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The CDU has the nost popularity at 34% yet Merz himself. a private equity executive with Black Rock Germany, is not personally popular with the German public. His popularity is at about 25%. Boris Pistorius, the Defene Minister in the Scholz SPD and Greens government is the most popular politician in Germany today. Elections are only 4 months away in February 2025, a short time but also a long time with all the changes going on today. In the past CDU and SPD have worked together. Past CDU approaches may not work as Germany badly needs to invest in its economy as the US has done under president Biden. The experience of Britain shows that simply making deals and counting on free trade deals doesn't work, and cuts to public services to budgets including on basic services including water and transportation, climate, do not work either. Are their good leaders and policies that fit the times is a question that will be persistent for many nations.

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OPLAN is the German defense plan draft by Lt. Gen. Andre Bodeman which was started after chancellor Schulz's Zeitenwende "epochal change" speech in 2022. After that speech Schulz created a plan for $100 billion euros for defense of Germany.The intent is to prepare to defend Europe in case of clash with Russia. It goes back to a different era the Cold War of the 1960's. To improve infrastructure Gemany now plans to spend 166 billion euros, of which 100 billion euros go to railways, to update essential infrastructure. The new Merz of CDU government with SPD's Pistorius as Defense Minister is a relatively strong coalition government which plans to spend 500 billion euros for defense and upgrade the Bundeswehr for military readiness.

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The economy, wages and cost of living, the failures in infrastructure and at Deutsche Bahn, migration or remigration are issues in Germany. During periods when there are Christmas market attacks in recent years  remigration has emerged as an issue. Migration is no longer the issue in Germany as it was during high levels of migration under Merkel following the wars in Syria and Iraq, unrest in North African countries such as Tunisia with Arab Spring.  The policies of CDU's Merkel tapping into potential migrant labor to meet shortages of manpower in the economy have been reversed by CDU and SPD+ Greens since 2020. Musk wades into this issue only to find Christian Democrats, Free Democrats cautioning him that he lacks understanding of what is happening. Remigration is now essentially accepted by the Social Democrats, and Christian Demcorats, advocated by Wagenknect Left and AfD right parties alike, leaving little room for AfD to grow except from unease.  CDU Merz polls at 30-36% but lacks answers to the Ukraine war. AfD is at about 20%. Wagenkenecht has taken positions opposing immmigration and migrants similar to Socialist parties in Denmark, which means most of the European Union across all parties have reversed position on migration similar to Labor in Britain under Keir Starmer. ...

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Germany is going through a second year of slight economic contraction. The newly elected government of chancellor Merz has setup a $1 trillion fund to invest in infrastructure and defense. This will increase the debt to GDP ratio from 62% much lower than other advanced economies to 75%, and could give the German economy a rebound with $500 billion for fixing aging infrastructure. Germany's unemployment rate stands at 6.3% in March 2025. The economy weathered a energy crisis with the cutoff of energy supplies from Russia during the term of chancellor Scholz. Infrastructure, child care, was neglected under Merkel and previous administrations as it was in the US under Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. The 2009 financial crisis, the eurozone debt crisis and the pandemic, Ukraine crisis from 2009 to 2024 have provided headwinds for action to renew Germany till now. A $1 trillion new fund and removal of the constitutional brake under the newly elected parliamentary majority of the CSU/CDU, the SPD and the Greens is the first step with $500 billion earmarked for fixing aging infrastructure, digitization of the economy, and other investment. The unemployment situation is deteriorating in the auto industry which was poorly managed and is now being hit with US tariffs of 25% on imported cars made by BMW, Mercedes and VW. ...

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"You don't have to vote AfD for what you want. There is a democratic alternative to the AfD." Julia Klockner Bundestag president points out that CDU like Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats in Denmark need to take a stand so that they reflect the views of ordinary people who see Merkel's illegal migration policies hurting social cohesion in Germany. She and chancelor Merz, finance minister Klingbeil of the Social Democrats, have the task of revitalizing all of Germany east and west, after the failed Merkel years. This is important for Germany and the world because of the failure of elites to understand the people and their struggles with cost of living, crime and migration, disinvestment in infrastructure that deepened the feeling of ineffectiveness, and other social trends that have disrupted the basic structure of society by 2025. 

