Re: ... where they (certainly Albania) function as a US toehold in Europe?
Albania as a US toehold?!?!? Albania is a basket case... and it's OUTSIDE Europe, that is, Albania wasn't even considered to be among the next group of countries to join the EU in 2010+ (ie Romania & Bulgaria). To claim that Albania is a US toehold in Europe is like claiming that Cuba is a European toehold in the US.... Somehow, both countries are outcasts. Moreover, the US doesn't need a "toehold" in the Balkans when it can already rely on EU insiders like Poland, Italy, the Netherlands,... All these countries have joined the US and sent troops in Iraq.
Economics is a powerful lever the US can use to meddle in EU affairs... For instance, I suspect that a key reason Berlusconi was eager to side with the US on the Iraq issue was Italy's dire economic situation and, particularly, the predicament of Gruppo Fiat... Fiat is THE Italian powerhouse, employing over 200,000 people in Italy alone --when Fiat sneezes, corporate Italy catches a cold... I bet you that Bush (secretly) arranged for his Wall Street pals to bail out Fiat. Billions of dollars were likely funneled out of US slush funds to Swiss bank accounts.... Same thing with Germany, Europe's buyer of last resort. Germany cannot afford to fall foul of the US.
Gus |
