"They had knowingly and purposefully brought weak states into the Eurozone, because they genuinely, even nobly, wished to build a large, strong, United Europe."
For folks who know Europe/Europeans well, is this true?
For folks who know Europe/Europeans well, is this true?
There's now —sadly— little left going around of the "Alle Menschen werden Brüder" that our shared anthem sings (all men become brothers under the gentle wing of joy).
A bunch of unscrupulous cronies sold both northern and southern Europeans up the river just to make a profit for themselves and their friends. No damn statesmanship to be seen anywhere. Long gone are the times Schroeder and other much-more-respectable leaders, we now have to put up with the likes of Lagarde and Juncker. And, of course, Tsipras and Varoufakis, amateur hour, who have been absurdly reckless in their handling of the negotiations and PR.
Look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream Controversy section
Personally I think this is highly subjective though.
Even in the boom years of 1999-2008, Greece had like 20 patents / year, while Austria or Finland have 600-900, despite having a smaller population.