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As Macron struggles to present EU's case in Washington DC the problems in Germany loom large.The debt brake Merkel to stop debt based infrastructure investment is what ails Germany and the EU. It has had two pernicious effects. It created the AfD's surge by lowering economic growth and investment in public needs - housing, transport, public services. It worsened the SPD and CDU performance by not investing in security, with no policies to return crime committing refugees to their home countries. A combination of aid and other assistance, diplomacy, would have secured the cooperation of countries to take them back. A strong display of action on removing refugees committing any offenses would have lessened the number of terrorism incidents and reduced a surge in the AfD performance with loss of confidence in chancellor Scholz.  CDU's Merz says he wants to remove the constitutional brake from the German constitution. The SPD under a new leader would want the same as it seeks to invest in the economy. Scholz lacked the foresight not to enter into a coalition with the Free Democrats in 2021 who flatly opposed public spending to meet pressing infrastructure needs lowering growth.  Both CDU of Merkel and SPD of Scholz lacked the foresight and the courage to invest and not settle for less for Germany. ...

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The CDU party selects Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its next leader. Chancellor Merkel favored the state premier of Saarland, a small German state, as the next leader. Merkel told CDU delegates that the party was not the party it was in 2002 and praised the work of Karrenbauer in Saarland, in an indirect endorsement of the female candidate over Mr. Merz who favored taking the party to its conservative roots.  Merkel has pushed the CDU to the centre and sometimes to the left in an effort to sideline the Social Democrats, which worked till the migration and refugee influx led to a fragmentation in German political parties and decline in support for CDU. The election was close with Karrenbauer winning in the second ballot by a bare majority. Merkel plans to stay in office till 2021 and the party post in the hands of a close ally helps Merkel consolidate her legacy. Merkel made Karrenbauer Gerneral Secretary in 2018 in a move that was intended to move her to the top position. ...

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Germany scraps 3 year path to German citizenship replaces it with 5 years and B+ in German. The change in the law by SPD coalition to 3 year path was criticized by CDU as "turbo path." Dual citizenship will be retained. The new law for 5 year path to citizenship is the policy of the new government the CDU-SPD coalition led by CDU's Merz. Those non citizens who pose a risk to the democratic order will be sent back to their home countries.

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There are questions whether the Black Rock Germany "Dare Capitalism" (his book) model of CDU's Merz with a debt brake support limiting investments needed in the economy are right for Germany's future. Wash. Post says people close to him say he is direct and pragmatic but also arrogant and thin skinned. Friedrich Merz is 69 years, Konrad Adenauer was 73 years when he took office. 

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Drop to 22,000 from 127,000 for irregular migration after border checks in Germany under chancellor Merz of the CDU coalition. Family reunification is ended for subsidiary migration. Step by step Germany is regaining control of the country and taking responsible actions to prevent extreme responses and protecting democracy from every source of danger.

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Russian proposals for settlement in Ukraine including giving up the whole eastern Donbass region, recognizing Crimea as part of Russia, and limiting its army and long range weapons. These are the same conditions set in 2022. There is a new situation developing in Europe as Germany, France, Britain and most of Eastern Europe looks to be firm in support of Ukraine. Germany is stepping up its military preparedness under chancellor Merz of the CDU led coalition government. The US under DJT is working under two pathways seeking engagement with Russia and at the same time seeking a way to settle the Ukraine conflict. With German, British and EU support it appears unlikely that Ukraine would agree to all the Russian terms as Russia is using some gains on the war front to gain a clear win in 2025. By 2026 with European support Ukraine may look for a settlement that offers better terms than currently offered by Russia. For the US DJT faces pressures from within the Republican party that would oppose giving Russia a win after its role as the aggressor in the Ukraine conflict, and after the bombing destruction of Ukraine's cities.   ...

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Presenting the ReARM package in Brussels the European Union president Von der Leyen says- “This is a moment for Europe and we are ready to step up.” The proposals Leyen said “could mobilise close to €800bn of defence expenditures for a safe and resilient Europe." About $650 billion comes from increasing the European spending on defense by 1.5% of GDP from numbers below 2% that reflected underspending on defense. The EU will loosen strict deficit rules. The CDU coalition government in Germany with SPD under Merz that is being setup will remove the debt brake in the German Constitution that limits defense spending to 1%.  Another $150 billion in loans can be generated from joint EU borrowing that could be given to countries. That will Leyen says- “It will help member states to pool demand and to buy together. This will reduce costs, reduce fragmentation, increase interoperability and strengthen our defence industrial base.” The European Investment Bank will participate in the lending. ...

