Egyik 19

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Europe

Germany
08/16/2024  Kremlin declares Berlin-based Russian anti-war group 'undesirable'. Russian authorities have declared the nongovernmental organization ’Deputies of Peaceful Russia’ group, an association of Russian politicians in exile who oppose Moscow's war in Ukraine to be an undesirable organization. Members of the group founded in October 2023 are accused of taking part in events with an anti-Russian orientation in Germany, the General Prosecutor's Office said. They spread misleading information about the activities of Russian state agencies and ’support extremist organizations’, the statement added. The group held its first congress in Berlin. Its members include 74 regional and municipal Russian lawmakers and representatives, many of whom are living in exile. Under Russian law, organizations are designated undesirable if their activities are considered to ’pose a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order, defense, or security of the state'. (Source: DW - Germany)

16 August 2024  Warning came after the discovery of a fence cut at the water storage site in Mechernich area near Bonn. Residents were urged to boil their water before drinking it on Thursday night as the fire brigade drove around the area warning people not to use tap water for drinking, showers or preparing food. A day earlier, an air force base near Cologne-Bonn airport was sealed off for several hours with "abnormal water values" detected in the supply. Separately, Nato reported an attempt to trespass on its base at Geilenkirchen close to the Dutch border. Nato's Awacs reconnaissance planes are stationed at Geilenkirchen and the Cologne-Wahn base close to the main regional airport is home to the top echelons of the German air force as well as planes used by government ministers for foreign travel. More than 5,000 soldiers and civilians are said to work at the Cologne-Wahn base, and although the outer fence was not tampered with, a hole was found in the fence close to the barracks' water supply. No-one has yet been detained for any of the three alleged sabotage incidents. Military officials are taking the latest incidents very seriously. The extent of sabotage in any of the three incidents remains unclear ’although Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, have been on heightened alert because of Russia's war in Ukraine’. Last April, two German-Russian dual nationals were arrested in the south-western state of Bavaria on suspicion of plotting sabotage attacks on military or industrial targets. Last month, the domestic intelligence service (Verfassungschutz) warned of an increased risk of sabotage activities and reports emerged of an alleged Russian plot to kill the head of Germany's biggest arms firm Rheinmetall. This week, Interior Minister Faeser said even before the spate of scares, that Germany was facing an increased danger of Russian sabotage. ’The threats we have to protect ourselves against range from espionage, sabotage and cyber attacks to state terrorism,’ she told on Monday, explaining that the Ukrainian advance into Russian territory could exacerbate the threat. ’Germany is the second largest donor of military aid to Ukraine after the US, earmarking some €28bn’ since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. German-supplied Marder armoured vehicles are apparently being used by the Ukrainians in the Kursk region. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Russia
Aug 16, 2024 Some Russian state media outlets have suggested that the Kursk incursion was a ’trap for Zelensky’ in which Putin will ultimately prevail. Kremlin propagandists have tried to make sense of how Ukraine entered Russia so easily. Pro-Kremlin outlet Tsargrad wrote how Ukrainian brigades 'fell into a trap' and faced heavy losses. This spinning of the narrative is at odds with accounts, including from Russian military bloggers, of Ukrainian gains, while Zelensky said on Thursday his troops had captured ’the entire town’ of Sudzha. While there is no evidence that Ukrainian forces have fallen into a trap, what Kyiv does next and whether Putin might benefit in the longer term is uncertain. Instead of being in eastern Donbas region trying to strengthen its existing line and hold as much territory as it can, Kyiv's best units are now in a place which may be vulnerable to an effective Moscow counter attack. ’There is a risk of overextending, and there is a risk that precious personnel and resources may be lost and that Putin may use this as a pretext for further escalation,’ said Witt, professor of international business and strategy at King's Business School, London. Putin might also be able to exploit domestically the narrative he has pushed all along about the war he started - that he acted because Russia is under threat from the West, of which he considers Ukraine to be a proxy agent. The narrative that Russia is under threat can help Putin and reinforce support through a rally-around-the-flag effect, Witt told. ’However, Putin may be forced into a mobilization more widespread that the partial draft he announced in September 2022, according to Bloomberg’. Kastehelmi, a military expert from the Finland-based open-source intelligence analysis firm Black Bird Group, said that the incursion risks attrition of Ukraine's precious reserves when it still has issues with manpower. ’Taking over a few dozen Russian border villages at the expense of many lives and pieces of equipment won't help,’ he told. ’Generally, the war won't be solved in Kursk, the most strategically important regions are still eastern and southern Ukraine.’ Part of Ukraine's aim for the incursion is to elicit support from the West by proving that Kyiv still has some fight left in it. They are wary of the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections, and there is a risk that the Trump administration will halt aid to Ukraine. It was Trump who invoked past Moscow triumphs last month, telling Fox News he had told Zelensky in a phone conversation that Kyiv faced a ’war machine’ and that "they beat Hitler. They beat Napoleon." On Thursday, Zelensky's top commander, Colonel General Syrskyi said military command had been set up in Kursk while Zelensky reiterated Kyiv's claim that it now controlled more than 80 settlements and over 440 square miles. This move might end up in Ukraine wasting the resource it lacks most in this war, which is manpower. (Source: Newsweek - U.S.)

08/16/2024  Moscow's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday it thwarted an attack from 12 US-built ATACMS missiles launched by Ukraine on the Crimea bridge, which was built at the behest of President Putin after Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014. The bridge opened in 2018 and connects Kerch in Crimea with southern Russia's Krasnodar region. All the missiles were destroyed. Ukraine's Kursk offensive enters second week. Podolyak, Ukraine's presidential adviser has said on Friday the recent operations in Russia aim to bring Moscow to the negotiating table to start ’fair’ peace talks. ’We need to inflict significant tactical defeats on Russia,’ Podolyak wrote on the Telegram messaging app. ’The presence of Ukrainian troops within Russia may impact public opinion, Podolyak suggested, since for many in Russia the war had not been something that directly affected them’. Ukrainian forces have been advancing in the Russian border region of Kursk since a surprise incursion on August 6. Kravchuk, a Ukrainian lawmaker belonging to Zelenskyy's Servant of the People Party, told that Ukraine's incursion into Russian territory could help Kyiv achieve a ’strong' on the battlefield if it comes to the negotiating table with Russia, adding that territory in Kursk could be part of negotiations. She said that Ukrainian authorities had received intelligence that showed that Russian forces were planning to attack Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region from Kursk, so ’this is part of self-defense,’ which ensure that the region will not be shelled from the Kursk region. Kravchuk said that Ukraine's incursion into Kursk was ’significant’ because ’Ukraine gained more territory than Russia occupied during 2024 in total.’ She said that she hoped Kyiv could exchange prisoners of war captured in Kursk for Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russian forces. Ukrainian forces have been pushing into the Russian border region of Kursk over the past several days. Ukraine claims to have taken control of 82 settlements in the Kursk region since launching a surprise cross-border offensive 10 days ago. The head of Ukraine's military says Kursk offensive 'has advanced'. Kyiv's forces were advancing between one and three kilometers in some parts of Russia's Kursk region, General Syrskyi told Zelenskyy in a video posted on social media. He added that intense fighting continued in Ukraine's front line in the east, in particular in Toretsk and Pokrovsk. The Ukrainian military has urged civilians in Pokrovsk to speedily evacuate as Russian troops encircle the town ’at a fast pace.’ Syrskyi said that he hoped to take ’many prisoner’ from a battle ongoing in the village of Mala Loknya, about 13 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. In general, ’everything is carried out following the plan,’ Syrskyi said. Meanwhile, Russia has accused the West of aiding the incursion. /Source: DW - Germany / (Reuters – United Kingdom; AFP – France; dpa – Germany; AP – United States)/

United Kingdom
16.08.2024  Over 1,000 people have been arrested and nearly 600 charged in connection with the ’far-right’ riots that erupted across the UK following a stabbing incident in Southport on July 29. On August 4, Prime Minister Starmer condemned the riots as ’far-right’ thuggery and warned that those involved in the violence would regret their actions. The violent riots were fueled by online claims that the suspect in the fatal stabbing of three children in Southport was a Muslim asylum seeker. The attacker was identified as Rudakubana, a 17-year-old from Cardiff with Rwandan parents. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed swift justice for those involved. On August 7, three men became the first individuals to be jailed for their involvement in the Southport and Liverpool riots. Starmer was reminding social media users that online platforms are not „law-free zones’. Sweeney, 53, was sentenced to 15 months in prison yesterday, for posting inflammatory messages on Facebook, including a post that read: Blow the mosque up with the adults in it. Judge Everett criticized her online conduct, stating that keyboard warriors must be held accountable for their language, especially amidst the ongoing national disorder. Parlour was sentenced to 20 months in jail last week for social media activity related to the ’far-right’ riots urging attacks on a hotel housing asylum seekers. Greenwood, 31, who live-streamed racial slurs during riots in Sunderland, received a 2.5-year prison sentence for violent disorder. A 12-year-old boy has become the youngest individual charged in connection with the riots. He appeared at Liverpool Youth Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to violent disorder in Merseyside. Additionally, a 14-year-old boy faces charges related to a riot in Whitehall last month. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

Taiwan
August 16, 2024  Working against short deadlines with limited resource. If it wasn’t for the signs pointing to every underground car park’s dual use as an “Air Defence Shelter”, the impending threat of a Chinese invasion could easily be forgotten. Tension in the Taiwan Strait is increasing, and experts are now in general agreement that the Chinese Communist Party will attempt to take Taiwan using force. US and UK intelligence agencies remain concerned that China will at some point try to claim Taiwan through invasion, blockade or political pressure. President Xi is understood to have ordered his military to be ready to take the self-ruled island by 2027. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been clear about its intentions while building the world’s largest naval force.  How unprepared would be the West to deal with yet another conflict? The UK and European countries have a strong interest in helping maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, due to Taiwan’s economic and geopolitical benefits, but wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East have taken priority for Western nations. The war in Ukraine has sucked so much resource and attention from Europe that it cannot militarily support another conflict in its current state. Military-wise European nations don’t even have the capacities to supply own militaries and support Ukraine, they have reached a production limit. There is no chance we can significantly help if tensions turned to conflict in Taiwan - the UK’s capacity to assist in the event of another conflict would currently be unable to fund and support a new emerging war. The UK’s Ministry of Defence faces budget pressures, forcing the department to ask suppliers to find significant cuts. Keir Starmer has pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP in future years but no timeline has been set. All this comes against the backdrop of calls from the British Army’s chief, General Sir Walker, to prepare the UK’s military for threats from Russia, a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, and Iranian nuclear capabilities which he warned could all 'converge' in approximately 2027. Chinese military action against Taiwan would be catastrophic for the global economy, not least because 92 per cent of the world’s semi-conductors – an essential component of electronic devices used for computing, healthcare, and military systems – are manufactured there. A halt to shipments to and from the island could cause the production of phones, laptops, cars, and pacemakers to screech to a halt. This could cost the world economy an estimated $10trn and dwarf the effects of both the Ukraine invasion and coronavirus. The world focus would turn into the Indo-Pacific, which creates vacuums that other hostile powers can take advantage of. A successful Chinese invasion would entirely change the global governance. China’s success would further contribute to making democracies weaker, fast-track China’s leadership in critical technologies, including military ones, and eventually make China-led global order increasingly possible. The island has strategic location as the first island in a chain of archipelagos, including Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, creating a natural barrier between mainland China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and its reach further into the Pacific. The UK and Europe’s lack of military readiness to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty has lead to frustration from both Taiwanese and American officials. ’We have helped fund a battle to protect Europe at high political and economic cost, and now we need that favour returned.’ a US intelligence source told, following America’s significant help in Ukraine. If tensions were to escalate in Taiwan, the US would have a duty to step in and defend the island’s sovereignty under the terms of an arms agreement between the two countries. The US would have its commitment to defence agreements with other countries in the region – including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines – tested. Since its election, Keir Starmer’s Labour Government has not yet mentioned China’s aggression in the region. In the first 40 days of the new Government, Foreign Office staff visited more than a dozen countries in all corners of the globe, including China, but have not yet made an appearance in Taiwan. Foreign Secretary Lammy is in talks over a trip to Beijing next month. Meanwhile, China has continued to deploy grey-zone warfare tactics – military actions that fall between war and peace – by repeatedly encircling the self-ruled island with fighter jets and navy ships, launching cyber attacks, and making provocative vows to ’reunite’ with Taiwan. It has also launched at least a dozen rocket launches – or satellite missions – that have passed over Taiwan’s air defence zone in the past 18 months. Military support right now appears to be out of the question - a senior UK military source told that “under current budget constraints' there was no chance of sending weapons to Taiwan any time soon. However, some officials, including Frederick, the US National Security Agency’s assistant deputy director for China, have cast doubt over China’s ability to meet its self-imposed deadline for seizing Taiwan in 2027. Rusi’s Dr Havrén said the UK should lean on pre-existing international agreements such as the Aukus military security partnership to apply pressure on Beijing without putting too much demand on resources. She told: ’Being more present in the Indo-Pacific with Aukus, strong relationships with like-minded democracies such as Japan and South Korea and non-aligned countries like India and Indonesia are essential to balance China’s presence and grey-zone tactics in the region’. Under the Aukus agreement, the UK, US and Australia share joint advanced military capabilities, including at least eight nuclear-powered submarines armed with conventional weapons, radar capabilities, hypersonic missiles and artificial intelligence developments, in order to promote security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Through Whitehall departments such as the Department for International Trade, the UK could provide knowledge and financing to help the Taiwanese people build in areas of food and energy storage, the introduction of key pharmaceutical and medical infrastructure to contribute to a greater Taiwanese resilience, according to the sources. It’s not military and would actually make a big difference. (Source: The i Paper - United Kingdom)

West Bank
16 August, 2024  Dozens of masked settlers torched homes and cars in the village of Jit, a Palestinian village near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday evening. At least one Palestinian - identified as 23-year-old Sadda.- was killed and many others critically wounded. The settlers were also targeting residents of the village of Jit with live fire, threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at residents, with the Israeli army issuing a statement saying they were deployed to the village after receiving reports of violence. The attack is the latest in a series of many in recent weeks and months. Israel’s president Herzog denounced the attack as a "pogrom", while prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office published a statement saying, "those responsible for any offence will be apprehended and tried". "Violent attacks by settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are unacceptable and must stop. Israeli authorities need to take necessary measures to protect all residents," a White House spokesperson said, calling on Israel to take steps to prevent similar attacks. However, Israel’s ’far-right’ Finance Minister Smotrich said the perpetrators in Jit had nothing to do with settlers. "They are criminals who must be dealt with by the law enforcement authorities with the full force of the law," he wrote on X. The UN office OCHA says since the start of the war on Gaza in October, there have been at least 107 attacks that have caused Palestinians fatalities and wounds, and 859 causing damage to Palestinian property. According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission’s (WSRC) head, Shaban, settlers have been exploiting attention on the war on Gaza to carry out further attacks in the West Bank. He added that most of the fires have been concentrated in the cities of Nablus, Ramallah, and Jenin, started in agricultural land and crops, as well as homes and vehicles. Some of these fires were caused by military raids, a WSRC report noted. Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli forces carried out a largescale raid in several neighbourhoods of Hebron. In recent weeks they imposed heavier entry restrictions in neighbourhoods in the city, by blocking off exits and installing checkpoints. Local media reports stated that soldiers detained civilians, including women and children, subjecting them to harsh treatment and preventing them from returning to their homes. Early on Friday, Israeli settlers also started excavating near the Arab Al-Ka’abneh Elementary School north of Jericho, aiming to establish a new settler building in the area. Melehat, the general supervisor of the Al-Baydar Organisation for Bedouin Rights highlighted that the area is central for the local Bedouin community there, and that the operation is part of a broader, aggressive colonial campaign, supported by Israeli occupation forces. Smotrich announced this week that a new settlement in the Battir area, which is listed on the UNSECO World Heritage List, has been approved. His office said it had "completed its work and published a plan for the new Nahal Heletz settlement in Gush Etzion". The report states around 6,000 acres have already been seized this year alone, and large-scale construction projects to make way for illegal outposts have increased. International law considers Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are illegal in all cases. (Source: The New Arab - United Kingdom; a London-based news outlet, owned by a Qatari company)

North America

Canada
August 16, 2024  Canada ’places no geographic restrictions’ on the use of military equipment it has donated and continues to donate to Ukraine, Poulin, Canadian defense department spokesperson, told. Ukraine can use Canadian tanks and missiles in its ongoing special military operation on Russia soil, Ottawa said. According to Poulin, Canada will continue to work with the Ukrainian armed forces to provide the equipment they need. Canada have committed $4,5 billion in military assistance to Ukraine ’pledging to keep aid coming through to 2029’. So far, Canada has sent $33 million worth of air defense equipment, including air defense missiles AMRAAMS, AIM-9, AIM-7 and 40,000 rounds of ammunition delivered in 2023. Canada also contributed $53 million to Czechia’s initiative to purchase several thousand rounds of artillery ammunition for Ukraine. Canada has also donated M-777 howitzers, eight Leopard tanks, 200 additional Senator commercial pattern armored vehicles and 4,200 M72A5-C1 rocket launchers. Ukrainian forces have been slowly advancing in Russia’s Kursk region, where they control more than 1,000 square kilometers of territory, Kyiv said. The surprise attack - which has now lasted a week and a half - ’is a setback for the Kremlin, with some Russian units redeployed from the front lines in Ukraine to shore up defenses at home, Kyiv’s military said’. Germany also previously said it sees no problem with Ukraine using its weapons on Russian territory. ’It reduces Russian threat potential every day. It prevents Ukrainian civilians from becoming refugees,’ said Faber, the head of the German Bundestag’s defense committee. (Source: Politico - headquarters U.S., owned by a German company)

.5 5 30 22:16

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Germany
May 28, 2025  Military-industrial cooperation. Germany and Ukraine 'sign €5B deal on long-range weapons cooperation with Berlin committing to co-develop weapons systems and finance critical battlefield infrastructure. 'Our defense ministers will sign a letter of intent today on procuring long-range weapon systems produced in Ukraine', Chancellor Friedrich Merz said during a joint press conference with Zelenskyy in Berlin. ’There will be no restrictions on range.’ The package covers new contracts for air defense systems, munitions, and logistical support, including maintenance infrastructure and satellite communications. ’The Taurus system, with a range of over 500 kilometers, would enable high-precision strikes deep behind Russian lines’. Germany also confirmed it will finance a significant portion of Starlink satellite coverage in Ukraine. Merz refused to comment on specific weapons systems. (Source: Politico - headquarters U.S., owned by a German company)

Luxembourg
(28 May 2025)  Luxembourg has joined 19 other EU countries led by the Netherlands in calling on the European Commission to expeditiously take action against Hungary over a draft law which would ban the country’s annual pride if the Hungarian authorities do not reverse the measures themselves. They published a joint declaration yesterday. „A number of measures adopted by the Hungarian Parliament" in recent years are targeting the LGBTQ+ community, in particular a law passed in mid-March banning certain events, such as the Pride March. „Constitutional changes” are infringing on the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ people, the declaration states. The European Commission has remained largely silent. The European Commission’s Presidency Office had even discreetly recommended that European commissioners should not take part in the Pride March, in order to avoid provoking Viktor Orbán. The organisers have said that they will hold the event regardless, and many MEPs have stated that they will attend. Luxembourg MEP Angel (LSAP) is one of the European parliamentarians who will be attending the Pride March on 28 June. Angel is openly gay. Der Leyen was elected on the promise of a „pro-European, pro-democracy coalition’, so now is the time to prove where she stands, Luxembourg MEP Angel said. Also read: Luxembourg continues decline in LGBTQ+ rights ranking. Together with his Italian MEP Zan (S&D), Angel has initiated a parliamentary petition, published yesterday and addressed to the president of the European Commission, der Leyen, expressing deep concern at the decision to advise European commissioners not to attend the next Pride in Budapest. A first step could be to send a representative of the European Commission to the Budapest Pride event to show that the European Union 'is defending its values', said Angel. The ideal candidate, according to Angel, is the EU’s Equality Commissioner Lahbib, whose mandate includes proposing a renewed strategy for equal treatment of LGBTQ+ people. The former Commissioner for Equality, Dalli, attended such events. On 28 June in Budapest, delegations from ’the progressive forces’ in the European Parliament are expected to attend. (Source: Luxembourg Times / Virgule = Luxembourg)

Poland
28 May 2025  In April, five members of the US federal judiciary committee wrote to European Commission President der Leyen regarding rule-of-law concerns in Poland. They also targeted what they saw as double standards in the way EU funds were blocked under the PiS government and then promptly released when Tusk’s administration came into office. The chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Mast, has demanded that European Commission President der Leyen clarify concerns over the financing of the Polish election campaign of Trzaskowski, the candidate of the ruling centre-left coalition government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk on June 1, in the second round vote between Trzaskowski and opposition Conservatives (PiS) hopeful Nawrocki. Mast’s letter of May 27 was critical of the positions taken by the European Commission thus far on the situation in Poland. Online accounts have emerged attacking right-wing presidential candidates Nawrocki and the Confederation party’s Mentzen, placed third in the first round, while simultaneously posting content supporting Trzaskowski. These accounts were reported to have spent sums in excess of €200,000 and, 'according to published reports in the Polish media', the funding came from sources in Hungary and Belgium. Mast has written on behalf of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee to der Leyen to address funding concerns, stating that such activities taking place should be met by a reaction of the European Commission if it wishes to avoid being accused of applying double standards with regard to the observance of the rule of law in Poland. Mast’s letter marked further criticism from the US Republicans over Poland. Despite the vocal criticism of the European Commission and the decision to block [billions] of EU funds for Poland for alleged rule-of-law violations under the previous PiS government, it has remained silent with regard to the actions of the present government despite clear evidence that it is not transgressing in this area, Mast wrote. The letter also asked “what role was played by the company Estratos and its shareholders linked to the Democratic Party’ and whether the financing of such activities was in any way connected with funds associated with the US philanthropist and billionaire Soros. It also queried what the European Commission was planning to do about alleged evidence of foreign funding in Poland’s election campaign given it had taken a determined stance in supporting legal action over alleged foreign interference in the Romanian presidential elections last year. Also yesterday, US president Trump’s security secretary Noem attended a meeting of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) in Rzeszów, Poland and endorsed Nawrocki ahead of the decisive second-round vote. She pledged to Poles that if they elected a leader who will work with President Trump, the Polish people will have a strong ally. ’You will continue to have a US military presence here,’ Noem added. Earlier in May, Nawrocki was invited for talks with Washington officials, including a meeting with the US President in the Oval Office. Trump has long enjoyed close relations with the PiS and Poland’s current PiS-aligned President Duda. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

Romania
28 May 2025  NATO-standard munitions co-production project - the United States and Romania can enhance defense production capabilities via potential co-production of both NATO-standard 155-millimeter artillery shells and 120-millimeter NATO tank ammunition. 'These projects are supported by a $920M foreign military financing loan from the U.S. Department of State announced in September 2024. (Source: U.S. Embeassy in Romania)

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Europe

Germany
August 15, 2024  German authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national in connection to the explosion that damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline two years ago. The suspect, identified by German media only as ’Volodymyr Z,’ had lived in Poland in the town of Pruszkow near Warsaw at the time, but fled to Ukraine ’before authorities could execute the arrest warrant in early July’. Z allegedly participated in a six-man diving team of experienced Ukrainians who, in September 2022, rented a German yacht to sail over the Nord Stream pipeline and planted explosives that damaged a few of the pipelines. The pipelines allowed Russia to sell gas more easily to Europe - built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany - despite sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine and were condemned by the West as a national security threat. The underwater detonations on the Nord Stream gas pipelines occurred in international waters but within Swedish and Danish economic zones. Sweden earlier said that a state actor was the most likely culprit. The Wall Street Journal reported that the plan took four months to enact and cost around $300,000. The group brought a female diver so that they could pose as a group going out on a pleasure cruise. Zelenskyy originally supported the plan, but after the CIA learned of it and asked him to stop it, he tried to halt the effort. The WSJ reported that Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhniy ignored the order and pushed ahead with the plan. Four senior Ukrainian defense and security officials told the outlet that the pipelines were viewed as a legitimate target in the war. Zaluzhniy denied the claims, saying he had no knowledge of the operation and labeled such claims as mere provocation. German intelligence officers raised concerns that, despite these reports, they believe it is entirely possible that this amounts to a Russian false flag operation, according to Politico, citing German publication Welt am Sonntag. Politico reported that Polish security agents support this theory and sent a document with names of Russian suspects to Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, but the Germans remained convinced of Ukrainian responsibility. German media named two other suspects: Svitlana and Yevhen Uspenska, a married couple who run a diving school in Ukraine. They denied involvement, with Svitlana claiming she was in Kyiv at the time of the incident. Germany, Denmark and Sweden all opened investigations into the incident, but Sweden and Denmark closed their investigations earlier this year. Sweden had found traces of explosives on several objects recovered from the site, confirming the incident was indeed an act of sabotage. The Swedes and Danes determined that they did not have sufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case. "The Swedes said they had a fairly good idea of who was behind it but have no jurisdiction over those they wanted to talk to," Øhlenschlæger Buhl, of the Royal Danish Defense College told The Associated Press. The Danes are saying "the same, just slightly different words." U.S. intelligence in 2023 suggested that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the attack. Then-National Security Council spokesman Kirby confirmed that the U.S. believed ’it was an act of sabotage’ while stressing that the U.S. was not involved. (Source: Fox News "and The Associated Press” = U.S.)

