Belgium, a non-country ? It is probably the most competent country in all of Europe, if not the world, when it comes to make compromises and put different cultures together. Brussels is arguably one of the most multi-cultural capital of the world.
I would love to see the part when he gets turned down by the whole assembly and the intellectuals all over Europe and Belgium which I'm sure have raped his speech full of hate and anti-europeanism.
So all the fuss about the north and south part of Belgium "hating" each other is just spin?
And the farce that takes place after each election when creating a government, is that just fun and good times?
Being multicultural in itself is not a positive feature, its how you deal with it and how it affects you.
And to be blunt I would not like to live in a country where countrymen can't even get a common ground, and then mix it with other cultures = a disaster waiting to happen.
Norway or Switzerland > any EU "state".
It doesn't take a genius to realize this is all politics and has nothing to do with 'hate' between the flemish and the wallons. In fact, we get along pretty well in reality.
And to be blunt I would not like to live in a country where countrymen can't even get a common ground, and then mix it with other cultures = a disaster waiting to happen.
-> what makes you think we dont have a common ground ? You're not that naive to believe all you see in the medias, that like to make everything sound sensationnal, are you ?
I don't have anything to say about Norway, I dont know much about this country apart that it is amongst the top 3 'best democracies' in Europe according to some official reviews. But I know that we're not talking about democracy here, we're talking about living together. Europe is also about that. Afaik, Norway doesnt have to deal with different cultures/languages.
I also know both countries aren't part of the EU anyway... and it's only a matter of time imo...
Now this whole 'x country > z country' is kind of simplist and it really makes me facepalm.
What I can conclude here is that you also are an eurosceptic and your thoughts are about as dangerous and biased as this Farage when it comes to the idea of democracy. If we speak of democracy in terms of slaying minorities, then Switzerland is a good example.
If there is only say 5% of the switzerland population that are muslims and that 70% of people voted in favor of forbidding construction of mosquees (or just simply places where people can freely use their cult), it sure does sound democratic, but it's only in the shape and not in the substance a democracy....
I wholeheartedly agree with most of your points there, with a little sidenote. Switzerland has historically chosen the easy way out for itself and maintained good relations with all of the shifting powers that came through Europe at the time. They are free to do so.
However, as far as I know, Switzerland didn't ban mosques or any other place where people can freely practise their religions. Switzerland determined, through a free and open referendum, that the construction of new minarettes (the tower traditionally accompanying a mosque) is now not allowed anymore. Which they are also free to decide. They did so because they, as an absolute majority in the country, do not think it fits with their history and street view. I don't see anything undemocratic there.
Everyone is free to assemble and practise whichever religion they may so deisre within switzerland, they will just not have a minaret sticking out in the street. It's not such a big deal. Mind you that Slovenia has exactly the same and always has had this. There are plenty of Bosnian muslims living within Slovenia and maintain a quite healthy relationship with the Slovene population (By now most of them identify as Slovene), they just don't gather in a mosque with a minaret. It's not a big deal there and it shouldn't be a big deal here.
I agree with the rest though, that foul mouthed populist Farage has no place in the European Parliament and especially not yelling and screaming insults with that most righteous of tones while filling his pockets with European money. We need the EU whether we like it or not, because as history has proven we just end up slaughtering each other otherwise. And probably some weaker ethnic and religious group while we're at it. (The germans weren't the first one's or the only one's that did it, they were just damn efficient at it, as Germans usually are).