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Geert Wilders says he he is withdrawing support of his party PPV which won 23% of the vote in the last election from the Dutch coalition government because his 10 point plan for immigration was not being implemented. It calls for border closures for asylum seekers, deporting dual nationals who have committed a crime, and the military controlling Dutch borders. Wilders says "no more asylum centers. Close them." Germany is putting through strict immigration laws under the CDU leadership of chancellor Merz including control of borders, border checks, deporting dual nationals who have committed a crime.  This policy is being followed by the DJT administration in the US. There is little public patience with migrants after the experience in the US and Europe. What has changed is that centrist parties, Catholic/Protestant centrist parties such as CDU/CSU in Germany or business centrist parties such as Republicans are partnering with socialist parties such as Social Democrats in Germany, and many Democrats in the US with the clear goal of controlling borders. In the UK and in Denmark socialist parties such as Starmer's Labor in UK and Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats in Denmark have clear goals to strictly close borders and send back migrants to home countries. ...

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Voter turnout of 83.5% in federal elections in Germany in Feb 2025 is the highest since reunification in 1990.  The Free Democrats and the Wagenknecht BSW  fail to meet the threshold of 5% for representation in parliament. The CDU manage 28.5% of the vote less than the forecast 30%, and the AfD is at 20.7%. Scholz Social Democrats drop 9% points from 25% in 2021 to 16.5% and the Greens are at 11.7% of the vote. The Left Parties get 8.7%. German broadcaster ARD cites exit polls showing 82% of voters were dissatisfied with the government coalition, 72% of voters dissatisfied with chancellor Scholz, yet the Greens  voters gave it 45% approval.  In terms of seats in the 630 seat Bundestag  Christian Democrats  208 seats Social Democrats.      121  The Greens                  85  Left Party                       64 AfD                               151        The likely outcome is resignation of chancellor Scholz and new leader for Social Democrats. A CDU SPD coalition Merz as chancellor, with Greens/ Left parties and AfD in the Opposition with equal number of seats.                                                                                                        ...

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Germany's Bundestag parliament vote eases constitutional "debt brake" March 2025. CDU's Merz and the SPD join with Greens to provide the two thirds majority to remove a constitutional debt brake put in in the Merkel years. Germany's dilapidated infrastructure from rail to other transport and public facilities, to poor childcare are a sign of how the Merkel debt brake has hurt the German economy. Four years of the Greens SPD coalition government of Scholz were wasted when the SPD and Greens wanted investment in infrastructure starting in 2021 but included Lindner of the super cautious Free Democrats as Finance Minister who opposed spending and vetoed it every step of the way. The results can be seen in Frankfurt and other cities and in the underinvestment in Deutsche Bahn rail and all over the country. Merz of the CDU and the SPD and Greens finally fix this problem starting with removing the debt brake.  What happened to Lindner and Free Democrats? They did not make the threshold of 5% for representation in the German parliament, the Bundestag in Berlin. Lindner resigned for his failure. ...

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DW.com report by Mu Ciu shows a CATL(Contemporary Amperex Technology) plant in Arnstadt, Thuringia, in eastern Germany. It will not bridge Germany's technology gap. German and US consultants at the microeconomic level of the company and German and US economists at the macroeconomic level of the economy entirely fail to grasp the effectiveness of China's investment driven model. Of its joint partnering with European and American companies and China's single minded focus on technology access. This is why the DJT US administration has warned Europe that it is failing economically. China's macroeconomic and microeconomic model are run by the same authority by the state, and according to goals and plans (which in a socialist economy is weak at the microeconomic company level lacking the initiative and freedom of action). By combining its macreconomic framework run by the state with a micreconomic company level run by the state but on free market lines the Chinese investment driven model has dual advantages and operates at a speed that far surpasses the German and American model. It's society suffers as a consequence, but in few short decades 1990-2009/2020 this is all it could accomplish with a single focus on modernization for what was once a peasant agricultural economy. Where it lacks is in future technology access and as long as weak companies in the US and Germany partner with Chinese companies the technology access for Chinese companies give it the essential ingredient for its investment model to work, as American and European companies can waver in investment Chinese companies backed by the government will not waver in investment and have the clear advantage. DJT's approach is to give a big shock to the entire system of world trade now run by China, so that this is no longer going to work at the macroeconomic level and legislate huge investment incentives for one time depreciation and other moves to get American companies to invest. It wants Europe to do the same, including getting rid of the bureaucratic structures and regulations. German Chancellor Merz is getting the message and is acting quickly first with the trillion dollar investment plan, the meetings with Draghi and Meloni to get Italy and like minded nations on board, and internal efforts to get rid of regulations and bureaucratic structures, and building a new partnership with India to remove an error of Merkel/ Clinton+ Obama in excessive concentration and dependence on China. This requires a steady hand and steady governments, steady policy, and companies in America, Europe and India to work together for the long haul without wavering or delay, to rebuild the world economy along new lines and on a new path. ...

