Politics EU Politics and News

[Musashi]

In all fairness, does Poland even have the manpower (nevermind the financial means) to follow through with all acquisitions announced by the PiS?

No, we don't and everybody, except for die PiS-Männer knows about it. We can achieve it by re-introducing the draft, the way Lithuania did. The thing is, each and every party should agree to that or we will end up the parties who are against such an idea losing future elections.

You know perfectly well I love the idea of an arms build-up and the creation of strategic reserves, but …

I mean, how about those 486 HIMARS launchers for example? What can they do that 200 launchers couldn't?

I don't know. Die PiS-Männer are famous for stupid ideas. Somebody said this insane number of HIMARSes plus a few hundred SK Chunmoos should make up for the weak aviation. Another guy said 2 sets of 6 HIMARS missiles cost as much as the launcher.

And has the war in Ukraine not shown that ammunition is the limiting factor, not the number of artillery pieces? Poland would have to set up a missile production on par with America's own to actually utilise the sheer size of that fleet.

That's the plan.

As a former military logistics guy, I'd expect a significant number of those 486 launchers will only ever sit idly in some hall, never fire a missile and only generate maintenance costs.

Everybody knows about it.

Anyway, Poland is the only NATO member that is going to spend 4% of its GDP on defence. We are expanding our production capabilities to develop our economy and not to be dependent on foreign suppliers.

The present problem is, that the EU does not do much to rebuild its defence industry and produce a good number of tanks and SPGs.

I heard a Polish analyst saying that RuZZia may freeze the conflict with Ukraine after a few years, China may attack Taiwan, diverting U.S. forces to the Pacific and RuZZia may use this opportunity to blackmail the EU, so the latter would bend to its demands.
Our stocks are depleted and most countries don't do enough to replenish them.

 

[muck]

"PiS-Männer", I love it. Is that a common joke amongst Polish-speakers?

 

[Jake84]

"PiS-Männer", I love it. Is that a common joke amongst Polish-speakers?

Die Engländer behaupten, das deutsche Volk wehrt sich gegen die totalen Kriegsmaßnahmen der Regierung. Es will nicht den totalen Krieg, sondern die Kapitulation.

Niemals.

 

[Musashi]

"PiS-Männer", I love it. Is that a common joke amongst Polish-speakers?

No, it’s just me. I was born less than 1km from the German border, I was exposed much more to German culture and the language than most Polish people, and my region is the most anti-PiS one in Poland.

Please note that I often refer to the German Greens as Gründiots.

 

[muck]

And rightly so.

 

[haze99]

Well now!
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/20...make-deporting-undesirable-foreigners-easier/

 

[Mike1976]

Well now!
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/20...make-deporting-undesirable-foreigners-easier/

Everyone knows the courts are going to block this and the countries of origin are not taking them back.

 

[Jake84]

Everyone knows the courts are going to block this and the countries of origin are not taking them back.

Yep, but muh European Court for Human Rights.

Unfortunately your mere sentence is true. To make a brief point and compare things. Trump also had his hands tied behind his back, despite having an iron hand and meaning well.

 

[muck]

I don't think the courts will be the issue here.

If you take a measured approach, like the Council here actually did (accepting that a compromise solution is better still than striving for total victory and ending up empty-handed), you have the principle of proportionality on your side and are protected by the primacy of politics.

The ECtHR doesn't have a mandate to second-guess the political decisions at which governments arrive; the court "only" has a mandate to examine whether or not due diligence was exercised whilst reaching the decision (i.e. that objective criteria were used and the principle of proportionality respected). Keeping that in mind, it is perfectly possible to restrict the rights granted by the ECHR.

Restricting is not the same as infringing! A restriction only becomes infringement if the ECHR's principles have been violated.

Adverse decisions like the one Britain has to expect over their "Rwanda flights" (provided they don't suspend the ECHR anyway and free themselves of ECtHR jurisdiction) are only possible due to the lack of a measured approach.

The countries of origin are going to be the tough nut to crack.

Realistically speaking, they'll have to be bribed, and even that isn't going to work in each and every case.

But only so because we're a bunch of f***ing lemons.

