Egyik 19

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Asia

Israel
August 26, 2024  Several weeks ago, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs Chikli reportedly met in a private residence in Herzliya near Tel Aviv with Zorla, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Israeli private intelligence company Black Cube and the head of its Advisory Committee, former Israel Defense Forces Major General Eiland. According to Israeli newspaper The Marker, the purpose of the alleged meeting was to propose an intelligence operation to be carried out on American soil by Black Cube, on behalf of the Israeli government, with the understanding that intelligence operations carried out by the firm on American soil would not be officially attributed to the State of Israel. The intelligence operation would allegedly target a United States-based organization - “Students for Justice in Palestine”, an American-based organization, whose leaders are primarily American citizens  that stands at the forefront of demonstrations against Israel on university campuses in the United States -demonstrations that the state of Israel views as anti-Semitic. The group has staged numerous demonstrations on university campuses across the United States since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last October. However, it is unclear whether such intelligence operations were indeed authorized to proceed. Following the publication of The Marker report, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs claimed the proposal for the intelligence operation had been initiated by Black Cube and that Ministry officials ultimately rejected it. An official statement issued by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said: „At the company’s [Black Cube’s] request, a meeting was held with the ministry’s professional echelon, and at the end of it, it was decided not to proceed with any engagement”. Black Cube reportedly rejected the spying initiative based on concerns that such a high-risk operation could damage the company’s standing with the United States government and harm its ability to do business on American soil in the future. Black Cube stated: “[Our] company plans and carries out complex intelligence operations for the benefit of legal proceedings, all in accordance with the law of every country in which it operates. Black Cube does not operate and has never planned to operate against students or political protest groups in the USA”. Further information indicates that the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs may be considering executing such an operation after all. (Source: intelNews - U.S.)
by Dr. Barnea, a research fellow at the National Security Studies Center of the University of Haifa in Israel. He served as a senior officer in the Israel Security Agency (ISA). He is the author of We Never Expected That: A Comparative Study of Failures in National and Business Intelligence (Lexington Books, 2021).

Global

World Press Photo Contest 2024

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Europe

Hungary
21 August 2024  Under the new government decree 134, only Ukrainians whose last official address in Ukraine was in an area directly affected by military operations remain eligible for state support. The UN refugee agency said the law change will mean an estimated 2,000-3,000 refugees will lose access to subsidised accommodation. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)
by ’Thorpe’

Russia
21 Aug 2024 Ukraine targets Moscow in ‘one of largest ever’ drone attacks. Assault on the Russian capital launched as Ukraine presses on with incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that air defence forces shot down 11 drones over Moscow and its surrounding region, with some reportedly downed over the city of Podolsk some 38km south of the Kremlin. No damage or casualties were reported. The barrage was part of a broader attack on Russia, with the Ministry of Defence saying its air defence units destroyed 45 Ukrainian drones in total overnight. 23 drones were downed in the border region of Bryansk, six in the border region of Belgorod, three in the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region to its northeast, and two in the embattled Kursk region, the ministry said. Russia’s state news agency RIA reported that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to its north. Following the assault on Moscow, temporary restrictions were imposed overnight at Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, but all three returned to normal operations later on Wednesday. Hundreds of prisoners were taken and tens of thousands of civilians were forced to evacuate following Ukraine’s lightning raid on Kursk on August 6. Ukraine now claims to control 1,263sq km of Kursk territory, including 93 settlements. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces have taken control of the settlement of Zhelanne in the Pokrovsk district of Donetsk, as part of an overall drive to capture the entire Donetsk region. Russian President Putin met Chinese Premier Li in Moscow, the Kremlin said. After meeting Putin in July, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kyiv on Friday to meet Zelenskyy, and said he will be discussing ending the war with Russia. India has avoided condemning Russia’s invasion and is the world’s largest buyer of Russian weapons. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

8/21/2024  In the spring of this year, Moscow’s new military appointee overseeing security in the Kursk province dismantled a council tasked with protecting the vulnerable border region. Col. Gen. Lapin said the military alone had the strength and the resources to protect Russia’s border. Earlier this month Ukrainian troops executed a lightning offensive across the border into Kursk, and now say they occupy more than 400 square miles of Russian territory. Now, Moscow seeks to oust Ukrainian forces from its territory. „Russia is still pulling together its reaction to this incursion by Ukraine. There has been a fairly slow and scattered reaction to it,’ said Gen. Cavoli, commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday. The Russian defense ministry hasn’t publicly issued an explanation for how it allowed Ukrainian forces to cross into Russian territory. Hours after Ukraine’s incursion, Russia’s chief of general staff, Gen. Gerasimov, said Lapin’s forces and border guards were working to destroy the enemy in areas directly adjacent to the Russian-Ukrainian border. In the days leading up to Ukraine’s invasion, Russia’s military correspondents have said, Lapin’s command had sent reports to Moscow warning that Ukrainian forces were building their numbers on the front line. Troops under Lapin’s command still failed to act by enforcing defensive lines or laying mines. When Ukrainian soldiers entered the no-man’s-land between Ukraine and Russia, they were met with no resistance and, inside Russia, no territorial defense forces to help slow them down. ’In Moscow, they simply were not pondering that a scenario like this could happen,’ said Muzyka, director of Poland-based Rochan Consulting, focusing on the Russian military. Likewise, when the Ukrainian soldiers drove into Russia, their first armed resistance was from the 488th motor rifle regiment of the 144th motor rifle brigade, a unit consisting almost entirely of conscripts, who according to Russian policy aren’t supposed to fight inside Ukraine. Under normal circumstances, they would have had around 120 armored vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers. In their first armed encounter, the conscripts likely had between 10 and 20, said Muzyka. ’It wasn’t the first time” poor planning and a lack of men had come together under Lapin’s command. In early September 2022, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack in northeast Ukraine. Without the Russians having sufficiently fortified their thin front-line positions, Ukrainians blew past them using fast-moving field vehicles, followed by heavier armored echelons. Russia’s offensive line crumbled and Ukraine managed to reclaim thousands of square miles in northeastern Ukraine. Following the debacle, Chechen strongman leader Kadyrov called for his resignation. The officer was soon removed from his post and later reappointed as deputy commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine. ’It has certainly demonstrated the creativity and the battlefield prowess of the Ukrainians,’ said Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Ryder. (Source: MSN / The Wall Street Journal = U.S.)

