Egyik 19

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Europe

Poland
July 11, 2024 11:39 Ukraine’s silence about the WWII Volhynia massacre underscores one-sided alliance as Zelensky visits Poland. The anniversary of the WWII massacre passes and the silence from president Zelensky and Polish leaders is not just a missed diplomatic gesture but a profound failure in addressing historical wounds that continue to mar the relationship. July 11 marks the 81st anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the most tragic episode of the Ukrainian-perpetrated genocide of Poles in Volhynia, which was a Polish territory before the Second World War in the “borderland” region, but is now part of Ukraine. On this day, tens of thousands of people were slaughtered in 99 villages. These victims have yet to be exhumed and given a dignified burial, a process continuously blocked by Ukrainian authorities, including the current administration. Last year, on the 80th anniversary of this horrific crime, Poland received not a single word from the Ukrainian president. Tragically, the steadfast guardian of this cause, Rev. Isakowicz-Zaleski, is no longer. On July 11, 1943. Ukrainian nationalists murdered over 50,000 Poles. This year, just three days before the anniversary, Zelensky visited Poland. His visits, typically center on what more Poland can offer Ukraine. The leader did not mention the impending anniversary. It is reflective of a ’Kyiv standard.’ Cessation of cult of UPA murderers is last issue to be settled. It is scandalous that this omission was mirrored by every Polish politician he met. Both the left-liberal Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the conservative President Duda seem to prefer that the Volhynia issue be forgotten, wishing away the unburied dead. Simultaneously, Poland signed an agreement with Ukraine on defense commitments. The document is not formally an international treaty, thus it does not require legislative approval for ratification. If it were a treaty, such approval would be necessary given it involves a military alliance - a detail highlighted by the content of the agreement. The choice of agreement format also conveniently avoids parliamentary debate, which would likely raise uncomfortable questions about the benefits Poland receives from the arrangement and what it demands in return. In this “bilateral’ deal, Kyiv is practically the sole beneficiary. The entirety of the 24-page document is a litany of Polish obligations to Ukraine, underpinned by a tally of what it have already done. The document does not address a single issue where Polish and Ukrainian interests might conflict, such as in agricultural production. In Poland, based on this agreement, a Ukrainian legion is to be formed, which the Polish are of course expected to equip. No one has clarified how this will affect security, especially given that Ukrainian soldiers will effectively be entering combat from Polish territory. Tucked away at the very end of the agreement, on page 14, there is a vague mention of “enhancing cooperation in conducting searches, exhumations, and other activities aimed at the dignified burial of victims of conflicts, repression, and crimes.” Exactly which “conflicts, repressions, and crimes' are referred to remains unclear. (Source: brusselssignal *)
* Brussels Signal, published by Remedia Europe SRL, Brussels, Belgium

July 11, 2024  The Polish government will train a unit of Ukrainian exiles to be deployed in their home country, Foreign Minister Sikorski said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington. The Polish move comes only a few days after Warsaw and Kyiv signed a bilateral security agreement; one of the provisions called for training Ukrainians for war. Earlier this year Ukraine adopted a law increasing the pace of mobilization, as it desperately needs new troops. Under the new law, Kyiv obliged Ukrainian men living abroad to renew their military draft information online and encouraged them to return to Ukraine and join the fight. 'In Poland, we are beginning to train the first Ukrainian brigade composed of volunteers from inside Poland. We have up to a million Ukrainians of both genders, and several thousands of them have already registered for the draft,’  FM Sikorski said during a NATO Public Forum today. They will be available to the Ukrainian government as a unit with the right to return to Poland after their rotation, he said. He encouraged other European countries also hosting male Ukrainian refugees or with significant Ukrainian minorities to do the same. (Source: politico *)
* Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.

11 July 2024  Poland angry as Hungary blocks €2 billion ‘peace facility’ payments. Poland has reacted with frustration after Hungary blocked a payment of around €2 billion in European Union funds intended to compensate Warsaw for its military aid to Ukraine over the war with Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government is blocking the payment from the European Peace Facility, an off-budget EU instrument designed to reimburse governments that send military aid to Kyiv. The Hungarians have consistently opposed military aid to Kyiv and Orbán has maintained high-level relations with Russian President Putin. Orbán has recently visited both tKyiv and the Russian capital in an effort to facilitate negotiations to end the war. That was criticised by other EU leaders who argued that the Hungarian government was effectively giving succour to the Russians. The Hungarians countered that channels must remain open to both nations if a peace agreement is to be reached. Yesterday, at a NATO summit in Washington, Polish foreign minister Sikorski told reporters that 'Hungary is abusing our trust’ and called the Hungarian stance 'unfriendly and hostile’. He confirmed that the money blocked by the country was intended to fund the modernisation of Poland’s armed forces. Poland is not the only country affected by the blockage of the funds. The arrears to be paid out by the EU to all countries supporting Ukraine amount to about €9 billion. In June, the foreign ministers of 26 EU countries decided to by-pass Hungary’s veto on proposed aid to Ukraine, enabling them to grant Kyiv up to €1.4 billion for ammunition and air defences. Still, that only involves frozen Russian financial assets and does not resolve the problem of the Hungarian blockage of other EU funds. (Source: rmx *)
* Remix, published in Budapest, Hungary. Offers news and commentary from Central Europe, the Visegrád countries

July 11, 2024  Poland borrows another $2B from US to buy F-35s. The US State Department has approved a second foreign military loan to Poland to clear the way for its planned procurement of an undisclosed number of F-35 jets from Lockheed Martin on top of Patriot air defense missiles and Abrams main battle tanks. Valued at $2 billion, the loan agreement is part of Warsaw’s ongoing military modernization effort to address ’rising threats in the region’. Poland received its first military loan from the US, signed in September 2023, also for $2 billion. It was clearly stipulated that the money should only be spent on US-made weapons. The country said it earmarked roughly half of the borrowed amount for the purchase of four aerostat-based early warning radar systems. ’Poland is a leader in NATO,’ the department wrote. ’[It is] currently spending four percent of GDP on defense, the highest in the alliance. Poland hosts thousands of US and allied forces.’ Warsaw has so far sent more than $8.6 billion in military aid to the war-torn nation and accepted the largest number of Ukrainian refugees. At a recent press conference, Polish Army Chief of Staff General Kukula said the country needs to prepare its soldiers for an all-out conflict amid the increasing tension in the region, adding that this will allow ’us to find a good balance between the border mission and maintaining the intensity of training in the army.’ Earlier this year, a startling German intelligence report claimed that 'Moscow may launch an attack on a NATO member state by 2026'. ’Poland is considered a likely target’. (Source: thedefensepost *)
* The Defense Post, a security and defense news publication. Headquarters Washington D.C., U.S.

July 11, 2024  NATO officials have agreed at a summit in Washington taking over the coordination of training and weapons deliveries from the United States. NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg announced on July 10 the launch of a centralized command in Germany and the establishment of a training and analysis center in Poland. Stoltenberg said NATO’s plans to establish these two support facilities are within the elements of the robust security support package agreed during the summit along with providing Ukraine with $43 billion in military aid for next year, bilateral agreements, and more equipment, including air-defense systems. The operation in Poland will be known as a joint training and analysis center (JTAC), which will focus on improving NATO interoperability with Ukraine and studying the way the Ukraine war has changed warfare. Speaking at a panel discussion on the sidelines of the summit, Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski said the JTAC will be built in his hometown of Bydgoszcz. He envisions it becoming a state-of-the-art war analysis center that examines how drone warfare is changing the battlefield and other modern aspects of the Ukrainian war. And he predicted that Ukrainians eventually will take on major roles at the JTAC - the Ukrainians will be teaching them. 'We are not doing this because we want to prolong the war. We are doing this because we want to end the war as soon as possible’;) Stoltenberg said. (Source: rferl *)
* Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an American government-funded international media organization. Headquarters Prague Broadcast Center, Czech Republic

European Council
11 July 2024  EU ambassadors yesterday blasted Hungary for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s solo diplomatic initiative on Ukraine in a two-hour meeting. They sought more clarity on the aims and results of Hungary’s recent visits ’to speak with Russian President Putin and then Chinese President Xi', initiatives Budapest had described as "peace mission" to resolve the ongoing war in Ukraine. EU leaders and officials had been unanimous in recent days in condemning the surprise visit 'to Moscow", insisting that Budapest was not acting on behalf of the bloc as a whole. The bloc’s envoys were stressing that Orbán’s push 'was incompatible with the country currently holding the bloc’s rotating EU presidency". In total, 25 EU member states, with the exception of Slovakia, which did not take part in the discussion, ’expressed wide dissatisfaction or anger at how the Hungarian presidency is unrolling, according to several’ EU diplomats. Hungary’s envoy to the EU used the meeting to present his country’s case for the trip. “Hungary tried to argue that the visits were strictly bilateral, only to scope out the feasibility and conditions for a ceasefire,” one EU diplomat said. That argument ’was not credible, given the timing and sequencing of the meetings", use of presidency hashtags, and the reaction of Putin, the diplomats said. Budapest had created ambiguity by using the Hungarian EU presidency logo and hashtags, while Putin had approached Orbán in the expectation that he would represent the bloc’s position. However, EU member states did not discuss options on how to deal with the issue or, as some had previously called for, to ‘rein in’ Hungary’s actions, including Poland, which had originally put the issue on the agenda for yesterday’s meeting. “No one raised the issue of ending or shortening the presidency. No concrete measures were presented or adopted,” a second EU diplomat said. 'Some EU member states have already shown signs of carrying out diplomatic snubs by sending more junior officials than expected to informal meetings' organised by the Hungarians. Hungarian officials were keen to play down concerns about possible shunning of EU presidency meetings. (Source: euractiv *)
* Euractiv, a European news website. Its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

European Union
11/7/2024  Jews in EU member states are in the grip of a ’rising tide of anti-Semitism’, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), that conducted the survey said. The vast majority of the survey’s data had been collected prior to the October 7 Hamas massacre. The agency’s study, which compiled data from 12 Jewish organisations, found that 96 per cent of European Jews had encountered anti-Semitism in 2023. Three-quarters of Jewish people in Europe hide their identities ’at least occasionally’ as they fear being harassed or attacked by anti-Semites. And 34 per cent said they took care to avoid Jewish events or places as they did not feel “safe” there,  Rautio, the agency’s director said. “FRA’s consultation with national and European Jewish umbrella organisations in early 2024 shows a dramatic surge [in anti-Semitic attacks],' Ms Rautio said. Jews are 'more frightened than ever before’ and growing anti-Semitism was also at risk of disrupting the EU’s first-ever strategy for addressing the issue, she said, as she blamed increased tensions over the war in Gaza. Of particular concern was France, where 74 per cent of respondents said they felt the ongoing Gaza war affected their sense of security. Eighty per cent of respondents said they felt that negative stereotypes or conspiracy theories about Jews were a growing concern, such as claims they were “holding power and control over finance, media, politics or [the] economy”. Others encountered Europeans who denied Israel’s right to exist. Four per cent said they had been the victims of physical anti-Semitic attacks in 2023, a twofold increase from a previous 2018 study by the same agency. A further 60 per cent said they were unhappy with the way their national government was dealing with anti-Semitism. The survey covered 13 EU member states which account for 96 per cent of the EU’s Jewish population: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden. Similar surveys were carried out in 2013 and 2018. (Source: telegraph *)
* The Daily Telegraph, a British daily newspaper. Headquarters London, England, United Kingdom

Russia
July 11, 2024   Russia Today published an article by Russian academic Lukyanov titled "This is the only way to end confrontation between Russia and the West," on June 22, 2024. „Judging by Moscow's statements, the confrontation may only come to an end when the principles on which European security is based are fundamentally reconsidered," he wrote. Russia's then-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kozyrev signed up to NATO's Partnership for Peace program in Brussels on June 22, 1994. This marked the beginning of official relations between the Russian Federation and the US-led bloc (prior to that, the USSR and NATO were involved in political dialogue within the framework of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, but it was established only several days before the dissolution of the Soviet Union). The Partnership for Peace program originally served a double goal: it was an alternative to NATO membership, but also a preparatory step for joining the organization (at least for some countries). When the program was launched, a final decision on the expansion of NATO had not yet been made. "Russia opposed the idea, but was not consistent. Kozyrev warned about the consequences of expansion, but repeatedly said NATO was not Russia's enemy. Russian President Yeltsin dissuaded Western leaders from growing the bloc, but at the same time told Polish President Walesa that Moscow was not against Warsaw's accession. However, two years later, NATO finally announced that it would admit the first group of former communist countries. "Currently, the prevailing view in Russia is that, following the dissolution of the USSR, the US and its allies embarked on a course of a military and political takeover of the former Soviet sphere of influence, and NATO became the main instrument in achieving this. "The concept adopted at the end of the Cold War stated that NATO ensured European security, and a bigger NATO meant a more secure continent. As a first step towards this, everyone (including Moscow) agreed that a reunited Germany would remain a member of the bloc instead of receiving neutral status, as some had suggested earlier. Further, it was implied that each country had the right to choose whether or not to join any alliances. Theoretically, that is what sovereignty implies. But in practice, the geopolitical balance of power had always imposed restrictions that forced alliances to consider the reaction of non-member countries. However, the triumphalism that reigned in the West following the Cold War significantly reduced the willingness to take such reactions into account - NATO felt like it could do anything and no reply would follow. The West's easy and unexpected success in the Cold War created a feeling of unconditional victory – a political and economic success, but most importantly, a moral one. "The West felt that it, as the winning side, had the right to determine the structure of Europe and knew exactly how to go about it. This was not simply a display of conscious arrogance, but rather of joyful euphoria. "In fact, there never was a real chance to establish a true partnership between Russia and NATO, although at some point there were certain illusions regarding this. "The situation could have changed dramatically if Russia had considered the possibility of joining NATO, and if the bloc itself had considered such a scenario. Then the principle of the indivisibility of security, proclaimed in the 1990 Charter of Paris for a New Europe, would have been respected within the framework of the bloc. However, it was impossible for Russia to join NATO, since, even at its weakest, Russia remained one of the world's largest military powers and possessed the largest nuclear arsenal. The hypothetical accession of such a state to NATO would mean the emergence of a second force within the club that would be on a par with the US, and therefore, would not obey it on the same level as other allies. This would change the very essence of the organization, and alter its principles of Atlanticism (simply because of Russia's geographical location). No one was prepared for this. The qualitative transformation of NATO was never on the agenda. "As a result, NATO's expansion, which in a sense became automated, pushed Russia further and further to the east. Moscow's attempts to regulate this process – first through participation in joint institutions (such as the NATO-Russia Council of 2002, which was an expansion of the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997) and then through growing opposition (starting with Putin's Munich Speech in 2007) – did not bring the desired results. In addition to the inertia of the West's initial approach (which implied that the bloc's very existence is security in itself), the West believed that Moscow didn't have the right to set conditions and must only follow the rules set by the stronger and more successful Western community. This is how the EU eventually got involved in the current Ukraine war. "Could relations between NATO and Russia have developed in a different way? The West believes that the persistence of Russia, which continued to consider NATO a threat to its security, led to the current military crisis. And, in fact, this became a self-fulfilling prophecy. But even assuming that this was true, the speed and ease with which NATO returned to a strong confrontation with Russia shows that it had been prepared for this. "Russia's memorandum of December 2021 and the 2022 military operation in Ukraine were designed to put an end to the idea of NATO's uncontested expansion as the only means of ensuring European security. Two-and-a-half years later, we see that the scale of the conflict has exceeded all initial expectations. Judging by Moscow's statements, the confrontation may only come to an end when the principles on which European security is based are fundamentally reconsidered. "This is not a territorial conflict, but a conflict which may only end when NATO abandons its main goal and function. So far, there is no compromise on the horizon. The Western side is not willing to agree that the results of the Cold War must be reconsidered, and the Russian side is not ready to retreat without this assurance. Thirty years after the signing of the Partnership for Peace program, there's still no partnership or peace between Russia and NATO. And neither is there a clear understanding of why the two sides were unable to achieve it."
(Source: memri *)
* Middle East Media and Research Institute, an American press monitoring and analysis organization. It publishes and distributes copies of media reports translated into English. Headquarters Washington, D.C., United States
by Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs; research professor at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs of Moscow Higher School of Economics; chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy; research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

