1y ago

Fellow EU tankies, is the war drum being beaten in your country as well?

I've noticed that in both Belgium and The Netherlands there has been an increase in war talk lately, saying how we need more military personnel and that we need to be wary of Russia. I've seen some British articles about it too.

Now, I hope it is purely coincidental otherwise I'd have to get worried about EU+UK being complete idiots and preparing for war.

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Germany is discussing reintroducing the military service requirement.
The German defense minister is clearly saying that Germans must prepare for war, not just in the material sense of getting the Bundeswehr into fighting shape but in the socio-political sense of "the government and military can't go to war if the people are against it, and the government damn well wants to go to war so we better get the propaganda rolling."
It's a scary time to be alive.
- Well it's not just a coincidence then it seems, because the same talks are happening in other countries. They must have decided something behind the scenes.
  
  Yes: the Ukraine mess proved America that proxy wars are very profitable. It doesn't matter who wins as long as they make money, so now they want the whole Europe to fight Russia. The EU will comply because it's a puppet of USA, so we are very very fucked.
- This one is genuinely scary... but I have no idea how they'd introduce it without massive resistance, and it blowing up in their faces.

Poland. Loud sounds of sabers rattling, though if you listen more closely, those are actually sounds of coconut shells and spurs being worn on bare feet.

War with the East will be indecisive and very costly for both sides. If the war doesn’t become nuclear, then I can see the conditions of the October Revolution (WW1) being replicated everywhere in the West.
The war will become very unpopular once the realities of war set in. Vietnam draft riots will be a pindrop compared to war with Russia, especially since the youth (they fight wars) nowadays (at least in the US) don’t eat up propaganda as well as they used to.
- I doubt there will be an actual hot war between the east and west yet as the west knows how destructive it would be for themselves. But I think more proxy wars are likely. All of this increase in military spending is just a racket to increase the bottom line of the arms industry.

Spain. No drums here, probably because they know that as always no one is willing to die for this mess of a country lmao.
- Would Spain even trust arming and training all the separatist regions?
  
  Regional separatism is quite strong, to the point of having leaked into the culture itself of those regions, but those movements are non-violent, to the point in which organized acts of violence have been virtually nonexistant since almost a decade and a half ago in the Basque Country and for even longer in Catalonia. No, the truth is that very few people would not get angry at the prospect of being forced into conscription (a concept that, if it wasn't awful enough by itself, is also tightly associated with the Francoist regime), and being on the other side of the continent no one really believes that Russia is any threat to us in particular. Moreover, the Spanish government has been pulling some moves that are very unpopular with the right-wing sector of the country by attempting to reach a compromise with the Catalan separatist movement and granting amnesty to the political prisoners of the Referendum of the 1st of October, so threatening the population with war mobilization is pretty much the worst thing they could do right now.

In Denmark the conflict in Russia/Ukraine has resulted in accepting American troops being stationed here, and of course a massive $20 billion investment](https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/regeringen-vil-investere-143-milliarder-kroner-i-forsvaret-over-de-naeste-ti-aar) in the military, over the next 10 years. The articles are in Danish, use a translator if you're interested.
Denmark has for at least 70 years always said no to having American troops stationed in our country, so it's quite a big move. Very few political parties have been criticizing it this time around, except for the most left-wing ones (obviously including our very-small communist party).

Czechia, same here. Same old Russia wants to invade all of Europe so we have to defend ourselves.

The talk is different than the talk at the beginning of the Russian invasion now. Instead of a 'hypothetical' war the focus is now more on preparing for a 'soon to be imminent' war

Yeah, Sweden is going all in on military expenditure since our planned ascension into NATO seems to be giving everyone a hard on, despite decreasing security and increasing the risks of entering into conflict. Any alternative perspective is discarded, polls show a majority is in favour of the ascension, so no one is willing to drive any counter opinion. Military service is also expanded, the weapons industry is having a field day (if the stock market is any indicator). All in all a total shit-show with no sign of slowing down for at least a decade.

I’m not an EU comrade but I wanna comment to help boost as I am super curious about this topic. I especially want to hear from Portuguese comrades about what’s currently going on down there with regards to your question.
- media is busy with the upcoming elections here (Portugal) but tbh I don't think I've heard the "defense" narrative being pushed ever, maybe some talk once in a blue moon about bringing back obligatory conscription but other than that I think it's too much of a small country and quite peripheral for that talk to gain traction
  also there aren't many pockets interested in - or capable of getting it, really - "defense" money, but the defense budget increased in 2023 I'm sure, some RRF money thrown in there as well
  on the other hand I've never heard talk about dismantling the very strategic American base in Azores, we're still part of NATO (founding member!) and whoever holds the belief that we shouldn't be is ridiculed, even though we joined during our fascist era
  I believe the common conception about "defense" here is: no more, no less
  
  I see, so the Portuguese channel I have access to is standard. I only have the one so I’m glad I’m not missing out on anything (except the language barrier). I honestly couldn’t imagine Portugal succeeding in the military sect even if CHEGA wins so I’m glad I was right to think that. Unfortunate that there’s still a base is the Açores, though.
  Portugal makes me so sad, my family is from there and things could’ve been so good but alas… at least they’re not itching for war like the other EU states… hopefully one day they’ll be free from NATO.
- I am Portuguese. Most people seem to support Ukraine (as expected), but honestly I don't think anyone wants to fight a war. We're already in a tough position as is, and I doubt anyone in their right minds would want to fight a war right now.
  
  That’s sort of the vibe I was getting, that no one there wants to go to war, which makes sense. Based on what I know about Portuguese history going to war would be a veery bad move, but that knowledge has never stopped governments from doing it anyway. I can’t really understand the news very well and my Vavó doesn't understand certain political terms to translate, but does CHEGA say or imply anything? I know I’ve been worried about them for a while (far-right rise is an unfortunate common trend in the EU right now)…

Germans got so excited they accidentally remade the maus

My country (Portugal) supports Ukraine, however, I feel like most people just want to remain neutral. Unrelated, but most people also seem to support Palestine, which is good

I'm from Malta and although our government supports Ukraine (diplomatically not so much materially), they recognise that most Maltese wants to remain neutral.

I don't follow French news ans social medias as much as I should to stay informed so I don't know how much they're beating it, but given that our national discount genocide joe has been blabbering about Ukraine lately I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

being complete idiots and preparing for war
Pretty sure they've started preparing for war long ago. The first coup in Ukraine was in, what, 2004? Then there was a wave sweeping southern republics. 2008 was war between Russia and Georgia, plus the financial crisis. Arguably they've started preparing at least back then

The war drum is starting to beat here in SEA as well.

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