- * Germany: Main Political Parties Agree on Historic Debt Deal
- * Greenland: Politicians Unite Against Trump
- * Ukraine Ceasefire: What Putin Says & What Does He Mean
By Shashi P.B.B. Malla
Germany Resurgent
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democrats (SPD) have reached an agreement with the Green Party on a massive increase in government borrowing.
The conservative CDU/CSU bloc led by Friedrich Merz which had won the recent general election and the third-placed SPD have agreed in principle with the Greens on plans for a massive increase in state borrowing ahead of a parliamentary vote this week.
The debt reform plan, put forward jointly by the conservatives and the left-of-centre SPD, would exempt defence spending from the country’s constitutionally enshrined debt brake and create a special Euro 500 billion fund for defence and infrastructure investment (DW/Deutsche Welle/Dmytro Hubenka, March 14).
The compromise includes the allocation of Euro 100 billion for the climate and economic transformation fund.
Support from the Greens means Merz has the two-thirds parliamentary majority the planned constitutional amendments require in a vote scheduled for this week.
Merz, whose conservative bloc is also in negotiations with the SPD to form a new government following last month’s general elections, wants to secure the funds before a new parliament convenes on March 25 – at which point the CDU/CSU tie up with the SPD and the Greens would no longer have the two-thirds majority to pass the measure.
German Politicians Are Upbeat
“Germany is back,” said Merz, announcing the agreement on debt reform.
“It is a clear message to our partners and friends, but also to our opponents, to the enemies of our freedom: we are capable of defending ourselves and we are now fully prepared to defend ourselves,” he said.
Merz also said he expects the country to release Euro 3 billion in military aid to Ukraine once the Bundesrat (the upper house) passes the debt reform.
“There will be no shortage of financial resources to defend freedom and peace on our continent,” Merz stressed.
“Germany is making its major contribution to the defence of freedom and peace in Europe.”
Meanwhile, Social Democrat co-leader Lars Klingbeil said a major government borrowing and investment push was a “powerful boost” for Europe’s largest economy.
“We have laid the foundation for Germany to get back on its feet and protect itself,” Klingbeil said after his SPD agreed with conservatives and Greens on the historic debt package.
Green parliamentary group leader Katharina Droege said the Euro 100 billion, which must be spent on new measures rather than to fill budgetary holes, “will make a difference” as the money would be “channeled in the right direction”.
Though the Green Party will not be part of the next government, she said negotiations to reach the compromise would allow ministers in the future government to “do the right thing.”
Outgoing Bundestag to Pass the Debt Reform
The Greens had initially refused to back the plan, which needed their support to reach the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment in the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament.
Merz’s goal is to secure the funds before the new Bundestag convenes on March 25, where they risk being blocked by an expanded contingent of far-right and far-left lawmakers.
The outgoing Bundestag could pass the package this Tuesday. It would then have to be approved by a two-thirds majority in the upper house, the Bundesrat.
Greenland Defiant
Greenland has now burst onto the global political stage.
Greenland’s leading political parties have issued a joint statement to condemn Donald Trump’s “unacceptable behavior”, after the US president seemed to escalate his campaign to take over the island by whatever means necessary/possible.
The show of unity saw all leaders of parties in the Inatsisartut – the parliament – release of a joint message saying they “cannot accept the repeated statements about annexation and control of Greenland” (BBC/Tiffany Wertheimer/ March 14).
It follows a meeting between Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, where the president seemed to double down on his annexation plan.
Greenland’s joint statement was orchestrated by outgoing Prime Minister Mute B. Egede, whose own party was defeated in a general election last week Tuesday.
“Our country will never be the U.S.A. and we Greenlanders will never be Americans,” Egede wrote on Facebook. “Don’t keep treating us with disrespect. Enough is enough.”
Greenland – the world’s biggest island, between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans – has been controlled by Denmark, nearly 3,000 km away, for about 300 years (longer than the U.S. has been in existence!).
Greenland governs its own domestic affairs, but decisions on foreign and defence policy are made in Copenhagen.
The U.S. has long had a security interest in the island. It has had a military base there since World War II, and Trump is probably keen on the rare earth minerals that could be mined.
Greenland was already on the defensive about Trump’s annexing talk, but his comments to Rutte at the White House sent further shockwaves when he implied that NATO’s help might be needed to seize the island.
“You know, Mark, we need that for international security . . . we have a lot of our favourite players [ implying Russia and China ] cruising around the coast, and we have to be careful,” Trump said, “We’ll be talking to you,” he added.
