Apocalyptic Hope .................................. EU Index

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ASHCHENAZ --- The Heart of Europe
"Old Sovereign Europe"
Germany and France


The Reichstag
w.laptopdance.org/Berlin-Paris.htm

"Call together....Ararat, Minni, Ashchenaz"
Jeremiah 51:27

GERMANY : mid-trib called "GOMER" ; end-trib called "ASHKENAZ" (Germany and France ? )
EU ( rotational ) presidency... Jan 2007 -- July 1, 2007 www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/egov.html

German news :
Der Spiegel http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,archiv,00.html
http://www.germany-info.org/relaunch/index.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,266,00.html
CIA fact book on Germany: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gm.html
_________________________________________________________

From the Newswire; educational fair use

Chinese-owned airpost in East Germany -- Sept. 29, 2007
Parchim International Airport, the first European airport to have a Chinese owner has been inaugurated in eastern Germany.
Chinese businessman Jonathan Pang, head of LinkGlobal Logistics, paid 30 million euros for the former Soviet base in the state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern last May
Pang promises to invest an additional 70 million euros in developing the site to accomodate companies producing
1. logistical equipment,
2. Chinese textiles factories,
3. and industrial concerns
Initially, three cargo flights per week will link Parchim with Zhenzouh in China's most populated province Henan.
However, Pang's spokesperson says this could rise to thirty flights per day
http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=eco&article=444742&lng=1

German mediator on Kosovo -- July 30, 2007
The EU has appointed German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger to help mediate in a new round of talks between Serbian and Kosovan leaders over the future status of Kosovo.
Mr Ischinger, 61, is a former German deputy foreign minister and is currently serving as Berlin's ambassador to the UK. He secured a reputation for being an expert on the Balkans after his role in brokering the 1995 Dayton Accord that ended the war in Bosnia.
http://euobserver.com/9/24545/?rk=1

Something Bad is Happening in Germany -- June 26, 2007
[ Polish ] prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski issued a warning to Europe.
"Something bad is happening in Germany. As in historic days gone by when most Europeans were too afraid to talk, so it is today," he said on Tuesday's (26 June, 2007 ) "Sygnaly Dnia" national radio show.
Speaking to the German authorities as the prime minister of Poland - I warn you not tolerate these kinds of things...This will lead to the worst, to misfortunes, which could hurt Europe but which would also hurt Germany
But Polish-German tensions have been growing since the Kaczynski twins came to power in 2005, exploiting popular fears that Germany is using the EU to dominate Europe, seeking war reparations of its own and erasing WWII facts

Germany: "the edge of the night that is coming"-- May 18, 2007
The philosophy that the government knows best how to raise children is really becoming a worldwide phenomenon," Farris said. "I think Germany represents the edge of the night that's coming."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55730

While Berlin excludes Christianity, they embrace Scientology -- March 29, 2007
Scientology is mounting an offensive on Europe's capitals and major cities. "National offices" already exist in Madrid, London and Brussels, and the opening of new branches was discussed at an "expansion summit" last year. "If we are to implement our planetary campaigns for salvation, then we have to reach the top levels of the German government in Berlin," a Scientology document states, adding that the Berlin headquarters is responsible for "building the necessary in-roads to the German parliament, in order to ensure that our solutions are genuinely introduced to the whole of German society."

Johannes Schmalzl, the director of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
"This is a dangerous group that uses psychological manipulation and has an anti-democratic self-image, a group that wants to break the will of each of its members," he cautions. "That's why we have to take massive counter-action."

Meanwhile, Scientologists continue practicing their cult with its rituals and dubious "salvation levels," from the so-called "pre-Clear" to the "Operating Thetan Level Eight." This is evident not only from their constant activities to advertize their notorious "personality test." Visitors of the new Berlin headquarters are also presented with an exhibition on the organization's international activities, which offers an introduction to its many "social programs." Many of these programs are hardly recognizable as activities organized by Hubbard's followers.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,473896,00.html

Berlin Document : Take Christianity out of the EU -- March 24, 2007
- The Berlin Declaration-- a statement that will be released on March 25 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rome treaty that formed the basis for the European Union-- will not mention the Christian heritage of the European community, the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reports.
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=50044
Posted by: placidus - Mar. 22, 2007 8:04 PM ET USA
"In 1920 Hilaire Belloc stated that the history of European civilization is the history of an institution that we call The Roman Empire; that institution decayed, but it did not die. It was saved and informed by the Catholic Church. That was the thesis of his book "Europe and the Faith". The same thesis was revived by
Thomas E. Woods, Jr., in his book "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization", Regnery Publishing 2005.
The EU may ignore the lessons of History at its own peril, and die."

5 children from Brause family to be taken by the German state -- March 22, 2007
Ruling gives State permission to take children ... Fines $4,000.00 ... forced psychiatric tests
"The newest ruling comes from a court in Saxony and affects five members of the Brause family, according to officials with
the International Human Rights Group
The decision, according to the IHRG, said the well-being of the children "can only be achieved by their attendance in the public schools."
"Our efforts must be bathed in prayer, so we ask you to
please continue praying for Melissa and the Busekros family, as well as the Brauses.
No parent should have to watch their children being forcibly removed from their home because of their religious beliefs," the group said.

The removal order in Melissa's case has been affirmed at the appellate level, where a judge also ordered her parents, Hubert and Gudrun Busekros, to be given state-sponsored psychiatric tests, raising fears that the results of those tests will be used by the government to remove the family's other five children
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54817

German children cannot be educated at home but CAN be educated by Scientologists
The German government's official Web site states that it considers the Scientology organization a commercial enterprise "with a history of taking advantage of vulnerable individuals and an extreme dislike of any criticism."
In the future, parents and teachers should carefully examine who is hiding behind these kinds of education offers. Whoever lets their kids get into the clutches of Scientologists , it warned, risks them acquiring a "machine-like attitude."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,422970,00.html

Busekros parents told to give up their other remaining children to the German State
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54425

Melissa Busekros --victim of Police State in Germany
German swat team kidnaps girl from home; mandated to a psycho-ward; no visitation for a month.
Parents finally allowed to visit 1 day a week at undisclosed location -- February 2007
An international human rights group has announced that Melissa Busekros, the 15-year-old German homeschool student taken by a SWAT team from her home and ordered into a psychiatric ward by a judge, for the first time in nearly a month will be able to meet with her parents

