German Failure To Support Third World Aid Pledges Raises Questions re Greece
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
The German government often promises poor countries enormous sums for environmental protection and development, but it rarely keeps its word.
In the context of the Greek crisis, that tendency could come back to haunt Berlin.
[br]
The German government often promises poor countries enormous sums for environmental protection and development, but it rarely keeps its word.
In the context of the Greek crisis, that tendency could come back to haunt Berlin.
[br]
The German government often promises poor countries enormous sums for environmental protection and development, but it rarely keeps its word.
In the context of the Greek crisis, that tendency could come back to haunt Berlin.
[br]
[quote]
In the international community, Germans are now seen as masters of the empty promise.
In conjunction with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, the heads of state of European Union countries had given into the demands of developing countries and pledged new aid funds.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking to the press in Brussels, called it “a signal of extraordinary solidarity,” and pointed out that Germany alone had pledged to hand over €1.26 billion ($1.73 billion) by 2012. These were additional funds that had not been included in previous development aid budgets, she said.
The chancellor won high praise for the commitment. Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said the money Germany was pledging for environmental projects in poor countries provided “a huge encouragement.”
Everyone believed Merkel, who had already stuck her neck out earlier by saying: “I don’t want the Europeans to be the ones who don’t keep their promises.”
Merkel’s pledge lasted all of three months. Instead of the promised €1.26 billion, the German government now intends to pay only an additional €210 million.
The remainder of the funds will be reassigned or offset.
And this isn’t the first time Merkel has held out the prospect of aid money and later reneged on her promises …
[/quote]
