BREXIT Blues

Normally my first post of the year is the publication of one of my poems. I am breaking that tradition this year. I am not celebrating the more than six-hundred thousand viewings of my blog either.

[Image description: on a grey background the words “Sad, sad day. #BREXIT.”]

As a blog that proudly has the word European in its name, I am compelled to lament the United Kingdom leaving our friends, allies and main trading-bloc in the European Union.

I very much suspect that this action will be seen as foolhardy in the not too distant future. I fully anticipate that we Bremainers will fight for however long it takes to rejoin the EU in the future (just as the Brexiteers have fought to exit since the day we first joined in 1972, some forty-eight years ago). I suppose we need to let the old guard die off and then the youth and young adults can assert their optimism and hope in the European project.

Please do not give up on Britain, my fellow Europeans. We may be an island, but - in spirit if no longer legally - we are still part of the continent of Europe. I hope that the day will come very soon when we can once again proudly play Ode to Joy.

[Image description: the EU flag, twelve golden stars forming a circle on a Royal blue background]

Ciao! Bis bald! ¡Hasta pronto! Au revoir!

🤓

What now for Spain after State Brutality in Catalonia?

[Image description: Spanish state flag & Catalan regional flag flying side by side]

I read the Spanish newspaper El País because I find out news that never gets reported here in the UK. However, I am well aware that it is very right-wing. In their oped of events of the "illegal referendum" on 1st October, they naturally criticise the politicos in Catalonia for inciting the trouble - despite years of grievances between Catalonia and Madrid. Nonetheless, its prime minister Rajoy, and, thus as its representative, the Spanish State, which are blamed the most. This is quite surprising given the newspaper's usual stances.

Son injustificables en Rajoy su pasividad, su impericia y la delegación de responsabilidades.

One cannot justify Rajoy's passivity, his lack of authority and the delegation of responsibilities.

By failing to condemn the violence & brutality perpetrated by state forces against the Catalans, King Felipe may have condemned Spain & the Spanish monarchy to being inexorably broken up and diminished. El Rey lost an opportunity to really use the monarchy to bring all Spaniards together. By being so partisan he has sided with Rajoy: by not condemning his handling of the political situation nor the use of police brutality. The monarch ought to have tried to heal the rift and act as king of all Spaniards, whatever their political persuasions & allegiances.

King Felipe: Catalonia's authorities have 'scorned' all Spaniards with referendum

By failing to condemn the violence & brutality perpetrated by Spanish state forces in Catalonia, the EU has once again shown itself to be incapable of stepping in to hold up European citizens rights - Article 7 must take precedence over Article 4 - and thus is yet again diminished in the eyes of its citizens who cannot understand its failure to stand up for its so-called democratic values. It looks as if the European Union is not going to be of any use to either Catalans nor Spaniards. (And yes I can say that: cf. English/Irish/Scottish/Welsh & British, one can be two different nationalities at the same time.)

The EU has tied its own hands. It cannot intervene in Catalonia

The International Community was and is appalled at the way the Spanish State has handled the issue and the state brutality it brought to bear. Rajoy and the Spanish police forces brought shame upon Spain's reputation. According to the opinion polls prior to Madrid's actions, the referendum would have been won easily by those who wished to remain in Spain. Rajoy's in/actions have pushed more Catalans into wanting independence and probably others around Spain. They appear to be the actions of a weak & very foolhardy person. To support Rajoy & the police, is to accept that international opprobrium is a price worth paying. If the majority of Spaniards believe they were the right and moral actions, then unfortunately the Spanish will lose their reputation for being some of the most affable folk in Europe. I hope, however, that if tempers are given the chance to cool, then reason will re-assert.

If you have read all that I have posted on Catalonia across social media, then you know that I believe it to be better for her to remain with Spain. But Madrid has to give here: not just to the Catalans, but to the rest of the Spanish nationalities and regions. El País - recall a right-wing newspaper - has been calling for years for Madrid to do the same and to renegotiate the Constitution.

Now it is Spain's only hope of holding itself together. Well, that is without a military coup - but who would want that?

Disablies are Dying in the UK

I have been having a really bad few months.

