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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.
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