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Germany's leading candidate for chancellor Merz gets an exemption for Germany to EU Common European Asylum System (CEAS) asylum laws for National Security reasons. The goal is to tight Schengen border controls to keep out illegal migrants.  EU president Von der Leyen calls Merz action on CEAS  asylum laws "innovative solutions." Germany takes U turn on asylum law as public opinion shifts with a series of crimes committed by illegal migrants allowed to stay in Germany including car rampages through crowds on streets, most recently in Munich. A sense of fatigue in EU with illegal migrants and a desire for normalcy, the old way of life, and secure neighborhoods and urban spaces. It is now seen in CDU as Merkel's policy errors and failure of judgement in letting in a flood of illegal migration.

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Ms. Annegret Kramp-Krarrenbauer, elected leader of the CDU party in 2018 with the support of Angela Merkel, will not run for chancellor in next years election and will resign from her position by the end of the year. She will continue as Germany's defense minister. After losses for the CDU in recent elections and the embarrassment of local CDU leaders in Thuringia supporting the far right AfD, AKK as she is known decided to step down. Angela Merkel has decided not to run for chancellor again. Germany is set to chair the EU in the second half of 2020, and Merkel is no longer seen as a leader of influence. The Nationalist Alternative for Germany AfD has gained votes in recent elections following the 2015-2016 migrant crisis, with large numbers of refugees from North Africa and Arab world landing in Greece and Turkey and walking to Hungary, Austria and Germany. Merkel's handling of the crisis with acceptance of a million refugees in 2015-2016 unsettled European and German politics. Why? One way of looking at it is that in the same way that the U.S. took in Chinese imported goods ending in the Trump tariffs war, at some point it just becomes too big to handle. That ended up at $1 billion a day in imports from China when president Trump called it off and accused Obama Democrats, Bush Republicans, of betraying the country. Putting it into perspective Germany with one fourth of the population of the U.S. took in about twice the number of refugees in just one year 2015-2016 that the U.S. took in 10 years 2005-2015. The U.S. took in 675,000 immigrants between 2005-2015. This is as if the U.S. took in something like 20 million immigrants in a short period of 1 year on an equivalent basis- though the cultural impact is even greater in a nation like Germany that is like Japan an historically immigrant averse nation. All this happened too quickly for Germany to handle for its fragile cultural fabric. Much of the initial outpouring of support and positive sentiment came from the sense of having gone through World War II and the refugees in that and the early post war period, the need to return in the same spirit support Germany had received. Over time it eroded support for the Christian Democratic Union and Merkel. That Merkel could have done this is itself a small miracle. Now the rebuilding has to begin. Adenauer's CDU and the socialist SPD party of Willy Brandt now have less than 50% support, only with the Greens Party do they make up 50%. The question now is can the CDU, and the SPD which has fallen to 14% in elections, make it back and what kind of future makeup political parties will have in Germany, how the social fabric can be restored. AKK's achievement is to mend relations between the liberal Merkel wing of the CDU and conservatives from Bavaria (CSU) over immigration.  Candidates for CDU leadership are Armin Laschet, Jens Spahn, and Friedrich Merz. Laschet premier of North Rhine-Westphalia has Merkel's support. Looking back too much attention was taken up by the euro crisis, and too little was done in the areas of infrastructure, inequality gaps, education, child care, under Merkel's leadership and of the preceding SPD years, much like what happened under Bush and Obama administrations in the U.S. where wars, economic crises led to neglect on issues that affect lives of ordinary working families. ...