They warned that "what is happening in Germany today may be knocking on our door tomorrow." The group is tracking the circumstances of about 40 families in Germany with court cases in various stages
Thornton told WND in a telephone interview from Germany that he is working with the family and their counsel in an attempt to resolve the abduction of the girl by a SWAT team of 15 officers from in front of her shocked family.[ Ed: actually 20 officers, see below]
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54377

State kidnaps child from home; wherabouts unknown -- Feb. 13, 2007
The German organization said the situation confirms its worst fears: That "Germany blatantly spurns parental and human rights and cannot be regarded any longer as a free country. It is running more and more to tyranny and dictatorship."
WND reported more than a week ago that German authorities had assembled a team of about 20 police officers and other officials to take the teen from in front of her shocked family.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54223

Gerhard Schroeder a Gazprom employee -- Feb. 7, 2007 --Baltic Sea Gas pipeline
"I have no problem in taking part in a project that helps the security of supply of all of Europe," the chairman of Gazprom subsidiary Nord Stream
[ Gerhard Schroeder ] - which is developing the project - said
....plans to seek European Investment Bank funding to help meet the costs of the €12 billion scheme.
"The 1,200km pipe, from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald in Germany, will carry 55 billion cubic metres of gas a year - over 10 percent of EU consumption at present levels
Mr Schroeder on Wednesday pushed the Russian line that recent supply shocks with Belarus and Ukraine - which damaged Russia's reputation as a reliable supplier in the EU - are "purely economic" and had no political dimension,
http://euobserver.com/9/23448

Putin at home on German Platform -- Feb. 11, 2007 --Munich
National Security Council / Munich Security Conference
" Mr Putin accused the US of attempting to create a world in which it was free to ignore international law and impose its will."
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/us-militarism-destabilising-the-world-putin/2007/02/11/1171128813604.html

German parliament overshadowed by EU -- Jan. 15, 2007
By far the biggest part of the current laws in Germany are agreed by the council of ministers [member states representation in Brussels] and not the German parliament," Mr[ Roman ] Herzog wrote in a paper with Lüder Gerken, director of the Freiburg-based Centre for European Policy.
"And each regulation that the German government adopts in the council of ministers, has to be transplanted by the Bundestag [parliament] into German law."
http://euobserver.com/9/23250

German search engine : Theseus -- Jan. 5, 2007
On Tuesday (2 January) the German economics ministry confirmed remarks in late December that the country was leaving Quaero to focus on a smaller, domestic research effort called Theseus.
"We will still see cooperation, but in another form, such as work groups," Hendrik Luchtmeier, a spokesman for Germany's economics ministry had said back in December
Theseus is named after a legendary Greek hero who found his way out of a labyrinth inhabited by a monster - the Minotaur
The split highlights the difficulty of managing cross-border projects in the EU,
http://euobserver.com/9/23189/?rk=1

Merkel's watch: No Home Schooling for Christians -- Dec. 14, 2006
" [ Brigette] Zypries has no religious affiliation and was the only member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet who did not use the affirmation “So help me God” when she was sworn in
In most of the 16 German federal states school curricula include religious instruction. The subject is taught at public schools in partnership with the churches separately for Catholics and Protestants
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06120069.htm
WND reported earlier that the European Human Rights Court had affirmed the German nation's Nazi-era ban on homeschooling, concluding that society has a significant interest in preventing the development of dissent through "separate philosophical convictions
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53381

Germany wants to negotiate also with Syria and Iran over Iraq-- Dec 7, 2006
Pointing to the Iraq Study Group report, submitted to the US Senate Wednesday evening, which advocates direct negotiations between the US and Iran and Syria, Voigt stressed that such a dialogue was urgently needed.
The United States and other major countries, among them Germany, should form an international support group to engage Iran and Syria in talks to resolve the crisis in Iraq, said the Iraq Study Group, headed by former US secretary of state James Baker II. http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0612072445130445.htm

German Bible : Politically correct -- Nov. 13, 2006 ,,Frankfurt
A group of 52 biblical “specialists” have released a new version of the Bible in which inclusive language and “political correctness” have replaced some “divisive” teachings of Christianity in order to present a “more just language” for groups such as feminists and homosexuals.
According to the AFP news agency, the new version of the Sacred Scriptures was presented at a book fair in Frankfurt. Entitled,
The Bible in a More Just Language,
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=47556

NEW Germany under Merkel watch :
German military ( army troops ) : International Intervention Force ( Offensive and Global ) -- Oct. 25, 2006
Will they patrol Americans ?
Please note that there is * no mention of UN forces * . Just an independent force. ( Bundeswehr )
The paper, which will be endorsed at a special cabinet meeting in the defence ministry, is the product of a review – the first of its kind since 1994 – begun by Angela Merkel, chancellor, after she won office last November. It will see Germany’s military officially abandon its primary postwar task of defending the country’s borders in favour of a more robust role for German troops on international missions.
The Bundeswehr has about 250,000 military personnel, including about 50,000 conscripts.( Ed: non-volunteer; drafted )
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/b0651290-6384-11db-bc82-0000779e2340.html

I I F
" Last week, the German government laid out its strategy for developing a military force with the capacity for intervention in any theater deemed vital to German interests anywhere on the globe.

Called the white paper on German defense, the document outlines a strategy for Germany fast-tracking the nation’s military machine into one of world-class status capable of intervening on at least five fronts simultaneously
the deployment of a total of 14,000 troops to five international missions simultaneously [ Ed : total of 70,000 ]
He [ H Armstrong ] repeatedly broadcast and wrote that it is destined to lead a world-ruling empire of stupendous power, economically, militarily and yes, even religiously. He powerfully underscored that though its rule is prophesied to be brief—less than a few years—the havoc it will wreak in that time will leave other nations reeling in awe at the swiftness of its deployment and the destructiveness of its power over those perceived as its enemies, chief of which will be those who aided and abetted it in its rearmament after the last great global conflict!"

http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?page=article&id=2660
and
http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/08/beware-german-soldiers-on-israels.html
and
http://grayfalcon.blogspot.com/2006/10/germans-are-coming.html

German Army -- Nov. 10, 2006
It is most unlikely that any 100,000-man European army will be formed in the foreseeable future, although an EU military planning staff goes to work in January (when Germany, coincidentally, takes over the rotating EU presidency). [ Jan 2007 ]
The EU army's significance is to exist as a proposal - a proposal from Germany. Beck said that such a force should be "linked" to NATO as a "partner," but not "following" or "adhering" to the United States, and this army, rather than being a threatening army, should be "a global peace power," whatever that is.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/10/news/edpfaff.php

Conscription http://uspolitics.about.com/od/electionissues/a/draft.htm

Merkel : German Naval intervention in region -- Oct. 30, 2006 ( * not under the UN * )
But that's not what Merkel promised during the parliamentary debate on the mission. She had said that Lebanon doesn't have any right to veto. "We are allowed to travel in the whole region," was the promise she made before the German government agreed to the decision.