Asia

China
August 21, 2024  China is seriously concerned about a report that said the United Stated approved a nuclear strategic plan to focus on China's rapid expansion in its nuclear arsenal, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday. An annual report by the Pentagon last October said China had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal, and will probably have over 1,000 warheads by 2030. According to a report by the New York Times, U.S. President Biden approved in March a highly classified nuclear strategic plan that focused on China's quickly growing arsenal, but also seeks to prepare the U.S for possible coordinated nuclear challenges from China, Russia and North Korea. The White House said on Tuesday that the classified nuclear strategic plan approved by Biden this year is not a response to a single country or threat. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

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Europe

Poland
May 31, 2025  The second round of presidential elections in Poland will take place on June 1st. Nawrocki, presidential candidate supported by the Law and Justice party will compete with Trzaskowski, the ’pro-European’ (?) ruling party's candidate. Polls are showing a tight race between Warsaw’s mayor, Trzaskowski, and his conservative challenger, Nawrocki. President Trump met with Nawrocki at the White House earlier this month and sent DHS Secretary Noem to a meeting of CPAC in Poland. She offered an endorsement, speaking in support of Nawrocki. Noem said he would rule in the style of President Trump. "I just had the opportunity to meet with Karol and listen. He needs to be the next president of Poland. Do you understand me?’ she said. The conservative Law and Justice party recruited Nawrocki, an outsider with no prior political experience, to be its candidate for president to replace outgoing President Duda, a close ally of President Trump. The Law and Justice Party governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, until it lost parliamentary elections led by Donald Tusk’s center-left Civic Platform coalition. Although the Polish president is nominally symbolic, the president does wield the power to veto legislation passed by parliament, which could derail the incumbent government's domestic agenda if the president is of a different party from the prime minister. "Nawrocki has a good chance of winning the election. This would clearly demonstrate the Polish people's desire to counter the current government's liberal politics," Żaryn, Advisor to Poland's current President Duda, told. Tyrmand, a U.S.-based Polish dual citizen who advises conservative sovereignty-defending political figures and parties across Europe, told from Europe, "We in Poland, who saw the previous unchecked PO (Tusk’s party) government from 2010-15, know how this ends if Tusk’s puppet candidate Trzaskowski ends up securing the presidency in the runoff. Poland’s tightened alignment with the EU will come at the expense of previously strong ties with the USA and the previous and now returned Trump administration. This will weaken Poland militarily and economically. "This runoff is existential for Poland maintaining its multi-party democracy with the existent check and balance of the last 15 years of having, in essence, a two-party duopoly. The right-wing president, Duda, has been the one check given his veto power to reject the Tusk government’s agenda since the country’s government turned over in late 2023 toward left-leaning (self-described and so-called by the compromised leftist media as ’centrist’ but in reality very left) Eurocentrists. If that veto is lost, Polish sovereignty will be a distant memory as Tusk devolves national competences toward Berlin and Brussels who have been his paymasters for nearly two decades, and he has been their ready, willing and able pliant stooge.’ Nawrocki as president would likely continue the policies of Duda, further sinking Tusk's popularity as many in Poland feel that Tusk has not lived up to his campaign promises. If Nawrocki wins, expect a tough fight between the Tusk government and the President, as they are polar opposites on a number of issues, especially foreign policy. Nawrocki, who met with President Trump and Republican leaders in Congress, would likely push for even closer relations with the U.S. A win for Trzaskowski means Tusk will have the ability to drive his agenda, with the new president likely endorsing his proposals, laws and ambassadorships. A victory for Trzaskowski will also be received positively in Brussels as he is seen as ’pro-European’ and in line with the EU’s priorities of „democratic governance’ and judicial independence. The Warsaw mayor favors closer ties with Brussels, Berlin and Paris but will also look to maintain stable relations with the U.S. While there is a rising number of voices that are critical of continuing support for Ukraine as the war drags on, no matter who wins, Poland’s foreign and defense policy and its support for Ukraine in its war against Russia is 'unlikely' to change. Poland has been one of Ukraine’s toughest backers in Europe, providing 5 billion euros worth of overall aid, ’including nearly 4 billion euros in military aid’, since the war began. Since the European refugee crisis of 2015, Poland has taken a tougher stance on immigration, particularly from the Middle East. Poland has been much more welcoming to Ukrainian's fleeing Russian aggression, it has taken in more than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees since February 2022. Qvortrup, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Studies at the Australian National University, said a Nawrocki win would be a roadblock to further European integration with another leader critical of Europe taking power. A win for Nawrocki would be unwelcome for the leaders in the most powerful EU countries, especially in Germany. „It's not the signal they would want," Qvortrup told. (Source: Fox News / „The Associated Press contributed’ = U.S.)

European Union
31/05/2025  EU has imported €209bn of Russian fuel since start of the war. The EU and Ukraine’s Western allies have paid more to Russia for its fuel than they’ve provided in aid to Ukraine, data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air shows. Russia earned over $233 billion from fossil fuel exports to EU countries between February 2022 and February 2025. In contrast, total aid allocated to Ukraine during the same period amounted to $73 billion. In the past year alone, Europe’s gas imports from Russia rose by up to 20%, with LNG exports hitting record highs. (Source: France 24)

Ukraine
31.05.2025  ’Ukraine has signed a licensing agreement to use NATO's non-commercial Command and Reporting Center (CRC) System Interface software’, which will allow its and the alliance's aircraft to coordinate operations within a unified digital system, Deputy Defense Minister Chernohorenko announced on Friday. The CSI software is a key component of NATO's Link-16 data exchange protocol, also known as the alliance's military Wi-Fi. It will aid in the coordination and control of Western-supplied aircraft such as the F-16 and Mirage 2000, as well as integrated air and missile defense systems such as the Patriot. NATO has yet to issue a public statement on the development. The CSI software is already in use by most NATO member states. Its deployment marks a major step in aligning Ukraine’s digital battle management capabilities with those of the alliance. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

Iran
5/31/2025  Iran and the U.S. have held five rounds of nuclear talks and are seeking to complete a framework for a deal that would set out joint positions on key issues to be decided. President Trump has said the talks are progressing well. The two sides are divided on whether Iran can continue to enrich uranium under a deal. Iran has continued to produce highly enriched uranium at a pace of roughly one nuclear weapon’s worth a month over the past three months despite talks between Washington and Tehran on a new nuclear deal, the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency atomic agency said in a confidential report circulated to member states. Iran had grown its stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium to 408.6 kilograms from 274.8 kilograms in early February. In its documents circulated to member states on Saturday, the IAEA also presented a comprehensive, longer report detailing Iran’s failure to cooperate with a probe, started in 2019, into undeclared nuclear material found in Iran. The report was demanded by European powers. European officials have said they will decide by the summer whether to press ahead with the so-called snapback of sanctions on Iran at the U.N. Security Council, if Tehran doesn’t start to fully cooperate with the nuclear probe. The option of reimposing the sanctions expires in October under the 2015 agreement. Iran says it has answered the questions with all information available. The agency said in its report that Iran’s ’lack of answers and clarifications’ has led it to conclude that Tehran had an undeclared structured nuclear program until the 2000s and that some activities used undeclared nuclear material. ’Iran retained unknown nuclear material and/or heavily contaminated equipment, and other assets, arising from’ the nuclear program at a site in Tehran from 2009 until 2018, ’after which items were removed from the location.’ ’The significantly increased production and accumulation of highly enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear-weapon State to produce such nuclear material, is of serious concern,’ IAEA Director General Grossi said in the report. The agency said in its report that Iran’s lack of technically credible answers leaves open the possibility that Iran may still have undeclared nuclear material that it is able to use for non-civilian purposes. President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb, White House press secretary Leavitt said Saturday, adding that Trump’s special envoy Witkoff had sent a detailed proposal to Iran. “It’s in their best interest to accept it.” Even if a framework is agreed, it could take protracted and difficult technical talks to reach a final deal. Trump withdrew the U.S. in 2018 from the 2015 nuclear agreement, which placed tight but temporary restrictions on Iran in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. In a joint statement by Iran’s foreign ministry and atomic agency, Tehran called the IAEA report unbalanced and labeled some of the charges baseless. Iran has warned it could withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and change its nuclear doctrine if sanctions are reimposed. The country’s leadership has pledged not to pursue nuclear weapons. Israel, which is widely believed to have nuclear weapons but has never acknowledged that, has threatened military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facility if Tehran seeks to build a bomb. Trump confirmed this week he had told Israel that attacking Iran now wouldn’t be appropriate. In 2024, U.S. intelligence officials said Iran was carrying out work that would help Tehran learn how to make a nuclear weapon. (Source: MSN / The Wall Street Journal = U.S.)

North America

United States
31 May 2025  US President Trump said yesterday that he would double steel and aluminium import tariffs to 50 percent from next week, aimed at protecting domestic industries. According to the US International Trade Administration, from March 2024 to February 2025, Brazil was the second-largest exporter of steel to the United States with 3.7 million metric tons, followed by Mexico with 2.9 million. The first is Canada. Argentina, whose President Milei maintains a close relationship with Trump, was the sixth-largest exporter of aluminum in 2024 to the United States, with more than 176,000 metric tons, according to US data. The United States imports about half of the steel and aluminium it uses in industries such as automotive, aeronautics, petrochemicals and consumer staples such as canned goods. (Source: Buenos Aires Times - Argentina)

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Europe

Hungary
30 May 2025  On 15 March, P.M. Orbán delivered a stinging speech against his opponents, saying Hungary needed a spring clean. He said: “We are dismantling the financial machine that has used corrupt dollars to buy politicians, judges, journalists, bogus civil society organisations and political activists. We will disperse the entire shadow army.” Since then, Orbán introduced a new transparency law that would allow the government to blacklist organisations that receive foreign funding, deeming them a “threat” to national sovereignty and has banned Pride in Budapest. Many groups across the country now fear for their future because of the potential transparency law. Bodoky, the editor-in-chief of Átlátszó, an 'independent' media group says the group is being targeted because they have exposed government corruption. „The transparency law for Átlátszó would mean, most probably, that we go out of business”. “He’s constantly fighting a war against real or imaginary enemies, but what is really new is that he wants to crack down on Hungarian citizens based on perceived non-patriotism or treachery”, he said. Debrecen, Hungary’s second largest city is a conservative bastion. But right in the centre is a liberal island - a community space. This community hub receives some money from the EU and that makes them a target after if the transparency law passes. They say that in the last few years, more and more people are queuing up for their services - a group of women, cooking outside are preparing meals to hand out to those in need in the city. And yet, they all still worship Orbán. Who do they blame for the fact they are in need? A woman lists them off: “They blame the Ukraine war, gay people, migrants, and Brussels”. Across the country, on billboards and bus stops, there are countless posters displaying the images of Zelenskyy, EU Commission President der Leyen, and Weber, the head of the European People’s Party in the EU Parliament. The words read: “Let’s not allow them to decide above our heads”. Hungarians are being asked to vote in a referendum on whether they want Ukraine to join the EU. There is a ’clear opposition figure’ here in Hungary: Magyar, once a member of Orbán’s Fidesz party. He is an MEP and the leader of the ’centre-right’ Tisza party. He’s recently been marching across the country meeting voters. The people are completely fed up with the lies, with the propaganda, with the corruption, Magyar says. But when I ask him whether he’ll roll back all the laws and changes under Orbán, he says that he will keep some of the good decisions, such as the family policy, the tax policy, the fence at the southern border of Hungary against illegal migration. That sounds like he’s not exactly the liberal change ’many’ in the country want. (Source: Channel 4 News – United Kingdom)

