.
Europe
France
(Sunday ), July 7, 2024 6:00am EDT Second round of voting is underway today in France's parliamentary election. French President Macron on edge as France's right-wing National Rally Party gained momentum in first round of elections. Le Pen’s National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) outperformed expectations in the European parliamentary elections, trouncing Macron’s centrist party and prompting him to call a snap election as he felt it created tension in the country if the electorate no longer believed in his party and their policies. France's right-wing National Rally looks to seize on recent electoral gains. Bardella could become France's next prime minister. The 28-year-old ’right-wing populist’ Bardella shocked the establishment when his party got 31.5% of the vote in the recent EU election. Rivals move to block France 'right-wing national party's election momentum. (Source: foxnews)
European Parliament
(Sunday), 07/07/2024 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's new alliance of 'far-right' parties passes the threshold to form a political group called "Patriots for Europe" in the European Parliament. On Saturday, the group secured the membership of the 'far-right' Danish People's Party and the 'far-right' Flemish Vlaams Belang, meeting the required threshold. Notable partners include Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Wilders. To form the group, 23 MEPs from seven countries are needed. Viktor Orbán announced his intention to form a new EU parliamentary group on June 30, promising a "new era" that would "change European politics." He made the announcement in Strasbourg with the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria, Kickl, and the centrist ANO of former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. Since then, five other parties have said they will join. They include the Portugal's far-right Chega party and Spain's Vox party. Orbán, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency as of July for six months, said the parties would meet in Brussels tomorrow. By then he will know if the French National Rally has decided to join forces with him after the conclusion of Sunday's second round of French parliamentary elections. With 30 MEPs, the National Rally would be the largest political force in the group if it decides to join the "Patriots for Europe." If the National Rally joins, the "Patriots for Europe" would potentially become the third largest parliamentary group, following the conservative European People's Party (EPP) and the Social Democrats (SD). It would then even overtake the other right-wing group, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Several of the groups joining Orbán's movement were previously part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which includes members of France's National Rally. Babis's ANO party defected from Renew Europe, which includes liberals and centrists. Vox is leaving the ECR movement, Orbán's main rival as the dominant player in right-wing EU politics. (Source: dw *)
* Deutsche Welle, the German public, state-owned international broadcaster, headquartered in Bonn
(Sunday), 7 July 2024 Orbán’s new right-wing group hits EU parliament threshold. In Strasbourg, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced June 30 his intention to form a new EU parliamentary group called “Patriots for Europe”, vowing “a new era” that “will change European politics”. Andrej Babis, former prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the ANO party, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, leader of the ruling Fidesz party and Kickl, head of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) were holding a press conference after signing a trilateral political agreement of cooperation entitled "A Patriotic Manifesto for a European Future", which outlines the ideals and objectives of the grouping, in Vienna, Austria, 30 June 2024. Hungarian premier’s fledgling political movement attracted enough parties today to achieve recognition from the European Parliament in a boost for his latest ploy to shift Brussels rightwards. Five more parties said they will join: the Party for Freedom (PVV) of Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Wilders, Portugal’s 'far-right' Chega party and Spain’s Vox. With the Danish People’s Party and the Flemish nationalist pro-independence Vlaams Belang announcing they would join yesterday, Patriots for Europe fulfilled the EU parliament’s threshold for formal recognition - 23 lawmakers from seven countries. Orbán said the parties would meet tomorrow in Brussels. By that time, Orbán will know if France’s National Rally has chosen to join forces with him after the second round of the country’s legislative elections today. The new ‘Patriots’ for Europe grouping are on track to become the third largest political force - the dominant 'hard-right' force - in the European Parliament