July 11, 2024  American allies in Europe caught in between. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signing in 1987 by President Reagan and the Soviet leader, Gorbachev. West Germany at the time was on the front lines of the Cold War. The agreement was prohibiting nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges from 500 to 5,500 kilometers and removed the Soviet-type SS-20s or Pioneers mobile, intermediate-range, nuclear-armed ballistic missiles and the American nuclear-capable Pershing II ballistic missiles as well as nuclear-capable Ground-Launch Cruise Missiles from Europe. The treaty remained in force until the Trump administration pulled out of it in 2019, citing violations by Russia with the development of a new cruise missile, the 9M729, also known as the SSC-8. Washington said that the missile could fly at ranges in violation of the agreement. Moscow said that the missile’s range was shorter and denied violating the pact. The dissolution of the Cold War-era agreement signaled the possibility of a renewed arms race, including competing missile deployments in Europe. For years, President Putin of Russia has cited the American deployment of missile infrastructure in Europe as an aggressive move aimed at containing Moscow’s capabilities. At the end of June, Mr. Putin said at a meeting with security officials that Russia should relaunch production of ground-based nuclear-capable missiles of shorter and intermediate range. Russia is preparing military countermeasures in response to the planned American deployment of longer-range missiles in Germany, ’to this new game,’ the Russian deputy foreign minister Ryabkov said today, adding that the U.S. move was “destructive to regional safety and strategic stability.’ In a separate comment published by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Ryabkov said that Moscow had anticipated the decision and that Russia had started preparing ’compensating countermeasures’ in advance. The news about the coming missile deployments in Germany was made during the NATO summit in Washington. Ultimately, the weapons will include nonnuclear SM-6 missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and developmental hypersonic weapons. The alliance also announced that an American missile defense base in Poland capable of intercepting ballistic missiles was 'mission ready' after years of development. The Kremlin’s spokesman, Peskov, said today that tensions were ’escalating on the European continent.’ Moscow saw the deployment of NATO infrastructure closer to its border as “a very serious threat.’ (Source: dnyuz */ New York Times **)
*
** The New York Times, an American daily newspaper. Headquarters New York City, U.S.

Asia

South Korea
July 11, 2024, 3:33 PM   South Korea will become the first country in the world to deploy and operate laser weapons. It announced today that it will deploy laser weapons by the end of this year, to be produced by Hanwha Aerospace, to target North Korean drones. The low-cost system burns engines or other electronic equipment with beams of light. Each shot fired only costs about $1.50 and is extremely difficult to detect before impact. It’s a weapons system capable of countering even aircraft and ballistic missiles if they enhance the generated power, Seoul’s key arms agency said. (Source: foreignpolicy).

North America

United States
July 11, 2024, 3:33 PM  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with former U.S. President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida today. Orbán took over the six-month presidency of the European Union’s Council of Ministers on July 1, and since then, he has met with Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi as part of a self-described “peace mission”- meetings that have angered his fellow NATO members. Orbán and Trump were expected to discuss Russia’s war with Ukraine. Orbán is not the only one worrying fellow NATO members. Yesterday, Trump said he would not pull the United States out of the alliance; however, he reiterated that he wants other NATO nations to pay more. Trump is considering reducing the United States’ intelligence-sharing with NATO members if he is reelected in November. (Source: foreignpolicy *)
* 'Foreign Policy, an American news publication based in Washington, D.C., U.S., with daily content' on its website.

NATO

July 11, 2024 10:23 PM  West preparing for arms race with Russia, its backers - intent on confronting a nascent arms race with global implications. Some Western officials say NATO must prepare to outspend, outpace and outproduce the fledgling alliance that has kept the Russian military on the move - the growing defense cooperation among Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. Officials have repeatedly accused China of playing a critical role in sustaining Russia's military by sending Moscow raw materials and so-called dual-use components needed to produce advanced weapons and weapons systems. In April and May, the United States and Britain levied new sanctions against Iranian companies and officials involved in the production of drones for the Russian military. Declassified U.S. intelligence has noted Russia's use of North Korean ballistic missiles. South Korean officials said earlier this year that Pyongyang has so far sent Russia at least 6,700 containers that could contain more than 3 million artillery shells. U.S. President Biden said a strategy to disrupt their efforts is being put into place. 'We talked about how both the European Union as well as NATO has to be able to begin to build their own ammunition capacity, has to be able to generate their own capacity to provide for weapons,’ Biden said today. The West is going to become the industrial base for it, Biden added. "We will have the ability to have all the defensive weapons that we need." The U.S., Germany, Spain and others have already begun to produce interceptors for Patriot air defense batteries in Europe. The U.S. and Turkey have embarked on an effort to produce 155 millimeter artillery shells in the southern U.S. state of Texas. The U.S. president said some European allies are also preparing to impose costs on China and disengage economically for as long as Beijing provides Moscow with the components and materiel it needs to continue its war against Ukraine. Already some U.S. officials have taken to calling Russia, China, North Korea and Iran a new ’axis of evil.’ They're 100% aligned all the time, every day, on the strategic capabilities that they're building in partnership, Goldberg, a U.S. National Security Council official under former President Trump, told. "Our response has to view them as an axis, not individual parts." "There are still significant tension points between the four countries that prevent the formation of a more cohesive alliance," said Grisé, a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. "Within the Russia-Iran relationship, for example, friction points include competition for energy markets and for influence in the Caucasus, as well as - at least historically - divergent approaches to Israel," Grisé told. The Russia-China-North Korea-Iran axis "to form a more cohesive alliance, they'll have to translate their shared opposition to the Western-led international order into a coherent, shared vision for the future, which I expect they'll struggle to do,’ she said. (Source: voanews *)
* Voice of America, the international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. Headquarters Washington, D.C., United States

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NATO

11 Jul. 2024 17:14 / 10 Jul. 2024 

Washington Summit Declaration

issued by the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council

in Washington, D.C. 10 July 2024.

(Source: nato *):

https://tinyurl.com/4f7nbf9j

 * North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a collective security system.

NATO's headquarters are located in Brussels and near Mons, Belgium.

July 11, 2024, 3:33 PM  Key takeaways from the 2024 NATO Summit. Kyiv is on an 'irreversible' path to membership, the bloc formally declared on yesterday - one that will kick off once its war against Russia ends. The alliance said it would provide at least $43 billion in military aid to Kyiv within the next year, but it stopped short of a multiyear commitment that NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg advocated for. The United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands revealed that they have sent the first batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which should be in the skies later this summer. Poland said it will train a unit of Ukrainians living in Poland to be deployed back to Kyiv. And NATO confirmed plans to establish a new command center in Germany aimed at coordinating arms and training logistics for Ukraine. Washington announced yesterday that it plans to start deploying longer-range weapons - including Tomahawk, SM-6, and hypersonic missiles - to Germany in 2026. France, Germany, Italy, and Poland agreed today to jointly develop long-range cruise missiles to address a gap in European defenses that Russia’s war in Ukraine has exposed. Despite efforts to counter Russia’s military influence, though, NATO reiterated yesterday that it “does not seek confrontation, and poses no threat to Russia,’ adding that the alliance remains willing to “maintain channels of communication with Moscow to mitigate risk and prevent escalation.” Yesterday, the alliance criticized China for being a “decisive enabler' of Moscow’s war efforts. For Washington’s part, National Security Advisor Sullivan said the United States would continue to impose sanctions on Chinese entities involved in aiding Russia’s effort. South Korean President Yoon argued on today that the Kremlin’s close ties with North Korea are a “stark reminder of the fact that the European security and the Indo-Pacific security are indivisible.” To end the multiday summit, Biden will hold a rare, high-stakes solo press conference today, It will be his first time facing the press alone since November, and it comes amid growing calls for Biden to end his reelection campaign after a poor debate performance in late June. (Source: foreignpolicy *)
* Foreign Policy, an American news publication based in Washington, D.C., U.S., with daily content on its website.

July 11, 2024 3:16pm EDT  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán departed the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., today to meet with former President Trump in Florida. Orbán arrived in the U.S. this week to attend the multi-day NATO summit, which occurs at a time when members remain concerned about Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and what the future holds for the broader European Union. Orbán has crisscrossed the globe over the past week after assuming the role as president of the European Union. Hungary’s presidency will last six months as part of a rotating leadership scheme for the bloc and does not provide much actual power, but Orbán wasted no time in using that office to start holding discussions with President Zelenskyy, Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi before his meeting with Trump. His visit to Russia shocked many of his peers. The rest of Europe ’has remained less than enamored’ with Orbán, though, especially in light of his foreign visit blitz in the past 10 days. ’A majority of member states already have considerably lowered’ the level of participation in the informal council meetings ’that will be held in Hungary” during the presidency term. In some capitals, also, officials have discussed how to use EU treaties to limit Orbán’s impact. Orbán has long admired Trump, going so far as to invoke the former president with a quip that Hungary would "make Europe great again," and Trump met with Orbán at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in March when ’trying to court’ foreign policy in the U.S. During an interview with German journalist and author Ronzheimer, Orbán said that there is a "very, very high chance that the next American president will be not the same president who is today." He refused to be drawn on questions about President Biden’s fitness for office. (Source: foxnews *)
* Fox News Channel (FNC), an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website. Headquarters New York City, New York
By ’Aitken

July 11, 2024 6:13 pm CET Turkey and Hungary came to the NATO summit. Hungary spends 2.1 percent of GDP on defense, above the alliance target, and is modernizing its military. Turkey has NATO's second-largest army after the U.S. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán nor Erdoğan, the Turkish president, the pair of’ populists’ - one defending Christian values, the other increasingly Islamist - have broader interests in common. They play their own game. They both ’dally’ with Russia, they hedge on supporting Ukraine and they have foreign policies that often clash with NATO priorities. They're looking to ensure NATO is a purely defensive alliance - in other words that ’it keeps its nose out’ of Ukraine. They're also gearing up for a possible change of government in the United States and cozying up to Trump. Although both Orbán and Erdoğan have broken ranks with the rest of the alliance and met with Putin, their positions on Ukraine aren't exactly the same. The Hungarian leader has sought to undermine NATO's role on Ukraine and ’parrots Putin's talking points on the war’, declaring that Ukraine won't be able to hold out against superior Russian forces. Hungary also has no intention of following the rest of the EU in ending purchases of Russian natural gas. Turkey has declared its support for Ukraine's ’territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence," and does send weapons to Kyiv while maintaining a vibrant trading relationship with Russia - including big gas purchases. Both are wary of entangling NATO in the conflict. Erdoğan cautioned on X that the alliance "should not be made a party to the war when designing steps to support Ukraine." Despite having policies wildly out of line with the rest of NATO, the alliance remains a core foreign policy priority for both countries. Indeed, Orbán even exhibited a sense of deference when he arrived in the summit, physically bowing to NATO boss Stoltenberg and U.S. President Biden while appearing onstage for an official photo. Turkey has much wider interests than NATO. Its army is in Syria and regularly crosses into Iraq. It has tried to form a Turkic bloc that includes ex-Soviet countries like Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. It also regularly demands NATO focus more on fighting terrorism, an agenda that serves its national interests. Orbán made an informal appearance at the Turkic summit earlier this month, something that ’earned him a smackdown’ from the EU's top diplomat Borrell. Days before Erdoğan met Biden and Stoltenberg, he showed up in Kazakhstan and attended a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a security and defense grouping founded by Beijing and Moscow, and asked for full membership. As soon as Orbán arrived in Washington from his much-criticized meeting in Moscow and Beijing, he sat down with Erdoğan. Later today, he was due to fly to Florida ’to pay court to Trump’ at Mar-a-Lago. Orbán used the NATO summit as his latest platform to preach his self-appointed "peace" mission - an effort to end the war in Ukraine ’on what looks like terms set by Russian leader Putin, the war's instigator’. "The issue of the Russia-Ukraine war was discussed," Orbán's office said in a statement following the meeting with Erdoğan, adding that the Hungarian PM "asked for the support of the Hungarian peace mission in view of the fact that Turkey has been the only successful mediator in the conflict so far." Hungary was the only NATO country that opted out of the alliance's new mission to support Ukraine by coordinating the transfer of Western weapons and training Ukrainian soldiers. Weeks before coming to the summit, Orbán ’forced’ then-Dutch PM Mark Rutte to sign and confirm respect for this position - a necessary ’kowtow’ before he approved Rutte's bid to be the next NATO secretary-general. Turkey ’also put Rutte through the wringer’ before signing off on his candidacy. Now, to the ’chagrin’ of U.S. and European diplomats, Ankara has a new demand: that Turkey gets to host the NATO summit in 2026. Turkey also caused last-minute trouble with the NATO summit declaration, which was issued yesterday evening. Earlier this week, on the advanced stage of negotiation on the wording Turkey "reopened the declaration" on various points. In the end, the declaration mentioned that NATO countries "look forward to meeting again at our next Summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, in June 2025, followed by a meeting in Türkiye." The format (meeting as opposed to summit) and the timing (2026 or later) were deliberately left vague for countries to hammer out the details at a later stage. Ankara also sought to water down the reference to NATO-EU cooperation. The issue has been a sore point for Turkey, whose EU candidacy exists only in name. On this, however, Turkey made less headway - 23 countries share membership in EU and NATO. In a recent interview, Turkish Defense Minister Güler said: “The most effective security organization in the Euro-Atlantic region is NATO ... We think there is no need for any other formation.” In the end, the NATO statement says the alliance "recognises the value of a stronger and more capable European defence that contributes positively to transatlantic and global security and is complementary to, and interoperable with NATO." (Source: politico *)
* Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
by ’Lau’