Finland
May 30, 2025  Several nations, including Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States, now conduct highway and roadway landing exercises. The road landings are not new; the concept was first introduced during the Cold War, when there was a genuine concern that air bases would be the primary targets in a modern war. Finland has even designed its highways to be readily converted to austere air bases. Dutch F-35s joined Finland’s Baana 25 exercises, simulating highway landings. This is the first time the Dutch F-35s have taken part. The exercises continue through Friday. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

France
30.05.2025  Deputy Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Shevtsov met with a French delegation led by Lt. Gen. Onet, head of France’s Directorate for Supporting the Combat Capability of Ground Equipment. Ukraine and France have agreed to boost defense cooperation, focusing on logistical support and adapting to the demands of modern warfare, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Friday. The two delegations explored ways to deepen collaboration in ground combat support, logistics systems, and battlefield adaptation amid the ongoing war with Russia. France has been a contributor of military aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, including Caesar howitzers and air defense systems. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

The Netherlands
May 30, 2025  The Netherlands has received 728,656 visa applications in 2024. The five nationalities with the most Schengen visas obtained by the Netherlands: Turkish nationals obtained 84,240 visas - that is 86.8 per cent of 97,006 applications; Indian nationals: 75,727 visas obtained (83.2 per cent); Chinese nationals: 70,203 visas (96.71 per cent); Indonesian nationals: 51,103 visas, per cent); Filipino nationals: 46,500 visas (95.77 per cent). The number of rejected applications with the number of applications filed overall: Senegal – applicants were rejected 81.05 per cent (5,525 applications were filed); Algeria – 63.4 per cent of 4,388 applications; Mali: 60.8 per cent of 4,275 applications; Ghana: 58 per cent of 8,394 applications; Uganda: 49.97 per cent of 3,326 applications filed. (Source: Schengen News - ?)

Asia

China
May 30, 2025  Representatives of more than 30 other countries today signed the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong to become founding members of the global organization, following Chinese Foreign Minister Wang. He said the body, headquartered in Hong Kong, aims to help promote the amicable resolution of international disputes and build more harmonious global relations. The ceremony was attended by representatives from some 50 other countries and about 20 organizations, including the United Nations. While the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and PCA *focus on adjudication and arbitration, IOMed introduces a structured, institutionalized form of alternative dispute resolution - namely, mediation - on a global scale, Yan, a law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said. The International Organization for Mediation would have the capacity to mediate disputes between states, between a state and a national of another state, or in international commercial disputes, Ali, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said. Conventions can provide opportunities to experiment with new approaches, she said, noting rising interest in mediation globally as a means to resolve investor-state disputes. (Source: ABC News / Associated Press = U.S.)

Asia
30 May 2025  A growing number of Asian economies are cautiously moving away from the US dollar by creating alternative trade agreements and increasing their investments in assets such as gold and digital currencies – a trend that analysts say signals a longer-term shift toward a more multipolar monetary system. Singapore, Indonesia and Japan ranked among the top 10 countries making the most progress on this front. While the dollar continues to dominate global markets – accounting for nearly half of SWIFT payments and over 80 per cent of foreign exchange trades – Lodge, vice-president at foreign exchange brokerage FXTM said, diversification efforts are gaining traction in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and among Brics members. In Asia, more transactions are being conducted in Chinese yuan, followed by the euro and Emirati dirham in select bilateral arrangements, he added. A 2023 Asean agreement aimed to prioritise local currency transactions to reduce vulnerability to US monetary policy shifts and trade restrictions. Since then, Southeast Asian member nations have started to engage in direct trade using currencies like the Malaysian ringgit and the Thai baht. Indonesia conducts around 15 per cent of its trade with China and Japan in alternative currencies, using the yuan for Chinese transactions and its own local rupiah for its Japanese dealings. India too has established trade agreements using its currency, the rupee, with 18 countries. Each country in the Asian region is pursuing separate strategies to reduce their US dollar dependency. Asian nations want to reduce their trade surplus with the US and are concerned about the weaponisation of the dollar, especially following Washington’s recent sanctions against Russia and Iran. Many Asian countries are now seeking to reduce their dependency on dollar-denominated financial systems and China’s yuan has significantly benefited from the trend. Investors in Asia’s trading hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore have flocked to the gold, which historically has an inverse relationship to the US dollar. Gold has gained 26 per cent so far this year and hit a record high of US$3,450 an ounce on April 22 due to US-China trade tensions and financial market instability. The longer term outlook for gold remains bullish on expectations of a weaker dollar, analysts say. Central banks including those in Asia have been snapping up gold to stabilise their currencies, although record-high prices caused a dip in their purchases in the first quarter of this year, according to the World Gold Council. Individual investors too have shown a similar pattern in their purchases. In the last few months bond yields were rising, gold and bitcoin outperforming. Bitcoin hit a record high of more than US$111,000 on May 22 on bullish market sentiment about supportive US regulations. The cryptocurrency is favoured by younger and institutional investors, emerging as a complementary asset to gold as a store of value, while many are also increasing their bets to currencies like the yuan, the Hong Kong dollar and the euro. In 2025 Singapore is leading with the highest cryptocurrency ownership rate at 28 per cent. A limited number of Asian businesses are using cryptocurrencies for transactions. Central Bank Digital Currencies are proving more significant than decentralised cryptocurrencies for actual de-dollarisation efforts. (Source: South China Morning Post)

