Cyprus was just for starters – Ireland could provide the main course

Union rejection of €1bn in spending cuts means the Irish government find itself forced to slash public sector pay by 7%

Cyprus was just an hors d’oeuvre. Portugal is readying itself for a convulsive moment when the government attempts to bypass a constitutional court ruling that bans many of its most caustic austerity measures. The situation worsens daily in Greece. And then there is Ireland.

Gerald Warner: Cyprus caught in proxy war between old enemies

When Angela Merkel – to cut out the middlemen – feels entitled to arrest the bank accounts of individuals and institutions in another country and help herself to 10 per cent of their deposits, then the rule of law has become a folk memory in German-occupied Europe. Is this what was meant by negative interest rates? The sheer irresponsibility of risking a bank run, not just in Cyprus but ­potentially in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and everywhere else the dominoes might ­topple, betrays the stupidity of those ­shoring-up the deluded euro project.

Cyprus—the Russian Angle

Creating a foundation to project power through the Mediterranean and into the Middle East by wrestling Cyprus out of Russian hands is the goal.

Sometimes a non-mainstream observer of the world scene comes up with real food for thought. Such was the case this week when British blogger Alexander Boot reflected on the actions of Russia and Germany in regard to the Cyprus situation.

Boot asks an obvious question, “The question is why the ECB and IMF, which is to say Germany, made this raid a precondition for the bailout of Cyprus? After all, they were more lenient when bailing out Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. Why single out Cyprus for rough treatment?” (March 19).

Attending to his own question, Boot retorts, “The answer is obvious: Cyprus is a floating refuge and laundromat for dirty Russian money.”

The great Portuguese sell-off

First Greece was subjugated and forced to yield (still is) national sovereignty, now comes Portugal. One country at a time, the European continent is being captured via economic warfare. Be it the Troika  or the EU itself, all roads lead back to Europe’s powerhouse, Berlin, and it’s Fourth Reich making the capture. With the Vatican undergoing a leadership transition and possible candidate elected this St. Patrick’s Day, we could likely soon see the revived Holy Roman Empire.

Little by little, the Portuguese state is going down in defeat. In April 2011, when the country got a loan of €78bn from the troika (EC, ECB and IMF) to avoid bankruptcy, it committed itself to privatisation. But under the leadership of Passos Coelho, a model student of the fiscal discipline demanded by the troika, the sell-off of the “crown jewels” – what’s left of them, that is – has sped up.

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Losing control of their destiny

For the 80,000 or so inhabitants of Viana, like for the rest of the country, the powerful wave of privatisation is causing a lot of worry. “Some of these state enterprises are gems, others are junk buckets, but they’re all strategic assets. And we’re losing them forever,” worries Bernardo S Barbosa, head of the local weekly Aurora do Lima. The Socialist mayor, José Maria Costa, shares a growing national concern: the feeling that the country is losing its sovereignty. In a vast room at City Hall, this engineer by training reacts very angrily to the policy of the executive: “By taking away our public assets, which are so vital, to the benefit of foreign companies, and private interests at that, we’re losing control of our own destiny. I even fear that in the end it will affect our freedom and democracy.”

Red Flag Over the Atlantic

China is angling to take over a U.S. airbase in the Azores.

On June 27, a plane carrying Wen Jiabao made a “technical” stop on the island of Terceira, in the Azores. Following an official greeting by Alamo Meneses, the regional secretary of environment of the sea, the Chinese premier spent four hours touring the remote Portuguese outpost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Wen’s Terceira walkabout, which followed a four-nation visit to South America, largely escaped notice at the time, but alarm bells should have immediately gone off in Washington and in European capitals. For one thing, Wen’s last official stop on the trip was Santiago, the capital of Chile. Flights from Chile to China normally cross the Pacific, not the Atlantic, so there was no reason for his plane to be near the Azores. Moreover, those who visit the Azores generally favor other islands in the out-of-the-way chain.

