To Hell and Baku, eastern outposts of 'Europe' - The Independent

The other day a leaflet flopped on my doormat urging me to vote to leave Europe. It had a lot of large numbers apparently indicating the savings I would make - as if a six-figure sum to spend on building a hospital would magically appear in my wallet if I merely tick "leave" on Thursday - and a few supposed business leaders (none of whom I'd heard of) saying that I'd be far better off without those meddling Eurocrats in charge. Which was all very well; each to their own and all that.


On the back there was a map depicting the countries set to join Europe. But the thing is, the only ones actually named on the map were Iraq and Syria. Which of course are not about to join the EU. The inference was that because these two countries border Turkey (a potential EU member), if Britain stays in Europe then we are doing no less than letting a pair of war-torn nations full of terrorists and nasty folk move right to our front door so be very afraid because they'll flood in, take our jobs, steal our benefits and we will all go to Hell in a handcart.


Which is of course all a load of xenophobic scaremongering. And as a foreigner to Britain's shores, I don't take too kindly to xenophobia.


Anyway, on yesterday's European Grand Prix evidence, Europe already stretches further east than Iraq. Because it was was held on the streets of the Azerbaijani capital, 2,500 miles from London. In European terms, it is the Baku beyond.


And the Formula One circus's first stop on the shores of the Caspian Sea didn't lend itself to a repeat, for a number of reasons. Firstly, with its street circuit boasting lengthy straights, it was spectacularly dull. Nico Rosberg led by almost a minute at one point, leaving the hapless Sky commentators to try and drum up interest in the battle for seventh.


And at street level it was as visually arresting as staring at a wall. Mainly because the cars sped by a lot of walls. The odd aerial shot showed that Baku appears a quirky mixture of old and new, with ornate walled gardens, crumbling castle turrets, tree-lined avenues, bombastic stone municipal-looking structures and shiny skyscrapers - but the images from the air were few and far between.


Speaking of arresting, there is the small matter of the country being less than tolerant of critics of the regime, which has held power since 1995 (a simple task when those in office overlook the whole "free election" thing). In fact in Reporters Without Borders' index of press freedom, Azerbaijan ranks 163rd out of 180.


Still, that didn't seem to bother Rosberg, whose victory cry of "yeehah" as he took the chequered flag sounded as spontaneous as a data inputter's daily commute.


After grinning from ear to ear as he shook the hand of President Ilham Aliyev - who had no doubt taken time out from his busy schedule of locking up dissidents and subjecting pesky media folk to beatings and surveillance to hand out trophies with his artificiallooking wife - Rosberg spoke of "an amazing city, an amazing race, it has been spectacular".


I tell you what was amazing: that the race was even allowed to take place in a place as oppressive as Azerbaijan. Like the contents of that "Leave" leaflet, it is not difficult to see past the bluster - it just takes a little more effort.

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