North America

United States
May 30, 2025  In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies. Mr. Trump has not publicly talked about the effort since. Behind the scenes, officials have quietly put technological building blocks into place to enable his plan. The Trump administration has expanded Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm’s work across the federal government in recent months. The company has received more than $113 million in federal government spending since Mr. Trump took office, including new contracts with the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon. (This does not include a $795 million contract that the Department of Defense awarded the company last week.) Representatives of Palantir are also speaking to at least two other agencies - the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service — about buying its technology. The push has put a key Palantir product called Foundry - which organizes and analyzes data - into at least four federal agencies, including D.H.S. and the Health and Human Services Department. Foundry, paves the way for Mr. Trump to easily merge information from different agencies. Mr. Trump’s executive order said he wanted to “eliminate information silos and streamline data collection across all agencies to increase government efficiency and save hard-earned taxpayer dollars.” Creating detailed portraits of Americans, the Trump administration has already sought access to hundreds of data points on citizens and others through government databases, including their bank account numbers, the amount of their student debt, their medical claims and any disability status. Combining all that data, even with the noblest of intentions, significantly increases the risk of misuse,” Xia, who was a Palantir engineer until last year, said. “Data that is collected for one reason should not be repurposed for other uses,” Ms. Xia said. Privacy advocates, student unions and labor rights organizations have filed lawsuits to block data access, questioning whether the government could weaponize people’s personal information. Palantir recently began helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s enforcement and removal operations team. The work is part of a $30 million contract that ICE signed with Palantir in April to build a platform to track migrant movements in real time. At the Internal Revenue Service, Palantir engineers were also recently brought in to use Foundry to organize data gathered on American taxpayers. Palantir has talked with the Social Security Administration about using the company’s technology to organize the agency’s data. Palantir’s selection as a chief vendor for the project was driven by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. At least three DOGE members formerly worked at Palantir. Two others had worked at companies funded by Thiel, an investor and a founder of Palantir, which was founded in 2003 by Karp and Mr. Thiel and went public in 2020. Palantir specializes in finding patterns in data and presenting the information in ways that are easy to process and navigate, such as charts and maps. Its main products include Foundry, a data analytics platform, and Gotham, which helps organize and draw conclusions from data and is tailored for security and defense purposes. Palantir’s role is the finding of hidden things by sifting through data, Mr. Karp has said last year. Mr. Karp, who donated to the Democratic Party last year, has welcomed Mr. Trump’s win and called Mr. Musk the most “qualified person in the world” to remake the U.S. government. Palantir’s stock has risen more than 140 percent since Mr. Trump’s election in November. (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

May 30, 2025  Trump has long promised to dismantle the ’deep state’ - a supposed secret network of powerful people manipulating government decisions behind the scenes. In 2024, he pledged to supporters that voting him back into the presidency would be “our final battle.” “With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state,” Trump said repeatedly on the campaign trail. “We will liberate our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all.” Four months into his second term, Trump has continued to stoke dark theories involving his predecessors and other powerful politicians and attorneys - most recently raising the specter of nefarious intent behind former President Biden’s use of an autopen to sign papers. The administration has pledged to reopen investigations and has taken steps to declassify certain documents, including releasing more than 63,000 pages of records related to the assassination of President Kennedy. Now that Trump is in power and has stocked loyalists throughout his administration, his supporters expect all to be revealed. Some who take him at his word are beginning to get restless as they ask why his administration, which holds the keys to chasing down these alleged government secrets, is denying them the evidence and retribution they expected. “People are tired of not knowing,” conservative commentator Felder said last week. “We actually demand answers and real transparency. It’s not that hard to deliver.” Delivering on that is difficult when many of the conspiracies he alleged aren’t real, said Uscinski, a political scientist who studies conspiracy theories at the University of Miami. The president has prioritized retribution in his second administration. He has fired federal workers and targeted law firms he disfavors in executive orders. He has ordered the revocation of government security clearances for political rivals and former employees who dissented during his first term. His Justice Department has fired prosecutors who investigated him and scrutinized career FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Many of his supporters would like to see steps taken against people he has long claimed were involved in sinister plots against him, such as former Secretary of State Clinton and former FBI Director Comey. The administration also hasn’t offered proof of the ’egregious crimes ” that have corrupted the federal government for years. Tensions erupted this month when FBI Director Patel and Bongino, dismissed two of the theories that have animated Trump’s base the most - that Trump’s attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a government plot and that financier and sexual abuser Epstein was murdered in a cover-up, In a Fox News interview, FBI Director Patel and his deputy, Bongino said they had been briefed on the attempted assassination of Trump during a rally in July and there was no explosive conspiracy to be revealed. In some of these cases, the ‘there’ you’re looking for is not there, Bongino said. You know a suicide when you see one, and that’s what that was, Patel said about Epstein’s death in the same Fox News interview. I have seen the whole file, Bongino added. He killed himself. Conservatives online demanded to see the evidence, pointing to Bongino’s past statements as a podcast host, when he suggested the government was hiding information about Epstein. “No matter who gets elected, you get the same foreign policy, you get the same economic policy, and the Epstein videos remain secret’, right-wing podcaster and former Fox News host Carlson said on his show. They told us for months leading up to the Election that it wasn’t suicide, Newsmax host Starnes wrote on X. But now they tell us it was suicide, he added: „Pardon me, but what the heck is going on at DOJ?’ Attorney General Bondi said this month that FBI officials were poring through “tens of thousands” of videos related to Epstein and would make more materials public once they took steps to protect the victims. Bongino ’appeared to try to throw a bone to Trump’s base’ this week when he announced the agency would reopen some prominent cases that have attracted public interest. He said the FBI would investigate the planting of pipe bombs found near the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, the leak of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson draft opinion in 2022 that overturned the constitutional right to abortion and the discovery of cocaine in the White House in 2023. But it wasn’t enough for everyone who weighed in on his X account. In an interview Thursday on “Fox & Friends,” Bongino teased that the FBI would soon release video captured outside Epstein’s jail cell and materials related to Trump’s attempted assassination. He called for patience and noted not all information is the FBI’s to declassify. All the while, Trump has continued promoting theories on his Truth Social platform and elsewhere. He shared a video this month about mysterious deaths allegedly being linked to the Clinton family. And shared someone’s image of himself with former President Obama with the text, “ALL ROADS LEAD TO OBAMA, RETRUTH IF YOU WANT MILITARY TRIBUNALS.” It’s a tactic that distracts Trump’s base and helps inoculate him from criticism, Ophir, a communications professor at the University at Buffalo said. “When something good happens, it’s because Trump is great and his agenda is brilliant,” Ophir said. ’When something bad happens, it’s because of the Obamas or the Clintons or whatever forces are undermining him from within Washington.’ Trump this week fueled theories, that Biden’s use of a mechanical device called an autopen during his presidency meant he didn’t sign his executive orders willingly or that aides profited from controlling it. „Presidents have used autopens for years to sign certain documents’. “Whoever used it was usurping the power of the Presidency, and it should be very easy to find out who that person (or persons) is,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The narrative has gained momentum on the right because of allegations that Biden’s aides covered up his mental and physical decline. He has called for people who operated it to be charged with “TREASON.” (Source: The Associated Press - U.S.)
Note: "The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy'.

