Comments by "seneca983" (@seneca983) on "Could Georgia Join the EU? - TLDR News" video.

Possible counterarguments: 2) Cyprus's border dispute didn't stop it from joining the EU. Also, Ireland technically claimed ownership of a part of the UK until 1999. 3) Technically, Greece, the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Cyprus, and Malta didn't share a land border with a pre-existing EU member when they joined.
690
@wow1371 "Europe and Asia are not one unified continental plate, they are two separate basically fused together at this point" They are on the same tectonic plate, the Eurasian plate, ancient sutures notwithstanding. Note that e.g. Greece is actually on a different tectonic plate from most of Eurasia so by a tectonic definition it's less of on the same continent as most of the EU than Georgia and Armenia. "Georgia and Armenia border the Asian part of Russia" No, here you're just mistaken. The conventional border of Europe and Asia in the east-west direction is usually taken to be at the Ural mountains. The Caucasus is to the west of the Urals so they border the European part of Russia.
5
@wow1371 "Georgia and Armania are already far stretched arguments as they are Asian countries not European ones." Geographically they at least border Europe and maybe even have some land in Europe (depending on where exactly you draw the border) whereas Cyprus is wholly in Asia and does not have a land border with Europe. That said, I don't think the somewhat arbitrary borders between regions (as Europe and Asia aren't really even separate continents) is important. I think it's enough that the country is reasonably close to the main body of the EU. I'd be ready to admit any such country (assuming they fulfill the membership requirements with e.g. having sufficiently good economy, democracy, human rights, etc.) even if they're strictly speaking outside of Europe.
3
@patrickmccutcheon9361 "Btw, I did not see your first point 1); what was it?" My points were in response to 2nd and 3rd of the 5 stumbling blocks mentioned in this video. I didn't comment on the 1st stumbling block (i.e. democratic backsliding in Georgia).
2
@wow1371 "I said it is a fused plate consisting of two plates and that is the generally accepted knowledge of Eurasia." But that doesn't make them different continents. We don't say that the east coast of the US is a different continent from the rest of North America just because of the Iapetus suture. We also don't say that Greece is on a different continent from the rest of Eurasia just because it's on a different plate which even hasn't fused with the Eurasian plate. "However that is literally beside the point." OK then. "For every 1 map of Europe including Russian territory up to Urals I can show you two not including Russia at all." I don't think I've seen any explicit definition of the border between Europe and Asia that would put the land borders anywhere else but the Caucasus and Ural mountains. By the conventional definition Georgia and Armenia at least touch the border between Europe and Asia (unlike Cyprus) whether you put the border north or south of them. "This goes back once again to European identity argument." When it comes to identity, Georgians seem to identify as Europeans.
2
@wow1371 "1. Continent=/=tectonic plates" Well, you're the one who first brought up tectonic plates, not me. In any case, I don't think there's a reasonable definition for continent that would separate Europe and Asia into different continents. "2. Yet there are more than one map excluding Russia completely." I don't think that's common and wouldn't give much weight such maps anyway. "3. It doesn't matter if they identify as European. Sorry to break it to you but that is not how it works." Well, you're the one who brought up "European identity". In any case, by any reasonable definition I can think of Georgia is at least as European as Cyprus.
2
@wow1371 "European identity preceived by the european of europe." Well, if we count Georgia as European then them seeing themselves as European counts towards that. But in case you meant something like "percieved as European in EU member states" then doesn't it still apply? I'm not super familiar with Georgia but I certainly haven't perceived it as "Asian" or anything like that. I've also thought in terms of culture it has more in common with European countries than e.g. Turkey or Iran.
2
@Joeseanag24 The Cyprus dispute isn't.
1
@Lyallpuriya I don't agree but Georgia is majority Christian in any case.
1
@jirislavicek9954 Cyprus probably sees Turkey occupying a part of their territory as well. Though maybe it's less problematic because it's an older issue and Turkey is less erratic than Russia so even if the status quo is problematic peace can be maintained.
1
@jokerofmorocco That seems overly indirect. Turkey currently wouldn't fulfill membership requirements and can't be let in anyway unless all members agree. There's no reason to not let Georgia in just so that Turkey wouldn't join. The border disputes etc. are clearly much more important.
1
@anarcho-boulangistllamaent2023 Technically Ireland also didn't have effective control of all the territory it claimed before 1999.
1