with Spain’s VOX party leaving the Conservatives and Le Pen’s party likely to join too with the biggest political force within the group with 30 MEPs. Vox is leaving the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) movement associated with Italian Prime Minister Meloni - dominant player in right-wing EU politics. Several of the groups joining Orbán’s movement were previously part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group. Babiš’s ANO party defected from Renew Europe, which includes liberals and centrists, among them French President Macron’s Renaissance party. Italy’s League, led by Salvini, has also expressed an interest in the new movement but has not confirmed its participation. Orbán - whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency - has long railed against the “Brussels elites'. His Fidesz party has been non-aligned in the EU Parliament since it left the 'right-wing' European People’s Party (EPP) in 2021. The group would push back against European support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and immigration and would campaigning for conservative family values. (Source: euractiv * )
* Euractiv, a European news website. Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium
Russia
Sunday, July 7, 2024. Citing the Russian Ministry of Defence, state news agencies claimed that Iskander ballistic missiles destroyed two launchers for Patriot surface-to-air missile systems in Ukraine’s Odesa region. The Russian Defence Ministry said seven drones were intercepted over the Belgorod region. Russian strikes left some 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine and cut off the water supply to a regional capital. The northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, was plunged into darkness after Russian strikes starting late on Friday damaged energy infrastructure. (Source: aljazeera *)
* Al Jazeera Media Network, a media conglomerate headquartered at Doha. Qatar
Europe
07.07.2024 European Union (EU) is turning blind eye to members' arms trade with Tel Aviv. Also the United Kingdom (UK) continues its arms trade with Israel. The EU lacks a provision prohibiting arms trade with Israel that is being tried at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It allows member states to continue exports to and imports from Israel, Irish journalist Cronin said. When Israel attacked Gaza in 2014, that same year the EU imposed an arms embargo on Russia for annexing Crimea but did not apply the same to Israel, he said. 'So, there's obviously very clear double standards.' He noted that the ICJ decision could lead to additional cases challenging arms cooperation between Europe and Israel, causing concern in some countries. “The weapons cooperation with Israel makes the European Union complicit in the current genocide in Gaza,' Cronin stressed. Also, Cronin noted that the United Kingdom continues its arms trade with Israel. “Elbit Systems, the largest privately-owned Israeli weapons company, has something like 10 different factories and offices in Britain. Engines for Israeli drones are being manufactured near Birmingham in England.' Emphasizing that arms trade operates bilaterally, Cronin said Berlin has transferred numerous weapons to Israel in the last decade, but Germany is also an important customer of the Israeli arms industry. “So we really need to be talking about a two-way arms embargo.” “German officials paid a visit to the headquarters of Israel Aerospace Industries in May, where there was a discussion about Germany possibly buying the Arrow 3,” he said, referring to the hypersonic anti-ballistic missile that is jointly funded, developed and produced by Israel and the US. Cronin stressed that the state-owned Israeli weapons company “has made many of the weapons that are currently being used, drones and other weapons that are currently being used to kill people in Gaza.' Cronin said France has given indications of halting arms sales to Israel due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Noting that Israeli companies were banned from participating in the Eurosatory arms fair in Paris last month, but that decision was overturned following a complaint by the France-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Cronin said major Israeli companies were not able to participate in the way they planned in the exhibition. He said despite being fully Israeli-owned, Elbit's 'OIP Sensor Systems" arms company in Belgium registered as a Belgian company to participate in Eurosatory. The Irish expert noted that Dutch, Polish and Spanish arms companies also participated in Eurosatory, showcasing weapons systems composed of Israeli-made components. “The cooperation has been going on for a long time and it's become quite sophisticated, so we really need to have a total ban on all trading between Israel and the European Union.' (Source: aa *)
* Anadolu Agency, a state-run news agency. Headquarters Ankara, Turkey.
