Merkel criticized Macron; "Relations between France and Germany heavily deteriorated"

I wonder how long it will take the Albanians to realize that things aren't going their way.

The longer it takes to get an agreement with Serbia, the better the outcome for Serbia.

I would advise to play it slow. The Albanians will lose it all sooner or later.

Honestly, I wish Merkel would just go. Although she is a very intelligent and capable person, her Achilles heel is making hard decisions. One colleague is reputed to have said, Merkel loves power but she can’t exercise it.
The German economy required major restructuring a decade ago and the longer its stays as is, the harder it will be to make those changes plus it will be very painful and take a long time for Germany to recover.
She has this dream of Europe that is no longer feasible unless she can convince her countrymen to extend the retirement age from 67 to 97.
At least Angel has a sense of humour since she thinks that an expert commission headed by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will somehow reveal NATO’s weaknesses LOL. That’s like putting the police to investigate one of their own officers. Do you think Stoltenberg is an idiot who will do himself out of a job?
As I have said before, I don’t like politicians and Macron is on that list but at least this guy is honest about the situation. The EU needs reform badly since the money is no longer there and NATO is brain dead. The alliance has no idea about its purpose; one minute it’s the Russians now it’s the Chinese. Who next? As it stands NATO could not fend of a cranky 90 year old man.

Frances relations are strained with Italy about migration, strained with Holland over Air France/KLM with the US over import duties...
On the interior plan France is strained as well because of the yellow vest protests and growing inequalities.
Until now Sarkozy had a record low approval rating.
Holland did even worse
and it's just a question of time when Macron will reach the all-time low

The alliance has no idea about its purpose; one minute it’s the Russians now it’s the Chinese. Who next? As it stands NATO could not fend of a cranky 90 year old man.
(sj, 25 November 2019 11:48)
==============================
It shouldn't be anyone because NATO is not meant to be offensive.
It was created for a different purpose, or we were lied to?

(Peggy, 26 November 2019 23:01)

NATO today its being used by the US to try and keep its hegemony, with little success I might add.
The Russians, if they wished, could take over the Baltics in a few days with little to no opposition. Apart from Poland and Latvia the rest don’t come close to spending 2% of GDP on defence. The US designed NATO so that no individual member could operate alone. Only the US could do that. Today the economics don’t allow massive expenditure on defense so it’s a lumbering giant. That’s why Trump was lampooning it. NATO members were so used to getting equipment from the US for free or very low prices but today its different. That well has dried up. But then why would you spend large sums on military equipment for the benefit of someone else?
NATO was always the US's baby for it won interests.

I wonder how long it will take the Albanians to realize that things aren't going their way.

The longer it takes to get an agreement with Serbia, the better the outcome for Serbia.

I would advise to play it slow. The Albanians will lose it all sooner or later.

Honestly, I wish Merkel would just go. Although she is a very intelligent and capable person, her Achilles heel is making hard decisions. One colleague is reputed to have said, Merkel loves power but she can’t exercise it.
The German economy required major restructuring a decade ago and the longer its stays as is, the harder it will be to make those changes plus it will be very painful and take a long time for Germany to recover.
She has this dream of Europe that is no longer feasible unless she can convince her countrymen to extend the retirement age from 67 to 97.
At least Angel has a sense of humour since she thinks that an expert commission headed by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will somehow reveal NATO’s weaknesses LOL. That’s like putting the police to investigate one of their own officers. Do you think Stoltenberg is an idiot who will do himself out of a job?
As I have said before, I don’t like politicians and Macron is on that list but at least this guy is honest about the situation. The EU needs reform badly since the money is no longer there and NATO is brain dead. The alliance has no idea about its purpose; one minute it’s the Russians now it’s the Chinese. Who next? As it stands NATO could not fend of a cranky 90 year old man.

Frances relations are strained with Italy about migration, strained with Holland over Air France/KLM with the US over import duties...
On the interior plan France is strained as well because of the yellow vest protests and growing inequalities.
Until now Sarkozy had a record low approval rating.
Holland did even worse
and it's just a question of time when Macron will reach the all-time low

The alliance has no idea about its purpose; one minute it’s the Russians now it’s the Chinese. Who next? As it stands NATO could not fend of a cranky 90 year old man.
(sj, 25 November 2019 11:48)
==============================
It shouldn't be anyone because NATO is not meant to be offensive.
It was created for a different purpose, or we were lied to?

(Peggy, 26 November 2019 23:01)

NATO today its being used by the US to try and keep its hegemony, with little success I might add.
The Russians, if they wished, could take over the Baltics in a few days with little to no opposition. Apart from Poland and Latvia the rest don’t come close to spending 2% of GDP on defence. The US designed NATO so that no individual member could operate alone. Only the US could do that. Today the economics don’t allow massive expenditure on defense so it’s a lumbering giant. That’s why Trump was lampooning it. NATO members were so used to getting equipment from the US for free or very low prices but today its different. That well has dried up. But then why would you spend large sums on military equipment for the benefit of someone else?
NATO was always the US's baby for it won interests.