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Putin cheered in Serbia, seeks pipeline backing

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Putin cheered in Serbia, seeks pipeline backing

It seems European dependence on Russian gas will bypass Ukraine and be enabled after all. This thanks to Serbia (Russia's satellite in Europe) and Bulgaria (already a member in EU).

Wonder what people that thought that the Ukraine deal was about gas have to say about this?
 
Putin cheered in Serbia, seeks pipeline backing

It seems European dependence on Russian gas will bypass Ukraine and be enabled after all. This thanks to Serbia (Russia's satellite in Europe) and Bulgaria (already a member in EU).

Wonder what people that thought that the Ukraine deal was about gas have to say about this?

I think that most politicians in the EU have understood that Russian energy makes the EU dependent on Russia. There are a good few of them like Schröder or Steinmeier, who think that good.
 
It was just announced that Putin will now annex Serbia as clearly the Serbian people want to be Russian.
 
It was just announced that Putin will now annex Serbia as clearly the Serbian people want to be Russian.

Just think of what would be the case if Yugoslavia remained intact! It would entirely be annexed to Russia, and it would penetrate EU all the way to the Adriatic sea!

Anyway. Do you have links? Or are you being sarcastic? :)
 
I think that most politicians in the EU have understood that Russian energy makes the EU dependent on Russia. There are a good few of them like Schröder or Steinmeier, who think that good.

I'm pretty sure they all realize that. They wouldn't be making moves to counter act that if they didn't understand that. The Baltic states have a specialized LNG ship moving to allow them to take shipments from other ships to feed their LNG needs. Europeans are working on making pipelines flow both ways. They're all looking at LNG from the Gulf to replace Putin's fuel. And there is pressure on the US from Europe to hurry up on refitting its LNG import terminals to export terminals.
 
I'm pretty sure they all realize that. They wouldn't be making moves to counter act that if they didn't understand that. The Baltic states have a specialized LNG ship moving to allow them to take shipments from other ships to feed their LNG needs. Europeans are working on making pipelines flow both ways. They're all looking at LNG from the Gulf to replace Putin's fuel. And there is pressure on the US from Europe to hurry up on refitting its LNG import terminals to export terminals.

Fear is a good medicine.
 
Fear is a good medicine.

Given Putin's complete disregard for anything he doesn't like, you'd be motivated too if you were a European politician. Poland is still pestering NATO for permanent basing. Europe realizes Putin cannot be reasonably dealt with.

Too bad they cannot see their real problem. Their entitlement states. That's the real threat to Europe.
 
Given Putin's complete disregard for anything he doesn't like, you'd be motivated too if you were a European politician. Poland is still pestering NATO for permanent basing. Europe realizes Putin cannot be reasonably dealt with.

Too bad they cannot see their real problem. Their entitlement states. That's the real threat to Europe.

What exactly do you mean by "entitlement states"?
 
Just think of what would be the case if Yugoslavia remained intact! It would entirely be annexed to Russia, and it would penetrate EU all the way to the Adriatic sea!

Anyway. Do you have links? Or are you being sarcastic? :)

I think it is quite obviously a joke.
 
You see the government spending as a percent of GDP in EU nations? Most are well over 50%.

So what?

What does this has to do with "entitlement states?"

Or better yet, start from the beginning. What is an "entitled state?" What is the difference between an entitled state and an unintitled one? Less public expenses maybe?
 
Or better yet, start from the beginning. What is an "entitled state?" What is the difference between an entitled state and an unintitled one? Less public expenses maybe?

An "entitlement" state is a nation that promises comprehensive cradle to grave social benefits (entitlements) for its citizens. These promises become very expensive to keep. This is espescially so when a declining birth rate combined with extended life spans of people receiving benefits means fewer people are paying in and too many people are receiving.

Then, factor in that certain groups (unions etc) in a nation can become very skilled at politics while demanding still more social benefits. Politicians, eager to win the support of the group in question, find it easy to meet their demands because actually paying the benefits is the problem of the "next generation".

Here in the US, we have several entitlement states (California, Illinois, New Jersey etc) that are facing fiscal collapse because the social benefits bills are coming due and they are out of cash.

Likewise, our Social Security system is not fiscally sustainable, and has not been so for quite some time. But.... needed reforms are not made because the Democratic party wants the support of current beneficiaries, so fiscal reality is ignored and more promises which cannot be kept are made.
 
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An "entitlement" state is a nation that promises comprehensive cradle to grave social benefits (entitlements) for its citizens. These promises become very expensive to keep. This is espescially so when a declining birth rate combined with extended life spans of people receiving benefits means fewer people are paying in and too many people are receiving.

Then, factor in that certain groups (unions etc) in a nation can become very skilled at politics while demanding still more social benefits. Politicians, eager to win the support of the group in question, find it easy to meet their demands because actually paying the benefits is the problem of the "next generation".

Here in the US, we have several entitlement states (California, Illinois, New Jersey etc) that are facing fiscal collapse because the social benefits bills are coming due and they are out of cash.

Likewise, our Social Security system is not fiscally sustainable, and has not been so for quite some time. But.... needed reforms are not made because the Democratic party wants the support of current beneficiaries, so fiscal reality is ignored and more promises which cannot be kept are made.

Thanks Cryptic,

So to summarize then, removing such nation made promises/entitlements to benefits may liberate the countries in EU of unnecessary expenses. The money then could go to serve the EU interests without being wasted to such entitlements.

Japan has such problems too, right?
 
Thanks Cryptic,

So to summarize then, removing such nation made promises/entitlements to benefits may liberate the countries in EU of unnecessary expenses. The money then could go to serve the EU interests without being wasted to such entitlements.

Japan has such problems too, right?

You are welcome.

In regards to Japan, I dont know if they are facing a severe entitlement budget crunch or not. They definelty have the declining birth rate problem. On the other hand, they might structure their entitlement payments differently than western nations.

From what I have read, the nations facing the biggest entitlement crunches are those that have combined generous social programs, have allowed "special interests" to demand still more benefits, and have a tradition of "fraud, waste and abuse". Thus, Greece has collapsed and Italy and Spain are very near collapse.

Ireland may well be in serious trouble. I believe that even France was at one time, was rushing towards a collapse simply due to their extremely large entitlement pay outs. Sarkozy, however, might have started enough reforms to bring them back from the edge.

Some etitlement nations seem to be doing relatively better: Germany with it's extreme efficiency- (they are Germans after all) and they are a leader in hi technology manufacturing. Norway has a very small population and alot of oil.

Even still, I think that nearly all EU entitlement nations face fiscal collapse sooner or later. An exception maybe oil rich Norway.
 
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