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European Parliament
July 31, 2023 The European Parliament’s response to Qatargate: Fight corruption with paperwork. And blame foreign interference, not an integrity deficit. When Belgian police made sweeping arrests and recovered €1.5 million from Parliament members in a cash-for-influence probe last December, it sparked mass clamoring for a deep clean of the institution, which has long languished with lax ethics and transparency rules, and even weaker enforcement. The Belgian authorities’ painstaking judicial investigation is still ongoing, with three MEPs charged and a fourth facing imminent questioning. Much is unknown about how the alleged bribery ring really operated, or what the countries Qatar, Morocco and Mauritania really got for their bribes. The Parliament and its president, Metsola, seven months later can claim to have tightened some rules - with accused MEPs Kaili and Tarabella back in the Parliament and even voting on ethics changes themselves. The reforms lack the political punch ahead of the EU election next year. The Parliament declined to launch its own inquiry into what really happened, it decided not to force MEPs to declare their assets and it won’t be stripping any convicted MEPs of their gold-plated pensions. Calls for a more profound overhaul in the EU’s only directly elected institution - including more serious enforcement of existing rules for MEPs - have been met with finger-pointing, blame-shifting and bureaucratic slow-walking. EU Ombudsman O’Reilly, who investigates complaints about EU administration, lamented that the initial sense of urgency to adopt strict reforms had 'dissipated.' After handing the EU a reputational blow, she argued, the scandal’s aftermath offered a pre-election chance, “to show that lessons have been learned and safeguards have been put in place.” The Parliament was occasionally looking outward rather than inward for people to blame. Metsola’s message in the wake of the scandal was that EU democracy was “under attack” by foreign forces, actors, linked to autocratic third countries. Instead of creating a new panel to investigate how corruption might have steered Parliament’s work, Parliament repurposed an existing committee on foreign interference and misinformation to probe the matter. The result was a set of medium- and long-term recommendations that focus as much on blocking IT contractors from Russia and China as they do on holding MEPs accountable - and they remain merely recommendations. Metsola did also turn inward, presenting a 14-point plan in January she labeled as “first steps” of a promised ethics overhaul - a finely tailored lattice-work of technical measures that could make it harder for Qatargate to happen again, primarily by making it harder to lobby the Parliament undetected. The package includes a new entry register, a six-month cooling-off period banning ex-MEPs from lobbying their colleagues, tighter rules for events, stricter scrutiny of human rights work. But the central figure in Qatargate, an Italian ex-MEP called Panzeri, enjoyed unfettered access to the Parliament, using it to give prominence to his human rights NGO Fight Impunity, which held events and even struck a collaboration deal with the institution. An initial idea to ban former MEPs from lobbying for two years after leaving office - which would mirror the European Commission’s rules - instead turned into just a six-month 'cooling off' period. Metsola’s promise in December was that there would be “no business as usual,” which she repeated in July. MEPs, primarily in Metsola’s large, center-right European People’s Party group pushed an argument, that changing that 'business as usual' will only tie the hands of innocent politicians while doing little to stop the few with criminal intent. They’re bolstered by the fact that the Socialists & Democrats remain the only group touched by the scandal. Wieland, a long-serving EPP member from Germany, who sits on the several key rule-making committees, chairs an internal working group on the Parliament’s rules that feeds into the Parliament’s powerful Committee on Constitutional Affairs, where Metsola’s 14-point plan will be translated into cold, hard rules. Those rule changes are expected to be adopted by the full Parliament in September. The measures will boost existing transparency rules significantly. The lead MEP on a legislative file will soon have to declare (and deal with) potential conflicts of interest, including those coming from their "emotional life.” And more MEPs will have to publish their meetings related to parliamentary business, including those with representatives from outside the EU. Members will also have to disclose outside income over €5,000 - with additional details about the sector if they work in something like law or consulting. Negotiators also agreed to double potential penalties for breaches: MEPs can lose their daily allowance and be barred from most parliamentary work for up to 60 days. They fully delivered on Metsola’s plan, Wieland told. 