NATO

May 30 2025  On May 14 a weapon launched from a U.S. platform was guided by a Norwegian sensor across domains and distances, marking a first for NATO in cross-national ordnance control mid-flight in the framework of Formidable Shield 25, which ran from May 1 to 31, 2025. Formidable Shield is the largest live-fire naval exercise in Europe, primarily executed from Norway and the United Kingdom. The scenarios included a series of complex Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) and Air Defence (AD) missions in a complex operating environment. (Source: Allied Air Command Public Affairs Office - Headquarters Ramstein, Germany)

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Europe

Hungary
May 29, 2025 The leader of this central European country has captured the imagination of many U.S. conservatives who hold Orbán's rule up as a model for conservative populist leadership in liberal Western democracies. Scheppele, who teaches sociology and international affairs at Princeton is now warning that what came to pass in Hungary could come to be in the U.S. Members of the European Parliament now call it an electoral autocracy. Orbán remade the courts, replaced experienced judges with younger more malleable figures. He financially starves 'independent' press, changed the constitution to consolidate his power and passed laws and amendments to stifle civil society and minority groups, the latest an effective ban on pride celebrations. This is really a dictatorship, says Scheppele, who worked in Hungary for years researching the Hungarian Constitutional Court. Budapest, the capital city doesn't have the trappings of an autocracy while strolling through the streets. It's easy to be captivated by the blend of architectural styles, the sprawling public transportation system and the vibrant cafe and restaurant scene where tourists sip wine under twinkling lights. There is perhaps no greater symbol of that cross-cultural consecutive cooperation and admiration than the Conservative Political Action Conference gathering of conservative, populist and ’far right’ activists and politicians now converging on Budapest for a fourth year. "For a long time in the West you had folks on the center right who, let's say, they made excuses," said Reaboi, a ’right wing’ media personality who once lobbied on behalf of Orbán's government in the U.S. Reaboi says the Hungarian leader's unapologetic style when it comes to cracking down on mass migration and ’woke’ inspired American conservatives' policies confrontational approach under President Trump now when it comes to immigration, minority rights, civil society and academia. ’They were afraid of media backlash or something,’ Reaboi said. "Now I think what's the same about [the U.S. MAGA movement and Orbán's Hungary] is just this lack of fear of saying true things." Reaboi bristles at Hungary being labeled a dictatorship. He calls the criticisms "fringe insanity’ and adds that whatever one thinks about Orbán's policies and his party Fidesz he's "been unbelievably successful in putting Budapest and Hungary itself on the map." At the Danube Institute, this research center that overlooks the river that divides Budapest, U.S. conservatives and nationalists have found an intellectual home inside Europe. The government also funds the educational institution Mathias Corvinus Collegium which bills itself as an incubator for young talent in Hungary. Its critics see it as an incubator for future Fidesz-allied elites. Kálnoky, a prominent German journalist of Hungarian descent who heads the journalism school at MCC, says Orbán's presence on the western stage as a populist leader that's inspired U.S. conservatives was a conscious strategy. "A thought process began here that we need to establish bridges towards the Anglo-Saxon conservative world," Kálnoky said. The person who came up with this strategy to reach beyond Hungary's borders, was the head of MCC and the prime minister's political director, Orbán. "He said, 'look to the left, they are globally allied.' They have their networks, they have conferences, they meet, and they have an ideology which unites them, Kálnoky said. So Hungary began reaching out to other like-minded political groups including conservatives in the U.S. and inviting them to Budapest around 2014. They liked what they saw – a populist conservative government that was elected and re-elected. Kálnoky said the pushback from the European Union against what it deems anti-democratic practices from the Fidesz party is its way of controlling a member state that won't fall in line with the majority. PM Orbán accuses the EU of meddling in Hungary's domestic affairs. The European Union is withholding billions of dollars in grants allocated for Hungary's poorest regions. It's also been excluded from an EU-funded student exchange program with other European universities. Kálnoky sees what critics point to as gerrymandering and taking control of the media and the courts as an elected party using its mandate to implement reforms and its program. "There is only one thing that is needed to separate Fidesz and Viktor Orbán from power, and that is that a relative majority of Hungarians vote for someone else than him," he said. "That's all that's needed. And as long as that is the case, how can you speak of an autocracy?" How did Orbán transform Hungary? He started as a more liberal politician when he first won the office in 1998. But after being voted out he morphed into the populist conservative he is today, Scheppele said. In his eight years out of power, he had spent that time planning a comeback with a very detailed plan to remake the Constitution and remake the entire legal system. In the three years after he was elected in 2010, she said he transformed Hungary from a post-communist democratic story. Now she said she recognizes the Orbán playbook in Project 2025, a blueprint for a Republican president written by a conservative think tank of Trump allies and loyalists, some of whom are now in the government. Orbán weaponized the state budget, she said, by starving dissent economically, cutting state advertising to neutral and opposition media and cancelling subsidies to 'non-profits' that would oppose him. Orbán's party, Fidesz, controlling a two-thirds majority in the parliament, pushed through election laws that gerrymandered districts so that Fidesz 'could control more seats with fewer votes with each election'. The religious organizations were consolidated under Orbán who now touts himself as the defender of Christian Europe. He has described himself as the leader of a Christian illiberal democracy, fighting against the multiculturalism and pro- immigration stances of the liberal elite in the European Union. From inside his own party, Magyar, the husband of the former justice minister and 'a party loyalist', broke with Orbán to lead an opposition party that could break Orbán's control of the state. He's fiercely critical of what he calls autocracy under Orbán. ’It's the first time in the last 15 years that you have a real chance to change the situation,’ said Magyar, a former education minister and a sociologist at the Democracy Institute at Central European University. It's why he worries, 'that somehow the government' will find a way to stop Magyar's party from running in the election next year. That becomes more and more visible the farther you go outside the capital where Orbán's policies have brought construction projects to these rural areas. His funding model created jobs and brought new infrastructure, like hospitals. (Source: NPR - U.S.)