The Alster though is no run-of-the-mill battleship. It is a spy boat loaded with highly sophisticated technology. Sensitive antennas are able to not only identify radar locations and monitor flights, but they can also listen in on radio and mobile-phone conversations. And the crew is not just made up of sailors, but also German secret service agents.

Furthermore, the ship is completely under German command; it's not sailing under the UN flag
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,445473,00.html



German soldier photos from Afghanistan -- Oct. 25, 2006 ( with skulls )
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/113694.html

Bio: Angela Merkel ( physicist-chemist; fluent in Russian and English )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel

"family values" now has a new meaning

German Forces in America :

Russian made German MiGs and missiles tested at Eglin AF Base, Florida -- May 1, 2003
What ?? They can't test them over in Germany ???

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Florida. Seven of Germany's Russian-designed MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters and their air-to-air missiles will be tested at this Florida Panhandle base over the next couple months.

The Luftwaffe jets were inherited from East Germany when it reunited with West Germany after the Cold War. They are scheduled to begin arriving May 9 with their German pilots and ground crews.
The testing will be part of a continuing program by the U.S. and German air forces to find out what the MiG-29s can do in combat, said Lt. Col. Scot Brown, director of advanced programs for the Eglin-based 28th Test Squadron.

While here, the MiGs are expected to fly about 300 sorties including live-fire tests of AA-10 Alamo radar-homing and AA-11 Archer heat-seeking missiles. The weapons will be fired at target drones launched over the Gulf of Mexico from Tyndall Air Force Base, about 50 miles east of Eglin.
Brown said the evaluation is important because the Luftwaffe soon will replace the MiG-29s with the delta-wing Eurofighter
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/5752630.htm

Sunday Oct. 7-2001..... NATO - AWACS to survey US homeland
NATO officials declined to say why the United States had asked for the AWACS to be deployed there, or whether they would be used to free up U.S. aircraft for deployment in other regions.
The United States itself has a fleet of 33 AWACS planes, 28 of which are stationed at an airbase in Oklahoma.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28574-2001Oct8.html

Foreign forces are already stationed at our military bases.
Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico is home to the the German Air Force
(Luftwaffe) and their Tornado aircraft. It has been for years.
Will foreign forces implement Martial Law and the Police State ?
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=14829
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=15352
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=15358
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=17204

June 12-2001 ... Luftwaffe AF (German) to join Royal Air Force of England
GERMAN Luftwaffe pilots could be recruited into the Royal Air Force to combat a critical shortage of British fighter pilots.
RAF chiefs have already launched a recruitment drive to tempt pilots from New Zealand after the government there announced the disbanding of the country's fighter squadrons last month. However, flyers from
Germany, France and Holland are also being sought by the RAF. Freedom of movement inside the European Union means continental pilots are allowed to work here.

The plan could lead to German pilots flying combat missions in RAF jets. In exchange schemes, both air forces have already helped each other, with one British pilot being decorated by the Germans for his feats flying a German aircraft during the 1999 Kosovo war.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EZEKIEL33/message/757?source=1.
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/06/10/stinwenws02016.html?

More news:

Under Merkel's watch : ( having no children of her own )
No home-schooling allowed in Germany -- Oct. 25, 2006
Reviving Nazi laws : Police State
Endorsed by European Human Rights Court
School arguments that homeschooling endangers the welfare of the children "lacks any factual foundation," the network statement said.
"Tearing the children from the bosom of their family by forcing certainly does not contribute to their welfare. The result is more likely to be traumatisation and the development of an aversion to instruments of state authority," the statement said.
The Netzwerk Bildungsfreiheit strongly empathises with the Romeike family, whom many of us know personally to be an intact and conscience-driven family. We condemn the degrading act carried out by the police as a blatant breach of the personal rights of individual family members and call for the Mayor of Bissingen, as well as the Office for Education of the District Authorities of Esslingen, to end these sanctions…"
The American blog noted that several other homeschooling parents recently have been fined or imprisoned for brief jail terms for teaching their children at home

The U.S. organization also noted that homeschooling has been illegal in Germany probably since 1938 when Hitler banned it. It recently announced a campaign to address the persecution Christians in Germany are facing from education authorities
The latest police-state actions follow by only weeks a recent ruling from the European Human Rights Court [ EHRC Strasbourg ] that affirmed the German nation's ban on homeschooling.
SECULAR promotion
Germany's compulsory school attendance endangered their children's religious upbringing and promotes teaching inconsistent with the family's Christian faith.
The court said the Konrads belong to a "Christian community which is strongly attached to the Bible" and rejected public schooling because of the explicit sexual indoctrination programs that the courses there include.
ASSIMILATE or else
The family had appealed under the European Convention on Human Rights statement that: "No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching is in conformity But the court's ruling said, instead, that schools represent society, and "it was in the children's interest to become part of that society.
"The parents' right to education did not go as far as to deprive their children of that experience," the ruling said. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52603

Gomer flatters Gog; disdains God in government -- Oct. 22, 2006
Gerhard Schroeder :
"The problem that I have with that starts when the impression arises that political decisions are the result of a dialogue with God," says the book according to Reuters. "
More criticism followed when Mr Schroeder took a lucrative job with the German-Russian consortium behind the proposed Russia-Germany Baltic Sea gas pipeline - a deal which the chancellor had helped negotiate himself while still in office
http://euobserver.com/9/22699/?rk=1 ---

American embassies in Berlin and Frankfurt are fortresses of security -- Oct. 20, 2006
the new US fortress sits smack in the middle of a constant stream of tourists shuttling between the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust memorial
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,442772,00.html

Rupert Scholz : Germany needs a nuclear arsenal " -- Jan 28, 2006
Rupert Scholz argued that Berlin needed to embrace the idea of a nuclear deterrent in the light of threats from terrorists and the Middle East.
"We need to ask ourselves how we could react in an appropriate manner to a nuclear threat from a terror state, and if needs be, even by using our own nuclear weapons," he said
Mr Scholz, 68, who was the defence minister in Helmut Kohl's government in 1988 and 1989, said he doubted whether other nations' guarantees, made during the Cold War, to keep Germany safe in the face of a nuclear threat, could still be trusted
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/27/wgermany27.xml

