.
Europe
Romania
February 11th, 2025 In November, Georgescu emerged from obscurity to win the first round of (the now cancelled) Romanian presidential elections. His connections to the Romanian state, to the parties that have dominated the Romanian political scene since 1989, and to neo-fascist movements have captured much of the attention. Analyses of his ideological roots - interwar fascism, mystical Orthodoxy and the national communism of the 20th century - as well as the massive support he enjoyed on social media have also contributed to building a complex image of him. According to a recent poll, he remains in pole position ahead of the reorganised elections in May, though it is unclear whether he will be allowed to run again. His dramatic rise in support, the popularity of Georgescu - this skilled political entrepreneur - rests on his ability to project three distinct types of authority: traditional, rational-legal and charismatic authority. That, together, project a complex vision. The first two avatars speak to the disappointment and fear of his audience. The last avatar cultivates hope through a vision of national salvation that requires the leadership of men of great valour who are “born not made”. Largely incompatible with one another, the three types of authority he projects have helped him attract different types of voter. His style paradoxically invites people to distance themselves from the sordid circus of other far-right leaders, while simultaneously maintaining – if not amplifying – their most dangerous ideas. The challenge for his opponents will be 'to pierce the veneer of propriety' that serves to legitimise his anti-democratic political project. (Source: The London School of Economics - England)
by Mihai, a Professor and Personal Chair of Political Theory at the University of Edinburgh; Ungureanu, the Serra Húnter Associate Professor of Political Philosophy at Pompeu Fabra University.
European Commission
11.02.2025 European Commission President der Leyen today met with US Vice President Vance in Paris, discussing cooperation on shared challenges, following the AI Action Summit in which they participated early today. At the beginning of the meeting, Vance called EU foreign policy chief Kallas, who also attended the talks. Vance and der Leyen also discussed cooperation on shared challenges, expressing their intention to prioritize economic areas of mutual interest, including energy. For her part, Kallas said that they discussed key issues like Russia’s war on Ukraine, strengthening European defense, and China’s actions. The meeting came as trade tensions soared between the US and the EU after the White House slapped additional tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. (Source: Anadolu Agency, Turkey)
European Parliament
11 February 2025 In a statement, 'to uphold' Ukraine’s right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the EP Conference of Presidents calls for 'continued and enhanced military support' to Ukraine, including the provision of defence equipment, training, and strategic assistance necessary. (Source: European Parliament - Meeting place: Strasbourg, France)
February 11, 2025 A 'former' Fidesz cadre, Magyar, 43, made a Facebook post a week after the clemency scandal erupted in early February. The scandal involved a presidential pardon granted to the former deputy director of a children’s home, who had covered up the sexual abuse of minors by his superior. As discontent grew, the first Hungarian female president and who had co-signed the pardon, Justice Minister Varga, ex-wife of Magyar, was sacrificed. Magyar quickly capitalised it, as an insider within the Fidesz ecosystem with 'his resignation from all state-affiliated positions in protest against the government’s corruption and moral shortcomings, particularly in relation to the clemency scandal,' announcing the creation of a new political movement, named Tisza Party. The party was rapidly gaining support, mobilised disillusioned voters, leading up to the June European Parliament elections, overtaking older opposition parties like DK, Momentum and Jobbik. The formation received more votes than all other opposition parties combined, securing seven mandates in the European Parliament and ten seats in the Budapest Assembly. The party leader faces the 'daunting task" of building a nationwide party infrastructure and fielding 106 strong candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Critics question whether he can sustain his momentum and whether his movement will remain a one-man show or evolve into a structured political party. (Source: bne IntelliNews - Berlin, Germany)
Russia
February 11, 2025 Russian tourists are increasingly booking trips to Europe, with a sharp rise in hotel reservations for Spain, France and Italy, according to leading online travel aggregators. Overall, outbound tourism from Russia was up by a fourth in 2024 as more than 29mn trips abroad were made last year, including 11.5mn for tourism – a 25% increase on trips made in 2023. (Source: bne IntelliNews - Berlin, Germany)
Serbia
11 February 2025 As daily protests of students and citizens against him continue, the President of Serbia, Vucic, today called his supporters for another anti-protest rally for the day of country’s statehood, Saturday (February 15). (Source: DTT-net, a Brussels-based news agency on Western Balkan affairs)
Asia
China
February 11, 2025 China has introduced new rules on publishing People's Liberation Army (PLA)-related content online as authorities seek to tighten control over sensitive military information. The guidelines were jointly announced over the weekend by 10 government departments, including China's internet regulator, top spy agency, and the President Xi chaired Central Military Commission. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)
Iran
February 11, 2025 Trump, on February 4, 2025, reiterated his position that Iran must not have nuclear weapons. In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi and Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Zarif, the former foreign minister and leader of the nuclear talks with the Obama administration, banded together to again bring up the lie about Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei's nonexistent fatwa that allegedly guarantees that Iran cannot produce or obtain nuclear weapons. /Source: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) *, an American press monitoring organization. Headquarters Washington D.C., U.S.)