North America

United States
8/15/2024  Independent presidential candidate Kennedy Jr. sought a meeting last week with Democratic nominee Harris to discuss the possibility of serving in her administration, perhaps as a Cabinet secretary, if he throws his support behind her campaign and she wins, according to Kennedy campaign officials. Harris and her advisers have not responded with an offer to meet or shown interest in the proposal. At the moment, Kennedy says he is continuing to campaign with the expectation that he will defeat both Trump and Harris, making regular interview appearances, planning upcoming rallies in states such as Arizona and Nebraska and releasing an “America Strong” plan for bipartisan governance. But he has also left open the possibility of bowing out of the race if he finds another way to bring about the change he seeks in the country, his advisers say. “From the beginning of this campaign, we were saying people should be talking to each other,” Kennedy said Wednesday in an interview. “That is the only way of unifying the country.” „I think it is going to be a very close race.” The latest round of outreach follows earlier efforts to convince Democrats that Kennedy would make a better candidate on their ticket than Biden. Even after Kennedy left the Democratic nomination fight to pursue an independent campaign for president last November, his advisers continued to press the case privately that he could replace Biden as the Democratic nominee. Kennedy, the campaign manager and daughter-in-law to the candidate, argued in an April email to Democrats, that Biden could not win the race. “As things are, Biden is going to lose. If Bobby were to drop out, Trump would win by an additional two states,” she wrote. “If Biden were to drop out, Trump would lose. Only Bobby can win this.” She argued that Democrats had to make sure a president is elected who could handle the responsibility of managing the nuclear arsenal. “I don’t want a president obsessed with the size of his crowds to be given that sacred charge. My bomb is bigger than your bomb is no path to peace,” she wrote. “Nor do I want to entrust my children’s lives to the alertness of a president who, despite honorable service and due to the natural toll of age, I wouldn’t leave babysitting my two-year-old while I went to the movies.” Democrats have for months attacked Kennedy because Mellon, a scion of a Pittsburgh banking family, is a top donor to both an independent group supporting Kennedy and a separate group supporting Trump. Kennedy’s campaign reached out this summer to Democratic intermediaries, including Hollywood talent agent Emanuel and director Reiner, in hopes of starting a dialogue with Democratic officials. No meetings resulted. One day after Biden had a disastrous performance in a June debate with Trump, Kennedy campaign staff contacted a relative of Airbnb founder Gebbia in an effort to get a message to Klain, a longtime Biden adviser, who had recently been hired by Airbnb as chief legal adviser. “The Dems should nominate Kennedy. He is the only candidate under consideration who can beat Trump,” the message read. Klain said Wednesday that he heard secondhand that the Kennedy campaign was trying to reach him, but that he did not respond to the request. A person spotted Kennedy at a hotel this week in West Palm Beach, Fla., not far from Trump campaign headquarters and Trump’s Florida home. Trump campaign advisers said they are still in touch with Kennedy and his senior team, and some of the advisers are expecting Kennedy to drop out and endorse Trump. In his pitch to Trump in Milwaukee, he also discussed a Cabinet-level job. Since Biden exited the race in July, Kennedy’s standing in national polls appears to have declined, suggesting that Harris has been able to attract some of his previous supporters. In July when Biden was still in the race showed Kennedy polling at about 9 percent. Since Biden dropped out of the race, the same average shows Kennedy polling at about 5 percent nationally. Kennedy said Wednesday that he had not had any contact with the Democratic Party since launching his campaign. The Democratic National Committee has launched an aggressive legal and political effort to diminish the appeal of Kennedy and other third-party contenders. “The only contact I have with the DNC is them suing me through intermediaries,' Kennedy said. (Source: MSN / The Washington Post = U.S.)

August 15, 2024  Vance has climbed to his current position as former President Trump’s running mate, in part, by selling himself as a hillbilly, calling on his Appalachian background to bolster his credentials to speak for the American working class. “I grew up as a poor kid,’ Vance said on Fox News in August 2024. “I think that’s a story that a lot of normal Americans can empathize with.” Indeed, the book that brought him to public attention was his 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” In that book, he claims his family carried an inheritance of ’abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma.’ Created mainly by middle- and upper-class people for like-minded readers, long line of novels, films and plays can end up spreading harmful stereotypes about poor people. When you think about novels and films about the poor, you come upon the great classics: Dickens’ “Oliver Twist,” Zola’s “Germinal,” London’s “The People of the Abyss” or Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.” Though these works are sometimes crafted with good intentions, they tend to focus on violence, drugs, alcohol, crudeness and the supposed laziness of poor people. These monuments to the suffering of the poor were written by authors who were not poor. Most of them had little to no knowledge of the lived experience of poor people. At best, they were reporters whose source material was meager. At worst, they simply made things up, recycling stereotypes about poverty. Steinbeck had some contact with poor people as a reporter. But as he wrote about migrant camps for “The Grapes of Wrath,” he relied heavily on the notes of Babb - herself poor and formerly homeless – who traveled to migrant camps throughout California for the Farm Security Administration. Babb’s boss – a friend of Steinbeck’s – had secretly shown the author her notes, without her permission. Babb would go on to also write a novel based on her experiences, which was bought by Random House. But the publishing house killed it after “Grapes of Wrath” came out, and it wasn’t published until 2004, when the author was 97 years old. Then there’s London, whose “The People of the Abyss” is seen as a faithful portrayal of the lives of the British poor. But London, who went “undercover” to craft a sordid account of England’s urban poor, nonetheless maintained a comfortable apartment. He kept a stash of money sewed into his ragged coat and conveniently escaped for a hot bath and a good meal while pretending to pass as a pauper. The result is a book laden with put-downs of the English working class, who are cast in eugenicist terms as a degenerate race. When you look at the books or films created by people who grew up poor, the tone and focus often shift dramatically. Instead of a fixation on the tawdry side of life, you see works that explore the things that bind all people together: family, love, politics, complex emotions and sensual memories. You only have to open Wright’s “Black Boy,” Gold’s “Jews Without Money to see their protagonists’ appreciation of beauty and ability to experience profound pleasure – yes, all while experiencing poverty. Wright recalls how, as a child, he would play in the sewer, where he would spend hours fashioning all manner of detritus into toys. And Gold sings a paean to an empty, garbage-strewn lot in his neighborhood that doubled as his beloved playground. Vance, on the other hand, fills his book with selections from the hits of violence, drugs, sex, obscenity and filth. But Vance himself was never actually impoverished. His grandfather, grandmother and mother all had houses in a suburban neighborhood in Middletown, Ohio. He admits that his grandfather “owned stock in Armco and had a lucrative pension.” He introduces himself to his Yale classmates as “a conservative hillbilly from Appalachia.” Over the course of the book, he confuses himself – and the reader – by variously saying that he is middle class, working class and poor. Vance did come from a troubled family. His mother was – like so many Americans, whether they’re poor, middle class or rich – addicted to painkillers. In the book, Vance searches for an explanation for his traumatic relationship with his mother, before hitting on the perfect explanation: His mother’s addiction was a consequence of the fact that her parents were “hillbillies.” The reality – one that Vance only subtly acknowledges in his memoir – is that he is not poor. Nor is he a hillbilly. He grew up firmly in Ohio’s middle class. In the forthcoming book, “Poor Things: How Those with Money Depict Those without It,” I detail how Vance’s work is actually part of a genre. In developing his grand theory, Vance takes readers very close to the now-debunked notion of a culture of poverty, in which the poor are responsible for their situation and their attitude toward work is passed along from one generation to the next. A dependence on government handouts, according to the theory, undergirds this culture. His neighbors in Middletown had lost – thanks to the welfare state – “the tie that bound them to their neighbors’. Vance’s dilemma: Are these people simply lazy? Or are they the victims of a system that encourages them to watch TV and eat bad food as they collect welfare or disability checks? Several times he refers to people who live on welfare as ’never [having] worked a paying job in his life.’ He seems to fully buy into the notion that people are poor because they are lazy freeloaders, they got there because of ’bad choices.’ and life will improve only through better decisions. The issue here is “representation inequality”: one identity group - in this case, poor people - don’t get to represent themselves. In the 'elite capture,' those with cultural capital and power assume the right to speak for and represent the powerless. In so doing, stereotypes and tropes get developed with serious political consequences. Our political and educational system elbows out most poor people. As political scientist Carnes points out in his 2018 book “The Cash Ceiling,” only 2% of congressional lawmakers worked in manual labor, the service industry or clerical jobs before getting involved in politics. In July 2024, The New York Times reported that Vance’s Yale law professor and author Chua read an early version of what became “Hillbilly Elegy,” one that was more geared to an academic audience and grounded in political theory. She prodded Vance to change his manuscript, telling him that “this grand theory [about America] is not working.' His “grand theory about the poor" doesn’t work, because the poor – unlike many other identity groups – don’t have a platform to articulate and promote their own needs and political vision. Instead, we’re stuck with people who offer bromides at best and fatalistic narratives of doom at worst. (Source: CounterPunch – U.S. / The Conversation – Melbourne, Victoria, Astralia)
By Davis, Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, an American specialist in disability studies.

August 15, 2024  The Cult of Military Service: Walz as soldier-teacher. Soon after Vice-President Harris introduced Minnesota Governor Walz as her running mate, the attacks on his military record began. Debating the finer points of Walz’s military record misses the larger point that the cult of military “service” in the United States is a widespread and dangerous one. Responding to attacks from Republican Presidential candidate Donald's Vice-Presidential candidate JD, Walz told a campaign rally filled with enthusiastic hospitality workers in Las Vegas all of the boxes for one kind of Democratic presidential campaign: Small Nebraskan town America, Family tradition, Military service, Teaching, and Football. My dad was a chain-smoking Korean War-era veteran who, two days after my 17th birthday, took me down to sign up to join the National Guard. And I have to tell you, like my dad before me and millions of others, the GI Bill gave me a shot at a college education, Waltz said. The message was pretty clear that military service was the natural and honorable stage in one’s life from a nobody to a somebody in the Great American community. One of first pictures of Walz that was widely circulated was a stern-faced, seventeen years old version of himself in 1981-era combat fatigues holding an M-16. Walz was by many accounts a popular teacher with his students and liked by his colleagues. But, the role model of the Soldier-Teacher ’is not a good one, especially for young men’. Connecting military service to teaching: high schools across the country are one of the main recruiting grounds for the U.S. military. Young people, especially high school age boys, can be easily impressed by the glamour of the uniform and combat through films, television, and video games. This was particularly true during the 1980s and 1990s, when political leaders and their friends in Hollywood spent a lot of time rehabilitating the military following the U.S. defeat in Vietnam, along with demonizing the Vietnam Anti-War movement. Walz joined the National Guard in 1981, the first year of Reagan’s presidency that saw the beginning of a massive military build-up and a resurgent anti-Communism and U.S. imperialism. It wasn’t until the end of the decade, however, before the U.S. could once again, send large numbers of ground troops to fight wars in far-flung corners of the globe; Panama, the first Gulf War, and after 9-11, the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq - the latter two dubbed the ’Forever Wars.’ The disastrous results for the countries that the U.S invaded and the large numbers of U.S. soldiers suffered debilitating physical and mental health conditions are still with us. Walz was deployed only once overseas to Italy during the Forever Wars and saw no combat. He spent seven months abroad before he returned home. Others from Minnesota? More than eight thousand Minnesota National Guard soldiers and Airmen were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan from 2003 to 2011. Sixteen members of the Minnesota died in Iraq. Nearly one hundred soldiers with some connection to Minnesota were killed in combat during the Forever Wars. Walz retired from the National Guard in May 2005, he was elected to Congress during the Democratic sweep in 2006. During the debate over the surge, Walz voted to force the U.S. military to withdraw from Iraq within 90 days. Yet less than five months later, he voted to continue funding the war. It was a position that put him at odds with a majority of his Democratic colleagues. Throughout Walz’s congressional career, Walz often voted to repeal the War on Terror-era authorizations for the use of military force (AUMFs), while also voting against restrictions or cuts to military funding. Another aspect of the military service cult is never to discuss what the military actually does beyond blandishments of “serving” or “protecting” our nation. Walz spent his entire military career in the Minnesota National Guard. It’s not a good history from suppressing the Dakota uprising in 1862 to defending the 2008 Republican convention from demonstrators. When Walz was Governor of Minnesota he deployed National Guard troops to Minneapolis during the rebellion following Floyd’s police murder. Minnesota is quite proud of the National Guard’s role in foiling ’domestic unrest’. The National Guard in many states recruit soldiers by emphasizing the heroic role they play during natural disasters. The National Guard are sold as do-gooders or “citizen-soldiers” who rarely if ever see combat, but the post-Cold War reorganization of the U.S. military has meant that the National Guard is more integrated into U.S. military operations abroad, in sharp contrast to the Vietnam War era. The cult of military service has sprouted in the era of the volunteer army, and while it means that professional politicians like Walz may ride this into the White House with Harris, it is a road to the graveyard for many others. (Source: CounterPunch - U.S.)
by Allen, the author of The Package King: A Rank and File History of United Parcel Service.

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Europe

European Commission
28.05.2025  The European Union plans to deepen cooperation with Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Türkiye, Armenia and Azerbaijan, while advancing regional projects focused on connectivity. The new strategy aims to boost connections and growth by linking Europe with the South Caucasus, Central Asia and beyond, according to an official statement. A Black Sea maritime security hub will be Europe's early warning system in the Black Sea, enhance situational awareness and help protect critical infrastructure, like offshore installations and subsea cables, EU Foreign Policy chief Kallas, 4 said. Alongside upgrades, we want better screening of foreign owners in ports and key facilities, Kallas told. She emphasized that the EU would step up demining operations in the area. Kallas also underscored the importance of improving military mobility by upgrading regional ports, railways, and roads ’for transporting heavy military equipment’. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

European Parliament
28 May 2025  How to finance Europe’s ’long-overdue rearmament’ has dominated political discourse of late, particularly since the Munich Security Conference in February where the message from the United States was clear: Europe must assume greater responsibility for its own defence. The initial response has been fiscal. ’The European Union has championed ReArm Europe - a rearmament programme worth €150 billion of direct investment in defence and a temporary exemption from deficit rules that could unlock a further €650 billion in additional national defence spending’. ’Germany has pledged further investment, alongside other countries’. What’s missing is a parallel conversation about the role of monetary policy. Many member states remain wary of increasing debt levels. Decisions taken now will affect spending well beyond the exemption’s expiration, leading to a natural hesitancy in planning long-term defence outlays. In an environment where EU governments have committed to gradual debt reduction, investors may punish states that simultaneously increase defence spending. Eurozone members are acutely aware of their exposure to bond markets and ratings agencies, and will act cautiously as a result. ’The danger is that this caution will leave Europe under-equipped’. What matters is delivery: air defence systems, munitions, logistics, and personnel readiness. Monetary policy has historically been the EU’s first responder. The central bank’s secondary mandate: to support the general economic policies of the EU. The ECB should consider how it can support the EU’s defence buildup within its mandate. It is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which ’yields begin to rise for member states investing heavily in defence’. The Transmission Protection Instrument (TPI), created in 2022 to prevent unwarranted fragmentation in bond markets, could be adapted or deployed in defence-related contexts. Targeted asset purchase programmes or conditional refinancing mechanisms could be considered. "In its current form, the ECB primarily has a focus on price stability and cannot directly finance member state governments". The entire standing of the institution depends on its insularity from politics and policy goals that may be perceived as temporary. ’Aligning monetary policy with defence goals’ raises questions about ECB’s institutional positioning.  (Source: The Parliament magazine – based in Brussels, Belgium)
by Šuvajevs is a member of the Parliament of Latvia and vice-chair of the Latvian Budget Committee

Russia
(28 May 2025)  Russia’s first textbook on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been added to the official list of educational materials for 8th- and 9th-grade students. According to the publishers, the textbook was developed to encourage young people to explore careers in drone operation and management. (Source: Conflict Intelligence Team - investigative group, relocated from Moskow to Tbilisi, Georgia)

Ukraine
May 28, 2025  What Europe can gain from Ukrainian arms exports? The EU’s recent establishment of a €150 billion defense fund under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative 'enables Ukraine’s participation in joint defense procurement and borrowing in partnership with EU members'. These funds can only be spent on defense products where at least 65 percent of components are produced by an EU country, Norway or Ukraine. ’Kyiv has already successfully established joint ventures with European defense partners, like Rheinmetall or Thales’. Opening up Ukraine’s defense industry would allow Ukraine’s economy 'to benefit directly from European rearmament'. Ukraine’s private defense sector has the capacity to produce over 1,700,000 more drones and electronic warfare systems (EWs) than it currently does. Ukraine’s production capacity ’has grown beyond’ what its state contracts cover and what the government has funds to procure. 'Ukraine’s parliament is currently discussing easing wartime restrictions on domestic arms exports'. ’Building on the country’s experience for European rearmament’ would allow the country’s economy ’to directly benefit from European rearmament'. Several ways ’to take advantage’ of this: international partners purchase weapons from domestic producers on behalf of Ukraine; duties and revenues from exports would provide a financial boost to further develop new capabilities. For Europe, 'it would open up a supply of field-tested capabilities and equipment'. Providing a technological edge over the enemy, defy the purpose of ’stockpiling for the possibility of a future conflict’. ’European armies would greatly benefit from access to Ukrainian domestic arms production, allowing them to train soldiers in drone warfare and integrate drone units in command structures, thereby adapting to the realities of modern warfare at low cost’. Over 40 percent of weapons currently used by Ukraine’s army are domestically produced, with a heavy focus on innovative weapons systems. The industry ’needs to scale up its production of strategic weapons, particularly cruise and ballistic missiles and strategic air defense — - which is where cooperation with European partners and investment is most needed’. (Source: Politico - U.S.)
by Parzonka, a coordinator for Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Program.
Note: What good can gain? Nothing.

