Chirac Says Eastern Europeans Are "Infantile" and should shut up!

[Comrade Tribune]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Pantaloon :
you got it pretty well. The French-German couple is acting within the EU about as arrogantly as the US in the world. Since Chirac is as subtle as Rumsfeld, he made his annoyance clear towards the candidate countries. He really hated to encounter such an opposition to his views.

Nah; the French and German leadership express what most Europeans think. The crooks led by Blair who signed that document do not represent popular opinion even of their own countries.

[DanS]

The French-German couple is acting within the EU about as arrogantly as the US in the world.

Hey, Bush never called anybody "infantile" and told them to shut up.

[Spiffor]

The French-German motivation wasn't to be nice with the populations, but to give a strong symbol of the renewal of the French-German motor (which had been down for years). This renewal was especially important now, since the EU's constitution draft will soon be ready, and the big debate on who leads the future of the EU will take place. France and Germany want to keep their standing, as they have from the beginning inspired everything the EU has done.
However, former "underdog" countries such as Italy, Spain or Britain don't want to be led by the French-Germans anymore. Poland and likes also wouldn't want to enter the EU immediately stamped as vassals from Paris-Berlin.

Chirac and Schröder expected other countries to fall in line after their declaration of being hostile o war in Iraq. Other countries seemed to hesitate, since the letter has been published only a week ago. But fact is, other countries didn't fall in line, which is bad for Chirac and Schröder, for their willingness to remain the guides of the EU.

[Spiffor]

DanS : you're right, he called his opposition "old" (Europe) and told them to shut up

[Comrade Tribune]

Originally posted by Spiffor
The French-German motivation wasn't to be nice with the populations,...

Perhaps not, but at the end of the day, their motive is of no interest. Fact is, they are right in this instance, and their opponents are wrong.

[Bereta_Eder]

Originally posted by Comrade Tribune


Nah; the French and German leadership express what most Europeans think. The crooks led by Blair who signed that document do not represent popular opinion even of their own countries.

That's about right

[DanS]

We went through this 210 years ago. There has to be some compromise of power between large and small states. Power plays don't go toward solving this fundamental issue. I would have thought that France and Germany would have realized this.

[Bereta_Eder]

EU unification has nothing to do with the US one.
Completely different statuses.

[Mazarin]

the point is that EU does need a motor...if we alway waited for Britain, the integration wouln't be nearly as far as it is now. However, Spiffor is right when he says, that the way France and Germany claimed to represent the EU was wrong...even if their opinion is shared by a large majority of Europeans

[Bereta_Eder]

It wasn't wrong.
You will understand in a while
It was just the first time that the Berlin-Paris Axis openly defied US policy. Every "revolution" bleeds at first

[DuncanK]

It seems to me like these smaller European nations will get a bad taste in their mouths for the EU now, but I suppose there is some eocnomic temptation for them.

[Bereta_Eder]

The 3 (actually 2) out of 10 that sent a letter to the US?
Nah hardly. They were US manipulated anyway

[DanS]

Slagging three incoming members is not smart. In some respects, each of these countries has equal power to France within the EU, even though they are a lot smaller.

[Bereta_Eder]

Nah, it's not slagging the 2 members
The Chez PM went the next day on TV and said he was representing only himself

[Bereta_Eder]

Oh you edited. As for smart or equal power, wrong on both regards.