Obama calls for strong, united Europe

Yahoo – AFP, Andrew Beatty, April 25, 2016

US President Barack Obama delivers remarks after touring the Hannover Messe
Trade Fair in Hanover, Germany, April 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)

Hanover (Germany) (AFP) - US President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea for European unity in the face of rising populism and scepticism Monday, warning this was a "defining moment" for the continent.

"A strong and united Europe is a necessity for the world," Obama said in the German city of Hanover, in a landmark speech that carried the tone of a blunt challenge to friends.

Visiting a region reeling from a migration crisis, economic stagnation and facing the prospect of Britain abandoning the European Union, Obama warned that "progress is not inevitable".

Contrasting the prosperity of Europe today with the wars and hardship of the last century, Obama called on Europeans reject the "us-versus-them" politics that has fuelled the rise of the far right in countries from Poland to France.

"Perhaps you need an outsider, somebody who is not European, to remind you of the magnitude of what you have achieved," he said, a day after the anti-immigration far-right triumphed in a presidential vote in Austria.

US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both endorsed

 the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations between the EU and

US (AFP Photo/Odd Andersen)

Don't turn inward

Hours before he and Chancellor Angela Merkel were to hold talks with the leaders of Britain, France and Italy, Obama painted today's Europeans as heirs to the popular movements that ended the Cold War.

And he also recalled the devastating consequences of "intolerance and extreme nationalism" that drenched Europe in blood during the 20th century.

"In the last century, just twice in 30 years, the forces of empire and intolerance and extreme nationalism consumed this continent and cities like this one were largely reduced to rubble," Obama said.

"Tens of millions of men and women and children were killed."

While admitting there could be frustrations with European institutions, he argued that "turning inward" was not the answer to Europe's problems.

As rightwing populism gains ground in parts of the continent in response to growing Islamic radicalism, he urged Europe to remain open.

"I want you to remember that our countries are stronger, they're more secure and more successful when we integrate people of all backgrounds and faiths, and make them feel as one. And that includes our fellow citizens who are Muslim," he said.

On a visit to Britain ahead of his arrival in Germany, the US president had also waded into an increasingly-bitter debate over the UK's membership in the European Union, urging Britons to vote against leaving the bloc in a June referendum.

For much of Obama's seven years in the White House his relationship with Europe has been uneasy.

Obama began his presidency with Europeans revelling in Washington's more relaxed approach to foreign policy than under his predecessor George W. Bush.

Thousands marched through Hanover to protest against the proposed transatlantic

 trade deal (TTIP) amid fears it will erode protection for workers and consumers (AFP

 Photo/John Macdougall)

Pushing forward US-EU trade

But since then, Obama's star has dimmed, and the US president has become frustrated with Europe's inability to move quickly in response to the global recession or to the threat from jihadists.

In a mark of that frustration, Obama bluntly told his audience that Europe needs to do more to shoulder the collective security burden.

"Europe has sometimes been complacent about its own defence," Obama said, repeating a long-standing call for NATO allies to increase defence spending to at least two percent of economic output.

More than half a century after the end of World War II, much of the continent, including economic power Germany, remains firmly under the umbrella of security provided by the United States.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama attend the

 Hanover industrial Fair in Hanover, central Germany, on April 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/

Christian Charisius)

Obama stressed not only the need for European nations to work together, but to work with Washington to tackle a host of challenges, from Syria and Iraq to global trade and climate change.

And he said he would send up to 250 more special forces military trainers to Syria to help rebels fighting Islamic State jihadists.

His remarks came as Europe scrambles to try and limit the refugee flow into the bloc and the bloodshed in Syria.

As he arrived in Germany on Sunday, Obama made a strong pitch for US-EU trade.

"Angela and I agree that the United States and the European Union need to keep moving forward with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations," said Obama of the vast EU-US trade agreement in the making which has run into strong public opposition.

He called for the agreement to be sealed before the end of the year, even though tens of thousands marched through Hanover on the eve of his visit to protest against the treaty amid fears it would erode protection for workers and consumers.

Both Obama and Merkel say the pact will provide a shot in the arm to Western economies.

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"You Don’t Know How the Frog Jumps"–  Jan11, 2011 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“…  Last week, I gave you a message about the potentials of 2011. And there were those in this room who attended. I'm going to repeat something I said there, for you need to hear it and it has to do with politics. It would seem intuitive to every single Human Being in the room that in order to accomplish what you do as Americans in Congress, you must have at least two parties. For that is the way it has always been - the red and the blue.

What if I told you that there will come a time when there will be no parties? You might then say, "Well, that's impossible, Kryon, because you're not Human and you don't know how funding works." You might say, "It has to be a party that creates the power to raise money for the ones who cannot, and then the funding is spread around and this is the way we work. If you didn't have parties, you'd have no funding. Nobody could advertise, and no one could get elected."

Oh, really?

Are you aware right now, that you have a president who was elected on the Internet? He figured it out. When everybody can talk to everyone, you have plenty of funding. A few dollars here, a few dollars there. You talk to millions at the same time, they talk to millions at the same time. It's a new paradigm of communication. The young people know all about it, and you can't stop it. Watch for more from this new paradigm.

It is worldwide communication, one person at a time. It doesn't matter how many laws you pass, and it doesn't matter what you decide about who is in charge of it, you can't stop it. It's out of the bag now, and the communities of the young are going to be communicating. This is how the politicians are going to be communicating to you, literally coming into your home in a holographic form perhaps, explaining their position one by one, without a party. Then you will elect them to your Congress without a party and they will sit in the chairs without a division and there will be no such thing as the "other side of the aisle."

And that, Human Being, is called unity and there is a paradigm that you cannot even imagine. And it's in the works. And then you'll have a Congress that works together and gets things done without the current duality.  ….”

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… Human Nature is Changing

There's a new concept afoot, a change in Human nature. We've spoken about this before. How many of you studied European history? And in school, did your mind fill up with all of the dates you had to memorize? Who conquered whom and when? Over and over and over, every single country had their turn conquering another country. Borders moved constantly. As far back as you want to go, that's what Humans did. They separated, gathered, and conquered. But as little as 50 years ago, it all stopped.

We've said this before. Fifty years ago, a seed, an idea, was planted at the end of World War II. "Let's put these European countries together," they said. "Let's even drop the borders and eventually give them one currency." Do this and they'll never war again, they predicted, for countries with common economic sources don't go to war! And that's exactly what's happened. Did it work? It's fairly fresh, but their money is threatening to take over the strength of your money, did you notice? It's worth more than yours. They still struggle to make it work and balance it. But then again, you do the same in the United States, always fine tuning the unity.

South America is considering the same thing right now. The seeds are being planted in Brazil. Within a generation, they would love to see the borders dropped and one currency. Can they do it? Perhaps. Perhaps it will take longer. Why do it? Because they see the European Union with the strongest currency on Earth. We've said this before. Here is a prediction: Perhaps not in your time, but there'll come a day when there are only five currencies in the world, because continents will start understanding that unification creates peace and prosperity. Separation creates chaos. What a concept. …”