I went to the counter-demonstration as someone who was determined to change things. To me it makes sense to try and change the world around me.  I think young people should get involved in such things. They should be aware of what's going on.  You ask me if standing up to skinheads should be left to older people–well us, younger people, are going to be living here a lot longer than the older generation.

Photo Credit: Vladimír Čičmanec, as reprinted in Rob Cameron, "Photo of Czech Girl Scout Standing up to Skinhead Goes Viral," BBC, 4 May 2017, at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39804471.

The exchange related to migrants and refugees, and the skinhead told Mysliková that the people whom she wants to help will rape her. More information about the incident and the photograph, which has gone viral, is at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39804471.

EU–when will the EU sit up and smell the roses when it comes to its relations with the US    by RM

When President Trump sits around the table with his policy advisors you can be sure that the EU is not on top of the agenda.

Just compare last weekends state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Trump Estate in Palm Beach Florida to the "sober, cold shoulder" reception by Trump given to European Heads of State, Angela Merkel and Theresa May in Washington, DC.

That probably says it all as to how President Trump ranks Europe in his thought process.

Trump has also said that he trusts German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin equally. Does that imply that the United States will pursue a policy of equidistance between the EU and the Kremlin?

Everything is possible

It is not an idle question. Trump has made it obvious that established partnerships, alliances, rules, and protocols mean little to him. In his tweets, he rants about the media, attacks independent judges, targets individuals and companies, and belittles international organizations.

But even though the US under Trump is now a very unattractive ally for Europe, writing off the US as a European partner–which some in Europe would like to do sooner rather than later–would probably be a major mistake.

In the meantime, maybe Mr. Trump and his advisors should start to read-up on how important the EU and the US are to  each other’s economic well being.

∙Total US investment in the EU is three times higher than in all of Asia.

∙EU investment in the US is around eight times the amount of EU investment in India and China together.

∙EU and US investments are the real driver of this EU-US  transatlantic relationship, contributing to growth and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. It is estimated that a third of the trade across the Atlantic actually consists of intra-company transfers.

∙The transatlantic relationship also defines the shape of the global economy as a whole. Either the EU or the US is the largest trade and investment partner for almost all other countries in the global economy.

∙The EU and the US economies account together for about half the entire world GDP and for nearly a third of world trade flows.

Nevertheless, it is also very important for the EU to realize, if they haven't already, that they can't continue to be a "lackey" of the US, having to say "how high," whenever  the US says "jump."

But first,  before issuing an avalanche of "directives", the EU Commission, which has been running a pretty colorless "operation," should set itself a primary goal, which is to get all the member countries of the EU running in the same direction. This is not the case at present.

They can do this by initiating some basic changes as to how the EU operates, in order to make it more homogeneous and people friendly including:

∙Having the President of the EU Commission, who is presently appointed,  instead elected by popular vote in all EU member states.

∙Develop an independent foreign policy for the EU, which is not aligned with any other country's foreign policy.

∙Develop an independent EU Military defense force, which includes a central EU command and is not aligned with any other foreign military force.  

It is  no secret that NATO (which includes many EU member states)  and which was initially intended, after WW2, to protect Europe from Soviet aggression during the cold that followed, was gradually expanded by the US into a US government policy controlled global strike force.

Its purpose being to support US foreign policy in military operations around the world.

For the past  16 years, however, [it has been] mainly focusing on Afghanistan and the Middle East.

So far the results of these NATO military operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East (Iraq, Syria, Libya) have been a complete disaster.

In the meantime, NATO and US military campaigns in the Middle East over these past 16 years have also resulted in hundreds of thousands of people killed, created millions of displaced persons, flooding the EU and Turkey with refugees, and created major economic and social hardship.

Last but not least, the turmoil surrounding these wars  in the Middle East also resulted in the birth of the so-called Islamic State, which in reality is an assortment of former Iraqi soldiers, disturbed Islamic radicals and young indoctrinated Islamic fanatics from Europe and other parts of the world who have made terrorism their trade mark around the globe.   

Unfortunately, there is very little time left for the EU to change course in this turbulent world.

The EU  must be warned, however, that if they fall apart into smaller states again, these individual states will become "chopped meat" in serving US, Russian and Chinese interests and ambitions to obtain global dominance.

If BREXIT wasn't a wake-up call, Mr. Trumps foreign policy "tap-dance" with Russia and China certainly is a signal for the EU Commission to sit up straight and smell the roses.