Despite the German economy facing a crisis it is still the strongest in Europe. That is why Germany keeps dictating the EU path and asserts itself as the dominant power within the Union, Ernst Wolff, journalist and author, told RT.
A French member of the European Parliament, Jean-Luc Melenchon, has advised German Chancellor Angela Merkel to “shut up.” This Sunday using his twitter feed the founder of a French left party and former education minister responded angrily to Merkel’s call for France to introduce more economic reform. He said she should concentrate on Germany’s own problems.
RT:Some very undiplomatic language from this politician… What kind of reaction can we expect from the German government?
Ernst Wolff: I think they will pretend to be pretty annoyed about that because the German government feels like the masters of the universe within the EU. Germany is of course the strongest economy in the EU and it is dictating the path of the EU and they don’t want anybody to interfere with their business. Germany is also building up its military, and the direction that Germany is going into right now is that it wants to assert itself as the dominant power within the EU.
RT:Do you think the annoyance is felt not just in France but externally as well?
EW: Definitely that will annoy everybody else. But that is the way things go. Germany is the strongest economy. And the economic side is the most important side at the moment. What politicians do is dictated by the financial aristocracy as I see it. If French politicians interfere with what Germans want to do then Germans will be very annoyed.
RT:In his Tweet the MEP wrote: "France is a free country" being pressured by Germany. Do you think this pressure does exist? And if there is a pressure how strong is it?
EW: I think the pressure is very strong, but I disagree that either France or Germany are free countries. I think both countries live under the dictatorship of the financial industry. It is the economy that dictates politics these days and within the economic sector it is the financial sector that is the most important part. And it is the financial markets that dictate politics. The French and the Germans can do whatever they want as long as they don’t disturb the financial industry.
RT:But the German economy is not doing so well now. But it is still the power house of Europe, isn’t it? The European economies are not thriving in general now. Given the problems and differences that the EU is facing, how united is the Union right now, do you think?
EW: There have been a lot of problems lately. All these problems came to the surface in 2007-2008 with the euro crisis. And none of these problems have ever been solved. The way they have tried to solve these problems is by printing more money, by incurring more debts. The general economic situation today is a lot worse than it was a few years ago. If the economic situation deteriorates the cracks between the individual countries will become more obvious and the differences between the countries [will] lead to clashes like today.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.