'Not more than that.' Yet the Parliament’s track record punishing MEPs who break the rules is virtually nonexistent. As it stands, an internal advisory committee can recommend a punishment, but it’s up to the president to impose it. Of 26 breaches of transparency rules identified over the years, not one MEP has been punished. (Metsola has imposed penalties for things like harassment and hate speech.) And hopes for an outside integrity cop to help with enforcement were dashed when a long-delayed Commission proposal for an EU-wide independent ethics body was scaled back. The Commission opted for suggesting a standards-setting panel that, at best, would pressure institutions into better policing their own rules. 'I really hate listening to some, especially members of the European Parliament, who say that ‘Without having the ethics body, we cannot behave ethical[ly],’' Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Jourová lamented in June. Metsola, for her part, has pledged to adhere to the advisory committee’s recommendations going forward. But MEPs from across the political spectrum flagged the president’s complete discretion to mete out punishments as unsustainable. (Source: Politico)
Belarus
July 31, 2023 Russia's Wagner mercenary group has begun training mechanized units of the Belarusian military, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said yesterday. 'Training is being conducted to organize departments, platoons, and companies, taking into account the experience of the [Wagner] specialists,' the ministry said. Thousands of Wagner mercenaries have arrived in Belarus since the group's short-lived rebellion in Russia. (Source: rferl)
Russia
July 31, 2023 Russian President Putin is forming a network of private military companies across Russia. The plans for the "special enterprises" were noted in a new bill that raises the draft age for the Russian military. The move is aimed at countering sabotage and internal threats, according to a statement by Duma defense committee chairman Kartapolov. According to the Daily Beast report, Putin's militias would be under the command of regional governors, operate at Putin's behest, and would be armed by the Russian Ministry of Defense. They are a tool to enhance security [important given clandestine actions by Ukrainian military intelligence], and can, as necessary, help against any new mutiny, Sokov,a former Kremlin official, told The Daily Beast. The Barents Observer, a Norwegian outlet, said the units' job is to "protect the state border, fight illegal armed groups and combat foreign sabotage and intelligence formations," as well as quashing internal threats. Russia already has a national guard. (Source: msn)
31 Jul 2023 Russian President Putin reviewed a parade of warships and nuclear submarines in his native St Petersburg and announced that the Russian Navy would receive 30 new ships this year. Former Russian President Medvedev again raised the spectre of a nuclear conflict over Ukraine, saying Moscow may have to use an atomic weapon if Kyiv’s ongoing counteroffensive was a success. “Imagine if the… offensive, which is backed by NATO, was a success and they tore off a part of our land then we would be forced to use a nuclear weapon,' he said on Telegram. The Russian defence ministry said it brought down three Ukrainian drones over the capital, Moscow, damaging a high-rise building reported to house government offices. Nobody was hurt and the attack briefly forced the closure of the city’s four airports. Separately, the Russian defence ministry said it had successfully thwarted an overnight attack on the peninsula of Crimea by 25 Ukrainian drones. Ukrainian forces say they are retaking ground near Bakhmut, lost when Russian forces took the city in May. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Maliar said Russian forces were “tenaciously trying to seize back” areas on the southern front. Ukraine, she said, had recaptured 200 square kilometres in the south but advances were limited by entrenched Russian positions and mines. President Zelenskyy said the war was 'gradually returning to Russia’s territory – to its symbolic centres'. In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a Russian attack set off a fire at a 'non-residential” building but caused no casualties. Russia’s defence ministry, in its daily account of military activity, said its forces had spotted and deployed rockets to destroy an аrmoured brigade of Ukrainian troops near Svatove, a key Russian-held town in Ukraine’s northeast. Russian forces, it added, had also repelled four Ukrainian attacks near the town of Lyman, further south. (Source: AlJazeera)
Ukraine