Asia

Afghanistan
May 28 2025  As per habit, I got ready and started towards the office (in Afghanistan, we work on Sundays). The moment I arrived at the entrance door of the building of PEN Afghanistan, things did not seem the way they usually did; there was something different about that day. I entered the building. We used to have images of famous writers hung on the walls, along with some pictures and mementos of PEN activities pinned and glued to the wooden boards, and several contemporary and classic pieces of art on the flat surfaces of canvases. However, that day, the walls were empty of images, the mementos were gone, and the canvases seemed soulless. As I kept walking, my eyes were not able to find any traces of the familiar objects in my surroundings. The whole two-floored PEN building was lifeless, as if its soul had been snatched away from its body. I started checking the news, as was my habit, when I was called to an urgent meeting. The moment I arrived in the meeting room, I noticed the worried look on the faces of my colleagues, and my heartbeat grew faster; something was definitely wrong. It happens sometimes that despite sensing something, you are still not able to put a finger on what it is. At the meeting, Dr. Hamed, general director of PEN Afghanistan, informed us that the Taliban had arrived at the gates of Kabul city, and at any time now they could enter the city. He requested that we leave the office and go home. The city has not changed its golden yet gloomy outfit since that Sunday, the 15th of August *, the day that changed the lives of everyone in Afghanistan forever, the Sunday that left a massive scar in the hearts of millions of people. (Source: Penopp - Sweden)
by Suhrabie
* year 2021

Caribbean

Haiti
May 28, 2025  The Haitian government has hired American contractors and has signed in recent months a contract with Mr. Prince, who founded Blackwater Worldwide to work on a secret task force to deploy drones meant to kill gang members. The authorities have yet to announce the death or capture of a single high-value target. Prince, a private military contractor and prominent supporter of President Trump, is working with Haiti’s government to conduct lethal operations against gangs that are terrorizing the nation, killing civilians and seizing control of vast areas of territory and threatening to take over its capital. After the U.S. occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq ended, security firms like those owned by Mr. Prince started seeing big streams of revenues dry up. Blackwater no longer exists, but Mr. Prince owns other private military entities. Security experts said he has also been scouting Haitian American military veterans to hire to send to Port-au-Prince and is expected to send up to 150 mercenaries to Haiti over the summer. He recently shipped a large cache of weapons to the country. The full terms of the Haitian government’s arrangement with Mr. Prince, including how much it is paying him, are unknown. The State Department has provided millions of dollars in funding to equip and train Haiti’s National Police. It said it is not paying Mr. Prince or his company for any work in Haiti. Haiti’s crisis has deepened since its last president was assassinated in 2021. Armed groups escalated the violence last year by uniting and taking over prisons, burning down police stations and attacking hospitals. About one million people have been forced to flee their homes and hundreds of thousands are living in shelters. U.N. officials have warned that the capital is in danger of falling under complete criminal control. A $600 million international police mission started by the Biden administration and largely staffed by Kenyan police officers failed to receive adequate international personnel and money. Haiti’s undermanned and underequipped police force is struggling to contain the gang. Since drone attacks targeting gangs started in March, they have killed more than 200 people. Rampant government corruption is a key reason Haiti’s finances are in shambles. Haiti’s experience with private military contractors goes back decades. When U.S. forces returned former president Aristide to power in 1994 after he was ousted in a bloody military coup, he was accompanied by a private security team from the San Francisco-based Steele Foundation. Blackwater faced legal problems over its work for the U.S. military in places like Iraq, including an episode in 2007 in which its employees killed 17 civilians in Baghdad. (President Trump pardoned four Blackwater guards in 2020.) Prince, donated more than $250,000 to help elect Mr. Trump in 2016. In 2017, he proposed a plan to use contractors to take over Afghanistan. In 2020, The New York Times revealed that he had recruited former spies to help conservative activists infiltrate liberal groups in the United States. A year later, the United Nations accused him of violating an arms embargo in Libya, which he denied. In recent years, in Haiti Colombian mercenaries hired by an American security firm were accused of taking part in the 2021 assassination of the last elected president Moïse. U.S. military contractors doing defense work overseas are required to obtain a license from the State Department, but those licenses are not public record. Mr. Prince has been trying to expand his portfolio and has traveled overseas in search of new business, said McFate, a professor at the National Defense University and author of “The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order.” 'It’s always worth noting where Prince is going, because it’s sort of a barometer of where he thinks Trump world might end up, and he wants to make a buck from it,” Mr. McFate said. (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

North America

United States
May 28, 2025  America depends on ocean shipping. The U.S. needs ships to deliver nearly 90 percent of its armed forces’ supplies and equipment, including fuel, ammunition, and food. Commercial shipyard capacity is essential for surge construction of warships and sealift-support ships that transport equipment and troops in times of national emergency. Yet the U.S. has an astonishing lack of maritime capacity. Of the tens of thousands of large vessels that dot the oceans, a mere 0.13 percent are built in the United States. China fulfills roughly 60 percent of all new shipbuilding orders and has amassed more than 200 times America’s shipbuilding capacity. Most U.S. imports and exports travel on foreign-built ships, owned and crewed almost exclusively by nine giant carriers based in Europe and Asia. By the end of 2024, these carriers had organized into three cartels that controlled about 90 percent of the U.S. containerized-shipping trade. After a ship arrives at a U.S. port, the crane that lifts containers from its cargo hold will probably have been made by a single Chinese corporation that produces 80 percent of all ship-to-shore cranes in the United States. China also makes 86 percent of the truck chassis onto which containers are loaded. Some 95 percent of the containers themselves are built in China. In the early days of the pandemic, foreign cartels raised the cost of spot contracts on certain shipping lanes by up to 1,000 percent while making a record $190 billion in windfall profits. ’They also rejected hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of U.S. agricultural exports, preferring to race back to China with empty containers to fill with more profitable Chinese imports while American-grown food rotted on the docks’. Because so few commercial ships fly the American flag and employ American mariners, the U.S. faces a critical shortage of civilian sailors needed to crew Navy support vessels. In November 2024, the Navy confirmed that it would lay up 17 support vessels, some delivered as recently as January, because of crew shortages. More alarming are shortages of support ships themselves. The U.S. would need more than 100 fuel tankers in the event of a conflict in the Pacific. It has access to about 15. After World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, the United States was so reliant on European shipping, freight rates soared. Foreign lines increased the rate to charter a vessel or ship key goods by about 20 times. The United States was effectively cut off from the rest of the world. The domestic economy went into a recession as goods piled up on the docks and imports stopped arriving in American ports. Congress passed a series of bills that poured public funds into bolstering U.S. shipping and shipbuilding capacity. Extensive public investment led to the construction of more than 2,300 vessels for World War I and more than 5,500 vessels during World War II. The United States became the world’s preeminent shipbuilder. Congress created a new agency, the United States Shipping Board (later replaced by the Federal Maritime Commission), which was charged with regulating the industry like a public utility. During the 1980s, however, Congress and Reagan abandoned the regulated-competition approach. Reaganites argued that the FMC, which at the time had a budget of just $11.8 million, had become a bloated bureaucracy. Congress passed a series of bills during the Reagan and Clinton administrations that stripped the FMC’s ability to regulate ocean-carrier cartels. As the rise of containerization led to ever larger ships, fixed costs grew. This increased carriers’ incentives to fill empty space on ships, even at steep discounts, because at least they would lose less money than if the space were unsold. American-flag carriers, which had higher costs than foreign counterparts, were particularly hurt by the rate wars, especially after the Reagan administration withdrew subsidies that had helped U.S. carriers defray the costs of paying crews livable wages. Shipyards in Asia began to enjoy massive government subsidies. Shipbuilding all but disappeared in the United States. At a time of escalating tensions with China, the United States has virtually no surge capacity to build naval or sealift ships. In fact, China builds all the commercial ships that the U.S. government contracts to provide military support. The central problem is not just inadequate investment or insufficient tariffs. It is the abandonment of a system of regulated competition that structures the industry to meet public purposes. Carriers would be required to offer all shippers, big and small, similar prices and terms of service. Combined with robust public investment in shipping, shipbuilding, port services, and mariner training, this system would re-create the market rules once used to address the challenge of unregulated monopolies in ocean shipping. (Source: The Atlantic - U.S.)
by Rao, a transportation policy analyst at the Open Markets Institute.

Global

May 28, 2025  Nostalgia ruins economies. The profound economic disruptions of the last few months might push analysts to revisit the idea that nostalgia is a grave, even life-threatening condition. The most notable example came on April 2, 2025, when U.S. President Trump rolled out a suite of massive, ostensibly reciprocal tariffs designed to restore the glory days of American manufacturing - resulting in a market crash. Trump’s announcement prompted a great deal of intellectual, as well as economic, shock. But he is not the first world leader to try cutting off his country. From the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, China sealed up its empire out of fear of outside influence. Japan did the same for much of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, during its shogunate era. They were united by the belief that closing off the nation to preserve traditions would bring about economic and even spiritual health. Each of these cases ended poorly. Europe, unlike China and Japan, did not try to avoid economic development. European countries embraced new technologies that allowed them to build up powerful governments and militaries - with the purpose of building vast colonial empires. As the continent urbanized, many began to fret about the dwindling numbers of farmers and peasants, particularly during the Great Depression, which began in 1929. The widespread misery of that era made the old image of rural life appear more attractive than ever, resulting in specifically peasant political movements that promised a return to an idyllic, agrarian past. The rural ideal was strong enough that it formed a key component in building new coalitions of a populist right. In fact, farmers constituted such a large part of the electorate that these movements even acquired power within the center and the left. It was in Germany that the most striking - and devastating - use of agrarian romanticism occurred. The National Socialist Party rose to power in large part by capitalizing on agricultural depression, with the Nazis relying heavily on rural propaganda to win the votes of German farmers. We must recognize that without our own land, without our own peasantry, there can be no economic prosperity in Germany, that all notions of export and import and of the global economy are nothing to us but concepts that may be useful but can never replace our own living space and our own peasantry These are the foundation of every healthy economy, Hitler declared in one typical 1932 election speech. When he wooed rural audiences in the south of Germany, he even wore antiquated peasant dress, with traditional rural jackets and, sometimes, lederhosen. The principal architect of the Nazis’ rural political program was Darré, the author of the tract New Aristocracy of Blood and Soil, Darré had a reputation for being both a student of technical farm matters and a feverish proponent of German expansion, which he believed was necessary for Germans’ well-being. In his view, pure-blooded Germans should abandon the poisonous big industrial cities for a healthy life of the land. After being appointed minister for agriculture, Darré pushed for Germany to conquer territory so that the country’s city dwellers would have fields to plow and settle. But he was hardly the driving force behind Germany’s efforts to expand its borders. His efforts focused on creating a compulsory corporatist guild-style organization of farmers and pushed through a law prohibiting farms from being split up or sold by German peasants. But in reality, farmers continued to feel overburdened, abandoned by a government that wanted to industrialize quickly, largely for military reasons. The number of agrarian workers in Germany continued to drop. After Hitler became chancellor in 1933, the Nazi leader lost patience with rural policies - and with Darré - once he no longer needed peasant voters. By 1937, Hitler openly expressed his contempt for 'peasant philosophy stuff' and refused to receive Darré or entertain his requests. After 1939, his only response to farmer demands was to send forced laborers to work in their fields. The rural dream at the heart of German nostalgia ultimately ran counter to the Nazis’ drive to assert a racial hierarchy rooted in technology and industrialization. After World War II, 'Europeans' ’embarked on an alternative: encouraging a move out of the countryside while paying the remaining farmers substantial subsidies’ - ’more an effort to keep the dwindling losers of globalization on its side while still moving the economy forward’. In the 1980s, the Common Agricultural Policy (as it is called) accounted for over 70 percent of the European Community budget. Today, however, it consumes just over 25 percent of the EU’s budget. The continent’s people accepted that peasant life was firmly in the past rather than something that one could resuscitate at full capacity. Nostalgia now it has come roaring back into mainstream politics, again fueling European populism. This time, however, the nostalgic sentiment surrounds the loss of manufacturing. Italy, whose household appliances, textiles, and clothing trade were most vulnerable to the China shock, fell first, bringing about western Europe’s first postwar populist government by making Berlusconi prime minister in 1994. Now, even Europe’s industrial motor, Germany, is tottering as the populist Alternative for Germany grows in popularity, particularly in the eastern parts of the country most conspicuously left behind. But no country appears more afflicted by nostalgia than the United States. Anger about globalization and the country’s growing diversity is, after all, part of what propelled Trump to the White House. And especially since winning his second term, Trump has worked to make good on his atavistic promises. The president explicitly sold his sweeping tariffs as restorative. His commerce secretary, Lutnick, likewise depicted the tariffs as Washington seizing back its glorified past. China, Lutnick said, had created an “army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little, little screws to make iPhones” - jobs that would once have belonged to Americans. Now, he said, that kind of activity would return. Trump replaced most of his tariffs with a flat ten percent levy after the stock market tumbled. But no matter how high the rate, tariffs are unlikely to restore lost jobs, especially as the automation revolution looms. AI now threatens office workers in a way analogous to robots in factories during the first wave of industrialization during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As the world changes around voters, the familiar image of men working in the mines while their wives prepare meals at home is so comforting to many Americans that they are willing to make radical sacrifices to get it back. It is why U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent can argue that any tariff-induced pain is really a detox period, and why Trump can talk of tariffs as an operation and as medicine. The economics of nostalgia, its inevitable failure only breeds a cultural nostalgia that may be even more dangerous than the cutoffs. When the United States doesn’t get its jobs back - and in fact loses more as a result of the disruption caused by tariffs - Washington, might double down on assertions of American superiority. After all, someone must be to blame for the failure of economic policies that so many Americans endorse. Nostalgia, then, becomes both the cause of problems and a coverup for them. People are worried about the radically transformative technology of today. The twin forces of globalization and technology are upending jobs, communities, families, and social relations. The idea of going back to an airbrushed, idealized version of the world is thus highly attractive. As an individual feeling, it may be comforting. But as a policy prescription, it poisons discourse and breaks apart the body politic. Returning to an imaginary lost homeland is not an option. (Source: Forreign Affairs - U.S.)
by James, Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University, the author of Seven Crashes;
James, a visiting doctoral researcher at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, working on a Ph.D. on the history of nostalgia.

.5 5 31 17:57

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Europe

Poland
27/05/2025  The European Commission today permitted Poland to repurpose nearly €6 billion in post-COVID funds to finance defence projects, when the college of commissioners endorsed the Polish request by written procedure. 'Poland will be the first to invest billions from the National Recovery Plan in security and defence'. Warsaw was allocated nearly €60bn - of which 25.3 billion are grants - of the Commission's €650 billion plan Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) aimed at kickstarting COVID-stricken economies across the EU. Article 41 regulates the financing of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, which includes the Union’s defence policy. Paragraph 2 stipulates that expenditures resulting from measures with military or defence implications are expressly excluded from financing from the EU's budget. RRF support for the defence sector may include financing the expansion of industrial capacity, the technological development of defence products, as well as investments that serve both civilian and military purposes, such as transport infrastructure, the Commission spokesperson also said. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)

European Commission
27 May 2025  EU chief der Leyen denounced as ’abhorrent’ Israel's deadly wave of strikes on civilian facilities in Gaza including a school, during a call with Jordan's King Abdullah II yesterday. ’The expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza targeting civilian infrastructure, among them a school that served as a shelter for displaced Palestinian families, killing civilians, including children, is abhorrent,’ der Leyen said, according to an EU readout of the call, AFP reported. ’The European Commission has always supported - and will continue to support - Israel's right to security and self-defence," she said. ’But this escalation and disproportionate use of force against civilians cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law,’ der Leyen warned. The commission chief demanded that Israel immediately restore aid delivery in line with humanitarian principles, with the participation of the UN and other international humanitarian partners. The European Union has struggled to have an impact on the conflict due to long-standing divisions within the bloc between countries who back Israel and those considered more pro-Palestinian. The EU last week launched a review of its association agreement with Israel over alleged human rights abuses in Gaza, after 17 of its 27 member states backed the move. Germany will decide whether or not to approve new weapons shipments to Israel based on an assessment of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Foreign Minister Wadephul said in an interview published on Friday. Wadephul questioned whether Israel's actions in its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza were in line with international law. The comments build on a shifting tone from Berlin. "For me, there is no question that we have a special responsibility to stand by Israel's side," Wadephul said. "On the other hand, of course, this does not mean that a government can do whatever it wants," he said. Yesterday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said airstrikes on Gaza were no longer justified by the need to fight Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 assault on Israel killed some 1,200 people and triggered the war. (Source: Asharq Al Awsat – headquarters London, United Kingdom, owned by a member of Saudi royal family)

European Union
27.05.2025  EU affairs ministers gathered today in Brussels to hold a hearing on the state of democracy and the rule of law in Hungary. The Article 7 process against Hungary was launched in 2018 after the European Parliament called for action over 'alleged rule of law breaches', particularly concerning the judiciary and media freedom. Since then, EU ministers have held seven hearings and are now holding the eighth, but have not advanced to the second phase, which could lead to sanctions such as suspending Hungary’s voting rights. Sanctions require unanimous approval by member states, excluding the country concerned, while a formal reprimand needs backing from 80% of states. In the case of the recovery and resilience facility of Hungary, at this point in time, about €18 billion ($20 billion) is not available to Hungary. Hungary has repeatedly denounced the process as a political attack. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Russia
Tuesday, 27 May 2025  Russian forces have seized four border villages in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, just days after Russian President Putin stated he had ordered the establishment of a buffer zone along the border. Putin said he told the Russian military to create a security buffer zone along the border but provided no public details of where the proposed zone would be or how far it would stretch. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

United Kingdom
27.05.2025  The Arctic is becoming an increasingly contested area, as countries seek 'to exploit new reserves of gas, oil, and natural minerals' exposed by melting ice due to rising global temperatures, which are also opening previously inaccessible shipping routes. The UK today announced a new artificial intelligence-driven initiative to strengthen its monitoring capabilities in the Arctic, to detect ‘hostile state' activity. During his Arctic trip today, Foreign Secretary Lammy would unveil the new UK-Iceland scheme. He will become the first UK foreign secretary to visit one of the Arctic’s northernmost inhabited points when he travels to the Svalbard Archipelago. Lammy cited the crucial role of the 'Arctic' frontier for geopolitical competition and trade. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

North America

United States
May 27, 2025  Russia criticized the U.S. for its Golden Dome anti-missile system, announced recently by President Trump, saying it undermines strategic stability. Today morning, Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry told Washington to abandon the deployment of weapons in space. China also recently urged the U.S. to abandon its Golden Dome project. Golden Dome is partly in response to the growing threat of advanced Chinese and Russian missiles. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)

NATO

5/27/2025  In Northern Europe, the U.S. military is ’doubling down’. The high north and the Baltics have been thrust into the center of U.S. war planning, as their access to shipping routes, territory and energy reserves will be crucial to the West in a new era of geopolitical conflict. The region is hawkish on Russia. ’It is driving European efforts to rearm and boost defense budgets’. The Trump administration wants the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to get more lethal. ’A testing ground is Europe’s north’, where NATO faces Russia on two sides. A dozen U.S. Marines recently took position in a field on a Swedish island about 200 miles from the Russian city of Kaliningrad and fired their mobile rocket system. The dummy munitions splashed into the Baltic Sea. U.S. military commanders say their posture remains firm. From a U.S. Army perspective, my orders haven’t changed, said Brig. Gen. Saslav, deputy chief of staff for operations for U.S. Army Europe and Africa. ’I have been doing this too long to get hyperfocused on political winds and messaging that isn’t orders.’ During a three-week exercise, U.S. and U.K. forces joined Nordic and Baltic troops to practice potential war scenarios including live-fire drills, blood resupplies by drone and airborne jumps above the Arctic circle in Norway. ’The goal was twofold: deter Russian aggression’ and more firmly integrate allies in this strategic corner of Europe, including new NATO members Finland and Sweden now, how NATO has a continuous piece of territory north of the Arctic Circle. Finland shares an 800-mile border with Russia. Norway’s border with Russia is close to the Kola Peninsula, home to Moscow’s main submarine force, the Northern Fleet. ’The Nordic NATO enlargement has also made it easier for NATO to transfer reinforcements to the Baltic states in the event of a military crisis or conflict in that region’, said Atland, senior research fellow with the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, which advises Norway’s armed forces. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have long warned of Russia’s militaristic ambitions and provide sophisticated intelligence about their larger neighbor. It’s not about creating a club inside the club, it’s about making NATO stronger, said Edström, Swedish chief of defense staff. Gotland is among the most strategic locations in Northern Europe, allowing the deployment of sensors and long-range weapons systems to dominate air and sea operations in the Baltic region. Former Swedish defense chief Bydén last year said that Russian President Putin had both eyes on Gotland. As Russia’s maritime strategic locations in the Baltic Sea are very weak, ’any conflict’ will include Russia immediately seeking to occupy key port areas in the Baltics, Finland and Poland,” said Lundqvist, Sweden chair to the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies in Alaska. The key military strategic location of Gotland will most likely be the scene of hostile action ’in the opening stage of conflict’, he said. After being demilitarized for years, Gotland is at the heart of Swedish rearmament. ’In war’, the island can serve as a hub for NATO logistics and control of sea line communications, and to help build up offensive capabilities for deep strikes on enemy soil. Hundreds of conscripts arrive each year – ’an awkward fit among the residents, many of whom relocated here in recent years, attracted by Gotland’s natural serenity and medieval cobblestoned streets”, not expecting shooting ranges in their backyard. The ’projected wartime strength’ on the island is about 4,500 troops. To simulate the defense of Gotland, a U.K. pathfinder platoon last week carried out reconnaissance. Days later, 110 U.K. paratroopers dropped 1,000 feet from two A400M transport aircraft onto an open field before trekking through the night through woods to secure an aircraft-landing zone. In Lithuania, NATO forces simulated evacuations and treatment of casualties through three types of medical and evacuation systems, each of which belonged to different nations. Around midnight, a unit of U.S. Marines arrived nearby with a mobile rocket system, which can be deployed quickly in the event of war. Hours earlier, the Marines had been in Norway. After launching the dummy munitions - poles made of concrete - the Marines flew the system to Finland for a similar demonstration. The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or Himars, fires Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets, or GMLRS, with a range of about 45 miles, and longer-range Army Tactical Missile System known as ATACMS, which can shoot up to 186 miles. Ukraine has used the system to hit Russian logistics, tanks, bridges, infantry groups and ammunition depots. The American-led rocket launch on Gotland relied on complex, multinational communication involving sensors, command-and-control and airfields in several countries. (Source: MSN / The Wall Street Journal = U.S.)

5 5 31 00:18

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Európa      Europe

Magyarország
(2025. V. 26 / 2021) Támogatások: Nézd meg, hogy mi jár a családok tagjainak. (Forrás: Családbarát Magyarország Központ)

Hungary
26.05.2025 So many countries in the EU and centralized decision makers in the EU are not family friendly, Hungary’s culture and innovation minister Hankó said at the International Family Forum held in Istanbul today. He praised Turkish President Erdogan for his support of the traditional family model. Many policies introduced here in Türkiye were inspired by Hungarian examples, as Hungary is a family-friendly country with a family-friendly government. Our first goal is to protect the traditional family model, he said. Hankó highlighted that LGBTQ propaganda is forbidden in Hungarian schools or for those under 18, adding that the country brought forward debate on the issue with the European Commission. Hungary plans to significantly expand its pro-family policies in the coming year, allocating 5% of its GDP to support families and encourage higher birth rates, Hankó said. Providing financial assistance to families is a central part of Hungary’s strategy to address demographic challenges. Hungary will implement new tax reduction measures, with a key initiative being the exemption of nearly all mothers from paying personal income tax. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Germany
26.05.2025  ’There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine. Neither from the British, nor from the French, nor from us, nor from the Americans,’ German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at the WDR European Forum in Berlin, allowing Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia. This means that ’Ukraine can now also defend itself, for example by attacking military positions in Russia’, he said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

26.05.2025  German Chief of General Staff Gen. Breuer approved a report on May 19, which aims to make the German army more effective in air defense. The Bundeswehr ’will purchase integrated missile defense, short and medium-range air defense systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and weapons against drone swarms’. The German military also aims to expand and further develop modern air attack capabilities, including attack and defense capabilities in cyberspace. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

Israel
May 26, 2025  A dual U.S.-German citizen has been arrested on charges that he traveled to Israel and attempted to firebomb the branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, officials said yesterday. The man, Neumeyer, walked up to the embassy building on May 19 with a backpack containing Molotov cocktails but got into a confrontation with a guard. Law enforcement then tracked Neumeyer down to a hotel a few blocks away from the embassy and arrested him, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York. Neumeyer, 28, who is originally from Colorado, had traveled from the U.S. to Canada in early February and then arrived in Israel in late April. He had made a series of threatening social media posts before attempting the attack, prosecutors said. Israeli officials deported Neumeyer to New York Saturday and he had an initial court appearance before a federal judge in Brooklyn yesterday, the same day his criminal complaint was unsealed. (Source: NPR - U.S.)

