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[Sheb]

I really hope the EU goes all "Well, since you broke all the other treaty, this time its full membership or nothing."

The look on the SVP's politicians would be priceless. :p

[XXSockXX]

BTW Owlbread, it did get lost a bit with the events in Ukraine, but did the SNP come up with an approach to the currency problem?

[Owlbread]

Seemingly they did, though the reaction interests me. They've basically said "Westminster is lying through their teeth, they're going to accept a currency union because at the end of the day it is most beneficial for both our nations". They've just... stared it down and called Westminster's bluff. The "plan B" appears to be using Sterling a la Ireland, Jamaica etc circa 1950, without the Bank of England as a central bank. That's not been outright stated though, the SNP can't state it outright or else they can't keep currency union on the table as a serious choice.

The first opinion poll post-currency crackdown actually showed an increase in support for independence by a decent margin, indicating that the attempts had backfired. In the same poll I believe there were indications that people didn't really rate currency as the most important issue, again reinforcing the idea that the currency argument was never a magic bullet. A later poll though from a different pollster who previously gave unusually good forecasts for Yes showed that independence support had stayed the same at that height, but the No vote had solidified more. In the same poll though the majority of those tested agreed that Osborne was bluffing and that we would be able to use the pound in a CU post-independence. Very unclear, magic bullet it was not though, that is for certain.

If anyone wants to understand what the situation is like in the British Isles in terms of rivalries and so on, just watch this video. It shows you everything you need to know.

[scriver]

It's also possible the EU will want Scotland to join the Euro-zone, as I believe all new members are required.

[Descan]

That depends on if Scotland is considered a new member or a successor-state to the U.K.. I don't believe any other state has been in this situation, the Yugoslavia was not a member when it fell apart, correct?

[misko27]

That depends on if Scotland is considered a new member or a successor-state to the U.K.. I don't believe any other state has been in this situation, the Yugoslavia was not a member when it fell apart, correct?

It is still not a member; parts of it anyway. They all share successor state status, but the status of EU membership or negotiations is variable between the countries.

[Descan]

Yes, but I mean there were no membership agreements with Yugoslavia for the successor states to all continue with, so there hasn't been a precedent either way of a successor state continuing in the EU with the same agreements as its preceding state. All those EU memberships were negotiated after the dissolution.

[Stuebi]

I really hope the EU goes all "Well, since you broke all the other treaty, this time its full membership or nothing."

The look on the SVP's politicians would be priceless. :p

Not really. The SVP went into this knowing full well that the EU will pull this stuff, they plain dont care and ignore any future consequences. Im not overly worried tough, since I can almost guruantee that we will vote on this stuff again in about 3 years, when the usual "Foreigners are evul"-Propaganda goes quiet again and people actually judge this shit objectively instead of just reading too many SVP-Posters.

Apart from that, if they go that route, they can forget any form of treaty right away. The Majority of swiss is still very much opposed to ever join the EU, me included. And switzerland still provides a huge amount of electricity to a lot of european countries. So im pretty sure this whole thing will amount to minor harassments and the usual EU hissy-fits until something bigger pops up again.

After more and more of this stuff hits the fan, im not sure anymore which of the two parties i'd like to flip off more, the EU or the SVP. I went for both equally as a start.

[Dutchling]

Russia 'Self Defence Units' took control of airports in Crimea

[Max White]

Link for English speakers.

[Sheb]

Yeah, you got had. Also, why the three years? Is it because you need to wait for the government to actually implement the constitutional change to be able to vote on it again?

Also, the fact is that Switzerland is more dependent on the EU than the other way around, and with the UK being restless, the last thing the EU want is letting Switzerland pick and choose its treaties. It would be a terrible precedent. Plus , Switzerland actually got a really, really nice deal right now (IIRC, the Swedish ambassador's comment during the negociation was "They raped us on the negotiating table". ) if the guillotine clause is invoked (and it'll be except if the Federal Council do something like fixing the quota for EU members at 20 millions people), you'll have to negotiate again, and you probably won't get as good a deal.

[Guardian G.I.]

Russia 'Self Defence Units' took control of airports in Crimea

The Russian link says (and the English link doesn't) that the Russian Black Sea Fleet representatives stated that none of its troops took part in the take-over operation.
I'm really curious, though, who did provide such fancy equipment for Russian militiamen?
Also, note that the AK of the guy on the photo below doesn't have a magazine inserted in it. Unless he got some hidden in his uniform, the assault rifle is just for show.

[MonkeyHead]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26379722 - here is what the BBC has to say about it, for those of you that prefer your news without political rhetoric. Like already identified, no ammo can be directly seen in the imagees. Those weapons are not loaded, which makes this seem in part like a gambit someone is pulling to act as a horrible, horrible temptation to get someone else to start the shooting, especially considering the large number of operational ready troops Russia has in the area.

Actually, the BBC's live video feed clearly shows a number of the heavier weapons being loaded, with magazines and box drums. "Militia groups" like this dont just appear out of thin air...

[Sheb]

Ukrainian Pravda reports military trucks without licence plate unloading 150 uniformed men with a Russian accent. Do Ukrainian Russian-speaker have a different accent than Russians?

[Guardian G.I.]

Ukrainian Pravda reports military trucks without licence plate unloading 150 uniformed men with a Russian accent. Do Ukrainian Russian-speaker have a different accent than Russians?

Ukrainian native speakers have a very noticeable accent when speaking Russian. However, ethnic Russians living in Crimea don't speak Ukrainian. When they speak Russian, they sound pretty much like Russians from Russia.