[rmc]

It's a bit of a political minefield to start saying "X isn't a real country". It's easy to come up with subjective rules about why X and Y are the same country but A and B aren't. E.g. is Australia a different country from UK (same queen, based on english law, queens appointee can dissolve parliament, etc.)? Is USA and UK same country (same language, legal system similar (but diverged earlier), similar measuring system (inches and miles!), militaristically have been working together). Is UK and France same country? Both in EU, different currency, but EU law taking precendence? Is France and Germany same country? Same currency, similar (civil) legal system, EU law.

These rules about what makes a country are mostly arbitrary and are often made for political reasons to either give power or take power from certain people.