AfD MEP Alexander Sell: Germany's bankrupt. Last year the German federal budget — one quarter could not be covered without going into debt. That situation is getting worse because tax estimations for this year are getting worse — because of the economic crisis, because of layoffs, less taxes coming in. Germany cannot keep on paying for the European Union. Germany is paying the lion's share — one quarter. Brussels wants twice as much, which will add up to 50 billion euros from Germany. It's not going to work."

AfD MEP Alexander Sell: We want nuclear power. We do not want to exit coal. We also want to import Russian gas — we are not in favor of the sanctions. The sanctions have hurt us more than the Russians. The Russians are just exporting their gas and oil to China or to India, and India is selling us diesel and kerosene at much higher prices.

Former CIA Director Bill Burns on Putin's fixation on Ukraine: Putin made no effort to say, 'There you go again, the CIA's gotten it wrong.' His message in so many words was kind of: 'So, what are you going to do about it?' He felt he had modernized the Russian military to the point where they would easily roll over the Ukrainians. His assumptions turned out to be profoundly flawed. He would treat me like a particularly dim elementary school student who didn't understand that Ukraine is weak and divided.

The resignation of Healey (UK Defence Secretary) exposes a much deeper problem. Britain is no longer debating how much it wants to spend. Britain is confronting the reality of how much it can afford. As we move deeper into the sovereign debt crisis unfolding across the Western world, more governments will face this same dilemma. They will discover that geopolitical ambitions are ultimately constrained by economic reality, and economic reality is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.