is one of the poorest countries in Europe, even though its situation isn't quite as desperate as Bulgaria.

For more than 50 years, until 1989, Romania was a communist state. Its "presidents", Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and Nicolae Ceausescu, were tyrants and butchers (especially Ceausescu). There was no freedom of speech whatsoever, as the Secret Police (S.E.C.U.R) would kidnap, torture and execute anyone who dared say anything bad about comrade Ceausescu or Communism. Tens of thousands of innocents were murdered by the S.E.C.U.R . In 1989, the Romanians finally organized a Revolution and executed the tyrant Ceausescu and his wife Elena for mass-murder and crimes against humanity. The country got rid of Communism and embraced Democracy.

Howerver, there is no Democracy in Romania, only "Democracy". Ion Iliescu, who became "president" after Ceausescu's execution, is in fact one of Ceausescu's right-hand men and a die-hard communist. He is also a KGB agent who sold countless national secrets and even Moldova to Mother Russia.
Together with a cartel of his partners-in-crime, he formed the PSD, Partidul Social-Democrat (Social-Democrat Party). That party is formed entirely of communists and former S.E.C.U.R agents. The PSD governed the country from 1990 to 1997. The country got poorer and poorer with each passing year. In 1997, Emil Constantinescu of the PNTCD, Partidul National Taranist Crestin-Democrat (National Countryman Christian-Democrat Party), was elected president. He was an intelligent and honest politician, but he lacked courage and authority; only 3 years later, before his 4-year term was over, he resigned as president, saying that he "can't fight corruption anymore".

In 2000, Iliescu and the PSD came back in power. If you pay close attention, you can see that it's his 3rd term, and a Romanian president only has the right to 2. Just by being president, he's breaking the law.

Ever since the PSD came to power in 1990, Romania has been beaten into the ground. The country has become poorer and poorer with each passing year. Countless Romanians flee the country to escape poverty. You have to work like a slave to put food on the table.
Corruption rules the country. Politicians sign deal after deal and screw the people out of their hard-earned money.
Freedom of speech is extremely limited. The government attempts to censor any press who dares complain about the government.
Contrary to popular demand, the S.E.C.U.R is alive and well, and still kidnapping outspoken critics of the government.
The education system is horrible. School is absurdly hard, and many students drop out school to immigrate to other countries.
Romanian children don't have any of the luxuries that children from rich countries have. Video games, computers, technology...Only a handful of rich kids can afford to have them.

The elections for the Romanian presidency are this year, in November. The PSD will present their prize fighter, Adrian Nastase. A fat fool with no political competence whatsoever. If that's not enough, he's also a homosexual ! He tries hard to hide it, but people still know. Imagine the shame of having a homosexual as president ! We'd be the laughingstock of Europe !
The number-one rival to Nastase is Theodor Stolojan, of the PNL-PD Alliance, also known as the Alliance of Justice and Truth (Alianta Dreptate si Adevar). He is a highly intelligent man, and an honest politician.
Romania's problem is that many Romanians are STUPID, voting for the same bastards over and over again. Come November, if they don't smarten up and vote for Stolojan, the country is FUCKED. And it will not start to rebuild itself for the next 20 years. I pray that Stolojan wins and ousts the PSD assholes out of power.

On a side note, Moldova (which was once a part of Romania) separated from Romania in 1991, to become a "country". Now, it's the poorest country in all of Europe. In some parts of it, people are literraly living in the Stone Age. Even though 65% of its inhabitants are Romanians, the official language is Russian. Moldova is being governed by a totalitarian communist regime. It's obviously anti-Romanian and pro-Russian. The Russian language was even imposed in schools as the "first language".
The worst part is this: in Transnistria (a small part of Moldova), a communist madman known as Igor Smirnov has taken power. His might lies in his mercenary army. Fueled with hatred against Romanians, he has proceeded to an ethnic cleansing of sorts, closing down all schools that have Romanian as their primary language and imposing Russian as the only official language. He aims to separate Transnistria from Moldova (a separatist province within a separatist province ! What irony !) and constantly refers to it as the "Republic of Transnistria". Tension is rising rapidly, and Transnistraia look like it will become a warzone...

So Quebec, heed my words ! Unless you want to become like Moldova, leave your treacherous ambitions aside and stop biting the hand that feeds you ! Or there may be an Igor Smirnov in your future as well !

