Hacker News Reader

> What really matters here isn't the letter of treaties, it is the political reality that it ain't happening.

And the political reality is that no one in the EU wants to widen the discussion to countries like Morocco, so the rule that the country must be in Europe is useful.

View on HN

I don't think they really want Kazakhstan in the EU either, but the rule that "the country must be in Europe" isn't needed to keep them out. (Most of Kazakhstan is in Central Asia, but a small sliver is in Europe, by the standard geographical definition.)

Iceland is literally on the gap in the tectonic plates between Europe and North America.

You're right. You could say the same about Turkey.

And, really, Georgia (also granted candidate status) which is a problem in that a not insignificant fraction of the population isn't really sure if the EU is better than Russia.

But having a problem with expanding further east doesn't necessarily recommend that the EU should expand further south or west.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com