Portugal
29/05/2025  Portugal's ’far-right’ Chega party, the government's official opposition party becomes second biggest in parliament according to final results from Portugal's snap general election published yesterday. Support for Chega has grown in every general election since the party was founded in 2019 by a former trainee priest and former television football commentator Ventura. It won 1.3 percent of the vote in a general election the year it was founded, giving it a seat in parliament -- the first time a far-right party had won representation in Portugal's legislature since a coup in 1974 toppled a decades-long rightist dictatorship. Now the party won two of the previously unannounced four overseas constituencies, taking its tally to 60. The centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) claimed the other two overseas seats taking its total to 91, still far from the 116 seats needed to form a majority government. The Social Democratic Party of outgoing prime minister Luis Montenegro is the main party of the alliance. Party leader Santos, a 48-year-old economist, said he would stand down after the initial election results were announced. Montenegro is expected to try to form a minority government after the latest election and he has said he will not deal with Chega. But Ventura called on Montenegro to "break" with the Socialists. Chega's policies include chemical castration for paedophiles, limiting newcomers' access to welfare benefits, and stricter controls on migration which it links to crime and higher pensions. He speaks of restoring respect for the police, and has protested on the streets with Movement Zero, a group of disgruntled police officers with suspected extremist ties who are demanding better pay and conditions. Ventura attended US President Trump's inauguration in January, and has embraced the support of Brazil's former far-right president Bolsonaro. Many voters certainly support the radical and anti-establishment solutions that Chega proposes but others may have chosen the party because of the erosion of the traditional parties' ability to meet expectations. Under a previous PS government, Portugal became one of Europe's most open countries for immigrants. Between 2017 and 2024, the number of foreigners living in Portugal quadrupled, reaching about 15 percent of the total population. President de Sousa is to hold new talks with the leaders of the three main parties today and could name a new prime minister during the day. (Source: France 24 „with AFP”)

European Central Bank
May 29 2025  European Central Bank Governing Council member and Slovakia’s central bank chief Kazimir has been found guilty of bribery today, with a Slovak Specialised Criminal Court ruling he must pay a €200,000 fine or face a one-year prison sentence. Oh… Prosecutors allege that between 2012 and 2019, while serving as finance minister, Kazimir handed over a €48,000 bribe to the then boss of the national tax office to influence tax proceedings. As the verdict can be appealed, with Kazimir maintaining his innocence, he won’t be forced out of office, and is set to participate in the next interest-rate meeting on 4-5 June. And Starmer wants to get closer to the bloc… (Source: Guido Fawkes, a political website published by British-Irish political blogger Staines, who lives in Ireland)

European Commission
May 29, 2025  The European Commission welcomes today's agreement in the Council of the EU on the ’Security for Action for Europe (SAFE) Instrument’. ’As proposed in the ReArm Europe Plan / Readiness 2030, the Commission will raise up to €150 billion on the capital markets, providing financial levers to EU member states to ramp up the investments in key defence areas like air missile defence, drones, or strategic enablers’. ’With SAFE, we are not only investing in cutting-edge capabilities for our Union, for Ukraine, and for the entire continent; we are also strengthening the European defence technological and industrial base. This is about readiness. This is about resilience. And it is about creating a truly European market for defence. Europe is stepping up - with purpose, with unity, and with a clear roadmap toward Readiness 2030’, der Leyen, president of the European Commission said. Member states now have six months from the entry into force of the Regulation to submit their initial national plans, which the Commission will then assess. Following a Commission proposal, the Council is expected to adopt implementing decisions, which will include the size of the loan and any pre-financing which can be up to 15% of the loan. Support can be paid swiftly to cover the most urgent needs, potentially starting in 2025. Member states will need to report on the progress of implementation when they submit their payment requests, which can be done twice a year. The last approval for disbursements can take place until 31 December 2030. In March 2025 the Commission proposed the White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030 and its ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 - defence package providing financial levers to EU Member States ’to drive an investment surge in defence capabilities’. ’The activation of the national escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact for defence purposes together with the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loan form the backbone of the ReArm Europe Plan / Readiness 2030, enabling member states to substantially and rapidly scale up their investments in European defence’. This defence package providing financial levers to EU Member States to drive a surge in investment in defence capabilities. ’Under the SAFE loan, the Commission will raise up to €150 billion on the capital markets, drawing on its well-established unified funding approach’. While under the national escape clause Member States will benefit from additional space for defence spending, the EU fiscal rules continue to apply in full. Any deviations from the endorsed net expenditure paths, other than those specified, will be monitored according to the Regulation (EU) 2024/1263 for the entire period of activation. ’The cost of components originating outside the Union, EEA EFTA States, and Ukraine’ should not exceed 35% of the estimated cost of the components of the end-product, reinforcing the 'spend European' principle, according to the agreement. (Source: EU Reporter - a Brussels-based website owned by a company in Ireland)

