Will War in Europe Ever Happen Again

Merely a few weeks ago, as Europeans in several countries put their furious debates about masks, corona apps and nightlife restrictions in an always higher gear, Turkey and Greece almost came to blows in the Aegean Sea.

German language chancellor Angela Merkel was reportedly able to foreclose eighteen Turkish ships from carrying out oil and gas explorations on the Greek continental shelf, non far from the Greek island of Kastellorizo.

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Turkish F-16s flew over the island. Naval ships and fighter jets on both sides were on standby.

The German newspaper Bild (one of the few media in Europe to comprehend the effect extensively) quoted bearding officials in the Bundeskanzleramt who, barely recovered from shock, said that this incident reminded them of the Cuban missile crunch.

Back then, in 1962, The states and Soviet warships went full steam ahead into confrontation, flirting with a conflict that could have resulted in a third globe war.

That war was about to interruption out in Europe, past at present surely the virtually pacifist continent in the world - who would have thought?

Simply that'southward what happened. The Greek ground forces'south chief of the general staff returned in a hurry from Republic of cyprus. Greek soldiers' holidays were suspended. Some inhabitants of border towns were advised to evacuate, existence within Turkish shooting range. Citizens living under the same roof as probable 'targets' received a alarm, too.

Both sides, meanwhile, made phone calls to Merkel. This is an interesting detail. Everybody used to phone call the White Firm when there was trouble in Europe. During the euro crisis, US president Barack Obama himself got involved several times. At present president Donald Trump sits in the White House and anybody calls Merkel.

Meanwhile, activists in several cities in Europe defied social-distancing and mask requirements in protests supported by - you couldn't brand this up - neo-Nazi groups, antivax campaigners, anti-globalist hippies, and ordinary citizens fed upwards with corona restrictions.

"Our demand is to go back to democracy," 1 woman said during a rally of xx,000 in Berlin. "Away with these laws that have been imposed on us, away with the masks that make us slaves!"

The chancellor had simply returned from Brussels, where she and the French president had fought a iv-day battle at a European Council meeting, trying to show Anglo-Saxon hedge funds that this time the European union was really defending the euro, so in that location would be no indicate in shorting Italian republic.

Merkel had little sleep in Brussels, but she got her Covid-19 Recovery Plan in the end.

Unfortunately, this extra fleck of European sovereignty had its cost. Countries like the netherlands demanded financial compensation, in the class of European union budget rebates.

Function of that coin came from the upkeep of the European border Protection Agency, Frontex, which during the next 7 years will receive as much as 43 percent less than intended. The budget of new European Defence force Fund was also trimmed: 39 percentage less than the European Committee had initially proposed.

Nevertheless groggy from these budget battles but reportedly undeterred, Merkel, in one case back in Berlin, started to work the phones to get Athens and Ankara to back down in the Aegean Body of water.

For the Turkish president, Recep Tayyib Erdogan, she has become the main European interlocutor over the years. He sees Merkel as the just European leader who carries some authority.

That'southward probably a practiced affair. Considering Europe could become a geopolitical chessboard on which rival superpowers motion their pieces.

Trump is pulling 12,000 American soldiers out of Germany. European companies working on the Nord Stream two gas pipeline from Russia to Germany are threatened with American sanctions if they cartel continuing the project.

Prc is increasing political pressure level, too, because of Huawei.

Russia and Turkey are conducting wars in Syria and Libya, drawing a band of chaos and armed services assailment around Europe.

During a speech on Television set recently president Erdogan challenged his enemies to run into him on the battlefield, announcing that "the prosperity of Western countries, based on blood, tears, pain and exploitation of the rest of the world, is over".

Welcome to the new world, where many breaks are off and old allies turn into bullies. Ane accident, and things can rapidly escalate. Ms Merkel understands this.

She told Erdogan that she'southward trying to help him, so he shouldn't embarrass her past threatening Greece.

True, later a Turkish-French military skirmish in the Mediterranean, in June, Macron had furiously demanded Eu sanctions against Turkey - and Merkel had objected to that.

Move your ships away from Kastellorizo, she now told the Turkish president, and negotiate with Europe if you want to drill at sea. She added that otherwise, she would non be able to avert European sanctions much longer - sanctions that will well-nigh certainly ruin Turkey.

Afterward this, the Turkish ships turned and sailed abroad in the other direction. They docked in an Antalya port.

Just for how long? And can Merkel keep the Greeks quiet, who have repeatedly said they volition not negotiate nether Turkish threats?

The drums of war can be heard again effectually Europe, but they receive scant attention. All we hear about in the news is masks, tests and the precise reach of aerosols. Some summer.

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Source: https://euobserver.com/opinion/149131

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