Crimea Vote Gets Attention of Europe's Other Secession Movements

Wall Street Journal ^ | 03/22/2014 | By MATT MOFFETT

[SeekAndFind]

MADRID—When Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia—under the watchful gaze of Russian troops—some Spaniards viewed the drama through the lens of a conflict much closer to home.

Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo said "the parallelism is absolute" between Crimea and Catalonia, the wealthy industrial region that has scheduled a nonbinding referendum on independence from Spain for November.

Sunday's referendum in Crimea and the one planned in Catalonia each violates its nation's constitution, Mr. Garcia-Margallo said Monday, and thus "by definition violates international law."

Catalan officials ridiculed his attempt to tar Catalonia with the Crimean brush. Catalans have mobilized peacefully for independence without outside assistance, their regional leaders say. Crimea's referendum unfolded only after Russian President Vladimir Putin moved forces into Crimea, home to a large ethnic-Russian population.

In pockets of secessionist tension throughout Europe, the Crimean referendum has been impossible to ignore, even though the lessons being drawn from it are contradictory and often a result of the observer's politics.

Votes on independence are slated for Catalonia and Scotland later this year, while other separatist movements are simmering on low fire in Italy and Belgium.

[MCF]

Coming to any number of 50 U.S. states.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Canada has already endured 2 referenda on Quebec separation. The separatist PQ government recently called an snap election. Support for the PQ has plummeted, mainly because most Québecois don't want to risk another referendum on separatism.

[VanDeKoik]

I expect the map of Europe to look VERY different by 2020.

What people see today is just part of a natural process of Europe consolidating into empires and or nation-states and then disintegrating into smaller, more ethnically homogenous units. This video is a brief example of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxDyJ_6N-6A

Italy, Spain, the UK, and Belgium are as artificial as Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Austria-Hungary were. The Americus are just fortunate that such changes are not frequent. The past 120 years saw almost no major border shifts.

Only Germany will be able to weather the tide of secession(s) that will hit the continent.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Not the same at all—Is Catalonia planning on joing France? In history there are two forces—Balkanism—states breaking into smaller ones, and Imperialism—large state taking over smaller ones to form superstates (like Roman Empire). What happened in Russia was Imperialism—Russia getting bigger. Votes in Scotland and Venice are examples of Balkanism—states breaking up. Its all about power (imperialism) and weakness (Balkanism).

[dfwgator]

Who is to say, these guys can breakaway, but no you guys can’t?

We encouraged Kosovo to breakaway from Serbia.

[TruthWillWin]

Would like to see a secession vote for forming the State of Jefferson, Northern California/Southern Oregon.

[grania]

As an addition to your question: If these regions vote out of their countries but not to join another EU country, does that mean they found a way to vote themselves out of the European Union?

It might be the best way to stop the global/elitist rape of economies, worldwide.

[KC_Lion]

Europe will sizzle and shimmer as it always has.

What matters is what happens here when Normalcy breaks down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tIsXLyZcWI

[JSDude1]

Wish we would (peacefully) secede from the socialists on both the left-coast and in the NE.

[JSDude1]

The difference is the International Socialist idiots (and those in our own government) want to support MUSLIMS.

[hadaclueonce]

And the MSM will still be debating what happened to the plane.

[red irish]

amen to that, absolute shameful!