Dr. Oliwer Hartwich: "Germany and Merkel are often praised for ´saving´ refugees. The opposite is true"

New Zealand based political and economic commentator Dr. Oliwer Hartwich strongly criticizes Angela Merkel´s refugee policy:

Germany and Merkel are often praised for “saving” refugees. The opposite is true. They have lured refugees onto a dangerous route and into an economic situation that offers few of them any positive perspective. They have encouraged these poor Syrians to give all their savings to dubious people traffickers and board unsafe boats. And along this route, thousands of refugees have drowned and died.
As Sir Paul Collier, the Oxford economist and former World Bank Director, said it would have been much better to deal with Syrian refugees in those safe countries bordering Syria: Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. If it had wanted to do something good, Germany could have helped to pay for these camps. But it did not.
By the way, this solution is actually the one prescribed by international law under the Geneva Convention and the Dublin Regulation. There has long been the “first country of asylum” principle. This means that countries are expected to take refugees fleeing from persecution in a neighbouring state.
Germany has no border with Syria, and there are plenty of safe countries between Germany and Syria. Even Austria is relatively civilised. Germany should have never signalled its willingness to accept all Syrian refugees.

Read the entire article here

Thank you, Angela - Vielen Dank!

Vielen Dank, Angela!

Thank you!
Vielen Dank!
አመሰግናለሁ
Շնորհակալություն
Çox sağ ol
Eskerrik asko
ধন্যবাদ
Hvala ti
Благодаря
ကျေးဇူးတင်ပါတ
Salamat
Zikomo
Aitäh
Kiitos
Je vous remercie
Dankewol
Tapadh leat
Grazas
გმადლობთ
Ευχαριστώ
આભાર
Mèsi
na gode
Mahalo
धन्यवाद
Ua tsaug rau koj
Daalụ
Terima kasih
Go raibh maith agat
Þakka þér
Grazie
ありがとうございました
Matur nuwun
Gràcies
Рақмет сізге
អរគុណ
谢谢
Spas dikim
Gratias tibi
Paldies
Ačiū
Dank je
Dziękuję Ci
Obrigado
спасибо
Tack
Дякую
Takk

Background reading:

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/692831/west-paying-blood-folly-politicians

German foreign minister says a Brexit will "shake the European Union"

German foreign minister Steinmeier thinks that a Brexit could lead to the disintegration of "a very successful, decades-long integration":

Germany's foreign minister says the European Union would be shaken by a British vote to leave and would have to ensure that it did not ultimately lead toward the bloc's disintegration.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that if Britain goes "things wouldn't just carry on as 28 minus one the following day".
He said: "It would shake the European Union (and) we would have to assure each other that the European Union continues to stick together - and that a very successful, decades-long integration process does not in the end turn to disintegration."

Well, let´s hope that a Brexit really leads to the disintegration of the present, highly unsuccessful and undemocratic monster that the European Union has become!

Frederick Forsyth about Angela Merkel: "making one mistake after another"

Frederick Forsyth gives a brilliant description of what Germany´s Frau Merkel has been doing lately:

I mean, making one mistake after another. 
But that seems to be what Chancellor Merkel has been doing. 
First, she opens Germany’s doors to a million incoming refugees, hoping to score a moral triumph. 
It works for a week or so. 
Then when the full reality dawns, her people turn against her. 
The dislocation to their orderly lives starts a torrent of protest. 
Then she rams through a deal that puts the tyrannical Turkish President Erdogan very much in the driving seat. 
He will confine in camps inside Turkey a few thousand of the human tide sweeping to Europe. 
In exchange 78 million Turks get visa-free access to Europe, plus three billion pounds for starters. 
Now a leak reveals a German plan to create a true EU military union of army, navy, air force and command headquarters but separate from Nato with which we have happily and efficiently co-operated for years. 
Add that to one police authority, one intelligence structure, one law code (corpus juris) and one judiciary. 
It is called a superstate – what David Cameron and his pro-Brussels sycophants said was never going to happen. 
On June 23 can we please have our country back?

Shock poll: Majority of Germans want Merkel out

Soon Germans will say goodbye to this lady:

A SHOCK new poll shows disaster looming for German Chancellor Angela Merkel with the majority of Germans wanting her kicked out of office.

Support for Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party has also plummeted to a woeful 30.5 per cent due to her pro-immigration and pro-Brussels stance.
Just 36 per cent of people think she should seek a fourth term in next year’s election. 
The stunning INSA polls highlight a sea-change in support for Merkel and her policies, which have sparked weekly protests.

