And what makes this "news"?
WARNING ! LONG post which only gets bearable towards the end !
Not exactly news, but coupled with the other piece of info that, at approximately same time, the Federal Republic of Germany "begs" the Kingdom of Denmark to not approve in Parliament the recent proposal of Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen to reinstitute 24 h border checks, (between Germany & Denmark- the land access towards Scandinavia), it may signal some form of disconnect, more likely less than optimal communication, between various services of the European style increased bureaucratic govt. institutions, (especially as pertaining to Germany more so than to Denmark, I opine, albeit not an expert), plus, not less important, the yet to be modernised real on the ground security of some of the core Schengen zone countries themselves. It may also have political significance, but, IMHO, this is secondary to the Security issues.
Also, the
Europol, the institution that will have as main challenge the always difficult fight against illegal type of traffic of persons & illicit goods, (growing as the EU grows), is also a pretty newly reformed, (in the sense of Increased responsibility & powers, but also Bureaucratic Budgetary control !), and continually expanded institution & needs to further mature in its anti-illegal traffic activities. I myself have noted that there has been a trend to privatise the security services of some of the key institution/facilities in Scandinavia, even some public ones which may have some importance for national security, and, IMHO, this may represent a problem, but also, maybe, hopefully, a healthy fight against the excessive pervasive bureaucratisation of top-heavy public institutions in Scandinavia, (pretty much quite overbearing even from a central, "general", European perspective, not to mention from an American point of view)... Not to mention the overall global "climate", (environment & mood conditions), and the rapidly approaching significant 10 year anniversary of Sept. 11.
Now, obviously the Kingdom of Denmark is not a naive country, especially not when it comes to security issues, nor is its population suddenly veering significantly towards the extreme right in its views, (more than what would be expected as a natural trend given the dominance of the political left in Scandinavia over the last few decades), as that linked article from the original news piece may have wished to suggest. The sudden decision to institute border checks could also have had some very realistic medical reasons: Infection control, given the recent deadly E. Coli outbreak in Germany, plus the new cases, one of them deadly,
in France, and a reported
sporadic case in Sweden ! (One is able to maintain a more realistic perspective on these things from the ground here right across from Denmark. One also may read about the increasing popularity of "ecologic" food & vegetarian diets in Scandinavia.)
One sees the inter- EU state problems as well in a more realistic manner, because the EU is an ideal form of construct after all. It is not realistically likely that it will evolve, at least not during our lifetimes, most likely not even during our children's lifetimes, towards a federative type of union. The countries within Europe have a too recent history of serious long-term infighting, the languages and cultures spoken in various regions do not lend themselves to any type of societally supported smooth "unification", barely even dialogue...yes,even as of 2011, plus to FORCE certain things to historically happen before people with such an almost fragmentary type of diversity in backgrounds, languages, collective memories & such different interests are actually ready for this type of evolutive historical change has proven to have been literally disastrous, if not downright criminally murderous in the not so distant past in Europe.
From an American perspective Europe also represents, via its ports & airports,a type of border too. So from an American point of view it is but natural to desire to support any Security improvement activities in Europe, (including infections control, but also common preventive law enforcement measures).
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Whew ! This was a
brain-
tongue-
twister of a text to write ! I feel I need to relax ! Plus it's a theoretical holiday week-end AND the last day of my vacation ! (I go to work tomorrow, actually on the 4th of July...woe me !) How about a cute Norwegian style funny song ?...some real Norwegian military guys got into real trouble over this type of "disorderly conduct" way back when it first appeared, but it' s become a classic ever since ! In order to be politically correct, and mention as many Scandinavian countries as possible, plus to deflect some of the blame for my ideas to others as well, I will actually dedicate this videoclip to all my former and current friends or colleagues from
Finland ! (After all, it is my opinion that it is the Republic of
Finland which actually has the best Northern European border security expertise, all the way from over Northern Russia to the
Norwegian &
Barents Seas bordering northernmost shore of continental Norwegian Northernmost
Finnmark county border...the archipelago of
Svalbard is, fortunately or unfortunately, (depending on which or whose interests one wishes to consider !), probably protected only by Greenpeace & some polar bears !...so, in conclusion, before posting the video:
a) if anyone needs to obtain any intel on border securities, just ask the Finns...it's OK to call them any time for advice, to visit their land during vacation time, including the REAL house of the REAL Santa Claus from
Rovaniemi, in
Lapland, plus the use Nokia equipment during such calls is NOT absolutely required ! (I hope that Mr. Erkki Sakari Tuomioja, the Finnish
minister of Foreign Affairs & Mrs. Heidi Anneli Hautala, the Finnish
minister of International Development are not going to get mad at me for not endorsing this particular Finnish image product !);
b) if anyone wishes to find a porous northern border to improve in Europe, or to convince some Greenpeace activists to endorse the US "Tea Party", I invite all to visit the Northernmost University of the world,
UNIS; before they allow you to take or teach any courses, they actually teach you to use real hunting rifles for self protection to kill dangerous polar bears over there, plus it is forbidden to die over there...just read
this link !
Now...finally the song !
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smlrSYiYd_o"]YouTube - Kosovo Parody Song[/ame]