North America

United States
May 26, 2025  'I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all. We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities," Trump said. Asked if he was considering more sanctions on Russia, Trump said, 'Absolutely.' Upon returning to Washington, Trump posted more comments on social media, saying of Putin, 'He has gone absolutely CRAZY!' Trump also criticized Zelenskyy, posting that he is 'doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don't like it, and it better stop." (Source: The Korea Herald - South Korea)

.5 5 30 00:13

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Europe

Russia
12:16, Sun, May 25, 2025  Ukraine launched repeated military drone attacks when Putin made a visit close to the war zone, Russian air force Major-General Dashkin said. „The air defence group in this area destroyed 46 aircraft-type [Ukrainian military drones].’ The region borders Ukraine. Major-General Dashkin said: "The intensity of the attack during the flight of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's aircraft over Kursk region increased significantly. We simultaneously conducted an air battle and ensured the safety of the presidential helicopter in the air. "The task was accomplished. The attack of the enemy drones was repelled, and all air targets were hit." A state TV host asked if this meant Putin’s helicopter was actually in the combat zone. Dashkin replied: "Yes, that's right." The claim of Ukrainian drones targeting Putin were made by Vesti Nedeli, a propaganda show on Kremlin-funded TV. His secret visit - which was not disclosed until it had ended - included a tour of Kursk Nuclear Power Plant-2, which is under construction in the Kursk region. (Source: Express – United Kingdom)

Ukraine
(May 25, 2025) A Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens. Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones. Sunday's targets included Kyiv and Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Ternopil, Zhytomyr regions. Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight. (Source: NPR - U.S.)

European Court of Human Rights
May 25, 2025  Denmark - which is set to take over the presidency of the European Union in July - and eight other countries blasted the European Court of Human Rights for imposing limits on deporting criminal migrants. Today Denmark published a letter demanding more leeway to expel immigrants who commit crimes. "Many have come here via legal pathways. They have learned our languages, believe in democracy, contribute to our societies and have decided to integrate themselves into our culture. Others have come and chosen not to integrate, isolating themselves in parallel societies and distancing themselves from our fundamental values of equality, democracy and freedom,’ the letter read. ’In particular, some have not contributed positively to the societies welcoming them and have chosen to commit crimes.’ The letter goes on to argue that the court's interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights has ’limited our ability to make political decisions in our own democracies,’ citing examples where the court has blocked the deportation of illegal immigrants. Denmark and the signatories request that the court make more room for European countries to deport illegal immigrants who commit violent or drug-related crimes, as well as allow for European governments to track illegal immigrants more closely. "We need to be able to take effective steps to counter hostile states that are trying to use our values and rights against us. For example, by instrumentalizing migrants at our borders,’ the letter adds. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

Asia

Afghanistan
(25 May 2025)  Repatriation of immigrants from Pakistan and Iran continue. At least 4,700 families were returned home over the past week - 3,130 families from Iran, and 1,560 families from Pakistan from May 15 to May 23, either forcibly or through so-called voluntary returns. The latest figures add to the fastest population movements Afghanistan has seen in recent years. In a recent report, the Norwegian Refugee Council said that since Pakistan began its deportation campaign in September 2023, more than one million Afghans have been expelled, with another 600,000 expected to be forced out in 2025. Iran has already returned over one million Afghans in 2024 alone. (Source: Amu Tv - U.S.)

Gaza
25.05.2025  An Israeli missile launched by Israel ’with advanced precision-targeting technology capable of identifying everyone inside a home’, struck where pediatrician Dr. Najjar’s 10 children and husband, Dr. Najjar, were staying in the Qizan Al-Najjar area in eastern Khan Younis. One child survived the brutal strike and is in critical condition in the ICU, alongside his father. The atrocity came three days after Feiglin, leader of the 'far-right' Israeli Zehut party, the former Knesset member from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, said: ’Every child, every baby in Gaza is an enemy.’ (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

.5 5 29 12:17

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United States
Aug 14, 2024  The 11th Airborne Division, also known as the “Arctic Angels,” stood up its Arctic Aviation Command at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, on Thursday. The move puts two active-duty aviation battalions under direct control of the command and the 11th Airborne. Previously, the command’s Alaska-based battalions reported to units based in Washington state and Hawaii. It comes as the United States military in general works to counter Russian presence and Chinese interest in the region. In 1961, the Army activated its first aviation battalion, which was stationed at Fort Wainwright. An aviation regiment and various other unit configurations maintained a presence in the state through the mid-2010s. During that period aviation fell under the Army Alaska Aviation Task Force, which was deactivated in 2018. The Army reflagged U.S. Army Alaska as the revived 11th Airborne Division in 2022. In February, more than 8,000 soldiers in Alaska conducted a large-scale exercise across the state. During the exercise, soldiers conducted a 150-mile Apache-led deep strike on a target and moved a multi-launcher rocket system more than 500 miles to a location above the Arctic Circle. “The Arctic is obviously a strategically important region in for the United States,” Col. Vanderlugt, recently appointed head of the aviation command said. By living in the region and running aviation operations on site, the colonel said battalion soldiers and crews can work in the extremes of an environment that challenges ground and air assets on a near-daily basis. The move follows the Pentagon’s release last month an update to the Defense Department’s Arctic strategy, the first since 2019. Deputy Defense Secretary Hicks said in July that an increased Arctic presence, upgrades to area installations and new equipment - including sensors and space-based technologies - would be crucial. (Source: Military Times)
by South, who was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. He is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.

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Europe

Belgium
Saturday, 24 May 2025  Princess Elisabeth, the heir to the Belgian throne, has been caught in the middle of US President Trump’s ban on foreign students attending the prestigious Harvard University. Princess Elisabeth has just completed her first year. The 23-year-old is studying public policy after graduating with her bachelor’s degree from Oxford University in England. Princess Elisabeth has returned home to Belgium for the summer. It remains to be seen if President Trump will grant an exception to a future head of state. (Source: Royal Central)

European Union
Saturday 24/05/2025  Israel can rely on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as loyal allies for historical and ideological reasons. Their closeness to Israel also stems from the fact that parts of their populations fled to Israel to escape the Holocaust and anti-Semitism that was rampant under communist rule. Another phenomenon is also growing in some countries: aversion to liberal democracy. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, and former Czech President Zeman all share the political views of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is particularly useful for Netanyahu to have a leader like Orbán who can try to block decisions made by Brussels. During Netanyahu's recent visit to Budapest, Hungary announced that it would withdraw from the International Criminal Court, against which an arrest warrant is in effect for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza. Another factor that strengthens support for Israel in Central and Eastern Europe is the narrative that Israel is on the front lines of the war against Islam, which allows local far-right movements to cover up their anti-Semitism. There is also a connection between politics and business. Slovakia last year became the first NATO member to buy the Israeli Barak MX air defense system for 560 million euros ($630 million). In 2023, Germany signed a deal with Israel to buy the Arrow-3 anti-missile shield for an estimated $3.5 billion. Poland is an exception in the region, as its position on the Gaza conflict is closer to that of Brussels. Poland has distanced itself from Israel on several occasions, including after the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in which 1,218 people were killed according to official figures. Warsaw, a staunch supporter of Kiev, is also outraged by Israel’s reluctance to provide military support to Ukraine and for not explicitly condemning the Kremlin. Although Poland previously supported Israel, it recognized the state of Palestine in a vote at the UN General Assembly in May 2024. In the same vote, the Czech Republic and Hungary voted against it, while Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Romania abstained. (Source: The Arab Weekly - 'sister publication of Al-Arab, owned by a Lybian family, put out by Al Arab Publishing House in London')

Russia
24.05.2025  Russian Defense Ministry claims settlement of Odradne in eastern Donetsk region went under control of its forces. The ministry added that yesterday night it carried out a coordinated group strike using precision-guided weapons and drones on facilities of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, producing missiles, attack drones, and also on the center for electronic intelligence and the position of a US-made Patriot air defense system. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

Gaza
May 24, 2025  The AP spoke with seven Palestinians who described being used as shields in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and with two members of Israel’s military who said they engaged in the practice, which is prohibited by international law. They told that Israeli troops are systematically forcing Palestinians to act as human shields in Gaza, sending them into buildings and tunnels to check for explosives or militants. According to some Palestinians, it’s also happening in the occupied West Bank where the army has intensified its operations. The practice is banned by international law. The Supreme Court outlawed the practice in 2005. The two Israeli soldiers who spoke to the AP - and a third who provided testimony to Breaking the Silence, a whistleblower group of former Israeli soldiers that collected testimonies about the practice from within the military - said it was referred to as the ’mosquito protocol’ and that Palestinians were also referred to as wasps and other dehumanizing terms. The practice sped up operations, saved ammunition, and spared combat dogs from injury or death. The Israeli military says it prohibits using civilians as shields and has long accused Hamas of using the practice. Convincing soldiers to operate lawfully when they see their enemy using questionable practices is difficult, said Schmitt, a distinguished professor of international law at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Israeli officials and other observers say Hamas uses civilians as shields as it embeds itself in communities, hiding fighters in hospitals and schools. (Source: AP - U.S.)

May 24, 2025  At least 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes across Gaza in a 24-hour period, Gaza’s health ministry said yesterday. The dead included 10 people in the southern city of Khan Younis, four in the central town of Deir Al Balah and nine in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north. Israel said it will continue to strike Hamas until all of the 58 Israeli hostages are released - fewer than half of whom are believed to be alive, according to Israel - and until Hamas disarms. .” (Source: Gulf Today - United Arab Emirates)

Nato

May 24, 2025  Europe needs a new Great Power, Nato is just a social club. Once very deserving yet utterly indefensible countries such as Estonia were included in Nato - along with Poland, which mustered just 42,000 combat soldiers out of its population of 33 million a mere three months before Putin’s full-scale invasion began - it stopped being an effective military alliance. Instead, it became a kind of social club. The Nato calendar is full of meetings at the “Supreme Allied Headquarters” in Mons in Belgium, where all manner of military and related issues are addressed often very professionally and quite freely - except that nobody is allowed to mention, however politely, even the most glaring military shortcomings of fellow allies, which undermine important war plans. The highpoint of the Nato calendar is the splendid summits with all flags flying, in which the arrival of new countries is greatly celebrated, regardless of their ability to actually defend themselves. Both heads of state and heads of government are invited to those gatherings on the premise that there is strength in numbers, with no concerns about the inherent difficulty of reaching any agreements in such a vast crowd. In the last summit, held in Washington DC in July 2024, Biden’s confusion of President Zelensky with Putin added a touch of humour to otherwise gloomy proceedings: nobody in attendance offered any suggestions on how to end the war in Ukraine. Tripartite agreement is clearly easier than contending with dozens of European Nato members, from Estonia to Norway to Spain. A simple decision by the British, French and German governments to operate a joint foreign and defence policy coordination office would be quite sufficient to announce the arrival of the Great Power missing from the European scene. It would only require the designation of very few senior diplomats and military officers of each country, seconded from their ordinary duties to serve as joint crisis managers. The one thing necessary to make it work is that these individuals would each need immediate access to their respective leaders in the event of a crisis, overcoming the inevitable resistance of all others who must be left out. The left-out European capitals still pretend to matter. Brussels, too, would be outraged, where for all her charms President Der Leyen cannot conceal the inability of the European Commission to help assure Europe’s safety from threats large or small. 'France, Germany and the United Kingdom now have a new opportunity to combine forces and endow Europe with the Great Power it urgently needs. If they do not act, more wars are likely’. (Source: UnHerd - United Kingdom)
by Professor Luttwak, a strategist and historian known for his works on grand strategy, geoeconomics, military history, and international relations.

.5 5 27 12:58

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Europe

Greece
13 Aug 2024  Greece battles wildfires near Athens. (Photo/ (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

Ukraine
August 13, 2024  Wealthy oligarchs, individuals like Lahun, instead of helping the country during the war, are increasingly hiding their wealth in the West and fleeing to Europe, avoiding justice. One of the co-founders of PrivatBank and a close associate of Kolomoyskyi, Boholyubov, over 60 years old and with more than three minor children, boarding the last compartment of a train to Poland with a fake passport, likely managed to avoid criminal prosecution in the near future. He arrived at the Kyiv railway station incognito, using his wife’s car - his wife being the former First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was facing multiple criminal investigations. On the train, he presented a lost passport belonging to a man from the Volyn region in western Ukraine, who resembled him. Boholyubov holds British citizenship and plans to live in Vienna, where his wife has recently been appointed as Ukraine’s representative to Vienna-based international organisations. Two countries - the United Kingdom and Austria - are now turning a blind eye to the illegal exit of this prominent Ukrainian figure, thus aiding his evasion of justice. He crossed the Polish border with the help of several border guards, one of whom is now in pre-trial detention for organising the VIP’s escape. Before this, former bankers like Zhevago, Firtash and Lahun, also escaped justice by crossing the western border. These are prime examples of people who should be returning their ill-gotten gains to their country during Russia’s full-scale invasion. The wealth taken from Ukraine by these fugitives allows them to live comfortably in Western Europe for years, in hospitable European capitals, such as London and Vienna, avoiding justice. They can afford expensive lawyers and delay extradition cases - if they even arise. Former owner of Finance and Credit Bank, Zhevago is accused in Ukraine of embezzling about 60 million euros from the bank and being involved in bribing the head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court. He is comfortably residing in France, owning a media business in Ukraine that lobbies his interests in government agencies and whitewashes his reputation with foreign investors. French courts have refused Ukraine’s request to extradite Zhevago. Gas oligarch Firtash has been awaiting justice from a U.S. court in Austria’s capital for nearly ten years. In Ukraine, he faces charges related to gas schemes that caused the state 40.5 million euros in damages and is on the National Security Council’s sanctions list. Austrian courts have protected Firtash from extradition to the United States, where Washington accuses him of misconduct in arms supply deals. Entrepreneur Lahun, the former owner of Delta Bank, fled to Austria in 2022 and now divides his time between Vienna and London. He is notorious for leading one of the largest private banks to bankruptcy - second only to the nationalised PrivatBank, owned by Kolomoyskyi and the aforementioned Boholyubov. Lahun and his top managers are accused of abuses, including funnelling funds through numerous offshore companies under his control, registering businesses in the names of relatives, issuing loans to affiliated parties, submitting fake reports to regulators, engaging in illegal transactions with government bonds and currency operations, and using fraudulent or significantly overvalued collateral to secure refinancing funds. Delta Bank was one of the key operators of the scandal-ridden Austrian Meinl Bank, which lost its license due to involvement in money laundering. Lahun’s schemes also included dozens of companies in the aggressor country, as revealed by an investigation by the private detective firm Kroll. According to Ukrainian media, Lahun has transferred a number of companies and real estate rental businesses in Austria - some of his assets - to a UK resident, Ukrainian lawyer Hutsalyuk. Through Hutsalyuk, Lahun’s other Russian connections, such as with the company Ruspolimet, are also traced. Another of Lahun’s lawyers, Tarasyuk, has become the owner of several of Lahun’s companies. Today, Tarasyuk is among the Delta Bank executives against whom the Deposit Guarantee Fund claims nearly 600 million euros. The total damage caused by Lahun’s activities exceeds 1.2 billion euros. Around 600 criminal cases were opened, but Lahun has consistently managed to avoid serious consequences. Delta Bank was removed from the market in 2015, but until 2022, Lahun freely travelled between Austria and Ukraine, with his assets neither frozen nor transferred to state management. Dozens of land plots and active finance, construction, and insurance enterprises continued to generate profits for him. It wasn’t until 2023, when Lahun decided to take drastic measures to avoid further prosecution. The former owner of Delta Bank with over 1.2 billion euros in debt to state entities initiated personal bankruptcy proceedings as an individual. For almost a year, the National Bank, state banks Ukreximbank and Oschadbank on one side, and Lahun and his lawyers on the other, are debating whether the ex-banker has the right to take this step. Lahun may soon initiate the debt cancellation process in court. He proposes writing off 80% of that amount and paying the remainder in ’instalments’ from his modest salary in Austria - where the ex-banker claims to earn about 2,900 euros monthly. He proposes allocating 1,700 euros from this sum to repay the debt. Once it is completed, Lahun, a quiet, law- abiding European resident, will be without worrying about an Interpol warrant or other legal actions from Ukrainian authorities. EU countries and the UK turn a blind eye to the fact that potential criminals are effectively hiding on their territory. Ukraine, in turn, could desperately use these funds ’to finance its military’, rebuild its economy, and ensure social stability. While giving military aid with one hand at the taxpayers’ expense, these same governments allow individuals like Lahun to hide sums in European jurisdictions that are potentially equivalent to the annual aid of small nations. (Source: EU Reporter, a Brussels-based news website publishing content relating to the European Union)

North America

United States
August 13, 2024  The U.S. has approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel, including scores of fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles, the State Department announced. The impending sale includes more than 50 F-15 fighter jets produced by Boeing, Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs, 120 mm tank ammunition and high explosive mortars and tactical vehicles. The jets comprise the biggest portion of the $20 billion in sales with the first deliveries expected in 2029. The contracts will also include upgrade kits for Israel to modify its existing fleet of two dozen F-15 fighter jets with new engines and radars, among other upgrades. Much of what is being sold is to help Israel increase its military capability in the long term, the earliest systems being delivered under the contract aren't expected until the 2026 timeframe. It comes at a time of intense concern that Israel may become involved in a wider Middle East war. The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives, the State Department said in a release on the sale. The Biden administration has had to balance its continued support for Israel with a growing number of calls from lawmakers and the U.S. public to curb military support there due to the high number of civilian deaths in Gaza. It has curbed one delivery of 2,000-pound weapons amid continued airstrikes by Israel in densely populated civilian areas in Gaza. (Source: VoA / Associated Press = U.S.)

Aug 13, 2024  Former US President Trump was interviewed by SpaceX and Tesla CEO Musk, which aired live on X and lasted for more than two hours. Trump claimed that US President Biden "might not have any IQ at all", and termed Vice President Harris his ’border czar’. The Republican presidential nominee, who has the endorsement of Musk, also praised the X owner for his cost-cutting measures at the social media company. During the chat, Musk pitched himself for a role in Trump's potential administration, which earned him praise from the former US President. (Source: India Today)

13.08.24  Harris is a radical left lunatic, more incompetent than Biden: Trump - who has 88.8 million followers on X - tells Musk. He accused Harris of having failed miserably on border security as hundreds and thousands of people entered the country illegally. (Source: The Telegraph  - India)

13 August 2024  In the eyes of voters, if there is anyone more incompetent than President Biden it is his VP, said the (Republican) pollster Johnson last September. She is faced by Trump, a bully, a loud-mouthed liar and a compulsive fantasist who is apparently unable to speak a single grammatically-correct sentence. But he did build a skyscraper in New York, which is nearly as difficult as getting a submarine into the nimbus. Viktor Orbán was probably right when he said that had Trump been President, Putin would never have sent his tanks into Ukraine because the Russian leader would have had absolutely no idea of how Trump in the White House would react. He knew full well what the Biden-Harris team would do to prevent it: exactly what they did on the Mexican Border. /Photo/ (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)
by Myers, an Irish journalist, author and broadcaster who has reported on the wars in Northern Ireland, where he worked throughout the 1970s, Beirut and Bosnia.

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Europe

Cyprus
12.08.2024  British amphibious assault ships have docked off the coast of Southern Cyprus, with over 1,000 commandos positioned at the UK's military base airport in Akrotiri. The number of foreign military forces increases amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced that the US will deploy additional military assets to the Middle East ahead of possible Iranian retaliation after the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Haniyeh on July 31, in Iran's capital, which Tehran blamed on Israel. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Georgia
August 12, 2024  Georgia must adapt its national security strategies to counter not only traditional aggression but also the ‘grey zone operations’ that threaten its sovereignty in what is a low-intensity, yet persistent, conflict. The purpose of ‘grey operations’ in a ‘low-intensity’ format is to disrupt the state resilience of the target country and deplete its resources. An aggressor employs a strategy that seeks to obtain a desired economic, military, diplomatic, and political outcome while avoiding a direct and costly response from the other side. The aggressor country may take care to maximise the diplomatic isolation of the target country from third countries and it is limiting the target country’s access to a promising market of the aggressor. At the national level, ‘low-intensity’ operations usually aim to encroach on Georgian air, maritime and economic space and will continue to do so in the future. A number of major projects, including the Middle Corridor and the Black Sea Electric Cable should give Georgia a unique role in the larger regional geo-economic structure, at least for several decades to come. (Source: Emeging Europe - Romania)
by Kipiani

North America

United States
12 August 2024  The US has sent a guided missile submarine to the Middle East. The Pentagon said Mr Austin had sent the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the region. The submarine can carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are used to strike land targets. Defence Secretary Austin also said an aircraft carrier which was already heading to the area would sail there more quickly. The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group is carrying F-35C fighter jets. The move comes in response to fears of a wider regional conflict, after the recent assassination of senior Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. It signals the US's determination to help defend Israel from any attack by Iran. Iran is being closely watched for any indication of how and when it might respond to the assassination of Hamas's top political leader Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July. The Iranians blamed Israel for the assassination. Israel has not commented but is widely believed to have been behind it. It remains unclear what Iran could be planning to do. The Hezbollah group, the Iranian-backed militia and political movement in Lebanon.has vowed to respond to the killing by Israel of senior commander Shukr, which happened just hours before Mr Haniyeh’s assassination, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. German airline Lufthansa said it was suspending flights to Tel Aviv in Israel, Lebanon's capital city Beirut, the Jordanian capital Amman, Erbil in Iraq, and the Iranian capital, Tehran, until 21 August based on its current security analysis. Swiss Air has also cancelled its flights scheduled to travel to Tel Aviv and Beirut over the same period. Air France extended its suspension of flights to Beirut. The Biden administration believes a ceasefire in Gaza that frees Israeli hostages would be the best way to calm tensions in the region, and has called for talks to resume. Finance minister Smotrich had urged Israel to reject the US push for ceasefire talks, saying it would be a surrender to Hamas. Meanwhile the leaders of the UK, France and Germany echoed calls for ceasefire talks to resume. We agree that there can be no further delay, said their statement. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

NATO

August 12, 2024  Three visions for NATO air and missile defense. At the recent 75th anniversary of NATO, the allies paid close attention to their air and missile defense capabilities. The allies now recognize their low capacity in low-altitude sensors and missile interceptors and are investing in their defense industrial base and in off-the-shelf technologies. The alliance has also expanded its focus from defeating enemy aircraft and cruise missiles to defending against a wider spectrum of threats, including ballistic missiles and small drones. Policymakers, scholars, and military officers continue to critique the broader framework in which allies research, develop, acquire, and deploy air and missile defenses on a largely ad hoc, country-first basis. The current federated approach prioritizes domestic politics and economic interests over allied cooperation and interoperability. NATO allies, they argue, should do more to integrate their air defenses into a stronger, collective architecture. 'The visions that emerge from these critiques and ensuing debates aspire for greater NATO involvement in allied air defense development and deployment plans, aim for Europe to expand air defense procurement of common systems to quickly boost defenses, create economies of scale, improve allied interoperability and predict that a federated approach to air defense will continue for years to come, but suggests that NATO can do more at the margins to encourage air and missile defense coordination. (Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies - U.S.)
by Shaikh, a fellow in the International Security Program and the deputy director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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Russia
(11  August 2024)  A fire broke out at a cooling tower of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, under the control of Russian forces. Moscow-installed officials said the blaze at a cooling tower had been completely extinguished. Russia and Ukraine trade blame for fire. /Video/ (Source: France 24)
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Europe