July 11, 2024 12:45 AM EDT  Former President Trump will meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Florida today, less than a week after he met with Russian President Putin in Moscow. Orbán will travel to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort after the conclusion of the NATO summit in Washington. His visit to Moscow became a central point of discussion at the gathering, where other allies pledged additional air defenses for Ukraine in its continuing campaign against the full-scale Russian invasion that began in 2022. Orbán also paid a visit this week to President Xi in China, following a trip to Azerbaijan earlier this month. Hungary took over the European Union’s rotating presidency July 1. EU officials have criticized Orbán’s travels, arguing they could undermine the 27-member bloc’s positions on global issues. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg told on July 7 that Orbán “made it clear when he came to Moscow that he didn’t go there on behalf of NATO.” “Different NATO allies interact with Moscow in different ways,” he added. The Biden administration has criticized Orbán over his friendly relations with Putin. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has not asked the Hungarian leader to lay the groundwork for some sort of Ukraine-Russia peace deal, according to one of the people familiar with the Orbán visit. The person described the visit, which will take place days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, as more of an informal get-together. 'The visit is likely to fan concerns that the Hungarian leader is working as an intermediary between Putin and Trump'. Trump and Putin 'professed a fondness for one another" during the U.S. president’s first term - often garnering bipartisan criticism. More recently, the Republican leader has said he believed he could convince Putin to end his war in Ukraine and release Americans detained in Russia if he were elected to a second term. The Hungarian leader and Trump have cultivated a close relationship, with Orbán visiting Mar-a-Lago in March. Trump feted him with a tour of his residence, dinner with former first Lady Melania, an hour-long meeting with senior aides, and musical performance by a band covering Orbison songs. (Source: time *)
* Time, an American news magazine based in New York City, New York, U.S.

2:24 AM CEST, July 11, 2024  The European and North American members and their partners in the Indo-Pacific increasingly see shared security concerns coming from Russia and its Asian supporters, especially China. The sternly worded final communiqué, approved by the 32 NATO members at their summit in Washington, makes clear that China is becoming a focus of the military alliance. In this year’s final declaration, NATO member countries reiterated their concerns that China poses “systemic challenges” to Euro-Atlantic security. It was first raised in 2021. In the communiqué, they said China has become a war enabler through its “no-limits partnership” with Russia and its large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base. “This increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbors and to Euro-Atlantic security. We call on the PRC, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a particular responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” read the communiqué, which referred to China by the abbreviation of its official name, the People’s Republic of China. “The PRC cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation,” the document says. Beijing insists that it does not provide military aid to Russia but has maintained strong trade ties with its northern neighbor throughout the conflict. NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said China provides equipment, microelectronics and tools that are “enabling Russia to build the missiles, to build the bombs, to build the aircraft, to build the weapons they use to attack Ukraine.” The Chinese embassy in Washington yesterday said China is neither a creator of nor a party to the Ukraine crisis. “China does not provide weapons to the parties to the conflict and strictly controls the export of dual-use articles, which is widely applauded by the international community,' said Liu, the embassy spokesman. He said China’s normal trade with Russia is “done aboveboard” and “beyond reproach.” The new wording by NATO was coupled with the warning that Beijing continues to pose “systemic challenges” to European interests and security, Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute said. ’China’s attempts at divide-and-conquer have instead produced remarkable solidarity between key nations of the Euro-Atlantic and the Asia-Pacific regions,” Russel, the former assistant secretary of state for Asia added. ’The U.S. believes that Europe has influence in Beijing, and that while China will not pay any attention to U.S. condemnation, they will pay attention to European condemnation because just because Europe trades with China, China also trades with Europe,” Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said. The alliance said China has been behind sustained, malicious cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation and expressed concerns over China’s space capabilities and activities. It also raised alarms that China is rapidly expanding and diversifying its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems. Liu said China handles such issues “in a responsible manner with transparent policies,’ adding Beijing firmly opposes NATO’s use of regional hotspot issues to smear China and incite a new Cold War.’ It also accuses NATO of overreaching and inciting confrontation in the Indo-Pacific region. Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea have sent their leaders or deputies to the NATO summit in Washington this week. They are partners, not members, of the alliance. NATO and the Indo-Pacific partners plan to launch four projects to support Ukraine, bolster cooperation on cyber defense, counter disinformation and work on artificial intelligence. The NATO members said these projects would “enhance our ability to work together on shared security interests.” In the final declaration, NATO members affirmed the importance of the Indo-Pacific partners to the alliance and said they were “strengthening dialogue to tackle cross-regional challenges.' (Source: apnews *)
* The Associated Press, an American news agency headquartered in New York City, U.S

July 11, 2024  Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán has asked Turkish President Erdogan to support his efforts to launch peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine War, Orbán’s press secretary 'Hawashi' told Russian news service TASS on July 10. The previous day, Orbán and Erdogan met in Washington, DC on the sidelines of the Nato summit. In a video on Facebook, the Hungarian leader confirmed that he had asked for the Turkish president's support. “The positions of the battling parties are still far apart,” Orbán noted in the video. In his peace efforts, Orbán met with President Zelenskiy on July 2, Russian President Putin on July 5 and Chinese President Xi on July 8. Hungary is holding the presidency of the EU in H2 2024. At his meeting with Putin held on July 5 in Astana, Erdogan has also offered mediation between Russia and Ukraine. However, the Russians have turned a cold shoulder to Erdogan’s offer. (Source: intellinews *)
* bne IntelliNews, a news wire agency and media company. Headquarters Berlin, Germany

July 11, 2024  NATO’s leaders at the summit once again risked disappointing Zelensky by refusing to issue Ukraine a clear invitation to join their alliance. But in a bid to soften any upset, leaders called Ukraine’s path to membership “irreversible.’ They also pledged to provide Kyiv a minimum of 40 billion euros ($43 billion) in military support ’within the next year.” ’We are doing and will continue to do everything to ensure that the day comes when Ukraine is invited and becomes a NATO member, and I am confident we will achieve this,’ Zelensky said. NATO allies have put together a package of support for Ukraine including the pledge of more Patriot missile systems to defend the skies over the war-torn country. President Zelensky today called on NATO leaders, especially the United States, to drop all restrictions on letting Kyiv strike inside Russia with Western weaponry. The leader joined his NATO counterparts after receiving promises of new air defenses for Ukraine and as allies began the transfer of long-promised F-16 jets. Key allies such as Washington and Germany relaxed conditions on Ukraine hitting inside Russia in May in response to Moscow’s offensive toward the second city Kharkiv, but they kept in place some limits on how far and under which circumstances Kyiv could strike. ’If we want to win, if we want to prevail, if we want to save our country and to defend it, we need to lift all the limitations,’ Zelensky said. ’The only way to hit military targets, missile launchers or airfields which are conducting attacks against Ukraine is to hit military targets on Russian territory, because the frontline and the borderline is more or less the same,’ NATO chief Stoltenberg said. He said there has been ’a Russian campaign organized by the security services to conduct hostile actions against NATO allies, across the alliance, with sabotage attempts, with cyber attacks, with arson, with different types of hostile actions.” The purpose of this campaign is, of course, to intimidate NATO allies from supporting Ukraine, he said. The United States on yesterday announced an important step to bolster NATO’s own deterrence against Russia in Europe by saying it would begin ’episodic deployments’ of long-range missiles to Germany in 2026. The White House said it would eventually look to permanently station them in Germany, and the missiles would ’have significantly longer range’ than current US systems in Europe. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the move and said it would help ’securing peace.’ The Kremlin on today struck back, saying it was planning “response measures’ to contain the “very serious threat” from NATO, accusing the alliance of being ’fully involved in the conflict over Ukraine.’ NATO shifted attention eastwards by welcoming the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. The Washington summit is the third such gathering attended by leaders from the four Asia-Pacific partners. The United States has been pushing its European allies for years to pay closer attention to the challenges posed by China. NATO agreed to several initiatives with the partner countries, including bolstering cooperation against cyberattacks and disinformation, and providing Ukraine non-lethal help. (Source: digitaljournal */ „Written by AFP **„)
* Digital Journal, Canada
** Agence France-Presse, a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France

Space

Space
July 11, 2024  What on Earth is a Canadian citizen supposed do if they find potentially hazardous space garbage on their private property? Today’s commercialization of orbit - SpaceX and other companies, as well as governments - are producing space debris that could very easily kill people. Sawchuk, a Saskatchewan farmer’s near miss with potentially lethal debris falling from orbit highlights the skyrocketing risks and murky politics of space junk. On his farm dangerous fragments of space debris from the uncontrolled reentry event fell on February 26, 2024. On a photo of the farmer, standing next to what looked like the charred, battered hood of a semitruck covered with woven carbon fiber and a few slightly melted aluminum protrusions, the object looked exactly like debris that fell in an Australian sheep field in 2022, which the U.S. aerospace company SpaceX later admitted was part of a cargo trunk for its Crew Dragon spacecraft. This “trunk” is actually the size of a small grain silo, and is ejected in orbit well before the spacecraft’s atmospheric reentry, to naturally and chaotically reenter on its own and, supposedly, burn up completely. A dramatic increase in space commerce and exploration could soon make such events disturbingly common across the globe. McDowell, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian who maintains probably the best public database of launches, reentries and other space activities, confirmed, tracing the path of a SpaceX Crew Dragon trunk ejected by the Axiom 3 private astronaut mission: it had reentered over the Canadian prairies on February 26, 2024. After being cast adrift on February 9, the cargo trunk spent more than two weeks in a decaying orbit. Reaching about 50 miles altitude in the early morning hours of February 26, it began to burn as it plowed at some 17,000 miles per hour through the thickening air. Anyone near Calgary looking up at the right moment could have briefly seen a very bright, messy shooting star as the heavy cylinder melted and broke into pieces. The trunk’s outer layers of woven carbon fiber billowed and unraveled as it fell, likely insulating and slowing the plummeting pieces so abruptly that friction from the atmosphere failed to destroy them as SpaceX engineers had planned. Objects breaking apart high overhead often leave debris trails spanning hundreds of miles; the hefty fragments in Sawchuk’s equipment shed were a testament to many smaller ones undoubtedly generated by this event that are yet to be discovered. People will be finding additional pieces for years, if not decades. The SpaceX company has been launching huge numbers of its Starlink internet broadband satellites since 2019; more than 6,000 are in orbit, and as many as 42,000 are planned. Beyond the disruptive light pollution, atmospheric pollution is skyrocketing from the SpaceX-dominated dramatic increase in launches and reentries - with potentially disastrous global effects. The aluminum oxide produced by sublimating satellites in Earth’s upper atmosphere is a potent and lasting catalyst for chemical reactions similar to those that in the 20th century famously corroded a gaping hole in our planet’s delicate, radiation-blocking ozone layer. The farmer was extremely annoyed that SpaceX was allowed to dump its orbital trash onto his farm, he said, and had assumed the best response was to tell his story in the news media. But most journalists didn’t prioritize following up on a rural Saskatchewan farmer saying he found a piece of space junk. How does one tell SpaceX, a piece of their spacecraft fell on your farm? Who has to clean it up? The answers are completely bizarre. The Outer Space Treaty (OST) and the Space Liability Convention, two agreements were signed between many countries during the space race era of the late 1960s and early 1970s - a time when only national governments were capable of launching rockets into orbit. The treaties mandate that signatory governments have absolute liability for any damage or death caused by anything launched into orbit from their respective countries. In other words, anytime SpaceX launches a rocket, the U.S. government is responsible for any damage it causes in other countries. So far, these treaties have only been fully tested once. In 1978 a Soviet satellite with a nuclear reactor on board crashed into northern Canada, spraying radioactive waste across a Florida-sized swath of land that Indigenous people have relied on for thousands of years. The U.S.S.R. paid Canada a small token compensation for the cursory cleanup effort that ensued, but the effects of that disaster linger to this day. Another precedent-setting scenario - damage claims from a Florida family whose home was recently struck by NASA-sourced space debris - is presently unfolding. Sawchuk’s case was rather different from these, however, with pieces of a spacecraft built by an American private company landing on private property in Canada, without apparent damage. It was a rare chance for independent scientists to study the trunk’s composition and learn more about the pollutants that transparency-averse SpaceX and others are incessantly pumping into Earth’s upper atmosphere. But a sort of “independent study” plan was actually prohibited by international law, because although the trunk fell on private property in Canada, according to the OST it needed to be returned to its country of origin. A representative of SpaceX called Sawchuk in mid-May to arrange plans for retrieving the company’s space junk. Sawchuk first demanded proof that the person was from SpaceX. Then he asked them as compensation to donate money to a skating rink that’s under construction in the nearby town of Ituna. SpaceX’s representative wrote back offering several thousand dollars and agreeing to those terms in cordial legalese; Sawchuk would need to send them an official invoice “for collection and storage of debris pending recovery.” Should provide compensation a company owned by the richest dude in the world probably to folks they drop potentially lethal garbage on? But after learning of the situation via early media coverage, by initiating unilateral contact with Sawchuk, SpaceX had circumvented the formal procedures dictated by prevailing space law. According to the OST and the Space Liability Convention, what should’ve happened is this: after finding the SpaceX’s space junk, Sawchuk somehow should have contacted Global Affairs Canada, which should have contacted the U.S. State Department, which should have contacted SpaceX to arrange retrieval of the company’s property in coordination with the Canadian government. If there had been damage, the U.S. government would have been obligated by the OST to compensate the Canadian government. But because SpaceX is a private company, and no damage occurred, any compensation is voluntary. Canadian Space Agency later released a statement saying that local law enforcement should be notified - implying that small-town RCMP officers are trained in dealing with potentially hazardous space debris. They aren’t. As Sawchuk and his neighbors awaited SpaceX’s trash pickup, even more recoverable debris emerged, but in the form of fragments of an entirely different Crew Dragon trunk that reentered elsewhere on May 21. Pieces were found in North Carolina, including one that allegedly bounced off someone’s house. SpaceX’s plan for the Starlink mega constellation is that each Ford F150-sized satellite will operate for five years before being deorbited to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, clearing the way for the launch of new replacements. SpaceX has provisional permission from the Federal Communications Commission to launch and operate 42,000 Starlink satellites. Assuming each one reaches orbit and lasts five years, on average, SpaceX will be burning up nearly one satellite per hour. If, like the Crew Dragon trunks, some might scatter large pieces across the Earth after failing to fully burn up, the prospect of human fatalities cannot be easily dismissed. Even if all Starlinks fully burn as planned, the repercussions on our planet’s atmosphere and climate from this single mega constellation project could be severe - and Starlink is but the first of many. SpaceX finally notified Sawchuk of the recovery team’s planned arrival on June 11. The stage was set for a space-junk media circus in the middle of rural Saskatchewan. By then the space-junk haul had grown to five very large pieces - the two Sawchuk had originally found, plus one apiece that each of his two sons found on their plots, and finally from a neighbor a frighteningly huge spearlike shard that was about nine feet tall and weighed 80 pounds. There were about 250 pounds of space debris in total, sitting there in the equipment shed. An U-Haul arrived, then two very nervous-looking young men emerged and somewhat sheepishly approached the awaiting throng. The pair stayed mostly silent, avoiding eye contact and offering only tight-lipped smiles in response to the ceaseless barrage of questions as they donned gloves and loaded the debris, piece by piece, into the truck. “How much do these trunks weigh? That information isn’t public, you know!” No answer other than twin forced smiles. “After all, the U.S. government classifies spacecraft parts as munitions.” One of them glanced nervously at the U-Haul but said nothing. Both disappeared into the side room to talk behind closed doors with Sawchuk. After that uneventful private chat, the pair hopped back in the U-Haul and drove off. The assembled media gradually packed up and left too. If had fallen those pieces in the city of Regina, or in New York City, or on a midair passenger jet? To SpaceX’s credit, the company is now working with NASA to study ways to mitigate the problem posed by Crew Dragon trunks. Even so, that more space junk will fall on us in the coming months and years is a matter of mathematical certainty. As of this writing there are 10,057 active satellites in orbit; well more than half of those are SpaceX’s Starlink spacecraft. There are tens of thousands of pieces of space debris large enough to track, and orders of magnitude more that are too small for our current surveillance to see. Most of this material, satellites and debris alike, is in low-Earth orbit, and without intervention will eventually burn up in Earth’s atmosphere in years, decades or centuries depending on altitude. We’re left hoping that hazardous pieces won’t reach the ground, that all those tons of vaporized aerospace-grade metal won’t further erode our planet’s protective ozone layer, that the sky will not fall. Countries need to enforce the rules that already exist, and regulations need to be updated to account for the unprecedented numbers of launches and reentries now occurring. (Source: scientificamerican *)
* Scientific American, an American popular science monthly magazine.
by Lawler, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada

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Europe

Austria
Wednesday, July 10, 2024  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was welcomed with military honours by Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer in Vienna Austria, today. Modi’s visit to Austria is the first by an Indian prime minister in 41 years. A day after he met Russian President Putin in Moscow, emphasizing the need for diplomacy, Modi discussed the war in Ukraine with an ally of Kyiv, the leader of Austria, that has a policy of military neutrality. While in Moscow, Modi reiterated India’s neutral stance on the invasion. Nehammer told reporters it was important to understand India’s position on Ukraine and convey Europe’s concerns. He said it was an “important and significant signal” that India took part in a summit in Switzerland last month and added that Austria could act as a ’bridge-builder’ in helping move forward peace efforts. In his comments today, Modi said in general terms that he and Nehammer had “extensive discussions” on all the world’s conflicts, including Ukraine. He said that “problems cannot be solved in the battlefield” and that “the loss of innocent lives is not acceptable, wherever it may take place.” “India and Austria both lay emphasis on dialogue and diplomacy for the rapid restoration of peace and stability,” he said. “Both of us are ready to provide all possible support to achieve this.” Modi and Nehammer took no questions from journalists. (Source: washingtontimes */ Associated Press)
* The Washington Times, an American conservative daily newspaper. Headquarters Washington, D.C., U.S.

Italy
10.07.2024  Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union this month, and Orbán has since embarked on a "peace mission" to Ukraine, Russia, and China. In Kyiv, he said a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine could speed up negotiations to end the war that started in February 2022. Italian Foreign Minister Tajani today said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is free to make the trips he desires, but should not undermine the unity of EU and NATO. “When Orbán undertakes these trips without a mandate from the EU, he represents Hungary, not the EU. The Hungarian prime minister is free to choose the visits he deems appropriate, but he should ensure not to weaken the unity representing the strength of the West, Europe, and NATO,” Tajani told Italian press in Washington DC, where he is attending a NATO summit. He reiterated Rome’s commitment to defend Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. He said the G7 foreign ministers, under Italy's presidency, would meet on the margins of the NATO summit, expressing hope for positive outcomes in discussions on Gaza and emphasizing the need for progress towards a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict. (Source: aa)

Poland
8:57 PM CEST, July 10, 2024  The new joint training NATO-Ukraine center in Bydgoszcz, Poland is planned in part to have Ukrainians teach NATO member countries some of the lessons Ukrainians have learned about fighting Russian forces, such as using civilian drones in the battlefield, Siewiera, head of Poland’s National Security Bureau and the security adviser to President Andrej Duda said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, yesterday. Siewiera also spoke 'in favor of Ukraine being allowed to use the weapons that it gets from NATO allies against Russian military targets in Russia'. ’It’s up to Ukrainians how they use their weapons’ once they get them, he argued. The new joint training center in Poland that NATO announced early this year and is setting up with Ukraine ’ideally’ would be used to provide military training to potentially ’millions’ of Ukrainian civilians living abroad who would be willing to come home to join the fight against Russia, the senior Polish security official said. He pointed to Russia’s success greatly expanding its military ranks during the war in Ukraine. The West has to look at the NATO center as a potential center for training Ukrainians for volunteer forces, ’the volunteers who are now present in European countries and are willing to defend Ukraine in the future, because there are millions of them,’ he said. (apnews *)
* The Associated Press, an American news agency headquartered in New York City, U.S

'10 lipca 2024, 14:59'  Poland 'needs to prepare its soldiers for all-out conflict', army chief of staff General Kukula said today, as the country boosts the number of troops on its border with Russia and Belarus. As of August, the number of troops guarding Poland's eastern border would be increased to 8,000 from the current 6,000, with an additional rearguard of 9,000 able to step up within 48 hours notice. The border with Belarus has been a flashpoint since migrants started flocking there in 2021 after Belarus opened travel agencies in the Middle East offering a new unofficial route into Europe - a move the European Union said was designed to create a crisis. The size of the armed forces stood at about 190,000 personnel at the end of last year, including ground, air, naval, special forces and territorial defence forces. Poland 'plans to increase this to 300,000 troops within a few years'. (Source: tvn24 *)
* TVN24, a Polish 24-hour commercial news channel, owned by US-based media company Warner Bros. Discovery. Headquarters Warsaw, Poland

European Parliament
10 July 2024  How the formation of new European Parliament Party Groups is going? Negotiations are still ongoing to finalise the new groups that will be running the European Parliament for the next five years. European Parliament Party Groups by total seat count - 720 seats total, 361 required to achieve governing majority - The Left (46); Greens/EFA (53); S&D (136); Renew Europe (76); EPP (189); ECR (74); Patriots for Europe (84); Europe of Sovereign Nations (25); Other/Unknown/Non-Inscrits (37). European Parliament Party Groups and their country composition; European Parliament Party Group formation - complete data. (Source: euractiv *):

https://tinyurl.com/y52jzp7n

* Euractiv, a European news website. Its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

European Union
10.07.2024  An analysis of military aid to Ukraine by the Dutch-based journalism collective Investigative Desk  shows significant discrepancy between reported figures and actual production capacity; the European Union is exaggerating its promises to increase production of ammunition to support Ukraine in the ongoing war. Despite the plans, EU deliveries since the start of the year have significantly lagged. Plans to produce and deliver at least 1.3 million artillery shells to Ukraine by the end of the year to bolster its ammunition stocks were announced by EU Commissioner for Internal Market Breton in January. The EU Council also agreed in May to accelerate the supply of 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine within 12 months. The group slammed the given numbers as a “fantasy.” Brussels is allegedly overstating Europe's munitions production capacity, while more capacity is needed to replenish stocks that have been drastically reduced. The EU claims that European arms companies will be able to produce between 1.4 and 1.7 million 155-millimeter NATO-standard artillery shells by the end of the year, but actual production capacity is “actually between 400,000 and 600,000 shells,” said the group. “There’s no such thing as 1.7 million capacity (of artillery shells) in all of Europe combined,” „a well-informed industry insider’ interviewed for the investigation said. ‘Unrealistic figures,' another source told the group; the figures given are “unrealistic.” “Production increases across Europe are lagging behind with the current total capacity reaching a level of about 580,000 units per year,” the collective said, quoting another “well-informed anonymous source". A PowerPoint presentation from German producer Rheinmetall confirms that the capacity in Europe is actually between 400,000 and 600,000 shells, the group said. ’According to this document, other such producers and Rheinmetall together could produce 550,000 shells in 2024,’ it added. An EU Commission spokesperson maintained that achieving a production capacity of 1.5 to 1.7 million 'under realistic conditions was feasible'. False confidence might lead to a situation where factories are left without supplies, compromising support for Ukraine and NATO. (Source: aa)

Russia
(Wednesday), July 10, 2024  Yesterday, the South China Morning Post reported that a Russian pilot known on Telegram as "Fighterbomber" posted documents purportedly related to the U.S. Air Force's F-35 Lightning II and F-15 Eagle jet fighters. The paper of record further identified the individual as "Ivanov," but that has not been confirmed. The individual first posted files including manuals from the American military aircraft, as well as documents on U.S. Switchblade drones and other weapons systems including precision-guided missiles, on his channel last Tuesday. Fighterbomber’s channel has a reported 500,000 subscribers. He claimed to have at least 250 gigabytes of U.S. military data, which he said were obtained via a U.S.-based company.. While many of the files have been deleted, some of the documents were still available as of yesterday afternoon. According to SCMP, the files included a maintenance manual for the F110 engine used by the F-15SA – a variant of the F-15 Eagle in service with Saudi Arabia – as well as a flight manual and maintenance manuals for the aircraft itself. The documents related to the F-35 were described as "being partially redacted," which SCMP also reported "may indicate they were already declassified." The Morning Post indicated that at least some of the documents have been viewed by Chinese officials, who said they are authentic. "The documents are detailed and their format resembles other U.S. military information previously leaked online. However, these are not strictly blueprints or design documents, and their true value can only be assessed by professionals," Tang, the chief marketing officer of Beijing-based antivirus and network security firm Rising Information Technology told SCMP. It remains unclear how damaging – if at all – this information might be. Such data can provide a shortcut for other nations. Telegram users joked that regular people could now build an F-15 or an F-35 in the garage. (Source: nationalinterest *)
* The National Interest, an American bimonthly international relations magazine, based in Washington, D.C., U.S.