Read the entire article here

Merkel´s memory loss: She does not remember that she was an agitation and propaganda officer in DDR!

Not enough people know about German Chancellor´s past in the service of DDR. That´s why it is important to remind people of her background, as told in the book "The First Life of Angela M.":

The book explores Merkel's life growing up in German Democratic Republic (GDR), where her father Horst Kasner was a Protestant pastor and a committed socialist. He moved to East Germany from West Germany in 1954.
Merkel has said in the past that her FDJ role at the academy was more that of a cultural secretary and that her duties included buying theater tickets and organizing book readings.
'Closeness to the System'
But former German Transport Minister Günther Krause -- an eastern German politician who worked with her in the final months of the GDR and as a fellow minister in the government ex-chancellor Helmut Kohl in the early 1990s -- contradicts her in the book and says she propagated Marxism-Leninism.
"With Agitation and Propaganda you're responsible for brainwashing in the sense of Marxism," he said. "That was her task and that wasn't cultural work. Agitation and Propaganda, that was the group that was meant to fill people's brains with everything you were supposed to believe in the GDR, with all the ideological tricks. And what annoys me about this woman is simply the fact that she doesn't admit to a closeness to the system in the GDR. From a scientific standpoint she wasn't indispensable at the Academy of Sciences. But she was useful as a pastor's daughter in terms of Marxism-Leninism. And she's denying that. But it's the truth."

Merkel reacted to these facts in this way:

On Sunday evening, Merkel said she hadn't covered up anything about her past. "I can only rely on my memory," she said at a public screening of her favorite movie, a popular love film made in East Germany, on Sunday night. "If something turns out to be different, I can live with that."

Frau Merkel apparently suffers from a serious loss of memory. That would not matter if she were a private citizen, but it is deeply disconcerting when we are talking about the person in charge of Germany, and in reality the European Union.

Former editor of Die Welt: Turkey has sent 1000 state-paid preachers to Germany

Former editor of the German quality daily Die Welt, Wolfram Weimer:

"Turkey has sent 1000 state-paid preachers to Germany and builds serially mosques. Edogan invests in the open Islamization of Germany."

"Erdogan had martially announced: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers." The Turkish President has long pursued a missionary grand strategy for Islamic expansion - first within Turkey, increasingly also abroad. Therefore, Turkey is investing systematically in the evangelization of Germany. Islamization is to be master-organized by state religious authority Diyanet and its offshoot Germany DITIB. In addition to the comprehensive construction of mosques and prayer rooms - financed through State resources - Ankara now officially sends around 1,000 imams to German mosques. They act in many German communities as preachers and pastors, but also as Erdogan´s political agitators. They usually stay only a few years in Germany, speak German poorly and spread an orthodox Sunni, Ottoman repressive conception of religion and occasionally stir anti-Semitism."

Read the entire article (in German) here.

And soon Erdogan´s "soldiers" do not even need a visa in order to reach the "battle field"!:

The European Commission is set to recommend granting visa-free travel for Turkish citizens inside Europe's passport-free Schengen area, despite unease among some EU lawmakers.

Former German Chancellor Kohl: Europe can´t become "a new home" for millions of migrants

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl is not afraid of telling the truth:

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has warned that Europe can't become "a new home" for millions of migrants, in a veiled criticism of incumbent Angela Merkel's liberal asylum policies. --

"Europe cannot become a new home for the millions of people in need throughout the world," Kohl was quoted as saying.
Germany's liberal refugee policy last year ushered in 1.1 million asylum-seekers from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. --

Many migrants "come from different cultural environments," he added. "For the most part they have a belief which is different from the Judeo-Christian beliefs which form part of the foundations of our social order and our values."

Regrettably the former DDR communist party youth organization propaganda officer Angela Merkel is not listening ...

The silver lining: Angela Merkel is probably the best "ally" for the Brexit supporters

German chancellor Angela Merkel is probably the single person who is most responsible for the current migration crisis in Europe. The already brain dead European Union is on the verge of implosion, very much as a result of the policies of this "conservative" former DDR propaganda officer:

EUROPE was plunged into unprecedented crisis tonight as EU leaders lined up to rip chunks out of each other on the worst day of migrant chaos to date.
As tear gas rained down on rioting migrants in Greece and France bickering countries squabbled over who should take the blame for the spiralling crisis which shows no sign of slowing.
Once again the cavernous divisions between different EU countries were laid bare for all to see, with Angela Merkel angrily defending Germany's role in the chaos amid sniping from other member states.
In a day of unprecedented migrant violence thousands of refugees smashed down a border fence between Macedonia and Greece whilst inhabitants of the Calais Jungle camp set fires and hurled rocks at police as they attempted to avoid eviction.

