News / German state declare diplomatic war on Poland. [56]


It was PiS who after taking power needlessly raised the nonsensical reparation claims purely for domestic reasons without concern for the diplomatic fallout. Germany has under Merkel never done the same. It is Poland who has started a senseless (and doomed) diplomatic battle with Germany, not vice versa.

News / German state declare diplomatic war on Poland. [56]


She had been in close contact with pretty much all the countries on the Balkan route to Germany on whose insistence she decided to not close the borders. Southern Europe needed solidarity and it should have been the natural reaction of especially those Eastern European countries who are demanding solidarity at every turn to make at least a token effort to help.

If you want to know why Poland will receive next to support on any European issue in the foresseable future, it is because of its' shortsigthness.

News / German state declare diplomatic war on Poland. [56]


No it did not. Germany' foreign policy towards Poland under Merkel was always very conciliatory. The happened when PiS was first in power. It is Poland under PiS that has poisened the relationship and can no longer be counted on as reliable partner in European affairs. Germany acted as it always did. Shouldering the burden of keeping the EU together, it was Poland who stopped pretending about European solidarity and has since then destabilized the EU for domestic reasons.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

@Bratwurst Boy


I remember reading an article about retirement homes in Silesia that are trying to attract German retirees. The lower costs in Poland mean that each retiree gets attention by the staff (which speaks German) that would impossible to finance in Germany.

News / German state declare diplomatic war on Poland. [56]

If anything, it is Poland who has declared a diplomatic war( though I hate that word) against Germany since PiS came to power. It is not Germany who has changed since 2015, but Poland.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


Indeed. Each their own I guess.

@Crnogorac3

Are you serious here? You are using Nazi propaganda to describe the Americans? The same propaganda that claimed that the Americans would completely destroy Germany so that it never could be rebuild?

The truth is, American soldiers were very popular among the Germans. They were seen as the most benevelent soldiers (which is understandable, considering that the USA suffered less during the war than other countries) and they remained highly popular for the entire Cold War. In fact, the USA was idolized to a degree by most Germans, they hoped that Germany would become one day as democratic as the USA. Unfortunately if you idolize someone, it hits you especially hard when he does not live up to your expectations. Which explains the backlash against Vietnam, Bush and now Trump.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

Germany has in general strict privacy laws, a legacy of the Third Reich and the GDR (at least the GDR ist often used as a justification).

You are in general not allowed to upload any video or picture of a person without his explicite consent (there are exceptions, e.g. large crowds are acceptable).

Every country has different standards what it dems accepable. Profanity is more accepted in Germany, while depictions of violence are more accepted in the USA.


I really would not quote von Storch on anything here. She is seen as a joke even by her own party which is why she hardly visits talkshows anymore.

The incident you describe here is a perfect example when she said something stupid and tried to cover it up. The police published the greetings in German, English, French and Arab, aka as the 4 most frequently spoken languages in the city.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


No she never did. I dare you to find a direct quote of her stating that only doctors or engineers were coming.


No she did not. That is just what sites like jihadiwatch made up.

You know Dirk, just because you have a pathological liar who fights the media in the White House does not mean that you can simply make the same accusations against Merkel.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

Dirk, unlike you I have seen and heard how refugees behave in German classes. Most of them were heavily motivated, they came early and the teachers had to pry the books out of their hands in the end. The problem is however, that it is impossible to learn in a few months what others have öearned in years.


She never said anything of this. Though that explain why you keep using the term enrichement so much. Do you believe that you are sarcastically quoting Merkel?

Edit. She did use term when talking about migration in general, not refugees.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

Laziness is rarely the problem with refugees. Most of them want to get a job to get out of the refugee shelter. The problem is that they do not speak German and many of them never really received a proper education. They never learned how to learn so to speak. This is something you can not make up once you are an adult.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

The HRE hardly deserves its' bad reputation anyway. It's last century was indeed not very impressive, but judging it on that account would be like judging the Roman Empire by its' last 100 years. This doesn't reflect e.g. how it gave its' people many rights and freedoms for its# time.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

Poland or Hungary are not a disturbance. In fact it would be easier to ignorethem. The way Orban is ruining his country has the for Germany beneficial sideeffect of increasing the migration of skilled Hungarians to Germany.

However the EU takes the responsibility for the long-term well-being of the people. Ot is reassuring to know that there is a last line of defence against the destruction of democracy in Bruessels.

Just because you repeat lies do not make them true. People like Juncker are in no way "unelected". You are just repeating lies made up by people of the ill of Boris Johnson.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

I am more concerned over the fate of the Union than about Merkel. Many people in the CDU are tired of the escapades of the CSU, and if the Bavarians really do sink the coalition to back someone like Maaßen, we might indeed see a split between CDU and CSU.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

This is nothing new though. Safeguarding Israel's existence has been part of the FRG's reason of state dince its' inception and rightly so.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Which thankfully has not happened. Schulze might not have been calm about it, but he did not lower himself to their level. What he actually said had substance and served as a powerful that the modus operandi of the AfD has been seen before in the same building.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Which would probably be the biggest joke of the day. Gauland has set new post-war lows for the Reichstag and German politics and he continues to surpass himself.

