A futuristic picture of Europe?

 A futuristic picture of Europe?

As days become shorter and Europe moves towards the dark seasons of the year, after Covid lockdowns, come the Dark Ages. In Southern European regions, it would not be much of a problem, but the most affected regions of Europe will include highly industrialized areas. 

Manufacturing will be reduced, commercial activity will be reduced, and we will have to calculate the consequences that in some ways could be pretty similar to what Europe had to face because of the measures implemented to deal with the Covid pandemic. As inflation takes hold and energy prices go up, the lack of economic activity with add to the pile of debt - both public and private - destabilizing economies even more leading to what the Deputy President of the European Commission called 'social unrest'.

German cities impose cold showers and turn off lights. Rising production costs in the UK lead to 4.4% in UK shop prices. It is said that EU member states have very different energy mixes: a few countries were nerarly 100 per cent depedent on Russian gas while others used none, indicates an article published by The Guardian in London, UK. There is discontent in countries that used little or no Russian energy that are now forced to make sacrifices for those that spent many years using cheap gas imported from the Russian Federation.

In the meantime, the Rubble, the Russian Federation currency, is booming. Simon Jenkins states that sanctions against the Russian Federation have visibly backfired. Energy prices are rocketting, inflation is soaring and millions are being starved of grain. Having said that, for EU member states the worst is still to come. Keep an eye on Western economies. Keep an eye on political developments. As inflation rises, industrial unrest will grow and political stability will vanish.

Zelenskiy: Russia has advanced and is taking control of more and more territory, but Zelenskiy says 'Russia doesn't want to accept defeat'

 

Russia's advance continues and more and more territory is taken and Ukrainian people are evacuated, but Zelenskiy says that 'Russia doesn't want to accept defeat'.

A comedian has turned into a tragic actor. He portrays himself in front of the cameras, presumably, as a soldier which is something that he isn't.

After the defeat of the Sixth Army in Stalingrad, German news programmes continued to report a non existing victory as General Paulus had already surrendered and thousands of German troops that were now prisoners of the Soviet Army initiated a journey from which they would never return alive. It was a vain attempt to hide the disastrous defeat of the Wehrmacht in Stalingrad. Zelenskiy is doing a bit of the same. The Ukrainian government no longer controls Luhansk and very soon will have no control of Donestk. The expression 'USA will fight the war in Ukraine till the last Ukrainian falls' is a reality. Access to the Black Sea is restricted. In more than one way, NATO is unwittingly supporting the Russian advance. The fact that a British tank regiment in now based in Poland makes no difference whatsoever because the actual conflict is happening in Ukraine. If it reassures Poland or does not reassure Poland is irrelevant and it does nothing for Ukraine.

While this is happening, in Britain there is a leadership contest in the ruling Conservative Party. Of 8 candidates still standing in the race, one talks about incresing the defense budget by about 3 per cent. Well, this is also absolutely irrevant. With inflation at more than 9 per cent, reality tells you that even if the military budget were to go up by 3 per cent, it will be an actual loss as the increase would be more than cancelled due to rising prices. The British military will not actually go up, but down and training a bunch of Ukrainian soldiers is not going to change the direction of the conflict. Zelenskiy needs to learn to accept reality. Ukraine does not have the military might and no one will support Ukraine militarily for fear of triggering a European-wide conflict.

As time goes by, European Union countries face the harsh realities generated by knee-jerk reactions. EU escalated the situation and it now suffers the consequences of both the rise of energy prices and the suspension of the energy supply coming from the Russian Federation. Things are so bad that the Deputy President of the European Commission raised the alert about social unrest that could be the consequence of situations created by the energy crisis.

But Zelenskiy is trapped. He cannot accept defeat. He cannot accept a negotiatied solution. Accepting defeat and accepting a negotiated solution will mean the end of his presidency and possibly the end of his own life. Taking this into account, Zelenkiy might be President till the end. In a country engulfed by war, having elections to elect new authorities would be a bit of an impossibility. What will Zelenkiy do when his present mandate comes to an end? Will he seek to remain in power despite lacking a democratic mandate? Will he be granted an extension and if so by whom?

As stated at the beginning, Zelenskiy is a comedian that turned into a tragic actor.

Ursula von der Leyen muss weg

 

To say that Ursula von der Leyen was incompetent as German Defense Secretary and has been incompetent as appointed President of the European Commission would be a gross understatement.

She started by making a mess in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland by going against established EU policies and later backtracking when she was bombarded with criticisms, including criticisms expressed by the German mass media. Shge managed to unite Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland against her.

With regards to the fight against Covid-19, she hasn't been on top of her brief and has stood paralized while EU countries stopped acting as EU countries and went against each other. Austria is leading a group of six EU countries that want to have access to Russian vaccines and Germany has now joined them while France and others remain stuck with rising number of infections, hospitals that cannot cope with the number of cases and rising deaths leading to further quarentine measures.

The latest chapter was the embarrassment during a meeting in Turkey. She allowed herself to be sidelines and later complained saying that she had been sidelined. She doesn't have the guts to act on the spot. Is she really the President of the European Commission? If she is the President of the European Commission she should start acting as the President of the European Commission. If she doesn't have what it takes to be the boss, she should put herself aside and allow somebody else to be the boss.

