Skip to Content

Foto: Tobias Koch

Germans unhappy about EU’s lack of transparency, direction

More than 60 percent of Germans do not believe the European Union is on track, a poll revealed Tuesday and almost all think the bloc is too aloof.

Published: November 30, 2016, 6:44 am

    Read more

    About 96 per cent of Germans want Brussels to be become “more transparent and closer to the people”, an independent polling institute found.

    Half of all Germans want to hold a referendum on their nations EU membership – with a survey suggesting almost two-thirds of Germans are unhappy and want a new direction for the unelected bloc.

    Germans believe the other member states have abandoned them to deal with the immigration problem by itself.

    The results will come as a blow to Angela Merkel, who has been widely criticised for her open-door immigration policy which saw millions of migrants flooding Germany in 2015.

    It appears that the German Chancellor is well aware of the negative sentiment because last week she hurriedly announced plans to deport 100 000 migrants who arrived in Germany last year.

    Merkel needs to recover some of her floundering support in the polls after announcing her bid to run for her fourth term, making her the longest serving post-war leader on the continent.

    Most respondents, however would not discard the idea of a united Europe, with 78 percent believing that a joint European foreign policy was an important means of representing German interests internationally due to the migrant crisis.

    Almost half of all respondents believe the refugee crisis is the biggest problem the country faces and a resolution can only be found with the cooperation of the other 27 member states.

    Nearly half of the respondents thought that the membership in the EU presents the equal amount of advantages and disadvantages for their country.

    The survey found 67 per cent want the bureaucratic superstate to change its political direction while only 39 per cent of Germans believe EU membership is exclusively positive.

    The poll conducted by TNS Infratest Politikforschung in October 2016, asked 1 001 German-speaking people over 18 years old to participate, with some 62 percent believing the European Union is not on the right track.

    The Korber-Stiftung foundation, which commissioned the poll, said in a press release that 39 percent of the Germans saw the country’s EU membership as mainly advantageous, while 48 percent thought being part of the EU gave Germany both advantages and disadvantages.

    The poll also found that 59 percent of the respondents had a great trust in German’s role in the bloc and felt German leadership ought to be expanded. According to 60 percent of the survey participants, at the time of the crisis, the German government has to put its interests ahead of those of the other EU members.

    A great number of the poll participants did not mind close cooperation with the most important EU partners, with 80 percent singling out France, 71 percent each Italy and the Netherlands, and 67 percent Poland.

    Only one third of Germans who responded to the polling have faith in the refugee resettlement deal with Turkey.

    As part of a deal with Turkey, migrants and refugees who arrive on Greek shores after March 20 are to be transported to five Aegean islands and shipped back if their asylum applications are rejected.

    Ankara has been promised billions of euros as part of a agreement to stem the migrant tide.

    While 55 percent of Germans still say they would not be against another Angela Merkel term, according to an Emnid poll published on Sunday, her announcement to run again for office has been met with very little enthusiasm.

    The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, says the political elite is divorced from the needs of the people.

    “Under Merkel, democracy in Germany has withered and mutated into an all-party coalition,” said Alexander Gauland, deputy leader of the party which is now polling at well over 12 percent.

    Even her usual supporters are perplexed.”Did anyone understand why Angela Merkel wants to run again and what she wants to do in the next four years in office? I didn’t,” wrote Der Spiegel’s commentator Dirk Kurbjuweit.

    The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said that Merkel is still her party’s strongest candidate, even if she is “past her zenith at home and abroad”. But it also sadly implies that there is no talent available for her to groom a successor.

    karin@praag.org

    Consider donating to support our work

    Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.

    Keep ​your language polite​. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in​,​ for example​, ​Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.

    If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violation​s​ of​ any​ law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.

    If your comments are subject to preview ​by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.

    We reserve the right to del​ete​ comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.

    Europe
    DESTRUCTIVE HAILSTORMS will become more frequent and violent with increasingly larger hail, predicted solar researcher Valentina Zharkova back in 2019 when she stated that it's one of many signs of an impending Grand Solar Minimum. This is exactly what we have witnessed this year in both Europe and the world. Here is the German town of Benediktbeuern in Bavaria after a hailstorm on August 26th. Almost all rooftops and cars were damaged. The centuries-old church and monastery were damaged for the first time ever. Interestingly, the monastery was rebuilt in 1699 during the Maunder Minimum. Combined with heavy rainfall, extreme weather will devastate a significant portion of our food production. For instance, heavy rainfall destroyed a quarter of all crops in Greece in just two days in September. However, mainstream media remains silent. Photo: X @safe0007/Sandor Feher

    NOAA Predicts Zero Sunspots for Almost the Whole 2030s

    CLIMATEThe United States' government scientific organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), predicts zero sunspots from 2031 to 2040. This is an extreme situation that has not occurred in as long as humanity has been counting sunspots, and it leads us into uncharted territory in terms of our solar system. However, this prediction aligns with the warnings of the world-renowned solar researcher Valentina Zharkova for many years, who indicated in 2019 various signs of this catastrophic phenomenon, including the extreme hailstorms we have seen in Europe and the world this summer. The forecast and various observations this year give cause for very significant concern. In this unique analysis, Free West Media explains why.

