29. March is supposed to leave the UK, the EU. How will Europe look like the day after?
It is the last waltz.
So bad?
It looks that way. How are we supposed to achieve in the remaining eight weeks, what we have done in the past two years? And even if the EU Commission and the UK government to negotiate a new contract, would have to agree Yes 27 parliaments of the EU member States. So I guess that it is on the 29. March is here to stay. And all signs point to a tough Brexit .
And then? The Apocalypse?
not at all. In British history there was already a “Brexit”, as in 16. A century separated the Church of England from the Catholic Church. The UK was, on the contrary, It was global. Even today, the British are already looking for new partners, negotiate new relations with many countries outside of the EU, with Switzerland.
So it won’t be so bad?
of Course lysed for now, everything para. We sit like rabbits, stare at the Brexit-the snake-don’t know whether you are on 29. March will strike. We need to finally have clarity, even if it means a hard Brexit. But then it is at least clear.
“This is not a knee was the case before Putin. It was not even a Knicks. I submit to no one.”
Totally unclear is the relationship between the EU state of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Austria’s government constantly calls for strict controls and securing the EU’s external borders. The must then apply for the Irish-Irish border?
The Irish border, the sticking point in the Brexit. Since it is now not only the issue of customs controls or the free exchange of goods. Since it is a war in Europe that lasted longer than 30 years and thousands of Deaths. This war in Northern Ireland ended with the good Friday agreement, under the assumption that the UK remains part of the EU. This assumption proved to be wrong. Nevertheless, the peace mission and the spirit of the good Friday agreement, should weigh heavier than all the others.
To accept the EU’s open Borders?
Yes. Of course, these open border for the representatives of the hard Brexit is difficult to swallow. There is also the concern that Northern Ireland could unite with the Republic of Ireland. This is just one of the many uncertainties of this Brexit. It is, however, not the only one. We only have to think of the Scots who actually want to stay in the EU.
the negotiations between the EU and Switzerland. You give the framework agreement a Chance?
In the case of the EU-Commission is already a sense great impatience. But the subject is too important, than that we are simply pushing it to the side.
Really? The EU has other problems as her relationship to little Switzerland?
Switzerland is very important for us. As a Scandinavian, I would see it differently. But as an Austrian I say: Switzerland was always a role model, in terms of wealth, the policy of neutrality. And it is now a major financial and commodity trading centre.
In this close relation to Switzerland: do not Understand you because of the concerns about the framework agreement?
It is like the Brexit-the exit agreement: Both sides have been negotiating at eye level, years of time and nerves invested. The result is a contract. And with all due respect for the complex opinion-making processes in Switzerland: What we have agreed in the contract, must be implemented.
Christoph Blocher spoke recently in front of his followers in Zurich of a”submission agreement” and by the suicide of Switzerland.
this is The internal Swiss debate, I don’t want to comment on.
In the process, fought back, however, Austria only recently, also against a perceived infringement of state sovereignty and the migration Pact of the UNO not signed.
Of the target provisions of the Covenant were 17 for Austria is not acceptable. What I learned from that: The design would have to be in the parliamentary process and no longer need to be discussed. Then much would have been different. The framework agreement has co-negotiated in Switzerland. This was completely transparent. If Christoph Blocher is of a different opinion, then that is his democratic right…
However, the Switzerland must now sign?
So be it. There were long negotiations, there were red lines. Both sides knew what the other side is reasonable. Now we need a result.
And if there were no agreement?
I am not a friend of the subjunctive. We don’t know at all, what awaits us in 2019. There are so many black swans are on the horizon. Who would have expected recently, with the Protest of the yellow West, in France? The social question has returned to us.
Who has assumed that Europe is divided 30 years after the fall of the Iron curtain between East and West?
This split I see in the long term, as much explosive as the Brexit. With the British it will be sooner or later an agreement. But the split between the Eastern and Western States in the EU will occupy us for a very long time.
Are Hungary or Poland still democracies?
I don’t want to meddle in the Affairs of other States. I can only say that in the EU we have currently a lot of construction sites. In North-West Europe, a bean counter mentality, unfortunately, is what relates to South-Eastern Europe. But if we begin with the article 7 procedure due to violation of the fundamental European values, where we want to stop then?
A photo went around the world showing their knees in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Not have thought in that Moment that ups was now a mistake?
no, not at all. There is no knee was the case before Putin. It was not even a Knicks. I submit to nobody. After a dance the gentleman bows and the lady makes the Compliment. I had danced at my wedding with my first, newly wedded man, we had “The last waltz” from Peter Alexander. During the dance, I was handed over to Putin, and we danced more. He bowed, I made the Compliment. The wars.
That was it, but then not quite. Because it was filmed everything, and the Russian media spread.
it was not clear to me. It’s not true that I was isolated after that my Ministerial colleagues in the EU. They found it “highly interesting”, and nobody was angry with me.
not Putin Is a brutal dictator?
The invitation to my wedding came spontaneously, it was not calculated, ice-cold. We can not reduce our international relations on Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. We need to talk to anyone, we have to invite them, we have to go eat with them and in the Opera. (Editorial Tamedia)
Created: 23.01.2019, 19:06 PM
