Celts sail to Europe

07.09.2016

Scotland has begun preparations for a new referendum on secession from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This was stated by First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon

Against Brexit

The initiative is linked to the Brexit prospects. The Scottish leadership has repeatedly stated that it is prepared to withdraw from the United Kingdom to remain in the EU. In a referendum on relations with the EU, the majority of Scots and Northern Irish people voted to retain membership in the union. In Wales, opponents and supporters of the EU came out in equal numbers. In England, except London, Eurosceptics are numerically predominant.

Next for exit

Besides Scotland, the main candidate for the exit is Northern Ireland, which has some traditionally strong separatist sentiments. The Irish Prime Minister Enda Kelly has said that the Brexit paves the way for a referendum on the accession of Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland. The Belfast Agreement  (Good Friday Agreement) of 1998, which stopped the bloody conflict in the region and established the special status of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, presumes such possibility.

Against Atlanticism

The meaning of the opposition of Scots and Northern Irish to the Brexit is not support the Brussels bureaucracy per se, but rather a geopolitical orientation towards continental Europe as a power unto itself.

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