News and information from Europe πͺπΊ
(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)
(This list may get expanded when necessary.)
We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.
If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.
If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the mods: @[email protected], @[email protected], or @[email protected].
Germany is pretty confused. They continued doing lucrative business with putin even long after he invaded Ukraine for the first time, but now they are arming against him. If they could only have stopped themselves from funding the russian military for decades then maybe they wouldnβt need to be funding theirs now.
Hopefully those soldiers wonβt be deployed to build nord stream 3 in a couple of years.
Well, the gas pipeline was built in the early 2000s to get russia on board as a business partner to prevent escalation. As the saying goes: if the goods are not rolling, the tanks are rolling between countries.
You could say Germany isn't unique though. The US is also split between those who want to be friendly with Russia (Republicans) and those who don't (Democrats).
With Germany I guess Merkel believed that business ties with Russia would persuade Russia to not threaten Europe, but now that theory has been disproven, so Germans seem to be more supportive of the idea of cutting ties with Russia and boosting Germany's defence spending.
Well, in reality its only a step back into the 80s when the Bundeswehr was quiet well armed, and one shouldn't forget that the conscription was only put on hold in 2010 and never really abolished.
This time one right side of the history. Letβs hope.
Hey, we were on the right side last time too... politically
As an Alsatian, I just hop they keep the AFD in check for the foreseeable future !
Seeing what's been going on since the election I don't have high hopes
That seems an apt assessment.
~ $ apt assessment
E: Invalid operation assessment
I have many friends here in eu talking about Europe getting militant as a bad thing. I'm not for escalating conflict in any way, but would like to hear some alternatives.
Economic sanctions is one alternative. See North Korea. It doesn't work very well against Russia because they do have a lot of resources and their population is used to scarcity. This tactic would be more efficient against, say USA, because quite frankly, the western lifestyle is not self-sufficient.
Another alternative is to use Putin's own "special military operations" where instead of fighting a war front to front, they attack specific targets or throw people out of windows.
This is difficult for Europe to do, because we like to align with each other before doing anything serious. That way, actual democracies are not fit to do this kind of stuff in comparison to a dictatorship, but it's possible if anyone feels it's necessary. However it rarely has a positive outcome. It's like flipping the table and hoping something better comes up.
Overall, all agressive behavior leads to a losing position. Nobody has ever won a war or even a street fight. Both sides lose. The victory goes to those who wins the peace. So that's what Europe is constantly trying to do by diplomacy.
Even if I dislike spending ressources on military, it might make sense to armour up, just to keep a seat at the table of peace negotiation.
Tnx man, hope people on top feel the same.
It's a difficult topic but I believe the voices against it are just as important as the voices for it to keep it in check.
There really is no alternative. History (especially in Europe) has proven a near infinite amount of times that peace through strength is the only language imperialistic dictatorships understand.
Appease them and they will see that as an encouragement to come for you.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
We either get militant, or we get steamrolled by those that already are.
I don't think bolstering up defence spending is bad.
It is much better to be prepared than sorry, also negotiating from a strong standpoint is helpful towards some other nations.