Hello Heikki my good friend...I can appreciate your appreciation for the EU, in that you admit that the EU has been good for FInland...That to me is the crux of the problem...The receiving countries of course are happy with what the EU provides...but the paying countries with the highest GDP's and lowest unemployment rates [[Germany, France, the UK, and Italy alone pay 60% of all EU contributions) who contribute the most are going to be the ones who question the viability of remaining with the EU in it's current set-up...I do hesitate to throw Germany into the exit mix since I believe that Chancellor Merkel considers herself to be the "darling" of the EU, although she is becoming more and more unpopular within her borders, but Germany does exert undue influence in all EU decisions leaving smaller countries at a distinct disadvantage...That said...the EU wields tremendous influence into the inner workings of member countries through it's myriad of councils which pass laws and directives which may take effect automatically including significant actions to restrict and limit imports from other member states, The Maastricht Treaty which covers areas like immigration, justice, common security, is nothing but a joke as the immigration crisis of today, and even going back to the Balkan crisis of the 90's where the EU stood by impotently with events in it's own backyard while NATO had to come in to resolve the situation...I doubt RUssia has aims on Finland at this time [[other than perhaps some old WW ll Paybacks), but as other countries become inundated with refugees, you see from my previous post that Germany is now considering what had been the unconsiderable...admission of Turkey to the EU...Actually, most of the statistics I've seen clearly state that the EU is responsible for over 59% of the economic, political, and judicial affairs of it's member countries...So like anything else...this political organization works well for some...not so well for others, except also like other organizations, the ones it's not working so well for happen to be the major funders of it, and their populations and citizenry are beginnnng to stand up and ask why???...
I feel I must throw in this disclaimer at this point as to what may seem to some [[me being an American) as my excessive interest in this entire Brexit topic and it's complications...Prior to a few weeks ago, I knew that The UK was involved in some sort of action regarding it's membership in the EU [[which I new little about) and that was about it...Two and a half months ago...quite fortunately and quite by accident through a CT scan for one somewhat minor but painful problem [[torn rotator cuff), it was found that I had two growths on my right lung...Further testing done right away showed that it was most likely lung cancer and within a few weeks I was at the great cancer center, City of Hope in Duarte, California with a terrific surgeon who performed robotic surgery and tested the growths and one of them was cancerous...He proceeded to perform a surgical procedure to remove both growths and the areas around them...I had a very difficult recovery which ended me back in the hospital with a two very serious infections...so what should have bee a 5 day deal turned into three weeks, plus daily visits from a nurse upon returning home for a month of antibiotic infusions...Follwing all that, I took brief vacation for relaxation and to just clear my head...During ALL that time, and hearing of the so called Brexit issue, I found it interesting enough to spend a lot of time researching the issue, even as I lay poolside in Indian Wells and responded to some Facebook postings on the topic, mostly from anti Brexit people LOL...So I became fairly well versed in many of the issues surrounding this topic, although that does not necessarily make my conclusions or opinions right or wrong and my basic political instincts certainly play a role in this as well, although I always try to look at a topic from all sides,,,All that said...I am happy to report that as of today...two months after my surgical procedure...I am 100% cancer free from my stage 1 diagnosis, including all the lmph nodes and margins that were biopsied from the surgery. I have a bit less lung to breathe with, but it's getting pretty close to normal at this point with fortunately no further treatment needed, so I'm preparing to return to my normal activities, rather than sit around looking at Facebood, Soulful Detroit,,and all other websites as I return to civilian life...but for those who wondered about my apparent fascination and time consuming research with this topic...it just happened to be there at a time I was exposing myself to the current events of the day as my old profession of "newsman" came to the fore...LOL
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