Just a rundown of Romania's political parties (the major ones):
-PSD (Partidul Social-Democrat = Social-Democrat Party): Composed entirely of communists, S.E.C.U.R agents, liars and thieves. Led by the communist KGB agent Ion Iliescu. Presidential candidate is the fat poofster, Adrian Nastase.
-The PNL-PD Alliance (Also known as "Alianta Dreptate si Adevar", meaning "The Alliance of Justice and Truth"): The Super Saiyan-like fusion of the PNL (Partidul National Liberal = National Liberal Party) and the PD (Partidul Democrat = Democratic Party). Their main goal is to rid the country of the PSD's reign of terror. Its co-leaders are Theodor Stolojan and Traian Basescu. Presidential candidate is Theodor Stolojan.
-PRM (Partidul Romania Mare = Great Romania Party): A right-wing party who disguises itself under a thin veil of "patriotism". Almost all of its members are extreme right-wingers. The only good member it has is George Funar, former mayor of Cluj. Its leader, Corneliu Vadim-Tudor, is crazy.
-UDMR (Uniunea Democratica a Maghiarilor din Romania = Democratic Union of Romanian Hungarians): A bunch of Hungarians who think they're soooooooooo great. If you listen to them talk, you'd think that the Hungarians are the most brutalized ethnic group in the World and that Romanians are a bunch of racist fanatics. They want bilingualism even though they're only 8% of the country's population, and you need to be 20% of the country's population for the country to become bilingual (the English-speaking populaton of Quebec has grown to well over 15%, and they STILL don't get bilingualism). They even want to separate Ardeal from Romania, the bastards ! Why does everyone want to separate ? Quebec, Moldova, Transnistria, Ardeal, Flanders ? I'm fed up with separatists, dammit ! UDMR's leader is Marko Bela, another fool.
-PUR (Partidul Umanist Roman = Romanian Humanist Party): ??? No information avaliable...
-PNTCD (Partidul National Taranist Crestin-Democrat = National Countryman Christian-Democrat Party): Once the ruling party, it has dropped doen to nothing. Leader is former prez Emil Constantinescu. How the mighty have fallen...

Hope I learned ya somethin', eh.

(P.S: Iliescu is visiting Montreal next Saturday to unveil a hideous statue that is an insult to our national poet, Mihai Eminescu. I'll be in the audience to boo him. Maybe someone will throw eggs at his ugly grinning face...)

Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: The elections for the Romanian presidency are this year, in November. The PSD will present their prize fighter, Adrian Nastase. A fat fool with no political competence whatsoever. If that's not enough, he's also a homosexual ! He tries hard to hide it, but people still know. Imagine the shame of having a homosexual as president ! We'd be the laughingstock of Europe !

While I take for granted that you are right in your social criticism of your country, this argument is completely invalid. Who cares that he shags other men?

Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: Romania's problem is that many Romanians are STUPID, voting for the same bastards over and over again. Come November, if they don't smarten up and vote for Stolojan, the country is FUCKED.

Heh, stupidity seems to be a trait of people all across the world. I mean, how could Romanians even consider voting for the PSD? It's like the Neo-Nazis here or the (current) Republican party in the US. This baffles me as much as it amazes you.

Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote:On a side note, Moldova (which was once a part of Romania) separated from Romania in 1991, to become a "country"..

Moldova was a part of the USSR until 1991. I believe the Soviets annexed it from Romania after World War II.

Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: Now, it's the poorest country in all of Europe. In some parts of it, people are literraly living in the Stone Age. Even though 65% of its inhabitants are Romanians, the official language is Russian. Moldova is being governed by a totalitarian communist regime. It's obviously anti-Romanian and pro-Russian. The Russian language was even imposed in schools as the "first language". The worst part is this: in Transnistria (a small part of Moldova), a communist madman known as Igor Smirnov has taken power. His might lies in his mercenary army. Fueled with hatred against Romanians, he has proceeded to an ethnic cleansing of sorts, closing down all schools that have Romanian as their primary language and imposing Russian as the only official language. He aims to separate Transnistria from Moldova (a separatist province within a separatist province ! What irony !) and constantly refers to it as the "Republic of Transnistria". Tension is rising rapidly, and Transnistraia look like it will become a warzone...

I didn't know this. Similar things seem to have been going on in Belarus, where the country is being re-russified and its current president even want to be taken up in the Russian Federation again.

Well, at any rate, Moldova doesn't sound like a pleasant place to be.

Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: -UDMR (Uniunea Democratica a Maghiarilor din Romania = Democratic Union of Romanian Hungarians): A bunch of Hungarians who think they're soooooooooo great. If you listen to them talk, you'd think that the Hungarians are the most brutalized ethnic group in the World and that Romanians are a bunch of racist fanatics. They want bilingualism even though they're only 8% of the country's population, and you need to be 20% of the country's population for the country to become bilingual (the English-speaking populaton of Quebec has grown to well over 15%, and they STILL don't get bilingualism). They even want to separate Ardeal from Romania, the bastards ! Why does everyone want to separate ? Quebec, Moldova, Transnistria, Ardeal, Flanders ? I'm fed up with separatists, dammit ! UDMR's leader is Marko Bela, another fool.

