 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Brexit makes Brits in Slovakia feel self-conscious about their position |
| London, 04.07.2016 |
|
| A few days after the UK voters decided to leave the European Union, Brits staying in Slovakia prefer to not go back home.
The decision of British citizens to withdraw from the European Union has terrified both people from EU countries working or studying in the British Isles and also Brits who currently live elsewhere in the EU. Although no big Brexit-related changes are expected to happen in anyone’s life, Brits in Slovakia mostly believe their countrymen’s decision was irresponsible and has set the country back decades.
The whole essence of existence and national identity has been changed due to the half of citizens who voted for Brexit, according to John Dale, media consultant and musician working in Slovakia.
“To be completely honest, while on Thursday I would have been on my imperial British high horse saying we do not like that, now I am questioning where I come from,” Dale told The Slovak Spectator.
The UK referendum which was held on June 23, 2016, was won by the leave campaign who out voted those people who wanted to remain by 52 to 48 percent. It will now be followed by a likely two-year period full of negotiations, which will formally only start after the UK invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
Meanwhile, the British Embassy in Slovakia reassures Brits living in the country that there will be no immediate changes in their circumstances. The UK must now consider and negotiate new arrangements with the EU including the rights to live, work or retire with the top priorities being safety, welfare and the livelihoods of UK citizens overseas, according to the embassy’s press officer Monika Holečková.
“Nothing will change overnight as a result of this decision,” Holečková told The Slovak Spectator.
Would Brits go back home?
Many Brits abroad started looking at their future possibilities even before the referendum. A couple of months before the UK chose the leave campaign, the gov.uk website had not really been responding in the usual way because it was overwhelmed with questions regarding passports and the eventual Brexit, Dale said.
Another UK citizen living in Slovakia, a secondary-school English teacher Andrew Gibson, is considering his staying in Slovakia as he meets lots of uncomfortable questions from Slovaks about why the majority of those who voted want to leave the EU.
“This has given rise to my feeling quite self-conscious about my position here,” Gibson told The Slovak Spectator.
In the UK there is only a small minority of residents who do not want immigrants there although it is not in line with current European trends of social inclusion, Gibson said, adding that this minority is another reason why he does not want to return.
In contrast, Dale does not rule out the option to go back to the UK in the future.
“Unfortunately, the same question everyone is asking now is whether there will be anything like Great Britain to go back to,” Dale said.
odkaz na stránku |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Address : Euro-Brew Ltd., Hlboká 22, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Tel. : +421 33 53 418 53, Fax : +421 33 53 418 52, E-mail : info@eurobrew.sk |
|
|
