I don't think labeling ourselves defender would have negative repercussions, really. The worst negative that would come from it is that regions we already don't want to associate with, like the super srs and snobby monarchist-imperialist regions, wouldn't want to associate with us. And they already don't because whether we call ourselves defender or not, we're defending.
I think the decision to go with sovereigntist rather than defender is a personal preference of the people here, which is fine with me. I care less about labels than I do about what we're doing, but neutral isn't an accurate label for what we're doing.