Its like a stuck, worn out record repeating the same line over and over again. Those hypocritical folks from the Visegrad4 and Eastern Europe are all for solidarity when it comes to receiving EU monies, but they defy Brussels when it comes to migrant handouts. True they seem to want no part of Merkel Vision and who could blame them. They see, like almost everyone else, the failed multiculturalism of the West. "Good luck, but no thanks", they say.
But the funds they receive from the EU have nothing whatsoever to do with migrant quotas. Does one really believe the EU is just handing out money for no benefit of their own? This may be the case with Turkey, where Erdogan shakes down Merkel for billions as he winks an eye towards the 25,000 smugglers that operate openly on his shores. However, this is not the case with Eastern Europe.
In 1948, the United States started what was known here as the Marshall Plan to revitalize Europe after World War II. America invested 13 billion or 130 billion in today's dollars into Western Europe. Of course, Stalin rejected the plan for the eastern bloc. The United Kingdom received 26% of the funds, while France 18% and West Germany 11%. The United States was not just handing out welfare to be a "nice guy"; they were fully aware that in order to maximize their economy they needed a strong market in Europe. As Europe lay wounded, they needed to help rebuild the devastated infrastructure and to raise the standard of living. After all, it is much easier to export goods to people who have the money to buy them. The Marshall Plan helped get Europe back on track to the point where the ingenuity of the Europeans, Germans mostly, were able to capitalize on that seed money to become vibrant economies. In the end, Europe benefited, but so did America, very handsomely.
For a moment forget that this whole refugee crisis did not happen (wow, what a dream). The EU would still be earmarking monies for Eastern Europe and the V4. Why? Because Germany and the West need them to have prosperous economies for the benefit of all. A great deal of this money goes to rebuild the infrastructure that was neglected during communism and to raise the purchasing power of the people there. Why? So Germany and others can sell them goods. In other words, although not nearly as dramatic as the Marshall Plan, this EU "welfare" greatly benefits the donor countries in the long run.
Today it is the V4 economies that are thriving. Take a trip to Mlada Boleslav, a thriving town in the Czech Republic, and see who is assembling those German cars to be exported worldwide. Look at the Skoda cars that dominate their roadways. Germany's investment in Mlada Boleslav is paying dividends for both Volkswagen and the Czechs who live there. This is how the world works.
So the next time you hear some pundit at the Economist or bureaucrat in Brussels whining about the V4 and Eastern Germany accepting funds without the attached strings (migrants), you may want to ask them just who benefits from a strong Central/Eastern Europe? Who benefits from a strong
infrastructure in which to export to? Who benefits from an efficient workforce with the purchasing power to buy an overpriced, overrated edition of the English Economist?
With Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, and France melting down in the self-destructive malaise of socialism, Germany needs the V4 and CEE states more than ever to be strong and healthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment