Haider al-Abadi Quotes

Being independent caused us nothing but trouble. I do not want Chechnya to be independent from Russia.

When you have people in a geographical area who do not want to be a part of a country, you cannot keep them in that country forever.

There will be no annexation of ourselves or our territory to an independent Quebec without our consent.

No, I don't think I've ever really favoured English independence. My view is that if the Scots want to be independent then we should aim for the same thing.

If every component part of the nation claims the right of self-determination for itself, there is no one nation and there is no independence.

For many years, I supported the concept of separate states.

Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence.

You must not expect the central government of any country to encourage separatism.

If we allow Catalonia - and it is none of our business - to separate, others will do the same. I do not want that.

I think that what the majority of Catalan society wants is a relationship between its distinct region and the rest of the country.

Sovereignty was not an issue in this campaign. The sovereignty numbers that were there before the campaign are still there. Sovereignty is as alive as it was. But there is work to do to convince Quebecers.

The constitution ought to specifically state that every nation is left entirely independent and supreme in its internal affairs, such as regulating emigration and all other similar matters.

By what principle of original right is it that one-fiftieth or one-ninetieth of a great nation, by calling themselves a State, have the right to break up and ruin that nation as a matter of original principle?

I firmly believe that Scotland's place is in the U.K., and I do not believe in powers for power's sake.

I want my own country, not against Canada but for Quebec.

Any division of the United States through secession of individual States from the Union inevitably must lead to civil wars.

Sub-national, ethnic or tribal factions cannot expect to undermine the political unit in which they exist while claiming the privileges of a sovereign nation-state.

We want an independent Quebec within a strong and united Canada.

The right of a State to secede is not an open or debatable question

No State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union;

From Kurdistan to Catalonia to Scotland, from Syria to Chechnya to South Sudan, from indigenous communities in the Andean nations to tribal communities in sub-Saharan Africa, many people are shifting their primary political identities away from the nation-states in which they lived for many generations.

A republic has been established, and our compatriots in Mongolia, Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang, who have always been a part of China, are all now Chinese citizens who are masters of their country.

I absolutely disagree that it was an illegal annexation: a referendum was held, and residents of Crimea chose to rejoin Russia.

I just think it is entirely normal for the United Kingdom to be an independent nation state.

Everyone from Silesians to Sicilians to Scots seems to want autonomy or independence. The British voted to leave the European Union, and hostility to the superstate is rising across the continent.