Opinion: (Joschka Fischer, Germany’s Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor from 1998 to 2005): “The behavior of the EU and its most important member states has been irresolute and dithering, owing to national egotism and a breathtaking absence of leadership….

“States can go bust just like companies, but, unlike companies, they don’t disappear when that happens. That is why states should not be punished, and why their ongoing interests should not be underestimated.…

“Refusing to pay is not a viable option, because Germany and all Eurozone members are in the same boat….

“The European financial crisis is really a political crisis, because EU leaders are unable to decide on the necessary measures. Instead, time is lost on secondary issues largely rooted in domestic policy concerns….

“The euro – and with it the EU as a whole – will not survive without greater European political unification. If Europeans want to keep the euro, we must forge ahead with political union now; otherwise, like it or not, the euro and European integration will be undone. Europe would then lose nearly everything it has gained over a half-century from transcending nationalism. In the light of the emerging new world order, this would be a tragedy for Europeans….

“Germany and France, the two crucial players in this crisis, will have to devise a joint strategy, because only they, working together, can push through a solution….

“What is required, therefore, is an open bilateral French-German dialogue about a comprehensive realignment of the monetary union.”

My Comment: Ah, this eternal struggle between reason and greed, between your own political future and the welfare of the people or even the world…. But without integral upbringing, the EU will not survive and will fall apart. Evidently, the world will have to go through sufferings to become convinced that nature puts before us the condition to correct ourselves and unite not in a market, but in a union.
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