Merkel visits Bush -- Friday , Jan. 13, 2006
Besides meeting with Bush, Merkel scheduled a session with members of Congress and planned to attend a ceremony at the newly renovated headquarters of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
On Monday Merkel was due to fly to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Iran was likely to be on the agenda, along with Russia's conflict with Ukraine over shipping natural gas to Europe.
http://fredericksburg.com/News/apmethods/apstory?urlfeed=D8F3QV481.xml

Gazprom: Russia's direct Gas pipeline to Germany ( bypassing other countries) -- Oct. 12, 2006
Germany to control European gas ( energy )
Moscow shut American firms out of development of a major gas field and reneged on previous plans to send liquefied natural gas from that field to the United States, and President Vladimir Putin spelled out priorities to Russian and German political and business leaders in Dresden.
Returning to the city where he was a KGB agent from 1985 to 1990, Putin dwelled on the new North European Gas Pipeline that Russia and Germany are building under the Baltic Sea. Once in place, he said, Germany will gain a special role in Europe's energy market.  "This would mean that Germany is not only a consumer of natural gas but would make it a big European distributor of Russian gas," Putin said. "It would transform the energy face of Germany and strengthen its role in European energy matters."
Europe and Russia will become even more dependent, as Europe buys more gas from Russia and Russia depends on Europe as a reliable market."
 Certainly, European governments and companies are now keen to do business with Moscow - none more so than the 1,000 German companies who have already established offices in Russia

A former * physicist * in East Germany, Merkel is keenly aware of human rights issues and critical of the weak rule of law in Putin's Russia
German and Russian trade
The terms of this partnership, first raised by Merkel in Moscow last January, are taking shape. Gernot Erler, state secretary at the foreign ministry and a Russia expert, said that when Berlin takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union in January, it will seek support for a special free-trade zone between the 25-member bloc and Russia. The EU has rejected such zones in the past, saying they do not comply with WTO rules
At €25 billion, or $31.4 billion, German-Russian trade for the first six months of this year almost equaled that for all of 2005
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/12/news/germany.php

Lenin reinstated in Berlin -- Aug. 4, 2005
Buried treasure outlasts fall of Berlin Wall
A mammoth statue of Vladimir Lenin is to be rescued from its woodland resting place and reinstated in Berlin.
The 62ft monument once loomed over Lenin Square, now United Nations Square, in East Berlin but was dragged off its pedestal under tight police guard 14 years ago.
It was then cut into 125 pieces and buried in [Ed: the German ] woods on the edge of the city [ Ed: of Berlin ]

Left-wing city councillors in Berlin have now intervened to save what they call an "important part of the city's cultural heritage

"It's totally disgusting to consider bringing back this dinosaur which belongs on the rubbish dump of history," said Alexandra Hildebrandt, the curator of a museum dedicated to the Berlin Wall and its victims.
"It's hypocritical and amounts to a glorification of the communist era
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/04/wlenin04.xml

Russian-German ( Gomer ) ties stronger than ever -- July 7, 2005
Igor Maksimychev said, "No dramatic changes should be expected in Russia-Germany relations, even if Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union wins the September elections
He added that objectively Russia and Germany's interests coincided, which was something Merkel could not ignore.
He said that a possible initial chill in bilateral relations would quickly give way to normalcy, with the Russian-German geo-strategic partnership continuing all the way through.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20050706/40855191.html

Germany abandoning Capitalism -- July 7, 2005 ... becoming "Gomer" ?
German politicians seem to have lost faith in globalization and the brand of capitalism it has spawned, and the new government will likely try to reform the existing welfare state.
Sachsenmaier warns, "the specter of German nationalism may be back." – YaleGlobal
With a declared aim to lure voters away from the extreme right, this new socialist party has started to mix its message with nationalist undertones. This was most notably the case when Lafontaine vowed to protect German jobs against "foreign workers" – "Fremdarbeiter," a term used by the Nazis during World War II.

It is very likely that after the September election, a new Christian Democratic government under Angela Merkel, who would be the country's first female leader, will continue to reform the welfare state but try to keep its key facets. It will try to do so in close conjunction with the European Union, but it will seek clear boundaries and common identities.
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=5956

Schroeder visits Bush -- June 27, 2005
As part of this changing definition of Atlanticism, Voigt says the United States cannot afford to take its allies for granted
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/27/news/berlin.php

Allies of Schroeder's Germany -- June 23, 2005
Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Latvia
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1336765,00.html

Italian Bank buys out German bank -- June 25, 2005
The planned merger of Italy's Unicredito with Hypovereinsbank, Germany's second-largest bank, created a stir in banking circles in Germany
EU Commission decree, effective mid-July, 2005
federal states and municipalities in Germany will in future no longer be obliged to act as guarantors for public banks in the event of default

"The abolition of state guarantees certainly makes sense because there was an element of distorted competition in some areas," Hartmann-Wendels said. "It will hardly have any consequences for the normal savings banks but it definitely will for the Landesbanken, which don't have a retail branching system and don't refinance themselves through savings or deposits of the customers but rather through a high degree of foreign capital from international capital markets
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1626929,00.html

European Banking Mergers -- July, 2004
The purchase of Britain's Abbey National by Spain's Santander Central Hispana could herald the beginning of long-awaited consolidation in the European banking sector. But the German market remains troubled.
The ripples could also be felt in offices that make up Frankfurt's skyline, where many observers see this sparking a wave of consolidation in the European banking sector
The deal would create the world's 10th largest bank, and experts believe it could be first bang of a long-awaited consolidation trend in the European banking sector. Santander's board of directors approved the purchase on Sunday evening, seeking to pay €13.6 billion to buy Abbey, Britain's sixth-largest bank. If the deal goes through, it will mark the first time a British bank has been taken over by a European competitor
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1276899,00.html

German Bank losses -- June 25, 2005
According to German financial daily Handelsblatt, last year 22 out of 25 large European banks reported after-tax rates of return of 15 percent. Most German banks, on the other hand, can only expect to attain around 8 or 9 percent this year. Only Deutsche Bank is realistically hoping for a yield of 15 percent
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1544104,00.html

Court of "universal jurisdiction" -- Karlsruhe Court -- Jan. 27, 2005
It is based on a German law, enacted in 2002, that gives the Karlsruhe Court "universal jurisdiction" in cases involving alleged war crimes. A prosecutor is obligated to investigate the claims but does not have to act on them further. So far, German authorities have said that the complaint against Rumsfeld and the others is being studied.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42850-2005Jan27.html

New Gendarmerie--militarizing the police; maintaining "order" Sept. 16, 2004
A proposal to create an EU peace-keeping gendarmerie made up of officers from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands is likely to get the green light on Friday, according to Presidency sources.
The idea, according to the French defence ministry is to "provide the EU or any other international force with a military police force, specialised in crisis management".