European Union
23/05/2025  US President Trump today threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on imports from the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025, lamenting that negotiations with the EU are going nowhere, accusing the 27-member trading bloc of stalling trade talks. Today early morning, Trump said the EU had been formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on trade and took a swipe at the difficult negotiations taking place. Stock futures on Wall Street fell on the news. The current US baseline is 10 percent levy against goods coming from the EU. The EU recently was threatening to hit US goods worth nearly 100 billion euros ($113 billion) with tariffs if the ongoing talks fail to lower levies on European goods. (Source: France 24 with AFP)

23.05.2025  Nine EU states called for a new and open-minded conversation about the interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly in terms of migration. "We have to restore the right balance," was stated in an open letter released by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office yesterday, signed by leaders from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic Denmark Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland. The letter urging a review of its application was made public following a meeting in Rome between Meloni and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, both of whom have taken a hardline approach to migration.(Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Europe
May 23, 2025  Fears for crops as drought hits northern Europe. Parts of northern Europe have seen their worst drought in decades in recent weeks. Countries including France, Belgium, Britain and Germany have seen much lower levels of rainfall than usual in some areas this spring, leaving the soil parched and dusty, with farmers from Scotland to the Netherlands fearing the dry spell will dent harvests if it continues. Water shortages can stunt the growth of crops such as wheat, corn, rapeseed and barley. The unusually dry weather has already delayed the life cycle of crops that would normally have sprouted by now. Britain suffers its driest spring in well over a century. According to the Environment Agency, levels in Britain’s reservoirs have fallen to exceptionally low. The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) in early May twarned that the previous three months had been exceptionally dry, with just 63 millimetres of rainfall. Since 1874, there have only been seven times when less rain fell during the period from February to April, it said. Denmark has also seen above-average temperatures for the time of year. The country’s drought index, which runs on a scale of one to 10, has been above nine since May 15, the first time this has happened so early in the year since the index was established in 2005. In France, air temperatures have been warmer than usual, meaning plants need more water from the soil. Groundwater levels remain satisfactory. Northern France has been on drought alert since Monday after seeing the same rainfall between February and early May as it would normally see in a month. Strong northeast winds have also dried out the soil, with farmers increasingly turning to irrigation. Water for irrigation is primarily obtained from surface water such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs or from groundwater using wells and aquifers. Until five years ago, irrigation was not even considered in the north  - these days it can as much as double crop production, but you need the resources to do it. From February 1 to April 13, Germany saw 40 litres of rainfall per square metre, the its lowest level since records began in 1931, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).  Germany’s environment minister warned in April of a high risk of forest fires and poor harvests due to a worrying lack of rain. In the Netherlands, it has not been this dry since records began in 1906. The Federation of Swedish Farmers said it was too early to say what the impact on farming will be this summer but advised farmers to go over their water planning. The dry spell in northern Europe contrasts with southern Europe, including Spain and Portugal, where rainfall has been up to twice the usual amount for the time of year. (Source: Macau Business - China / AFP - France)

Asia

South Korea
23.05.2025  An option being developed by the Pentagon is to pull out roughly 4,500 troops from South Korea and moving them to another location in the Indo-Pacific region, including its island territory of Guam, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. According to the report, the proposal has not yet been submitted to President Trump for approval. Some 28,500 US troops are currently stationed in South Korea. Last month, US Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Paparo Jr. opposed any troops withdrawal from South Korea and warned it would jeopardize their ability to prevail against North Korea, and in other possible conflicts against China and Russia. An unnamed Pentagon spokesperson told the agency that there is currently no policy announcement to make regarding any potential US troop reduction in the region. South Korea's Defense Ministry today also said there is no discussion held between Seoul and Washington over any possible withdrawal of troops. (Source: Anadolu Agency -Turkey)

North America

United States
May 23rd, 2025  Vice President Vance gave the commencement address at the Naval Academy’s graduation ceremony in Annapolis today. Vance declared the era of uncontested US dominance is over * while urging the U.S. to look inward in order to dominate globally. He declared a generational shift in foreign policy away from the U.S. ’meddling’ in other countries. Vance praised President Trump’s recent trip to the Middle East and said it signified the end of a decades-long approach to foreign policy that was a break from the precedent set by founding fathers. 'We had a long experiment in our foreign policy that traded national defense and the maintenance of our alliances for nation-building and meddling in foreign countries’ affairs,' he added. Even when those foreign countries had very little to do with poor American interests. „Our leaders traded hard power for soft power. We stopped making things: everything from cars to computers to the weapons of war, like the ships that guard our waters and the weapons that you will use in the future,’ he continued. “Too many of us believed that economic integration would naturally lead to peace by making countries like the People’s Republic of China more like the United States. What we’re seeing from President Trump is a generational shift in policy. The Trump administration has reversed course. No more undefined missions. No more open-ended conflicts. Returning to a strategy grounded in realism and protecting core national interests. Vance  argued that policy failed and warned that China and Russia are now working to surpass U.S. power globally. (Source: Mediaite - U.S.)
* See also: VP Vance delivers Naval academy commencement speech /Video/ (Source: YouTube - U.S.)
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Europe

Hungary
22/05/2025  Turkish President Erdogan and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán yesterday discussed bilateral relations, as well as regional and global issues. Erdogan met with Orbán during a visit to Budapest for an informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States. Erdogan arrived yesterday in the capital, to attend the informal summit. During the meeting, President Erdogan stated that Türkiye and Hungary share deep-rooted ties and that they will continue to take steps to enhance cooperation in all areas. He said hosting the Organization of Turkic States Summit in Hungary, which is an observer member, demonstrates the organization's importance to Budapest. He also underlined that Hungary adds strength to the Organization of Turkic States. Emphasizing that reviving Türkiye's EU accession process is also in the interest of Europe, President Erdogan added that Türkiye can contribute to the EU in many areas, particularly in the field of security. The president emphasized Türkiye's efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine with fair and lasting peace, as well as the urgent need for a ceasefire and the immediate start of peace talks. Accompanying Erdogan on the trip are first lady Erdogan, Communications Director Altun, and Cagatay Kilic, chief presidential adviser on foreign policy and security. Türkiye, alongside Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, is a member state of the OTS, while Hungary, along with Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, are observer states. (Source: Yeni Şafak / AA = Turkey)

Romania
22.05.2025  The ninth Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum started today in Bucharest, bringing together nearly 200 officials, diplomats, military personnel, and analysts to discuss regional security challenges. The two-day event is organized by the Romanian think tank New Strategy Center, in partnership with Romania's National Defense Ministry. The Romanian Foreign Ministry serves as an institutional partner, while Bucharest’s University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine are the academic partners. With 50 panels featuring 198 speakers from EU and NATO member states and partnering countries, the forum’s key themes include the transatlantic relationship and US military presence recalibration in Europe, prospects for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and Moldova's EU integration - issues affecting the extended Black Sea and Balkans region. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

European Commission
22.05.2025  EU launches nearly $170B defense industry loan plan. EU member states have agreed to establish a €150 billion (nearly $170 billion) Defense Industrial Readiness Loan Instrument (SAFE) to boost the bloc’s defense sector. Kyiv gains access to EU supply chains, Ukraine is formally recognized as a partner country, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said on X yesterday. 'The decision would help integrate Ukraine into the EU’s joint defense procurement efforts’ and ’open opportunities for Ukrainian firms within European supply chains’, he said, thanking European Commission President Der Leyen, as well as Poland and other EU partners for their continued support. The European Commission has not yet publicly commented on the timeline for the instrument’s implementation. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

European Parliament
(Thursday), 22/05/2025  A group of MEPs has called on the European Commission to immediately suspending all EU funding for Hungary ’in line with the applicable legislation to protect the Union’s financial interest’. The letter, signed by 26 MEPs from five different political groups published on Tuesday, was addressed to European Commissioner for Budget Serafin and Commissioner for Democracy and Justice McGrath. It recalls that the Commission is currently withholding €18 billion from Hungary through various mechanisms triggered in December 2022. ’Regrettably, since the decisions in December 2022, Hungary has not only failed to make meaningful progress toward meeting the stipulated conditions and/or milestones but has instead witnessed further alarming regressions,’ the letter said. The letter cites four key issues, including direct government interference in the work of the Hungarian Integrity Authority, undermining the independence of the judiciary, resulting in a protest of the Hungarian Judges' Association, banning the Pride march in Budapest, and the approval of the "Defence of Sovereignty law". The letter recalls that this law, adopted in 2023, enables the investigation of the usage of foreign funds to influence voters. In addition to that law, the Hungarian parliament is currently debating a draft law that could see foreign-funded media and NGOs listed and fined. The signatories of the letter include lawmakers from the EPP group, S&D, Greens/EFA, Renew, and the Left. Some ’key MEPs’: Hohlmeier and Germain, co- rapporteurs on rule of law conditionality, Freund, the co-chair of the anti-corruption intergroup, Körner, a rule of law conditionality shadow rapporteur with the budget committee, Strik, a rapporteur on Hungary and Herbst, the chair of the Parliament's budgetary control committee.’ ’We therefore consider a freezing of all funds proportionate to the risk posed to the Union’s financial interests,’ the MEPs wrote. ’Yesterday's meeting of the College of Commissioners included consideration of the role of conditionality and respect for the rule of law in that regard’. ’The Commission is considering its approach to the next Multiannual Financial Framework, and we had a further discussion on this matter’ in his reply Commissioner McGrath said. Maintaining sovereignty and limiting foreign interference in Hungarian politics was a matter of national interest, members of Hungary's ruling Fidesz party said in the European Parliament debate. Hungarian MEP Dömötör accused Brussels of financing a network of leftist activists to intervene in politics. "Whatever you say, what we have here has nothing to do with civil society. The civil society organises itself from the ground, but those activists were financed by the grand coalition from here, or with the aid of the Open Society or the USAID,' Dömötör said. The new transparency law in Hungary might be approved by the Hungarian parliament in the coming weeks. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
by ’Zsiros

(22 May 2025)  MEPs backed increased tariffs on fertilisers and certain Russian and Belarusian agricultural goods today, ’seeking to reduce EU dependency’ on those imports. Products to be hit by the new tariffs include sugar, vinegar, flour and animal feed. The text also provides for a 6.5% tariff on ’fertilisers’ imported from Russia and Belarus, plus duties of between €40 and €45 per tonne for the 2025-2026 period. ’These tariffs will rise to €430 per tonne by 2028. Income from the sale of Russian and Belarussian fertilisers is considered to be contributing directly to the war against Ukraine’. The Commission presented its proposal to impose tariffs on fertilisers and certain agricultural products originating in Russia and Belarus, on 28 January 2025. The regulation was adopted by 411 votes in favour and 100 against, with 78 abstentions. ’It is not acceptable that three years after Russia launched its full-scale war, the EU is still buying critical products in large volumes, in fact, these imports have risen significantly, the standing rapporteur for Russia Vaidere (EPP, LV) said’. The regulation must now be adopted formally by the Council. (Source: European Parliament - official seat Strasbourg, France)

Asia

China
19 May 2025  China is preparing to launch a new drone-carrying mothership capable of releasing 100 kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the same time. Developed by Shaanxi Unmanned Equipment Technology, the Jiu Tan, which means “high sky”, is a high-altitude long-range UAV that can transport weapons and equipment. It was first unveiled at the Zhuhai air show, the largest in the country, in November. The fourth prototype will set off on its maiden flight next month. The vehicle has a 25-metre wingspan and can fly for 12 hours, with a maximum range of 7,000 kilometres. It has a take-off weight of 16 tons and a transporting capacity of six tons, which could be used to carry anything from surveillance technology to ammunition. The aircraft can also carry cruise missiles and medium-range air-to-air missiles, such as the PL-12E. Its ability to reach high altitudes means it would be harder to detect from ground-based radar systems and could fly above many of the defence systems operational around the world. China already has a large drone capacity. Earlier this year, it tested the TP1000, the first unmanned transport aircraft capable of carrying more than a ton of goods. The country has also previously operated long-endurance drones, such as the WZ-7 drone and the TB-001 Scorpion drone, around contested islands in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Experts have said that the drone-carrying mothership will be a probable competitor to two American carriers, the RQ-4 Global Hawk and the MQ-9 Reaper. Neither the RQ-4 nor the MQ-9 are capable of the swarm strikes. (Source: The Telegraph - United Kingdom)

Gaza
May 22, 2025  “No one in the world will allow us to starve two million people,” said Israeli finance minister Smotrich last year. But 70 days ago, Israel imposed a total blockade on the Gaza strip, testing the world’s tolerance for man-made starvation. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reluctantly allowed 100 trucks carrying aid into Gaza this week, Right-wing members of the Knesset were furious. The weaponisation of food in counter-insurgency is nothing new. The British counter-insurgency in Malaya in the Fifties is often cited as a textbook hearts and minds programme. The army also targeted Malayan stomachs. In 1951, Sir Briggs, director of Britain’s anti-bandit activities in the colony, launched ’Operation Starvation’. He ordered food denial operations to shut down farming and trade in the countryside where the Communist guerrillas roamed. Rural people were relocated to ’protected villages’ where all food supplies were rigorously monitored. As a metric of success, they counted the number of Communist guerrillas who surrendered, citing hunger as a reason. Food weaponisation is effective when two conditions are met. It’s important to prevent reports of famine - which are politically embarrassing, and there must be a big enough political carrot alongside the stick of hunger. Britain promised that when the Communist threat receded, Malaysia would become independent. Israel is doing something that has never been done before - bringing the weaponisation of food into the digital age and the Israeli strategy has evolved. It began, in a crude manner, the day after Hamas’s massacre of Israelis on 7 October 2023, with the imposition of a total blockade on the Gaza Strip. As Israel controls all the entry points, and local farm production is very small, the blockade quickly caused widespread hunger. The situation was made swiftly worse by an intense bombing campaign, which destroyed essential infrastructure, and the forced relocation of the Palestinian population to what were euphemistically called humanitarian zones. By the time of the short-lived ceasefire seven weeks later, when Hamas released a first batch of hostages and humanitarian aid was allowed in, most of the population were hungry. Since then, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system - that measures the distress of an afflicted population on a five-point scale with catastrophe and famine as its worst categories - has made assessments every few months, five in total. Three times Gaza has teetered on the brink of the IPC’s famine threshold, and Israel has opened the aid tap. Israel wants to deprive Hamas of all possible resources. It’s also likely that Israel wants desperate Gazans to blame Hamas for their plight and turn against them. Gazans had a brief respite with the ceasefire in January this year. The situation sharply deteriorated after Israel imposed a total blockade on 2 March and resumed its military actions on 19 March. Food stocks are running out. The statistics published by the UN’s IPC earlier this month showed a population once again on the brink of famine. Fully 93% of the population were in ’crisis’ levels of food insecurity, with 244,000 of the 2.1 million people of the Gaza Strip classified as suffering catastrophic lack of food. Adults are going hungry to provide what little food they have for children. The IPC have no data for the numbers who have perished from hunger, disease, exposure and exhaustion - possibly because mass death from starvation hasn’t yet arrived, but perhaps because Gaza’s deeply conservative society doesn’t report hunger deaths to the authorities and simply buries the dead quietly with only private grief. But this time Israel hasn’t responded by opening the regular, UN-based aid tap. Israel argues that this week’s relief supplies, provided by the United Nations and international organisations will fall into the hands of Hamas. A planned US-Israeli aid mechanism, called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), aims to use a small number of aid distribution sites, strictly controlling access. They will be run by private military contractors. In phase one it will have just four. (The UN and voluntary agencies had 400). The technology uses individual surveillance and ration minimisation. Pre-identified Gazans will be notified that they can go to one of these centres to collect a week’s worth of rations (including food, sanitary kits, and medical supplies) for their families at a specified time. Biometric screening will ensure that the correct person gets the ration. The target is 300 meals over 90 days (an average of 1.6 meals per person per day) with a ration of 1,700 kilocalories per day. This is less than the 2,100 Kcal/day recommended humanitarian ration used by the UN but more than the 1,560 Kcal/day fed in the Forties to the volunteers of the ’Minnesota Experiment’, which examined the effects of starvation on the human body. The IDF uses an algorithm known as Lavender for selecting Hamas suspects, based on individual profiles and electronically tracked behavioural traits. It’s a method for targeting assassination. That system can also generate a list of people who are not affiliated with Hamas - who can be targeted with food. If the ration is just enough to feed a family for a week, it’s fair to assume that the chances of food falling into Hamas’s hands are very low. Hamas operatives will go hungry; innocent civilians will be fed. It is a hybrid of Operation Starvation and surveillance humanitarianism. The recent IPC report outlines two scenarios. One is a continued blockade and ongoing war. The arithmetic of food availability is simple: mass starvation within weeks. The second scenario requires the GHF. In the unlikely event that it works it will slow starvation but won’t stop it. The quantities just aren’t sufficient and not in enough places. There’s no provision for specialised feeding for malnourished young children, which requires skilled staff and special foodstuffs. There’s no plan for clean water and electricity. A family member can not carry enough water even for a single day. The biggest problem is that counter-insurgency only works if there’s a political endgame. Hamas may be destroyed, but there’s no sign that the Palestinians of Gaza will abandon their land or submit quietly to Israeli occupation. They may turn on Hamas, accusing it of crimes and blunders, but that doesn’t exonerate Israel. And if protracted, intimate humiliation of surveillance humanitarianism in the ruins of their homes becomes the future. Not only will Palestinian society in Gaza become dismembered, but Israel itself will forever be tarred by the inhumanity it is inflicting. (Source: Unherd - United Kingdom)
by de Waal, an expert on famine, Sudan and the Horn of Africa.

Pakistan
May 22, 2025  India blocks Neelum River flow to Pakistan, restricting the flow of water from the Kishanganga Dam into the Neelum River, affecting the livelihoods of thousands of Pakistanis who depend on the river for agriculture and daily necessities. India’s unilateral decision comes following New Delhi’s suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, a key agreement governing the sharing of water between the two sides. The use of water as a political weapon violates international law, threatens regional peace and stability - 'tactics aimed at destabilizing Pakistan through resource depletion, pushing the region closer to an environmental and humanitarian crisis’. (Source: Ausaf - an international Urdu daily newspaper. Headquarters Islamabad, Pakistan)

North America

Canada
22.05.2025  Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed yesterday that Canada is in high-level talks with US President Trump’s administration about joining the proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system aimed at strengthening North American security. Carney declined to specify how much the country might contribute financially. Trump earlier this week claimed that Canada had reached out to express interest in the US-led defense shield and that his administration would work to ensure that Ottawa pays its fair share. Carney confirmed that he discussed the project directly with Trump and that Canadian and American military officials have explored missile defense cooperation for years, the military decision will be evaluated accordingly, citing threats from North Korea, Russia and China - and “even outer space in a not-too-distant future.’ (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

United States
May 22, 2025 9:17pm EDT Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed leaving the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. late yesterday. Lischinsky and Milgrim were shot while leaving a Jewish event, after which the suspected shooter, identified as 31-year-old Rodriguez from Chicago, yelled, Free, free Palestine! and security officers apprehended him. Israeli ambassador to the United States Leiter connects embassy staffers' slaying to 'very important' larger issue both in America and on the global stage: "The big picture is very important for us to understand," the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. said. ' ‘Free, free Palestine’ is part of the chant that was heard across universities all across the country, and it included the chant, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ which is basically an eliminationist demand for the elimination of Israel. That's what's going on. Hamas tried to do on October 7. ' Leiter argued that Rodriguez's use of the Free, free Palestine! chant shows he allegedly believed ’he's going to implement it, the eliminationist policy regarding Israel, by shooting Jews here in Washington.’ Pro-Palestinian sentiment has grown in the United States, as a result of the ongoing war in Israel instigated by the Oct. 7 attacks. The shooting comes as tensions over Israel’s operations in the Gaza Strip have drastically escalated this week amid growing humanitarian concerns. While the Trump administration has been cracking down on antisemitism, particularly on college campuses, Leiter criticized world leaders for fueling anti Israel sentiment. ’If we're talking about the big picture, the outrage here is that we have international leaders like the president of France, Macron, who's trying to press for an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, as if the response to October 7 should be to call it Palestine Liberation Day,’ Leiter told. ’So he's fueling these chants of the likes of this Rodriguez.’ The crime will be investigated as a hate crime and act of terrorism. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