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Compared to chancellor Scholz Merz sets his goals and is clear about his goals. His active style is different from previous chancellors. His first meeting with Trump showed this personal style which is proving to be more effective than Merkel or Scholz. Merz had to wait for a long time in the private sector till Merkel retired to come back to politics. During Merkel's early years Merz challenged Merkel for leadership of the Christian Democrats party. Merkel's policy on migrants has proved to be a failure, and Merz is now in a position to take the CSU in a new direction closing the border and working closely with the US and Britain, Italy, on border enforcement. Merz is also unique and very different from the disinvestment period under Merkel which let German infrastructure deteriorate and fall apart, another failure of Merkel's years as chancellor. Merz's first action was to get close to a trillion dollars of new funding to rebuild defense and infrastructure over the next decade. Merz is head of a coalition with the SPD with SPD's leader Lars Klingbeil as finance minister. Scholz headed a coalition that was dysfunctional as the Free Democrats Lindner was opposed to investment in German economy from the outset. Under Merkel the Christian Democrats took no action to rebuild Germany, and were preoccupied with eurozone finances. ...

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The 28 Point Peace Plan offers a basis for further work to arrive at an agreement acceptable to Ukraine and to the European Union, is the view emerging at the G20 talks in Johannesburg, South Africa. The leaders of Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Italy and Spain met on Saturday, November 22 2025. Separately Leyen and the EU council president Costa meet with Meloni of Italy and Macron of France on Saturday after conversations with Zelensky on Friday.  British prime minister Starmer has this view of the 28 Point US plan negotiated with Russia-  “There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a cease-fire, and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians.” Ms. Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, says-  “Ukraine can count on us because this is not only an aggression against Ukraine, but it is an aggression against the principles of the U.N. charter." “It’s on European soil. Therefore, we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.” Macron of France commended American efforts to reach a peace deal but said EU nations would work with Ukraine to map out a plan for way forward in 48 hours.  "What is at stake is Ukrainian sovereignty and European security.” It is this aspect of European security that may be the reason the EU and Germany may decide to modify the plan to offer a counter proposal on several points. One on limits to the size of Ukraine's defense forces to ensure its defense. Another on the stationing of forces by NATO in a peacekeeping role in Ukraine as proposed earlier. Third on the ceding of territory now in the hands of Ukraine so that these parts of Ukraine can remain independent after 4 years of ragged defense. Germany under CDU Merz and with Pistorius of SPD at Defense in a strong coalition government may be the deciding factor as Merz has already set the goal for the Bundeswehr to become the strongest army in Europe, with plans and action to prepare for this transition to defend European interests. It is true that Ukraine is at a difficult point yet if the Europeans see this as a "capitulation" and a US DJT deadline of one week to push this through Europeans may come up with a counter offer that includes these points that would make it clear that they are not an obstacle for peaceful resolution of this conflict. The history of Europe shows that in such situations with most of Europe on one side and Russia or some other major European power on the other side, eventual settlement ends up with all sides making some concessions, and in no way seen as "capitulation." Asian powers China and India have been pulled out of the conflict to a large degree in 2024-2025, with US shifting to a neutral position. Making this a purely European conflict with the Russian economy mobilized for wartime yet facing all the nations of Europe led by Germany, France and the UK in a transition towards military preparedness and unwilling to see any form of capitulation. In such a situation the larger economies and resources of the EU could effectively counter a Russian threat leading to a settlement that is better for all parties to the conflict.   ...

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What it takes to put a CDU/SPD coalition government in Germany- 16 working groups, 250 negotiators, 10 work days. And that is only the first step. It then goes to party leaders talking with their working groups. Taxes and migration policy are 2 key hurdles. Lars Kingbeil on the Social Democrat side, Carsten Linnemann on the Christian Democrat side with to be chancellor Merz. Both sides say some friction, dissent is normal after an election in which the CDU barely crossed 29% and the SPD made it only to 16% of the vote. Both sides see each other as indispensable. CDU feels SPD is sticking to its positions. Migration- SPD's Carl Stegner says- "The SPD will not engage in a contest to treat as badly as possible those who have come to Germany and have done nothing wrong." The CDU wants to give only "bed, bread and soap," to rejected asylum seekers. It sees its promises in the election as real when it made clear statements to stop migration and cut benefits, with its credibility at stake. CDU also believes that like DJT in the USA this tough policy is certain to make such migration unattractive. The other difference is on Taxes- the SPD wants to see higher taxes on the well off. ...