North America

United States
10.07.2024  The US will deploy long-range missile capabilities in Germany - conventional long-range fires units which will include SM-6, Tomahawk, and developmental hypersonic weapons which have significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe. The United States will begin episodic deployments of the long-range fires capabilities of its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany in 2026, as part of planning for enduring stationing of these capabilities in the future. Exercising the advanced capabilities will demonstrate the US' commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence, the joint statement by the US and Germany during a NATO’s summit in Washington said. In 2021, the US Army introduced the 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force at the Army Europe and Africa headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, which seeks to provide the command with capabilities that extend beyond traditional ground warfare tactics. (Source: aa)

NATO

10 July 2024  The first batch of US-built F-16 fighter jets are already being transferred to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands and will be flying over Ukrainian skies this summer, US Secretary of State Blinken said, speaking at an event on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington today. A robust package for Ukraine will be unveiled over the next couple of days that will build a clear and strong ’bridge’ for Ukraine's NATO membership, he said. ’We are grateful to Belgium and Norway for committing to provide further aircraft, and to the other members of the Air Force Capability Coalition for their support," a joint statement from the leaders of the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands said. NATO members have announced the delivery of five additional Patriot and other strategic air defence systems to help Ukraine. Still more aid announcements were expected at this week's summit in Washington. President Zelenskyy said last week that he wanted to double Ukraine's air defence capacity over the summer and that his country needed at least seven additional Patriot systems to protect itself. (Source: trtworld *)
* TRT World, a Turkish public broadcaster which broadcasts in English. Headquarters Ankara, Turkey

July 10, 2024 7:25 pm  The UK is set to warn the EU not to try to replace Nato with a new, its own internal defence pact – even as Sir Keir Starmer negotiates a new security deal with Brussels. The Prime Minister has been meeting Nato leaders including Macron at the alliance’s summit in Washington. In a highly unusual move, he has brought Thomas-Symonds – the Minister for European Relations – with him to Nato, along with Foreign Secretary Lammy and Defence Secretary Healey. They’ve got the Nato summit within a week of the election, so they get the opportunity to strengthen relations with various of the Nato leaders and others, including EU leaders. British officials have privately warned EU allies against imposing additional protectionist measures on their defence industries. Leaders including Mr Macron have suggested a pact could make Europe more secure by reducing its reliance on the USA. Sir Keir Starmer insisted that Britain’s global defence alliances must remain “Nato first”, adding: “I do see scope for complementing that. That is why we are wanting to advance the defence and security pact or agreement with the EU.” Nato insiders have admitted behind closed doors that they are concerned about the prospect of a Trump presidency undermining support for Ukraine, and are moving to boost the long-term structures of Nato so that it is less dependent on American underpinning. Currently, 23 of the 32 member governments meet the target of spending at least 2 per cent of their GDP on the military, but the UK believes this goal will need to rise in the near future. The Prime Minister has been under pressure to set out a timetable to increase Britain’s own spending to 2.5 per cent from its current level of 2.3 per cent. Shortly before the event kicked off, the Prime Minister held one-on-one talks with Mr Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany, and President Zelensky who said: ’Thank you for the military financing packages and support, thank you very much.’ The Chancellor welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to resetting the UK’s European partnerships. The two leaders moved on to discuss the need for enhanced defence cooperation in Europe to act as a deterrent for aggression by hostile actors. They agreed that the Nato summit was an opportunity to solidify and strengthen support for Ukraine. The two leaders agreed a firm commitment to strike a deep UK-Germany defence agreement and a shared determination to start work together forging the agreement without delay.” (Source: inews *)
* i, a British daily newspaper. Headquarters London, England

July 10, 2024 7:24 pm CET  NATO has backed today Ukraine's ’irreversible path" to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership in the future. Ukraine has been demanding a stronger commitment on its NATO membership. NATO leaders "welcome the concrete progress Ukraine has made since the Vilnius Summit on its required ’democratic’, economic and security reforms. 'We reaffirm that we will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met,' the leaders said. NATO 'will never recognize Russia's illegal annexations, including Crimea,’ they added. It will "constrain and contest" Russia's aggressive actions to "counter its ability to conduct destabilising activities towards NATO and Allies." NATO will "decide on further measures to counter Russian hybrid threats or actions individually or collectively," pointing at "sabotage, acts of violence, provocations at Allied borders, instrumentalisation of irregular migration, malicious cyber activities, electronic interference, disinformation campaigns and malign political influence, as well as economic coercion." Referring to China as a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war against Ukraine,the language in the communiqué is more critical of China than in statements from previous summits,. On China, the communiqué stresses Beijing's "no limit partnership" with Moscow and "large-scale support for Russia's defence industrial base." It ’cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation," the statement said. (Source: politico *)
* * Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.

10.07.2024  NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg and NATO's 32 leaders are expected to sit down with President Zelenskyy tomorrow for a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. The joint body is a forum for Ukraine to sit with NATO allies to advance political dialogue, engagement, cooperation and Ukraine’s aspirations for membership in NATO.Stoltenberg said allies will agree on Ukraine's eventual membership in a 'strong message" that will be part of a NATO declaration that is expected to be released later today. He added that the alliance's plans to set up a new NATO command at a headquarters in Germany, as well as logistics hubs in eastern flank nations, which will be used to facilitate military assistance to Kyiv, are part of the "concrete actions' the alliance is taking to 'move Ukraine closer to our membership.' Other steps include a 'long-term pledge" to maintain aid and ongoing efforts to increase military interoperability between NATO allies and Ukrainian forces. He acknowledged, however, that allies "didn't deliver on their promises to Ukraine" over the winter and early spring due to delays. Stoltenberg said earlier today that it is "too early to say exactly when' Ukraine will be invited to join the Transatlantic alliance. He said today that the 'best and strongest security guarantee' for Ukraine will be the alliance's collective defense guarantee Article Five as allies work toward providing Kyiv with a 'bridge' to membership. (Source: aa *)
* Anadolu Agency, a state-run news agency. Headquarters Ankara, Turkey.

Moon

12:30 ET, Jul 10 2024  China's space agency has officially declared that the US is a competitor on the moon for the very first time. The CNSA said: "It is foreseeable that in the next 20 to 30 years, China’s International Lunar Research Station and the US Artemis programme will compete." Their new lunar plan read: "[We] will compete in terms of technology and operational efficiency on the same historical stage and at the same geographical location (the south pole of the moon)." The plan, titled the “Strategic Concept of Resource Utilisation Development Route of the International Lunar Research Station”, written under mission scientist Pei’s leadership, was unveiled in April. It continued: "In the historical context of that period, the race to demonstrate superior political strength made lunar exploration unsustainable", Prof. Pei told The South China Morning Post: "The utilisation of lunar resources will become the focus of the competition." The decision marks China's shift from a secretive to more open space policy. China successfully launched its Chang'e-6 spacecraft as part of its mission to retrieve new samples from the Moon on May 3. The satellite touched on the lunar far side after descending from its orbit of around 124 miles above the moon's surface to find a landing site. Earlier this month the Chang'e-6 robot landed on the dark, 183C side of the moon. The space probe landed on Earth in northern China in the Inner Mongolian region, carrying the first ever sample - untouched rock and soil. India, Russia, China and the US have all been engaged in space developments to study the far point of the moon. It is one of the moon's most resource-dense areas. The permanently shadowed places could contain ice and minerals, which would be vital resources for future explorers. The mountain peaks near the pole - which are illuminated for longer periods - could be used to provide solar energy to an outpost. Scientists reckon there is an abundance of Helium-3 in so-called 'cold traps' littered across the south pole, which can help produce huge amounts of energy here on Earth. China will use the data collected by the space lander to allow its astronauts to set foot on the moon by 2030. (Source: the-sun *)
* The U. S. Sun, a US online edition of The Sun, Britain’s largest newspaper.

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Europe

Russia
July 9, 2024  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's love-in with Putin started in Moscow yesterday. While the opprobrium was heaped upon Orbán, Modi’s decision to spend two days cuddling with Putin has been met with almost complete silence. That is because the West can do even less about his decision to visit than they can about Orbán’s. And „India is the biggest democracy in the world and just carried out the biggest election in history”. Modi’s trip shows that Russia is being driven into all of China’s, India’s, Brazil’s and Iran’s arms. And on Indian TV it was fascinating to see the local attitudes. The panellists ’were all surprisingly angry. They all highlighted how deep the friendship with Russia runs that goes back to Soviet times. It’s said that Russia’s relationship with China is a marriage of convenience, but the relationship with India is a genuine and warm relationship. That is tied in with Russia's image as anti-colonialist that plays so well in Africa, and persistent prevalence of the communist ideology in Indian domestic politics’ among other things. But more shocking was the barbed comments about the West, which they saw as an arrogant meddler, that tells them what to do while failing to apply the same standards to its own behaviour: in other words, exactly Putin’s double-standards criticism of the G7”. The whole Global South is fed up with being lectured to by the holier-than-thou West about values the West routinely ignores. Gaza… etc. They all also referred to India as an “emerging superpower” and clearly believe it’s time that India stands up for its own interests. That makes their non-participation in, specifically “Western”, sanctions a no-brainer. The rest of the world’s attitude is the war in Europe is a European problem that the Global South sees as none of its business. Later the same day, on X most of (predominantly European and US) interlocutors scoffed at the idea that India is a superpower, even if you point out that it's now the third largest country in the world in terms of adjusted GDP. Three of the four largest economies in the world are now BRICS members (China, India and Russia in that order, with the US in second place). And all three of the BRICS members are growing faster than their western peers, while Japan (fifth) and Germany (sixth) are stagnating and falling down the rankings. These are not bilateral relations anymore. They are multilateral non-Western relations. The BRICS+ summit last year was difficult but expanded that group. And Modi had a field day at last year’s G20 summit, hosted by India, that brought in the whole of the African Union and was dominated by Modi. These deepening multilateral and non-Western groupings could have wide-ranging consequences. India has a big problem with China, but Russia can help with that. Iran has big problems with other countries in the Middle East, especially with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), but Russia can help with that too. Putin is playing this game well. And it appears Russia wants to extend this diplomacy to Asia. He has moved a lot closer to North Korea with a trip in June, as part of a move to put a little distance between him and China, which has traditionally ruled supreme in Pyongyang. Putin followed that trip up with another to Vietnam, which is also keen for better relations with Russia simply as a counterweight to China’s strength in the Pacific Rim. Everyone thought that Russia would just become China’s raw materials warehouse, but it’s starting to look like Putin is trying to cut out a role for Russia that is a keystone that holds up a complicated but increasingly powerful Global South alliance that stands in opposition to the US hegemony. And Russia has been playing that game since the Cold War. The Kremlin has already emerged as an “honest broker” in the Middle East, which it has been courting from well before the start of the war in Ukraine. Its African project that started with the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019 is also well advanced. And, BTW, the Russian first half budget numbers just came out. It’s becoming increasingly obvious the sanctions have not only failed, but have actually backfired. The Russian federal deficit has fallen to just 0.5% of GDP – despite massive $100bn military spending – and the Ministry of Economy has upgraded its growth forecast for this year to 3.8% – that’s even more than last year’s 3.6%, and that was an upside surprise. (Source: intellinews)

(Tuesday ), July 9, 2024 2:21 PM EDT  Why Modi and Putin are friends? India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Moscow yesterday. It is the first state visit of his third term and his first trip to Russia since 2022. Modi used the trip to affirm longstanding strategic and economic ties between the two countries. The Indian PM’s visit occurred at the same time as NATO meetings in Washington. He focused primarily on defense cooperation. India is a major financial lifeline for Russia, with trade between the two countries amounting to nearly $65 billion in the last year. Most of that money has flowed toward Russia - a trade imbalance that Modi hoped to address during his talks with Putin. India has also continued to purchase large quantities of Russian crude oil at steep discounts despite Russia facing sanctions and isolation from the West. Today, the two leaders continued talks over Russian imports vital for Indian power plants, civil nuclear cooperation. During Modi’s two-day visit to the Kremlin Modi did not plan on challenging Putin over his actions in Ukraine. In 2022 during the sidelines of a regional summit in Uzbekistan, Modi has opted for a softer approach to the conflict, telling Putin that “today’s era is not an era of war” Putin did not attend the G-20 summit hosted by New Delhi last year, where world leaders criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Still, Delhi-Moscow relations were not without contention, as Modi sought to secure the early discharge of dozens of Indian nationals who were lured to join the Russian Army in recent years to fight Ukraine, with at least four dying on the battlefield so far. India has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and abstained from all resolutions on Ukraine at the United Nations, despite facing pressure to distance itself from Moscow. Last June, Modi met with U.S. President Biden during a state visit to Washington, where the two leaders struck a defense, trade, and technology partnership and deepened relations over shared concerns about China’s influence in the region. Tensions with neighboring China have heated up in recent years over a disputed Himalayan border, which has resulted in India becoming increasingly estranged in forums where Russia and China play a prominent role. “For India, Modi’s meeting with Putin in Russia is just a continuation of longstanding strategic ties dating back to the Cold War, but for the U.S. and West, it reminds everyone how difficult it is to enlist New Delhi in a coalition to counter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” says Grossman, a senior analyst at the RAND Corporation. “In short, it won’t happen.” It’s likely the friendship between India and Russia will endure. It comes after Putin’s return from Kazakhstan last week, where the Russian President claimed during a regional summit that Moscow-Beijing relations were experiencing “the best period in their history.” Russia’s stance on India-China hostilities in the future will be critical, especially given India’s heavy reliance on Russia for military equipment that dates back to the height of the Cold War. (Source: time *)
* Time, an American news magazine based in New York City, New York, U.S.

North America

United States
1:54 PM EDT, Tue July 9, 2024  US military bases across Europe were placed on a heightened state of alert last week for the first time in a decade after the US received intelligence that Russian-backed actors were considering carrying out sabotage attacks against US military personnel and facilities. The intelligence the US received suggested that Russia had included US bases and military personnel as options to attack via proxies. Plots have been carried out or disrupted across Europe in recent months. In April, two German-Russian nationals were arrested for allegedly plotting bomb and arson attacks on targets including US military facilities on behalf of Russia. The intelligence, which the US received within the last two weeks was deemed alarming enough to implement additional safety protocols. Several US military bases in Europe raised their alert level to Force Protection Condition “Charlie,” which “applies when an incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating some form of terrorist action or targeting against personnel or facilities is likely,” according to the US Army. A senior NATO official said today that the alliance had “significantly increased” its intelligence sharing around “Russia’s campaign of covert sabotage activities” in Europe, which have become increasingly brazen and aggressive in recent months amid elections across the West. US European Command’s spokesperson, Cmdr. Day, said that “our increase in vigilance is not related to any one single threat, but due to a combination of factors potentially impacting the safety and security of US forces in the European theater.” In London in March, several men were charged with working with Russian intelligence services to set fire to a Ukrainian-linked warehouse. Poland is investigating whether an arson attack that destroyed Warsaw’s largest mall in May was connected to Russia and has arrested nine people in connection with Russia-linked acts of sabotage, the prime minister said in May. And French authorities last month detained a Russian-Ukrainian man who was allegedly building bombs as part of a sabotage campaign orchestrated by Moscow. By outsourcing the attacks to local actors, Russia likely believes it can wage a hybrid war that falls below the threshold of armed, state-on-state conflict, officials say. (Source: cnn *)
* Cable News Network (CNN), a multinational news channel and website. Headquarters Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