Published: 12:36 BST, 22 May 2025  Updated:19:42 BST, 22 May 2025  A man suspected of shooting dead a young Israeli diplomat couple is expected to be hauled in front of a judge today afternoon to face the music after approaching a group of four people and allegedly opening fire outside the Capital Jewish Museum yesterday night. Rodrigues, 30, allegedly shot Lischinsky and his girlfriend Milgrim as they left a Young Diplomats event at the museum in the heart of Washington D.C. Two people were stood by the couple when they were shot at close range last night. An Israeli official told they were young American women, also Israeli embassy staffers. Neither was injured in the shooting, and they have not been publicly identified. Israeli Foreign Minister Saar identified the DC shooting victims. Milgrim earned a master’s degree in international studies from American University. Lischinsky was actually just starting his new career as a diplomat after studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Sarah’s mother Nancy said her phone rang, and when she picked up it was Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Leiter, on the other line who said about the shooting. Sarah's father Robert added that Leiter pointed to rising anti-Semitism in the US following the October 7 attacks on Israel. 'What went through my mind is, I feel the antisemitism that has surfaced since Oct. 7 and also since the election of President Trump,' Milgrim’s father Robert said. The family of Sarah heartbreakingly revealed they did not know she was set to get engaged until officials said she was after yesterday's shocking murders. Lischinsky held a German passport, he was a duel German-Israeli national. Lischinsky became an Israeli after moving from Germany to study in the Middle East. 'He is the best that Israel can offer’, Otmazgin, the Dean of Humanities at the university said.' Lischinsky had purchased an engagement ring earlier this week 'with the intention of proposing next week in Jerusalem,' Israeli ambassador to the United States Leiter revealed. Hours before shooting, Rodriguez allegedly posted a manifesto online calling for 'armed demonstration' as a response to the 'genocide' in Gaza, Metropolitan Police Chief Smith said. Suspected gunman Rodriguez was quoted as a member of the Party for Socialism, a pro-Palestinian activist who has been unmasked as radical, far left wing activist. He holds a B.A in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago. At Rodriguez’s first federal court appearance in Washington DC expected to be given a closed-door hearing, he is not expected to be seen by the public as federal prosecutors hide him from the cameras. His exact charges have not yet been announced. White House Press Secretary Leavitt touted the Trump administration's efforts to root out antisemitism across the US. Leavitt said President Trump was'saddened and outraged by the fatal shootings of two young Israeli embassy staffers. As she responded yesterday’s shooting in Washington DC, Leavitt said hatred has no place in the United States of America under Trump', and said the administration would be stepping up its policies to crack down on antisemitism.' She pointed to actions such as withholding federal funds from universities that fail to crack down on pro-Palestine demonstrations, and the revocation of thousands of student visas involved in such protests. 'So, the president’s made it very clear that such hatred will have no place in our country,' she said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump expressed his deep sorrow over the tragedy. The Israeli leader's office said he also thanked Trump for his efforts to fight antisemitism in the United States. Israeli Ambassador to the US Leiter added to reporters at the scene of the shooting that Trump reaffirmed his commitment to uproot the violent antisemitism that has swept across university campuses in this country. Israeli PM Netanyahu has announced increased security measures at Israeli diplomatic missions worldwide in order to protect state representatives. New York City Mayor Adams said he is re-inforcing police protextions at Israeli diplomatic buildings and Jewish institutions across the Big Apple. The Capital Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. received a little over $30,000 security grant from the DC government days before yesterday's shooting after voicing concerns for its safety not only because it is a Jewish organization but also due to a new LGBTQ exhibit it was displaying, per NBC Washington. FBI Deputy Director Bongino, updated investigation ”in the interest of transparency”, ’the charges being aggressively pursued’. The bureau is aware of alleged shooter Rodriguez's social media posts of an apparent manifesto, and ’we hope to have updates as to the authenticity very soon’, Bongino said. He did not offer details on Rodriguez’s interrogation. The double slaying of two Israeli embassy staffers yesterday came as Israel has launched a new campaign targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip that has set tensions aflame across the wider Middle East, rising global protests over Israel's treatment of civilians in Gaza. Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza has killed more than 53,000 people, according to local health authorities, whose count doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians. The fighting has displaced 90% of the territory’s roughly 2 million population, sparked a hunger crisis and obliterated vast swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape. Aid groups ran out of food to distribute weeks ago, and most of the population of around 2.3 million relies on communal kitchens whose supplies are nearly depleted. Fry, the neighbor of suspected gunman held a sign reading 'Ceasefire Now - No More Deaths', as he faced questions from reporters. 'You don't stop war with guns and bombs,' he said. An unidentified person was shot and wounded outside CIA property in McLean, Virginia around 4am, just hours after two Israeli embassy workers were shot dead eight miles from the CIA shooting. There is currently no indication from law enforcement that the two incidents are linked. /Photo, video/ (Source: Daily Mail - United Kingdom)

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Europe

France
(21 May 2025) Islamists are infiltrating France's republican institutions and are a threat to national cohesion, according to a report drawn up by two senior civil servants, presented to President Macron today. The report claims to find evidence for a policy of ’entryism’ by the Muslim Brotherhood into public bodies like schools and local government. Macron asked the government to come up with ’new proposals’ by early next month. While separatism implied Muslims living in a parallel society in France, ’entryism means getting involved in republican infrastructure… in order to change it from the inside. It requires dissimulation… and it works from the bottom up. A copy of the report was published in Le Figaro newspaper. The authors identified the Federation of Muslims of France (FMF) as the main emanation of the historic Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded 100 years ago to promote a return to core Islamic values. They said the FMF controlled 139 places of worship in France, with a further 68 affiliated – in all around 7% of the total. The organisation also ran some 280 associations, in sports, education, charity and other fields, as well as 21 schools. The aim of the movement was to set up ecosystems ’at local level to structure the lives of Muslims from birth till death’. The veil, beards, dress, fasting - are gradually imposed as the ecosystem solidifies, the authors write. Religious practice become stricter, young girls wearing Islamic headscarves. Some are as young as five or six. The Federation angrily rejected any allegation that associates them with a foreign political programme, or with a strategy of 'entryism'. Behind these unfounded accusations there is a plan to stigmatise Islam and Muslims, the FMF said. The report has been seized on by proponents of a strict enforcement of France's secular laws, which are meant to exclude all religion from public life. Interior minister Retailleau, who on Sunday was elected leader of the conservative Les Républicains party, warned yesterday of ’below-the-radar Islamism trying to infiltrate institutions, whose ultimate aim is to tip the whole of French society under sharia law’. Retailleau has won a reputation as a hardliner. He aid he is concerned about the possibility of Islamic lists of candidates. ’Far-left’ leader Mélenchon warned that Islamophobia has crossed a line, accusing the president's security cabinet of adopting the "delusional theories" of both Retailleau and ’far-right’ National Rally leader Le Pen. The report's authors visited 10 different regions of France and four other European countries. They concluded that the Muslim Brotherhood was losing influence in the Middle East and North Africa, and so was targeting Europe, backed by money from Turkey and Qatar. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Romania
21 May 2025 Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) leader Simion, runner-up in Romania’s May 18 presidential elections asked the country’s Constitutional Court (CCR) to annul the recent Romanian elections, accusing France and Moldova of engaging in foreign interference. „We will challenge the election of Dan at the CCR for exactly the same reasons why they annulled the December 6 elections”: external interferences by state and non-state actors, said Simion. Paid influencers were bought to show their support for Dan with amounts between €200,000 and €300,000, he added. On May 18, Durov, owner of social media app Telegram, fed the dispute by sharing on his personal channel he had been pressured by the French government to influence the election outcome in Romania. Last summer, Durov was arrested in France. On May 19, Durov opened up about the arrest, saying, “French foreign intelligence confirmed they met with me -  allegedly to fight terrorism and child porn. In reality, child porn was never even mentioned. They did want IPs of terror suspects in France, but their main focus was always geopolitics: Romania, Moldova, Ukraine.” After Simion announced his move to annul the Romanian elections, Durov reacted he was ready to come and testify about the subject. Simion had said he wanted Durov to testify about everything in front of a Romanian court. France categorically rejects these allegations and calls on everyone to exercise responsibility and respect for Romanian democracy, France Diplomacy said on X. France has been remarkably involved with the elections in Romania. Former vice-president of the European Commission Breton had said Romania was justified in annulling its presidential election due to alleged Russian interference. He added “we’ Europeans should be willing to do something similar in Germany if similar interference occurs, something for which US Vice President Vance later criticised him. One week after the elections, Renew Europe President Hayer, a close ally of Macron, told French TV station Franceinfo she would ’do everything on the ground’ to ensure that Romania’s next president was pro-European. This caused opponents to accuse her of foreign interference. Cenușa, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and expert on Eastern European politics, said on X Simion’s likely goal is to weaken the legitimacy of President-elect Dan. A discredited presidential mandate could make it difficult for Dan to cohabit with the existing governing coalition, leading to early elections that would benefit Simion-AUR, said Cenușa. In the repeat presidential election, “fundamental freedoms of assembly and association were respected”, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said in its report. ’However, defamatory rhetoric, biased media, and persistent inauthentic behaviour online, alongside regulatory gaps and fragmented responses by institutions, limited voters’ opportunity to make an informed choice and impacted public trust’, said the OSCE. „Technical preparations for the second round were professional and efficient, despite a continued lack of transparency in the work of the election administration,’ their observation mission found. ’The rules on campaigning, campaign financing, and media coverage are ambiguous or lack sufficient detail, sometimes leading to inconsistent interpretation by political parties and candidates as well as a lack of oversight and transparency,’ it said. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

European Council
21.05.2025  ’EU countries have agreed on a €150 billion ($170 billion) loan plan to boost defense spending’ through 2030, including joint projects, new procurement, and restocking. New plan seeks to strengthen joint European defense procurement, restock military supplies, and expand capacity of Europe's defense industry. ’The more we invest in equipping our armies, the better we will deter those who wish us harm,’ Poland, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said on X. Amid the new US administration's pressure for NATO allies – most of them also members of the EU – to boost defense investments, the EU began seeking new defense strategies. As part of these efforts, The European Commission unveiled a new White Paper strategy in March aiming to boost military spending and production by 2030. ’A key component, the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument, includes the loan package of up to €150 billion’. Countries that have signed partnership agreements with the bloc on security and defense are also eligible to participate in SAFE. The EU has established such agreements with Norway, Moldova, South Korea, Japan, Albania, and North Macedoni. At a EU-UK summit in London on Monday, both sides agreed that the British defense industry could potentially also gain access to the SAFE plan. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Africa

South Africa
May 21 2025  Trump hosted President Ramaphosa at the White House today to confront him about claims that South Africa's government isn't punishing people who kill white farmers. The chat started friendly as Trump complimented the South African golfers that Ramaphosa brought to the Oval Office. Then, Trump played a video that he said showed evidence of an alleged genocide of white farmers in South Africa. The video showed a rally from last year where attendees chanted 'Kill the Boer, the farmer,' an inflammatory song. The clip also showed rows of white crosses purportedly in South Africa, each one marking a white farmer who was murdered, Trump said. The White House later shared the four-minute video on X, calling it "proof of persecution in South Africa.' Trump said the video showed the graves of thousands of white farmers and showed printouts of articles that he claimed showed evidence of the alleged genocide and blamed the media for not covering it. Trump has cut off foreign aid to South Africa based on the claims, which stem from a land reform law. He accused the country's government of taking land from white farmers and fuelling violence against them with hateful rhetoric and government actions. Trump also recently offered refuge to white Afrikaners based on their claims that they were racially discriminated against. /Video, photo/ (Source: The U.S. Sun)

Asia

Iran
21 May 2025  Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has publicly expressed his displeasure at the demands of President Trump and the US administration in the crucial nuclear talks. Khamenei today said on his X handle, ’We won’t allow Iran to enrich uranium,’ is utter nonsense. We aren’t waiting for anyone’s permission. The Islamic Republic has certain policies, and it will pursue them.' Following four rounds of talks, Khamenei urged the US to stop making "nonsense" demands on Iran's enrichment, saying it's "non-negotiable”. He said he did not know whether the talks would yield any results or not. Iran is playing it cool on the US request for a fifth round of talks, with Foreign Minister Araqchi stating, ’A date has been suggested, but we have not yet accepted it.’ The two sides are exploring Rome as a possible venue. Both sides have been aggressive in the talks on uranium enrichment, and no one is ready to back down from their stand, due to which a deadlock situation is now emerging. To stop this, Trump has openly threatened Iran, "Take action quickly or else something bad is going to happen.’ In recent times, when Iran was reluctant to even come to the negotiating table, Trump had threatened Tehran on several occasions, saying that if Iran does not compromise on its nuclear programme, it will be bombed and will also have to face very harsh sanctions. President Trump has already deployed two US aircraft carriers, the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Harry S Truman, to the Arabian Sea, as well as ordered the largest ever deployment of B-2 bombers to the Indian Ocean from its military base at Diego Garcia. (Source: Outlook – India)

May 21, 2025  U.S. intelligence has gathered new indications that Israel may be preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. The intelligence includes intercepted Israeli communications, gathered intelligence based on Israeli military movements, statements from senior Israeli officials suggesting that preparations for a strike could be underway and completed air exercises. While Israel lacks the capability to eliminate Iran's nuclear program without U.S. assistance, it may act independently if it views the final deal as inadequate, it fails to remove Iran's uranium stockpile. An Israeli strike on Iran would mark a significant rupture with the Trump administration, escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington, which is currently engaged in nuclear talks with Tehran. Iran and the U.S. have participated in four rounds of negotiations mediated by Oman-the highest-level engagement since Trump exited the 2015 nuclear deal. Their last meeting on May 11 was described by Iran as difficult but useful, while a U.S. official said the administration was encouraged. A unilateral move by Israel potentially trigger a broader conflict across the Middle East. Some U.S. officials see these actions as part of a pressure campaign on nuclear talks, while others view them as signs of a real operational plan. Israeli leadership has not made a final decision. U.S. officials have emphasized that a complete halt to uranium enrichment is a non-negotiable demand, with U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Witkoff calling it a red line due to concerns over potential weaponization. ’We cannot allow even one percent of an enrichment capability... Everything begins from our standpoint with a deal that does not include enrichment,’ Witkoff said. Iranian leaders have rejected the demand, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei calling it excessive and outrageous, with Foreign Minister Araghchi saying that enrichment is a sovereign right. Enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal, Araghchi, wrote on X. President Trump warns that time is running out to secure a nuclear agreement, his offer of diplomacy with Iran will not remain on the table indefinitely, threatening maximum pressure, including driving Iranian oil exports to zero, if talks fail.  Araghchi recently told reporters that Oman will officially announce the time and place of the fifth Iran-U.S. talks soon. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)

Israel
May 21, 2025 14:25 IST  Since the 2000s, Iran has embarked on a nuclear power generation program which many believe will give it nuclear weapons. Like India, Pakistan and Israel, whose nuclear weapons programme is a by-product of its civilian nuclear power generation facilities, Iran is believed to be pursuing twin routes to nuclear weapons: extracting plutonium from civilian nuclear plants, and enriching uranium, which it mines in the country. Israel acquired nuclear weapons in the 1960s. Like India and Pakistan, it is not an NPT signatory. Israel has ensured no Arab country acquires nuclear weapons that could threaten its existence. It launched airstrikes against Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007 in order to destroy nuclear reactors it believed could create nuclear weapons. Since the 1979 revolution, the Iranian regime has directly targeted Israel, with successive leaders threatening to wipe it off the map. Israel has embarked on an extensive covert programme since the 1980s to ensure Iran doesn't get the bomb. It has assassinated Iranian nuclear weapons scientists and sabotaged reactor centrifuges using computer viruses. Iran had ringed Israel with proxies to ensure it can fight a non-contact battle with Israel. But in 2024, Israel and Iran struck each other's territories using fighter jets, drones and missiles. This suggests an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear weapons program is plausible. Iran has learnt from Israel's pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Syria and Iraq. Both those strikes were against single reactors: Osirak in Iraq in 1981 and at the Al-Kibar facility in Syria in 2007. Iran's nuclear programme is hence dispersed across its geography. Iran's nuclear infrastructure includes uranium mines and facilities such as gas centrifuges, which enrich this uranium and process it. Two of these nuclear facilities - the enrichment facilities in Fordow and Natanz - are buried deep underground, under several metres of rock, requiring precise bunker-busting munitions and reinforced concrete. Iran is 1000 kms away from Israel's border. Hypothetically, Israel could launch an extraordinarily complex military operation, primarily involving fighter jets, to knock out the country's nuclear facilities. These fighters would need to be refuelled in the air and fly extreme distances to get to their targets. Israel's air force lacks either the platforms or specialised munitions to destroy the facilities. Israel will need something like the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which weighs over 12 tonnes, and at 6 metres long, The MOP can penetrate and explode 61 metres below the soil. It can only be carried by US heavy bombers like the B-52 and the B-2, which Israel does not have in its inventory. In short, Israel cannot destroy Iran's nuclear weapons sites on its own. Israel could well create a home-grown MOP to target Iran's buried nuclear facilities. The Israeli MOP could either be launched from the back of a converted military transport aircraft like a C-130 Hercules or by a converted intermediate range ballistic missile. Using either of these platforms would be fraught with extreme risk and technological challenges. ’Israel has always risen to these challenges in the past.’ (Source: India Today)

North America

United States
21.05.2025  The US State Department approved the possible sale of GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs and related elements to Poland. The proposed sale will improve Poland’s capability to meet current and future threats by enhancing its capacity to conduct effective air-to-ground strikes, reinforcing its capability to protect Polish sovereign territory, and improving its ability to meet NATO requirements, it added. The estimated cost is $180 million, 'the principal contractor will be The Boeing Corporation', located in Missouri. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

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Europe

Belgium
May 20, 2025  Tractors return to chaotic Brussels. A major EU budget meeting in Brussels today is a beacon for Belgian farmers expressing their fury. The European Quarter can expect the area around the Schuman roundabout, Parc du Cinquantenaire and Rue de la Loi to be occupied by farmers until around midday. With similar protests planned in Dublin and Madrid, farmers are responding to a flash action call by agri mega-union Copa-Cogeca to sway policymakers as they discuss the shape of the EU’s agriculture subsidy system. The Common Agriculture Policy represents a third of the EU’s €1.2 trillion, seven-year budget. The European Commission is expected to land its proposals on both the budget and the CAP in mid-July. Agriculture Commissioner Hansen spoke directly to Copa representatives yesterday afternoon. (In an FT interview published this morning, Hansen said "the EU’s increased military spending shouldn’t come at the expense of the Common Agriculture Policy".) Budget Commissioner. Serafin is up next, his team said. He’s likely to get an earful about their gripes over technicalities of the CAP’s place within the budget. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

Germany
(20 May 2025)  Germany has offered to take the lead on joint European Union projects regarding air defence, land and marine systems, Defence Minister Pistorius said ahead of a meeting of the bloc’s defense ministers today. Brussels has urged members to jointly invest in areas of heightened common interest, particularly air defense. The EU’s member states have given initial approval to a €150 billion defense fund that will distribute money to countries looking to jointly invest in security capabilities such as ammunition, drones and the protection of critical infrastructure. The fund comes in addition to new rules that ’allow member states fiscal flexibility for defense spending, which could mobilize a combined €800 billion’. Pistorius highlighted Germany’s expertise in air defence, pointing to its role in the European Sky Shield Initiative, launched after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The project, which has the support of 24 Nato members, aims to build a ground-based European air defence system which can shoot down ballistic missiles. Berlin can also offer European partners know-how with land and marine defense systems, he said. We also offer framework agreements for Leopard 2A8 tanks and for 212CD-class submarines, Pistorius added. Germany is also strengthening Nato’s eastern flank with the deployment of a battle tank brigade in Lithuania, with up to 5,000 troops in coming years. The so-called Panzerbrigade 45 will be the first German brigade-sized unit to be based abroad permanently since World War II. The EU’s defence chief, Kubilius, said yesterday that the commission will present a proposal on 17 June aimed at simplifying procedures and lifting regulatory barriers to encourage joint defence procurement and aid the transportation of defence products within the bloc. The aims include fast-tracking permits for the construction of new defense plants or expanding existing ones. The commission would also need to address environmental restrictions on defense industry expansion, Kubilius said. ’The simplification or even repeal of environmental legislation restricting the use of certain chemicals used in defense manufacturing is also being considered’. (Source: Luxembourg Times / Bloomberg - U.S.)

European Commission
(20 May 2025)  Following the Foreign Affairs Council, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Kallas, has ordered a review of the EU-Israel association agreement, a free trade deal between the two regions. The decision follows Israel's 11-week blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Europe
Tuesday 20 May 2025  Trump’s negotiations with Putin mean 'Europe needs to prepare for a second cold war'. ’A European-led Nato command structure could be trimmed down and adapted. They must present a rigorous strategy for how a Europe that is free and secure from the 'long-term existential threat posed by Russia' can be achieved without US participation. ’The first step in such a strategy is to provide the means, capabilities and expertise to support Ukraine in defeating Russia’... (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)
by General Sir Shirreff, who was Nato’s deputy supreme allied commander of Europe; Dr Babst, a former Nato deputy assistant secretary general

United States
May 20 2025 08:22:18  Trump spoke to a host of Western leaders after the Putin call, including European Commission President Der Leyen and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Finland. Pope Leo XIV has meanwhile offered to host the Russia-Ukraine talks at the Vatican, according to both Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. European nations backed Kiev's calls for Western sanctions against Russia to be toughened if it does not agree to a ceasefire quickly after the Trump-Putin call. There were signs from Trump that he is more interested in resetting relations with Moscow than imposing sanctions. He held out the carrot that Russia could do "largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic 'bloodbath' is over." On the ground, the Russian army continued its attacks. Moscow claimed its forces had captured two villages in Ukraine's Sumy and Donetsk regions. Russia also fired 112 drones on Ukraine overnight, 76 of which were repelled. (Source: Hürriyet Daily News - Turkey)

(Tuesday), May 20, 2025 6:40 AM GMT+2  Trump said after his call on Monday with President Putin that Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations for a ceasefire, but the Kremlin said the process would take time and the U.S. president indicated he was not ready to join Europe with fresh sanctions to pressure Moscow. In a social media post, Trump said he relayed the plan to Zelenskiy as well as the leaders of the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Finland in a group call following his session with the Russian leader. "Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War," Trump said, adding later at the White House that he thought "some progress is being made." Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv after the two sides met in Turkey last week for their first face-to-face negotiations since March 2022. After the Monday call he said only that efforts were "generally on the right track". "We have agreed with the president of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord," Putin told near the Black Sea resort of Sochi. European leaders decided to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions after Trump briefed them on his call with Putin, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said late on Monday. European participants were 'shocked" that Trump did not want to push Putin with sanctions. Asked why he had not imposed fresh sanctions to push Moscow into a peace deal as he had threatened, Trump told reporters: "Well because I think there's a chance of getting something done, and if you do that, you can also make it much worse. But there could be a time where that's going to happen." If Trump were to impose new sanctions, it would be a milestone moment given that he has appeared sympathetic towards Russia and torn up the pro-Ukraine policies of his predecessor, Biden. Trump said there were 'some big egos involved.' Without progress, "I'm just going to back away," he said. "This is not my war.’ Kremlin aide Ushakov said Trump and Putin did not discuss a timeline for a ceasefire but did discuss trading nine Russians for nine Americans in a prisoner swap. "There are no deadlines and there cannot be any. It is clear that everyone wants to do this as quickly as possible, but, of course, the devil is in the details,' Kremlin spokesperson Peskov was saying. Trump said Pope Leo had expressed interest in hosting the negotiations at the Vatican. Peskov said Moscow welcomed the Vatican's proposal, but no decision had been made on a place for possible future contacts, he added. Putin, whose forces control a fifth of Ukraine and are advancing, has stood firm on his conditions for ending the war, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from four regions Russia claims. He said the memorandum Russia and Ukraine would work on about a future peace accord would define a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement. "The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis," Putin said. "We just need to determine the most effective ways to move towards peace." (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

Global

May 20, 2025  For places that are already functionally independent, a transactional global order might open new diplomatic venues or economic channels that bring them closer to official recognition - provided, of course, that they can offer strategic value like basing rights or resource access. For regions which lack de facto independence, success will now hinge even less on legal or moral claims. In this newly contingent and chaotic world, separatist-related violence will also become more frequent. In part, that will simply be the product of renewed separatist attempts. But breakaway regions could also launch more violent attacks, encouraged by their newfound patrons and the diminished consequences of breaking international law. Incumbents, likewise, will feel more empowered to use violence to quash independence movements. The global institutions that traditionally restrain both secessionist overreach and heavy-handed repression are losing their power to constrain either. For independence movements, the new rules of secession mean a more volatile and uncertain future. If success depends on timing, charisma, and strategic utility, some breakaway regions may have a shortcut to recognition. Others might suffer. All of them, however, will have to navigate a landscape where sovereignty is not earned but cynically auctioned off. (Source: Foreign Affairs - U.S.)
by Griffiths, Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University and the author of The Disunited States: Threats of Secession in Red and Blue America and Why They Won’t Work; Gunitsky, the George Ignatieff Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto.

