| I realize it can be hard to keep an eye on events in Europe these days, what with all of the drama playing out in the United States and across the Pacific, but there are some major events unfolding across the pond which could lead to a serious shakeup in the EU power structure right now. The latest round of unrest was significantly exacerbated earlier this week when Italy decided to turn away a ship carrying hundreds of refugees. That happened at the same time that Angela Merkel was facing a serious challenge to her open border policies from her own Interior Minister. Emmanuel Macron got in on the action, calling Italy’s decision “sickening.”
Now, in what appears to be a showdown between the open and closed border camps, officials from Austria and Italy have joined with Germany’s Interior Minister to form what they’re referring to as an Axis of the Willing, which seeks to secure their nation’s borders and curb the flow of migrants. This is leading to something of a crisis of leadership in several countries and things are only heating up further now. (Daily Mail)
I firmly believe that the individual countries in the European Union have the right to chart their own course when it comes to border security and migration issues without being dictated to by Brussels. But with that said, Seehofer, Kicki and Salvini might have given a bit more thought to the name of their new unofficial coalition if only in terms of branding. Anything with the word “Axis” in it when you’re talking about Europe probably brings back some unpleasant memories and associations which they could likely do without. Still, this is stirring things up on a couple of fronts. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is openly calling for a new strategic partnership between Rome, Vienna and Berlin to “combat illegal migration” and stave off what he described as, “another catastrophe like we saw in 2015.” This was a thinly veiled shot at Angela Merkel and her policies which opened the floodgates a few years ago. All of this is straining relations across Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to visit Italy tomorrow. Will that still happen? The Italians are saying that they’re still waiting for an apology from Macron before they decided.
Reuters is reporting that there was a call from Paris to Rome this morning, but no details were released. If an apology was made, nobody was putting out a press release to confirm it. Meanwhile, back in Germany, the Interior Minister is doing more than just complaining. He’s threatening the stability of Merkel’s already shaky ruling coalition. If that bond is seen as weakening, we’re being told that Merkel could be facing a confidence vote as soon as next week. If she manages to lose that vote she may be forced to step down as Chancellor and call for new elections.
Europe has lived to see interesting times, and for once the media can’t credibly blame this one on Trump. The migrant situation is splitting the European coalition in two and the current power structure may be about to change significantly. Stay tuned. |
Poster Comment:
The article is wrong to deny that Trump is to blame for this. Does anyone imagine this would be happening is we had Felonia Milhouse von Pantsuit as our president? The EU elite does blame Trump for their provinces getting so uppity and they are not entirely wrong about that.
Merkel's government could fall over this and that old commie Angela could disappear in very short order.
#1: Jameson To: Tooconservative (#0)
Is Mexico paying for their wall too?
asking for a friend....
Jameson posted on 2018-06-14 14:54:57 Reply Private Reply
#2: CZ82 To: Tooconservative (#0)
She would probably be threatening them to "get in line" and take in as many "supposed refugees" that wish to enter their countries, she'd be claiming "It's for your own good".
CZ82 posted on 2018-06-18 06:49:26 Reply Private Reply
#3: Tooconservative To: CZ82 (#2)
If her interior minister (the major partner from the Bavarian party in her ruling coalition) goes ahead and closes Germany's borders (mostly) as he has threatened to do, she will have to fire him. And that will cause a vote of no-confidence and lead to new elections that Merkel probably cannot survive without her partners in the Bavarian party.
This is why Trump's new gay ambassador, Grenell, is making the Germans so mad. He's encouraging this, along with Austria, Hungary, Italy, Romania. And that same bunch is all flirting with moving their embassies to Jerusalem which makes Brussels crazy-mad.
The EU may not break up but it could split into opposing camps in a way we've never seen before.
Tooconservative posted on 2018-06-18 09:30:27 Reply Private Reply
#4: CZ82 To: Tooconservative (#3)
I think that's just exactly what Germany needs right now is a change of leadership, before her silliness destroys the country.
CZ82 posted on 2018-06-18 18:53:47 Reply Private Reply