    NATIONALIST COLLABORATION TAKES SHAPE. Six parties met in Budapest on August 26th to sign a joint declaration confirming the friendship and political unity among the parties. The goal is to either form a new group in the European Parliament after the EU elections in June next year or to reconstitute the existing Identity and Democracy (ID) group with the new parties. Pictured from left to right: Mikael Jansson (Alternative for Sweden), Thierry Baudet (Forum for Democracy, Netherlands), László Toroczkai (Mi Hazánk, Hungary), Kostadin Kostadinov (Vazrazhdane, Bulgaria), and Josef Nerušil (Svoboda a přímá demokracie, Czech Republic). Also included is Mass-Voll from the non-EU country Switzerland (inset image). Photo: Free West Media

    European Nationalist Parties Forge Cooperation Ahead of EU Elections

    EUROPEAN ELECTIONSOn Saturday, August 26, representatives of six European nationalist parties gathered in Budapest. The meeting was initiated by the Hungarian party Mi Hazánk and took place in the national parliament. Representatives of the parties signed a joint declaration that not only reaffirms the parties' friendship but also their unity on a range of complex political issues. A surprisingly clear and radical manifesto was established. The hope is that this cooperation will lead to success in the EU elections and eventually result in the formation of a group in the European Parliament. For Swedish nationalism, this meeting marks a success as Sweden, for the first time, has a party represented in a leading nationalist cooperation in Europe. Free West Media was present at this historic event.

    Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson participated in the Pride parade in Stockholm where Erdogan was ridiculed, something that Turkey took particularly badly. Photo: Nya Tider

    Turkey Believes Sweden Hasn’t Done Enough

    Sweden will have to wait a bit longer for NATO membership, according to Turkey's Justice Minister Jilmaz Tunc. First, Sweden must extradite the "terrorists" Turkey wants and stop the desecration of the Quran.

    Ka-52 crashes after being hit by a Swedish RBS 70. Russian sources report that one of the two pilots died in the crash. Image: Telegram

    Swedish Weapon Takes Down Russia’s Best Attack Helicopter

    The Russian attack helicopter Ka-52 is considered one of the world's best and has struck fear in Ukraine, where it has hunted down tanks and other armored vehicles, often beyond the range of many light anti-aircraft systems. However, it has met its match in the Swedish air defense missile system RBS 70, which has quickly led to significant losses for the Russian helicopter forces.

    Alternative for Germany held its conference during the last weekend of July in the thousand-year-old city of Magdeburg, located by the Elbe River in the eastern German state of Saxony. The first of the two conference days began with a strong program speech by the party's male spokesperson. Subsequently, party officials were elected and motions were addressed. The second day was entirely devoted to candidate selection and positioning for the EU election in June next year. Screenshot: AfD on Facebook

    Strong Confidence in German AfD

    Alternative for Germany (AfD) held a party conference on July 29-30 to select candidates for the upcoming EU election next year. EU Parliament member Maximilian Krah, belonging to the party's more radical, ethnonationalist faction, was appointed as the top candidate. The party's two spokespersons delivered powerful speeches criticizing the EU's failed migration policy and trade sanctions that isolate Europe and Germany from the rest of the world. They argued that it's time for the EU to return a significant portion of its power to national parliaments. However, they have dropped the demand for Germany to exit the EU.

    Maximilian Krah is one of the AfD politicians who is singled out as an ethnonationalist, as he has stated that there is a distinction between ethnic Germans and immigrants who have obtained German citizenship. Krah is a Member of the European Parliament and AfD's top candidate for the upcoming European Union election next year. Still image: AfD on Facebook

    The Establishment Wants to Ban Germany’s Second Largest Party – for the Sake of Democracy

    The rising popularity of AfD has raised strong concerns within the establishment. Despite lies and demonization in the media and isolation from the overall political establishment, the party continues to grow. Certain representatives of the party are accused of becoming increasingly "extreme," and in an unusual move, the influential weekly newspaper Der Spiegel demanded that AfD be "banned."

    FvD was quick to support the protests against covid restrictions. Today, the party also stands behind the farmers protests against the governments’ plans to close a big portion of the farms in the country for the sake of “climate”. The picture is from a protest against covid restrictions in Amsterdam in January of last year. Photo: Wion

    Dutch FvD break through the media blockade

    What is happening in the Netherlands? It is often difficult to follow events in other countries, especially when distorted by system media. We give Forum for Democracy (FvD) the opportunity to speak out on the political situation in the Netherlands and the staunch resistance they face in trying to save the country.

    Albert Bourla (l.) has close ties to Ursula von der Leyen (center). YouTube screenshot

    The Ursula von der Leyen Affair

    After a criminal complaint in Belgium against the President of the European Commission, the so-called SMS-case, now takes a new turn. The judge responsible for the investigation will likely gain access to the secret messages exchanged between Ursula von der Leyen and Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, at least if they haven't been deleted.

    Daniel Friberg, founder of the publishing house Arktos, tells Nya Tider that they intend to counter censorship by starting new ventures, including an online cultural magazine and an online university. Photo: Arktos

    Publisher of Unique Literature Worldwide Blocked by International Distributor

    Arktos has distinguished itself by publishing groundbreaking philosophers and social critics. Now, the publisher's international distributor has abruptly terminated the cooperation, and more than 400 already printed titles cannot reach their audience. There is strong evidence that the distributor has been under pressure, something that has also happened in Sweden. We have spoken with Arktos founder Daniel Friberg about the ongoing struggle for freedom of speech in a shrinking cultural corridor.

    Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, is one of the Catholic bishops who signed the letter, which was read out in churches throughout Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland over the Easter weekend. Photo: The Catholic Church

    Care prompts bishops to criticize transgender ideology

    The Catholic bishops of the Scandinavian countries presented an open five-page letter criticizing transgender ideology on March 21, just before Easter. The document primarily expresses care and advice and was read aloud in Catholic churches in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, is one of the signatories of the document.

    Go to archive