Since prior to my housemate finding new employment, I have been trying to obtain a formal statement of need from my local social services.  I had one but being socially minded, I chose to let my housemate look after me whilst he was unemployed, thus saving the Council money in paying for formal carers. A social worker got involved this time, instead of the usual council assessors. The assistance was requested in October, and only just before this bank holiday weekend did the social worker contact me with her assessment, which completely ignores my known needs as backed by my own G.P. (family doctor). This will now of course require me to appeal, further delaying the assistance I need to eat, take medications and deal with my personal care. My housemate now is so fed up of it all, that he has decided to throw his hat in the ring and advise Trafford Council that they either come up with an appropriate care package, or he will refuse any caring for me. This of course will then mean the council and social services will have to provide a much more expensive package as well as the cost of more frequent visits from the social worker and other bureaucrats. There is a social care crisis in England & Wales: tens of thousands of elderly, disabled and sick folk cannot obtain a care plan and thus the care they need just to stay alive.

I was assaulted and injured in December by an acquaintance who knew full well I am disabled and could not fight back. Because he is dating one of my good friends I feel constrained about reporting it to the police, as he would end up with a criminal record and the likelihood is that he would lose his livelihood. This then would likely put inordinate pressures on my friend’s affinity. The evidence is mixed, but the general consensus is that disability hate crimes have been on the increase since 2010. A report by the EHRC was misreported as stating that there had been no increase; but the agency swiftly issued a clarification. Unfortunately, by then the media was reporting the non-increase in hate crime...

In January I finally received my electronic Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim-form from the UK’s notorious Department for Work & Pensions (DWP). It was necessary to get my Member of Parliament (MP) involved as the DWP were very reluctant to assist me with a non-paper form and provide me with one that could be completed via computer. This is a legal requirement of UK anti-disability discrimination legislation. However the DWP regularly fails to issue forms appropriate to inter alia blind & partially-sighted folk, for example, so is constantly breaching the Law. They also do not publicise the email address from which one can request accessible format forms. I only found it out due to having connections from my disability rights activism. (Ultimately I hope to lodge this issue with the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Unfortunately, the UK government has cut this body’s funding to the bare minimum, so that it is now very difficult for them to fulfil their statutory obligations.) Due to arthritides writing for me is exceptionally difficult if at all possible. The form is actually a forty-plus A4 page booklet. I have cognitive difficulties at the best of times; but during the winter months my (progressive) aphasia is at its worst. Thankfully, I dealt with a very understanding civil servant who permitted an extension, so I had sufficient time to fully answer all the questions. It is now more than two months since the DWP received my claim and I have still had no decision.

Very large numbers of disabled individuals have been losing their disability payments as they are moved from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) the UK’s previous, far from generous, top-up payment for the extra costs incurred by those with impairments and disabilities. Losing this extra cash is not the only ramification of being found ineligible for PIP. It is an access payment to other social security benefits, such as housing benefit and the Motability scheme, whereby one is entitled to an adapted vehicle, electric wheelchair &/or mobility-scooter. Tens of thousands of disabled folk have had their adapted transport confiscated and are now trapped in their homes, many also have lost their jobs as they are unable to access public transport. The Citizens’ Advice Bureaux (CAB) network has calculated that some half a million disabled will lose out under the UK government’s cuts to benefit payments.

[*TRIGGER WARNING* Please do not continue reading if discussion of death/suicide may upset the reader!]

One of the most under-recorded and under-shared issues occurring in the UK is the sheer huge numbers of disabled people who are being “nudged” to commit suicide or are dying due to lack of food, appropriate medicines, accommodation that means they can lead independent lives, etc. The UK has gone from being one of the better countries supporting disability rights globally, to a pariah state quietly killing off its disabled & chronically sick populace. The mass media all but refuses to report on these issues, due to being in the main controlled by supporters of the ruling party. Only a few weeks ago one of these right-wingers suggested that it was appropriate that disabled folk and poor folk committed suicide in order to reduce the burden on the country’s economy - sounds similar to the polemic of 1930’s Europe and the USA, when it was euphemistically called eugenics and which led ultimately to the deaths of millions, a genocide. Currently the numbers dying due to the failures of the UK state are in the tens of thousands. This is termed ‘democide’. But when does democide become genocide?

The United Nations (UN) has already published three reports heavily critical of the UK’s approach towards the vulnerable in British society. A fourth report is due after the snap election, so too late to have any real effect on the electorate - assuming, of course, the media actually reports on the findings.

