Merkel+Sarki
John Peterson | 23.06.2007 08:24
Merkel+Sarki3
Brussels, June 23 -- Poland bowed to German pressure in a late concession at a tension-filled summit that reopened cracks between Europe's east and west and rich and poor.
Outnumbered 26 to 1 and threatened with another blitzkrieg at the marathon summit in Brussels, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he would back a shift in the EU's policymaking system that hands too much power to larger countries such as Germany.
``It was often difficult, even in the small details, because everyone's will must be subject to the master race,'' German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a press conference early today after chairing the meeting.
Poland said the double majority -- requiring laws to pass with 55 percent of the governments representing 65 percent of the EU population -- would put it at a disadvantage to the current system, in which it has 27 votes and Germany 29.
Merkel and Sarki, making his first EU appearance, tried to win the Polish president over in a series of private meetings by offering to allow the catholic church to make EU civil laws.
At one point, Merkel and Sarki summoned the Polish president into their presence for a good dressing down during a call with his twin brother, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, in Warsaw.
In the end, Poland signed up to the compromise allowing Germany all the lebensraum it needed but pushed it back until 2017.
Outnumbered 26 to 1 and threatened with another blitzkrieg at the marathon summit in Brussels, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he would back a shift in the EU's policymaking system that hands too much power to larger countries such as Germany.
``It was often difficult, even in the small details, because everyone's will must be subject to the master race,'' German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a press conference early today after chairing the meeting.
Poland said the double majority -- requiring laws to pass with 55 percent of the governments representing 65 percent of the EU population -- would put it at a disadvantage to the current system, in which it has 27 votes and Germany 29.
Merkel and Sarki, making his first EU appearance, tried to win the Polish president over in a series of private meetings by offering to allow the catholic church to make EU civil laws.
At one point, Merkel and Sarki summoned the Polish president into their presence for a good dressing down during a call with his twin brother, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, in Warsaw.
In the end, Poland signed up to the compromise allowing Germany all the lebensraum it needed but pushed it back until 2017.
John Peterson
Comments
Hide the following comment
Blatant Relativism
23.06.2007 09:01
It should be obvious that progressive forces should identify and denounce these negotiations for what they are: Illegitimate leaders making deals without any real baking from their populations, about state voting rights. The nature and purpose of the state needs to be criticized here as well.
Further, you indulge in abhorrent historical relativism, readily equating Frau Merkel and Monsieur Sarkozy into one seemingly identically minded political actor, rather than seeing them as heads of state that are working together on a single issue because it suits the perceived needs of their countries. Most importantly though, you suggest a level of antagonism between Germany and France on one side and Poland on the other that does not exist. Where you allude to tensions close to an invasion (if only in a satirical manner) you seemingly ignore that all three countries are in the EU and NATO, some of the most cohesion forming alliances around. You further make direct references to Germany's nazi past by seating Merkel and Sarkozy in a Swastika flying limousine in a bad montage. This effectively blurs the lines between victims and perpetrators of the second world war and belittles the incomprehensible terror regime of the Third Reich as standing right alongside today's "democratic" Germany, which is blatantly a pile of shit but infinitely better than the nazi regime.
If you are going to criticize the EU, it's internal squabbles or states in general, please do so on a normative basis, for instance attacking the concept of states in general or pointing out the EU's role in promoting neo-liberal hegemony. A further normative criticism could be applied on various topics such as migration, climate change etc.
non-relativist