News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


Poland is not allowed to build their own missiles and nuclear powered submarines? Sources, please.


You're right. Germany prefers to focus more on economic and social matters rather than spending their hard earned cash on even more useless weapons. If ever, the next large scale war in Europe would be fought with nukes anyway, so why waste your dough on fancy panzers and fighter jets? The ones who really care about limiting German military power are not so much the German themselves (although they do, too), but their neighbors. Why do you think they insisted on a limiting troop levels to 370,000 in the Two Plus Four Agreement?


Flowing in where? The 2% GDP is what the NATO members agreed on spending on their own military by 2024. No NATO member owes the USA anything financially.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


The eastern enlargement of the EU was not so much about Europe, but about NATO expansion. Blair and his masters in the US were the ones who were really pushing for it. France and Germany only supported that decision.


Anybody forcing the Polish people to buy German products? Buy Chinese if you have a problem. :)

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


Those subs are powered by diesel-electric engines, not nuclear reactors.


There's nothing to enforce, because the 2% are only a voluntary goal. "Sham" because 1) Trump doesn't understand that most nations in Europe do not want Germany's military to be one of the world's largest (for obvious reasons), and 2) if you "demand" that Germany spends 2% of its GDP on useless weapons, then at least free the country from any 70+ year old shackles. Of course, none of the complainers that insist that Germany fulfills its "obligations" want to go down that route. Ask Polish politicians if they would be comfortable.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


The former WW2 allies are (in a way) still in control of the German military, as far as I know. Germany is not allowed to develop their own nuclear subs or long range missiles for example, and troop numbers are limited to 370,000 by the Two Plus Four Agreement. Another reason why Trump's demands to increase military spending in NATO countries is such a sham.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


You fail to understand that Germany restrains itself deliberately when it comes to military power. Their neighbors in the west as well as in the east very much appreciate that, I guarantee you, and it's a large part of what is called reconciliation in Europe. It's not only Poland that needed (or still needs) time to move on. If the Germans really wanted, they would be a nuclear power within half a year. Good that they voluntarily decided not to.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


I can hear Kaczyński, PiS and the Daily Mail already screaming that the Fourth Reich is near once the Germans will up their military spending to 3% of GDP. What do you guys want? A peaceful neighbor or the combination of economic and military powerhouse of the past?

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


Google "Resolute Response Mission" for a start...

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


I don't ignore history, Kaprys, I simply try not to use it as an excuse/ explanation for everything all the time.


No worries. I'm just a rude and crude Australian-American... ;)

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


I questioned your argument that the former German territory cannot be counted as war reparations because the lands in question were Polish hundreds of years ago.


Depends on how "someone" behaves...

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

As I tried to indicate earlier already: this whole issue is far more complicated than it looks at first glance. I do not believe that the Polish calls for war reparations is particularly helpful some 75 years after the fact and after having missed several opportunities to voice this demand. All it does is to create some bad blood and there is a real risk in my opinion that all the positive changes in the Polish-German relations that took decades to achieve will be wiped out if this continues. Just imagine PiS in power on one side of the border, and the AfD becoming the strongest party on the other. Nightmare scenario.


Yes, because they were the legal owners before WW2. International law didn't exist before the partitions for example.


If you are interested in a civil discussion, I would suggest you stop your childish insult attempts. Otherwise FO. Thanks for your cooperation.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


How long ago was that once again? You can't seriously argue that certain areas were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and then claim that these lands were and will always be Polish. Who owned these lands before Poles, Teutonic Knights, Prussians, Russians, Austrians and Germans showed up? Territory in Europe changed hands countless times over the millennia, so who owns what and why?


Huh?

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]



How much worth is the land that Poland annexed with the help of Stalin? How much worth are the hundreds of thousands of lives of the former inhabitants that got killed when the Russians and Poles deported them by force? Should we create a profit/ loss statement to see who owns whom how much? Get my drift? This whole discussion is getting us nowhere.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


Not going to fly. From whom did the Poles take these lands many centuries ago? Want to pay war reparations to Neanderthals? See what I'm saying?


Running out of arguments again, Mr. Ironside? No matter how hard you try to bend the truth and rewrite history, the territories east of the Oder-Neisse line were legally German before WW2. Why isn't Poland suing Russia for war reparations when it's supposedly only about "making things right"? They attacked Poland together with the Germans, and they took your land in the east.

PiS are stirring shi*t again as usual, that's all there is to it.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


Then they should talk to the Lithuanians, Ukrainians and Russians about reparations.


