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by madballster
1270 days ago
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I'd like to counter the notion the EU today is first and foremost an economic union. The EU can not simply be replaced by "a bunch of free trade agreements". Helmut Kohl has always maintained the EU was also founded to finalize borders and forever rule out another war between member states. Today, it is a union of common values and peace first and foremost. No one (in their right mind) is discussing border disputes between France and Germany - although at least three bitter wars were fought in the last 150 years. Or between other countries for that matter. It does not matter much on what side of the border one lives. And if it does to someone, they're free to move. Borders are now settled once and for all. If a nation joins the EU this is an accepted fact - and no, an exception like a nationalist, populist Hungary publically dreaming of access to the Adriatic Sea does not invalidate the line of thought. |
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Not necessarily. For example, The Netherlands and Belgium exchanged parts of lands in 2017 to make their border align again with the Meuse river: https://nos.nl/artikel/2112869-nederland-krijgt-belgisch-sch...
For context: the border originally followed the flow of the river, but a few decades earlier the river was straigthened by dredging to enhance the traffic on the river; the border was left as-is though, leaving both countries with hard-to-reach peninsulas on the "wrong" side of the river.