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228

Germany’s election winner pledges ‘independence from US’ (www.ft.com)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de to c/europe@feddit.org

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[–] Schnabeltierplaisir@feddit.org 93 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Merz has shown that he will say one thing and then do the exact opposite. He is probably already greasing his bald head at this very moment.

[–] Vincent@feddit.nl 14 points 4 months ago

My day would have been just fine without that mental image.

[–] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 84 points 4 months ago

Pledges and promises from Friedrich Merz are worth less than pledges and promises from any other politician, this vile character is a serial liar who would sell his own grandmother for a seat at the table and a fistful of dollars.

[–] shapesandstuff@feddit.org 39 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Merz' word is worthless. Give it time.

[–] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It's less than worthless. A dog turd on the sidewalk is worth more than the word of Friedrich Merz. That guy is a pathological opportunistic liar.

[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 30 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Very good. The whole of Europe should endeavor to wean itself from the US' protection racket asap.

[+] ddash@lemmy.dbzer0.com 58 points 4 months ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] SleafordMod@feddit.uk 6 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I don't know much about Merz but it's possible to have a politician who is shitty and self-serving, but who still says good things occasionally.

E.g. Boris Johnson. Purely a self-interested politician who has said many stupid things. But one of his views which I liked was his support for Ukraine.

[–] Hubi@feddit.org 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Boris Johnson

Yes, that's probably a solid comparison. They are kinda similar. Just without the goofy behavior and even less charisma. And Merz is (thankfully) very strongly pro-EU.

[–] SleafordMod@feddit.uk 4 points 4 months ago

Boris made some pro-EU statements in the past, but then he realised that being anti-EU would give him an opportunity to become prime minister. So he took that opportunity to put his career ambitions ahead of the country's interests.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Question is how much they actually do what they said before, when they are in power.

Merz has been talking heavily about more support for Ukraine, when it served to drive a wedge between the previous government, as the former coalition partner FDP wanted to use Ukraine support spending to cut social spending and climate investments.

The whole reason that is possible is a "debt limit" article in the constitution, that prohibits the country from taking on new debt, even if that debt is used for investments that will pay back much more money. This article was put in place mainly by the CDU but tolerated by the SPD a few years back. The CDU also sued against using leftover money from the emergency Covid fund to finance green investment. Green investment would have reduced the need for energy imports, including direct and indirect imports from Russia, which would have helped Ukraine. Also it put much more pressure onto the public budget, which reduced the legroom for Ukraine support.

The goal of the CDU was solely to use this to blow up the previous government, which eventually succeeded. Meanwhile the CDU worked hard to establish the radical pro Putin AfD Nazis further and it is possible that they will form the next government together.

[–] SleafordMod@feddit.uk 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Merz has ruled out forming a government with AfD hasn't he? I think he did on TV last night. So I assume he will try to form a government with SPD.

Anyway, I really am not massively informed on German politics. But I've heard a couple of good things from Merz so far (his support for Ukraine, and his desire to make Europe more independent of the USA). I hope he will maintain his commitment to those ideas.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Merz also said that he would never accept any working together with the AfD, not in public not in private. Anyone in the CDU that would do so, would be kicked out of the party immediately.

Now whjat we have seen instead on the past year is the CDU working together with the AfD often on the local and state level. on the federal level they finally worked together about three weeks back, when they first passed a resolution against Migration and then barely failed to pass a law together. Merz said, it isn't his fault if the AfD was voting together with them and if the other parties weren't willing to pass the [far right anti human rights anti constitutional rights] laws together with them.

https://www.dw.com/en/german-lawmakers-reject-contentious-immigration-law/live-71465034

https://jacobin.com/2025/01/germany-afd-cdu-far-right/

Merz is a far right populist and habitual liar. If he will not rule together with the pro Putin Nazis he will use it as a maximum threat for making a potential SPD coalition partner fall in line with him on all possible topics. If you follow more actively the next months, you will hear Merz lying day in day out.

[–] SleafordMod@feddit.uk 2 points 4 months ago

Fair enough. I will probably read more about him within the near future. I'm not saying I absolutely believe he will stick to support for Ukraine and European independence, I'm just saying that I hope he does.

[–] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Merz has ruled out forming a government with AfD hasn’t he?

If Friedrich Merz rules out that it will rain later today, better bring an umbrella. That guy is a pathological liar and a shameless opportunist.

He will do whatever gives him the most power. The only reason for him to form a coalition with the SPD is that he can use the threat of the AfD to blackmail the (anyway spineless) SPD into doing whatever he wants.

[–] SleafordMod@feddit.uk 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Maybe I will end up disappointed then. I just hope to see Europe standing on its own two feet if the US has no interest in Europe anymore. And I hope to see Europe continuing to back Ukraine.

[–] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I just hope to see Europe standing on its own two feet if the US has no interest in Europe anymore.

I doubt that Merz will do too much in this regard unless forced to, as he is in the pocket of his former employer, BlackRock, a US based investment firm.

[–] SleafordMod@feddit.uk 2 points 4 months ago

Well, shit. I will just follow the news and hope for the best while expecting the worst.

[–] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 15 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Not that good, the far right nazi party came in second..

[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Orthogonal issue.

[–] Pilferjinx@lemmy.world -1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Is it though? I think both parties align quite well on a lot of issues.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Then you don't know much about German politics.

[–] Pilferjinx@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

I don't unfortunately. It's hard to break into the nuances without knowing German. I hope I'm wrong, but there's going to be more radicalization before your guys next election.

[–] Suoko@feddit.it 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Wasn't NATO supposed to offer protection?

[–] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

If you still haven't noticed, NATO really is mostly an US tool for power projection in Europe and the surrounding areas. It does cosplay as a defensive alliance against Russia, but without the US, there isn't that much to it. Especially as long as the US is a member and can prevent NATO from actually defending against Russia.

[–] Suoko@feddit.it 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

We all know that but it should still be the main actor (NATO) the one who speaks, not its main member. A single member thought should be just ignored legally speaking

[–] Melchior@feddit.org 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The alternative to NATO is the EU, which is also a defensive alliance, does not include the US and has a lot of power outside of military matters. The only larger downside is that the UK is not a member, but other then that it is a much better tool.

[–] Suoko@feddit.it 1 points 4 months ago

An alternative that both USA and RUS are now trying to fight with no success.

[–] TanteRegenbogen@feddit.org 19 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If he means it, it is good. But it can't mean dependence from China or Russia.

[–] just_an_average_joe@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 months ago

Its always what they don't say