The German agency DPA reports that the force will consist of 800 men and be based in Italy but this was not confirmed by the Dutch Presidency.
http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=17298

EuroCorp group sees Russia return to a totalitarian state -- Sept. 15, 2004
Diplomats from the large EU countries, led by Germany, France, Britain and Italy, said they were "examining" Putin's speech.
His speech amounts to a 'retro' reform" said George Schöpflin, a Hungarian member of the European Parliament who serves on the foreign affairs committee. "This means that more power will be taken away from the citizen and moved into the hands of the state. If Europe wants a strategic partnership with Russia, then it has to decide if it is in its interests that Russia will develop into a democratic system. As it stands, Russia will become a more difficult partner for the EU."
http://www.iht.com/articles/538872.html

Russia's lurch backward
http://www.iht.com/articles/538764.html

Germany experiencing Carter's malaise--March 24, 2004
BERLIN-- Countries experience malaise, as Jimmy Carter once said of the United States (to his political disadvantage), and Germany is quite clearly in that state now. No less a figure than Helmut Schmidt, the former chancellor, said in an interview with the weekly Die Zeit last week, "There is almost no area where Germany stands out with its achievements." .Schmidt was accused of undue pessimism by Horst Köhler, the outgoing president of the International Monetary Fund who is almost certainly going to be elected president of Germany in elections in May.
.There have been the worries, reported in the German press, among the 200,000 to 300,000 German retirees who live in Spain that the reforms - which will entail cuts in pension payments - will make it impossible for them to maintain their condominiums on the Costa del Sol as well as the apartments they have back home.

."Germans have awakened from their dreams of the eternal welfare state," Sinn said, explaining the gloomy national mood, and giving it an objective basis. "They've been confronted with reality, and that is never nice." .The New York Times
http://www.iht.com/articles/511585.html

Lots of mosques in Germany--March 22, 2004
Gulcek's mosque reflects the surge in Islamic construction sweeping Germany. The number of traditional mosques with their distinctive minarets nearly doubled in Germany from 77 in 2002
to 141 in 2003, according to Islam Archive, a Muslim research group in the city of Soest. An additional 154 mosques and cultural centers are planned, many of them in the countryside where vistas are dotted with symbols of crescent moons and crosses.

Like the cultural battles over allowing Muslim women to wear head scarves in European schools, mosques are another indication that immigration is transforming social, religious and aesthetic landscapes. Staccato Turkish and throaty Arabic syllables whirl amid European vernaculars, and where once there was a German bakery, there is now a Moroccan kebab stand. In some bookshops, the Quran is as prominent as the Bible, and Muslim worry beads sometimes rattle alongside rosaries.

Thousands of nondescript mosques, some tucked in alleys, others half-hidden in old factories, are scattered across the continent. There are nearly 2,400 in Germany, according to the Islam Archive
http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGA7B4WN2SD.html

British, French form Rapid Deployment Force--March 2, 2004
French and British rapid reaction units will be at the core of greater EU military cooperation under plans to be unveiled this week.
The UK and France envisages the new force acting with – but not exclusively – the United Nations and maintaining a close relationship with NATO.
http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200402/8a5dee75-7de1-4778-9994-7a439af74f6e.htm

UK, Germany and France to meet Feb. 18, 2004
The February 18 meeting will also involve five or six ministers from each country, and will cover employment, the economy, education, finance, social affairs and foreign policy, said the Financial Times, quoting British and German officials.
The Financial Times said at the time that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his foreign secretary Jack Straw wanted London to hold trilateral policy meetings with their Paris and Berlin counterparts about every six weeks.
[They last met on January 19, 2004 ]
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040130/1/3hn0p.html

Franco-German Alliance and the global Tobin Tax
http://www.usasurvival.org/ck031003.shtml

UK set to join Franco-German motor -- Jan. 15, 2004
He also hinted that, whilst France and Germany could provide leadership for a union of 15, they would need more power to lead an enlarged EU, which the UK could provide.

London's move to form a more concrete 'big three' at the heart of the EU may concern smaller EU states and some future member states because of worries that the union will become a 'directorate' led by the UK, France and Germany

However, in comments that may find less support in Paris or Berlin, he [ Jack Straw, UK ] also emphasised, "Europe needs to work with the US because Europe on its own can do nothing. It's useless to pretend anything else".

He also stressed the role of member states in formulating foreign policy, saying, "It is simply not possible that Europe's foreign policy can be done only by the EU. There will always be a double action: that of the member states and that of the union ... our governments will never give up the final decision because at the root of it all is our defence".
http://euobs.com/?aid=14106&rk=1

US forces pull out of Germany [ Gomer ] -- Jan. 11, 2004
The Pentagon has confirmed the United States will pull armored units from Germany as it realigns its military. Separately, the German Defense Ministry is reportedly planning massive budget cuts for its own armed forces.
A Pentagon spokesman on Friday confirmed the United States was planning withdraw its tanks and other heavy armor from Germany in the coming years, as part of Washington’s efforts to restructure the global deployment of its forces.
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_1083626_1_A,00.html

Core Ashchenaz -- Nov. 14, 2003 France and Germany
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=13538

Germany pushes for Euro-army -- October 24, 2003
Germany is pushing for the creation of a fully-fledged Euro-army, according to plans obtained by the Conservative Party in Britain, writes the Telegraph.
There are also suggestions that the EU's nuclear capabilities should also be "integrated within the European defence system". At present, Britain and France are the only EU countries with a nuclear deterrent.
At his monthly press conference on October 24, the Prime Minister continued to insist that his government would not support plans for an independent European defence headquarters and would oppose any defence plans threatening the supremacy of NATO. "We don't want duplication and we certainly don't want competition with NATO," he said.
The plans also have the backing of France and Belgium, according to the Telegraph.
http://euobs.com/?aid=13185&rk=1

Big 3 (uk, fr,ger) go to Iran over nukes -- Oct. 20, 2003
If Iran gives up uranium enrichment the three EU ministers may promise Tehran technological help for a civilian nuclear energy program and guarantee the supply of enriched uranium from abroad.
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=792088&tw=wn_wire_story

Blair (UK) caught between Old Europe and NATO-- Oct. 20, 2003
http://euobs.com/?aid=13103&rk=1

