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For German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, “memory” goes back to 2007 when Greece was caught up in the worldwide financial conflagration touched off by American and European speculators. Berlin was a major donor in the 240 billion Euro “bailout.” Schauble wants that debt repaid. Millions of Greeks are concerned about unpaid debts as well, although their memories stretch back a little further.

So Greece will be receiving the tranche it had initially refused, but on the condition of sticking to the commitments of its predecessors. What we have then is a reaffirmation of the typical German stance of imposing — as a precondition for any agreement and any future disbursement of funding — completion of the “assessment” procedure by the tripartite mechanism (whether this is called “troika” or “institutions”) for supervision of every past and future agreement.

Right-wing governments in Europe's periphery are terrified of a Greek success at the negotiating table. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders writes, 'If Syriza succeeds in rolling back the EU-mandated measures...It could encourage dissident political movements in other parts of Europe...'

The Greek election was a warning that, while wealth and political power may be related, they are not the same thing: Governments can be overturned. Europe needs answers. The Greek crisis is a crisis of the entire EU. To one extent or other, every country - even Germany, the EU's engine - is characterized by falling or anemic wage growth, increasing economic inequality, spreading deflation, and an overall decline in living standards.

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Syriza will not easily sweep the policies of austerity aside, but there is a palpable feeling on the continent that a tide is turning. The victory of Greece's left-wing Syriza Party was, on one hand, a beacon for indebted countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland. It is also a gauntlet for Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and the "troika" - the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund.

Significant recovery has not arrived in the eurozone, and when it does, it will have been so long delayed that it will, in effect, be recovery denied, with a legacy of economic and political darkness across the European Union.

Pegida's so-called “extremism of the middle”: is an expression of the dominant capitalist ideology, with its legitimization of all forms of exclusion, being driven to its mostly extreme, racist form. The whole situation will get really dangerous when parts of the elites start to see this as a viable political option in order to preserve power.

Cologne Cathedral provost Norbert Feldhoff told N-TV that the move was meant to send the message to Pegida's anti-Muslim protesters that "You’re taking part in an action that, from its roots and also from speeches, one can see is Nazi-ist, racist and extremist. And you’re supporting people you really don’t want to support."

The “red-red-green” coalition has taken office in Thuringia, German -- having squeezed through to victory by one single wavering vote.