July 31, 2023 Two months after it began its counteroffensive, analysts observe that 'Ukrainian forces made notable gains' in the east and south of the country at the center of some of the most fierce fighting in recent days. 'The independent' Institute for the Study of War noted in its latest update that forces 'loyal to Kyiv' have opened up three new fronts, including around the contested city of Bakhmut. The institute assesses Ukraine has made “small successes' in these regions and are gradually advancing west toward the region around Zaporizhzhia. Local commanders have offered tempered optimism about their progress. Ukrainian troops are "slowly but surely' gaining momentum around Bakhmut and elsewhere in the contested province of Donetsk, Cherevaty, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Forces, said today. Ryan, a former Australian army general who regularly analyzes developments in Ukraine, calls the latest reports 'excellent news.' 'Although we must acknowledge the Ukrainian lives this has cost to achieve,' he wrote in his latest analysis in Substack. 'Notwithstanding this achievement, there is still some way to go before Ukrainian ground forces are able to make an operational breakthrough and advance to their southern seacoast.' Beyond focus on the literal front lines in Ukraine, both sides have also turned their attention on Russian public opinion and perception of the conflict in an attempt to shape the war. Ukraine appears to have escalated its use of drone attacks on Moscow and other key hubs in Russia with several last week, including one that landed near the Russian Ministry of Defense building. The strikes have targeted key Russian logistics nodes and also parts of the city center in the capital. 'Western governments assess that these attacks have the potential to dramatically affect what has so far been universal support for Putin at home and for his decision to invade Ukraine'. So far, Putin’s government has contained the potential fallout from these stories – chiefly by its iron-fisted control of news media in Russia. State news services have underreported the drone strikes and placed broad emphasis on operations it says have targeted drone manufacturing facilities in Ukraine. The biggest story locals are following are Russian news reports of Ukrainian casualties since it began the counteroffensive, which Defense Minister Shoigu said recently exceeds 20,000. And Russian support for the war does appear to be continuing. The latest poll released on Friday, July 28, by the independent Levada Center - a reliable glimpse into public opinion within the authoritarian state – shows an increase in the number of Russians who support the war, now at 75%. The biggest jump came from the 45% who now say they “definitely support” Russia’s invasion compared to the 30% those who “rather support” it. Levada noted however, that support for peace negotiations with Ukraine also appears to be rising, particularly as new avenues for diplomatic engagement regarding the conflict accelerate. (Source: UPI)
July 31, 2023 Saudi Arabia and Ukraine have invited 30 countries to participate in the summit in Jeddah, the latest multilateral talk called by Ukraine to try to increase international support for a 10-point peace plan proposed by Zelensky in December, which called for full restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the withdrawal of all occupying Russian troops. They hope to win the support of countries such as India and Brazil. U.S. national security adviser Sullivan is expected to attend the Ukrainian-backed 'peace' summit in Saudi Arabia this weekend. Russia will not attend the conference. Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Moscow would monitor the meeting. “We’re in touch with our partners. As concerns the event that will be held by Saudi Arabia, if it helps the West realize the Zelensky plan’s complete futility, then it won’t be useless,” Zakharova, the spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said today. Early today morning Russian forces launched two missiles at Kryvyi Rih, an industrial city about 275 miles southeast of Kyiv, killing six and injuring 75. In a video address today, Zelensky said Russia fired Iskander ballistic missiles from Crimea. One of the missiles ripped through five floors of a residential building, while the other destroyed a university building, Zelensky said. Today, two early-morning Russian strikes killed at least four people and wounded 17 in southern port city Kherson. With Moscow having reimposed a blockade on Ukraine grain in the Black Sea, the Ukrainian and Croatian foreign ministers agreed today on the “possibility” of using Croatian ports to export Ukrainian grain. It was not clear how such an arrangement would work. (Source: TheWshingtonPost)
31 July 2023 Elite snipers, 'The Ghosts', a team of around 20 soldiers, have been operating on the edges of Bakhmut for the past six months. They often hunt for high-value targets. The team electronically records every shot through the sights of their rifle. How many Russians the team have killed? 'There's a confirmed number - 524'. Every member of the team was 'handpicked based on their humanity and patriotism' rather than their military experience and skills. (Source: BBC)