Asia
Azerbaijan
7 July 2024 14:25 (UTC+04:00) Hungarian PM's participation in Organization of Turkic States (OTS) summit cuases much of EU leadership's consternation. Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán did not represent the European Union at the informal Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS/TDT) held on July 6 in Shusha, Azerbaijan - this was stated in the statement of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Borrell. In addition, the European Union, as stated by the European Commissioner, condemns the OTS's attempts to legitimize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as an observer in the organization. Note that Hungary presides over the EU Council from July 1 to December 31, 2024. The logic of such a denial by Brussels is not entirely clear, because the OTS organization itself has never considered the European Union as its "Turkish' partner, to have a representative from the entire European Union among its members and even observer states. (Source: azernews *)
* Azernews, a centre-right, weekly newspaper. Headquarters Baku, Azerbaijan
China
July 07, 2024 8:37 PM Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrived in Beijing today for talks with Chinese President Xi, Orbán's press chief told. Orbán's visit came days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine. Orbán, a critic of Western military aid to Ukraine who has the warmest relations of any EU leader with Russian President Putin, said last week he recognized he had no EU mandate for the trip to Moscow, but that peace could not be made "from a comfortable armchair in Brussels." Hungary's foreign minister, Szijjártó, was accompanying Orbán on the China trip. The foreign ministry canceled late last week a meeting for today in Budapest with Germany's foreign minister and Szijjártó. (Source: voanews * / Reuters)
* Voice of America, the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Israel
(Sunday ), July 7, 2024 6:00am EDT An Israeli minister has endorsed Marine Le Pen for French president, as her right-wing party seeks significant gains in the current election. "It is excellent for Israel that she will be the president of France, with 10 exclamation marks," Diaspora Affairs Minister Chikli said Tuesday, later indicating that his view may be shared by other members of Israel's leadership. "I think I and Netanyahu are of the same opinion," he said. 'It remains unclear' what had prompted Chikli to discuss Le Pen - Presidential race not until 2027. Le Pen has unsuccessfully run for president three times – in 2012, 2017 and 2022, improving her rank and share of the vote each time during that decade. Her most recent run saw her win 41.5% of the vote against Macron. Some speculate that the cultural issues at the heart of the election will propel National Rally – and potentially, in the 2027 presidential election, Le Pen – to control of the country. Immigration has proven a strong issue for right-wing parties across Europe. Klarsfeld, a Nazi hunter, last week announced that he would throw his weight behind National Rally, telling French outlet LCI that if choosing between 'an antisemitic party and a pro-Jewish party, I would vote for a pro-Jewish party," referring to National Rally. Antisemitism has taken sharp focus in the election after the alleged gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl that many have cast as a hate crime. Two adolescent boys arrested in a Paris suburb were hit with preliminary charges in relation to the crime, with prosecutors alleging that the rape had been religiously motivated. Rabbi Sebbag of the Grande Synagogue in Paris said that the election has indicated to him that French Jews have ’no future" in France, telling The Jerusalem Post that he urges "everyone who is young to go to Israel or a more secure country.’ Sebbeg argued that even if the far-right National Rally has voiced support for Israel’s defense against Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack, the party’s roots come from a place of antisemitism that continues to trouble him. "Many Ashkenazi Jewish families here since before World War II couldn’t think to vote for National Rally, yet the Left has been antisemitic in recent times," said Sebbag. "The Jews are in the middle, because they don’t know who hates them more.' (Source: foxnews *)
* Fox News Channel (FNC), an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website. Headquarters New York City, New York
NATO
07/07/2024 05:00 AM EDT With President Biden listing badly in his bid for reelection, many allies anticipate that at this time next year they will be dealing with a new Trump administration - one defined by skepticism toward Europe, a strident strain of right-wing isolationism and a hard resolve to put confronting China above other global priorities. Earlier this year, Trump said he would give Russia free rein to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that do not meet their defense-spending obligations. He wants European countries to spend far more on their own defense. The alliance’s strategy is to provide Trump with a message to his own voters letting himself take credit for making the alliance fairer and more effective. Twenty-three of the 32 NATO member states are assessed to spend 2 percent or more of their GDP on defense, meeting a goal outlined for the alliance in 2014. America’s NATO allies are ramping up weapons 'production', consulting Trump’s advisers and holding secret meetings with each other to feverishly lay the groundwork for his return. Italy and Canada, are far from meeting the 2 percent threshold. So are several smaller allies, including Spain, Portugal and Belgium. In May two dozen Republican and Democratic senators wrote to Prime Minister Trudeau a letter saying they were 'profoundly disappointed' that Canada was going to 'fail to meet its obligations' to NATO. In April, Norway unveiled a 12-year plan to spend $152 billion on defense, much of it focused on production of rockets and artillery. Romania signed a $4 billion deal to acquire Patriot missiles under the Trump administration, is helping expand what will soon become NATO’s largest military base in Europe. Poland spends more than 4 percent of its GDP on defense, the most of any NATO country. Poland’s 'right-wing' president Duda, who is friendly with Trump, 'has called on alliance members to hit a 