But the carnage wrought in those riots was matched by the diplomatic damage being done to the EU as member states turned on each other in savage fashion.
Mrs Merkel was on the back foot as she voiced her "despair" at other European nations which fail to share her dream for open door immigration.
Many EU states now deeply resent Germany and blame its leader for unleashing millions of migrants on the continent after she rashly promised all Syrians asylum.

Read the entire article here

However, there is no reason to worry too much. There is a silver lining to this sad state of affairs: The longer Mrs. Merkel is allowed to cling on to her job, the better for the growing number of British Brexit supporters - and indirectly for the future of a new and better Europe!

Angela Merkel: "the worst chancellor post-war Germany has ever had"

The New Zealand based political and economic analyst Oliver Marc Hartwich has some tough (but very true) words to say about German Chancellor Angela Merkel:

But it is not just Merkel’s political party that is suffering from her decision no longer to police German borders. It is a costly exercise to allow vast numbers of poorly qualified migrants into the country. In December last year, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimated the annual costs of integrating Germany’s migrants to be up to €55bn.
Meanwhile, economist Bernd Raffelhüschen, Germany’s leading expert on generational accounting, calculated that integrating one million refugees would result in a total cost of €450bn.
However, that may be too optimistic on two counts. First, Germany has already received more than 1.1 million newcomers last year alone and more are coming. And second, Raffelhüschen assumed it would only take six years until new arrivals reached a qualification level comparable to previous migrants already in the country. If only.
The most extreme estimate for the costs of integrating is Thilo Sarrazin’s. The former finance minister in the state of Berlin, former Bundesbank director and outspoken book author believes the lifetime costs, including family reunions, could reach EUR 1.5 trillion.
No matter what the real figure will be in the end, one thing is certain: The long-term costs of Merkel’s policy are only comparable with historic events such as Germany’s unification or the devastations caused by wars. And these are just the pecuniary costs of absorbing poorly qualified migrants. That there are social, cultural and political as well as economic and fiscal costs is plain to see.
With her policies, Merkel has also isolated Germany in Europe, as I already explained last week. Never before has post-War Germany had fewer friends and allies than in these days.
Finally, by ignoring international treaties, conventions and domestic constitutional law, Merkel has damaged trust in political institutions and the rule of law. Two former justices of Germany’s Constitutional Court, Udo di Fabio and Hans-Jürgen Papier, have now publicly condemned her policies as illegal. Papier, a former president of the court, went so far to say that “never before has there been such a discrepancy between the law and reality”.
During her tenure as Chancellor, Merkel has been responsible for a number of costly policy mistakes, chief among them the decision to switch off nuclear power stations after Fukushima and the establishment of costly bailout and guarantee schemes during the euro crisis. Each of them has burdened taxpayers with hundreds of billions of costs and implicit liabilities.
With her actions during the refugee crisis, Merkel is dwarfing even these previous policy blunders. If one were to add up all her mistakes, they can now be counted in the trillions. Again, these are just the monetary costs. In committing her mistakes, Merkel has also damaged her country’s reputation, its integration into the European Union, the European Union as an institution, the rule of law, as well as political stability in Germany and its neighbours.
With such a record, any Chancellor should have resigned a long time ago — or be kicked out by voters or at least her own party. That Merkel still clings on to power only shows how successfully she had previously purged her party of any potential rivals.
No matter how long Merkel still manages to stay in office, she will go down in history as the worst chancellor post-war Germany has ever had. The sooner she goes the better.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: "Merkel may not politically survive the disaster she has created"

Dr Oliver Hartwich is again spot on in his analysis of the state of the European Union and in putting the blame on the failed German chancellor Angela Merkel:

On multiple fronts the EU as an institution, as a project and as a promise is under simultaneous attack. But unlike in previous times, the result will not be an EU rising like phoenix from the ashes. It will either be the end of the EU or at least the end of the EU as we know it.
Despite its costs in the hundreds of billions, the euro crisis has not derailed the EU just yet. The continent’s monetary, fiscal and banking problems have not been solved, of course. However, they were sufficiently abstract not to cause widespread popular unrest. Plus, by administering some ECB alchemy, they can at least be put on hold for a while.
With the refugee crisis engulfing Europe it is different. More than a million migrants entering the EU mainly via Greece and Italy cannot be ignored, put on hold or inflated away. They have to be dealt with. They are visible. And they are posing serious questions to the way the EU and each individual member state regard themselves. --

