COMMENT: The invaluable german-foreign-policy.com newsletter (which feeds along the bottom of the front page of this website) sheds interesting light on how the indebtedness of failing European economies plays into the hands of those who aspire to the geographical expansion of Germany.
Wealthier areas of struggling nations are moving toward secession, in some cases looking to realign with Germany or Austria or, in the case of oil-enriched Scotland, weakening the United Kingdom, Berlin’s main rival.
Note that both Germany and Hungary (part of the Axis in WWII) have granted citizenship to citizens of other countries who are of German and Hungarian ancestry.
This has been taking place as Hungary manifests political reaction similar to that of the fascist Arrow Cross organization that allied with Hitler in World War II and the Republican Party’s ethnic outreach branch in the postwar period.
“Europe Adrift (II)”; german-foreign-policy.com; 12/22/2011.
EXCERPT: Under the pressure of the Euro crisis, secessionist conflicts — some directly supported by Berlin — are escalating in various European countries. Italy is most affected, where the country’s more prosperous regions seek to secede from the nation, to escape Berlin’s austerity dictate. According to the reasoning, Italy’s more impoverished southern regions are responsible for the country’s enormous national debt and should therefore be the main ones to pay the price. Secessionist demands are raised particularly in the German-speaking region of South Tyrol and in the Po Valley region “Padania”. Whereas in “Padania,” prestigious elements, particularly those affiliated with the “Lega Nord” (North League), are seeking to form an independent nation, ethnic chauvinist circles in “South Tyrol” are seeking annexation by Austria. Following the pattern of both Hungary and Germany, Vienna is currently considering granting citizenship to “Austrians abroad.” Secessionist forces are also gaining ground in Great Britain. In Scotland, a referendum on the question of forming an independent country is scheduled for 2014 or 2015. Germany would be the primary beneficiary of a weakening of its British rival. . . .
deeply interested WW11 veteran
engage3d in research on Germany growth
You have to wonder how long it’s going to be before the Szekler autonomy movement is back in the news:
And then there’s the “Szekler Legion”:
Good to see you back on this website, Mr. Beckhough.
It is deeply moving to me to see one of the Heroes of Bletchley Park checking in here.
Thanks and know that others are carrying on the good fight.
Yes, Dave and Mr Beckhough,
Others are carrying the good fight, regular users of this website for example, such as myself, Pterrafractyl, Steven, Rob Coogan, Dwight, R. Wilson, to name a few. And I have good news for you: the days of the European Union are numbered. Standard and Poor’s have just degraded France’s credit rating from AAA to AA+. In a matter of a few months, the whole EU will blow out and the Euro will be abandoned. This nightmare will be over. Of course, you saw it for what it was years ago, but now we are millions that can see the same thing.
Thank you for your great work, Mr Beckhough!
@Mr. Beckhough: Why, hello, and good tidings! Glad to see you back, good sir. :)
In light of the ethnic-Hungarian Szekler movement in Romania, here’s a 2010 article about Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party in Hungary seeking duel Hungarian citizenship for ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries. With Orban’s party having achieved near complete control of Hungary’s levers of power, and tensions with Slovakia already erupting over the citizenship fast-track law, this will be a legislative agenda to watch going forward:
Yep, this could get ugly:
We are proud to announce the ironic term of the week: “Judicial Czar”.
There’s an important human capital dynamic that’s emerging in the eurozone: labor migration from the PIIGS to the wealthier members (it sounds like mostly Germany) and the associated “brain drain” of highly skilled workers. It part of a the nEU Normal:
Ok, so the German labor market is about to get the shock doctrine (applied across the wage scale), especially for highly skilled workers. And the FPD is even calling for migrant worker minimum wage policy harmonization with the rest of the EU members. This could get interesting:
Ha! Deficits....yeah, THAT’s the big problem with what’s going on in Hungary.
I never thought I’d see another major democratic community discredit itself as rapidly as the US leaders managed to do during the recent Bush era, but in recent years the eurozone leaders are giving the Bushies a real run for their money.
The growing concerns over a potential bailout of Cyprus’s banking system highlights something the eurozone’s pro-secession movements might want to consider if they’re planning on staying in the eurozone after gaining independence: Big banks in small nations become ticking time bombs in the eurozone:
As the above article indicates, there are an enormous number of important questions regarding the structure of a Cyprus bank bailout given the potential size of the bailout compared to the size of the nation. But there’s also the question of whether or not Cyprus should get a bailout at all. It might be too tiny:
To summarize: small states in the eurozone may not want to have a large systemically important banking sectors because at some point those banks will face a crisis and require a bailout. And bailouts equate to public austerity because somebody has to pay off all the banksters:
Yes, Cyprus’s banks experienced massive losses from the Greek implosion and now need a 10 billion euro bailout in order to recapitalize the banks. With a GDP of 18 billion euros this is the kind of situation that could bankrupt Cyprus itself and require a bailout of the state. And because Cyprus is tiny nation compared to the entire eurozone it first needs to be determined if Cyprus’s banking system is “systemically important”. If Cyprus’s banks aren’t deemed to be systemically important the banks will presumably be allowed to implode, inflicting who knows what damage on the public. And if they are deemed to be systemically important then a bailout might proceed but with steps taken to reduce its size like state asset privatizations and a public austerity program. It’s a current context independence movements that include large banking sectors might want to consider.