6 ms·
UK is not Europe.
by NoirDesir 10y ago
UK is not Europe.
- Flimm 10y agoThe UK is part of the continent of Europe. It's also still a member of the EU for the time being.
- Beltiras 10y agoThe UK is actually an island off the continent of Europe. If we are being pedantic. It may belong to Europe culturally in some respects but geographically, it does not.
- richrichardsson 10y agoGeologically however : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Plate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Plate
- cr1895 10y agoYes, it most definitely is part of Europe, and it is currently still part of the European Union too.
- NoirDesir 10y agoMember of the European Union, not member of the Schengen Area... UK has always been whimsical and not reflecting the "European" values... thus, UK is not Europe. They're free to run things the way they like, but please don't keep telling that UK is Europe... especially after they chose and got the Brexit... not a single true european will endorse its mistakes.
- throwaway2048 10y agothe soviet union and eastern block were europe too, stop creating absurd distinctions.
- jacquesm 10y agoEurope -> the EU, not Europe, the landmass.
- throwaway2048 10y agoThe EU is the EU, europe already has a definition, trying to conflate it with the European Union for ideological reasons is stupid.
- ng12 10y agoI would never in my life read the word Europe and think of the EU first.
- jacquesm 10y agoAnd when you hear 'America' you never think of the USA either?
- ng12 10y agoThe two are not equivalent. America is shorthand for the United States of. Mexico is short for Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Europe is a geographically defined continent. If I were in Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Serbia, Macedonia, or the Ukraine would it not be appropriate to say I was in Europe?
- cr1895 10y agoWell technically I think it depends on which side of Iceland you're standing. To the west you're on the North American plate and to the east it's the Eurasian plate.
- cr1895 10y agoConsider that the only country within the North/Central/South American land masses explicitly having America as part of its name is the United States of America. It makes a lot of sense really considering the global dominance of the USA relative to its neighbors that "America" is colloquially understood to refer to the USA, and not Canada, or Panama, or all of South America.
- cr1895 10y agoBrexit is solely related to UK membership within the European Union. It is wrong to conflate being a part of Europe with being a part of the European Union. Throughout history the ties between what is now the UK and what is now continental Europe are deep and inseparably intertwined (both culturally and geographically); it is absurd to to claim that the UK is "always whimsical" (whatever that means) and does not reflect "true" European values, whatever those may be. Look even closer within the UK and the Republic of Ireland...how is one European and the other not?! The UK is and will foverver be part of Europe, period. This has no bearing on your opinion of who is or is not a "true European."
- cr1895 10y agoToo late to edit, but continental -> contiguous. UK is already continental Europe; they're on the same plate.
- strictnein 10y ago> "not a single true european will endorse its mistakes" But how will a true Scotsman feel about it?
- jacquesm 10y agoThe UK is a pain for Europeans to get into. It's trying very hard to be USA light when it comes to immigration.
- peteretep 10y agoWith an EU passport, one uses the same queues as Brits to get into the country.
- jacquesm 10y agoYes, and it takes forever. At least it did the last time I came to the UK (Dec 2015). The line started well into the hallway, a hundred meters or so before the counter.
- cr1895 10y agoThis has everything to do with the UK not being in the Schengen area, and nothing to do with it being in the EU or Europe at large.
- mercer 10y agoTo you and my sibling posts: could you both elaborate? I'm inclined to agree that the UK differs from mainland Europe in a number of ways. I can't judge if this is the case for border control, but it wouldn't surprise. I'd really like to hear both sides elaborate rather than the 'yes', 'but no' comments so far.