Asia

Iran
(May 29, 2025)  Iran has given more than four million undocumented Afghan migrants until July 6 to leave the country, Yar-Ahmadi, head of the Interior Ministry’s Office for Foreign Nationals and Immigrants announced yesterday. He said Iran would no longer accept new Afghan migrants. Yar-Ahmadi emphasized that only a limited number of people - in six specific groups - would be eligible to stay under temporary permits. He added that as of now, 2.03 million Afghan nationals hold expired census documents and another two million are living in Iran illegally. Iranian authorities have routinely expelled hundreds of Afghan migrants daily, many of them through the border crossing with Afghanistan’s Nimroz province. (Source: Amu Television - United States)

Israel
May 29 2025  ’Far-right’ Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich announced yesterday the creation in the occupied West Bank of 22 new settlements. We have made a historic decision for the development of settlements: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing settlement in the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel, the minister said on X, using the Israeli term for the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967. The initiative had been led by Smotrich and Defence Minister Katz and approved by the security cabinet. The decision also includes the establishment of four communities along the eastern border with Jordan, as part of strengthening Israel's eastern backbone, national security and strategic grip on the area, the Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The party published a map showing the 22 sites spread across the territory. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)

North America

United States
Thursday 29 May 2025  SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Musk has announced he is leaving his position as top adviser to the White House. He led the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), in the White House. Musk set a $2 trillion goal in reducing federal spending - something he twice revised down, landing at a reduced $150 billion. His role working for Trump was always meant to be temporary, and he had recently signaled that he would be shifting his attention back to running his businesses, such as the electric car company Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX. The former had seen a massive drop in share prices and international backlash as well as vandalism against the cars over Musk's involvement with Trump's government. President Trump even turned the White House lawn into a temporary showroom for the electric cars, urging Americans to follow his example and buy one as DOGE's affects on Tesla saw sales slump. “He’s built this great company, and he shouldn’t be penalised because he’s a patriot.” Musk's relationship with President Trump was an unconventional one, the former receiving apparently unprecedented access to government data and seemingly untethered powers with little to zero oversight. Many credit Musk with President Trump's decisive election victory having funneled close to $300 million into Trump's campaign, using his social media platform X to mobilise supporters. Earlier this year Musk clashed with Trump voters over H-1B visas, a route to US citizenship used by the South African himself as well as heavily used through his companies. On this occasion the president fell in line, marking a departure from the opposition to H-1B's he showed in his first term. More recently the Tesla boss has voiced criticism for Trump's flagship spending bill which prioritises tax cuts and immigration enforcement. Yesterday, Speaker of the House Johnson, thanked Musk for his work and promised to pursue more spending cuts in the future, saying, “the House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings”. Echoing this sentiment, Musk said in his own announcement of his departure: The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government. Asked recently whether he would continue to spend such large amounts of his own money on politics, the billionaire said simply: No - I think I've done enough. (Source: itv - United Kingdom)

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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)

Russia
28th of May 2025  The major international treaties that are supposed to limit the number of certain missile types and nuclear warheads have fallen apart and the built-in mechanisms for conducting inspections at the opponent’s nuclear facilities have been put on hold. Officially, there has not been a single on-site inspection between the United States and Russia since April 2020. Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces form the backbone of the country’s three-legged nuclear deterrent. In addition to the heavy nuclear bombs that the Missile Forces can launch from buried silos or vehicles, Russia also has air- and sea-based nuclear weapons that can be launched from special bomber aircraft or submarines. Over 50,000 soldiers are part of the Missile Forces, which are divided into three armies, 12 divisions and more than 40 regiments. According to experts, the close to 900 operational nuclear warheads at the missile bases, and the intercontinental missiles that can launch them, ’have more than anything a psychological significance. These are weapons that can theoretically be used. Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces see themselves as a last resort, a purely destructive force that only comes into play when all hope is lost. Their official motto is as poetic as it is terrifying: ’After us – silence.’ ’Danwatch, in collaboration with German Der Spiegel, can for the first time reveal previously unknown details about the enormous upgrade of the military infrastructure at Russia’s most protected facilities’. Danwatch and Der Spiegel has gained access to hundreds of highly detailed blueprints showing how Russia is carrying out an enormous modernization of some of the world’s most sensitive nuclear weapons facilities. „Together we have analyzed more than two million documents relating to Russian military procurement that Danwatch systematically retrieved from a public database over a period of many months. The Russian authorities have gradually restricted access to the database, but we managed to circumvent these restrictions by using a veriety of digital techniques, including a network of servers located in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus’. “Documents like these for extremely sensitive defense projects should never have been publicly available in any way, shape, or form”. ’Danwatch and Der Spiegel have reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for a comment on whether they regard it as a security breach that blueprints have been released to a public database. We have also asked whether they assess that the documents would reveal the bases’ vulnerabilities. They have not responded to our inquiries. (Source: Danwatch - Denmark)

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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 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.

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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.)

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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)

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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)

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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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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.)
19 197 views

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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)

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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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