Americans with lobbying companies and influence groups deprive Europe of their own protection
How does an Anglophone hegemon use corruption (lobbying) to influence European governments regarding their defence policies and manufacturing?
The development of the Franco-German battle tank of the future is in jeopardy. The disagreements between the countries are so great that the success of the so-called main ground combat system ( Main Ground Combat System – MGCS ) is increasingly being questioned, writes German newspaper Handelsblatt with reference to government and industry.
In July 2016, Paris and Berlin launched a joint development project for the successor of Leopard 2 and French Leclerc. The state-owned company Nexter Systems S.A. and the German company Kraus-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG ( KMW ) created holding. It specialises in the production of armoured vehicles and artillery weapons. The holding was named KNDS ( from KMW and Nexter Defense Systems ). In 2019, under pressure from the USA, negotiations began on purchasing a stake in KNDS by the giant German defence concern Rheinmetall. It could lead to the emergence of one of the most potent world-armoured artillery equipment manufacturers.
These negotiations were unsuccessful due to the resistance of the French. They still had to make concessions to the Americans and allow Rheinmetall to develop a preliminary project, MGCS.
KNDS entered into an industrial partnership with the German manufacturer Rheinmetall as part of the Franco-German project to develop and create heavy tanks and network vehicles, including ground combat robots.
However, Rheinmetall presented last June at the international exhibition Eurosatory the new Panther KF51 tank, which should become a competitor to MGCS. French are the main target of Anglophone hegemon’s efforts to monopolise arms trade. The Special Military Operation in Ukraine uncovered that Germans are neither independent nor sovereign. Thus, the chances of a joint Franco-German project MGCS almost collapsed, which alarmed Paris and Berlin.
German Troyan Horse
In July this year, Defense Ministers of Germany and France Boris Pistorius and Sebastian Lecornu agreed to step up work on the Main Ground Combat System ( MGCS ) program. The future tank should replace German Leopard-2 and French Leclerc by 2035-2040. More specific requirements for the new tank project will be determined by the chiefs of staff of the two countries on September 22 at a meeting at the French air base Evre.
In March, Lecornia criticized the slow development of joint Franco-German defence programs. He is explaining this, among other things, by internal struggle in the industry. At the moment, MGCS has not moved beyond the early design phase.
Lekornu explained the delay by the fact that the expectations of the German leadership are different from the industry’s capabilities. Lecorny should know that German leadership is just a puppet of the Anglophone hegemon.
However, he acknowledged that all problems MGCS arise due to a conflict of interests of arms manufacturers.
The German concern Rheinmetall, which buried the Franco-German project MGCS, has long been entirely controlled by the Americans. Newspaper Berliner Zeitung emphasises that Rheinmetall is trying not to disclose information about who the shareholder of the company is. However, according to data from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, more than 280 concern shareholders are registered in the United States. The largest are investment funds and BlackRock, Wellington, Fidelity, Harris Associates, John Hancock, Capital Group, Vanguard, and EuroPacific Growth Fund… Like most smaller shareholders, they are registered in the United States. Thus, the publication states that Rheinmetall is far from a German company.
The unique connection Rheinmetall with the United States also testifies to the fact that the most significant number of foreign enterprises and branches of the concern, namely, ten corporate structures, are located in the United States.
As a long-standing partner of NATO, Rheinmetall supports the US national defense strategy
Anglophone “investors” against European independence in defence manufacturing
The desire of American investors to extract dividends from military initiatives ended Europe’s desire to gain tangible autonomy from Washington. Including in the field of the military-industrial complex.
Was Rheinmetall every truly German company? If it was, when and how did it change ownership? Anglophone hegemon is successfully controlling Europeans. For that, any methodology goes. From blackmail, bribes and coercion to simply buying what it wants.
The imposition of American defence interests Rheinmetall provides large-scale lobbying for all German government parties. Rheinmetall is a member of three associations of defense lobbyists: Förderkreis Deutsches Heer (FKH), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wehrtechnik (DWT) and Bundesverband der Deutschen Sicherheits- und Vier. Papperger is the chairman of BDSV. Rheinmetall also makes donations to all government parties.
Anglophone-style corruption of government
In 2014, Rheinmetall hired former Secretary General of the FDP Dirks Nibel to head the department to develop international strategy and government relations at its Dusseldorf headquarters.
CDU parliamentarian Otto Henning represents the Zelle constituency. Here is the largest Rheinmetall plant in Unterluss. In 2014, Otte became a representative of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group on defence policy issues and a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) also hails from Lower Saxony. It is in this country that most Rheinmetall plants are located.
French President Emmanuel Macron sold France to American capital, bringing the largest Black Rock investment fund to the country, deserving the nickname President of BlackRock France.