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Seems German coalition talks resulted in a government

Chagos said:
Well, any Defense Minister*esse :p is most likely not much worse than that cosmetics model you sent to Brussels.

And with the Navy' sailing yacht now finally repaired, Putin had better beware.:ROFLMAO:
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:D :D :D

so true....
 
The new German federal government is in office. On Wednesday, Federal Chancellor Otto Schultz Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the 16 ministers of the Traffic Light coalition received their certificates of appointment from the Federal President and were then sworn in before the Bundestag.

Chancellor and ministers of the traffic light government sworn in​

At noon, December 8th Federal President Steinmeier handed the new ministers their certificates of appointment. The SPD, FDP and Greens share a total of sixteen posts. The first cabinet meeting took place in the evening.

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L-R Front: Greens coleader and first ever chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock is Foreign Minister. FDP leader Christian Lindner is Finance Minister; Chancellor Scholz; Greens coleader Robert Habeck is vice chancellor and Minister for Economics and Climate; Federal Minister of Defense: Christine Lambrecht (SPD).



Scholz was elected Chancellor by the Bundestag with 395 MPs voting for him in a secret ballot. At least 369 votes are a majority in the Bundestag. The Ampel Coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP have a total of 416 seats however. Of the total of 736 elected representatives, 707 cast their votes. 303 voted no, six abstained and three votes were invalid as apparently some German MPs don't know how to mark a ballot. Some MPs were absent due to illness -- PTSD perhaps.




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"I swear that I will devote my energies to the well-being of the German people, increase their benefits, prevent damage from them, uphold and defend the Basic Law and federal laws, conscientiously fulfill my duties and do justice to everyone."


Scholz btw renounced the reference to God in the oath thereby becoming the second Federal Chancellor after Gerhard Schröderovsky also of the SPD-Kremlin to give a pass to the "So help me God" part at the end. Scholz is the first "non denominational" chancellor given he quit the Protestant Church many moons ago. Seven of the 16 new ministers also passed on the voluntary religious evocation.

The complete assemblage of ministerial posts are occupied by eight women and eight men:

Chancellery Minister: Wolfgang Schmidt (SPD), Minister of Health: Karl Lauterbach (SPD), Minister of Defense: Christine Lambrecht (SPD), Minister of the Interior: Nancy Faeser (SPD), Minister of Labor and Social Affairs: Hubertus Heil (SPD), Minister of Construction: Klara Geywitz (SPD ), Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development: Svenja Schulze (SPD).

Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economics and Climate: Robert Habeck (Greens), Foreign Minister: Annalena Baerbock (Greens), Federal Environment Minister: Steffi Lemke (Greens), Federal Minister of Agriculture: Cem Özdemir (Greens) , Federal Minister of Family Affairs: Anne Spiegel (Greens).

Federal Minister of Finance: Christian Lindner (FDP), Minister of Transport and Digital: Volker Wissing (FDP), Federal Minister of Justice: Marco Buschmann (FDP), Federal Minister of Education: Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP).
 
what gives me a little bit of hope is that they are all quite young, given what we usually get presented. Half of them are woman. So there is hope we finally woun´t exclusively see politics driven by knowlwdge and values of the seventies
 
german hick said:
what gives me a little bit of hope is that they are all quite young, given what we usually get presented. Half of them are woman. So there is hope we finally woun´t exclusively see politics driven by knowlwdge and values of the seventies
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Nothing wrong with the 70s... that is where women's liberation started after all!
 
PeteEU said:
No, this is a tradition going back to the first chancellor after the war. Every new chancellor always goes to Paris first, usually days after taking office.
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Someone should break that tradition. Sounds too much like obeisance. Otto von Bismarck won't approve of that. Scholz and the Green Frau look so serious. Actually they all look so serious. Which maybe attests to the claimed - maybe mix of fact and fiction- of the serious, no nonsense German character. Germans don't elect Jokers. No German Berlusconi. No freak shows in Germany.

But I love the Bismarck cigar story. The Green Frau ought to be pressed to meditate each morning on that expression of gravitas before meeting foreign representatives. It will stiffen her spine like nothing else can.

The Green Frau is expected today in Poland where she may need all the Bismarckian fortitude she can marshall. The Poles have lately been in permanent grouchy mode: over Russians, gas pipelines, reactionary to EU dictates, and have mostly taken it out on Germany. A more insidious sector of Polish politics has a gift for the Green Frau: a billions of dollars demand as reparations!

Advice to the Green Frau? Keep repeating throughout the trip: What would Otto von Bismarck have done?
 
Bismarck is long since dead and not many Germans of today revere him all that much either.
 
joluoto said:

Germany's Olaf Scholz eyes stronger EU in first trip abroad as chancellor​


Seems Scholz already had enough of Germany and is fleeing abroad, he will regret it and come back though, the French tend to have that effect. ;)
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Reminds me a business meeting I attended where Japanese, Dutch and French interests clashed over forming a joint venture factory in, of all places, Portugal.

With the French being the most awkward thruout the negotiations, the Japanese conference member turned to me in one of the many pauses to enquire "sotto voce" why the French were being so awkward.

The Dutch party overhearing this preempted me with the explanation "they're not awkward, they're French".