July 9, 2024  Hoffman, director of the Congressional and Government Affairs Program, a fellow at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) discusses Ukraine and Transatlantic security on the eve of the NATO Summit with Senator Ernst from the state of Iowa and Congressman Suozzi representing the Third District of New York - two members of Congress who are leading voices on foreign policy and national security in their respective parties. Senator Ernst, an elected member of Republican leadership serves on the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, and Small Business Committees. Congressman Suozzi (D-NY) serves on the House Budget and Homeland Security Committees. In April they joined CSIS on the first multiday, bipartisan, bicameral delegation to Ukraine to visit Kyiv, Chernihiv and Odessa and to visit Moldova.       At first, they both spoke about the importance of controlling the narrative. Sometimes the information the public received ’is ginned up by strategic adversaries – Russia, the Chinese Communist Party, Iran, North Korea, and others. They are trying to manipulate the public, „to get us simply to be mad at each other. Gaza, Gaza, Gaza was in the paper every day. It’s working,’ Rep. Suozzi said. During the trip, he released a picture shaking hands with President Zelensky, which they met in Chernihiv. Within an hour, in a disinformation campaign the picture was doctored to show him wearing a Nazi armband. The good people of America needs to get beyond the rhetoric and the hate-fueled speech, he added. And „we do have constituents at home that are very concerned about the U.S. taxpayer expenditures going into the war in Ukraine”, Sen. Ernst said. "It’s important for members of Congress to continue the dialog and discussing how can we bring this war to an end – what are the platforms and assistance that Ukraine needs.’ This fight is not going to end, not well anyway, ’if America doesn’t provide leadership’ or doesn’t engage with other world leaders on a solution for Ukraine, she added.       Has really the administration articulated a strategy for victory? In April when the supplemental was passed one of the provisions required the administration to provide to Congress a strategy for victory within 60 days. That 60 days has now elapsed, said Ms. Hoffman. The actual strategy is classified. The restriction of ability to use U.S. weapons to strike Russian targets have been eased slightly in the past several weeks, but they still remain. Given the Ukrainians weapons that could strike much deeper into Russia, including some of the airfields from which they launch attacks, is there a clear strategy for victory? And are we giving the Ukrainians all the tools that they need to be successful?, she asked. It literally is cheaper for America for us to be supporting Ukraine than for us to get engaged in a war like this, Rep. Suozzi said. 'I always say is it’s so much cheaper for America, and without having our soldiers there. Now we’re sending an enormous amount of arms here. Our soldiers, our service members, are not engaged in Ukraine.” 'We need to give them what they need and anticipate the demands that they will need to strike inside of Russia'. The administration has not clearly articulated what the strategy is to win in Ukraine, Sen. Ernst told. Allowing the Ukrainians to be as aggressive as they need to be to win this war and put it to bed, they need to be able to go on offense, ’and let’s settle the war’. ’So we need to have someone that will clearly articulate that’. National Security Advisor Sullivan never clearly articulated this. „Neither Secretary of Defense Austin nor the president would actually say the phrase, we want Ukraine to win”. ’So we need Ukraine to win’. The administration is holding the Western world together, holding the NATO alliance and others together in this effort ’in an effective way for a war’. The NATO conference this week will help to cement that fact, Rep. Suozzi said. Russia has access to untold numbers of dumb bombs that they had figured out how to launch from within Russian territory from Russian planes that they could sail in to attack Ukraine, especially in the Kharkiv area. And there were some restrictions lifted by the administration on attacking Russians and Russian planes and airspace at the end of May. 'A short way into Russian territory is an airfield with the airplanes that are launching these dumb bombs on a regular basis where we can wipe out a significant portion – or, the Ukrainians can wipe out a significant portion of the Russian air force'. Many of our allies’ concerns – about escalation. I don’t think that we can tie the hands of the Ukrainian officials and army to really go after the Russians, he added. At the same time, Putin’s not going to stop, to back down. ’Over a hundred thousand Ukrainians have been killed. At least 40,000 children have been kidnapped from Ukraine and taken into Russian space', according to him. And ten million Ukrainians have been forced from their homes, as the Russians try and take over more land. The greatest strength we have right now is that we’ve held together this Western alliance, Rep. Suozzi continues. Positive developments: NATO did step up. The Europeans did step up: Europe was doing its fair share, there’s a million Ukrainian refugees in Poland right now, weapons have been sent in, and ’people’ have been increasing their defense budgets to their 2 percent ’as has been demanded by so many in our country’ over the past eight years.       Member states have been clear that Ukraine cannot receive a formal invitation to join NATO until the war is over, which is reasonable and outlined in the NATO charter – that a state at conflict cannot join. However, there is a lot that can be offered to Ukraine, short of an official invitation to join the alliance, that can signal a significant commitment by allies to the future security of Ukraine, Ms. Hoffman said. We need to continue to hold this incredible alliance together, Sen. Ernst answered. 'We see China, Iran, and Russia, and in some areas even North Korea, forming their own axis of evil. It’s the modern-era axis of evil’. 'So we do need to continue to push those member nations to meet their 2 percent GDP obligations'. 'In Poland, we heard from the defense chief that ’Putin’s war is against the West’. We should use Information in our space, pushing back on Russia informational, creating these messages on Facebook, or Instagram. Militarily ’we still do use Special Operations Forces (SOF)’, and provide them with the military platforms that they need and the munitions. Economically: working with Ukrainians, with the alliance to find ways that we can be supportive in business or industry, to push back against the Russians. But America needs to lead’, Sen. Ernst added.       ’Its complete BS and complete disinformation - Rep. Suozzi said - that Putin and his allies, and people that have been bamboozled by his disinformation here in the United States of America – including some presidential candidates, and some members of Congress, and some senators, and many others, conspiracy theorists – are like, well, the reason that Putin has done this is because he’s afraid that Ukraine is going to attack Russia and invade Russia; and that’s why they’re moving Ukraine and others into – closer and closer to Russian borders; and Russia’s history having been attacked for many, many centuries has this paranoia; and, therefore, that’s why they’ve got to go stop this invasion. But that’s why we have said that, no, we’re not looking for Ukraine to join NATO because we want to take that argument away from Putin, away from the conspiracy theorists, away from the people in the United States of America who’ve been bamboozled by that message so that they can’t use it’. "We were meeting with the commander of the Polish military and he had a topographical map on the wall. It was just so obvious looking at the topography of that region that if Russia were to go through Ukraine it’s, clearly, going right into Poland right afterwards. I mean, the topography demands it’, Rep. Suozzi added. ’And I sensed, some anger from some of the Polish people we met with at the highest levels because they felt that the United States was backing down on its commitment that it had made”. When you look at the history of World War II and what Hitler did, ’it’s the same playbook'. It’s in the United States’ self-interest to support Ukraine to defeat the bad guys, Sen. Ernst added. ’I tend to say more weapons, more weapons’. We need to focus on weapons, and so that is typically what I talk to Iowans about because we can track those platforms. We can track how the munitions are used, I would love to see additional oversight of humanitarian assistance, she said. ’We really need our European partners to step up in this area. I think we can continue to be the arsenal of democracy where we can provide a lot of the munitions platforms that maybe some of our friends in NATO, in other European countries, they can’t. They don’t necessarily have the defense industrial base to do that.’       The G-7 took the important step of agreeing to use the interest from frozen Russian assets to go to Ukraine to procure and buy weapons. Ms. Hoffman said.      In Moldova, until recently neutrality was actually enshrined in their constitution. They take steps to join the EU, potentially maybe at some point NATO. But there is an election in Moldova this year. The President’s opponent is quite clearly backed by the Russians, he spends a lot of time in Russia. There’s been clear linkages to Russian oligarchs and even the state for his campaign finance and Transnistria also, which is occupied by Russian forces – this is really a consequential year for Moldova with these elections in October ’which are very close to ours’, Rep. Suozzi said. Because of the Russian influence through Transnistria it will be very difficult for them to continue leaning towards the West. If there are economic opportunities for them to join the EU, to work with the United States, ’certainly we would look for those opportunities”. 'And it was so inspirational to listen to this president of this tiny country who’s fighting back for the most idealistic things you could possibly imagine. Talking about freedom, and about democracy, and about participating in the modern world, in the Western market economy with the specter of the Russian bear breathing down their neck. And this sense that they’re next’, Rep. Suozzi added. Years and years ago, McCain had said that if Ukraine should fall that one of the most likely targets would then then – next for Russia would be Moldova, he recalled. This is a tiny country, 3 million people, really trying to move closer and closer to the West and away from the clutches of Russia. They’re trying to build their wine industry...      And I’d just like to get your thoughts on the importance of the economic and humanitarian assistance, not just by the U.S., but again, our allies, Ms. Hoffman: said. There are some that say the U.S. should support Ukraine and other countries in the region military, but not economically or not with humanitarian assistance. And we had the opportunity to meet with the U.S. business community in Ukraine to hear about kind of really the remarkable story of continued economic growth in Ukraine in spite of bombs raining down, Russian attempts to really completely destroy Ukraine infrastructure to the point that the economy can no longer function, she added. (Source: csis *)
* The Center for Strategic and International Studies, officially a bipartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C., CSIS "has been dedicated to finding ways to sustain American prominence and prosperity as a force for good in the world'.

01:56 BST, 9 June 2024  Since the United States detonated its first atomic bomb at the Trinity test site in 1945, dozens of accounts of UFOs have been logged by military witnesses and government scientists working with America's sensitive nuclear arsenal. A series of three studies led by a retired US Air Force staff sergeant, Hancock, and a data analyst affiliate with Harvard's UFO-hunting Galileo Project, Porritt, along with their research team focused the analysis on official military and police reports of UFOs from 1945 to 1975, on cases with multiple witnesses and signals evidence, like radar. Now a new, decades-long study has analyzed over 500 of the best supported UFO cases from the heights of the Cold War, Hancock and Porritt's most recent report on the connection, 'UAP Activity Pattern Study 1945-1975 Military and Public Activities.' It was published in March and presented before the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies this past weekend. Their study only covered US cases. Their conclusion: extraterrestrials, or some other intelligence, has methodically surveilled America's rise to a nuclear power. 'This intelligence understands the developmental cycle. They have some contextual knowledge of what they're looking at and what they're looking for,' Hancock told. From 1948 to 1952, as America's production of atomic weapons first ramped up, waves of UFO sightings began cropping up over Washington state's Hanford nuclear production complex, as well as Los Alamos and other sites for the Manhattan Project. Inside the Air Force for the first seven to 10 years they sincerely believed it was the Russians, Hancock told. 'And when they couldn't prove that,' he said, 'it became very political.' In one illustrative case from May 21, 1949, Hanford personnel spotted a 'silvery, disc-shaped' UFO hovering over the plant, whose B Reactor had generated the plutonium used in the first atomic bomb test at Trinity. The UFO was simultaneously tracked on radar by nearby Moses Lake Air Force Base, which scrambled an F-82 fighter jet to 'intercept it in hopes that it might be a disk,' 'UFO's were faster than jet,' Air Force investigators noted of the failed pursuit. These years of strange encounters were much more likely to have occurred in broad daylight and often involved multiple UFOs in formation performing dazzling maneuvers. 'This period, here, we've got only four sites, that would be the key stuff that you would focus on,' Porritt told. ’You get the same sort of pattern with with all four sites,' he said. But as the Pentagon began arming Air Force squadrons with its new nuclear bombs, and installing missile silos in the American heartland, UFOs appeared to follow the action there. From 1952 onward, UFOs probing near active US nuclear weapons took precedence, with a wave of sightings around America's new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) starting in the 1960s. As the UFOs appeared more and more over armed and ready nuclear weapons sites, the apparent craft also started to appear more at night. 'When you get to those ICBM bases, from about 1965 to 1975, these things are occurring at night,' Hancock pointed out. And they are much more intrusive. ’They're very low altitude, they penetrate the security perimeters of the base,' he added. Among the hundreds of cases included in their analysis was the infamous March 16, 1967 Malmstrom case in Montana in which Air Force witnesses reported that ten nuclear missiles were switched off by a UFO, confirmed by a US Strategic Air Command report. 'All ten missiles in Echo Flight at Malmstrom lost strat alert within ten seconds of each other'. The declassified report, much like Salas who was the on-duty commander for the base's underground launch in March 1967, and his fellow veteran witnesses, noted 'grave concern' about the case. This February, a bombshell report revealed that an ex-Pentagon UFO investigator had privately briefed Congress on a similar 1964 incident where a UFO blasted an Atlas missile carrying a dummy nuclear warhead out of the sky. Several of UFO sightings, including incidents at Malmstrom Air Force Base become central to demands in Congress for wider declassification of military UFO data. During the first public hearings on UFOs in over half a century, back in May 2022, Congress grilled Pentagon officials over UFOs and America's nuclear weapons security. Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Moultrie 'didn't seem to know anything about it – or if he did, he was wanting to avoid the topic', according to Salas who told he was 'shocked' to see those Pentagon officials plead ignorance on the events. Hancock, Porritt and their coauthors hope to extend their analysis on the connections between UFO sightings and nuclear sites from 1975 to the modern era, although that work faces some hurdles. But from just the 1945 to 1975 studies, Hancock believes that these airborne mysteries appear to show intentional study of America's most sensitive weaponry. 'I mean, focus implies intention. And focus obviously implies intelligence,' he said. 'This intelligence understands atomics, and they understand atomic weaponry.''The way it progressed from one type of facility to another type - I mean, it starts with manufacturing plants, moves on through assembly plants, storage, deployment, it's hard to read that as anything other than someone having an agenda,' according to Hancock. His research partner, Porritt, ventured even a little further: 'They may have a better understanding of the future, our future, than we do.' (Source: dailymail *)
* The Daily Mail, a British daily, middle-market tabloid newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Photo: Project 1794: a Cold War-era US Air Force effort to build a supersonic flying saucer in collaboration with a Canadian defense contractor

NATO

July 9, 2024  The Nato summit comes on the back of the failed Swiss peace summit held on June 16-17 that was supposed to reinforce the isolation of Russia mandate, but in the end had the opposite effect: too few Global South countries turned up and too few signed off on what was already an extremely weak final communiqué. At the Swiss summit this was watered down to a mere three of the least contentious points – POW exchanges, food security and nuclear safety – and the delegates struggled to endorse even those. The main objective of the Nato summit – to create a roadmap for Ukraine’s accession – is dead in the water before the meeting begins. There is talk of a “bridge” to Nato, but this is classic Euro-nonsense that means nothing. It doesn’t even go as far as “road”, as roads go somewhere. All bridges do is cross some bit of water but don’t get you to a destination. US President Biden is struggling after his debate fiasco, French President Macron is fighting for his political life after the snap elections and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also took a body blow in the recent EU elections. Ukraine’s three Ms problem highlights the details of the increasing pressure President Zelenskiy is under from the lack of men, money and materiel. (Source: intellinews *)
* bne IntelliNews, a news wire agency and media company. Headquarters Berlin, Germany

