Austerity or Democracy

ATHENS/BERLIN (Own report) – At Berlin’s insistence, Greece will not receive debt relief and will be forced to submit – contrary to the Greek population’s “No” last Sunday – to Germany’s austerity dictate, or exit the Eurozone. This is what the Eurogroup decided at its summit yesterday evening. Debt relief, as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls had been still considering yesterday afternoon, is out of the question, announced German Chancellor Angela Merkel following the meeting in Brussels. Athens will also have to present detailed austerity proposals by Thursday. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker explicitly declared, “if the Greek government is not doing what we expect” a “Grexit” will be initiated. According to insiders, cash will be available at Greek banks only for another two days. By withholding ECB emergency funding, Greece can be driven into collapse, at any time. Just prior to the summit, leading economists signed an appeal to Chancellor Merkel, asking her to stop the “never-ending austerity” – to no avail. In the meantime, even Washington has intervened in the debate. A special EU summit, convened for Sunday, will take the final decision on Greece’s future.

The West under Pressure

Give it time. Something has to fill the void for NATO which is showing no spine or competence. Germany, the powerhouse of Europe, and its upcoming Fourth Reich won’t sit idly and wait for Russia and China to rise and run the planet after America’s suicidal downfall. The European Army (see also HERE) is coming and an upcoming United States of Europe in the making will be the economic and political backbone.

BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Own report) – Transatlantic circles are warning against a global “disengagement” by the West and is calling for a renewed cohesiveness between NATO countries under US leadership. The fact that Russia was able to take over the Crimea and that China can obstinately maintain its position in disputes over several islands and groups of islands in Eastern Asia, is also a consequence of weak Western leadership, according to the “German Marshall Fund of the United States” (GMF). The West must draw lessons from the current “global disorder.” However, German experts demonstrate a bit more restraint in their appraisals. According to the latest edition of a German military journal, the current intra-Western tensions have primarily arisen from the fact that in the course of its development the EU has “inevitably become a competitor to NATO.” It cannot be excluded that this could cause a serious “rupture in transatlantic relations” and that NATO could even disintegrate into conflicts. However, as long as the EU does not have strong military power, it should “grit its teeth and continue to flexibly attempt to benefit from US capabilities.” This must also be seen in the context of the fact that western hegemony no longer seems assured. Moscow has announced its intentions to carry out joint maneuvers with China in the Mediterranean, thus breaching another western hegemonic privilege.