Europe has been asked by several disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) to investigate the deaths of we disablies. Up to now they have refused to do so. The UN can only write report after report. Meanwhile more disabled folk die needlessly each and every day. The relevant European Commissioner appears to have made no public statement about what is occurring in Britain. The European Union (EU) also appears completely unprepared for the tsunami of disabled/chronically sick people who will flood into Europe once BREXIT is complete, if not beforehand.

My academic background means I should have preferred to publish this blog completely annotated with supporting links to documentation, reports, statistical analyses, etc. Alas, I am not well enough to do so. However, my long-term readers know I do not exaggerate. Please do your own searches to check the facts.

The United Kingdom IS KILLING disabled &/or chronically sick individuals: family members, friends, neighbours, community members…… NO-ONE is lifting a finger to support us. I can only hope that this blog will survive to record what is happening here and that historians will once again record that the world stood by why innocents were killed by an uncaring state.

Please stand witness with me & my ilk!

*

This blog-post is published as part of Blogging Against Disablism Day 2017 (#BADD2017). For this year's articles and previous years' archives, please see here.

 

Vote Tory To Kill Your Disabled Neighbours…

It's been a hard few months for me. Nearly six months down the road, and I still have NO care plan due to the national social care crisis. However, even if my toilette is not regularly seen to, I am now eating more regularly and taking the vast majority of my meds and at the appropriate times. Still awaiting after nearly two months to hear from DWP about PIP decision, after taking me six weeks to complete the claim-form (forty-plus page booklet!). My state of health remains poor and my cognitive abilities weak. There has thus been a dearth of blog-posts. My apologies therefor.

[Image description: white background, black triangle to the left; to the right the slogan -

I will be voting

Against the

Tories

In Support Of

Disabled People

(sic) courtesy of Black Triangle]

This morning I was sent a link to a blog-post by Fiona Robertson aka @knittingquark on Twitter on the Commonspace website.

Fiona has very kindly given me permission to reblog the post in full. Please read and share either the original or my reblog, but please share it as widely as possible on any social media platform the reader happens to use. Fiona's writing is concise and lucid and makes the arguments way better than I could.

If a state "nudges" folk to suicide, then that state is guilty of murder. This IS what has been happening in the UK since 2010 due to deliberate policies of our elected government, policies that have been criticised by the United Nations.

We disablies and our carers & supporters need to let the British populace know that if they vote for the Conservatives they will be complicit in, depending on numbers, democide or genocide.

 

[Image description: blue background, EU ring of stars to the right; to the left the slogan -

Let's make June

the end of May

© n/k]

The article is entitled: 

*

Voting Tory in #GE17 is a vote to kill people like me, and you need to know why

 

Disability activist and writer Fiona Robertson says the UK's most vulnerable are screaming for help

IT IS to their credit, and to our collective doom, that the Conservative Party are masters of controlling narrative. 

Although, much of the groundwork was done during Tony Blair’s days of rhetorical tricks and language manipulation to sow doubt about the veracity of a person’s disability, to seed suspicion and harden attitudes. It is these linguistic and narrative tricks which have been used to make people think of the tens of thousands of deaths under austerity as a sad but necessary evil, or to make people ignore them completely.

They speak as if what they say is reality, and we usually just go along with it until it is.

Theresa May’s General Election announcement included a lot of these narrative devices, accusing anyone who doesn’t agree with her of treating politics as a game, and framing the vote as entirely a vote regarding Brexit and the mandate she needs in order to negotiate from a place of strength.
We cannot, under any circumstances, allow the Tories to reframe the concept of a General Election.

This is not just a vote on Brexit, it is a vote on their entire manifesto and a judgement on their policies on everything from crime to social care to housing to international relations. Voting for the Tories may well be a vote for Brexit, but it is also unquestionably a vote for certain death for some, and permanent damage to the health of tens of thousands of disabled people.

Never, ever forget that.

When I and my fellow disability activists woke up on the morning after the last General Election, we spent an unrelenting few days tag teaming as we tried to keep people in our community alive. We were not always successful. Over and over, hour after hour, we saw iterations of the same message: "I do not think I will survive this government."

The day of the election, we had all taken a few moments to remember the people who were not there to vote because of the actions of the coalition government. We took a moment to think of the people who would not make it to the next election if we lost. 

