[Foreign Policy] Quo Vadis Transatlantic Relations

Locally-Caught Jihadists
NATO and the 2 % Target
Tax me if you can - Digital tax for the US internet giants
INF-Treaty
SWIFT, INSTEX and Iran
Gas for Europe
Sanctions
Huawei

On August 22, 2018 a guest article by foreign minister Heiko Maas (SPD) was published in which he outlined a partnership between Germany and the United States. There he pleads for a partnership on equal terms and especially insists on the sovereignty of Germany. [1] [1,alt]

Maas (SPD) can however be seen as a loyal transatlanticist. In the repoort "Democratic Defense Against Disinformation" from the Atlantic Council he and his NetzDG were praised as exemplary measures in the communication war against Russia. [2,p.15] The former foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) on the other hand was described in the report "The Kremlin's Trojan Horses" by the Atlantic Council as the Trojan Horse of the Russians. [3,p.1]

This review could explain why Gabriel (SPD) had to go so Maas (SPD) could become foreign minister although he is considered to be much less popular and it sheds a new light onto the NetzG. Since the NetzG was sold as a measure against hate-speech on the Internet and not as a censorship measure against Russian and pro-Russian influence. On closer inspection however the NetzDG is only the smallest influence of the transatlantic lobby and submission of the German government. See: NetzDG

Locally-Caught Jihadists

The alternative would be to hand over the prisoners to the Syrian government and to potentially cooperate with it. The Syrian government is definitely interested to fight against these jihadists. The Syrian government is just finishing a war against them. By contrast several european and NATO states have a questionable relationship with these jihadists and not only since Anis Amri. President Trump has called on Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back and sentence IS fighters or jihadists who have been captured in Syria in February 2019. [4]

The United States is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 IS fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial. The Caliphate is ready to fall. The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them........
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019

However if the Syrian government judges these prisoners then this questionable relationship could be exposed. The Syrian government has direct access to evidence and witnesses from the Syrian war and the will to fight and convict these jihadists. In contrast several states in Europe and NATO have pushed ahead with the Syria war through the project The Day After of the Foundation for Science and Politics (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik/SWP) and Operation Timber Sycamore. The project The Day After is a strategy paper written by the SWP that provides a blueprint for the change of government in Syria. Operation Timber Sycamore was a covert operation to support rebels in Syria by the US, Saudi Arabian and Qatar governments. By it weapons, money and education were provided. And with their decision not to cooperate with the Syrian government regarding the locally caught jihadists they prolong the Syrian-war and cover the regime change attempt against the al-Assad-administration. [5] [6] [7] See: [Foreign Policy] How to deal with locally-caught jihadists

NATO and the 2 % Target

NATO und das 2 % Ziel

Regularly the US government calls on the remaining NATO member states to stick to the 2 % defense budget target. To this end the German government assured without the participation of voters to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in February 2019 to increase the defense budget from currently 1.2 % of gross domestic product to 1.5 % by 2024 and beyond. Parallel to this an EU Defense Fund was created within six months. This on is supposed to be passed before the EU elections by the trilogue procedure between the European Parliament, EU Commission and EU Council but without the participation of voters. [8] [9,de] [9,en]

On the basis of these two “pilot” programmes, and scaling up initial funding, the Commission proposed in June 2018 a fully-fledged European Defence Fund worth €13 billion under the next EU long-term budget to cover both the research and capability strands. The European Defence Fund will complement other EU programmes proposed by the Commission, in particular the €6.5 billion earmarked for the Connecting Europe Facility to enhance the EU's strategic transport infrastructures to make them fit for military mobility, and the proposal for a new €100 billion research and innovation programme Horizon Europe. [,en]

However this is sold to the public as taking on responsibility or even as an increase of sovereignty. It is then pretende as if one can no longer rely on the US government. To pretend as if one acts against the US government while following its orders is clever because it undermines established patterns of thinking. But in fact the development is larger. As early as 2012 then-President Barack Obama announced a pivot to Asia and thus sent the message to the NATO member states in Europe that in the future they have to count on fewer resources from the USA. However in 2014 NATO also stated in Wales that the unification of Crimea with Russia requires a strong stance from NATO. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Tax me if you can - Digital tax for the US internet giants