(Tuesday), 07/09/24 6:00 AM ET  President Biden’s fitness for office will be put to the test this week during the NATO summit he is hosting in Washington, a high-stakes endurance test that gives the president an opportunity to push back on critics saying he is too old for a second term. The NATO summit, beginning today and taking place over three days in Washington, D.C., will focus on demonstrating the alliance’s enduring support for Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia, and 'signaling deep ties in the Indo-Pacific' to counter Chinese President Xi’s designs on subsuming Taiwan. But the frantic debate over Biden’s future - as he tries to contain the fallout from his alarming debate performance last month - risks overshadowing an event 'aimed at projecting strength against threats from Russia and China'. Biden’s June 27 debate with Trump spurred panic among even ardent supporters, as the president failed to match Trump’s energy, speaking with a weak, raspy voice and trailing off on numerous answers. “Journalists attending President Biden’s summit press conference will likely not ask one question about NATO but instead ask about the president’s political future,” said Townsend, a former senior Pentagon official focused on NATO policy and a current adjunct senior fellow with the Center for New American Security. While the U.S. is viewed as an indispensable partner and the de facto leader of the alliance, allies are confronting the reality that Trump may win in November, and the possibility that he could follow through on threats to withdraw from the alliance or hold back U.S. commitments to the Article 5 mutual defense agreement. “U.S. domestic politics” is a major challenge for the alliance, Gentile, associate director of the RAND Corporation’s Arroyo Center, said. “The alliance will have to improve cohesion among NATO states in their aim to help Ukraine win the war,' he added. “It is possible that a future U.S. administration will substantially reduce its traditional level of leadership and support for the alliance because of a shift in American domestic politics or a conflict in Asia that consumes U.S. attention and resources,' Mueller, senior political scientist with the RAND Corporation, said of the challenges facing NATO. Biden has been defiant in the wake of increasingly public calls from Democratic lawmakers to drop out of the race and widespread concern behind closed doors that the president is too frail to mount a campaign against former President Trump in the November election. White House national security communications adviser Kirby brushed off a question yesterday about whether Biden’s poor debate performance late last month would cause trouble with allies, saying it “presupposes the notion that they need to be reassured.” “I don’t believe that’s the case,” he said. “We’re not picking up any signs of that from our allies at all.' Kirby sought to put the focus back on Ukraine, saying announcements throughout the summit will include new commitments for air defense support for Ukraine, deterrence capabilities to boost NATO and investments in the defense industrial base, 'including' domestically in the U.S. He said leaders would also reaffirm that 'there is a path for Ukraine to join NATO in the future'. A joint communique issued at the end of the summit is 'expected to lay out how NATO is taking on a bigger leadership role in coordinating support for Ukraine' - concerned that a second Trump administration would cut back or end robust U.S. military and economic support for Kyiv. This includes NATO establishing a command post in Germany to coordinate weapons deliveries among approximately 50 of Kyiv’s supporters - an initiative currently led by the U.S. and called the Ramstein grouping. The alliance will also seek pledges from allies to sustain their current level of funding for the next year, and seek to establish a consensus on a baseline of future financial support. The president is expected to meet with newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday, and he will host a dinner with NATO allies beginning at 8 p.m. local time - a counter to Biden’s reported comments last week to Democratic governors that evening events tend to tire him out. On Thursday, (July 11), Biden will begin a day of meetings at 10 a.m. with NATO allies, and hold a press conference at 5:30 p.m. Other events include the president hosting President Zelensky and nearly two dozen NATO allies who have signed bilateral security agreements with Kyiv. (Source: thehill *)
* The Hill, an American newspaper and digital media company based in Washington, D.C.

United Nations

(Tuesday), 9:12 PM CEST, July 9, 2024  At an emergency meeting chaired by Moscow’s own ambassador Nebenzia, U.N. Security Council members confronted Russia today over a missile strike the previous day that destroyed part of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital. France and Ecuador asked for the session at the Security Council, but Russia led it as the current holder of the council’s rotating presidency. At the U.N. headquarters, Ukrainian Ambassador Kyslytsya showed the Security Council photos of what his country asserts were fragments showing the projectile’s Russian origin, plus a map purportedly showing a missile’s path from Russian territory and, via a sharp turn, to the children’s hospital. Kyslytsya’s country isn’t on the 15-member council. Russia denies responsibility for the strike at the hospital, where at least two staffers were killed. At Okhmatdyt, “the ground shook and the walls trembled. Both children and adults screamed and cried from fear, and the wounded from pain,” cardiac surgeon and anesthesiologist Dr. Zhovnir told the Security Council by video from Kyiv. “It was a real hell.” Most of the over 600 young patients had been moved to bomb shelters, except those in surgery, Zhovnir said. He said over 300 people were injured, including eight children, and two adults died, one of them a young doctor. Later, he heard people crying out for help from beneath the rubble. Nebenzia reiterated Moscow’s denials of responsibility for the hospital attack, insisting it was hit by a Ukrainian air defense rocket. He characterized the slew of criticism as “verbal gymnastics” from countries trying to protect Ukraine’s government. “If this had been a Russian strike, there would have been nothing left of the building,” Nebenzia said, adding that “all the children and most of the adults would have been killed, and not wounded.” The strike on the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital was part of a massive daytime barrage in multiple cities, including the capital of Kyiv. The attack also damaged Ukraine’s main specialist hospital for women and hit key energy infrastructure. Officials said at least 42 people were killed. Acting U.N. humanitarian chief Msuya stressed to the Security Council that intentionally attacking a hospital is a war crime. Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) has verified 1,878 attacks affecting health care facilities, personnel, transport, supplies and patients, she said. Russia insists that it doesn’t attack civilian targets in Ukraine. Earlier today in Geneva, Bell, who heads a U.N. team monitoring human rights in Ukraine, said the hospital likely was struck by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. (Source: apnews *)
* The Associated Press, an American news agency headquartered in New York City, U.S

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Europe

Hungary
July 9, 2024  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is getting it in the neck from the rest of the Western allies for going to Russia to meet with President Putin and daring to talk about peace. The EU 'elite' are furious that Orbán took it on himself to simply ask Russian President Putin what he wants to bring the war to an end. And why shouldn’t he ask? Surely stopping this war as soon as possible is in everyone’s interests? Zelenskiy has refused to consider anyone’s peace plan other than his own that he presented at the G20 summit in November 2022. Over  100 were killed in a massive daytime missile attack that in particular hit the biggest children’s hospital in Ukraine, that specialises in treating children with complicated problems like cancer. Even Putin is now regularly signalling that he is open for talks, although the conditions he has offered so far are a non-starter for President Zelenskiy. Orbán went from Moscow on to meet Chinese President Xi in Beijing, who was, again, surprisingly outspoken about the need to end the conflict in Ukraine. ’But no one trusts Xi either’. The final leg on Orbán’s “peace mission” will be the Nato summit that is about to start in Washington. Orbán doesn’t care. Thanks to the need for a unanimous vote on all important EU business, he can just withhold Hungary’s vote on some important issue and watch the rest of Brussels squirm if they try. He is now trying to capitalise on the lurch to the right and build up a “Patriots of Europe” bloc in the European Parliament from the influx of fresh ’far right and populist’ MEP blood. ’While uber-Russia hawk European Commission President von der Leyen has been reappointed president and Kallas made EU foreign policy chief’, the polls show the majority of the EU population are ready for a negotiated ceasefire to begin. The cracks in the EU-Ukraine unity are getting wider - there is a growing disconnect between what the EU elite want and what the public want. (Source: intellinews *)
* bne IntelliNews, a news wire agency and media company. Headquarters Berlin, Germany

European Parliament
09.07.2024  The ’conservative’ European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament (EP), the Socialist and Democratic Alliance and Liberals (Renew), the Greens, Conservatives and Reformists, and the Left are negotiating the distribution of EP committees. The EPP is targeting the Foreign Affairs Committee, Constitutional Affairs Committee, and Agriculture Committee. Environment, Trade, Regional Affairs and Economic and Monetary Affairs committees could be among those assigned to the Socialists.. “Whoever is elected to this parliament by European citizens has the right to work like everyone else and this must be guaranteed,” EPP’s leader Weber told. 'However, those who are against the European project, such as Viktor Orbán, who said 'he wants to dismantle' the EP, as well cannot represent this institution,' he added. (Source: aa *)
* Anadolu Agency, a state-run news agency. Headquarters Ankara, Turkey.

Belarus
6:54 PM CEST, July 9, 2024  Belarus, the country of 9.5 million is hosting Chinese troops for a joint military drill near its border with NATO member Poland. The 11-day drill named Eagle Assault 2024 started yesterday at a shooting range in the Brest region close to Poland. The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that as part of the joint drill, the Belarusian and Chinese troops will practice airborne assault, river crossing and residential area combat. A statement from the Chinese Defense Ministry said the forces will also practice hostage rescue and counter-terrorism operations. “The joint training aims to enhance the coordination capabilities of the participating troops and deepen practical cooperation between the two armies,” it said. Belarus last week joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a ’regional’ security organization established in 2001 by China and Russia to discuss security concerns in Central Asia and the wider region. (Source: apnews *)
* The Associated Press, an American news agency headquartered in New York City, U.S

Russia
9 Jul 2024  Russian President Putin presented the ‘Order of St. Andrew’ award to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders offered strong words of support for their countries’ relationship. /video/: (Source: aljazeera *): https://tinyurl.com/mu6dwc3c
* Al Jazeera Media Network, a media conglomerate headquartered at Doha. Qatar

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Asia

China
11:17, 08-Jul-2024, (Monday); Updated 23:12, 08-Jul-2024  Chinese President Xi and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis when they met in the Chinese capital, Beijing, today. Orbán briefed Xi on his recent visits to Ukraine and Russia. Xi commended Orbán for his efforts towards seeking a political solution to the crisis, stressing that an early ceasefire and political settlement of the issue are in everyone's interest. The Chinese president said the priority is to cool down the situation by observing the three principles of no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting, and no fanning by any party over the flames. Xi called on the international community to provide suitable conditions and support for the resumption of direct dialogue and negotiation between the two parties. Stressing that Chhna has been actively promoting peace talks in its own way, Xi said China and Hungary share the same basic propositions and are working in the same direction. China will keep in communication with Hungary and the relevant parties, he added. During today's talks, Xi noted that during his successful state visit to Hungary two months ago, bilateral relations were elevated to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era, which gave new historical significance to the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties this year and injected strong impetus into the high-level development of China-Hungary relations. Noting that the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee will be held next week, Xi said China will further deepen overall reform and promote high-quality development and high-level opening up, which will provide new opportunities and create new momentum for China-Hungary cooperation. Xi said that the two countries should maintain high-level exchanges, deepen political mutual trust, strengthen strategic communication and coordination, continue to firmly support each other, strengthen practical cooperation in various fields, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and continue to enrich the bilateral all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era to better benefit the people. He congratulated Hungary on assuming the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) and said there is no geopolitical contradiction or fundamental conflict of interests between China and the EU. China-EU relations are of strategic significance and global influence and should maintain steady and sound development, Xi said, calling on the two sides to jointly respond to global challenges. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the EU, Xi said, adding that the two sides should stay committed to the correct path of bilateral partnership with cooperation as the defining trend, continue to promote two-way opening up, strengthen international coordination, and contribute to world peace, stability, development and prosperity. It is hoped that Hungary, as the holder of the rotating EU presidency, will play a positive role in promoting the sound and stable development of China-EU relations and facilitating constructive interactions, Xi added. For his part, Orbán said that over the past two months, the two sides have earnestly implemented the important outcomes of President Xi's visit to Hungary, strengthened friendship and mutual trust, and laid a solid foundation for the future development of bilateral relations. In the face of the current turbulent international situation, China not only loves peace but has also put forward a series of constructive and important initiatives, proving with its own concrete actions that China is an important stabilizing force for world peace, Orbán said. He added that Hungary highly appreciates and values China's role and influence and is willing to maintain close strategic communication and coordination with China. Hungary advocates strengthening cooperation with China and opposes forming exclusionary cliques and bloc confrontation, Orbán said. Hungary is willing to take the rotating EU presidency as an opportunity to actively promote the sound development of EU-China relations, he said. (Source: cgtn *, "With input from Xinhua **")
* China Global Television Network (CGTN), a state-run international division of China Central Television (CCTV). Headquartered in Beijing, China
** * Xinhua News Agency, the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China

(Monday), 7/8/2024 12:00  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made a surprise visit today to Beijing. Upon landing in China, Orbán posted a photo of himself on X captioned: “Peace mission 3.0 #Beijing.” Orbán’s visit to China followed trips to Kyiv and Moscow last week, just days after Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. His "foray' into peacemaking has drawn criticism in the West of his attempt to pressure Kyiv to surrender territory that Moscow has seized by force. Zelensky has called for a full withdrawal of Russian troops, including at a “peace summit’ in Switzerland last month that China pointedly did not attend. Russia was not invited. Putin has insisted that the West, particularly the United States and Britain, is responsible for prolonging his war in Ukraine by not pressuring Kyiv to give in to his territorial demands. In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, Orbán insisted that Ukraine could never defeat Russia. “There is no solution to this conflict on the front lines,” he said, adding: “Putin cannot lose if you look at the soldiers, equipment and technology. Defeating Russia is a thought that is difficult to imagine. The probability that Russia could actually be defeated is completely incalculable.”  At the meeting with Orbán in Beijing, Xi said he appreciated the Hungarian leader’s efforts to bring about a political solution to the war in Ukraine, which he referred to as a “conflict.” “China and Hungary share the same basic positions and are working in the same direction,” he said. Chinese leader Xi called for a global effort to push Russia and Ukraine toward a “cease-fire” and praised Orbán’s diplomatic initiatives. “Only when all major powers exert positive energy rather than negative energy can the dawn of a cease-fire in this conflict appear as soon as possible,” Xi said. China, has been “actively urging peace and advocating talks in its own way,” he added.  Putin, welcoming Orbán in Moscow last week, pointedly invoked Hungary’s E.U. presidency. The Hungarian prime minister’s visit to Beijing occurred just hours before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow on a state visit, his first since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In a statement before he left New Delhi today, Modi hailed “my friend Putin” and “the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia.” With his visit to Moscow, Modi, who was reelected last month, was signaling his autonomy even though the Biden administration has worked assiduously to court the Indian leader. With Orbán in China and Modi in Russia, a multipolar world takes shape. (Source: msn / The Washington Post)

