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The biggest sensation in the spring polls has been caused by the popularity of the new «Alternative for Germany» party. Polls conducted in connection with the Alternative for Germany party’s founding congress showed its support ranged from 17 to 26 percent, almost the same as the Social Democrats. It is by no means a given that the young party will receive that many votes in the election, yet the very creation of Alternative for Germany, which is calling for the dissolution of the eurozone, has made the European establishment seriously uneasy... Several months before the September elections, the positions of the SPD and the CDU/CSU in the Bundestag agree on virtually every important foreign policy issue. The stability and predictability of its foreign policy is a long-established principle in Germany. Germany’s partners, including Russia, can only welcome this principle, which will hold no matter which party comes into power.
Natalia MEDEN | 02.05.2013 |
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...The speedy recognition of former Yugoslavia republics could be construed as the result of defeat, suffered by socialist camp in the Cold War, and as the enforcement of classical «divide and rule». If Yugoslavia remained one, the West could not impose its conditions on it, like it is being done in case of Serbia. Junge Welt, the opposition voice, remembers the shocking call of former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher for making Serbia stand on its knees. Now the Serbs kneel to acquire the European Union membership. No doubt, the West will put forward new demands...
Natalia MEDEN | 26.04.2013 |
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«This year could be the most difficult of the crisis for Europe», predicts Germany's Foreign Affairs Minister, Guido Westerwelle (1). Amid news from Brussels and a number of other EU countries, this conclusion comes as a surprise to no-one. Reports that European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton declined to remain in their posts for the next term are only aggravating the confused impression being given by Europe's political elite. Horses are not usually changed midstream but if they are, it means they are no longer offering any kind of hope... And it is becoming increasingly evident that Germany's key role in settling problems in the Eurozone is creating a special relationship between Germany and its partners...
Natalia MEDEN | 29.03.2013 |
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At the end of February this year, Norway's Energy Ministry published information on hydrocarbon reserves in light of geological survey data obtained in an area which came under Norwegian jurisdiction under an agreement with Russia in 2010. The information confirmed speculation by experts regarding the presence of high-grade deposits: Norwegians estimate that the volume of their new resources is 31 percent higher than previously calculated, 85 percent of which is natural gas and the rest – oil. What are the implications of this for Russian gas exports to Europe, including to Germany?..
Natalia MEDEN | 15.03.2013 |
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The West is generously adding fuel to the fire in order to speed up the fall of the Syrian regime. Will it come to a military intervention? In any event, the United States has developed specific plans for a military intervention, which are already being undertaken. According to the Secretary General of NATO, the antimissile systems along the north-western border of Syria can be used to create a no-fly zone, and this is a well-trodden path towards military intervention. In addition to the NATO missile defense systems in the region, Germany is sending AWACS reconnaissance aircraft to potential future combat areas; it will be clear in which places and situations they will fly. Also the transfer of additional U.S. forces to Iraq has been written about, which suggests the preparation for a ground operation...
Natalia MEDEN | 13.12.2012 |
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The UN General Assembly’s vote on the status of Palestine is a good example of the international correlation of forces. One should not miss the main thing: the observer state status is a step on the way of full-fledged membership. Since 1946 Switzerland enjoyed the same status as Palestine has now. It became a UN member in 2002. Initially Austria, Finland and Japan were UN observer states...
Natalia MEDEN | 06.12.2012 |
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For the first time in history, the 2012 Noble Prize in literature was awarded to a Chinese author - Mo Yan, a novelist top-read in his home country and enjoying considerable acclaim in the West... Berlin seemed to make an effort to balance the choice made in Sweden when the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade was handed to Liao Yiwu, a Chinese dissenter now living in Germany. The invectives Liao Yiwu directs against China exceed the boldest expectations of the country's critics: speaking at the award ceremony, attended by the German political elite including President Joachim Gauck, he got a round of rapturous applause for stating nothing less than that «the empire must break apart»...
Natalia MEDEN | 22.10.2012 |
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The North Rhine-Westphalia elections continued a series of failures of Christian Democratic Union / Christian Social Union at local elections that actually started since the last Bundestag election in September 2009. The loss of votes by the Christian Democrats each time regional elections take place has become a steady tendency... the election result can be considered as a proof of discontent caused by austerity budget that the government of Angela Merkel advocates...
Natalia MEDEN | 16.05.2012 |
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The initiatives of the Federal Republic of Germany’s government aimed at the support of “young veterans” have the final goal of war propaganda, or, to be more precise – overcoming anti-military sentiment in society and obliteration of Nazi crimes.
Natalia MEDEN | 08.05.2012 |
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«Today we’re partners, but not friends» - said Russian ambassador to Germany Vladimir Grinin meeting journalists from different countries in Berlin by the end of April. After many years of assurances that the both countries are strategic partners, the opinion mainly expressed by Russian politicians, one should welcome the more sober assessment of Russia-Germany relations. The Russian ambassador is right: no need to prevaricate and sugarcoat reality...
Natalia MEDEN | 05.05.2012 |
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