Do you want to say that Iran bad and Saudi Arabia good - in the latter you get beheaded, btw.

This is whataboutism. This thread here talks about Russia. If you want to talk about Israel, it may be a good idea to open another thread.

I hope you can well imagine how Le Pen, Trump and Putin are opening champagne bottles about these riots. These rioters couldn’t shoot better in their own knees and causing a critical situation for the entire EU and for themselves - it increases economical instability, because potential investors will step back, rendering any solution more difficult, and it increases the chance that Le Pen will win the next election - a loss for Ukraine, a loss of freedom, an increase of imbalance and instability for the entire EU.

Sorry, but everybody supporting these riots - protests are something different - is IMHO an enemy of the EU, a supporter of the three above mentioned people and their agenda.

Heck, you are right about Schengen, but I am not sure about the requirement of a popular vote in this case. In article 17 about the agreement between the EU and Switzerland it is written that Switzerland can terminate the agreement. There is nothing mentioned about the referendum. Digging deeper in Swiss laws, the Federal Office clearly states an “optional” referendum, NOT a mandatory one.

Even if the EU countries would agree, this does not seem realistic to me, when considering countries like Switzerland. They are located in the middle of the EU and the popular right wing people’s party of Switzerland is supposed to have ties to Russia. Borders to neighbouring countries have several points that are hardly controlled, especially to France.

Source: living next to the border and travelling frequently to neighbouring countries each year by car.

Can you point to examples in Europe - apart from some Muslim-majority countries - where women are legally or socially required to cover their faces or hair?

I see Islam as more than simply a religion in the conventional sense: it is also a comprehensive legal and social doctrine. In my view, Christianity went through a historical process of separating religious belief from many aspects of civil law and political authority, whereas Islam developed differently.

Whataboutism

Oh common, this is pathetic. Or did you forget about ISIS and how they took Yazidi women as sex slaves. Neither one, nor the other is the good guy here.

Do you even know what Mercedes was once standing for and what it lost thanks to the “great management class”? - btw, management means imo people, who generally have little year-long experience in working in a factory, the assembling and design line, but happily demand salaries almost twice or even three times as much as a normal worker (due to some fantasized responsibility) and are quick in suggesting to throw people on the street when economical problems appear. IMHO, these managers are the most expensive and useless group in most if not all industrial branches (we can continue with the DB).

Ah yes, the „West stole everything from the East“ fairytale, which conveniently leaves out that East Germans voted for reunification. And if we’re lecturing western Germans based on company history, it might be worth to think about the current success of the AfD in eastern Germany. Political responsibility apparently ends at the Elbe - like always.

disagree with you. I’ve seen and met enough East Germans to have a very different perspective. From my experience, there is often very little empathy - especially towards people of different skin colours or sexual orientations. There is a reason why parts of eastern Germany are sometimes referred to as Dunkeldeutschland.

Did they ever thank West Germans for the help? NEVER. If anything, it’s been the opposite: demanding more and more. And again, telling West Germans what they have to do. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you, something many East Germans seem not to understand.

If you feel so strongly about it, I suggest you pay back the Solidaritätsbeitrag, which has amounted to billions over the years.

Please, stop protecting them and repeating this nonsense. The West German mark and the East German mark were converted at a 1:1 rate right after the Wende. People in the GDR were not all living in Plattenbauten. Many had their own houses, and many others left for southern Germany and Switzerland instead of staying and helping to rebuild the country.

Since then, billions of euros have been transferred from West Germany to East Germany. I remember very well people in the East having two cars and renovating their houses. I had far relatives there, so I saw it myself. Meanwhile, parts of the West, especially the Ruhr area, were struggling heavily, with municipalities accumulating huge debts that they are still dealing with today.

And now they want to tell the West, which has spent decades financing and rebuilding this part of the country, what it should do?

You know what? It might have been better for West Germany if reunification had never happened and East Germany had simply been sold to Russia - at least it seems that’s also their wish.

When I was a kid or youngster end 80s, beginning 90s I haven’t heard about kids that would accept to be hired to kill a Person, nor a similar thought crossed my mind. I have sometimes the impression that there is huge increase in violence among young people in the last two decades.

Kick Corrumpino out and take all the money from him what he has earned since being FIFA president.

The title makes it sound as if Tusk ignored the attacks until now and is only speaking up because, in his view, Ukrainians have already been beaten enough.

These countries may now trade even more with each other, leaving the US out. This can pretty well backfire on US economy and I hope, not for the saint US people, but for this guy and his followers, that this will be the case.

I assume Poland is several decades behind Japan - especially when I see some clips from the Shinkansen Maglev 😳

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/u5WGWMSRX5w

Be careful with the KSK. They are usually not the stupid, weak or anxious Nazis, which you see in some cities especially in Eastern Germany. They may not care about your comment here, but dealing with them in the real world will put you right away at imminent risk to loose your life - without harsh consequences for them.

It’s interesting to see how many ideological people there are on Lemmy, especially how they react when someone points out that their own behavior isn’t necessarily any different. It doesn’t leave me very optimistic about society’s ability to improve.

I don’t engage at this level anymore, where people show no respect. Many people seem to be dealing with problems in their lives and are looking for an outlet to vent their frustration here. I let myself get caught up in that frustration for a brief moment, but this is silly and a waste of time. Nope, not with me.

I didn’t expect Lemmy to reach this kind of chan-level behavior so quickly. I’m happy to continue a civil discussion, but otherwise I’ll leave it here and delete my previous comment.