* critics describe it as a strongly pro-Israel advocacy group
Jordan
Feb 11, 2025 Jordan’s King Abdullah II, said he would need to wait for other Arab leaders, including Crown Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia and President Sisi of Egypt, before responding directly. President Sisi and other Arab leaders will meet in Cairo on February 27, ostensibly to propose an alternative to Trump’s plan to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza, which would be a war crime. Jordan is in a difficult position, given the country’s reliance on U.S. support, which makes up about 10 percent of its national budget. Egypt similarly relies on U.S. assistance. Trump’s cut to foreign assistance includes the $1.45 billion the U.S. sends to Jordan annually (the only countries to which he did not cut assistance were Israel and Egypt). Jordan simply does not have enough resources to take in additional refugees. It has remained a bastion of relative stability despite regional upheaval, due largely to the U.S. and Europe helping pay for Jordan to host refugees. Despite this support, Jordan’s debt is already 90 percent of its GDP. Twenty-two percent of Jordan’s population are unemployed. Jordan’s population is already approximately half Palestinian, due to previous Israeli expulsions of Palestinians in 1948 and 1967. If hundreds of thousands of new Palestinian refugees were forced into Jordan, the fragile status quo would likely collapse. Given the success of the Muslim Brotherhood in September’s parliamentary election, the government most likely to replace it would not be interested in signing another peace treaty with Israel, or be willing to host U.S. troops. When forced to accept political suicide in order to support Trump’s regional agenda, countries like Jordan will increasingly seek other partners. Jordan already does a lot for the U.S. At Washington’s urging, Jordan has maintained a peace treaty with Israel for the past 30 years, despite its deep unpopularity among the Jordanian population. Jordan hosts 15 different U.S. military installations and almost 4000 American troops. (Source: Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, an American think tank, located in Washington D.C., U.S.)
by Sheline, PhD, a Research Fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. She previously served as a Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor’s Office of Near Eastern Affairs, before resigning in March 2024 in protest over the Biden administration’s unconditional support for Israeli military operations in Gaza.
North America
United States
Feb 11, 2025 The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) unanimously elected Soloveichik as its Vice Chair following former Vice Chair Ueland’s departure from the Commission for a federal role. (Source: USCIRF *, an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad).
* USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress.
(11 February 2025) United States President Trump today signed an executive order directing the justice department to pause prosecutions of Americans accused of bribing foreign officials to secure business deals. The law made companies that operate in the US less competitive, the White House said. (Source: Scroll – India)
Tue, 11 Feb, 2025 US President Trump has removed the exceptions and exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel, meaning that all steel imports will be taxed at a minimum of 25%. Trump also hiked his 2018 aluminium tariffs to 25% from 10%. His orders go into effect on March 4. “It’s time for our great industries to come back to America,” he said. The tariffs would hit allies as the four biggest sources of steel imports are Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea. (Source: Irish Examiner - Republic of Ireland / Associated Press - U.S.)
Feb. 11, 2025 "One of the things we can do right away is take 2,000 children that are either cancer children or in very ill state to Jordan as quickly as possible," Abdullah, 63, told the president. President called offer "beautiful gesture". /Source: United Press International (UPI), an American international news agency. Headquarters Boca Raton, Florida, U.S./
11 February, 2025 Trump threatens to cut US-allied Arab country Jordan aid if it refuses to resettle Palestinians as King Abdullah visits Washington today. (Source: The New Arab - a London-based news outlet owned by a Qatari company)
February 11, 2025 US President Trump has left open the possibility that Ukraine "may be Russian someday," and called for trading US aid for Kiev's natural resources, such as rare minerals. "They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday," Trump said in an interview with Fox News yesterday. (Source: TRT World – Turkey)
Tuesday 11 February 2025 Secretary of State Rubio has appointed Beattie to be the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, a senior role that represents American foreign policy to the world. (Source: Independent - United Kingdom)
(Tuesday, 11 February 2025) US President Trump said yesterday that Hamas should release all hostages held by the militant group in Gaza by midday Saturday or he would propose cancelling the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and "let hell break out." (Source: Sunday World – Republic of Ireland)
February 11, 2025 Ethnic cleansing of Gaza and American genetics (Source: Middle East Monitor *, located in London, United Kingdom, financed by the State of Qatar)
* labelled by some commentators as pro-Islamist, pro-Muslim Brotherhood, and pro-Hamas
United Nations
11th February 2025 'Israel has become an institutional obsession of the UN, for both staff and members. During the past decade, the UN General Assembly has adopted 140 resolutions that were highly critical of the Jewish state – that’s double the number of resolutions critical of all the other countries in the world put together. There is little that is implicit or unconscious about the UN’s anti-Israel bias. It is endemic and all-consuming. This is an institution that is rotting from within". (Source: Spiked *, a British Internet magazine. Headquarters London, United Kingdom)
by O’Hallorann, an Irish author, journalist, and broadcaster
* roots in the left‐wing; the majority of sources identify it as right-libertarian
.5 2 11 20:29