Well, fact is that Transsylvania DID originally belong to Hungary. And perhaps the 20% rule exists in Romania, but it does not in other countries. Here only 10% of the people speak German, yet it is an official third language. And in Finland, only 4% of the people speak Swedish, but it's Finland's second official language.

Of course, I agree with you that separatism is not a good thing; BUT minorities have rights too.

Cheers,
VQ

VainQueur Wrote: Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: The elections for the Romanian presidency are this year, in November. The PSD will present their prize fighter, Adrian Nastase. A fat fool with no political competence whatsoever. If that's not enough, he's also a homosexual ! He tries hard to hide it, but people still know. Imagine the shame of having a homosexual as president ! We'd be the laughingstock of Europe ! While I take for granted that you are right in your social criticism of your country, this argument is completely invalid. Who cares that he shags other men? Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: Romania's problem is that many Romanians are STUPID, voting for the same bastards over and over again. Come November, if they don't smarten up and vote for Stolojan, the country is FUCKED. Heh, stupidity seems to be a trait of people all across the world. I mean, how could Romanians even consider voting for the PSD? It's like the Neo-Nazis here or the (current) Republican party in the US. This baffles me as much as it amazes you. Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote:On a side note, Moldova (which was once a part of Romania) separated from Romania in 1991, to become a "country".. Moldova was a part of the USSR until 1991. I believe the Soviets annexed it from Romania after World War II. Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: Now, it's the poorest country in all of Europe. In some parts of it, people are literraly living in the Stone Age. Even though 65% of its inhabitants are Romanians, the official language is Russian. Moldova is being governed by a totalitarian communist regime. It's obviously anti-Romanian and pro-Russian. The Russian language was even imposed in schools as the "first language". The worst part is this: in Transnistria (a small part of Moldova), a communist madman known as Igor Smirnov has taken power. His might lies in his mercenary army. Fueled with hatred against Romanians, he has proceeded to an ethnic cleansing of sorts, closing down all schools that have Romanian as their primary language and imposing Russian as the only official language. He aims to separate Transnistria from Moldova (a separatist province within a separatist province ! What irony !) and constantly refers to it as the "Republic of Transnistria". Tension is rising rapidly, and Transnistraia look like it will become a warzone... I didn't know this. Similar things seem to have been going on in Belarus, where the country is being re-russified and its current president even want to be taken up in the Russian Federation again. Well, at any rate, Moldova doesn't sound like a pleasant place to be. Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: -UDMR (Uniunea Democratica a Maghiarilor din Romania = Democratic Union of Romanian Hungarians): A bunch of Hungarians who think they're soooooooooo great. If you listen to them talk, you'd think that the Hungarians are the most brutalized ethnic group in the World and that Romanians are a bunch of racist fanatics. They want bilingualism even though they're only 8% of the country's population, and you need to be 20% of the country's population for the country to become bilingual (the English-speaking populaton of Quebec has grown to well over 15%, and they STILL don't get bilingualism). They even want to separate Ardeal from Romania, the bastards ! Why does everyone want to separate ? Quebec, Moldova, Transnistria, Ardeal, Flanders ? I'm fed up with separatists, dammit ! UDMR's leader is Marko Bela, another fool. Well, fact is that Transsylvania DID originally belong to Hungary. And perhaps the 20% rule exists in Romania, but it does not in other countries. Here only 10% of the people speak German, yet it is an official third language. And in Finland, only 4% of the people speak Swedish, but it's Finland's second official language. Of course, I agree with you that separatism is not a good thing; BUT minorities have rights too. Cheers, VQ

I agree with you 100% that minorities have rights. Just as long as they don't start believing that they're the rulers of the country and that the Law doesn't apply to them.
For example, here in Quebec, minorities are denied many rights; when I came to Quebec with my family in early 1996, I didn't have the right to go to an English-speaking school even though I spoke perfect English. There used to be a law that stated that if you're an immigrant arriving in Quebec and you want to send your kid to English school, the kid has to take a test to verify how well he uses English. After that, the extremist Bill 101 was adopted, meaning that only parents who have been to English school themselves in Canada can send their kids to English school. I could have passed the bloody English test with flying colors. The Quebecers are sometimes really paranoid that their French language will disappear if they don't impose such laws.

Transylvania was conquered by the Hungarians back in the Middle Ages, even though the first settlers who populated Transylvania were Romanians. The Romanians took Transylvania back from the Hungarian invaders, just like the Spanish took back Grenada from the Saracens during the Reconquista. If a country is invaded, its citizens have the right to take it back, by war if necessary.