Blair hospitalized with chest pains and irregular heart beat -- Oct. 20, 2003
http://euobs.com/?aid=13102&rk=1

NATO Alliance and EU (old Europe) forming separate rapid forces
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/11/18112002162919.asp

Germany world's largest exporter --Oct. 15, 2003
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=13029

England, France, and Germany plan Defense -- Oct. 15, 2003
The three are said to have agreed on the necessity to be able to plan and execute European Union operations independently of NATO, something the UK was earlier opposed to.
Instead it is likely that only a strategic headquarters will be in Belgium or perhaps in the headquarters of the EU Military Committee in Rue Cortenberg in Brussels. The operational centre would then be located nationally and could differ from operation to operation.
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=13010

France and Egypt: military ties --Sept. 17, 2003
On Wednesday, Ms. Alliot Marie met her Egyptian counterpart and discussed such issues as military and defense cooperation as well as what officials termed technical issues. Both ministers described their talks as fruitful and said the two countries will increase military cooperation over the next few months.
http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2003/september/09_19_1.html

Germans prefer nationalism --Sept 13, 2003
The respected news magazine Der Spiegel, quoting chancellery documents, says Schroeder plans to use his rejectionist Iraq stance as a model for a new foreign policy doctrine aimed at positioning Germany as "Mittlemacht" (middle power) in the global arena.
The hegemony of the United States will no longer be seen in the light of traditional German-American friendship. Instead, a sober policy of national interests will be given priority in which a dash of scepticism over the US won't hurt...," says Der Spiegel.
http://www.expatica.com/germanymain.asp?pad=190,230,&item_id=34102

Germans nostalgic for Communist life --Sept. 5, 2003
The latest, fronted by GDR golden girl Katarina Witt - a former Olympic ice skating champion, was watched on Wednesday night by some 6.5 million people. As the phenomenon grows, so does the debate as to whether it is appropriate to be sentimental about life under a regime which shot those who tried to escape its clutches, and persecuted those who disagreed with its ideology. However, despite the concessions and the criticisms, there is still a significant body of opinion that believes it right that East Germans are finally being allowed to reminisce in a positive fashion. —BBC
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_5-9-2003_pg9_1
from the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3077054.stm

Socialism kills--Dennis Prager---Sept. 2, 2003
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34372

Germany slams US human rights (Guantanamo Bay ) July 31, 2003
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/worldwatch.php?id=64979&wwtype=2

Germany, France and the UK form industry alliance-- July 28, 2003
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=12239

German Military -- the Bundeswehr --July 17, 2003
Top stories from DW, Berlin 16.7.2003. 13:55:59 dw-world.de/english
broadcast on SBS in German Mon to Sat 7.30-8.00 am
US WARNED OF STRETCH IN GERMAN MILITARY
The American government has been made aware the German military is stretched to the limit with its foreign deployments. Karsten Voigt, coordinator for German-US relations in the German government, told a German newspaper the Bush administration was not expecting a quick German contribution in Iraq. Mr Voigt added that Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, currently in the US, would not be "pressurized" by President George W Bush on the question. Germany has about 9,000 soldiers around the Balkans, Afghanistan and as far as the Horn of Africa. Analysts say the Bundeswehr – the German military - has its hands full and is still reeling from funding shortfalls and a radical overhaul.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/articles/3/63752.html

Germany increases its military might --June 24, 2003
Germany plans to raise its defense budget by €800 million ($923 million) in 2007 as its army extends deployment to regions such as Africa and the Middle East, Defense Minister Peter Struck said on Monday in Berlin. German Finance Minister Hans Eichel approved the additional sum that will raise Germany's annual military budget to €25.2 billion. The budget until 2006 will remain at €24.4 billion. The plan to increase spending on defense follows demands by Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, who is asking for more money to be spent on military campaigns and crisis management.
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_900194_1_A,00.html

Revival at the heart of Europe
http://www.ety.com/berlin/trumpet1.htm

Jews Flooding to Germany (so are the Russians) June 6-2003
the meaning of "Ashkenaz"
There are many ironies in this sudden rejuvenation of Ashkenazic Judaism. The very word, Ashkenaz, which defines German and Eastern European Jews, is the Hebrew term for Germany.
[ Ed. note: I thought the Hebrew word "Gomer" meant "Germany" ; that "Ashkenaz" includes Germany along with Eastern European nations]
This is so, explained Feit, "because the entire Jewish culture in Eastern Europe derives from Jewish communities that lived in three German cities along the Rhine more than 900 years ago."

As for the rest of the population, "there are now between 200,000 and 300,000 Russians in Berlin alone, and Germans don't know and don't really care who among them is Jewish and who is not."
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030605-051223-2097r

New Axis: France, Germany, Russia and Belgium
http://www.americandaily.com/item/703

European Military to Rival US--May 27, 2003
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/27/150125.shtml

Franco-German ... "Core-Europe" (Lamy and Verheugen)
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=9084

Frankfurt-- Financial Capital
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,7550_A_878208_1_A,00.html

Germany + 6 others to buy 180 Military transport planes-- May 22, 2003
Seven European countries involved in the project will now be able to sign a formal agreement on 27 May, according to Mr Struck.
The seven countries are Great Britain, France, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey and Germany.

According to the plan, these seven nations are obliged to buy 180 military transport aircraft for 20 billion euro in total.
Germany will order 60 planes and therefore will be the biggest investor of the project that will cost Berlin approximately 8.3 billion euro. The first planes should be ready by 2010
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=11329
and at
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=7483

Germany to pledge 33,000 troops to European Reaction Force--- May 20. 2003
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=11297

EU Army Brigade - April 30, 2003
A new rapid reaction force would be built around the existing Franco-German brigade, taking in Belgian commandos and units from Luxembourg. It would answer to a headquarters in the Brussels suburb of Tervuren and be ready for joint operations next year.

It was unclear how the new machinery would fit into the EU's existing defence structure. Brussels already has a rapid reaction force, and military staff, which can draw on up to 60,000 personnel from member states. It began its first mission in Macedonia last month. But it is limited to peacekeeping and relies on Nato operational command.

While superficially similar, the new force is a different animal. It will be a fully-integrated Euro-army, and seems intended for combat in the future.