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Scholz loses a no confidence vote in parliament that he called so that new elections are held in 60 days according to federal German law.  He says it is a fundamental choice that German people need to make between pensions and investments for the future with support for the armed forces vs the policy that doe not plan to invest in the future with a debt brake limiting investment. The Free Democrats opposed SPD and Greens efforts to invest for 4 years. Why did Scholz continue. in this way with FDP CDU's Merz asks directly, was Scholz on another planet.  This has happened three times before- in 1972 when Wily Brandt got support for his Ostpolitik policy of better relations with Soviet Union and GDR and new mandate after planning a no confidence vote for a new election. He won with 46% of the vote and 91% of eligible voters voted. In 2005 Kohl was reelected after a no confidence vote he planned on his government to get a new mandate. Kohl of CDU won. In 2005 Gerhard Schroeder's social and economic reforms affected working class Germans- he called a no confidence vote to get a new mandate. This one Schroeder of SPD lost and it started Angela Merkel of CDU's 16 years in office. ...

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Germany's SPD Deputy Chancellor says in Kiev on August 25, 2025 after the abortive effort by DJT in Alaska for peace talks that improved Russia -US relations as two leading world nuclear powers but did not have the basics in place for Ukraine- Russia direct talks, with Putin asking for territory in the east. "In the three and a half years that this war has been going on, we have always shown that we are not ducking away, but stand by the side of the Ukrainians. And that will also apply to security guarantees."  The big change is that the SPD under Klingbeil in Germany is now working with CDU's Merz to build up Germany's defense forces to act as a deterrent for Europe. There is a change in the mood in Germany and in Europe, from Sweden and UK , France, Italy, for concerted action in Europe that was not seen before. By taking on responsibilities for Europe with 2-5% defense expenditures this has removed the differences between the US and Europe. It means a prolongation of the war but also means this may lead to a stronger Europe, better Russia- US relations, and a Russian and Ukraine more willing to come to a peace agreement based on terms where no side appears to be the loser. Klingbeil added- It is important to have a "really strong Ukrainian army that is also capable of defense. And the second thing is that armaments production is also being ramped up here in Ukraine as well, thereby putting Ukraine in a position to defend itself and deter attacks." If European history since 1400 is any guide when the powers on either side were eventually counterbalanced the power that took a an aggressive position early had to settle for a peace settlement with both sides not appearing the loser. ...

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How reckless actions that ignored public sentiment on illegal migrants have led to a surge in Germany and the US of foreign born populations, It jumped in Germany from 7.5% in 1990 to 21% by 2025 and in the US from 10% in 1990 to to 16%  in 2025. This means as shown by NYT graphs the US went up by 60% and Germany went up by a shocking 300%. This is why young Germans voted for the AfD. Merz's CDU has rejected Merkel policies and has imposed a series of actions to put in border controls, stop migrants.  Putting such stress on working class communities is an affront to people when they face crime as has happened in recent years, and when cost of living issues, covid pandemic have already caused much stress. Here the NYT reverses its position on migration and speaks of the dangers of such migration, the stress on woking class communities where migrants settle, on the public services and resources stretched to their limit. It now says Merkel made a huge mistake and ignored public sentiment leading to the situation where extreme opinions endanger democracy and young people in Germany prefer the AfD to the CDU and SPD, or the Greens. ...

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Starmer of the UK's plan for Ukraine is clearly a stop gap plan in the chaotic manner in which DJT plan for disbanding NATO was conducted. This gives time for the Europeans to act. Meanwhile Leyen's EU -Leyen was Defense Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany- put out a $158 billion plan for funding defense. Merz of the CDU is clear how his coalition with SPD will act for independence from America on Europe's defense. Within weeks or months one can expect the Federal Republic take the lead for the defense of Europe, with the partnership of France, and the Nordic countries of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and the UK. As Merz said clearly- “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA." European perceptions of recent happenings in the Ukraine war and the war's progression from the beginnings over three years will matter in 2025 as Europe, as Germany, France and Britain take on the role of bringing a fair peace to Europe that closes the war and does the reconstituting of defense architecture of Europe under new institutions that needed to be taken up in the 1990's after the fall of the Berlin Wall. ...