Southern Europe rebuffs von der Leyen’s debt-based defense plan
Southern Europe rebuffs von der Leyen’s debt-based defense plan
www.politico.eu
Southern Europe rebuffs von der Leyen’s debt-based defense plan – POLITICO
3 comments
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Oh, here we go again. I knew this "visionary defense plan" would be paid with what is left of the welfare state in the EU. The pro-Trump pro-Kremlin fifth columnists which already have a foothold in southern European states couldn't have asked for better.
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The Commission has since acknowledged that national budgets would need to be cut elsewhere to accommodate rising defense costs — a tough political sell in countries whose citizens are more preoccupied with migration and climate change than Russian tanks.
This is just about how the money is delivered. If it's sent as national debt, and the debt caps stay in place, that necessitates counterproductive cuts. If the money is in the form of grants, no cuts would be necessary since there's spare capacity in the EU economy. The EC should get their shit together and just do that instead of forcing austerity that hurts growth. Not hopeful with the current boss.
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Yeah, exactly. But it's the usual German/Dutch "I'm not gonna stick my neck out for those southern lazy bastards" mentality which reached its peak in 2011 and keeps on being repeated in a loop, despite southern Europe having adhered strictly to the plan which was set by their overlords back then, imposing crippling austerity measures which effectively harmed their own populations and economies for decades to come and triggered a brain dump with irreversible consequences (and has been recognized by none other than the IMF and the EC as has having been excessive). Why should Portugal, Spain or Italy borrow (German) money to pay for (German/French) equipment they will likely never use only to, in 10 years, find the German again at their doors, asking why they didn't keep their deficits in check?
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