The office of President of the European Commission is being downgraded, the EU project is being downgraded, and her former boss Angela Merkel is doing no better. Hesitation, gigantic errors of judgment, followed by meaningless apologies that give way to more hesitation, more gigantic errors of judgment, followed by more meaningless apologies. Angela Merkel no longer has what it takes to be leader and voters are turning against CDU/CSU across Germany, election after election. Time for change, but what will replace them? The very authority of the German Chancellor as now former party leader - she had to resign the leadership of CDU to remain in power until the next German Federal Election - is being challenged by members of her own party. She had to come out and threaten members of her own party that were found working with Alternative fur Deutschland in several regions.

To sum up, a mess in Germany and a mess in the European Union. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the House of Commons

The Opening Speech in the House of Commons by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson started by once again setting up the deadline for Britain to leave the European Union. Brexit should have happened on March 29th 2019 but postponement after postponement the country found itself having to organize European Parliament Election and having to witness the circus of the election of the new President of the European Commission that was in fact not elected but appointment. The former German Defense Minister was in fact the only candidate on the ballot put forward after a struggle between Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron.

This is a very strange time in British politics in which those opposing Brexit seem to be supporting the IRA that walked away from the Northern Ireland Assembly leaving Northern Ireland in the doldrums transforming so called Devolution into a meaningless word.

The country voted for Brexit and therefore it was a fundamental error to have a Remain Prime Minister and a Cabinet in which too many were Remain supporters including Jeremy Hunt who stood for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Jeremy Hunt would have been another version of Theresa May. 

This is a binary question. To be or not to be and nothing in between. All the talk about a deal was no more than delaying tactics used by those who were opposed to Brexit from day one. We are not going to see 'Leg Touching' Philip Hammond, although he might rise to try and torpedo the Conservative government.

Parliament will return at the beginning of September but the threat is in the air. If Parliament tries to block Brexit, Parliament will be put aside. The present Parliament has degraded democracy setting up obstacles and hurdles to prevent the implementation of Brexit.

Nicola Sturgeon would do better if she faced her own responsibilities in Scotland where the rate of suicides is rising and the rate of those dying because of drug abuse is rising. The SNP Paradise is much more of a version of Hell on Earth. The talk about Scottish Independence is no more than a diversion not to deal with the real issues Scotland is suffering from.

Brexit: The climate of political uncertainty could lead to the unthinkable

Brexit: The climate of political uncertainty could lead to the unthinkable

This evening while travelling I asked an elderly passenger on a train going home if in his own personal experience he had witnessed a political crisis like the one Britain is facing right now. You can ask a politician, a journalist, an ordinary member of the public and nobody has the faintest idea about 'what next?'.

The House of Commons is due to consider on January 29 2018 a deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May that will be presumably exactly the same deal that many Members of Parliament said that they would reject because they think that it is a very bad deal for Britain and its relations with the European Union, a deal that does not respect the will of the British Electorate expressed in the 2016 Referendum on EU Membership.

There are those who push for a Vote of No Confidence against the present British government headed by Theresa May. Some see it as a way to force Prime Minister Theresa May to resign. Some talk about a General Election and others talk about a new Referendum on EU Membership.

One wonders about what could happen if Theresa May - that has just been confirmed as Leader of the Conservative Party after a Leadership Challenge - loses a Vote of No Confidence in the House of Commons. Even if the Deal the Prime Minister negotiated by Parliament, Theresa May would continue as Prime Minister because of regulations of the Conservative Party that prevent any challenges. She could stay as Prime Minister for another year.

Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn hesitates about asking for a Vote of No confidence. Having done the political sums, he knows that a Vote of No Confidence is a risky option. Members of Parliament from all political parties - including the Labour Party - could vote against it. It could unite the Conservative Party and produce an embarrassing defeat for the Labour Party under his leadership. Moreover, most Labour Constituencies across the country voted to Leave the European Union.

At Committee Level, enquiries have continued about the level of preparedness to face a No Deal outcome. The legality of the Deal proposed by Prime Minister Theresa May has been questioned since it goes against legislation passed by Parliament that determined that Britain will be leaving the European Union on March 29th 2019.  

In May 2019, about a month after Britain is set to leave the European Union, there will be European Parliament Elections that would produce a new political reality in the European Union. What kind of EU Parliament and what kind of European Commission would the said elections produce? Would there be a more favourable environment in terms of a better agreement with the United Kingdom?

Prime Minister Theresa May was severely criticised for not putting her Deal to a vote on the day it was supposed to be put to a vote. Some say that it happened because she was afraid of yet another significant defeat in the House of Commons that could end her political career. Others say that she is playing for time trying to get further concessions from the EU.

Unelected EU Commission runs the European Union

This is the reality. Presidents, Senators and Representatives in the US are elected. In the European Union an unelected European Commission calls the shots and has the initiative while the European Parliament has no powers to initiate any legislative process.

The European Union is a de-facto dictatorship and this is what those wanting to leave the European Union are about.

Twenty-Eight un-elected individuals running the European Union and telling everybody what to do but... wait a minute... one individual telling everybody what to do and his name is Jean Claude Juncker who is said to run the European Commission as his own business. The words of Louis XIV come handy: L'Etat c'est moi. I am the State.
Fundamental freedoms are being taken away from legitimately elected parliaments and given to a clique. This is dangerous and sooner than later will lead to war in Europe. Those who defend the dictatorship say that the European Union protects worker's rights. Does the European Union protect worker's rights? Absolutely not. France has been seized by strikes protesting against measures imposed by a Socialist government that cares very little about worker's right. Any words from European Union mandarins? None whatsoever. Imposition by force and repression are the ways of the European Union.