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Europe

Hungary
18/05/2025  Tens of thousands of people protested in Budapest today against a planned law that would allow the government to sanction NGOs and media it deemed a threat to Hungary's sovereignty. The bill on transparency in public life would empower the government to blacklist organisations that threaten the sovereignty of Hungary by using foreign funding to influence public life. They would need permission to receive foreign funding. The government has denied any authoritarian intent, insisting it only wants to dismantle a foreign-funded propaganda network. "Yes to political debate, yes to freedom of speech, no to foreign money," PM Orbán told ruling party activists at an event yesterday. (Source: France 24)

Germany
May 18, 2025  German defense company Rheinmetall and American aerospace titan Lockheed Martin have announced plans to establish a joint venture aimed at producing advanced missile systems, including the Army Tactical Missile System [ATACMS] and Patriot PAC-3, in Europe. Negotiations are underway for Rheinmetall to hold a 60% stake in the venture. The initiative, which is pending approval from both U.S. and German governments, is expected to commence production of rocket motors in 2026 and missiles by 2027. The venture could generate annual sales of up to €5 billion. Rheinmetall is already a key contractor for Lockheed’s F-35 program, set to produce 400 center fuselage sections starting in July 2025 at its facility in Weeze, Germany. 'Rheinmetall has recent financial performance with a 46% sales increase to €2.305 billion in Q1 2025'. Spain recently signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin to produce PAC-3 MSE components, while Poland has begun manufacturing launch tubes for the system. (Source: BulgarianMilitary - Bulgaria)
by Nikolov

Poland
(Sunday), May 18, 2025 6:46 PM EDT  Liberal Warsaw Mayor Trzaskowski and the conservative historian, Nawrocki, emerged as the front-runners in Poland’s presidential election today, according to an exit poll, putting them on track to face off in a second round in two weeks, on June 1. A late exit poll by the Ipsos institute released three hours after polls closed showed Trzaskowski with an estimated 31.1 percent of the votes and Nawrocki with 29.1 percent. ’Far-right’ candidate Mentzen was projected to garner 14.8 percent, a strong result his Confederation party celebrated. An extreme right-wing candidate, Braun, was predicted to win 6.3 percent, according to the exit poll. Official results are expected tomorrow or Tuesday. Polish authorities have reported foreign attempts at interference during the campaign, including denial-of-service attacks targeting parties in Tusk’s coalition and allegations by a state research institute that political ads on Facebook were funded from abroad. The presidency carries substantial power, with a strong role in foreign and security policy and veto power over laws. The conservative outgoing president, Duda, has repeatedly used that power over more than the past year to hamper Tusk’s agenda. A Trzaskowski victory could be expected to end such a standoff. He is a liberal allied with Prime Minister Donald Tusk who speaks foreign languages and holds pro-European Union views. Exit polls show the terrain ahead being challenging for Trzaskowski. His support is strongest in cities, where many like his secular views and support for LGBTQ+ rights. Trzaskowski has pledged to support reforms to the courts and public media, both of which critics say were politicized under Law and Justice. Tusk’s opponents accuse him of also politicizing public media. Trzaskowski, who ran for the presidency in 2020 and narrowly lost to Duda, had been polling higher earlier in the campaign but had mishaps including disappointing debate performances, with behavior described by political commentators as overconfident or even arrogant. He described Nawrocki as someone who is radical and seeks conflict and promised to be a constructive president who would reduce tensions in the deeply divided nation. Nawrocki is a conservative historian with no prior political experience who was backed by the national conservative Law and Justice party. The head of a state historical institute, Nawrocki has positioned himself as a defender of conservative values and national sovereignty. He was welcomed by President Trump at the White House earlier this month in what was viewed as an endorsement. He has embraced anti-Ukrainian rhetoric during the campaign. It was a worse showing for Trzaskowski than expected, and it appeared overall to be a good showing for the candidates on the right in a large field of 13 candidates. Addressing his supporters, Nawrocki hailed his result, noting that there was just a cosmetic difference between himself, a political newcomer, and Trzaskowski, long viewed as the frontrunner. During an election night event in Gdansk he thanked the millions of Poles „who did not succumb to the pressure of propaganda, falsehood, lies.’ (Source: PBS – U.S.)

Portugal
19.05.2025  Portugal’s center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) won the most seats but fell short of a majority in yesterday’s general election. The ’far-right’ Chega party nearly overtook the Socialist Party for second place. Incumbent Montenegro is expected to remain Portugal’s prime minister, but a surge in support for Chega dashed his ambitions of securing a stronger mandate. The snap election was triggered by ethical concerns related to the business dealings of Montenegro’s family. Sunday’s vote was the country’s third general election since 2022, highlighting ongoing political volatility. With 99.13% of the votes counted, the Socialist Party held a two-seat lead over Chega, preserving its status as the main opposition party by only a slim margin. With 98% of the votes counted, they were tied, the Socialists and Chega both won around 23% of the popular vote. The final results could see a change in the total seat count - votes from abroad still need to be counted, with around 17 seats still up in the air. Led by former football pundit Ventura, Chega campaigned on hardline anti-immigration policies and an aggressive anti-corruption message. Chega’s gains were fueled by victories in traditionally left-leaning areas in southern Portugal. The AD retained control over conservative strongholds in the country’s center and north. The Socialists are expected to back the conservative alliance to keep the ’far-right’ out of government, as they did after the 2024 results. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Romania
5 5 19 Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, claimed yesterday that he rejected a direct request from French intelligence to block conservative voices in Romania ahead of the country’s presidential election runoff. In a series of posts on his Telegram channel, Durov alleged that Lerner, the head of France’s DGSI (domestic intelligence agency), personally approached him during a meeting in Paris this spring at the Salon des Batailles in the Hôtel de Crillon. ’Lerner, head of French intelligence, asked me to ban conservative voices in Romania ahead of elections,’ Durov wrote. “I refused. We didn’t block protesters in Russia, Belarus, or Iran. We won’t start doing it in Europe.” (9:38 PM May 18, 2025) Earlier, Durov had cryptically hinted at the country involved, writing, “A Western European government (guess which 🥖) approached Telegram asking us to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today’s presidential elections. I flatly refused. Telegram will not restrict the freedoms of Romanian users or block their political channels”. (5:28 PM · May 18, 2025) /2,3 M views/. He continued, “You can’t ‘defend democracy’ by destroying democracy. You can’t ‘fight election interference’ by interfering with elections. You either have freedom of speech and fair elections - or you don’t. And the Romanian people deserve both.” France swiftly rejected the accusations. The French foreign ministry posted on X that completely unfounded allegations are circulating on Telegram and Twitter (X) regarding alleged French interference in the Romanian presidential election. ’France categorically rejects these allegations and calls on everyone to exercise responsibility and respect for Romanian democracy’. Durov’s claims surfaced just hours before polls closed in Romania’s high-stakes runoff between centrist independent Dan and hard-right nationalist Simion. As per The New York Times, Dan, won with 54% of the vote, defeating Simion, who secured 46%. Simion, aligned with Trump-style populism and sceptical of EU policies, preemptively claimed fraud, warning of dead people on voter rolls without providing evidence. We are the clear winners of these elections, he told supporters before results were confirmed. Durov, who was detained in France last year in an unrelated investigation into Telegram’s role in enabling illicit activity, has remained a controversial figure. According to The New York Times, he was charged with complicity in crimes like child sexual abuse distribution and drug trafficking. Durov denies the allegations and argues Telegram exceeds its legal responsibilities regarding content moderation. (Source: MSN - U.S. / Times of India)

(Sunday), May 18, 20257:17 PM ET  Pro-European Union candidate Dan has won Romania's presidential runoff against a hard-right nationalist, nearly complete electoral data shows. A huge turnout today played a key role in the tense election that many viewed as a geopolitical choice between East or West. The race pitted front-runner Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, against Dan, the incumbent mayor of Bucharest. After 10.7 million of 11.6 million votes were counted, Dan was ahead with 54.19%, while Simion trailed at 45.81%, according to official data. In the first-round vote on May 4, Simion won almost double the votes as Dan, and many local surveys had predicted he would secure the presidency. When voting closed at 9 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), official electoral data showed a 64% voter turnout. About 1.64 million Romanians abroad at specially set-up polling stations participated in the vote, some 660,000 more than in the first round. In the first round on May 4, the final turnout stood at 53% of eligible voters. Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician, rose to prominence as a civic activist fighting against illegal real estate projects. 'In 2026', he founded the reformist Save Romania Union party but later left, and ran independently on a pro-European Union ticket reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine and fiscal reform. Romania's political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election in which 'far-right' outsider Georgescu topped first-round polls, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied. After coming fourth in last year's canceled race, Simion backed Georgescu, who was banned in March from running in the election redo. Simion then surged to front-runner in the May 4 first round after becoming the standard-bearer for the hard right. In the early afternoon, Simion told reporters that his team was confident in a landslide victory, if the election was free and fair. He repeated allegations of voting irregularities among Romanian citizens in neighboring Moldova and said that his party members would conduct a parallel vote count after polls closed. A former activist who campaigned for reunification with neighboring Moldova, Simion says he would focus on reforms: slashing red tape and reducing bureaucracy and taxes. Still, he insists that restoring democracy is his priority, returning the will of the people. After polls closed, standing on the steps of Romania's colossal Communist-era parliament building, Simion had predicted a victory, and said that Georgescu was supposed to be the president before last year's election was annulled. He also called for vigilance against election fraud, but said that overall he was satisfied with the conduct of the vote. His AUR party says it stands for family, nation, faith, and freedom and rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election. It has since grown to become the second-largest party in the Romanian legislature. Years of endemic corruption and growing anger toward Romania's political establishment have fueled a surge in support for anti-establishment and hard-right figures. The president is elected for a five-year term and has significant decision-making powers in matters of national security and foreign policy. The winner of today's race will be charged with nominating a new prime minister after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition's candidate to advance to the runoff. Both Simion and Dan have made their political careers railing against Romania's old political class. Romania comes out of this election very divided. Older political parties are challenged to adapt to a new reality. (Source: NPR - U.S.)

Russia
19 May 2025  Russian opposition media continue broadcasting from abroad. Since February 2022, the last media outlets in Russia that were opposed to the government and the invasion were blocked. Those both outlets started to rely heavily on Western social media platforms, mostly YouTube. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Google had cut all the monetization of YouTube for Russia-based accounts. The Russian government started blocking YouTube in 2024, and, by the first half of 2025, traffic to YouTube from Russia fell to just 20 percent of the previous levels. Even now, tens of millions of people inside Russia receive information from independent media - and that still has real influence, Kournikov, editor of the Echo of Moscow website working from Berlin, said. Western platforms had not helped opposition journalists to get to the Russian audience. All attempts - open letters, conversations in different formats with them or their representatives - have led to nothing over these past three years, Dzyadko, the editor-in-chief of Dozhd (TV Rain) said in an interview to Kolezev, another opposition journalist. „To be blunt, from what I understand, economically, it’s an insignificant market for them now. It’s a gray zone at best. It’s easier to avoid the hassle - they might have employees or relatives who could be taken hostage, so they just stay away’. Despite YouTube being blocked in Russia, journalists of many political opposition channels on YouTube claim that they have not noticed the drop. Their monetization increased, as it did for everyone targeting a Russian-speaking audience. Russians are using VPNs to access these channels. Many Russians moved to places like the Netherlands, Singapore, the US, Germany, etc., and continued watching them. Opposition media also encountered funding issues, when US President Trump’s administration stopped USAID funds. Living abroad, Russian Zimin said in an interview to an online Russian opposition media Breakfast Show the day USAID funds were frozen, Khodorkovsky and he announced they would help NGOs from Ukraine and Russian opposition media and NGOs abroad. These two in exile would make up part of the funds they lost, to keep them afloat for 90 days. This happened over three months ago. It is not known whether their fund continues doing it. “We can't replace USAID - those are massive sums, billions,’ Zimin said: At the moment, it is not known which media will stop working altogether after losing US funds. Dozhd (TV Rain), Breakfast Show, and Echo of Moscow (website and YouTube channels that work from Berlin and some from Moscow), are selling t-shirts or baseball caps, books. They also organize public meetings or concerts with their speakers and anchors for the Russian speaking audience abroad, selling tickets. Many media joined a call to help Mediazona, an outlet originally founded by Pussy Riot members, and devoted to human rights and political prisoners of the regime in Russia. Mediazona said they would not survive till the end of 2025 unless they get 10,000 monthly subscribers. At the moment the outlet has a bit over 5000 monthly subscribers. Kournikov described the financial situation of the foreign-based projects of Echo of Moscow: We’re short on funds, but our audience is growing. We’re publishing books, holding events. We recently released a book on US–Russia relations in the 1990s, and soon will publish a book on the history of the Russian Orthodox Church under Gorbachev and Putin. We’re also traveling with lectures. (Source: Global Voices - headquarters Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
by Dergacheva

Ukraine
18 May 2025  Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 273 drones by 08:00 today (05:00 GMT) targeting the central Kyiv region, and Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the east. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

United Kingdom
May 19, 2025  E.U. and Britain announce trade, defense deals after Brexit rupture. The deal does not undo Brexit. The leaders of Britain and the European Union announced deals today on defense, security and food exports at a landmark summit intended to usher in the most significant resetting of relations between the two sides since Brexit. The summit, held in London, is the culmination of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s push to rebuild ties with the E.U. - by far Britain’s biggest trading partner - and is the first major bilateral meeting between the two sides to be held on British soil since the 2016 referendum that led to Brexit, Britain’s exit from the 27-member bloc. The British government hopes that closer ties with the E.U. will help revive its sluggish economy. The E.U. is wary of granting the United Kingdom benefits of membership in the bloc without obligations, including financial contributions. Limiting the scope of any renewed relationship, Starmer has ruled out rejoining the E.U.’s single market and customs union. Starmer’s office said: After the 21% drop in exports and 7% drop in imports seen since Brexit, the UK will also be able to sell various products, such as burgers and sausages, back into the EU again, supporting these vital British industries. The statement said the agreement will add nearly £9 billion [about $12 billion] to the UK economy by 2040. The agreement includes a 12-year-deal allowing European fishing crews continued access to British waters. The E.U. agreed to reduce some of the red tape for British farms and fisheries that want to export their goods - including fish - into the bloc. The parties agreed to a security and defense pact that grants Britain access to the E.U.’s 125 billion euro ($141 billion) defense fund, to which London will also contribute. In a sign of the tensions on both sides, talks ran until the 11th hour, with fisheries and a proposal over youth mobility emerging as sticking points. Ahead of the summit, there was talk of a youth mobility agreement that would allow young people the chance to live and work in each other’s countries for up to two years. In the end, the language was vague, allowing for negotiations to continue. The 2016 Brexit vote was dramatic and divisive in Britain. Farage, leader of the right-wing, populist Reform U.K. party - and one of Britain’s most enthusiastic Brexit backers - has pledged to scrap the deal if he becomes prime minister. He criticized the fisheries agreement on social media, calling it the end of the fishing industry. Surveys now show that a majority of Britons regret leaving the E.U. Farage’s Reform U.K. recently scored major gains in council and mayoral elections in England and is leading in national polls. This political uncertainty could hamper future talks, with E.U. officials hesitant to commit to long-term deals with a British government that may not last. (Source: The Washington Post - U.S.)

Europe
19 May 2025  Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer held urgent discussions with leaders from the United States, France, Germany, and Italy over the weekend. on the Ukraine conflict, ahead of US President Trump's scheduled call with Russian President Putin today. The leaders stressed the importance of an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. The joint discussions also included warnings about the potential imposition of further sanctions. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking to reporters at the Vatican following the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV, confirmed he had conferred with U.S. Secretary of State Rubio about the upcoming Trump-Putin call. Merz also met with Zelenskyy during the visit. Trump, said he also plans to speak with Zelenskyy. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Peskov confirmed that preparations for the Putin-Trump conversation were underway. At the Istanbul talks, Russian envoys had demanded Kyiv withdraw its forces from all territories claimed by Moscow as a precondition for a ceasefire. (Source: Outlook – India)

Asia

Iran
May 19, 2025  In the past several days, there have been surprising developments in the negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s civilian nuclear program. U.S. President Trump has frequently, but not always, defined the goal of the negotiations as being limited to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. ’He repeated that definition as recently as May 25’, saying Iran must “permanently and verifiably cease pursuit of nuclear weapons…. They cannot have a nuclear weapon.” But the message from his team has been contradictory. Then National Security Advisor Waltz said that the U.S. is demanding full dismantlement, and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said that a Trump deal means Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program. Rubio said that Iran can have a civilian nuclear program, but by importing uranium enriched up to 3.67 percent, and no longer by enriching their own. On May 9, Witkoff told that “An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment.” Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has placed a firm limit that Iran will not negotiate the full dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Iranian President Pezeshkian was insisting that Iran has never sought, is not seeking, and will never seek nuclear weapons but that Iran will not give up its peaceful nuclear rights. U.S. insistence on ending Iran’s civilian enrichment program could put a quick end to the talks. On May 14 Trump suggested that breaking off relations with proxy groups in the region must be part of any deal. Iran must stop sponsoring terror, he said, and halt its bloody proxy wars. When Trump introduced Iran’s support of regional proxies into the discussion, Araghchi called the remark, not unproductive or unhelpful, but deceitful. Contradictory statements emanating from the Trump administration appear to have been because of a lack of decision on key strategic points, Parsi, Executive Vice President of Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and an expert on Iran, told. Indeed, on May 7, Trump said, “We haven’t made that decision yet.” “As a result, Parsi said, the debate on these points is now, rather unhelpfully, taking place out in public. During the third round, Araghchi gave Trump’s special envoy Witkoff a document with Iran’s proposals for a deal. The U.S. studied it and returned it to Iran with questions and requests for clarifications. Iran replied, the U.S. prepared a new proposal and then presented it to Araghchi who has now brought it back to Tehran for consultations with Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Pezeshkian. During the fourth round of talks, the U.S. presented Iran with a written proposal. How far down the path to a settlement the proposal is is unknown. Araghchi said future negotiations now become more difficult. But he then said, “We can now say that both sides have a better understanding of each other’s positions.” Following a flurry of American threats, the fourth round of talks was postponed. Iranian officials said that [d]epending on the U.S. approach, the date of the next round of talks will be announced.” Recently, that approach subtly changed. Notably, bombing was replaced with sanctions. In his most recent remarks, which went largely unnoticed, Trump softened, saying only “If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch … we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure, drive Iranian oil exports to zero.” On May 15, Trump again seemed to reject the risk of war: “Because things like that get started and they get out of control. I’ve seen it over and over again. They go to war and things get out of control, and we’re not going to let that happen.” Iran may have facilitated negotiations with a creative and unexpected proposal. Iran has suggested for consideration that they could join with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in a nuclear enrichment consortium. Iran would continue to enrich uranium but accept a cap at the 3.67% enrichment required by a nuclear energy program. Saudi Arabia and UAE, who would gain access to Iran’s nuclear technology, would be shareholders and funders. If true, the proposal would be based on a consortium idea first proposed by Princeton physicist Hippel and former Iranian nuclear negotiator Mousavian. The idea was inspired by the URENCO enrichment consortium of Germany, the Netherlands and Britain and by the ABAAAC consortium of Brazil and Argentina. This level of trust between Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE was unthinkable only a very short time ago and testifies to the changes going on in the region and in the evolving Iran-Saudi Arabia relationship. This sends a strong signal that Tehran as well as Riyadh and Abu Dhabi would prefer to prioritize cooperation over conflict. All three countries have growing motivation for peace in the region. Crown Prince Salman needs to avoid violent conflict to encourage the foreign investment and tourism needed to fuel his planned economic diversification. Zayed needs economic security in the face of competition from Saudi Arabia to be a regional hub. Iran needs to encourage peace in the region because of the recent weakening of its own strategic position in the region. Saudi Arabia and Iran have recently been moving towards enhanced friendship both bilaterally and through multinational organizations. Trump should take advantage of these circumstances to sign a nuclear deal with Iran and avoid unnecessary war. All of these developments, may present an opportunity to return to a nuclear agreement with Iran and to usher in a new hope for peace and friendly relations both between the U.S. and Iran and in the region. (Source: Antiwar - U.S.)
by Snider

North America

United States
(Monday), May 19, 2025 10:31 PM  President Trump, who once vowed to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours, now says the two sides should work it out themselves. President Trump today backed off his demand that Russia declare an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, instead endorsing President Putin’s call for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia after a two-hour phone call with Russian leader. Trump said Putin had agreed to immediately start direct negotiations with Ukraine toward a ceasefire and a broader peace deal to end the war. He said the conditions would be negotiated directly between the warring countries because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of. It was a shift from Trump’s recent threats of more pressure on Russia, such as when he raised the prospect of new banking sanctions in April. Trump also appeared enthusiastic to surrender his mediating role to the pope. In his statement, Trump said the Vatican had expressed interest in hosting the upcoming negotiations, and urged: “Let the process begin!” But while Trump presented the start of peace talks as a concession by Putin, he was largely endorsing Putin’s own approach, given that Russia has responded to calls to stop the fighting by proposing extended negotiations. Now, Trump appears to be prepared to step back and urge Russia and Ukraine to make a deal directly with each other. Zelenskyy expressed concern about that, saying today after he held two calls with Trump that the negotiation process must involve both American and European representatives at the appropriate level. The lack of any meaningful breakthrough in today’s talks shows how Trump’s belief in his personal charisma and negotiating acumen has run up against deep divisions and complex political motivations guiding Russia and Ukraine. After the call, Trump leaned into the economic benefits of ending the war, saying that Russia wanted to engage in large-scale trade with the United States when this catastrophic blood bath is over, recasting the end of the conflict as a business proposition rather than a diplomatic victory. Trump’s comments showed that Putin appears to have had success in promoting the possibility of lucrative business deals in Russia to Trump. The U.S. president described Russia as a key future American trading partner, Putin’s foreign policy adviser Ushakov, told. There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth, Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that Trump has grown weary and frustrated, with both sides of the conflict. Trump told reporters later today that he expected there to be progress in the talks, but if there wasn’t he was just going to back away. On the call, he said he asked Putin to meet with him. The leaders addressed each other by first name throughout, Ushakov said. Putin made it clear after speaking to Trump today that he wasn’t budging from his demands and that Russia was not on the verge of declaring a ceasefire. He said Russia was ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement. He repeated that a peace deal needs to remove the root causes of this crisis, referring to Russia’s pursuit of wide-ranging influence over Ukraine. In fact, direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine started last Friday in Istanbul, in talks that Putin initially proposed. In that meeting, Russia stuck to its hard-line demands, including that Ukraine withdraw from a large swath of Ukrainian land that its forces still control. It resulted in an agreement to conduct what would be the largest prisoner swap of the conflict, but not in a ceasefire. Earlier today, the Kremlin sought to lower expectations for the call between Trump and Putin, the third since Trump took office. Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, said that ending the war would require rather painstaking and, perhaps, prolonged work. Afterward, the Kremlin said the two leaders discussed not only the war, but also improving bilateral ties -- a key goal for Putin as he seeks relief from the economic sanctions the Biden administration placed on Russia. Among the topics was a potential nine-for-nine prisoner swap between the United States and Russia, Ushakov said. The agreement was not disclosed by Trump. Trump also spoke separately with Zelenskyy, ’who said he made it clear to Trump’ that his country would never withdraw its forces from its own territory and will not yield to any ultimatums from Russia. Zelenskyy said he also asked Trump not to make any decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. Zelenskyy joined another call between Trump and European leaders who have rallied to Ukraine’s defense. Zelenskyy said it remains unclear if the United States would join with European nations in stepping up sanctions against Russia. Trump’s statement gave few specifics about his calls with Zelenskyy, but said that like Russia, Ukraine can be a great beneficiary on trade, in the process of rebuilding its country. (Source: Miami Herald / The New York Times)

May 19, 2025  The U.S. Supreme Court let Trump's administration today strip temporary protected status from Venezuelans living in the United States that had been granted under his predecessor Biden, as the Republican president moves to ramp up deportations as part of his hardline approach to immigration. The court's brief order was unsigned, as is typical when the justices act on an emergency request. The U.S. government under Biden, twice designated Venezuela for TPS, in 2021 and 2023. The Department of Homeland Security has said about 348,202 Venezuelans were registered under Biden's 2023 TPS designation. The Trump administration in April also terminated TPS for thousands of Afghans and Cameroonians in the United States. The TPS program is a humanitarian designation under U.S. law for countries stricken by war, natural disaster or other catastrophe, giving recipients living in the United States deportation protection and access to work permits. The designation can be renewed by the U.S. homeland security secretary. In a separate case on Friday, the Supreme Court kept in place its block on Trump's deportations of Venezuelan migrants under a 1798 law historically used only in wartime, faulting his administration for seeking to remove them without adequate legal process. The State Department currently warns against travel to Venezuela ’due to the high risk of wrongful detentions, terrorism, kidnapping, the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, poor health infrastructure.’ (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

Global

18 May 2025  Nearly a fifth of global carbon emissions is propped up by billions of euros in European 'green' investments. Investment funds featuring green labels and names like 'Sustainable Global Stars' continue to hold stakes in the fossil energy majors which drive the climate crisis. An EU crackdown on greenwashing looks imminent. (Source: Voxeurop - headquarters Paris, France)

. 5 5 18 07:14

.

