Das Brüsseler Abkommen (Deutscher Durchmarsch gegen Griechenland – GFP 15/7/2015)
BERLIN/ROM - Die Ergebnisse des Brüsseler Abkommens über Griechenland werden in mehreren Ländern West- und Südeuropas als Vorzeichen eines kommenden Zusammenbruchs der kontinentalen Nachkriegsordnung und einer Rückkehr Deutschlands zur offen auftretenden Diktatorialmacht gewertet. Während sozialdemokratische Beobachter eine Beruhigung der Widersprüche nicht ausschließen wollen, sprechen unter anderem konservative Medien in Südeuropa von einer Neuauflage deutscher Herrschaftsambitionen, die sowohl den Ersten wie den Zweiten Weltkrieg maßgeblich bestimmten oder ausgelöst haben. Im Zentrum der Befürchtungen stehen die Folgen der französisch-italienischen Unterwerfung bei den Verhandlungen in Brüssel, wo es Paris nicht gelang, das deutsche Souveränitätsdiktat gegen Griechenland abzuwehren, während Rom einen solchen Versuch ernsthaft nicht unternahm. Sowohl Italien wie Frankreich müssen fürchten, die nächsten Opfer der deutschen Finanzdiktatur zu werden, und konkurrieren um die erhoffte Aufnahme in ein nordeuropäisches Kerneuropa, über dessen Teilnehmer Berlin entscheiden wird, sollte es zu dem für möglich gehaltenen Bündnisbruch kommen. Die jetzigen Ereignisse gehen auf zielgerichtete Bemühungen der deutschen Außenpolitik in den 1990er Jahren zurück und stehen in unmittelbarem Zusammenhang mit der territorialen Erweiterung der ökonomischen Basis Deutschlands durch die sogenannte Wiedervereinigung...
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/fulltext/59160
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/fulltext/59160
Siehe auch:
Warnung vor Kerneuropa (Konflikt zwischen Berlin und Washington um das EU-Diktat gegen Athen – GFP 16/7/2015)
BERLIN/WASHINGTON/ATHEN (Eigener Bericht) - Der deutsche Durchmarsch beim EU-Diktat gegen Griechenland erschüttert jetzt auch das transatlantische Verhältnis...
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/fulltext/59161 ]
Commentators of diverse political orientations speak of a revival of German hegemonic ambitions. In Italy, for example, following the negotiations in Brussels, the liberal "La Repubblica" carried the headline "Greece has its back to the wall" and noted, "the Eurogroup" is "in the hands of German hawks." Athens is confronted with "a series of dictates, one harsher then the other." "Hawks are triumphantly circling in the European skies," the article continues, "and impose an impossible ultimatum on Tsipras similar to the one Austria imposed on the Serbs, which triggered the First World War."[1] "The end of innocence has been reached, because everyone [in the EU, gfp.com] knows, without a doubt, who the real ring master is," the Italian conservative "Il Messaggero" wrote. "The real ring master is Germany." The paper continues, "Sedan is returning, when Germany trampled on France in 1870" - and later - "did not follow Bismarck's advice," not to make enemies, both in the West and the East at the same time. In fact, Germany made "enemies everywhere" after WW I, "Il Messaggero" recalled - except perhaps in northern Europe's "vassal states" or in the 1930s, temporarily Poland, "which, because of its own painful history, thought it could not act otherwise than direct its hatred toward the Russians." The commentator concluded, "the burden of history has returned and seems insurmountable."[2]
Warnings, based on historical experience, can also be heard in France. "Germany wants to smash Greece by forcing it, under threat of the Grexit, to accept a deadly plan of total submission," Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the head of the Parti de Gauche, twittered on the weekend.[3] On TV, he had already expressed himself in greater detail. “For the third time in history, the stubbornness of a German government is in the process of destroying Europe.” Of course, one cannot insinuate that today's Federal Republic of Germany is ideologically on the same level as its predecessor regime. Still Berlin displays "the same arrogance, the same blindness" as in earlier phases of its historical reign.[4]
However, the fact that Berlin had not begun only in 2015 to threaten with a further radicalization of its aggressive economic and financial policy has remained largely in the background. In fact, Current events are directly linked to German foreign policy endeavors in the 1990s and the territorial expansion of Germany's economic basis through the so-called reunification. According to a popular myth, the latter was bought by German Chancellor at the time, Helmut Kohl's consent to the introduction of the uniform EU currency - the Euro. In fact, Bonn had only consented to the common currency under the condition - as a contemporary observer of the event remembers - that "the rules governing the monetary union and the European central banking system be primarily oriented on the model of German rules and the German Federal Bank." "The Euro speaks German," declared the then German Minister of Finances, Theo Waigel in 1998.[5] Thanks to the Euro, with its specifically German patent, the Federal Republic of Germany has been able to take full advantage of its economic strength in relationship to the other countries in the Eurozone and drive many of them into a - debt inducing - excessive foreign trade deficit. In 2014, approximately 34.5 billion Euros flowed from France to Germany, and Greece was still transferring more than 3.2 billion Euros. The German austerity dictate, which ultimately insures the flow of currency into the Federal Republic of Germany, are a result of the German patent on the Euro, imposed back in the 1990s.