The only hope for Merkel to politically survive this situation is also the least likely. She needs to find a European agreement to jointly deal with the crisis. This is not going to happen if EU members cannot even relocate more than 331 refugees.
Merkel also needs help from Turkey in stopping the flow — and last week’s Turkish-German consultations did not suggest that this was going to happen anytime soon. Finally, Merkel needs Greece to protect its sea border with Turkey. Again, you would not want to hold your breath.

Even professional EU optimists like Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the EU Commission, are sounding increasingly desperate. They are both on the record warning of an existential crisis to the EU — and they are right.
The problem is no-one knows what would follow the failure of the EU. All we know is that there is little time left to avert the collapse of this institution.
And while all of this is happening, the United Kingdom is flirting with an exit from the EU, the new Polish government is experimenting with a new form of authoritarianism, and in Portugal the conservatives have failed to form a government despite their better-than-expected showing in last year’s elections.
Politically and economically, Europe is burning. And the one person who deserves more blame than anyone else for the sorry state of the continent is the same who is regularly seen as the ‘most powerful woman in the world’ or Time’s ‘person of the year’: Angela Merkel.
Merkel’s unwillingness to confront the failings of the monetary union despite an insistence on internal devaluation has destabilised Greece and is also responsible for the rise of extremist and populist parties across Europe. Her unilateralism on refugees is dividing the EU and has given rise to Eastern European nationalists. In her own country, her failed euro policies and her naive migration recipes are burdening taxpayers for generations to come.
Merkel may not politically survive the disaster she has created — and that would be well deserved. The collateral damage of her failing would be a Europe that sees the resurrection of nationalism, borders and political extremism. And it would be the end of the EU as we knew it.

Angela Merkel is Time´s "Person of the Year" 2015

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been chosen "Man Person of the Year" by Time Magazine.

Time always tries to find the person, who "for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year". This year the Time judges obviously opted for a person in the second category, thus putting Frau Merkel in the group consisting of such luminaries as Vladimir Putin, Deng Xiaoping and Yuri Andropov ...

Dr. Oliver Hartwich: "Merkel´s irresponsible decision has created an existential challenge to her own country"

Angela Merkel´s open doors refugee policy has seriously weakened Germany and the entire EU:

Nothing is fine in Europe these days. Since Angela Merkel singlehandedly opened Germany’s borders to refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and any other nomads, the continent has been plunged into chaos. First and foremost, Merkel’s irresponsible decision has created an existential challenge to her own country. But it also threatens to wreck the European Union -- or at least turn it into an entirely different organisation. --

Before too long, we can expect Turkey to use the leverage presented to it by the refugee crisis to extort more concessions from Merkel. And how ironic would that be: to see liberal Britain depart from the EU while authoritarian Turkey joins – and both of them essentially because of the same reason.
Merkel’s political stupidity has exposed her to blackmail from Turkey – and from Greece. Again, it is completely ironic how the balance of power has shifted in Europe. Only half a year ago, it was the Greek government that was humiliated in Europe and had to give in to Germany’s demands. The refugee crisis has changed that too. --

What this shows is how much Merkel’s policies have reduced Germany’s standing. Not so long ago, Germany was seen as strong and Merkel as one of the most powerful politicians in the world. Today, the British are preparing their departure from the EU, Turkey cannot believe its luck to be dictating its demands to Berlin, and even Greece may feel encouraged to stand up to Germany.

We are witnessing a fundamental shift of power within the EU. This shift of power has weakened Merkel’s Germany and it will eventually lead to an EU that is very different from the EU that we knew.

It is indeed the end of the EU as we knew it. Britain out, Turkey in and Greece debt free: who would have thought what seismic shifts the refugee crisis could trigger in the EU’s power play?

Read the entire article here

Dr. Oliver Hartwich on Germany´s existential crises created by Angela Merkel

New Zealand based Dr. Oliver Hartwich, who is very familiar with German politics, describes the utter failure of Angela Merkel´s open door policy:

Initially, there was a degree of optimism that among those seeking refuge in Germany might be young, skilled and motivated potential workers. For a country that is looking into a demographic abyss this was seen as a good news story. Ageing Germany does indeed need some rejuvenation.

However, the profile of migrants does not justify such hope. It is estimated that about 20% of them are illiterate – and practically none speak any German. Even the German Federal Labour Minister recently admitted that only one in 10 of them will be easily integrated into the workforce. Conversely, this means that 90% will, at least for an initial period, be dependent on welfare.

The bill of the refugee crisis will thus be huge. How high precisely is anyone’s guess. Marcel Fratzscher, president of the DIW think tank in Berlin, believes it is going to cost €10 billion this year. But it could also be €20-30 billion, according Clemens Fuest, head of the Centre for European Economic Research ZEW. And even that figure might well be too low since Mr Fuest based it on just 800,000 refugees a year. More recent estimates now see that number at almost twice that level.---

A telling event happened at the beginning of this week at the German-Austrian border. Without even informing the German authorities, the Austrian government transported 70 busloads of refugees to the border, pointed them in the direction of Germany and basically left them there.

If that is the spirit of European integration, the EU might actually cease to exist. They are still holding emergency summits in Brussels, of course, but these do not produce any binding outcomes. In the end, it is every country against every other country.

As if Europe did not have enough problems to deal with before the refugee crisis, it is now faced with an even greater challenge: To deal with millions of underqualified migrants; to keep some kind of policy coordination going between Europe’s capitals; to address the cultural problems of integrating people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds; and to convince the domestic population that all of this may somehow be worth it – or at least that there is a moral justification to embark on this project.

Ms Merkel’s response to all of these challenges has so far been a vague “We will cope.” She has never asked whether her people really want to cope. And this oversight is backfiring on her.

Her personal popularity is plummeting like a stone and her party has lost six percentage points in the polls over the past couple of months.

As someone who has been following German politics for a while, I remember some pretty extraordinary events. But not even German unification 25 years ago brought such an existential crisis on the country as Frau Merkel’s lone decision. Unless she finds an exit strategy from the chaos she has caused, and unless she finds it soon, this will not end well.

Read the entire article here

Deadly diesel wins again

No matter how big the scandals are, there is nothing that stops the German (and other European) car industry:

Carmakers have won delays to a more stringent “real driving emissions” test, which will allow them to belch out more than twice the legal limit of deadly nitrogen oxides (NOx) from 2019 and up to 50% more from 2021.
The introduction of the tests has been delayed by a year by the European commission.
Revelations about Volkswagen’s use of “defeat devices” to manipulate current NOx tests and studies showing that just one in 10 cars meets current limits, appear to have had little effect on the voting.
Only the Netherlands opposed the proposal, which passed after heavy lobbying from the car industry and EU countries such as the UK, Germany, France and Spain, which are currently facing court action from the EU for failing to meet NO₂ standards.

Read the entire article here.

The end of the Angela Merkel era is in sight

The truth about the incompetence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is finally coming out:

"Angela Merkel has been Germany’s Chancellor for 10 years, but this is the first time that she is facing serious challenges. Merkel may have survived the euro crisis without a dent in her popularity but Europe’s refugee crisis is leading observers to a hitherto unthinkable question: what if Merkel stumbles over the uncontrolled influx of migrants into her country?

There are problems for Merkel on two fronts. Domestically, her long reign in the opinion polls is drawing to a close as people realise the consequences of her open borders policy. There are now between 5000 and 10,000 migrants arriving in Germany every day. Meanwhile internationally, Merkel faces a double confrontation. On the one hand, EU partners are furious with Germany’s unilateralism. On the other, she now has to beg Turkey for help in containing the flow of Syrian refugees." --

"It is not the first time that Merkel has burdened Germany with the results of her policies. Her decision to switch off nuclear power stations cost energy consumers dearly. Her guarantees for other eurozone countries will haunt German taxpayers for generations.

For years, Merkel drew her political capital from a very simple positioning. By being boring and unexciting, she portrayed a sense of security. The Germans felt safe in her hands, almost irrespective of what she did (or failed to do). But it is hard to feel safe when the country is flooded by more than a million of people in a year and all the head of government has to offer is the slogan “We’ll manage."

As I have often argued in this column, the public’s trust in Merkel’s abilities, let alone achievements, had always been misplaced. She did not achieve half as much as people were willing to give her credit for. However, she was a master of political strategy and communication.

In the current refugee crisis, Merkel again tried to get away with spin and calculation but this time her plan has backfired. Her signal to open Germany’s borders to an unlimited number of migrants was strong, and no matter how much she tries to take it back, she is unable to stem the flow of people into Germany."

Read the entire article here.

"Der Spiegel": Germany has been spying on its closest allies

Angela Merkel two years ago:

"We need trust among allies and partners," Merkel told reporters in Brussels. "Such trust now has to be built anew. This is what we have to think about."
"The United States of America and Europe face common challenges. We are allies," the German leader said. "But such an alliance can only be built on trust. That's why I repeat again: spying among friends, that cannot be."


Well, now it turns out the "honest" Germans have themselves carried out extensive spying on their closest allies:

The German newsmagazine "Spiegel Online" has reported that Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) eavesdropped on communications of several of its allied countries until late 2013.
According to reports, these operations may not all have taken place under the guidance of the US National Security Agency (NSA) but also under the BND's own initiative. Earlier this year, it had been revealed that the NSA commissioned the BND for years to spy on German targets using so-called "selectors" - search criteria used to flag activity with vested interests for the NSA.. The NSA was reported to have supplied the technology involved in this method of intelligence gathering.
The latest disclosures, however, might imply that the BND added its own choice of selectors to the list - an act which would fall outside its constitutional mandate and qualify as illegal. The BND is already under scrutiny for the legalities of doing the groundwork for a foreign spy agency by collaborating with the NSA..
Further setbacks for the BND
According to the report, Germany used thousands of such selectors in total, which ended up flagging communications of allied states. France and the United States were reported to be among the nations affected by the intelligence breach.

In the wake of the VW scandal: Some facts about Germany

Next time you hear Angela Merkel, or some other German politician or opinion maker, lecture other governments or leaders, remember this:

It is a common misconception to believe Germany is a place for ‘whiter than white’ business practices. That is, of course, how Germany likes to see itself and how it likes to advertise itself to the world. Self-righteousness is a virtue invented in Germany. Just look at the ways the Germans have tried to teach other nations lessons on fiscal policy, energy policy and now refugee policy.

The problem is that there is a gulf between this self-image and the reality of German life. The Germans are probably not worse than everybody else. But they certainly aren’t better, either.

Until not so long ago, bribing foreign officials was regarded as a commonplace business practice in Germany. Only in the late 1990s did Germany change finally its laws. Until then, believe it or not, it was not just acceptable but in fact tax deductible to pay out kickbacks as long as it secured lucrative international contracts. German tax law recognised bribes as nützliche Aufwendungen (‘useful expenditure’).

A culture of corporate corruption rocked several large German companies in recent years. The most prominent case was probably Siemens and shook the company between 2006 and 2008. Dealing with it cost Siemens close to €3bn and led to an exchange of the company’s top management and supervisory board. Siemens has since recovered and installed a chief compliance officer but it was a painful process to get there. Deutsche Bank has also been shaken by its involvement in the LIBOR rigging scandal and is still dealing with the consequences.

Garry Kasparov to Western leaders: "Stop legitimizing Putin"

Garry Kasparov is - as always - spot on:

Garry Kasparov

Bloomberg TV: "What do you think Obama should do now?"
Me: <pause> "Resign".
Ok, I don't expect that to happen, but my outrage is starting to overtake my grief over Boris's murder. To the question of what the leaders of the free world should do, look at what they have NOT done for years and years to constrain Putin. Treating him like one of the guys, just another leader, instead of a brutal dictator has enabled and encouraged him and is why he is invading Ukraine and why Boris is dead. It may be a little too much to say Obama, Merkel, Cameron, & Hollande have blood on their hands, but they will next time. They can have no more illusions about Putin's true nature. Stop legitimizing Putin, for by so doing, they delegitimize brave fighters like Boris.

Finally: UK and US to send military personnel to train the army of Ukraine

Finally at least some action in the right direction after Merkel´s disastrous Minsk 2:

British military personnel are to be sent to Ukraine in the next few weeks to provide advice and training, says Prime Minister David Cameron. --

Mr Cameron said he would push for more sanctions on Russia if the separatists failed to observe the truce.

The prime minister told a House of Commons committee that up to 75 British soldiers divided into four teams would go to an area well away from the conflict zone to provide medical, logistics, intelligence and infantry skills. --

In a statement, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that the move was a result of "continued Russian-backed aggression".

The United States has already said it is planning to send a battalion of soldiers to train three Ukrainian battalions.