Balance of Power Changing: Merkel Dominates Europe No More
SputnikNews.com
27.11.2015
France is challenging Germany’s dominance in Europe as the European agenda is changing fast amid recent world events.
The recent events including the migrant crisis and the civil war in Syria has put “hard power” back atop the European agenda, journalist James Neuger wrote in his article. Those changes are burying the notion of the economically powerful but militarily shy Germany as Europe’s leader.
“French warplanes taking off from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier may not remake the Middle East, but are already reshaping Europe’s balance of power after years of German economic dominance,” the article read.
The author gave some examples to prove the fact that Paris is challenging Germany’s dominance. France was never comfortable with Germany’s low-deficit requirements and finally it has cast them off. Announcing an increase in French military spending after the Paris attacks, President Francois Hollande said: “In these circumstances, the security pact is more important than the stability pact.” The rest of Europe, including Germany, had no choice but to agree with this.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron, not German Chancellor Angela Merkel, was the first person Hollande spoke with about his plans to battle the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist group, the author wrote.
Germany has undisputed economic power, but it is unable to maintain security in Europe in a short-term perspective, Daniel Fiott, a researcher at the Institute for European Studies, was quoted as saying in the article.
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