I think that cultural identity is formed by where you live. Forces of nature cause you to wear certain kinds of clothing, build certain kinds of homes, eat certain kinds of foods, make certain kinds of tools and products, etc. If members of a country strive to teach children these traditions and try to preserve the history behind them, the cultural identity will survive. It's that simple.

Simple, but not easy. As the cultures of nations mix more than in the past due to economic agreements, the people of each country need to make a determined effort to retain the colors, the flavors, the styles, the celebration of holidays, etc. that have defined them in the past.

In the U.S.A. we have many museums, history books, history teachers, and national holidays to remind ourselves of who we are and where we came from. These things give us national pride. Any nation can do the same.

I think the European Union holds a bright promise. European nations are at last trying to set down some reasonable rules of conduct and trying to get along with each other. If it works out well, it will change the course of history for the entire world.

Peace, Ed...San Diego, California

This is just a matter of verbal economy. We use Europe as a brief way to call the European Union. We all know that Czech Republic is in Europe and has always been in Europe. I am Spanish. Spain has always been in Europe, but when we joined the European Union we talked about “joining Europe”. It doesn’t really matter. For me, the new members are more than welcome.

Apart from this, I would like to express my total disagreement about the Turkish matter. I don’t want Turkey in the European Union. Because:

1) The 90% of Turkish territory is in Asia.
2) Greece (member of the European Union since 1981) has a lot of problems with Turkey. Consequently, the European Union has a lot of problems with Turkey.
3) They have ridiculous laws which are changed only under the European Union request, and not because the Turkish people want it.
4) The European roots are Christian, and Turkey is a Muslim country. I respect a lot the Muslim people and the Muslim tradition, and I am aware that the Muslim culture had a lot to do with the Spanish History. But we have in the EU frictions enough, despite we came from the same roots, just imagine the frictions with Turkey.

I don’t know who accepted them as a candidate country, but it was just to give a false hope.

Slovenia is not and was not, as part of former Yugoslavia, part of the Eastern block. US schoolbooks may draw former Yugoslavia “behind” the Iron Curtain, but this is far from the truth. Former Yugoslavia was a non-aligned country with a socialist regime, which is completely different from what the real Eastern block countries lived through in communism – if you have doubts you should have been there and seen for yourself.

I think the function of this magazine is to educate, and I do hope you will write a note to correct this mistake so that readers the world over will be educated correctly.

Oh, and one other thing: ELAN made is fame with alpine and ski jumping skis, but is also a producer of sail boats and glider planes. Bicycles are the most recent program, so it would be wrong to call them a bicycle maker!

Watch your facts!!!

But while citizens of the established EU nations seem more focused on the myriad obstacles that face the evolving, expanding union, I think it is definitely true that peoples of the member states will gain a great deal of confidence and psychological benefit from their symbolic entry into Europe. For even though Hungarians and Czechs and Poles have always considered themselves European, their entry into the EU allows them to be recognized as such (and to have a voice in Europe’s decision making organs).

As far as whether this new-found confidence will inspire new economic developments and social reform, I’m not sure. But I think the comments of one commentator in this forum (Rok Cesar, of Slovenia) demonstrate how difficult it will be to move beyond the divisive tendencies of past centuries. For after defending Slovenia’s inherently Western nature and highlighting the country’s relative wealth, Cesar points a damaging finger to Romania, as an example of a country that is apparently completely unfit of joining the EU. And what is one of the main factors that Cesar mentions as an obstacle to Romania’s European integration? The fact that the nation has a large ethnic Romany (Gypsy) population!

Obviously, identity will always be an issue of contention within a union as large and diverse as the EU. And obviously, very few Europeans want a single, seamless identity for the entire continent. But I think that with a certain amount of compromise, and a greater emphasis on MUTUAL RESPECT, the citizens of all EU nations can finally take pride in their European-ness and see the important common links which unite them both culturally and economically.

P.S. Hitler abased Jewish people, Latvia abase Russian people. Think about.

Many people within the so-called "old EU-members" feel a bit weary of the recent expansion, because we are affraid that our excellent social wellfare and health care system will come under increasing pressure: many of the new members suffer from a weaker economy and a poorer standard of living. In an ideal situation they would be made able to adopt our strong social politics, but one could already notice that certain countries from the former East-bloc (like Poland for instance) tend to lean toward the American system where health care and public transport (among others) get privatized. The increasing importance that is given by the EU decision makers to an absolute free market is an evolution feared by many Western Europeans, because many feel that this will threaten our current inclusive social system.
Another point of concern is the speed by which the expansion took place: the EU has nearly doubled in size, but a consensus about a European constitution hasn't been reached yet. Nor have the European institutions been adapted in order to confront the challenges of decision-making with 25 members. At this moment there are still certain countries which hold the right to veto a decision made by the European Parliament, rendering future policy making nearly impossible.