The picture is further confused by the parallel defence plans agreed by Mr Blair and M Chirac at Le Touquet in February [ EU NAVY http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/02/04/nblur104.xml ]
calling for a joint Anglo-French aircraft carrier battle group.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/30/weu30.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/04/30/ixnewstop.html

European army --- April 30, 2003
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20030428-120738-2943r.htm

Nation-State and the EU-- Roger Scruton
http://nationalreview.com/comment/comment-scruton092602.asp

EDF European Defense Force -- April 13, 2003
On Thursday, MEPs voted overwhelmingly to create a "European armaments and research agency" [ EARA] which "would be responsible for a harmonised purchasing policy". The MEP behind the idea, a retired French general, Philippe Morillon, is worried about the "substantial military capability and technology gaps between Europe and the United States" exposed by the recent conflict. Neither he nor anyone else is prepared to close this gap through higher military spending in Europe; instead, he wants more joint procurement projects.

In fact, there is no evidence whatever that this will expand Europe's defence capacity. On the contrary, several studies suggest that pan-European defence projects are significantly less efficient than national ones, because of the bureaucracy involved and the need to find something for every country to do. If you doubt this, ask yourself how many Euro-fighters saw action in the Gulf.

They are also demanding that a mutual defence clause be included in the new constitution, thus rendering Nato redundant. Without these things, they argue, Europeans will be like the Athenians under Rome, "subject, in the last resort, to the will of a new empire".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/13/wschr113.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/04/13/ixworld.html

Germany adding 100,000 troops to European force-- April 13, 2003
Germany is poised to abolish military conscription and reduce its army by a third in a move that it hopes will strengthen Europe's defences and reduce dependence on America after the Iraq war.
The government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroder is drawing up plans to cut troops over the next five years from about 300,000 to 200,000, leading to a fully professional armed force like that in Britain
[ Ed. note : leaving 100,000 for European force ]
Although ending conscription would add to Germany's high unemployment rate, Mr Schroder calculates that it would be popular with 100,000 18-year-old men compelled to join the armed forces each year. An equal number of young men opt for community service as an alternative.
The plan is part of a Franco-German drive to boost the European defence force, which took over peacekeeping duties from Nato last week in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia
His plan is a key element in a Franco-German initiative to bolster the 60,000-strong European rapid reaction force,
President Chirac and Chancellor Schroder are holding a special summit in Brussels this month with leaders of Belgium and Luxembourg to hasten its implementation. All four countries opposed the Iraq war but insist that the new force will strengthen rather than weaken Nato. Last week Chancellor Schroder, one of the most vociferous European critics of American policy in Iraq, said: "Given the imbalances in the world it would be fatal if Europe did not live up to its responsibilities."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/13/wschr13.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/04/13/ixworld.html

Germany backs Defense plan outside of EU -- April 10, 2003
Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourgh
Die Welt writes that enhanced defence co-operation between a small number of countries could become a rival group to NATO since France wants to have a defence Union with several military units parallel to the ones in NATO.

Berlin and Paris also propose a stronger integration between the armies of the four countries. A rapid reaction force could be formed on the basis of German and French
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=10891

Peter Arnett hired by Belgium--April 1, 2003
(one has to wonder if this wasn't planned)
VTN said it will have daily reports from one of the world's most famous reporters until the end of the war. Also Thursday, a state-run TV channel in Greece said Arnett would soon be providing nightly dispatches for it, too.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030403/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_belgium_arnett_3

Belgium to lead EU states--April 2, 2003
http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/04/03/do0301.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2003/04/03/ixop.html

Britain: prisoner of EU
http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$WCRPCNHW4HOORQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2003/04/02/weu02.xml

Brussels Power Play a threat to English law
http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$WCRPCNHW4HOORQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2001/03/19/neulaw19.xml

EU develops Galileo.... global positioning satellite--March 29, 2003
prefers own navigational system other than GPS
http://www.iht.com/articles/91461.html

Prodi urges European military at April 29 meeting in Brussels--March 27, 2003
"We Europeans are not from Venus, as some would have us believe. The peoples of this old Europe have a long and bloodthirsty past behind us" Mr Prodi said in what will be seen as a snipe at some in the current US administration.

"A past that has taught us to base our Union in law and to work for an international order founded on right, not on might. But we know that humanitarian policies alone are not enough. And it is not enough to outstrip the other main players in the area of development aid policy."

"We know the world will not take heed of us until we put an end to our divisions. Until we stop relying on the European Union for economic growth and the United States for security" Mr Prodi said, before insisting "there is nothing anti-American in what I am saying."
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=10709

7 members want rotating presidency--March 30, 2003
Benelux, Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Finland
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=10717

Germany, France and Belgium plan defense summit in April-- March 21, 2003
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3255-2003Mar21.html

What and who is "Eurocorps"?
Eurocorps is the military entity made up of :
France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg
Based in Strasbourg, France
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=003823976723825&rtmo=lvbFknzt&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/et/99/12/11/wsum311.html

Ashchenaz: Germany and France want European Force - Nov 27-2002
France and Germany have called for a full European security and defence union, pushing Britain to the sidelines in their latest attempt to revive the Berlin-Paris axis.
In a move that has alarmed the Foreign Office, the two governments have put forward a joint plan for a Euro-army with an "integrated command capability" and a "European Armaments Agency".

The Franco-German plan envisages something far more ambitious than the limited peacekeeping and humanitarian missions of the European Union's rapid reaction force of 60,000.
Under the Franco-German blueprint there would be a unified system of military training and a shared strategic doctrine.
The document talks about establishing "multinational forces with integrated leadership capacities, regardless of their Nato actions". It also talks about "harmonising military needs planning
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/11/27/weuarm27.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/11/27/ixworld.html&secureRefresh=true

France, Germany and Belgium hold defense summit--March 21, 2003
"hard core" defense policy for old Europe
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=10644
ESVU -- Europeans Safety and Defense Policy

Germany's divided loyalties---March 13, 2003
http://www.iht.com/articles/89623.html

Park gives tribute to Soviet past...March 1, 2003
http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?s=b1bbd6944e649c899d3d422bd6ffc4ed&threadid=73056

France No longer an Ally--Feb 5, 2003
France is no longer an ally of the United States and the NATO alliance "must develop a strategy to contain our erstwhile ally or we will not be talking about a NATO alliance" the head of the Pentagon's top advisory board said in Washington Tuesday.
Richard Perle, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration and now chairman of the Pentagon's Policy Advisory Board, condemned French and German policy on Iraq in the strongest terms at a public seminar organized by a New York-based PR firm and attended by Iraqi exiles and American Middle East and security officials.
But while dismissing Germany's refusal to support military action against Iraq as an aberration by "a discredited chancellor," Perle warned that France's attitude was both more dangerous and more serious
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030204-031831-1626r

Germany Breaking Up the Alliance--Jan 24-2003
http://www.iht.com/articles/84438.html

Fully fledged Federal State
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1042490813874&p=1012571727092

Paris and Berlin propose single foreign ministry--Jan 16, 2003
The foreign minister would have the diplomatic armour to back him or her up. As well as the current directorate general for external relations, a new foreign politics unit would be established. The Commission delegations will be turned into a delegation of the European Union which will lead to a fully fledged European diplomatic service....

