EU in Crisis State

It is becoming obvious that the EU is on the brink of some big changes, but just what those changes will be is anyone's guess at this point. Some articles point to a collapse of the Eurozone, and some articles point to more central control.

The article below is the most comprehensive and shows both sides of this issue:

European Debt Crisis Spiraling out of control

Fears that Europe's sovereign debt crisis was spiralling out of control have intensified as political chaos in Athens and Rome, and looming recession, created panic on world markets.

Reports emerging from Brussels said that Germany and France had begun preliminary talks on a break-up of the eurozone, amid fears that Italy would be too big to rescue.

However, we also see this:

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said the situation had become "unpleasant", and called for eurozone members to accelerate plans for closer political integration. "It is time for a breakthrough to a new Europe," she said. "Because the world is changing so much, we must be prepared to answer the challenges.

That will mean more Europe, not less Europe."

The president of the European commission, José Manuel Barroso, issued a new call for the EU to "unite or face irrelevance" in the face of the mounting economic crisis in Italy.

"We are witnessing fundamental changes to the economic and geopolitical order that have convinced me that Europe needs to advance now together or risk fragmentation. Europe must either transform itself or it will decline. We are in a defining moment where we either unite or face irrelevance," he said.

Senior policymakers in Paris, Berlin and Brussels are reported to have discussed the possibility of one or more countries leaving the eurozone, while the remaining core pushes on toward deeper economic integration, including on tax and fiscal policy.

Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, told a financial forum in Beijing that Europe's debt crisis risked plunging the global economy into a Japan-style "lost decade" of weak growth and deflation.

"Our sense is that if we do not act boldly and if we do not act together, the economy around the world runs the risk of a downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability and potential collapse of global demand … we could run the risk of what some commentators are already calling the lost decade."

This entire "crisis" that the EU is currently experiencing could be setting the stage for the ultimate transformation into the biblical 10 kings phase and we know what that means. Therefore these developments in the EU are extremely important for a prophecy watcher.

At the same time, we see China joining Russia in refusing new sanctions against Iran - a fact that assumes greater importance considering that Israel has stated that without significant sanctions, they will have no choice but to use military action.

China rejects new anti-Iran sanctions

Chinese Foreign Ministry has rejected the idea of imposing additional sanctions against Iran, calling for further dialogue to resolve concerns around the Islamic Republic’s nuclear issue.

“We always believe that dialogue and cooperation is the right way to solve the Iranian nuclear issue,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Thursday, adding that sanctions cannot fundamentally resolve the case.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov also on Wednesday dismissed as “unacceptable” any additional anti-Iran measure, saying, “Any additional sanctions against Iran will be interpreted by the international community as a means of changing the regime in Tehran.”

And a predictable response by the UN:

UN Chief urges diplomatic solution on Iran

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Thursday for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff with Tehran, in an apparent reaction to media speculation that Israel might attack Iran’s atomic facilities.

“We have to act quickly in the United Nations and the European Union to tackle this very serious threat,” French Ambassador Christophe Bigot told Channel 1 on Thursday.

“Israel is not alone on this issue,” said Bigot, whose country is one of the 15 Security Council members. “The clock is ticking” on Iran’s nuclear program and a way must be found to prevent it, he said.

Now get this last quote which is very interesting:

Bigot told Channel 1 that if as a last resort Israel decides to attack Iran, “we understand such a move.”

Both Russia and China, which have veto power at the Security Council, have expressed reservations about imposing additional sanctions.

At a meeting in Moscow, Russian and Chinese diplomats expressed “the mutual conviction that the application of new, additional sanctions against Iran will not lead to the desired result.”

Things are happening pretty fast right now. Just when the EU seems to be on the brink of some big changes, we have intense rhetoric in the category of "rumors of war" at a peak level. Any potential sanctions will be weak, by definition without China and Russia involvement, as Iran can meet most of their short-term needs through these countries. At the same time, Israel has made it clear that military action will be the last resort - a point we are rapidly approaching.

Interesting times indeed.