What pisses me off is that the separatists, no matter where they are, take the coward's way out instead of trying to resolve their differences in a civilised manner that will keep the country united.

Moldova was indeed annexed by the USSR, but Romania was annexed too for a time. Even though the Russians were ousted out of Romania and international pressure forced them to leave it as an independent country sooner or later, they still wanted Moldova because they were hungry for land. In the 1800's, Romania had united as one country, uniting Valachia with Moldova, Basarabia and Bucovina during the Great Unification. The USSR just didn't want to let go of Moldova because they wanted to spread their influence as westernmost as possible.

And it's not my problem if Nastase is a homo...Just as long as he stays out of the Cotroceni Palace (the Romanian version of the White House) !

Much of the Romanian population just seems to be brainwashed by the PSD, that's the only logical explanation I can find...

Anyway, good discussion and I'm glad I got to speak to an intelligent and informed person for a change...

Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: I agree with you 100% that minorities have rights. Just as long as they don't start believing that they're the rulers of the country and that the Law doesn't apply to them. For example, here in Quebec, minorities are denied many rights; when I came to Quebec with my family in early 1996, I didn't have the right to go to an English-speaking school even though I spoke perfect English. There used to be a law that stated that if you're an immigrant arriving in Quebec and you want to send your kid to English school, the kid has to take a test to verify how well he uses English. After that, the extremist Bill 101 was adopted, meaning that only parents who have been to English school themselves in Canada can send their kids to English school. I could have passed the bloody English test with flying colors. The Quebecers are sometimes really paranoid that their French language will disappear if they don't impose such laws.

Yeah, that's a bit sad, isn't it? I think having more than one language in a country is an asset rather than a problem, but unfortunately many people have a long history of fear. The francophone minority in Canada seems well-protected to me. However, we shouldn't forget that they have also maintained cordial ties with the French for a very long time, and the tensions between France and the UK/USA will also reflect in Canada, I suppose? Language is a powerful uniter of people (although it didn't help keeping the Belgians and Dutch together back in 1830, heh).

Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote:Transylvania was conquered by the Hungarians back in the Middle Ages, even though the first settlers who populated Transylvania were Romanians. The Romanians took Transylvania back from the Hungarian invaders, just like the Spanish took back Grenada from the Saracens during the Reconquista. If a country is invaded, its citizens have the right to take it back, by war if necessary.

Yes, but how far does that go? Originally, Romania belonged to the Romans. What if the Pope invades Romania? Or what if the Dacians come back from the dead? ;) Historical arguments can always go either way. Anyway, I wasn't saying that Transsylvania should become independent, or added to Hungary's territory.

I think a solution to all these regional tensions in Europe is to move towards one Europe that is a confederacy of regions. What do you think?

Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote:What pisses me off is that the separatists, no matter where they are, take the coward's way out instead of trying to resolve their differences in a civilised manner that will keep the country united. Moldova was indeed annexed by the USSR, but Romania was annexed too for a time. Even though the Russians were ousted out of Romania and international pressure forced them to leave it as an independent country sooner or later, they still wanted Moldova because they were hungry for land. In the 1800's, Romania had united as one country, uniting Valachia with Moldova, Basarabia and Bucovina during the Great Unification. The USSR just didn't want to let go of Moldova because they wanted to spread their influence as westernmost as possible.

Yes, hence their usurpation of the Baltic republics, snatching away half of Poland, taking some of Slovakia, etc etc. I support your claim to reunite Moldova and Romania.

As a matter of fact, I am also a supporter of reuniting Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg into the real Netherlands. The economic synergy created by such a union would be most beneficial, but most people here don't want that. Belgians feel oppressed very quickly, and the Dutch think Belgium is an underdeveloped country :) (j/k, but fact is they don't hold us in great esteem, usually). The unified Low Countries would also be a good step in the integration of Europe.

But those are far-away visions.

By the way, you're welcome. You seem to know your history yourself. Oh and second btw, I remember seeing Ceaucescu's execution on television when I was seven years old. Shocking stuff.

Cheers,
VQ

I'm glad that you understood my points. Thank you for a well-spoken discussion !

Scorpion_Ninja987 Wrote: I'm glad that you understood my points. Thank you for a well-spoken discussion !

It was a good one, I enjoyed reading it.

Except for your homophobia.

Totally off-topic, but your avatar rocks shit TinMan. I *loooove* that movie, hehe ;).

VQ

VainQueur Wrote: Totally off-topic, but your avatar rocks shit TinMan. I *loooove* that movie, hehe ;). VQ

Thanks.