Just look at the row which several European countries have with Tunisia, which staunchly refuses to permit re-entry to deported Tunisian citizens. Why don't we pull all diplomatic strings here, like cutting off foreign aid? Why aren't we dragging them to the ICJ? Why don't we stir up some S**t and (figuratively speaking) ask the Tunisian people if they're okay with their government refusing Tunisians the right to enter Tunisia? In short, even in the event of non-cooperation we're not out of legal options yet. We just have to take them.

 

[Redav]

 

[Redav]

The video is not new but it's very relevant

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[Redav]

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[Picanha]

Let's see what comes out of this

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/eu-investigators-inspect-chinas-byd-geely-saic-ev-probe-source-2024-01-12/

I can't imagine they didn't profit from some world domination scheme subsidies.

Same as with the solar panels let's not be idiots again.

And apparently they need the EU market as their home market doesn't deliver.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/north-america-europe-drive-volkswagen-sales-2023-2024-01-12/

VW sales increase due to mass market models and Audi

The German carmaker reported on Tuesday a 12% rise in deliveries last year to 9.24 million vehicles, marking a post-pandemic recovery as supply chain bottlenecks eased.

 

[Ivan le Fou]

https:/vx/twitter.com/LCI/status/1748603678200614984

Things are doing just fine, huh?

 

[Redav]

IKEA pokes fun at Portugal political scandal with new ad campaign

It's not the first time the Swedish flatpack furniture giant has dipped its advertising toes into Portuguese politics.

www.euronews.com

 

[surfpunk]

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whats going on over there in Europe-land? this isnt being reported on at all here in Los Estados Unidos, which I guess means these are just a bunch of far-right extremists?

 

[muck]

Farmers are protesting against regulation, but it's turned into a more generalised protest against ecological zeal and the urbanites' disrespect for rural communities. Smart move on their part; European farmers are heavily subsidised and the public wouldn't side easily with them otherwise.

 

[TheKiwi]

Most of the EU's arable land is good enough that they don't need subsidies - just to be more efficient and stop thinking that they must preserve the way of life where your farm is 20 hectares with 10 cows and 5 pigs.

 

[muck]

Maybe there is a mentality issue, but what you say seems easier said than done. For example, the Netherlands have a population density in excess of 530 people per km² (compared to New Zealand's 20 per km²). Where would you get those additional hectares from that would make your farm more profitable, if not from another farmer (who's facing the exact same issues as yourself)? From which bank would you secure a loan to buy up more land, in a business climate where many banks don't want to be associated with conventional farming anymore?

There are many factors beyond your average farmer's control: high energy costs, strict animal welfare and nature conservation laws, a shortage of farm hands, increased hostility from the vegan and climate change action groups, and cheap competition from Asian countries. The fact is, the bureaucratic and political situation is such in Europe that you'll have an easier time and get more government help running some outlandish space travel start-up than a farm that's been your family's for generations.

And those fat subsidies would've long since been gone in Western Europe if it wasn't for the farmers in the East getting them too, necessitating subsidies to ensure balance of competition. That, and the fact that the left has begun to target the agricultural sector, which elicited a response from the right (which would normally oppose subsidising unprofitable businesses).

 

[Mike1976]

In the Netherlands dairy farms have had to expand from 60-125 to 150-250 cows minimum to remain profitable because super market giants have them in a strangle hold. The same is true for all sorts of farms. Raw materials like milk, eggs and meat barely turn a profit for farmers, measured in cents.

Expanding the farm means additional multi million euro loans on top of the mortgage, lack of workers (higher pay), increased prices of and higher ecological requirements on materials, equipment etc.

The conservation and animal welfare craze means that regulations change every year. The brand new expensive air filtration system you invested hundreds of thousands into could well be worthless next year.

If you're within several kilometers range of a nature reserve (a very loose term, the country is dotted with tiny patches of nature and the ease with which something is designated a nature reserve makes this a mighty weapon for activists) forget about it. A small pond with a rare amphibian in it is enough to have a seven km radius around it cleared of agriculture.

You're getting bullied off your land by not being able to run a business due to lawfare being waged against you if not having it outright seized by the government (legislation is already in place).