Regarding a digital tax for large Internet companies that are based outside the EU and escape through tax evasion the EU repeatedly asserts unity and the will to act. And while the French government is working on such a digital tax in March 2019 the situation in Germany is developing ambiguously. [14] [15]

On the one hand the leading candidate of the European People's Party (EPP) Manfred Weber (CSU) still demands a digital tax for large Internet companies. Weber (CSU) believes that such a tax is necessary to create fairness in this new market. On the other hand finance officials work in the CSU-ruled Bavaria, which is the homestate of the Bavarian sister party of the CDU, on a approach for themself. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Finance officials from Munich have now found a way even without a specific digital tax to levy taxes on the products of Internet companies. The tax officials involuntarily demand entrepreneurs to be tax collectors. For this purpose medium-sized companies from Munich, e.g. if they have advertised on Google, pay a withholding/retention tax of 15 % and retroactive to the years 2012 and 2013. According to the tax officials the companies could then retrieve these money from the Internet companies. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] See: [Economics] Tax me if you can - Digital tax for the US internet giants

INF-Treaty

The Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty prohibits the possession, production and testing of land-based missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 km between the US and the Soviet Union or its successor state of Russia. Even before the INF treaty was terminated NATO said it would give Russia one final opportunity to end the alleged violation of the INF Treaty. And the Foreign Ministers of the Member States unanimously declared at a meeting in Brussels that Russia violated the contract with newly developed cruise missiles. The head of the Russian rocket and artillery troops Mikhail Matwejewski however claimed that the 9M729 rocket with its range of 480 km complies with the INF contract. [21] [22] [23]

Allies have concluded that Russia has developed and fielded a missile system, the 9M729, which violates the INF Treaty and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security. We strongly support the finding of the United States that Russia is in material breach of its obligations under the INF Treaty. [22]

And as the US government terminated the INF treaty the governments of the member states immediately backed the US government. [24]

There is no question that the United States fully complies with the Treaty. There are no new US missiles in Europe. But there are new Russian missiles in Europe. [24]

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) didn't criticized the US course claiming that the INF treaty was violated by the Russian side. Although the INF Treaty is particularly important for European security. Whether the 9M729 missile violates the INF contract is difficult to judge but the US government has achieved a fait accompli by terminating the INF treaty. [25] [26]

SWIFT, INSTEX and Iran

Time and again, politicians from EU Member States claim to want to secure trade with Iran. And again and again it is promised to maintain the trade and to break away from the dictates of the US government, most recently with Instex. In fact EU member states' dealings with Iran are under the supervision and control of the US government starting with SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). In 2006 SWIFT itself admitted that for years secret information had been provided to US authorities. According to the US government this was done only in the search for terrorists. And in October 2006 it was announced that the management of the allegedly independent external consultants Booz Allen Hamilton consists among others of ex-CIA chief James Woolsey and ex-NSA Director John Michael McConnel. [27] [28] [29] [30]

In 2009 the EU negotiated an additional agreement on the transfer of bank data with the US government under the guise of combating terrorism which makes spying a routine. The EU gave the US government access to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) via the recently opened data center in Switzerland. [31]

And at the latest since the NSA affair and the publications of Edward Snowden from 2013 it is known that the NSA maintains an international spying program. Edward Snowden's documents show that the US government is spying on SWIFT on multiple levels. [32] [33] [34]

In January 2019, the German-French-British special-purpose entity INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) was founded. INSTEX is designed to ensure the settlement of claims from Iran export and import without having to resort to the banks prone to sanctions. However the creation of INSTEX is probably not sufficient to substantially support trade with Iran as the food, drug and other aid supplies are mostly channeled through INSTEX. For this purpose deliveries of Iranian and European exporters are billed together so INSTEX functions like an exchange. Iran's oil business however which is hit by US sanctions will not benefit from INSTEX. [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] See: [Economics] SWIFT, INSTEX and still no sovereignty

