I read you’re mad at the Americans for allegedly eavesdropping on your cellphone. And that you’re calling for the entire EU to react to this with “one voice”.
Well, let’s examine these demands through the prism of your own approach to relations between nations, European integration and solidarity:
I remember you stating that “you can not be in debt and be an independent nation”.
Why you expect Obama to think anything else then? Your country, besides receiving generous financial help after WWII from the US, in the form of both money transfers and debt write offs (yes, the kind that sends shivers down your voters spine these days…) had its defense needs taken care of throughout the Cold War era, courtesy of the American tax payer. Not having to maintain a real army worked wonders for Germany’s public finances…
So now, after the Cold War, with Germany looking ambivalent in its strategic orientation, with your predecessor on the payroll of a Russian company, and yourself blocking the development of nuclear energy in Germany, thus continuing and enhancing energy dependence from Russia, don’t you think the Americans have the right to be curious about your real intentions?
Remember: “You can’t owe and be independent”. Well, you owe them -as a country- half a century’s worth of defense against the USSR and its allies, and more importantly the outcome of the Cold War and the ensuing reunification of your country. As an individual, you certainly owe them the fact that you’re no longer living in the… People’s Republic of Germany!
That’s as far as your relationship with the US is concerned.
Now let’s get into your call for Europe to respond with “one voice”:
The Minister of your previous government W. Schaueble stated at some point regarding Greece that “solidarity should not be taken for granted”.
I now tend to agree.
And it applies both ways.
Throughout the past four years you have never stated clearly that it is unthinkable for any Euro country to leave the monetary union. You have not only allowed talk of countries leaving the Euro but you have added fuel to the fire through your ambivalent stance, the inflammatory comments of your various political allies on a weekly basis, the “studies” of various German think tanks addressing even minor technical issues of such an event, such as how the Euro bills in the ATMs should be marked to be differentiated…
On your watch, the EU has receded and freedoms established through treaties in the course of more than half a century of integration have been suspended. As I am typing these lines, in Cyprus, an EU member state there are capital controls. In several countries, eurosceptics are bringing up the issue of re-establishing restrictions to the free movement of workers in the EU, concerned about the consequences of high unemployment in the southern EU countries in their domestic labor markets.
So, you expect your fellow Europeans to respond with one voice to alleged US spying? “Solidarity should not be taken for granted”.
Most of us Europeans have been raised to trust the US: They have saved us from Nazi Germany. They have provided financial help to rebuild our countries after the war. They have protected us from Communism. They have set up the field for the EU to be developed. The very same EU, your leadership (or lack of) undermines…
So don’t expect us to rally to your support because (you claim) they spy on you. To be perfectly honest, many among us are relieved that someone with proven world leadership credentials is listening when you seriously discuss with your advisers kicking a country out of the union or suspending treaties…
And we’re hoping that maybe they can talk some sense into you…
Regards,
DEPRESSED IN THE EUROSOUTH
http://www.defence-point.gr