Swiss army prepares for euro unrest

It’s been said this took years to organize… which means they’ve known for quite some time the situation in the Europe is coming to this. Switzerland is one of the most peaceful nations on the planet and hasn’t been invaded in over 500 years. For this country to activate their military and standby for riots or war on the European continent goes to show you how bad things are, and how much worse they just might become.

BRUSSELS – The Swiss army is preparing for possible internal civil unrest as well as waves of refugees from euro-countries as the economic crisis drags on.

Switzerland, a non-EU, non-euro country landlocked between eurozone states, last month launched a military exercise to test its preparedness to deal with refugees and civil unrest.

Report: 10 EU Nations Call for Economic and Political Union, and a European Army

Pages five and six of the report (PDF file) detail the European Army.

In order to solve the euro crisis and survive in the modern world, European Union nations need to give up more powers, forge a political union and create new institutions like a European Army, 10 EU foreign ministers said in a report presented to EU officials on June 19.

Several of the finance ministers also called for the creation of what has been termed a “super-president” as a single figurehead for the union.

Sometimes called the “Berlin Group” or “Berlin Club,” the group began meeting at the suggestion of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to reinvigorate European integration.

“We take the current crisis to be a wake-up call,” its interim report said. “Time for far-reaching reforms is short …. What we are ultimately talking about is making the European Union and the euro irreversible.”

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But the recommendations go beyond the current crisis. “New political and economic global players are gaining more influence,” said the report. “In dealing with these new powerhouses, we Europeans will only be able to uphold our values and pursue our interests effectively if we pool our strengths much more, both internally and in dealings with the outside world.”

In the long term, this means a “European Defense Policy,” which could include a “European Army” for some nations, the report said. When it comes to defense policy, “most foreign ministers feel that we should be more ambitious,” says the report.

In the shorter term, the European External Action Service (eeas)—the EU’s diplomatic, intelligence and military unit—must “be strengthened more.” The EU also needs “a more dynamic Common Security and Defense Policy, stronger eeas planning and command capabilities for civil-military operations, more pooling and sharing.”

The report also says, “We should also aim for a common seat in international organizations,” presumably referring to the EU’s longstanding goal of gaining a seat on the UN Security Council.

The group plans to continue meeting, focusing especially on how to make Europe “a global player.”

The 10 foreign ministers endorsing the report are from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain. French representatives also attended some of the meetings.

Full article: Report: 10 EU Nations Call for Economic and Political Union, and a European Army (The Trumpet)

10 countries for a United States of Europe

As Biblically phrophecied (Revelation 13:1,2; Daniel 7:24) and as mentioned here several times , ten nations [a mix of strong and weak (iron mixed with clay); Daniel 9:41-43] look to be forming in Europe, in a resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. Whether it’s the mentioned nations or whether it’s happening now, only time will tell. Here’s the full article:

Ten EU foreign ministers participating in a “study group for the future of Europe” aim to exert pressure to transform the EU into a federation along the lines of the US. Together they have prepared what the front-page headline in Die Presse describes as a “Plan for transformation into a European state.” On 19 June, the ten ministers* presented an initial report to the EU officials who will likely benefit the most from the initiative: Commission President José Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker.

The “study group for the future” initiated by Germany’s Guido Westerwelle, which does not currently include an official French representative, proposes to put an end to the dominance of national government leaders and give greater authority to the European Commission – in particular the European Commission president, who will be elected by universal suffrage and granted the right to form a “governmental team”, making him or her the most powerful politician in Europe.

The group also recommends replacing European councils of ministers and heads of state with a chamber “of states” in the European parliament. National competencies, most notably the management of borders, defence and public spending will be transferred to the federation, “making membership of the euro irreversible.”