31 July 2023 8.6% of Ukraine’s total housing stock is damaged or destroyed, amounting to $54bn in damages, according to a June report from the Kyiv School of Economics. The immense costs of redevelopment were estimated in April to be $411bn by the World Bank in April. Former EuroMaidan revolutionary turned politician Nayyem, the former Deputy Minister of Infrastructure will be responsible for rebuilding Ukraine when the war comes to an end. Nayyem' Agency was established in January. He believes Ukraine could potentially become one of the most modern and greenest countries in the world – if the money to pay for it can be found. As Nayyem points out, this figure is only going up. “It is too early to estimate because we do not know what is going on in the occupied territories. It is obvious they will have [far] more problems than the de-occupied and liberated territories or the peace side,” Nayyem tells. Pointing to Kherson as an example, he explains that Russian troops have destroyed everything in the occupied zones, including municipal transportation, bridges, roads and administrative buildings. The Agency has received over 400,000 inquiries from liberated territories, 40% of which concern housing. The Agency has small projects with the UK, World Bank, European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for rebuilding, although not at the level that Ukraine needs. Currently funding from allies and institutions is simply filling the holes in the state budget. Countries like Poland, Lithuania and Estonia are implementing their own projects on the ground. Warsaw is funding temporary accommodation for raining program for interns in the architecture profession (IDPs) in the de-occupied towns outside Kyiv. Repairing damaged roads and bridges is one of the Agency’s key priorities. The Agency is focusing on energy infrastructure in preparation for the heating season as well as utilities, such as water. Following the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant last month, the Agency is building a pipeline to provide water to 1.5mn people in southern Ukraine. The Fund for Liquidation of the Consequences of Russian Aggression launched by Ukraine in January 2023, consists of seized funds and assets belonging to the Russian Federation and Russian citizens. The 2023 state budget allotted UAH35.5bn ($965mn) to the fund, with priority on rebuilding destroyed housing and critical infrastructure facilities. And the government confiscated $462mn from Russian banks at the start of the year. The private sector was pinpointed at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London last month. However, many expressed concerns about Ukraine’s corrupt reputation. Nayyem believes implementing transparency and corruption prevention measures in all agencies will help change the approach for procurement and other issues and build trust with partners. He points to the recently launched DREAM platform, which aims to make the reconstruction process as transparent as possible. Currently, only Ukrainian construction firms are involved in the rebuilding process. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainian citizens and businesses (73% and 80% respectively) listed the resumption of corruption schemes as their top fear post-war. The physical reconstruction process will begin in August, trialled in six settlements in the Kherson, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions, which should become fully habitable within a year, according to Nayyem. Ukraine has its own big capacity to produce materials and enough experts and specialists and labour who can work on this project, he stresses. Ukraine's depleted workforce has suffered a 30% drop since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. 2,000 members of the Agency are in communication with locals on the ground. Nayyem thinks restoration itself will be part of economic development and part of job creation. Housing is the responsibility of the government, "because housing is something that people cannot bring back fast enough [themselves] so the government should help them,' he explains. (Source: bneIntelliNews)
31 Jul 2023 Yermak, the chief of staff to Ukraine’s president, writing on Telegram, said officials from several countries were preparing to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss Zelenskyy’s peace plan for Ukraine, based on the departure of all Russian troops. He said Kyiv is to start consultations with the United States this week on providing security guarantees for the country pending the completion of the process of joining NATO. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the meeting in Saudi Arabia on July 29, saying it would be held in Jeddah on August 5-6. (Source: AlJazeera)
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