The Duran Podcast - Merkelism sinking the European Union

Episode Date: November 14, 2023

Merkelism sinking the European Union

All right, Alexander, let's talk about the EU economy, which I think Mario Draghi said the other days moving towards recession. We can talk about the German economy, which is in recession. And I think the accession talks between the EU, which have been approved between the European Union, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Georgia, they're not going to help the the economic situation in the European Union one bit. So let's discuss the ever-sinking EU. Well, you know, it's good that you brought up the question of those accession talks, because we see, again, what remains the ultimate fixation of the European bureaucracy.

I mean, they have a deteriorating economy, a severely deteriorating economy, and yet their priority is not to fix that problem, but to go on expanding the project. And they are not really interested, this is my own sense, in this deteriorating situation. And of course, at the moment, I mean, you know, given that there's a war on in Ukraine, starting accession talks with Ukraine is an absurd idea. It makes no sense at all. And, you know, it just again heightens the sense of unreality about the whole way in which the EU is conducted.

Now, let's get back to reality. Now, apparently there was a report issued by the scientific. Committee of the Bundestag, the German Parliament in August. It's been given almost no attention whatsoever. I finally saw a link to it thanks to a piece that was written about it at the recent Valdei conference. And what it basically says is this. The EU economy as a whole is in bad shape. has been now for a long time. Growth has been low when there has been any growth at all. If you're talking about Italy, it has been in, its economy has been stagnating now for something like a quarter of a century. In other words, ever since the euro was introduced. And that's basically the general story right across the whole EU, right across the Eurozone and the EU as

well. But to the extent that there has been any growth driver, that growth driver has been Germany, except Germany now is in a difficult position because the entire German model was predicated on industrial, on manufacturing exports, made competitive through cheap energy import, from Russia. The EU has now closed off those energy imports. The result is that there is no, Germany is not receiving cheap energy. That's increasing internal costs, domestic costs, in Germany relative to Germany's trade rifles, and that means that Germany's losing its competitive position. And that is a long-term problem. And the report went on to say that to the extent that it can, the German government is trying to counter this loss of competitiveness by providing

subsidies and increasing spending. But that is over time deteriorating Germany's fiscal position. And that will in time lead to higher taxes, higher tax burdens, problems in the bond markets, all of those things, and that will reinforce a long-term policy, a long-term trend of loss of competitiveness and de-industrialisation. So, a very bleak picture already made worse. by a sanctions war that of course the EU is intensifying because even as they start these talks with Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, they're simultaneously continuing, increasing the number of sanctions. They're imposing against Russia. So now it's, well, we've talked about the diamonds, but they're heading apparently they're going to impose

the sanctions on diamonds next week. Yeah, the 12th, 13th sanctions package that they're now about to launch next week. So, you know, where is this all heading for the European Union? I mean, is there anybody who can put on the brakes here? Because it's obvious that the EU is going to break apart, is going to implode on these policies. I mean, well, Moldova has a territorial dispute. It should not be allowed it to the European Union. That's obvious.

And I'm not even getting it to the economics of Moldova. I mean, obviously, it doesn't fulfill any of the requirements to enter the European Union if you believe that the EU ever had requirements to maybe once upon a time it would take those requirements seriously. but, you know, Moldova, Ukraine, obviously. Ukraine doesn't fulfill any of the requirements to enter the European Union. Even though Ursula, detached from reality, Ursula gave a speech and she said Ukraine has fulfilled 90% of the reforms that the EU requires. Bosnia, Herzegovina, Georgia. I mean, you know, economics war against Russia, Germany deindustrialized.

There's no one in all of Europe, in all of Europe who can say, look, I despise Russia. I hate Russia. I hate Putin, but okay, enough. Well, there might be, outside of a robot, by the way. Well, such a person might eventually emerge, but there is no sign of them so far. What we basically have in Europe, and this is the real disaster, is we still have, in fact, we have reinforced Merkelism, except that we don't have Merkel herself to run the system. Merkel created this extraordinary system in Europe

where everything is basically run bureaucratically from the centre, from Merkel's centre. She ran things like a kind of metternique. But she was sufficiently grounded in reality to keep all the various balls in the air at the same time and to keep the show on the road. Now, she has gone. Her system continues.

All the people that we see running things, Ursula von der Leyen, for example. They are basically people left over from Merkel's system. But she, of course, isn't there any longer. And they're just continuing to do the kind of things that they were being encouraged to do through the system

that Merkel created without having Merkel herself able to bring them onto control and to hold them in check. So the real disaster and the disaster for Germany but also for the disaster for all of Europe

is that this stagnation and this process of deindustrialisation is becoming institutionalised and there is no end in sight to it. So, you know, there is, just about able to avoid for the moment a big crisis. And maybe they will be able to continue to do that,

just as Merkel could. But the problem is that in a way that is the worst of all outcomes, because it means that with every year that passes, deindustrialisation trends grow stronger, stagnation trends right across the political and economic system get deeper and it becomes ever more difficult to break out of this thing which is pulling the whole of Europe down. Now eventually it will all crash but the longer it keeps on this kind of track the worst it gets but Merkel very successfully destroyed all the alternatives and at the centre no alternatives, no debate, no discussion is there, no debate or discussion is allowed.

Yeah, but even Merkel and Hollande, say that the two people, Germany and France, way back that created this system, even they're not speaking out against reckless move, like letting Ukraine into the European Union, which a five-year-old understands is ridiculous. It doesn't take much to understand that this is ridiculous. But they're encouraging this. They're encouraging the subsidies and the spending and Project Ukraine. I mean, I don't hear Merkel coming out or Oland. Actually, I think Olaunt has actually come out with statements encouraging Project

Ukraine to continue. But I don't see them coming out and saying, look, when we're going. we were running the show in Europe. You know, we showed some, some restraint and some rationality. I mean, they're not saying that. So it seems like everyone on Europe is on board with the destruction of Europe, of the EU. Destruction of the EU. Yeah, well, this is the irony about Merkel, because, of course, she is both discredited personally, even as a system endures.

she controlled the system but to the extent that she exercised control her control was actually resented by the people who are in charge so now the teacher has gone and without the teacher the class you know just does what it wants

and they're not prepared to listen to the teacher and the teacher herself is afraid to speak out. I don't know what Merkel herself thinks about this whole situation, but as I said, she's so discredited that she doesn't want to end up in the same sort of situation that Gerhard Schroeder, her predecessor, is in, where he's in the doghouse. I understand his pension has been taken away. He's lost all the positions that he was entitled to have,

as a former German chance, his own party, the SPD has repudiated him. You see the ruthlessness of the system towards any kind of dissent, but of course this is all the structures, this ruthlessness is something that Merkel has self-created. So what we have is a Europe trapped into immobilism and stagnation, continuing on automatic pilot, because the pilot herself has left the bridge and there's no one to take a place.

I agree. And my final question and comment is that you're right. It's, you know, I live in the European Union. You at one time lived in the European Union, though. Some would argue that you are still living in the European Union being based in the UK. Who knows? Maybe that's a separate video for another time. But, you know, it is a ruthless system.

The EU is absolutely a ruthless system. But what good is the ruthless system if the system is being pushed towards collapse? I mean, you understand what I'm saying? I mean, yeah, these people, they love their power. They love, you know, running the European Union. They love the control they have over all the citizens of Europe. But what good is it if you're moving this car? towards the cliff.

Who's going to pay for Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia, and Georgia when they enter the European Union? Who's going to pay for this now that Germany is in recession and has been completely crushed? Because in the past, Germany would pay for all of this. Germany would pay for the countries in the south or for the Eastern European. countries. It was Germany that flipped the bill. Who's going to pay for it now? Real quick, Alexander, Bloomberg read an article the other day yesterday with the title EU-Mulls alternative Ukraine funding plan to bypass Hungary veto. And in the article, it says that because Hungary is blocking the 50 billion to Ukraine, the plan from the EU now is a proposal which would involve

national guarantees from member states to raise funding in the markets. Should Budapest, block the review of the EU's long-term budget, which includes the package and requires the unanimity, according to people familiar with the discussions, the money to Ukraine, the 50 billion, because Hungary is blocking it. From what I'm getting from this, the EU plan is we want the member states to take out loans and guarantee those loans to go to Ukraine, to raise money, and that money that they're going to raise is going to be sent to Olenski. So, I mean, this is such madness, but who's paying for all this?

of this, well, ultimately all the bills come, and of course, we do. I mean, well, I said we do. I mean, European citizens do. I mean, that's the thing to always understand about this. And of course, this mechanism that Bloomberg is talking about. I mean, bear in mind what it ultimately is, is a form of Eurobonds. Remember, the whole system was not supposed to result in Eurobonds being created. The Germans oppose Eurobonds. Inexorably, Eurobonds are now starting. to appear because the European Commission wants Eurobonds. And if you really want to understand why they're so intent on pressing forward with EU expansion, again, it's, you see, they are not focused, they're not focused upon the economics of any of this.

They do sense that they have problems with the project. So their own feeling is we've got to go on, keep on expanding. Because if we don't, if we don't expand, if we don't integrate more deeply, if we don't expand territorially, the whole thing will start to fall apart even faster than it is doing at the moment. So we just keep going. We keep moving on. we can't address the underlying problems in the system because if we did, that would call the whole system into question.

So all we can do is press forward. Press forward with these Eurobonds ideas, which circumvents sovereign states, clear violation of the treaties. But you see that that's how they're thinking. And at the same time, of course, we press on with a... expansion as well. And in the meantime, things within the EU continue to get worse. And by the way, you asked about Britain. You mentioned Britain. Britain, of course, is in exactly

the same situation because, of course, we left the EU, but the EU system, the Merkelism, essentially, it's the extraordinary thing about this, Merkelism in Britain has got worse since we left the EU, because we've already talked about this, how all of the dissident forces that rose up in the 2015-2016 period, Corbyn, Farage, the people who navigated through the Brexit referendum, all of them have been neutralised, and they've been banished to the margins and driven out of the system, and so that the establishment,

the Merkel-type establishment is in control here. But we've just had a report from the Bank of England, of all places, in which they also say that Britain is now a high-tax stagnating economy. Sounds exactly like the EU. But how has that come about? It's because Britain is pursuing essentially, ultimately, the same type of policies that the EU. EU is, they also remain obsessively focused with Ukraine. They also continue to impose sanctions

after sanctions. They also cut themselves off from their hinterland, which is in a sense what Russia is, the country that can provide the raw materials, the cheap energy, the cheap food, that, you know, might make a difference in Europe and might provide possibilities for lowering costs, cutting taxes, doing that kind of thing. But you see, ideologically, politically, you can't do that. So you keep going, despite the fact that you yourself have been told, by your own central bank, the Bank of England in this case, which is as establishment as it gets, that your economy is now locked into an indefinite stagnation. yeah your euro bonds for Zelensky knowing knowing that he's lost the war and they know that

he's lost the war but they're still going to do Eurobonds for for Ukraine it's it's unbelievable it has it has nothing to do the the EU project has been completely exposed it has nothing to do with an economic union with trade with freedom of movement, it has nothing to do with that. At the end of the day, what the EU was, is, and continues to move towards is an empire. It's all about U.S. empire. It's all about U.S. Empire projection. Well, it is absolutely... The U.S. figured it out. The U.S. figured it out. They said instead of dealing with 27 individual countries and having to deal with 27 countries, that's going to be a big headache, just bundle them into one package and we can just deal with

one central entity and that's how we can control all of Europe. That's it. Absolutely. And it needs to expand. It has to expand.

Absolutely. Because that's what Empire does. Absolutely. And that's of course what a bureaucracy wants to do. The main engine for all of these policies

ultimately within Europe itself is the bureaucracy in Brussels, which is ultimately unaccountable. It's not elected. There's no government that supervises it.