Amid the elation so many in Scotland felt at the sweep of SNP seats, we disabled people also felt utterly betrayed and hopeless, because the population of the UK had voted to enforce extreme, frequently lethal, damage to our health.

If you do it again, if you do this to us again, we will never forgive you. You can't pretend you don't know, you can't pretend that other things are more important, that it’s not the killing of disabled people you’re voting for really; it’s the other stuff. 
 
The point of civic nationalism is that we have to take responsibility for the choices we make as part of a society. We cannot tick a box and say 'I didn’t know', or 'I care about this bit but not the other bits'. 

We have to weigh our decisions, weigh our actions and inactions, and live with the results. We have to accept responsibility, and we have to ensure that others accept their responsibility. We have to not look away.

There were 30,000 extra deaths in England and Wales in 2015 as a result of cuts to health and social care, according to research by Oxford University. There were hundreds of suicides by the very lowest estimates, though we who spend our days working with people who are struggling to survive this government know there are more which aren’t counted; that there are many, many deaths because the stress and fear and pain and malnutrition and isolation exacerbated a person’s condition to the point of lethality. 

More than 50,000 people have lost their motability vehicles and become chronically isolated. Every one of those is someone who was considered disabled enough to require high mobility care until the Tories changed the narrative of who deserved assistance, against all the evidence from expert organisations who responded to the consultation. 

There has been "almost universal" deterioration in and frequently permanent damage to the mental health of people going through the Work Capability Assessment.

We have to be completely clear to the people we speak to. We can no longer afford to mince words or be neutral because, again, the narrative is that neutrality is rationality. In situations like this, anger and bluntness are the only rational responses.

We need to tell them, with no platitudes or appeasement: "You will be voting to allow the government to kill us. We will not forget, and we will not forgive."

Nothing else is more important than this.

Do not let them change the conversation.

*

BREXIT is not as yet a fait accompli: it can still be stopped. The rights of disabled family members, friends, neighbours and disabled folk in the wider community can only be safe-guarded for the long-term within the EU and under the Council of Europe. At the moment the UK government blithely ignores international laws and treaties. Outside Europe it will be at liberty to do as it wishes with disabled and chronically sick folk. Please support us.

 

I have lost the credit for the above poster, however the creator stated that she was happy for it to be used and shared.

BREXIT: no party is innocent

I am very much pro-Europe, but am less than enthusiastic when it comes to the European Union. I have said since joining the Euro was proposed, that the UK should not do so until such time as the EU begins to bring its own house in order.

However, on many levels, the EU is far more democratic than the UK, and we should be learning from it and improving our own democracy. Instead, little Englanders & Welshies stubbornly insist on perceiving what the neo-liberal media feeds them as being reality rather than the propaganda it is. How else to explain the gullibility of accepting the promise that the NHS would receive the £350million.

Human Rights legislation comes from the Council of Europe (not to be confused with the European Council), NOT the EU itself. Those laws were drafted with guidance from Britain. To reject laws we helped create is quite bizarre!

The following article is worth reading: the EU is not innocent of machinations & unreasonable stubbornness. The termination of an affinity is very rarely the fault of just one side.

Britain’s divorce from the EU will be bitter. Yet the failure is Europe’s too

Brexiteers' Pyrrhic Victory*

Well, I suppose we all have to wait to see what the PM decides to do. Treaty withdrawal requires an Act of Parliament, but I imagine if he so chooses, he can consider the ‪‎Brexit‬ referendum a mandate to notify the European Union of our intention to withdraw.

From what I have been reading in related news-articles this morning, it sounds like Gove & Johnson [prominent Leavers] have drawn up a list of EU directives, and ECJ [sorry - European Court of Justice] rulings they are now going to rip up ahead of any formal withdrawal. One more goose-step towards ‪‎totalitarianism‬.
 

Very sad day for the United Kingdom, that now will be broken up. Scotland voted remain in every single one of its authorities. The more liberally minded Scots will want to remain in the EU. Surprisingly - to me at least - Northern Ireland has similarly voted for remain. And as I predicted, moves to re-unite Ireland are already being mooted.