In the 1990s, Wolfgang Schäuble, who, today, administers the austerity dictate as German Minister of Finances, had also played a role in creating the German power base, which has permitted Berlin's consistent clean sweep. In the early 1980s, as Chair of the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), Schäuble had organized the first economic initiatives not only toward France. Theodor Veiter [6] a former Nazi specialist for border subversion was one of Schäuble's advisors as chair of the AEBR. On the reinforced basis following the collapse of Europe's socialist system and the annexation of the German Democratic Republic, Schäuble assisted in imposing the EU's eastward expansion.[7] This initiative had placed Germany at a clear advantage over France, whose traditional zone of influence, around the Mediterranean Basin and in Francophonie Africa cannot be comparably affiliated with the EU. It was also Schäuble, who, in the mid 1990s, developed the "core Europe" concept, meaning "a strong focal point" within the EU centered on Germany, which will form a tight-knit "core," that will not only hold the EU together, but actually should determine EU policy.[8] Today, part of that core is represented by the Eurogroup, which Sunday reached very sweeping decisions, on no less than the continuation of the EU in its current form. Nine EU member nations - including Great Britain, Sweden, and Poland - could not participate in these decisions. The Eurogroup core is one of the formats allowing Berlin to place its seal on this confederation.
The hopes of being able to have an impact on "Europe's" history, by being a member of the EU's "core," should there be a breach with individual or a group of Eurozone members - for example, Greece or several other southern European countries - has characterized the policies of France and Italy to the present. Both countries are economically increasingly losing ground to Germany and must - particularly in the case of Italy - fear being drawn further downward under austerity conditions - similar to those in Greece. Therefore, France's President François Hollande had announced several times previous to the Eurogroup Summit, last Sunday, that he would seek mitigations and a partial debt remission for Greece. Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had declared, "I say to Germany, enough is enough."[9] Ultimately, both had to submit to German pressure. They accomplished nothing. It is doubtful that their caving in to Berlin will shore up their long-term positions in light of the economic developments of their countries. This would also not be new in history. Hopes of avoiding German aggression had also been the motivation behind the September 1938 Munich Agreement, when Great Britain, France, and Italy, seeking to appease the German Reich, acquiesced to the latter's occupation of the "Sudeten territories."[10] It did not take long before they too were victims of German aggression.
"Il Messaggero" commented on Italy's perspective of the results. "Today, the loss of innocence was accompanied by [Italy's] horrific silence in the international arena." On the other hand, Germany "believes it can assume the reign over Europe." In reference to Berlin's global political perspective, the commentator of "Messaggero" noted that this takes place, "without or against the USA."[11]
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/fulltext/59161 ]
The Brussels Agreement
2015/07/15
The Burden of History
The Same Arrogance
Aggressive Financial Policy
Core Europe
Nothing Accomplished
Without or Against the USA
Please read also The First Defeat and Austerity or Democracy.