"A hiten belül a predestináció nem logikai rendszer, hanem boldog tapasztalat."

Eleve elrendelés: 2.

Dr. Joó

igehirdetése

(Forrás: YouTube)

/1080 megtekintés/

A prédikáció 

szövege

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.

Europe

Albania
17. 05. 2025  European Political Community Summit in Tirana. Europe stands ready to preserve peace and enhance the prosperity of the continent, stated the participants of the Sixth Summit of the European Political Community, which took place in Tirana on 16 May. The meeting brought together heads of state and government leaders from 47 European countries, along with senior representatives of key European and international institutions. Three high-level roundtables took place around the following topics: Europe’s security and democratic resilience, including Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; competitiveness and economic security; and mobility challenges and youth empowerment. In his address, Albania's PM Edi Rama called for a new European vision that went beyond military security. “The enemies of peace should not drag us into the glorification of weapons. Here in the Balkans, we have survived war, bombs, territorial conflicts, destruction, and disruption. It happened in our lifetimes, not in some distant black-and-white documentary archive. And we have learned that peace has no competitors. Perhaps, that is why hope in that other Europe is greatest here”, Rama stressed. (Source: European Western Balkans – headquarters Belgrade, Serbia)

Ukraine
Saturday 17 May 2025  Since U.S.-brokered talks began in March, Ukraine’s strategy has been to convince the Trump administration that Putin is unreliable and that Kyiv is serious about peace. All along, Zelenskyy's message, directed at the Trump administration, has been: The Russian leader cannot be trusted. But the political theatrics are underscored by stark realities on the ground. In this war of attrition against Russia's invasion, Ukraine’s position is poised to grow weaker as time goes on, unless powerful sanctions are imposed against Moscow and the U.S. continues arms deliveries. ’They're desperate to keep the Americans on their side,’ said Jarabik, an analyst specializing in Eastern Europe and Ukraine. Russia’s position has remained mostly consistent. The Kremlin kept repeating that it was ready for peace talks with Ukraine - while making demands that were politically untenable for Zelenskyy, and would require Ukraine to make territorial concessions, neutralize its army and vow never to join NATO. Throughout the war, Moscow has also accused Kyiv and its Western allies of seeking to prolong the fighting and derailing peace efforts. Most recently, Russian officials underscore the effort to resolve the conflict is complex. “We understand that Washington wants to achieve quick success in this process, but at the same time we hope that there is an understanding that the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is too complicated, there are many questions and details that need to be addressed before the settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov told last month. The Istanbul talks were demoted to a technical meeting yesterday that failed to yield substantial results on ending the war. Putin’s no-show did not result in a strong reaction from Trump, which frustrated Ukrainian officials. The U.S. has expressed frustration with the stalled talks. Yesterday, Trump told reporters after boarding Air Force One to return to Washington from Abu Dhabi that he may call Putin soon. “He and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it, or maybe not,” Trump said. “At least we’ll know. And if we don’t solve it, it’ll be very interesting.” Ukraine is asking for an unconditional temporary ceasefire, during which time future diplomatic talks can take shape. Zelenskyy has expressed support for a sanctions package pushed in the U.S. Congress by Republican Sen. Graham 'that could impose 500% tariffs on Russian energy imports'. There needs to be a strong reaction, including sanctions against Russia’s energy sector and banks, Zelenskyy said at a European summit in Albania yesterday. For Ukrainian soldiers fighting along the 1,000-kilometer front line the theatricality of the week’s political developments stood in harsh contrast with the grinding war. Better to call it a circus, said a Ukrainian drone operator with the 68th brigade who gave only his call sign Goose. Russia likely gearing up for summer fighting campaign. “The feeling is that we will either hold out and allow the political leadership of the country to freeze the conflict along the contact line, or the enemy will break through,” said a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign Corsair Denis in the Sumy region. Russian forces recently intensified offensive operations in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, according to Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces spokesperson. Soldiers said Russia has a clear aim of reaching the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region, to be able to claim the capture of two out of four partially occupied territories. Analysts say Russia is at a crucial crossroads in the war, where it can negotiate a truce and consolidate gains, or launch a summer military campaign to maximize wins before the onset of winter. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)
’Litvinova contributed from Tallinn, Estonia’.

Ukraine
May 17, 2025  A Russian drone struck a passenger bus in Bilopillia city in northeastern Sumy region in Ukraine, around 10 kilometers from the front line and border with Russia, killing nine people and injuring four others. The local media outlet Suspilne said the passengers on the bus were being evacuated from Bilopillia when the strike occurred. Yesterday, Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Turkey in an attempt to reach a temporary ceasefire, but the talks ended after less than two hours without a breakthrough. While both sides agreed on a large prisoner swap, they clearly remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. Zelenskyy was in Tirana, Albania, yesterday. He met with French President Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the second for the group since May 10. (Source: ABC News / Associated Press = U.S.)

Asia

Gaza
May 17, 2025, 04:48 PM  Israel’s airforce killed at least 58 Palestinians in new attacks on Gaza overnight, as the country appeared set to press ahead with a new ground offensive. More than 300 Gazans have been killed in Israeli strikes since May 15, according to local health authorities. (Source: The Straits Times - Singapore)

(Saturday) 17/05/2025 - 10:40  The Israeli military said today it had launched extensive strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past day as part of the initial stages of a fresh offensive on the besieged Palestinian territory. More than 300 Gazans have been killed in Israeli strikes since Thursday. (Source: France 24)

05/17/2025, 10.10  The Israeli army has announced that it launched large-scale strikes in the past 24 hours, marking the “initial phases” of the Gideon’s Chariots operation, which involves troops taking control of strategic areas in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Palestinians were forced to evacuate areas in northern Gaza following orders by Israeli forces, while indiscriminate airstrikes have killed at least 115 people since dawn yesterday. (Source: AsiaNews, an official press agency of the Catholic Church's Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) - headquarters Roma, Italy)

Pakistan
17.05.25  Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has publicly acknowledged that Indian ballistic missiles struck the Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi and other key military sites during Operation Sindoor. Satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies later showed damage at multiple locations. Images captured on April 25 and May 10 indicated structural damage at four sites - Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi, PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha, Bholari Air Base, and PAF Base Shahbaz in Jacobabad. (Source: Telegraph India)

Turkey
17 May 2025  Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul. In its messaging ahead of the talks, the Russian side depicted the talks as a return to the failed Istanbul negotiations of early 2022. The implied message was that the Ukrainians could have taken what the Russians offered then, and now, after the loss of so much human life, they were back to where they started. Much is still unknown about the 2022 peace talks and they remain highly contentious. But what is known is that they produced something called the Istanbul Communiqué, a draft treaty that would have declared Ukraine a permanently neutral state, meaning it would agree to never host foreign military bases or to join Nato. Further, the proposed treaty listed a number of potential guarantors of Ukraine’s future security, including the permanent members of the Security Council, (including Russia), Canada, Turkey, Poland, Belarus, and Italy. These states would be obliged to assist the Ukrainians in restoring peace in the event of an attack on its territory. The Communique envisioned a path for the country’s eventual EU membership. There were also some glaring omissions. Most significantly, the Communique did not address the burning issue of territory and borders. The Russian side has claimed that both sides were close to an agreement, but that it was ultimately thwarted by Boris Johnson, who purportedly pressured the Ukrainians not to sign because he wanted them to fight in order to weaken Russia at any cost. Though Western leaders were indeed skeptical of the talks, and Johnson reportedly told Zelensky that any deal with the Russians would deliver the Kremlin a victory of sorts, the West’s main issue with the treaty was reportedly that it would have necessitated engaging Russia diplomatically in order to hammer out the specifics of Ukraine’s security guarantees. And neither direct diplomatic engagement with Russia nor the provision of security guarantees were things the West was interested in doing. The Ukrainians were also infuriated by the discovery of Russian atrocities against Ukrainian civilians, including women and children, in the city of Bucha. Further, Russia’s failure to take Kyiv convinced Zelensky that with sufficient Western military aid, ’Ukraine could win the war’. In another nod to 2022, the Russian delegation would once again be led by the Ukraine-born Russian nationalist and Kremlin aide Medinsky. The Russians are reportedly looking at any potential settlement on Ukraine as part of a larger grand bargain with the Americans, one that would also keep the Trump administration onside. From the outside, all the diplomatic activity of Turkey looks impressive: just this week, it hosted Russia-Ukraine talks, nuclear talks between the Europeans and Iran, and the Nato foreign ministers’ meeting. Though this week’s peace talks failed to deliver peace, at the end of yesterday, it was announced the Russia and Ukraine had agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, the largest of the war. It wasn’t peace; it wasn’t even a ceasefire, but 'it was more than nothing'. As this week’s peace talks failed to deliver, Trump asserted that no deal on Ukraine was possible until he met with Putin. And perhaps he’s right. (Source: The New Statesman - United Kingdom)

North America

17/05/2025, Saturday  US President Trump said yesterday that he has to come together with Putin to end the Ukraine war. "I have a very good relationship with Putin. I think we'll make a deal. We have to get together, and I think we'll probably schedule it up," Trump told in Abu Dhabi. "I think Putin is tired of this whole thing," he said, adding he would use leverage if he had to. "Nobody uses leverage better than me," he added. Istanbul hosted Russia-Ukraine talks yesterday to advance peace efforts between the two countries which resulted in an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners from each side as a confidence-building measure. Turkish FM Fidan said Ukrainian and Russian officials agreed in principle to meet again for negotiations on a ceasefire. Trump said he is tired of having other people "go and meet and everything else." (Source: Yeni Safak / Anadolu Agency = Turkey)

May 17, 2025  Axios obtained the audio of former President Biden's October 2023 interviews with special counsel Hur. /Audio - 5 h 10 min/ (Source: YouTube - U.S.)
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Europe

Poland
(Friday), May 16, 2025 Presidential elections: Thirteen candidates of all stripes are vying to be the next president of the Central European country of 38 million people. The electoral campaign in the European Union and NATO member largely revolved around foreign policy, showcasing a clash of philosophies over Poland's attitude towards the European Union, towards migration, towards the United States. It was a kind of identity campaign. And there was Ukraine. The job of Polish president comes with some real power. That has often stymied Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former European Council chief whose ’centrist’ Civic Coalition (KO) has clashed on multiple fronts with conservative President Duda since coming to power in 2023. Tusk's KO is supporting Warsaw mayor Trzaskowski for president. Duda, who cannot run again, is allied with historian Nawrocki, endorsed by the main opposition Law and Justice party (PiS). Trzaskowski is the front-runner, with 33% of the vote in the latest opinion polls, compared with 26% for Nawrocki. With neither on track to win more than 50%, they will likely meet again in a runoff on June 1. Mentzen, the ’far-right’ Confederation party candidate is polling in third with 11%. The three candidates of the fragmented left have no more than 11% together. The governing coalition is hopeful a victory by Trzaskowski, 53, would enable it to fulfill its hitherto undelivered campaign pledges. Tusk's administration e.g. has been blocked from easing Poland's stringent abortion laws. Unfulfilled pledges - or ones carried out only partially or later than hoped for - have left some voters disappointed in the government. The difficult cohabitation would only be reinforced if Nawrocki, 42, becomes president. Poland's president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, steers foreign policy and can introduce and veto legislation. "With Nawrocki as president, the government would be paralyzed, and that could eventually lead to the fall of the ruling coalition," said political scientist Materska-Sosnowska of the University of Warsaw. The vote is also crucial for security, said Przybylski, head of the Res Publica foundation. Under Tusk, Poland ’has grown more important’ on the continent and reinforced its position as a ’key voice’ on NATO's eastern flank. Depending on the outcome of Romania's presidential election, Poland risks becoming the only large country with strategic security importance there. Tusk's government meanwhile is beginning to operate in a new paradigm where security is not uniquely based on transatlantic ties, Przybylski said. Last week, Tusk signed a treaty with France, committing both sides to mutual assistance in case of an attack by an aggressor. Nawrocki's politics are clearly linked to the mindset and approach of U.S. President Trump whose country the candidate touts as the sole guarantor of security. Nawrocki admires Trump, whom he met at the White House this month. The Pole claimed Trump told him: "You will win." ’Some lawmakers from the governing coalition have accused Trump of election interference. Days before the vote, Nawrocki received an endorsement from Romania's ’far-right’ presidential candidate Simion, who faces a run-off on Sunday. The two Trump fans vowed to work together. (Source: The Japan Times / AFP-JIJI)

16.05.2025  Poland will hold the first round of the presidential elections on May 18, Sunday. Only two days before the Polish elections a group of Russian hackers active on Telegram have attacked the Civic Platform internet sites, Polish premier Donald Tusk said on X. He added that websites of the other coalition partners, center-right Poland 2050 and conservative Polish People’s Party, have also come under attack. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Portugal
16/05/2025  Ahead of Sunday's vote Portugal prepares for its third early general election in three years. Polls suggest a fragmented outcome, with no clear majority expected. The ruling centre-right Democratic Alliance is set to lead, but questions remain about forming a stable government amid growing support for the 'far-right' Chega party. (Source: France 24)

Romania
(Friday), 16/05/2025  Romania's election campaign closes. Invited to a live talk show yesterday in Paris, Simion proclaimed his love for France and then bluntly accused Macron of dictatorial tendencies and stated that France interfered in the Romanian elections. The leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), Simion chose France as the finish line for his election campaign, reaching out to the decisive votes of the Romanian diaspora,  also declaring his aversion to Macron. I don’t like Macron’s dictatorial tendencies, Simion said, to which the host replied that If you already call your counterpart a dictator, this is promising for Romania’s relations with France. Today, the hard-right candidate chose to continue the charge when he met the French media in an event organised by ’far-right’ French MEP Marechal, who endorsed Simion. With just hours before the end of Romania’s fiery presidential election campaign, the AUR leader Simion continued his attack, saying that Macron is not just dictatorial, but if things go in this rhythm, in 20-50 years we won’t be able to talk of the France that we know.’ It can become anything, maybe a caliphate or something else, Simion said. Simion accused French President Macron of interference. ’We don’t respect Macron who is trying to interfere in our election. He did it in December. He is doing it again now, through the French embassy,’ he added. „My message is very clear: this is none of your business. Nor that of Putin. It’s none of Zelenskyy’s business. It’s not Trump’s business. This is the decision of the free and sovereign Romanian people. You are not an emperor. You don’t even really love the French people.” While Simion was raging against Macron in the French capital today, his contender Dan, who studied mathematics at the Sorbonne in Paris, released a video of a warm conversation between him and Macron. In his social media post, Dan says that ’while my contender was insulting the French people right at their home, I had a dialogue with Monsieur Macron, while thanking him for his support. The video starts with Macron speaking in English to which Dan replies that they can talk in French, “because I spent few years in Paris long time ago”, in contrast to Simion’s talk-show performance in which he displayed an approximate French, ultimately switching to Romanian. During the call, Macron praises France and Romania's profound relations and legacy, concluding that what is at stake in these elections is ’of course the key to not only Romania’s destiny, but also ours. ’Therefore, the French president said, it is essential to have a pro-European partner involved in the collective security and economic modernity. Dan replied that security is without a doubt Europe’s main concern and this is the first thing that must be developed if he become the president of Romania. We must pass this Sunday for Romania’s direction to be clearly towards Europe, Dan concluded. The hard-right candidate Simion and the independent centrist Dan are neck and neck in the latest opinion polls before the vote on Sunday. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)

European Parliament
16/05/2025  Last month the Hungarian parliament passed an amendment to the constitution codifying the law banning public events that are considered to be in breach of the Child Protection Act, which heavily restricted depictions of homosexuality and gender reassignment. Events held by the LGBTQ+ community, such as the yearly Pride parade in Budapest were prohibited under the new law. A group of Members of the European Parliament is preparing to travel to Hungary to protest 'the government’s decision' to ban this year’s Budapest Pride. A delegation of MEPs from The Left to the European People Party is expected to join Pride march in Budapest next month. By banning Pride, 'the Hungarian government' 'wants to silence opposition', said Angel, S&D MEP and co-chair of the LGBTIQ+ Intergroup. Next Tuesday in LIBE committee, there will be a vote on this year's rule of law report and the European People Party (EPP) group has requested separate votes on all paragraphs that include the LGBTQI+ rights, he said, referring to language on same-sex marriage, gender recognition and conversion practices. Activists from Romania, Bulgaria and Italy warned that the situation is not limited to Hungary, citing rising violence, legal crackdowns and public hostility against LGBTIQ+ people across the region. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)

Albania
16 May 2025  European leaders gathered in Albania for a Political Community Summit. In an opening video clip, the heads of states were portrayed as babies. /Video/ (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)
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Ukraine
May 16, 2025  One of the F-16 fighter jets provided to Ukraine by its Western allies was lost today. Ukraine received its first F-16s in early August 2024. On August 26 it lost the first fighter jet. (Source: Meduza - based in Latvia)

Asia

Gaza
16.05.2025  More than 100 Palestinians were killed in several attacks carried out by the Israeli army in northern Gaza at daybreak today. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Turkey
Friday 16 May 2025 13:40 BST  Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years today, gathering in Istanbul for Turkish-brokered negotiations. Officials and observers expected them to yield little immediate progress on stopping the more than three-year war. A senior Ukrainian official at the peace talks in Istanbul said that Kyiv’s delegation was prepared ’to achieve a lot’ today. He accused Moscow of introducing unacceptable demands that had not been previously discussed, including calls for Kyiv’s forces to withdraw from large swaths of territory they control so a complete ceas efire to be implemented. He said it seemed as if the Russian delegation deliberately wants to throw nonstarters on the table ’in order to walk away from today’s meeting without any results’. The Ukrainian side reiterated it remained focused on an immediate ceasefire and a pathway to substantive diplomacy, ’just like the U.S., European partners, and other countries proposed’, the official added. Ukrainian officials held an early-morning meeting with national security advisers from the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom to coordinate positions, a senior Ukrainian official told. The U.S. team was led by retired Lt. Gen. Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, while Umerov and presidential office chief Yermak represented Ukraine. A three-way meeting between Turkey, the U.S. and Ukraine also took place, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said. The U.S. side included Secretary of State Rubio as well as Kellogg. Rubio yesterday said he didn't foresee major developments in Istanbul. ”Frankly, at this point, I think it’s abundantly clear that the only way we’re going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin,” Rubio told. Zelenskyy, meantime, flew to Albania to attend a meeting today of the leaders of 47 European countries. Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Umerov sat down with a Russian team headed by presidential aide Medinsky. The two sides are far apart in their conditions for ending the war, and Trump said yesterday during a trip to the Middle East that a meeting between himself and Putin was crucial to breaking the deadlock. Kremlin spokesperson Peskov told top-level talks were “certainly needed.” He noted that preparing a summit would take time. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

16.05.2025  Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting. Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan said Ukrainian and Russian officials agreed in principle to meet again for negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire. The intense diplomatic talks, held under Türkiye’s facilitation, resulted in an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners from each side as a confidence-building measure. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

North America

United States
May 16, 2025  Trump administration working on plan to permanently relocate up to  1 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya. No final agreement has been reached, but the administration has discussed it with Libyan leadership. In exchange for the resettling of Palestinians, the administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the U.S. froze more than a decade ago. Israel has been kept informed of the administration’s discussions. After publication of this article, a spokesperson told “these reports are untrue.” Such a plan was not discussed and makes no sense, the spokesperson said. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

Fri, May 16 2025  Moody’s Ratings cut the United States’ sovereign credit rating down one notch to Aa1 from Aaa, the highest possible, citing the growing burden of financing the federal government’s budget deficit and the rising cost of rolling over existing debt amid high interest rates. The decision to lower the United States credit profile would be expected, at the margin, to lift the yield that investors demand in order to buy U.S. Treasury debt to reflect more risk, and could dampen sentiment toward owning U.S. assets, including stocks. That said, all the major credit rating agencies continue to give the United States their second-highest available rating. Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. to AA+ from AAA in August 2011, and Fitch Ratings also cut the U.S. rating to AA+ from AAA, in August 2023. The U.S. is running a massive budget deficit as interest costs for Treasury debt continued to rise due to a combination of higher rates and more principal debt to finance. The fiscal deficit in the year that began October 1 is already running at $1.05 trillion, 13% higher than a year ago. Revenue from tariffs helped shave some of the imbalance last month. In early April, Treasury yields rose and the dollar weakened against its global counterparts in reaction to Trump imposing high tariffs on imported goods coming into the U.S., a sign that investors could be starting to move away from the U.S. as the safest place in the world to invest. (Source: CNBC - U.S.)

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