Germany has told America's French puppet Macron, to shove it where the sun don't shine. The question to ask, I suppose is why Macron even submitted himself for such a Poodle duty? Isn't he already in enough trouble as it is with the continuing Yellow Vests? The perennial cynic in me wonders if the US has something on him in the same way it had something on his predecessor Sarkozy, that causes him to so willingly bend his knee to Washington's interests? In any event Germany gave him and Washington the middle finger. https://www.strategic-culture.org/n...-on-macron-and-american-energy-blackmail.html
Does Macron have illusions about his power in the EU, or is being he geared by others? If he was, then whoever's gearing him can't be very smart - that is unless they want to drive a wedge between France and Germany. France always had illusions about its power so it's nothing new. Well Germany broke that bubble, and its about time. The alliance between them was always a ploy to put a EU face on her decisions.
How can you call Macron an American puppet? The French voted for him. He's a neoliberal, who believes in free markets and Globalism. The French did have other options, but they refused to vote for a Nationalist and were tired of Socialism. The French, as a people, have no one but themselves to blame. It's their own beliefs that have doomed them. Quality of life has gone down over the last 15 years due to extreme anti-market policy and unchecked massive migration coming from other impoverished regions of the world. At this point the Neoliberal policies of Macron probably won't do much to help.
because America has more influence over the EU than they do over Germany... it's just another angle to hamper the project. Germany's economy is not so "ever-robust" it narrowly avoided recession at the end of last year Germany may have avoided recession in Q4 by just 0.1% because the quarter was one day longer than the previous period Read more at https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-may-have-avoided-recession-in-q4-2019-1#SzZ4Tlg5CsWAXdCp.99 It makes Nordstream 2 very important to them economically and as part of their coal and nuclear energy exit strategy. I think the Americans are going to have to wrestle this project from their cold dead hands.
It's not Macron or the Americans that the Germans need to be worried about alienating, it's Sweden, Poland, Turkey, Romania, Italy, and a host of smaller countries. And they ARE going to alienate them.
It sure sends the wrong message to Putin regarding European views of recent and ongoing actions in Ukraine and Syria. Might as well quit sanctions at this rate and admit that money is the measure and meaning of everybody and everything.
The quality of life in France has not gone down in the last 15 years. These data say something very different. Income and wealth have increased over the last 10 years, life expectancy at birth has risen, upper secondary educational attainment rates have risen by more than 11%, personal safety has been very stable over the past decade, household debt has gone down, household net wealth has gone up, on the other hand, long-term unemployment has risen and subjective well-being has decreased, but this is in no way 'quality of life has gone down.' https://www.oecd.org/statistics/Better-Life-Initiative-country-note-France.pdf In the category "immigrants in 2016", France was number twenty in the EU, that's far away from massive migration. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/stati...p/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics
No, it sends the right message to Putin. You don't remember the howling out of Germany when the US Congress passed sanctions against Russia for interference in our election? The Russians and Germans need each other. The Germans are making it clear that they don't share the American Russophobic fear of Russian resurgence into former-Soviet territory, at least not enough to get in the way of a fruitful economic relationship. They, like the Russians, see American armies coating Europe as provocative at best and directly threatening at worst.
Label it Russophobic all you like, we can see what Russian "resurgence" into former Soviet territory looks like and what it means for the people in those countries. In fact, they understand it better than we ever can, and they who have a long history of being under Russia's thumb are far more "Russophobic" than we are.
You're right, other nations are just as or more Russophobic than we are. Germany is not one of them. This year is going to be a big year for Europe. The German-Russian relationship is about to get a lot warmer, and the European Dream is going to falter before our eyes.
Hah. If you think I'm Russian, or even pro-Russian, you have absolutely no idea where I'm coming from.
Hitler didn’t have to use military force to make Europe his bitch, he could have just used the EU like Merkle.
I would suggest you need to get a better understanding of deep politics because you seem to be limited by context of national politics. Powerful elements inside the European elite remain Atlanticist and continue to toe the American line (this dates back to the beginning of the cold war btw). One can see this, for example, by the presence of French troops in Syria (along with Brits and Americans) in support of the US regime change there. Trump leading Macron by the hand outside the White House - poodle led easily one might say However, the European the elite is now gradually changing focus and shifting away from the US. I suspect trust has become a real issue and the cancellation by Trump of the Iran deal has caused major ruptures. To the extent that they voted for Macron I agree. Most now regret that decision, a fact reflected by his popularity rating that has plummeted to single figures. PS, if you know any world leader with any self respect or independence allowing themselves to be led by the hand by Trump feel free to let me know.
