REGENSBURG- The rainfall has subsided, some of the rivers have crested yet much of southern Germany is still underwater with eyes being directed to southeast Bavaria, where Regensburg and Passau are in the line of fire. There’s so much to summarize, but DW News has this wrap-up along with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to the flood-damaged regions- his fourth visit this year so far.
Again if possible, avoid any unnecessary travel as many roads have been flooded and rail lines are still down due to damage to the tracks. If it’s unavoidable, check with the travel providers and others to see if it’s safe to travel.
Yesterday, I posted an article about the interview I had with Jörg Luyken, who runs a column devoted to German affairs in the German Review. Today, I’m presenting one of three examples of his works. It’s an excerpt but will include a link that will take you directly to the website to read it. A link to access the interview is enclosed at the end of the article.
This post was written about three weeks ago. It has to do with the Netherlands, which is the latest country to go far right in a backlash against European and International Policies that are in place; in particular regarding the refugee and the environmental crises. In this case, one predicts something like that to happen in Germany by the latest 2030, which would be the first time since the end of World War II that a fascist government would take over the German Bundestag. Here’s a look at the plans of the Dutch government under Geert Wilders and how that can be envisioned in Germany:
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Dear Reader,
If you want to peer into Germany’s political future you could do worse than look at what is going on in the Netherlands at the moment.
This week, a coalition led by Geert Wilders’ radical Party for Freedom (PVV) announced that it had reached an agreement to form a government after six, long months of negotiation.
Both the structure of the new Dutch government and the contents of its coalition pact are harbingers of what lies ahead for Germany.
Firstly, the government is made up of outsiders.
Wilders, a political outcast and staunch critic of Islam, has put together a four-way coalition that only includes one party with any experience of governance.
Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV), has been joined by the BBB, a farmers’ party set up in 2019 to protest planned cuts to livestock numbers, and a conservative splinter group called the NSC that was established shortly before the election.
Only the VDD, Holland’s traditional party of power, has any experience in government. They have had to accept a junior role in Wilder’s populist project after the Dutch public swung wildly to the right last autumn.
Secondly, the Dutch coalition pact has two central pledges that could apply to Germany soon: to bring in “the toughest asylum policies of all time”, and to roll back a raft of environmental policies.
Wilders wants to turn asylum seekers back at the German border and has announced plans to pull his country out of the EU’s migration rules.
Meanwhile, he has pledged to cut energy costs by drilling for gas in the North Sea, cutting funding for onshore wind turbines, and building new nuclear reactors. The coalition pact will also put the motorway speed limit back up to 130 km/h, scrap a national carbon tax, and end cuts to livestock numbers.
THE FLENSBURG FILES 