Friday, September 2, 2022

Five German News Stories

 1.  This chatter by the FDP Party of dismantling of the Nord Stream II pipe (the Russian pipe bringing natural gas into Germany) and installation?  Well....I think it's just BS.  First, someone would have to fund this, and it'd trigger a big conversation about wasteful funding.

2.  From the Maybritt Illner public forum show on ZDF last night (10:15 PM), it was an odd piece.  Roundtable talk, on the topic of energy, and the worries of this approaching winter.

Luisa Neubauer from Fridays For The Future, was there.....hyping the promise of the Green Party to stand against nuke energy.

It seemed odd....a long panel group talking over this, and no one really an energy expert to the degree you'd expect.  Mostly just a political chat group.

3.  WELT piece this AM says that a poll was done showing almost two-thirds of Germans are now giving failing grades to the coalition (SPD-Greens-FDP).

4.  This reparations to Poland chatter (from WW II)?  I'd say it's mostly a card being laid down for the Germans to lessen their negative rhetoric from the past seven years.

First, there was intense criticism dumped on Poland for not taking in refugees.  Poland, Czech and Hungary said 'no', and faced down the EU drama on several occasions.  This 'good-neighbor' talk uttered last night?  All that criticism from 2015/2016/2017 adds up.

Second, fresh new criticism started up in the past two years as Poland reformed a number of things which rebalanced the government toward the right.  German political hype went pretty negative at the time.

So, this 1.3-trillion Euro reparation thing will be dangled continually when the Germans slip back to criticism over Poland.  I don't think anyone really expects Germany to deliver a Polish reparation.

5.  Shutting down schools over Covid chatter?  Well....the state of NRW is openly talking about a plan.  It has a lot of criticism attached.  It's hard to find anyone who is enthusiastic about more school closures this winter over Covid. 

No comments: