EU Commish is rather pleased German BND and NSA thought it worth spying on According to local media reports Thursday, German intelligence agency BND (the Bundesnachrichtendienst) has helped the US National Security Agency (NSA) spy on the European Commission and French authorities since 2008. German officials themselves were not targeted because of a NSA-BND deal signed in 2002. The revelations have …
@ Destroy All Monsters
"You have to pay more to make things better!"
That was labours mantra wasnt it? Didnt work out too well in the end. Oddly paying more doesnt seem to be the problem with the leadership of this country, but the idea of better always seems to elude them (whoever is in power).
"Makes me feel so good about all that money we throw their way. Not"
Personally I think no Franco-German war for the last 70 years is alone worth all that money without even considering all the other stuff they do. For comparison there were three of these conflicts in the previous 70 years, the last two becoming World Wars.
@ Smooth Newt
"Personally I think no Franco-German war for the last 70 years is alone worth all that money without even considering all the other stuff they do"
You do know that the Franco-German peace hasnt been because of the EU? It was all the sacrificed goats that did it! And the rain only comes if you appease the god of thunder by winning mortal kombat tournaments! And you know it will all fall apart when a black cat crosses in front of you.
Also I am sure you have tripped and fell in your lifetime. If you send me money you wont fall but be aware the bill will continue to rise, but its worth it because it will resolve the completely unrelated issue.
@codejunky I guess they don't teach history in schools any more.
In 1945 most of Europe was lying devastated from war for the second time in a generation. No-one wanted this to happen again. Since copious amounts of steel and energy were essential for building armaments, the idea arose of pooling Franco-German coal and steel production so that it would be impossible for one country ever to become a threat for the other.
The result was the European Coal and Steel Community which grew and grew to become the EU.
So yes, the original precursor to the EU was explicitly created as a political structure to make war between France and Germany impossible.
@ Smooth Newt
"So yes, the original precursor to the EU was explicitly created as a political structure to make war between France and Germany impossible."
Thank you for realising it is not my history knowledge which is the problem. A common trade block NOT the recently created political and currency union was put in place and it makes war between them less likely. Although the main driving forces politically seem to be Germany's reluctance to be a European leader due to the heavy shame they still struggle with over the Nazi issue and that France was the stronger economy of the European trading block (something which has greatly changed).
So back to throwing salt over your shoulder, why does the lack of the extremely contentious EU which has prompted the rise of nationalists and extremists across the whole EU of both the left and right wings mean that there is less chance of a war than if the EU project collapsed back to the state that has worked for the majority of that 70 yrs? Compared to the recent development of the EU and its decimation of the Greek economy, rise of nationalism, friction causing with Russia, gravy train abusing and general fun-buggery?
As I said I am amused that they now feel important.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has been brought down by a scandal handed to him by the country's intelligence service, the Service de Renseignement de l'Etat luxembourgeois (SREL). The service, which is supposed to address external security and terrorist threats, reports directly to the head of the government. That's why a 141-page report by a parliamentary investigation committee found that Juncker holds political responsibility for the illegal operations that SREL officers have conducted for years. The extensive use of Luxembourgish in the mainly French document means that, even without further encryption, it is poorly accessible to outsiders.
The report makes clear that Juncker simply did not treat the intelligence service seriously enough. Most of the time, he didn't even want to know precisely what was going on. He was satisfied with intimations and preferred to give advice rather than instructions.
This was wise as he got promoted to the Eurosphere...
Spiegel leaves out a whole lot of very tasty stuff (false flag attacks via actual bombings, targeted rumor-mongering by intimating that prosecutors are involved in paedophilia, buying cars on discount because 'member of the state', then selling them dear after hours, breaking and entering journalists' houses on direct order of the prime minister to check where info comes from ... the works!)
'After Snowden’s first revelations Angela Merkel said strongly that “spying on friends is a no-go”. So either EU member states are no friends to Merkel or she doesn’t take her own words seriously.'
...she probably didn't know what was going on. After all... 'intelligence service personnel “are very difficult to control”.'
This is probably one of those mornings when Merkel had wishes she had drunk heavily the night before ... she might as well have done something to earn the headache.
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