r/YUROP • u/Esteban83550 • May 02 '26
European identity
Do you feel rather...
note: I didn't have enough "options" available due to the reddit limit of choices in polls to put the regional aspect so you can vote national if you mean regional or comment to say it (sorry)
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u/Repulsive_Chard_3652 Česko May 02 '26
I'm an "immigrant". I've lived all around central Europe for over 15 years, and even though I'm not originally from here, I feel (central) European. I definitely don't quite identify with the country I live in, though, as they will always see me as a foreigner.
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u/GalaXion24 Europa Invicta May 02 '26
I think it's kind of a natural consequence of migration. Migration as a whole just doesn't fit into the nationalist worldview so even if you've moved around Europe or you're mixed or some such you'll always be an outsider to the nation, even if the difference is quite minuscule and you might not fit in on any other continent at all.
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u/Repulsive_Chard_3652 Česko May 02 '26
100% agreed with all of it, yep! I hope to get citizenship in the next few years, and I am working on speaking the language better and better, but I know I'll never be accepted as a member of the nation. It simply is what it is, the nature of nationalism and the way the modern world is built.
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u/chjacobsen Sverige May 02 '26
I guess I don't necessarily see a tradeoff.
It's like asking whether a scoop of vanilla ice cream is more vanilla or more ice cream.
I'm a European of the Swedish variety. It's the same identity - expressed with various degrees of precision.
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u/Auspectress May 02 '26
1st from my city
2nd from my region
3rd from my country
4th from other EU countries
5th from everywhere else
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u/Sandroxis Vlaanderen May 02 '26
I am Belgian, Flemish and European in that order. but that does not diminish ly european identity
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u/Sky-is-here Andalucía May 02 '26
I am European, Andalusian then and only after all that Spanish.
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u/euro_trashh Mazowieckie May 02 '26
I identify mainly with the city district I lived in growing up then Slavic > Eastern European > Polish > European
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u/Tanckers Emilia-Romagna May 02 '26
For anyone inside europe im European, nation, region, province/city, town
Im all of them, i want to give up 0 identities, i want all of them. In that order
Just imagine everyone displaying the above mentioned flags all at once, a true show of diversity, history and culture. This is what makes us strong
To everyone outside of europe im a european
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u/NewLoss6021 Northern England May 02 '26
Depends what you mean by national. I am British, I am European, I am Northern and Lancastrian, I don't identify with England
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u/Zardhas Yuropean not by passport but by state of mind May 03 '26
Frontiers are just random lines on a map
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u/Esteban83550 May 03 '26
completely agree, it should only serve an administrative purpose or just to apply certain little laws here and there but it should never allow to separate or restrain anyone in any way
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u/Unable-Nectarine1941 May 02 '26
When I'm against the concept of nations in the first place should i choose 1 or 6?
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u/Esteban83550 May 03 '26
well, if you are against the concept of nation you should pick option 1, if you are against the concept of state, which is different, you should choose option 6. I think
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u/Unable-Nectarine1941 May 03 '26
That's the thing. Since the humans think so much in nations that other concepts of organized social community seems impossible I think there should only be one country on earth, covering all humans. The only thing of nations that should remain are the borders and that just for govern purpose. So I'm still not sure what to pick.
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u/Esteban83550 May 03 '26
I'd say you should probably pick "fully European" which would be the closest ideal to a "human federation" or any name we can put on it
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u/Unable-Nectarine1941 May 03 '26
I just call it "Our Earth"
But yeah I see continental unions as a step forwards it. Thanks for helping me finding the answer.
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u/NativeEuropeas Native Yuropean May 02 '26
I don't see identity as standing in opposition to one another.
Instead, for me it's just multiple layers.
I am from my hometown, from my region, and that doesn't make me any less belonging to the nation (Slovakia).
But at the same time, I'm fully European, just as I am fully Slovak, fully from my particular region in Slovakia, and fully from my hometown.
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u/black3rr Slovensko May 03 '26
regional > european > national
for the simple fact that as a person from southwestern Slovakia who spent half of his life in a small flat city of 35k population and the second half in Bratislava, there are not many places in Slovakia which feel like home to me, as most of the country is small villages and mountains, and the "vibe" and "way of life" in those parts of the country are vastly different to what I'm used to...
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u/Quantum_Aurora Uncultured May 04 '26
I'm American but voted "none" so I could see the results. I apologize if that skews the results in any way.
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u/Denixen1 Sverige May 08 '26
National first. But mostly because when I lived in Austria I was constantly looked down upon and ostracized because I couldn't speak German good enough. Speaking English made it even worse.
It is one thing to say you feel European while living in your home country, but as a resident of another EU or European country you will quickly realize that the people and government of that country does not view you the same. Your European commonality means nothing in reality.
You are national first, even if you don't want to be.
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u/SetObvious7411 Drenthe May 02 '26
I miss "Regional" in this