Certainly not war reparations.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

Did Israel receive German territory after WW2?


It's not about war reparations. The Polish government tries to get back at Brussels for the treatment they received lately. More like Trump tactics.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]


Absolutely right. They had their chance several times.


Poland received compensation for slave workers in 2006, as far as I remember.


It was flourishing and still is, but the current Polish government and especially the Kaczyński clown behind it are doing everything in their power to destroy it. How about Poland returns all former German lands to Germany first and then starts negotiating with Germany, Russia and Ukraine about money and territory? Not a good idea? This whole thing about war reparations is a can of worms, no matter how you look at it.


Wonder why... . Wasn't there something like a BREXIT? :)

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


So what? The moment Poland turns out to be bad for business, they'll leave. Or as Dirt Diggler (you really need a new nick, dude...) put it: The bottom line and stock prices for publicly traded corps are what matters. You never really understood capitalism, G(undercover), did you?


I couldn't care less, believe me. Your country, your future. Voters will always get the politicians they deserve.


Leaving is probably a good idea, but what makes you think they will give you access afterwards? Does Poland have the cash to pay?

Food / Mushroom picking (and eating:) in Poland [36]

Honey mushrooms? Kiss your trees goodbye.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Because they got a job offer in Poland?

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Yes, I said that already in one of my previous posts. Lower wages plus direct access to the EU market are what draws foreign corporations to Poland. Now let Poland do something stupid like the Brits did with BREXIT, and there goes your economy. That's why I believe that the country's negative "attitude" towards the EU is somewhat counterproductive and more like playing with the fire.


Yeah, sorry. I read "GDP" for whatever reason.


Or it actually measured the attitude of Poles towards Muslims, who knows? That's why I used the Turkish German and Algerian French as examples.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


In the Schengen Area, you will not prevent a Turkish German or a French Algerian to move his large Muslim family to Poland. You can make their lives miserable, but that's about it.


Comparatively low wages is only one factor. Easy access to the EU is clearly the main driving force behind foreign investment in Poland. Manufacturing for the local market is still of secondary importance in my opinion.


How much of that is due to foreign investment? At some point in time Poland might have the same problems the Brits will face after BREXIT.

UK, Ireland / Are you able to hear the different English accents? [97]


Like you, I don't believe that's really true. In my opinion it all depends on how much you are immersed in a foreign culture and how much you are willing to adapt. I know some Europeans for example (not Brits or Irish!) who lived in Australia for a year and picked up the accent so well that you couldn't tell whether they were locals or not in the end. They were only successful though because they didn't have the chance to speak their own native language.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

The only reasons why international firms invest in Poland are a highly educated, yet cheap workforce and easy access to the EU market. Change one of these parameters (i.e., increase wages significantly, take a strong anti-EU stance, rely too much on service industries) and the situation will change rather quickly. Poland wouldn't be the first country that gets burned this way.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


You don't seem to understand how interdependent economies are these days. If large foreign investors come to the conclusion that it is a risk to do business in Poland, the country is toast. With what would you replace these lost jobs? Apple picking?

Genealogy / Kameczura surname - any Polish people related? [30]

If you have the birth and/or marriage dates of your great grandparents, then that's something to work with. There are certainly many documents which have survived the war. You have to contact Polish state archives and dig through some of their web sites to find the information you're looking for.

szukajwarchiwach.pl/search?q=Kraków%20XTYPEro%3Apra

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]


He claims to be an American who is fluent in German, and he dreams of moving to an ultra right wing location in Poland with "little to no third-world immigrants" because Polish waitresses are really nice and the air conditioning is better than in Germany. Sounds like a plan... :)

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]


How would you label the NSDAP then? Fluffy?

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]


What do you consider "democratic" then? A system that allows Nazis to take over the country? Take a history book and read what happened in 1933. And by the way: do you know who actually installed that political system in (West) Germany after WW2? Look it up and then tell me if that particular country (which has only two main parties taking turns in ruling the nation for over 200 years now) is anti-democratic, too.


Again: do you understand European history? Ask some Polish people if they would be comfortable with an ultra right wing party ruling Germany...

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]


I guarantee you - the OP is not a European. He sounds like someone from the Indian subcontinent. Or he's simply a troll... :)

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]


I'm more than happy that the OP made some positive memories in Poland, don't get me wrong. I'm just wondering what you would say if the OP had his head kicked in by the first Pole he met and as a result would claim that all Poles are violent thugs?


Maybe he's a tourist who just arrived in Frankfurt, Hungary, who knows? :)