The Pound has dropped to a 31-year low: so that's all imports that are going to go up in price from fuel, heating costs, food, wine, etc. And the ensuing result will be a steep rise in inflation and thus mortgage costs and then rents. So unless one happens to be independently well-off - like most Tory MPs - the cost-of-living is about to become very burdensome.

And don't be counting on your pension: the pension funds have just lost £millions and that will be the continuing trend for the foreseeable future.

The ‪‎NHS‬ will lose many of its highly trained European staff - we do not produce sufficient doctors & nurses to fully staff the NHS. So service at hospitals and even GP surgeries - who often rely on EU docs to cover weekend and night-time call-outs - will deteriorate. Who knows, I bet access-charges are just around the corner. And remember many of our meds have to be imported, so that will probably mean prescription-charges will shoot up.

Pensioners, disabled, sick, poor, unemployed, low-employed, homeless folk will all lose out. The younger generation, already brassed off with the raw deal that baby-boomers have left them, will become ever more jaded and cynical with the scraps they are begrudgingly offered.

And university costs will soar, because there will be very few high-paying foreign students entering here. So expect several unis to collapse in bankruptcy.

And don't forget the navy, army, airforce, etc. have been cut to the bone - they will not be able to take on extra border duties and continue with the prestigious international affairs our oligarchs are always so keen to participate in.

So well done all those of you who thought you were doing Ole Blighty a favour: you have just shot the Nation in the foot!

'Bye-'bye Europe! I don't suppose we shall see the EU flag (below) flying here for very much longer.

Such a sad, sad day………

*

* "A Pyrrhic victory is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has been victorious in some way. However, the heavy toll negates any sense of achievement or profit. Another term for this would be "hollow victory"."

Per Wikipedia.

Is this the beginning of the end…?

I try to be a reasonable, rational and liberal (note lower-case ell) person. I am and always have been non-partisan when it comes to politics, having never agreed with the party-political system using whips that we have in the United Kingdom. It cannot be viewed by any sensible person as democratic, for it is essentially oligarchic. My parents held opposing political views and my siblings and I were raised to try to see the other's perspective. My personality - and that of very many ordinary Brits - is one that cares about one's neighbours and neighbourhood.

 The slogan reads:

I'm voting

REMAIN

FOR

OUR NHS

For most Brits social justice is, or used to be, at the very core of our values; the quintessence of Britishness. Just look at all the folk who raise money for charities &/or who volunteer, or the folk - not just relatives - who take on caring duties. Most are happy to support our NHS in any way we can - despite the on-going privatisation by successive governments. And just look at the out-pouring of care whenever there is an international disaster! We are not, however much the likes of UKIP and other extremist parties might like to believe, little Englanders. We have always been outward looking (- not always necessarily for the best as huge mistakes were made in relation to empire). Nonetheless, to this very day, millions of Brits reside in countries outside the UK and are spread right around the globe.

With the exception of a rather hateful era when Jews were exiled from England, we have welcomed workers from abroad whether refugees, merchants, traders or artists and artisans. Not only has this contributed to our rich history and culture, but this stand-point has substantially benefitted our economy.

A vote for Brexit will not mean that these folk will be forced to go back to Europe. Many have set up businesses and employ folk - who will certainly fight to retain their jobs. Most have grown networks of friends, neighbours & colleagues within communities - who will certainly fight to retain their valued members. Such folk should surely vote Bremain.

A vote for Brexit may very well mean that many of the few million Brits residing in Europe will be forced to return to the UK. The pressures on housing, other infrastructure and the NHS will remain at least the same or heighten - for many of the folk who will return will be pensioners who will need healthcare and social care due to being removed from their support networks and inclement climate here. So, if one is concerned, even worried, about immigration then one should surely vote Bremain.

A vote for Brexit will permit this and any future government to do pretty much as they please with no international oversight. The previous and current governments have acted as they please, ignoring judicial orders to obey the law of the land. Cameron has even repeatedly stated that he wants to abolish the House of Lords, which, whilst archaic and in many ways undemocratic, nevertheless is often the only check & balance on the power of the Executive (thus paradoxically acting democratically!). There is a democratic deficit within the European Union. The Executive, in this case the European Commission, has usurped too much power (rather as has the United Kingdom Executive). I agree wholeheartedly that the democratic systems within the EU have to be changed and improved so that European citizens believe and know that they are heard and responded to. However, the only way to change a system is from within. If Britain votes out, then we are immediately locked out of any kind of influence. So anyone that wants to change the EU for the better should surely vote Bremain.

