A question of citizenship

The bond of citizenship this year has been a waivering one for me…

A post in the “The 48%”, a Facebook group of Remain supporters, popped up from another Briton in Austria earlier in the autumn, who had just arrived at the decision to choose to naturalise as an Austrian citizen, in so doing of course having to renounce his UK citizenship. Since contact with him, I have also made contact to other UK citizens in Austria within the group, and weighed up our collective plights. Continue reading “A question of citizenship”

5 September – Parliamentary debate on “the petition” and Austria’s ongoing presidential run-off omnishambles

The four million signature petition is debated in parliament. Only two MPs mention the uncertainty of UK citizens living in the EU.

The petition that got 4,000,000+ signatures was debated in parliament. MPs seemed unanimous that a second referendum was not a valid consideration – John Penrose coining the term of a “neverendum”. Continue reading “5 September – Parliamentary debate on “the petition” and Austria’s ongoing presidential run-off omnishambles”

Reflections following a brief statement from the British Ambassador to Austria

To fellow Brits in Vienna – remain strong – and if anyone is feeling alone and bewildered, get in touch.

Last evening I saw a brief video clip from HM British Embassy here in Vienna – with a very brief statement by the Ambassador, who is due to conclude her term here very soon. The video was published through the Embassy’s Facebook account, and was released yesterday. Continue reading “Reflections following a brief statement from the British Ambassador to Austria”

My initial reaction to the results of the Referendum

My brief statement prepared yesterday immediately upon hearing the results.

I went to bed early on Thursday to make sure that I could watch the coverage of the results towards the ‘business end’ of the count. At 4am I woke up, and upon looking at my phone, headed to the sitting room to watch the coverage on BBC News. Slowly but surely with a Lagavullin in my hand the ‘remain’ camp were not making any inroads into the ‘leave’ advantage.
Continue reading “My initial reaction to the results of the Referendum”

A week of travel – Austria, Britain and Croatia

This week sees the last full week before the Referendum vote on 23 June. There will be many campaigners on both sides putting in some serious miles as the referendum still remains very much in the balance. I’ll also be putting in some miles – to London on Wednesday and back to Vienna on Thursday before a day trip to Zagreb for Friday – all part of the job working within the European banking supervision environment – going to the European Banking Authority in Canary Wharf and then the Croatian National Bank, the latter hosting a meeting of an SSM working group.
Continue reading “A week of travel – Austria, Britain and Croatia”

This is Greenland 1985

Greenland was part of the European Communities’ territory from Denmark’s accession in 1973 through to Greenland’s withdrawal in 1985.

One of the lesser-known facts about the Referendum on continuing membership of the European Union is that a UK withdrawal would not be the first time that a territory has left what we now know as the European Union. The scale and interconnectedness of a British withdrawal would indeed be a far more seismic event than the previous withdrawals of Algeria (upon seceding from France in 1962, it left then very much embryonic European Economic Community), Greenland (which was part of the European Communities’ territory from Denmark’s accession in 1973 through to Greenland’s withdrawal in 1985) following a referendum in the wake of a dispute over fisheries, and most recently, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin that both seceded from Guadelope (itself a Département Outre-Mer (overseas département of France)) back in 2007, and ceased to be an Outer Most Region (OMR) of the EU.

A pro-Brexit Briton in Western Austria speaks out

In the short or long term a Brexit will have no effect on where I live. I think a lot of the UK will see a “Yes” vote as a missed opportunity.

One of the comments made by the first pro-Brexit Briton in Austria to answer a set of questions was that there is a big difference between the situation in Vienna compared with Austria as a whole – particularly with regard to the level of integration that a foreigner needs. I was very pleased that my blog had reached a Briton in Western Austria, who was very keen to talk about her experiences – in particular to highlight how different life can be outside the largest city or capital.

Continue reading “A pro-Brexit Briton in Western Austria speaks out”

Feelings of a pro-Brexit Briton in Vienna

A Brexit will result in the unravelling of the EU as we know it today and result in, at the very least, a tremendous amount of reform. A Bremain could see the UK as a very dysfunctional EU member depending on the margin of victory.

In my last post I set a list of questions that I wanted to ask pro-Brexit Britons in Austria. Below are the first responses – from a long-term Briton in Vienna (who would appear to have been living in Austria for a similar period as I have). Continue reading “Feelings of a pro-Brexit Briton in Vienna”