Die Presse argues that it is not surprising to see diplomats from countries which have lost all of their influence since the Treaty of Nice, signed in 2001, and even more so since the outbreak of the crisis, make a bid to play a more important role. However, the daily concludes –

A clearly defined democratic system resembling a state would probably not be in accord with the mood of several sections of the population. But everyone who wants to safeguard the euro, the single market and political stability, while preventing a widening wealth gap between the North and the South and a reinforcement of nationalist trends will ultimately accept that it is the best way forward.

* Foreign ministers from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

Full article: 10 countries for a United States of Europe (presseurop)

Europe’s debtors must pawn their gold for Eurobond Redemption

The consolidation of power continues flowing back towards Germany as sovereign EU nations become indebted into slavery through economic extortion and subjugation. At this point, it’s hard not to say the Fourth Reich and the Holy Roman Empire are returning as even the German-Vatican connection is growing closer once again. Also see a previous post “Europe to Seize Greece’s Gold” for further information.

The German scheme — known as the European Redemption Pact — offers a form of “Eurobonds Lite” that can be squared with the German constitution and breaks the political logjam. It is a highly creative way out of the debt crisis, but is not a soft option for Italy, Spain, Portugal, and other states in trouble

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In effect, Germany would share its credit card to slash debt costs for Italy, Spain and others. Yet it is the exact opposition of fiscal union. While eurobonds are a federalising catalyst, the fund would be temporary and self-extinguishing. “The fund is a return to the discipline of Maastricht with sovereign control over budgets,” said Dr Benjamin Weigert, the Council of Experts’s general-secretary.

The ingenious design gets around the German constitutional court, which ruled in September that the budgetary powers of the Bundestag cannot be alienated to any EU body under the Basic Law — the founding text of Germany’s vibrant post-War democracy.

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Germany would have a lockhold over the fund, able to enforce discipline. Each state would have to pledge 20pc of their debt as collateral. “The assets could be taken from the country’s currency and gold reserves. The collateral nominated would only be used in the event that a country does not meet its payment obligations,” said the proposal.

Full article: Europe’s debtors must pawn their gold for Eurobond Redemption (The Telegraph)

Germany Hasn’t Given Up on a United States of Europe

Led by Berlin, a select group of 10 states has formed to ‘revive the ideal of a united Europe.’

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Created and led by Germany, the “Berlin Club” met for the first time on March 20 in Berlin. There’s a lot we haven’t been told about Europe’s latest club of elitists. What we do know is that it’s the brainchild of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, that it is comprised of Europe’s most pro-unification states, and that it exists to reinvigorate the unification of Europe.

Germany is joined in the club by Poland, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Luxemburg, Spain, Denmark and France. The select group is scheduled to meet at least four more times to discuss proposals for closer integration, and plans to publish its conclusions in a final report. The club’s agenda is long, and includes discussions about European security and border control, fiscal and economic government, and ways to stabilize growth.

Yesterday, Presseurop translated an article from the Spanish abc newspaper reporting that “10 countries have formed the ‘Berlin Club’ to revive the European project.” According to the abc article, Berlin’s goal is to “create a kind of ‘club’ committed to developing formulas that, in these times of crisis, will revive the ideal of a united Europe” (emphasis added throughout). Since Europe’s financial crisis began in 2008, the EU has been hit with one crisis after another, with each being reported by many as another nail in the coffin of a United States of Europe.

Full article: Germany Hasn’t Given Up on a United States of Europe (The Trumpet)

Moody’s Cuts Europe Sovereigns Including Italy, Spain

Moody’s Investors Service cut the debt ratings of six European countries including Italy, Spain and Portugal and revised its outlook on the U.K.’s and France’s top Aaa ratings to “negative,” citing Europe’s debt crisis.

Spain was downgraded to A3 from A1 with a negative outlook, Italy was downgraded to A3 from A2 with a negative outlook and Portugal was downgraded to Ba3 from Ba2 with a negative outlook, Moody’s said. It also reduced the ratings of Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta.

Full article: Moody’s Cuts Europe Sovereigns Including Italy, Spain (Bloomberg)