If we go behind in history, the German States, at times including Austria, at times not, had been under some form of union, at times looser, at times tighter, since at least the VII Century with Charlesmagne. Then they had the Holy Roman Empire, the First Reich. Even with this ancestral closeness, a full political union as we know it nowadays (which, even though, it's much looser than most European countries regions), the one done by Bismarck (Second Reich), required several years and three wars.
Other countries had similar histories. The unification of Italy is a tale of wars throughout the centuries. Even Switzerland as we know it today was a work in progress since the XIII Century up to the Congress of Vienna in 1815 when finally its borders were recognized. And it goes on and on.
Similarly several countries (Britain for starters) have separatist regions in their countries. The Brits with Scotland, the French with Corsica and French Basque Country, the Danes have the never ending story of the Faroe Islands and, of course, there isn't even the need to mention Spain and Belgium.
These (and others which I didn't mention) are the societies which the EU «utopises» to blend together under Nation Europe. It's crazy, It has always been crazy, it will be crazy for as long as it lasts.
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