cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/46886810
The American president has invited Canada to become his country's "51st state," an idea that has infuriated most of Canada's 40 million citizens.
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Hence this suggestion: Why not expand the EU to include Canada? Is that so far-fetched an idea? In any case, Canadians have actually considered the question themselves. In February 2025, a survey conducted by Abacus Data on a sample of 1,500 people found that 44% of those polled supported the idea, compared to 34% who opposed it. Better the 28th EU country than the 51st US state!
One might object: Canada is not European, as required for EU membership by Article 49 of the EU Treaty. But what does "European" actually mean? The word cannot be understood in a strictly geographic sense, or Cyprus, closer to Asia, would not be part of the EU. So the term must be understood in a cultural sense.
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As [Canadian Prime Minister Mark] Carney said in Paris, in March: Thanks to its French and British roots, Canada is "the most European of non-European countries." He speaks from experience, having served as governor of the Bank of England (a post that is assigned based on merit, not nationality). Culturally and ideologically, Canada is close to European democracies: It shares the same belief in the welfare state, the same commitment to multilateralism and the same rejection of the death penalty or uncontrolled firearms.
Moreover, Canada is a Commonwealth monarchy that shares a king with the United Kingdom.
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Even short of a formal application, it would be wiser for Ottawa to strengthen its ties with European democracies rather than with the Chinese regime. The temptation is there: Just before heading to Davos, Carney signed an agreement with Beijing to lower tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China.
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Explain the introduction of Cyprus, on those terms
Real real bad example, as Cyprus was literaly invaded and is currently militarily occupied by Turkey
How dirty money and Russian riches flow through Cyprus, a gateway to the EU
Possibly one of the most corrupt and compromised governments on earth
The unoccupied part of Cyprus is a functional democracy. At the time of accession, it was hoped that the EU would catalyze a solution to the Cyprus problem altogether. Greek-Cypriot nationalists fucked that up.
There's two ways to read this and one of them is very funny.
But sure, put all your chips on Kyriakos Mitsotakis and tell me about the freedoms enjoyed by Greek Cypriots in 2026.
Inducting Cyprus while denying longtime NATO ally and European trading partner Turkiye was already guaranteed to land flat. Opening the floodgates for money and military aid into Cyprus, via the EU relaxed trade and travel rules, yielded predictable results.
Get your Greeks straight buddy. Mitsotakis is not Cypriot. I also have no idea what you mean by "military aid flooding into Cyprus". Cyprus has a tiny national guard.
That said, with the Helsinki agreement in 1999, Greece pinned its hopes to normalization with "longtime NATO ally" and regional bully to a europeanization of the relationship. The hope was that getting Turkey to commit to European values would "tame" its aggression towards Greece and Cyprus. Then came Erdogan.
He's the President of the government that claims the Greek-Nationalist occupied end of the island.
How do you Europeanize your relationship when you refuse to see your neighbor as European?