Olaf Scholz called for a common European air defence system in a major speech on the EU’s future on Monday, saying the bloc needed to close ranks against Russia.
Mr Scholz, the German chancellor, said such a system would be “a security win for the whole of Europe” as he proposed reforms on military cooperation.
Given that Germany’s not going to bring any military to the table?
“Russia will define itself in opposition to the European Union for the foreseeable future. [Vladimir] Putin will exploit any disagreement between us, any weakness,” he said in an hour-long speech at Prague’s Charles University.
Vova’s not really said that much about the EU. It’s NATO he hates….
Not just not being any military to the table 6 but Germany’s current woes are directly the result of German energy policy. Which was to pretend to be green on Germany while buying the shit out of Russian gas. Because, I guess, they figured Russia would never again have an itch for world domination?
Since they abolished conscription, Germany’s military has been in crisis. They even advertise on telly, during the Bundesliga highlights show on Saturday. Same applies for paramedics and care home workers. If a lad didn’t want to be a squaddie, he could ride around in an ambulance or molest old ladies instead. Now that stream of “volunteers” has dried up too.
OT
I wonder what is really happening in Kherson ? I was musing theother day whether the Russians have reverted to type and that if they suffer a bad reverse, the entire front will collapse.
This is obviously meant as a joke. After all the Germans fell about laughing when Trump asked them to spend more on defence and reduce their dependence on Russian gas, presumably he hopes to get more laughs.
Ottokring said:
“I wonder what is really happening in Kherson ?”
My guess is Ukraine is (wisely) trying to get back as much territory as possible before autumn comes and Germany starts ramping up the pressure for “peace talks” so they can go back to buying Russian gas.
Did see the headline of an article (Torygraph?) the other day that Ukrainian forces had re-taken an area the size of Denmark – about 2 Wales or 1.4 Belgiums.
Hit ’em at the weak points – so the Russian supply situation around Kherson is probably the most vulnerable – the units there might or might not collapse, but it may be limited to that area. Dunno.
Thing is, autumn and winter are on the horizon. Given the Russian artillery strikes over the spring/summer, there’ll be a looming humanitarian crisis in the urban areas that both sides control. The UN aganecies and the rest of ’em will want to get boots on the ground. Once they are established, then re-starting offensives for the Ukrainians get very politically difficult come next spring. The presence of those agencies would effectively hand Vova de facto control of areas east of Kherson for some time.
So the Ukrainians have got to do something now – plus they might actually run out of cash sooner or later.
Given that Germany’s not going to bring any military to the table?
Hmmm. Germany has in the past shown an ability to tool up pretty quickly…
Going from not much military to marching through Sudentenland, Czechoslovakia and Poland.
Yeah Chernyy, but nowadays…. Germany?… The Greens are even more militant than the putative “neo-Nazis”.. And far, far deeper worked into the Establishment.
The current Germany will have to finish the current negative spiral to reach rock bottom before anything changes. And then it won’t be pretty. Again.
CD – Hmmm. Germany has in the past shown an ability to tool up pretty quickly…
Going from not much military to marching through Sudentenland, Czechoslovakia and Poland.
You need two things for that:
* Heavy industry, and lots of it
* Millions of fit, strong young men willing to fight for you
Germany’s industries are dying on their arse due to unsustainable energy costs. They’ll be China and America’s industries, very soon
Germany is demographically fucked and the few children they have are mostly weak pussies. Maybe they can give Abdul and Tariq a load of weapons and see how that works out, lol.
Scholz’s womanish screeching is the reeing of a pig on its way to the abattoir. It won’t help the pig, but hopefully passes the time until the inevitable.
Ukraine using US missiles to hit ammo dumps is a good tactic, but also shows they don’t have the strength in numbers for a full assault.
Putting Sevastopol in missile range may give Putler an alarm call though.
I’ll believe the Ukes are serious about a counter-offensive if they leave a bridge intact for the Russians to retreat across. If they destroy all the bridges I’ll assume it’s intended as a long term defensive measure. Unless they fancy imposing a Russian Dunkirk. Have they got the strength for that?
(Almost everything I say about that war is a question because I believe almost nothing I’m told about it.)
The Krauts are really only up to bullying Greeks these days.
“Germany has in the past shown an ability to tool up pretty quickly…
Going from not much military to marching through Sudentenland, Czechoslovakia and Poland.”
Its not about military weaponry, its about the martial will of the people. Most of those with that gene died on the Russian steppes, and the retreat to Berlin.
One wonders exactly what the genetic inheritance of a massive military defeat like that is, and how long it lasts. Indeed one wonders if the fall of Rome created the Italy we see today, a totally different society to the highly organised and extremely martial Romans. And if the losses of the brightest and best in two world wars left the idiot leadership class the UK has suffered from ever since.
Dm – Ukraine is deadly serious about a counteroffensive. The problem is they’re limited in their ability to fight a successful one, then successfully defend any territorial gains they might achieve. There’s no plausible route to victory at this point – defined by President Zelensky as the return of Crimea and Donbass.
The reason they’ve been trying to destroy the Kerch Strait Bridge, crack the reactor shielding at Zaporizhzhia, and carbomb public figures associated with the Putin regime is not because any of these things will change the facts on the ground in Ukraine (they can’t). It’s because Ukraine is desperate and their funders are angry and afraid.
Now hold on a minute, Germany’s fleet of social workers is not nothing.
They’ve already got a European Common Air Defence system that stretches seamlessly from the north of Norway to the eastern edge of Turkey – it’s called NADGE/ACCS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_Integrated_Air_Defense_System
https://www.electronic-warfare-live.com/news/accs-makes-tracks-is-natos-largest-procurement-programme-meeting-expectations
– I’ll believe the Ukes are serious about a counter-offensive if they leave a bridge intact for the Russians to retreat across.
Nah, the “golden bridge for your enemy to retreat across” is more metaphorical than literal; more strategical than tactical. Real bridges go both ways and are terrific for enemy logistics, so suitable targets for destruction when the enemy is extended.
– Unless they fancy imposing a Russian Dunkirk.
Would be good to see, but with a higher proportion of captives than escapees.
– Have they got the strength for that?
We’re now going to find out what both sides have the strength for.
It seems like it’s “shit or get off the pot” time for Ukraine.