That said I hope that the transition to a new and larger EU will run smoother than imagined and I welcome the new member states. This is the first time in history that such a union was forged through democratic choice rather than violence and therefore it is truly a historic opportunity to show that different countries can adopt peace and a common goal through consensus.

In recent years I have already travelled to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Bulgaria and I look foreward to visit our other new allies.

Well, first of all, I would like to write that I am indebted to Nation Geographic Magazine for this enlightening article on Europe.

In order to comment on the question mentioned above I believe it to be appropriate to write that I am profoundly convinced that the European is beneficial to the economy its new members. As though to accentuate this certain impression, each of the old members belongs to the richest countries in the entire world.

Giving appreciable cause for thought, a further aspect has to be taken into consideration: to me it appears indispensable to write that the EU also helps to foster a lasting peace in Europe (suffice it to say that a compelling proof thereof can be obtained from the fact that helps overcome old-fashioned prejudices.)
Being equally important, another detail has to be taken into account, too: to my mind no one can alter the fact that a wide range of people is (in spite of all the advantages described above) exceedingly doubtful as to whether a membership in the EU can really improve the living-standards in the Eastern parts of Europe.
I do think so not least due to the fact that , according to CNN, many Polish citizens are of the opinion that it is highly unlikely that the rich members of EU (such as France or Germany) are inclined to spend money on projects in Poland

It is undeniable that six colonies which had short histories (in European terms), a common language, similar governments and laws, a Westminster tradition and similar standards of living, should have easily come together as one nation with little difficulty and present no regional diversity. While no parallel may seem obvious to Europe, the last sentence is untrue!

The left leaning party in Australia has spent decades trying to abolish the six states and centralise government in Canberra, to no avail. Within Australia, you are a Victorian first. In cricket, if you come from W.A. you follow everything Western Australians do nationally or internationally. Mary Donaldson is always reported as a Tasmanian rather than an Australian, in her marriage to Danish Prince Fredrick.

Regional identity and loyalty has not faded here!

One of the main stumbling blocks to union lay in the economic power and population of Victoria and its capital, Melbourne, compared to all other states combined. Others feared loss of strength, self-determination and economic independence. But Victoria and later NSW gained access to a larger market and cross subsidized the poorer states. All states benefitted in the long term from greater econonic growth. A process Europe is now undergoing.

When an American visits Ausralia, they usually feel very much at home. Same language, wealth, democratic traditions and so many shows from America on our television. But within a year, they invariable talk about how different we are to them. Our underlining differences remain as those in Europe surely will also, with so many greater barriers to possible assimilation. My ancestry is mixed. Irish, Dutch, Swiss French and English. My mother is mainly of the Irish Catholic tradition and with her family, was the main influence in my upbringing. After four generations in Australia, I felt so at home in Ireland that I could have easily moved there. During stressful moments, no explanations were required from a lack of understanding on my part. I could think intuatively. The same was not true for me in The Netherlands.

Never forget, a persons culture is passed on through a family, usually the mother and is always changing in each generation. A nation state only encourages it and can support it. It can not impose culture. It can only support what the majority want.

100 hundred years later, the differnces in a free settled Victoria and a NSW originally settled as a convict outpost, are still evident. It shows up in poltics or where people choose to live. In education and trade. And the differences grow with migration from every quarter of the world to Australia, depending on various settlement patterns. Politics is more confrontational and guettoes are more common in NSW or Queensland. At the Catholic University in Sydney, they talk of theology in historical terms and hold to a separatist/fundamentalist view. They were settled by Irish Catholics who could be equated to political prisoners, sent here by the British. In Melbourne, the University talks about theolgy today, personal theologies and external experience. They are more ecumenical and support a less fundamental/inclusive approach. Most Irish CAtholics in Victoria arrived for economic reasons, to better themselves (but still lived in reasonable isolation to others) and had to (or chose to)accept the inclusion of Italian catholics in greater numbers.

I suppose I wrote this because the question arises from fear. If variation in cultural identies and political indepence can not die in Australia in more than 100 YEARS, how can Europe be so preoccupied by this thought, now. There may always be Irish who define themselves as different by adherence to a particular form of Christianity, of French politicians who deplore Franglaise, of Latvians who forget they survived 50 years of foriegn occupation and culturally survived it as a people. An economically strong and peaceful Europe is good for the world, if only by example and there a far more important questions to be answered.

And a message to the author:
In the printed version of the magazine there is a mistake. There are only 7 countries from old Soviet block.

Slovenia, was never a part of Soviet block. We were never under Soviet leadership / terror. Our borders were never closed and the people could travel around the world without any questions asked!

Regards

Jure

"It does seem that humans are more likely to mate with people they can talk to!"

(Mark Pagel and Ruth Mace, regarding cultural divergence and gene flow, in Nature, 2004:428;275-278)

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