3 percent spending target'. There is extensive personal outreach to Trump and his advisers, there are policy shifts aimed at pleasing by soothing Trump’s complaints about inadequate European defense spending and there are creative diplomatic and legal measures in the works to armor NATO priorities against tampering by a Trump administration. Last fall, German Foreign Minister Baerbock visited Texas to meet with Gov. Abbott, a powerful Trump supporter. Since Trump locked up the Republican nomination, Duda, and Japan’s former prime minister, Aso, have paid respects to him in person. So has Cameron, the former British foreign secretary and prime minister, who used a visit to Mar-a-Lago to make the case to Trump for supporting the war effort in Ukraine. Champagne, a Canadian minister has met with Republican governors including McMaster of South Carolina and Pillen of Nebraska. During a visit to Washington in May, Labour Party politician Lammy, Britain’s shadow foreign secretary at the time, who was appointed the U.K.’s top diplomat last week after elections there met with Trump allies and MAGA luminaries, including Sens. Graham and Vance. In public remarks, Lammy said Trump’s criticism of NATO had often been 'misunderstood,” and that the former president mainly wanted Europe to spend more on defense. Lammy previously described Trump as a racist and a 'woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath.' Lammy’s MAGA-friendly tour - a mission accomplished - frustrated some center-left leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, including in the White House particularly given his warm relationships with Democrats including Obama. In recent weeks, several diplomats from NATO member states quietly traveled to Washington to meet with conservative academics and people associated with think tanks that they believed could have some influence on Trump’s policy. In Ankara, Turkish officials have reviewed the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy road map for clues into Trump’s designs on Syria. In Atlanta, Austin and Lincoln, Nebraska, top ministers from Germany and Canada have met with Republican governors to shore up relations on the American right. At one of monthly breakfast meetings of ambassadors from European countries, the top envoy from one country asked his colleagues whether they were engaged in a fool’s errand more than six months before the next American president takes office. It has become a full-time mission for U.S. allies to parse who is an authentic Trump emissary and who is a pretender. Personal relationships are paramount with the former president and the people closest to him. Trump formed warm bonds as president with an eclectic range of leaders, from Abe and Bolsonaro to Johnson and Kim, all of whom used that direct personal link to their own advantage. If allies do not see this time Trump withdrawing the U.S. from NATO as a likely scenario, the alliance is still in a state of trepidation only sharpened by the rising power of right-wing NATO skeptics in France and elsewhere on the continent. In Washington, last December a bipartisan majority in the House and Senate voted to make it impossible for a president to withdraw from NATO without strong support from Congress - a measure plainly aimed at handcuffing Trump or a future president who shares his views. American ally South Korea, was pressing for an early renewal of a deal that helps pay for the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in the country. The current deal does not expire until 2025, but renegotiating it with Trump could be much more difficult, given his frequent complaints about the cost of American support for South Korea. In a June speech, Trump deplored the ongoing stream of American money into the war effort in Ukraine. “It never ends,' he railed. A scant two weeks before NATO’s leaders were set to descend on Washington for the summit, a rumor tore through the diplomatic world: Trump had a plan to bring peace to Ukraine. If Putin refused to negotiate an end to the war, the U.S. would flood Ukraine with even more weapons. And if President Zelenskyy refused to sit at a negotiating table with Russia, the U.S. would withdraw its copious military support. The plan was being pitched not by Trump himself, but by several of his many allies and self-described surrogates circulating through political and diplomatic circles. Upon closer scrutiny, it became clear that there was no secret, Trump-approved blueprint to end the war. In Brussels, 'NATO officials have devised a plan to lock in long-term military support for Ukraine so that a possible Trump administration can’t get in the way'. At a mid-June meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, members of the alliance agreed in principle on a plan to shift control of NATO’s support for Ukraine. Up to this point, the United States has taken the lead in organizing military aid through a 300-person unit known as the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, housed at an American military office in Wiesbaden, Germany. Stoltenberg proposed an alternative configuration: 'transferring responsibility for aid management to NATO itself, and especially to European partner states'. The final decision is expected at the NATO summit in Washington. This plan would gradually shift control of aid to a group of 200 NATO soldiers in the Belgian city of Mons - a group that would continue working with the United States, but under the NATO flag. Some Trump advisers have unnerved Europe by speaking with ambivalence about America’s commitment to defending NATO allies with its full military might. Colby, a former top Pentagon official who is seen as a contender to lead the National Security Council in a second Trump administration has rattled allies repeatedly by saying that the U.S. cannot overextend itself in Europe at the expense of countering China. In an interview he indicated there were limits to what the U.S. might do to counter certain kinds of Russian aggression, like an attack on the Baltic states. “The NATO treaty does not oblige us to send our whole military. Kissinger supposedly once said that alliances are not suicide contracts,” Colby said, adding that he was concerned about leaving the U.S. “vulnerable to a knockout blow by China.' (Source: politico *)
.* Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
4 7 10