:D
 
Bismarck would have formed a Russo-German Axis and built a gas delivery pipeline from Russia to Germany via the Baltic.

He would have babbled about peace while he hid behind the Russians muscling Ukraine out of their lands while moving in German industrialists, agronomists and technocrats to share the spoils.

Now however and going forward with Baerbock's Greens and the Free Democrats, Bismarck, the Russia Huging SPD led now by Scholz, Putin and Xi are in for a good caning.
 
Chagos said:
Bismarck is long since dead and not many Germans of today revere him all that much either.
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indeed!

he may have been a clever foreign politician, but that wasn´t sooo nice for everybody who wasn´t Prussian (ask the Austrians, Hannoveranians, Rhinelanders and my fellow Westphalians)

if you are social democrat or democrat at all - run!

and he was also an arrogant Kavalleuer (aristokrat im my home dialect) and defender of the class system
 
german hick said:
what gives me a little bit of hope is that they are all quite young, given what we usually get presented. Half of them are woman. So there is hope we finally woun´t exclusively see politics driven by knowlwdge and values of the seventies
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Well, if being female is supposed to equate with competence (from whichever decade) in future, Baerbock will still have to show that she isn't just the poster child lampoon (of it).

Maybe Germany should consider herself lucky that Baerbock showed her hand in time to wreck the Greens' chances of achieving majority over all others, by the instrument of which she'd have even become Chancellor.

Not to be misunderstood here, I strongly support the gender quota, alone on the pretext that without it nobody would be anywhere today. But it doesn't really rule out the danger of incompetents taking office any more.

The Greens having put Habeck in second position was a mistake and actually (possibly) lost them the chances to enter the Chancellory altogether.
 
german hick said:
indeed!

he may have been a clever foreign politician, but that wasn´t sooo nice for everybody who wasn´t Prussian (ask the Austrians, Hannoveranians, Rhinelanders and my fellow Westphalians)

if you are social democrat or democrat at all - run!

and he was also an arrogant Kavalleuer (aristokrat im my home dialect) and defender of the class system
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Only thing one can probably say of him with some reliability is that he would not have allowed Germany to embroil herself in something as stupid as WWI.

But by the time that came about, the idiot Kaiser had long since fired him.
 
Chagos said:
Well, if being female is supposed to equate with competence (from whichever decade) in future, Baerbock will still have to show that she isn't just the poster child lampoon (of it).

Not to be misunderstood here, I strongly support the gender quota, alone on the pretext that without it nobody would be anywhere today. But it doesn't really rule out the danger of incompetents taking office any more.

The Greens having put Habeck in second position was a mistake and actually (possibly) lost them the chances to enter the Chancellory altogether.
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yeah, I´m with you there. But competence from Heiko Maas wasn´t really bringing me to applause ;)

In some cases quota is really unfair btw. I´m civil engeneer and in my semester were 6 girls out of ~ 100 students. In public sector there is a quota so if you don´t wanna have trouble finding a job as a girl: study civil engeneering and work for the public ;)
 
german hick said:
yeah, I´m with you there. But competence from Heiko Maas wasn´t really bringing me to applause ;)
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Whenever I saw that guy I wanted to scream at the TV scream for him to get himself a decent tailor. He looked like the measurements for his suits were taken while he was doing some particularly complicated yoga exercise.

Under water.
german hick said:
In some cases quota is really unfair btw. I´m civil engeneer and in my semester were 6 girls out of ~ 100 students. In public sector there is a quota so if you don´t wanna have trouble finding a job as a girl: study civil engeneering and work for the public ;)
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Or become a youtube (instagram etc.) influencer :ROFLMAO:
 
german hick said:
yeah, I´m with you there. But competence from Heiko Maas wasn´t really bringing me to applause ;)

In some cases quota is really unfair btw. I´m civil engeneer and in my semester were 6 girls out of ~ 100 students. In public sector there is a quota so if you don´t wanna have trouble finding a job as a girl: study civil engeneering and work for the public ;)
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I once asked a civil engineer what the "civil" in his title was about. He told me that he doesn't swear at people.
 
China and Russia about to be caned by Germany?

Mind boggling.

But I needed the laugh, so thanks.
 
Chagos said:
I once asked a civil engineer what the "civil" in his title was about. He told me that he doesn't swear at people.
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I asked that myself often - seems to be in opposite to a military one? - but that´s an english speaker problem aniway - I´m "Diplom Bauingenieur" :p ;) but my "landwirtschaftlicher Gesellenbrief" is at least as worthy for me ;) - Germans and their titles ;)
 
german hick said:
I asked that myself often - seems to be in opposite to a military one? - but that´s an english speaker problem aniway - I´m "Diplom Bauingenieur" :p ;) but may "landwirtschaftlicher Gesellenbrief" is at least as worthy for me ;) - Ge4rmans and their titles ;)
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At least you didn't spell it "Inschinör":p
 
german hick said:
I asked that myself often - seems to be in opposite to a military one? - but that´s an english speaker problem aniway - I´m "Diplom Bauingenieur" :p ;) but my "landwirtschaftlicher Gesellenbrief" is at least as worthy for me ;) - Germans and their titles ;)
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In its German equivalent I'd be a "Diplom-Volkswirt" which probably means "certified pub landlord".:ROFLMAO:
 
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