The government-elected president of the European Council will represent the EU at meetings of heads of states and governments. This, says the paper, will not damage the competence of the Commission or its president. This president will be in office for two and half years but has the possibility to be elected again. This long term post will create "continuity, stability and visibility" in an enlarged Union, says the paper. However, the paper is less clear on the relationship between the foreign minister and the European council president. ....
The Convention is due to give its final draft constitution to governments in June.
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=9033

' Stronger foreign policy' under EU proposal--Jan 16, 2003
The Franco-German paper adds to a growing consensus to create a new post of EU foreign minister, who would be responsible to national governments on foreign and defence policy as well as serving as a member of the Commission.
Such a figure would control a much larger budget, and many more policy instruments, than does Javier Solana, the present "high representative", who shares the role of representing the EU with Chris Patten, the commissioner for external relations.
In a concession by France, the agreement would eliminate national governments' veto rights in a wide area of foreign policy, although individual countries could still block proposals bearing on defence and security.

It adds that the new president of the Council would serve a term of up to five years and would "hold a full-time post during his or her mandate . . . to prepare, preside over and encourage the work of the European Council and to watch over the execution of its decisions [and] represent the EU on the international scene".
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1042490860186&p=1012571727092

Double Executive a poor compromise
The situations is further complicated because the Franco-German proposal also envisages a European Foreign Minister elected by the European Council. This is confusing because it should be the European Commission as the EU's executive to provide the basis and the legitimacy for the European Foreign minister.
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=9037

France and Germany strike Historical Deal --Jan 15-2003
The text agreed last night in the Palais de l'Elysée in Paris also includes concrete ideas on the creation of a Public prosecutor's office, a common border police together with already known ideas of EU defence policies.

Mr Schröder described the agreement as an acceptable compromise, which would strengthen both the Commission and the European Parliament. Experts believe that this agreement could be the base for the division of power in the EU as it marks a compromise between Germany favouring a federal Europe with a powerful Commission in Brussels, and France defending the role of the nation state. It is also likely to satisfy the Commission and the small member states, who support mainly the German view.

Both Germany and France are eager to set the so called Franco-German motor back on track, with yesterday's agreement marking a new beginning. "The Franco-German relationship will play an important role in a Europe with 25 members," Mr Schröder said according to the Guardian. "If this relationship grows stronger, Europe will remain on a par with the Asian continent and the United States."

On 22 January the German Bundestag and the French National Assembly will meet for the first time ever in a joint session at the symbolic setting of the Versailles palace outside Paris, where Mr Chirac and Mr Schröder will deliver addresses.
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=9017
-
From the Washington Times
     It may not emerge publicly from Tuesday's Paris summit between French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, but the two men have agreed that the European Union needs a real foreign minister. They have accordingly decided that two current jobs should be merged into one. The post of EU's Commissioner for External Relations (currently British centrist Conservative Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong) is to be merged with the EU Council's High Representative (currently former NATO chief, Spanish moderate socialist Javier Solana). Patten retires next year, so Solana will be the beneficiary, getting control of Patten's annual $8-billion budget, mainly for humanitarian and development aid. This could end badly since Solana is responsible to the EU Council (where the 15 national governments meet) while a commissioner is part of the EU's executive arm, the commission, which is supposed to be above national concerns. The British have opposed merging the two jobs, asking the uncomfortable question -- who would mediate in a foreign policy dispute between member states and the commission.
The Washington Times Jan 15, 2003
     
Chirac and Schroeder unite Jan 14-2003
Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder agreed last night to propose a dual presidency for the European Union, removing one of the last obstacles in the path of a dramatically reborn Franco-German alliance likely to determine the future face of Europe. ...
....an unprecedented plan to give France and Germany a single voice on the European and world stage.

The two leaders are also due next week to announce the appointment of a high-ranking "general secretary for Franco-German cooperation" in each country, and, in a revolutionary step, are to encourage ministers to attend each other's cabinet meetings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,874861,00.html

France and Germany seek solution on EU Presidency--Jan 14-2003
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=8995

  Franco-German Alliance
' Rot at Europe's Core' ..... by Stefan Theil [ Newsweek--Jan 13 issue ]
France now speaks for Europe, more than does Germany. As it has for decades, Paris continues to nurture a “Franco-German alliance,” by which it seeks to exercise leadership in partnership with its neighbor. But these days, in contrast to the past, it is the stronger partner economically and politically, having grown at a faster rate than Germany for most of the past decade. Gone is the old fear of a unified and resurgent Germany, when French newspapers would feature Chancellor Helmut Kohl wearing a Kaiser Wilhelm-style spiked helmet and ready to take over Europe. Now Paris is confidently calling the shots.
        Berlin must dutifully follow. “The Germans are no longer able to resist the French kisses, if you will,” says Dominique Moisi of the French Institute of International Relations.....

French dominance is almost sure to complicate relations with the United States, given France’s historic allergy to U.S. leadership, says Alistair Murray at the Centre for European Reform in London. “If future European foreign policy is going to be defined by France, that’s going to make relations with America much more prickly.”
http://www.msnbc.com/news/855012.asp

Franco-German Axis to be strengthened even further- Jan 13, 2003
German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French president Jacques Chirac could tomorrow approve an unprecedented plan, under which the ministers of two countries would be allowed to take part in each other's cabinet meetings, reports the Guardian. Tightening links between Paris and Berlin is causing concern in London as British prime minister Tony Blair is not so keen about the idea of Europe driven by the Franco-German "axis"

Paris and Berlin are also planning to create a new European centre for international economics, which would help to create joint policies on trade and finance matters. Ministers could also agree on Franco-German legislation, including areas like educational qualifications and family law.
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=8985

By her own admission, Angela Merkel endorses the ideas from the Enlightenment (Godless State power )
http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com/quotes7.html

Angela Merkel's role model is Catherine the Great of Russia ; who by her own admission was an "autocrat"

Goebbels on propaganda
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goeb59.htm

Who are the "G5" ?
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2003/oct/23g5.htm

Salvation www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/sal.htm

Bible www.blueletterbible.org