I mean, there are lots of governments. Well, you've got lots of governments and no single one government, then, of course, essentially, they're able to play one government off against each other, the other they can do all of these things. And, of course, they want to aggrandize and increase their size and power, which, by definition, is what bureaucracies do. If you leave them out of control, if you leave them unchecked, that's what they do. so they're very happy to go along with the imperial enterprise,

because from their point of view, that plays exactly into what they are. But of course, coming back to what we said, it's all based on unreality. And in the end, it is unsustainable. But the damage it is doing in the process is colossal. And to be honest, I don't know that Europe as a civilizational entity, as a center in world affairs is ever coming back. I mean, we had Yosea Borrell going to China recently,

saying, you know, why don't you take us seriously? And you could almost see the Chinese laughing behind their hands. Yeah, it's not coming back, not in our lifetime, that's for sure. It's not coming back, yeah. I think Europe is openly mocked around the world now. I mean, openly mocked and disrespected. And just a final note, how can, how can, how can, member states question or dissent from the rule of a central Brussels entity when that central force

ultimately controls the fiscal policy and the finances of that member state. I mean, even if a member state like Greece, which uses the euro, which is dependent on the euro, even if Greece questions Ursula's sanctions against Russia, what are they going to do? when when the EU can just, you know, close the tap of euros going into the country, which it has done before. I mean, there is, there is no discussion debate or democracy in, in Europe whatsoever, which is why they also announced, just out of final note, which is why they also announced the past couple of days,

the central bank digital currency and the creation of the European ID and the wallet bundled it to one. I mean, more control and authoritarianism is where they're heading expansion and more authoritarianism. Well, this is exactly correct, but there we go. I mean, you know, full steam ahead towards the cliff edge, which is admittedly some distance away. But as I said, in the process, Europe is becoming marginalised in world affairs. It's no longer. It's no longer. the cultural powerhouse, it has always been in the past. I mean, you know, right all the way back to the ancient Greeks, Europe was one of the great power, intellectual and cultural powerhouses of the world. Well, what sign of that is there anymore?

Maybe some distance away, but what, here's a final thought. What happens, now that they've committed themselves to letting Ukraine into the European Union, what happens? when uh when russia if let's not say when if russia decides to uh how can i say this decides to to to move ahead and and swallow up uh ukraine i mean what what happens or ukraine is so is so utterly defeated in this conflict that there is no more ukraine for all intensive purposes i mean What happens then now that the EU has committed themselves to Ukraine's entry to the European Union? Well, the world sees that the emperor has no clothes because there's nothing they can do. They'll run to the Americans and plead for them, to them, for the Americans to do something.

And, of course, what the Americans will do in that situation, nobody knows. But the reality is that they have no power to prevent that thing. In fact, in reality, their power is diminishing. bear in mind they can't even produce shells. I mean, you know, 4,000 shells at the month is all they can make. So, I mean, you know, but I mean, that is all they can do. And as is that they will be exposed, like the emperor was exposed when it was shown that he had no clothes. I mean, are there any legal issues or any, I mean, you know, they're opening up a session talks with a state that could potentially not exist in.

in a year or two or exist under the umbrella of Russia's influence. I mean, do you just call it off? We're calling off the accession? I mean, the talks? I presume that that he's in practice what they would do. I mean, you know, if Ukraine is brought immediately into the EU and then Russia Congress is it, as I said. I mean, it'll be, I mean, they will be left looking completely ridiculous.

And as I said, they'll run to the Americans, and, you know, we see what the Americans do in that situation. But if the accession talks are prolonged, you know, a couple of years, and Ukraine collapses in the meantime, then they will, I suspect, as the word says, they will suspend them. They will say they will wait until Ukraine is once again free and strong. and has all its territories, including Crimea, back, and that's when they will resume. And they will keep the mirage, you know, continuing, you know, fooling people in Ukraine, that one day this will happen.

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