When asked about the prospect of annexation, Trump said: “I think that will happen.”
Rutte has been criticized in both Greenland and Denmark for not reprimanding Trump. Instead, he said he would “leave that [issue] outside…I do not want to drag NATO into that.”
He then pivoted to praise – something several world leaders have used when dealing with Donald Trump – saying he was “totally right” that security in the Arctic must be maintained.
The joint statement from Greenland’s politicians emphasized that they are united in their pushback against Trump’s plan to seize Greenland.
“Greenland continues the work for Greenland,” the statement said.
“We all stand behind this effort and strongly distance ourselves from attempts to create discord.”
“Their decision to speak out came three days after elections in which the centre-right opposition – the Democratic Party – won a surprise victory.
Its leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who is likely to be Greenland’s new prime minister, is now negotiating with other parties to form a coalition government (BBC).
Hundreds of Greenlanders took to the streets last Saturday to protest against US President Donald Trump’s stated goal of taking control of the island.
Ukraine Ceasefire: The Stark Divide
Most analysts are clear that there is often a gulf between what Russian President Vladimir Putin says and what he actually means.
Asked about the US-backed proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, Putin gave a long and convoluted answer during his last week’s Thursday news conference.
Some sentences were made-for-TV, with short quotes that sounded very favourable – when seen out of context – to the Trump administration’s plan, which Ukraine has already agreed to.
Early on in his answer, Putin said: “we agree with the proposal” – a quote that made headlines across the world.
But he went on to make it clear that Moscow will not agree to an actual deal any time soon (CNN World/Lauren Kent, March 14).
In his full response, Putin effectively shut down the idea – demanding concessions from Kyiv, raising numerous questions and repeating the maximalist demands that Russia has held since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Trump himself commented positively on Putin’s reaction to the ceasefire proposal, saying in an upbeat tone that it was “promising…but it wasn’t complete.”
But a closer look at what Putin said makes it clear that Russia is stalling and remains entrenched in its long-held positions:
- “We agree with the proposal to cease hostilities but we have to bear in mind this ceasefire must be aimed at a long-lasting peace and it must look at the root causes of the crisis.” – Putin
It’s not the first time Putin has urged eliminating what he calls the “root causes” of the war, and the Kremlin has previously claimed the current democratically elected Ukrainian government is part of those.
One of the Kremlin’s rationales for the war was that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s election was illegitimate.
[Putin firmly believes that Ukraine was never an independent and sovereign nation, but an integral part of Mother Russia. Therefore, how could Russia be invading its own territory? It just initiated a special military operation in order to restore law and order! By this argument, the Western Powers were interfering in Russia’s internal affairs.]
Putin would instead like to see a pro-Russian leader installed in Ukraine [In recent weeks, Trump has echoed the Kremlin’s calls for Zelensky to be replaced, going as far as claiming that the Ukrainian president is a dictator.]
The “root causes” also refer to the Kremlin’s claims that Russia is threatened by NATO expansion after the end of the Cold War.
That reflects Putin’s desire to see the military alliance withdraw from former Communist states that were part of the Soviet sphere of influence.
In the past, he has falsely claimed that NATO made a commitment not to expand eastwards after the fall of the USSR. In fact, NATO has always had an open-door policy.
Putin has repeatedly used NATO as an excuse for the invasion of Ukraine and demanded that Kyiv is blocked from joining the alliance and accept permanent neutrality.
The Russian president also questions how a ceasefire would be implemented effectively, restating his opposition to European proposals to put peacekeeping forces on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a deal.
The Trump administration has repeatedly emphasized its desire for a quick resolution to the war and publicly said Ukraine doesn’t hold any cards in the peace negotiations.
It seems that the Russian leader wants to sound favourable to Trump, expressing solidarity with his position.
However, it does not appear that Putin has actually shifted on any of his previous demands.
Brian Taylor, a political science professor at Syracuse University sums up: “Putin’s answer seems carefully crafted to sound like a ‘yes’ to Trump but be a ‘no’ in practice, unless Ukraine is forced to submit to Russia’s demands” (CNN).
Trump and Putin were scheduled to speak on Tuesday as efforts continue to end the war in Ukraine, a move that could represent a possible pivot point in the conflict and an opportunity for Trump to continue reorienting American foreign policy (AP/Associated Press, March 17).
Comments:
Leave a Reply