Deutsch
English
FrançaisSub menu: Home
Home / Index of Authors
van der Wal, Oene
Subscribe to receive the texts of "van der Wal, Oene" as RSS feeds
2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
German wimps bow out in Afghanistan
Following the violent clashes triggered by the burning of copies of the Koran in Afghanistan, which resulted in several deaths, the German Bundeswehr evacuated its military base in the north of the country on Friday. The Germans lack military steadfastness, writes Oene van der Wal in his blog for the right-wing conservative news magazine Elsevier: "German interests come first, while principles and allies are left for later. This is reminiscent of the Merkel government's refusal to participate in the Libya intervention last year. … Once the fighting was over Berlin sent a delegation of negotiators to Libya as if nothing had happened. … It's hard to say what lies behind this. Are the Germans pacifist wimps? Or are they simply ruthlessly pursuing their own interests? … More than 70 years after World War II Germany is still seeking the good in itself and forgetting that passivity and fleeing problems can be just as immoral as brandishing weapons."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Germany, » Afghanistan
No money for Palestine!
The European Union has decided to provide an additional 40 million euros in aid to the Palestinian Territories. This has to stop, writes the political news magazine Elsevier: "A strange decision: Brussels already transfers around 500 million euros annually - although for years this has not led to a single advance in the Palestinian question. Many billions have disappeared into the quagmire of Palestinian corruption, uncertainty and violence. To this day the Palestinians have not been able to transform their ambitions for a functioning national state into reality. It may be that Israel intentionally blocks economic development here and there, but that does not explain why the Gaza Strip is such a chaos for example, while under Israeli control it flourished. The blame lies with the Palestinians themselves. ... The Palestinian Territories are a bottomless pit. How much more of the European taxpayers' money must be tossed into it?"
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Europe, » Middle East
© 2005-2012