EU gets a wakeup call

[IB6UB9 42]

http://news.yahoo.com/far-national-front-triumphs-french-euro-vote-181424443.html

France's far-right leads EU eurosceptic 'earthquake'

[Jacque67 7,328]

Yep. In England UKIP won.

Immigration is a big problem there. Lots of E Europeans try to smuggle in to get free housing and benefits in the UK.

The EU is a dumb idea, and leading to an increase in right wing fanatics. Germany now has it's first elected Neo-Nazi politician.

The cracks are beginning to show.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Yep. In England UKIP won.

Immigration is a big problem there. Lots of E Europeans try to smuggle in to get free housing and benefits in the UK.

The EU is a dumb idea, and leading to an increase in right wing fanatics. Germany now has it's first elected Neo-Nazi politician.

The cracks are beginning to show.

Not so fast. Firstly, there have been Neo-Nazi politicians in Germany in elected office for some time - not in federal or European office but at the state and local level. It is true that this is the first time that the Neo-Nazi party NPD actually gets to send an MP to Strasbourg. That has nothing to do with them garnering any more support, however, than they did last time around in 2009. They received a single percent of the vote then and they received a single percent of the vote now. A single percent of the votes cast, that is. And the participation was a ridiculously low 48% which is common in EU elections. Now, what has changed is the minimum vote share requirement for a party to send an MP. There was a minimum vote share requirement of 3% up until 2009 but there wasn't one this time. That, of course, favors to splinter parties on the fringe such as the NPD. The removal of that 3% entry requirement is why they actually get to send someone to Strasbourg. It is not because the EU is a dumb idea that leads to these idiots garnering more popular support. Not in Germany it isn't.

[Jacque67 7,328]

Not so fast. Firstly, there have been Neo-Nazi politicians in Germany in elected office for some time - not in federal or European office but at the state and local level. It is true that this is the first time that the Neo-Nazi party NPD actually gets to send an MP to Strasbourg. That has nothing to do with them garnering any more support, however, than they did last time around in 2009. They received a single percent of the vote then and they received a single percent of the vote now. A single percent of the votes cast, that is. And the participation was a ridiculously low 48% which is common in EU elections. Now, what has changed is the minimum vote share requirement for a party to send an MP. There was a minimum vote share requirement of 3% up until 2009 but there wasn't one this time. That, of course, favors to splinter parties on the fringe such as the NPD. The removal of that 3% entry requirement is why they actually get to send someone to Strasbourg. It is not because the EU is a dumb idea that leads to these idiots garnering more popular support. Not in Germany it isn't.

Well that I'd not how it is being reported in the UK at the moment

Will check it out later.

But I still disagree with the EU.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Well that I'd not how it is being reported in the UK at the moment

Will check it out later.

But I still disagree with the EU.

Well, then the UK is reporting #######. A percent is a percent is a percent. And that is what the NPD garnered. In 2014 same as in 2009. If the UK press translates that into some Neo-Nazi surge in Germany, then I really want some of what they're smoking. Again, what allows the NPD to send an MP to Strasbourg is the fact that the 3% rule was struck down by the German Constitutional Court earlier this year.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Mr. Big Dog

[Jacque67 7,328]

You want me to post what is being said in the UK? Or will you google it yourself?

Difficult to know what is true. However the right wing does seem to be on the uprise in Europe .

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You want me to post what is being said in the UK? Or will you google it yourself?

Difficult to know what is true. However the right wing does seem to be on the uprise in Europe .

In Europe, perhaps. In Germany not so much. I don't need to read what the UK press writes about it if it is apparently garbage. I can read election results and have done so.

Looking at the results, somewhat interesting details emerge. A spoof party established by Germany's leading satire magazine "Titanic" garnered a percent of the vote - same as the Neo-Nazis. The Pirates (a party that runs under slogans such as "f**king instead of fear") will also send an MP to Strasbourg. No, I am not making that up, I've seen them protesting in Berlin with signs just like the one below. That's just the kind of crowd they are. Anyhow, what we see is that there are at least three clowns confirmed to go to Strasbourg on behalf of Germany. One of those clowns is a Neo-Nazi. How that is a surge of the Neo-Nazis isn't clear to me. Certainly not when realizing that the other right wing, xenophobic party in Germany - the Republicans - have actually lost about 1 percent of the vote over 2009. That fringe of the political spectrum had about 2.5% of the vote in 2009 and now has 1.5% of the vote between these two parties.