It was nice to see him exposed. The SPD might have fallen grace, but in battling right-wing extremism, they might find back tl their roots.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

@johnny reb


Yeah no. Modern Europe consists now of democracies that coexist peaceful and treat each others as equals. In which even small countries can have an impact if they play thdir cards. That is certainly not how the Kaiser envisioned the future of the continent, let alone Hitler.

Germany is bound to the EU not the other way around. That was the whole point of the project. Germany is currently prospering because it has realized that having a peaceful, prosperous and friendly Europe is perfectly suited to its' strengths.


It is not Germany that is clinging to past fantasies. The only people who are stuck with them who like to narrow everything back to WWI and WWII.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

If you want to see an interrsting speech, you should have watched Schulze's speech afterwards. I am no fan of him, but the way he destroyed Gauland was a treat.

Not that Gauland made it difficult for him of course.

Sorry state of Germany all right. Crime at an all time low. Unemployment almost nonexistent. The highest numbers of tax payers in history. A budget surplus. Yep, Germany is doomed.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


Blaming Germany is easier than accepting that the democracy in Poland is perceived as under threat by the other EU member states. This is not something Germany had to push for, or could be attributed to a German initiative.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

@Ironside


It is not Germany pushing the EU here, it is the EU doing this. And the EU does have every legal justification to do so. When Poland joined the EU, it agreed to its' principles and the various treaties that are the foundation of the relationship between the EU and its' member states.

You are using cases here which you paint as similar and which are certainly not. Try stop pretending that the logging of the forest in Poland is comparable to any ecological project in the EU. Everybody who is not willfully blind knows that not simply a few trees were knocked down that were sick.

And it is certainly not in any way comparable to Nord Stream. There are risks involved yes, like any other project, but it is not like we ban other pipeline projects if they are deemed safe. And yes, Poland could be affected if there ever were an accident, but the same could happen if one the gas shipments from the USA ever had an accident on its' way to Poland. And statistically speaking, pipelines are more secure than shipments anyway.


This is blatantly false. There are cases when the EU is more lenient towards its' members but this is pretty much the rule. Bruessels tries to avoid confrontation with other countries at all cost, with Poland being a prime benefactor. The patience shown with Warsaw until now is staggering.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


Sure, which is why I support helping out other countries. But as pointed out by me, when Germany negotiated with the debtor nations this was the only time Germany had a semblencr of the influencr you describe. And even that was only because the other Northern Europeans were backing Berlin on this.


Those are completely different cases, for one, the infection was simply an excuse to go along with the logging. Moreover the EU is reviewed both cases and made a judgement, but in the case of Poland, Warsaw defied it. Germany has done no such thing, so no analogy here. And to be honest, the ecological part is not convincing in the case of Nord Stream, or else we would have to ban all pipelines.


The flaw in your logic is that Germany has not the influence you seem to believe. Germany is the EUs largest country, and has more influence than any other singly country, which is only appropiate given its' size. But Germany is one of the countries that gets outvoted in the EU Council most often, which is a better indication for its' influence than any superficial impressions.

The reason why the myth of German hegemony exists is because it is convenient for many to think that way. It is easier for journalists to narrow European politics down to Berlin, then trying to paint an accurate picture of the complex nature of European politics. British media are especially guilty of this.

It is easier for others to hide in Berlin's shadow, e.g what several smaller countries did during the Euro crisis. Finance minister Schäuble has often been painted as the hawk, but he was among his European colleagues one of the more moderates.

And finally it is easier for affected governments to pretend that they are opressed by Berlin. It is easier to say "Berlin forced them to vote against us " than "We pissed off all the other countries so no one wanted to support us".

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


Even with Nord Stream, Russian gas will only amount to a fraction of Germany's energy supply, let alone the EUs. So your theory does not hold much water here.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

@Lyzko


I fon't know the details regarding the UN, but the Basic Law was drafted 1948/49, and the UN exists sice 1945. The constitution initially included a ban on foreign missions, except UN missions, but that was amended after German reunification.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

Well, looks like the discussion is purely theoretical anyway. The law experts of the government have today concluded that any air strikes without UN Mandate would violate international law, so according to the German constitution Germany won't be able to participate in the first place.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

To be honest, none of the other countries really matter except the USA. Even France and the UK are only able to commit a fraction of the US' air strikes.

I guess the USA simply wants other countries' support to get legitimacy, but I doubt this will work out in Germany's case. It is simply not worth the effort, considering what Germany can actually bring to the table.

News / Poland's Future in the EU under PIS [51]

Poland is already closely connected to the European economy and depends heavily on border-free travel. Just consider the size of the Polish truck delivery industry.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Makes you wonder just what the American's goal is. Trump supposedly wanted to assassinate Assad, does he now want the support of other Nato partners for an heavier involvement? Because if it is just about punishing Assad for the use of chemical weapons, it would make little sense to ask the Germans for support. It is not like our Luftwaffe can make a substantial difference here.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

Let us just hope that Assad conquers Idlib without resorting to chemical weapons. He should be able take the province with conventional means, though then again this has not stopped him before.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

@cms neuf


This happens to way too many great players, Zidan, Buffon (though it was "only" his last CL game).

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

It is about time that Germany gets a tob job in the EU again. The last Commission president from Germany was 50 years ago, and we never had a German ECB president so far.