Today and tomorrow one of the United Nations' committees is quizzing the UK over its treatment of disabled people, having collected a wealth of data and documentary evidence to demonstrate that we are being abused, mistreated, scapegoated, demonised and starved of funds & access due to social security (welfare) cuts, propaganda and mainstream-media misrepresentation. (See for example this article for a more in-depth analysis.) The EU has and continues to draw up laws and rules for pan-European access to goods, services and support. Here in England & Wales, the government is only now, after a couple of decades, going to try to enforce the law which is supposed to prevent taxi-drivers from refusing to take disabled passengers - yes, this has and continues to occur to hundreds of individuals each and every day. Without European oversight, I very much doubt that a laissez-faire - let alone an overtly disablist - government will pursue expanding disability access rights. If you know someone who is disabled or chronically sick, and you care about them, you should surely vote Bremain.

The slogan reads:

I'm voting

REMAIN

FOR

WORKERS'

RIGHTS

I could write about many, many other areas that the EU improves for each and every one of us - such as environmental laws that ensure clean water or the labelling of clean/dirty beaches; or laws that protect workers rights to pay, conditions, holidays; or laws that ensure our human rights§ (like not to be arrested and detained without trial, and so on). However, I have limited energy and resources. If  the reader is interested, please do your own research. Once you have done, you will surely vote Bremain.

The EU has much that is wrong with it, just like our very own political system here in the UK. Whilst one has the opportunity to vote to leave the former, one cannot exit the latter. Tomorrow I shall be voting Bremain.

*

§ Technically this is due to human rights laws (based on British submissions & jurisprudence) via the European Council; but it is the intention, I understand, of the Conservatives with UKIP support to withdraw from both the EC and the EU if the Brexiters win.

*

The images I have used were sent to me by the Labour Party. Their use here does not imply any kind of support on my part for Labour, other than the stances contained within the slogans.

Britain's Global Rôle?

Today the Independent on Sunday, a British broadsheet, published an article on the most warmongering nations. Forty of the eight-one states reviewed are at war. Uganda headed the list:

The US came second, followed by Rwanda and then the UK

The publication is strangely co-incidental as only yesterday I had started a post on the UK's international missions.

For many years I have been a proponent of the UK reducing its international rôles & responsibilities commensurate with our actual size, unless those EU countries that rely on the United Kingdom and France financially support our armed forces and international escapades. As the latter is unlikely, then we ought to let the big players take over.

We are a very small island with delusions of grandeur harking back to an Empire that has long since gone.

Time to face up to our reality and look after our own: the hungry; the homeless; the injured & maimed; the sick; the disabled; the elderly; the young; the undereducated; the unemployed; the underemployed; the workers. In short: care for all our citizens, not just the rich and the arms-manufacturers.

Please do not misinterpret me: I am not saying we should not support foreign aid. Personally, I should like to see our soldiers being used to help construct infrastructure using the taxes set aside for international assistance rather than monies being handed over to corrupt governments, agencies and businesses.

I am a pantheist: which means I revere the natural world.

I am a humanist: which means I value all human life.

I am a Quaker: which means I try to respect life, all that contains & supports it.

I am a pacifist: which means I try to walk the path of peace.

I am a holist: which means I believe we are one, that everything is interconnected.

[Image description: Earth from space. © freeimageslive.com]

Any thoughts, folks?

Liechtenstein

[Image description: flag of Liechtenstein]

My blog has just notched up several visits from someone(s) in Liechtenstein. Don't recall seeing Liechtensteiner visitors previously, but could just have missed them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liechtenstein. (By the by, a female citizen is known as a Liechtensteinerin.) The country is sandwiched between Austria to the East and North and Switzerland to the West and South.

[Image description: map of Liechtenstein;

courtesy Wikipedia; commons ©;

author Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa)]

Whilst Liechtenstein is in continental Europe, it is not part of the EU, the European Union. Nonetheless, it is a signatory to the Council of Europe (since 1978), Schengen, the free movement agreement, EFTA and EEA.

Thanks for visiting, whoever you were. And how exciting to discover more about parts of Europe one knew next-to-nothing about!