Official Government Vocative

BERLIN/KIEV (Own report) – A prominent German jurist has sharply criticized the German government’s anti-Russian declarations concerning the Crimea Crisis. As Reinhard Merkel, a law professor at the University of Hamburg, explains, the allegation of Russia having “annexed” the Crimea or having made a “land grab” must be unambiguously refuted. These allegations are not only false, from the standpoint of international law; they are also extremely dangerous, because annexation usually engenders war as a response. Merkel explicitly advocates being very skeptical of “official government vocatives insisted on from Berlin to Washington” concerning the Crimea Crisis. Simultaneously, the situation in Ukraine has further escalated. The government that illegally seized power has begun a “lustration” (“purge”), with the objective of removing all supporters of the party of the overthrown President Yanukovych from public office. This is said to affect “thousands.” At the same time, Ukrainian oligarchs, against whose methods of reign the earlier Maidan demonstrations had been protesting, are being given new posts. The ex-boxer Vitaly Klitschko’s, “Made in Germany,” UDAR party has chosen a billionaire as its presidential candidate, rather than its hopeless leader. Fascist forces are positioning themselves to move against the increasingly marginalized pro-Russian segments of the population. The Berlin-supported Maidan opposition had effectively used the fascists’ potential for violence to overthrow Yanukovych.

Integration Rivalry with Moscow

KIEV/BERLIN (Own report) – Because the German government-backed attempt to overthrow the government in Kiev has not taken place, foreign policy experts in Berlin are now discussing cautious changes of course in Germany’s policy toward the Ukraine. Retrospective analyses are now admitting that, had the Ukraine signed the EU Association Agreement, serious economic and social damage would have been inflicted on that country. The foreign policy establishment continues to assert that Berlin should bring the Ukraine into its sphere of hegemonic influence. This therefore places Berlin in an “integration rivalry with Moscow.” To integrate the Ukraine, new proposals call for either bypassing elite circles by fostering contacts to “civil society” or by compelling integration with targeted economic interventions. In any case, the rightwing extremist Svoboda Party has been able to enhance its position within the protest movement during the recent demonstrations. It could benefit from the cooperation also with German diplomats during the agitation against the current Ukrainian government.

Neo-Nazis Now Third Most Popular Party in Greece

The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party is now the third most popular party in Greece, according to a survey by Pulse RC published in To Podikiweekly September 6. Golden Dawn has the support of 10.5 percent of the population.

The New Democracy party is in first place, with support from 25 percent of those polled, followed by the radical left-wing Syriza. pasok, which used to be a major party, received the support of only 8 percent.

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The situation in Greece is a shocking example of how quickly and radically a nation can change once its economy falls apart. Just three years ago, this level of support for Golden Dawn would have been unthinkable.

All immigrants in Greece are not innocent victims. One Greek reporter described an “escalating crime wave,” with “daily accounts in the Greek press of illegal immigrants robbing, raping and attacking Greeks” appearing in the Greek press.

This is the kind of breakdown in society that happens when economies collapse. Crime increases, and the once trendy multiculturalism is swiftly rejected as many struggle against poverty.

Continue to watch Greece. As economies around the world fail, other nations will come under the same pressure. Greece is a preview of the political change that will soon sweep Europe.

Full article: Neo-Nazis Now Third Most Popular Party in Greece (The Trumpet)