Gas for Europe

On the grounds that the EU Member States import particularly large quantities of oil (about 30 %) and natural gas (about 40 %) from Russia the US government regularly demands these to be replaced by LNG (liquefied natural gas) from the USA or even the banning the partially completed Nord-Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia. And if the German government reaches a compromise after wich Nord-Stream 2 can be continued on the condition that the operator of the pipeline and the gas supplier must be disconnected then one is inclined to believe that the German government achieved their interests here. However Europe's supply of gas from Russia can not be replaced with liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US yet as there is no infrastructure for such supply. But an alternative supply infrastructure is worked upon in the same way as NATO's 2 % target. [42] [43,p.4]

In February 2018 the German Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) met with representatives of the German and US-American gas industry for an investor conference and agreed to build an LNG terminal. And although it is not yet clear whether the location will be Brunsbüttel, Stade or Wilhelmshaven the terminal is due to open in 2022. According to current status the terminal should then be able to process 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas. According to the figures from 2017 for Germany the transatlantic LNG import could then start with 7 % of the 119.469 billion cubic meter (4,219 billion cubic feet). [44] [45] [46]

And after the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) explained that gas-transfer-networks do not have the obligation to provide for the grid connection of LNG terminals Altmaier (CDU) quickly changed the regulations. Gas transmission networks will now be required to set up and connect the lines between LNG terminals and the transfer system. What advantage it should have to import natural gas that is more expensive due to liquefaction and the journey across the Atlantic Ocean Altmaier (CDU) did not revealed. Again the German government acts as if it acts against the instructions of the US governments although they obeyed to them. [48]

Sanctions

After the Ukraine crisis and the unification of Crimea in 2014 the West quickly issued sanctions against Russia. But while in the other states the voices for a repeal or at least a relaxation of the sanctions increase the US government is already far ahead. The US Treasury Department has eased restrictions on trade with the Russian aluminum corporation Rusal. The relief was caused the price of aluminum in the US to fall by 10 %. These exceptions apply only to the US. [49] [50] [51]

In addition, the US Treasury Department (US Treasury Department) has adapted the sanctions against Russia in order to continue to cooperate with the Russian domestic intelligence service (Federalnaja sluschba besopasnosti/FSB). These exceptions apply also only to the US. [52] [53] [54]

Huawei

A special case is the one of the Chinese technology cooperation Huawei. While Huawei aimt to deliver equipment for the 5G expansion the US government issued threats of witholding military cooperation within NATO in the event of a contract with Huawei. And also the German foreign intelligence service (Bundesnachrichtendienst/BND) warned that the equipment by Huawei could be used by the Chinese government for espionage. But the German government has not yet decided to exclude the group from the 5G expansion. [55] [56] [57] [58] [59]

The procedure is particularly questionable because there are already various arguments against the cooperation. At least since the NSA affair and the publications of Edward Snowden in 2013 it is known that the NSA maintains an international spying program and it is naive to assume that at least some other governments do not maintain such monitoring programs. Ben Rhodes who was then the deputy security adviser to President Barack Obama has recently said that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) was only upset because the publication caused a public relations problem in the German public. Because of the spying itself she was not angry according to Ben Rhodes. [60] [61]

In addition the Chinese government has been accused of bugging the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Abeba (Ethiopia). The headquarters was inaugurated in 2012 after being built by a state-owned Chinese construction cooperation. On January 26, 2018 Le Monde then published a report after wich the headquarters was massively bugged by the intelligence services of China, Britain and France. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn however denied the allegations. [62] [63] [64] [65] [66] [67]

Furthermore the Chinese government has already adapted the laws to that effect. After that companies can be forced to submit informations to Chinese intelligence services.

Article 21:
When state security organs investigate to learn of espionage conduct or gather relevant evidence, relevant organizations and individuals shall truthfully provide and must not refuse. [69]

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