Margaret pointed out you made a mistake, Geoff. You said it was narrow when, in fact, Angela Merkel's majority was huge.
Among the "north European peoples" who are at risk from financial metdown are, of course, ourselves.
I'm not sure what your point about languages is exactly. Languages seemed to play a very modest part in the Northern Ireland troubles. Languages seem to play almost no part at all in the drift to Scottish seperatism and the utter destruction of the Tory Party in Scotland. Languages seems to be a big issue in parts of Wales, but not so much in others. What is your point exactly?