2:37 PM CEST, July 8, 2024  Chinese President Xi called on world powers to help Russia and Ukraine resume direct dialogue during a meeting today with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who made a surprise visit to China after similar trips last week to Ukraine and Russia to discuss prospects for a peaceful settlement of more than the two-year war. Orbán has long argued for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine but without outlining what that might mean for the country’s territorial integrity or future security. The Hungarian prime minister broadly opposes Western military aid to Ukraine and has blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to assist Kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow over its invasion. Standing alongside Orbán last week in Moscow, Putin declared that Russia wouldn’t accept any cease-fire or temporary break in hostilities that would allow Ukraine 'to recoup losses, regroup and rearm.' Putin repeated his demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed in 2022 as a condition for any prospective peace talks. Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected that demand. Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union this month and Orbán has since embarked on a peace mission, which, however, lacks the endorsement of EU officials, who insisted Orbán was not acting on behalf of the whole European bloc. Their rebuke failed to deter Orbán from extending a similar visit to Beijing, which he called “Peace mission 3.0” in a picture posted on X. “China is a key power in creating the conditions for peace in the Russia-Ukraine war,” Orbán wrote on the social media platform X. “This is why I came to meet with President Xi in Beijing, just two months after his official visit to Budapest.” Orbán is widely seen as having the warmest relations with Xi and Russian President Putin among European leaders. Orbán hosted the Chinese leader in Hungary only two months ago. The European nation hosts a number of Chinese electric vehicle battery facilities, and in December it announced that Chinese EV manufacturing giant BYD will open its first European EV production factory in the south of the country. During the trip, China upgraded its ties with Hungary to an “all-weather, comprehensive strategic partnership,” one of its highest designations for foreign relations that in addition to Hungary applies only to Belarus, Pakistan and Venezuela. During his meeting with Xi, Orbán described China as a stabilizing force amid global turbulence and praised its “constructive and important” peace initiatives. China has been promoting its own six-point peace plan, which it issued with Brazil in May. Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict, though in practice it supports Moscow through frequent state visits, growing trade and joint military drills. China has spread its influence in Central Asia and Eastern Europe in recent years beyond its “no limits” partnership with Moscow. Over the weekend, China held “anti-terror" military drills with Belarus - a key ally of Russia - near the border with Poland. The drills came after last week Belarus joined a regional security organization led by China and Russia. While hosting Orbán, Xi called on Russia and Ukraine to cease fire and on other major powers to create an environment conducive to talks. “Next stop: Washington,” Orbán posted on his social media account today. In Washington, D.C. NATO leaders are holding a summit to discuss ways to assure Ukraine of the alliance’s continued support. It was not clear whether Orbán would meet separately with President Biden, or Trump, whose presidential candidacy Orbán openly supports. (Source: apnews)
* The Associated Press, an American news agency headquartered in New York City, U.S.

8 July 2024 5:38 (AM)  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrived in Beijing today for a visit after recent surprise visits to Moscow and Kyiv in the past week since Hungary took over the European Union’s rotating presidency at the start of July. Orbán, the friendliest EU leader towards Moscow, held talked with President Putin on Friday, July 5, about the war in Ukraine. Putin told Orbán that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from regions that Moscow has annexed if it wants peace. The trip comes a day before NATO is due to hold a summit to mark its 75th anniversary, with setbacks in Ukraine set to dominate discussions. Orbán was greeted at the airport by Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua. He will meet Xi today morning. Beijing presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations. It has however offered a critical lifeline to Russia’s isolated economy, with trade booming since the conflict began. In a short statement, the Chinese foreign ministry said the Hungarian leader would meet Xi today “for in-depth communication on issues of mutual interest”. Last October, the Hungarian premier was the sole EU leader to attend the summit for Xi’s flagship Belt and Road initiative in Beijing. The Central European country of 9.6 million people has attracted a flood of major Chinese projects in recent years, mostly related to battery and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing. Xi visited Hungary in May this year, for the final leg of a European tour that also led him to France and Serbia. Following a meeting with Orbán, Xi said Beijing placed “great importance” on its relations with the EU. (Source: euractiv * )
* Euractiv, a European news website. Its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

(Monday), 8/7/2024  Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the EU earlier this month. On a self-proclaimed "peace mission 3.0., after his recent trips to Kyiv and Moscow, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited to the Chinese capital. In an interview with German tabloid newspaper Bild published today, Orbán repeated his calls for a cease-fire and warned of further escalation in the conflict in the coming months. "Believe me: the next two or three months will be much more brutal than we think," he said in comments which will have been made directly on the back of his meeting with Russian President Putin in the Kremlin and before his arrival in China. "There are more weapons [involved] and the Russians are more determined. The energy in the confrontation, the number of dead, the number of victims will become more brutal than in the last seven months.' He insisted that he is "not arguing about who is right and who is wrong" and his "aim is peace and a cease-fire." In Beijing, where Hungary's PM Orbán met with Chinese President Xi, he attempted to position himself as a mediator pushing for an end to the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine. Orbán emphasized China's role as a 'key power in creating the conditions for peace' in the conflict. China's President Xi, for his part, used Orbán's visit to call on the international community for global dialogue, to "create conditions and provide assistance for the two sides to resume direct dialogue and negotiations". "Only when all major powers exert positive energy rather than negative energy can the dawn of a ceasefire in this conflict appear as soon as possible," he reportedly said. China presents itself as a neutral party in the war, but strategic relations with Russia have strengthened since the invasion. Beijing has offered a crucial lifeline to Russia's increasingly isolated economy, purchasing large quantities of Russian natural gas albeit at reduced prices. China is preferring to promote its own six-point peace plan, issued together with Brazil in May and which Moscow has supported. Since 2010, Orbán has been seeking closer economic ties to China, Russia and other Asian countries as part of his "eastern opening" foreign policy. China has continued to deepen economic ties with Hungary, which has remained open to Chinese investment despite EU sanctions imposed on Beijing, in particular on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles. The Hungarian foreign minister claimed that Chinese investment in Hungary's electromobility sector could create 25,000 jobs. The Hungarian government recently boasted of ongoing economic projects originating in China worth around €15 billion ($16bn). Orbán departed Beijing en route for Washington today. (Source: dw *; "AFP, dpa, Reuters")
* Deutsche Welle, the German public, state-owned international broadcaster, headquartered in Bonn

North America

United States
(Monday), 07/08/2024, 2:15PM ET '  To put Trump in a bullseye'? A defiant President Biden insisted to his donors today that he is “done talking about the debate' and implored the party to ignore any further distractions and direct its attention back to Trump. 'We need to move forward. Look, we have roughly 40 days til the convention, 120 days til the election. We can’t waste any more time being distracted,' Biden said in a private call with donors. 'I have one job, and that’s to beat Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,' Biden said. The forceful message from Biden - which was delivered to hundreds of top Democratic donors and bundlers in the president's National Finance Committee - is the latest evidence that the president and his allies are working furiously to stem defections in the party. Earlier in the day, Biden sent a fiery missive to congressional Democrats, declaring his intentions to remain in the race even as roughly a half-dozen members have publicly called for him to bow out. Several donors who participated in the call "described Biden as forceful and strong'. One took four questions during the meeting, including one about Biden’s plans for the next debate. The president responded that his strategy was to 'attack, attack, attack'. Biden repeated multiple times that he would not be leaving the race: “I’m telling you, I’m not going anywhere folks. I’m in this to the end, and I’m going to beat Trump. I promise you.' He touted the “grassroots support' he saw during his 10-day cross-country tour following the debate, from Georgia to Wisconsin to Pennsylvania, and thanked his donors for sticking by his side. “I appreciate you hanging in there with me. I realize you’re getting a lot of heat,' he said. Instead of airing public concerns about his campaign, Biden argued the party should be directing its ire at Trump, who he said has 'gotten away with doing nothing for the last 10 days except driving around in his golf cart, bragging about scores he doesn’t score.' He said Democrats needed to focus on what Trump would do to abortion rights, Medicare, Social Security, and prescription drug prices. But there’s still lingering concern and frustration within the high-dollar donor community about Biden’s ability to beat Trump in November. (Source: politico *)
.* Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.

NATO

July 8, 2024 4:00 AM CET  Taking the necessary steps to fully operationalize deterrence by denial now is critical - especially before a possible change in America’s relationship with NATO. After Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the ensuing brutal war, though, NATO reexamined its approach and took several steps to strengthen its efforts. It completed new allied operations plans, which based allied defense planning, exercises and force sizing more closely on real-world threats. It revamped its force structure, embracing a new NATO Force Model designed to provide larger numbers of troops at higher readiness, and placed multinational battle groups in Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. It also moved to integrate its new members - Finland and Sweden - remarkably quickly. And given these changes, the alliance has now begun modifying its command structure as well. It has also agreed to expand its small battle groups to brigade-size, when and where necessary. Regarding personnel, NATO simply needs more. Nearly all major European allies - especially France, Italy, Germany and the U.K. - face military personnel shortages. Decisions made a decade ago to invest in capabilities at the expense of capacity mean that even as these allies have become increasingly capable of fighting side-by-side with their American counterparts, they’ve been fielding smaller militaries. And even those with plans to expand personnel, like Germany, don’t have plans to resource them. Attacking is usually considered a “harder” military task than defending. It requires troops to leave the safety of fortifications and enter unfamiliar “foreign terrain,” so typically a three-to-one ratio is necessary for offensive success. To mitigate this, NATO should aim to prevent its forces in the east from falling below a two-to-one or 1.5-to-one ratio. More European allies will likely need to reexamine their decisions to ditch conscription, as well as embrace more robust development and activation of reserve forces to help allies achieve the necessary mass. Larger European NATO countries, which have the populations to support bigger military formations, will be critical here. NATO needs to beef up its forces in the east. In terms of quality, this means endowing NATO’s forward military units with more full-spectrum capabilities, including electronic warfare, unmanned aerial vehicles, short range air defense and cyber. And in terms of quantity, it means that each forward military unit in the three Baltic states, Poland and Romania ought to be made into brigade-size units permanently. The German-led unit in Lithuania is headed in this direction, and the Canadian-led unit in Latvia may be as well - but the timelines for this are woefully long.For reducing the interoperability frictions in some forward military units - the one in Latvia, for example, suffers from this the most, with 10 contributing allies - a country’s minimum contribution to each unit ought to be a battalion. Meanwhile, there’s no reason to have land-centric forward military units in Slovakia, Hungary or Bulgaria, as these allies face no significant ground threat. And given the threats facing Romania, NATO should convert the unit there into its first Multi-Domain Task Force, with an emphasis on intelligence, maritime domain awareness, air defense, and long-range artillery and rockets. In the air domain, in any case, the goal should be to forcibly end Russian aircraft and missile incursions into allied airspace. For instance, the NATO countries should announce they’ll no longer tolerate violations of allied airspace by piloted Russian aircraft, flyovers of any ally by Ukraine-bound Russian missiles and rockets, or Russian drone activity within a certain distance of the alliance’s eastern frontier. NATO should then forward station-appropriate integrated air and missile defense assets along its eastern front, starting in southeastern Poland and northeastern Romania - creating no-fly zones over portions of western and southwestern Ukraine. As for the electromagnetic spectrum, Russia’s aggressive, indiscriminate use of electronic jamming isn’t just threatening military operations by allied forces in NATO’s east but civilian aviation and maritime activity. Will the allies wait until Russia’s electronic warfare downs a civilian airliner before they respond? 'This upcoming Washington summit provides the ideal opportunity' for NATO to finally embrace this strategy. (Source: politico *)
.by Deni, a research professor at the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and an associate fellow at the NATO Defense College. He’s the author of “NATO and Article 5.”
* Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.

7/8/24 6:00  The leaders of the West’s preeminent military alliance convene this week in Washington. The war in Ukraine is bound to dominate the proceedings. NATO meets at a moment of peak uncertainty in the West. The Biden administration and some governments in Europe have ’desperately’ tried to “Trump-proof' support for Ukraine in the near to medium term. ’We have a political window right now that should allow for more acceptance of NATO accession,’ Runde, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told. ’This should be the time that the Biden administration should push’ for Ukraine’s NATO bid, he added. The best way to ensure Ukraine’s long-term security is to give Ukraine more capability to actually defeat Russia, Rogin noted ’That means speeding up delivery of air-defense systems, fighter planes, longer-range rockets, and helping Ukraine develop its own defense production to reduce its dependence on the West.’ Diplomats in Washington are aware that Trump may choose to cut off military support to Kyiv. European diplomats are already preparing contingency plans for a future Trump administration; many doubt he would actually withdraw from NATO, but are concerned about Trump weakening U.S. commitments to the alliance and undermining transatlantic unity. Trump repeatedly voiced his antipathy to NATO in his first term, and in the most recent debate declined to say whether he would pull the United States out of the alliance. New polling by the European Council on Foreign Relations of 15 European countries, including Ukraine, found a growing disconnect between Ukrainians and the European public elsewhere. When asked how the war will end, close to 60 percent of Ukrainians said they see outright victory for their nation, while only 30 percent believed it would end in some form of diplomatic settlement. If boosted by a new increases in Western arms, that Ukrainian belief in 'complete victory', according to the pollsters, only grows. That enthusiasm is not shared by many other Europeans, who overwhelmingly reject sending ground forces to help the Ukrainians and doubt Kyiv’s ability to actually win the war. “The prevailing view in most countries … is that the conflict will conclude with a compromise settlement,” noted the ECFR report’s authors, Krastev and Leonard. “So, when it comes to the war’s end, European publics express the pessimism of the intellect while Ukrainians represent the optimism of political will.’ Absent clear commitments to Ukraine, NATO officials have opted to focus on the big picture. “The United States is home to a quarter of the world’s economy, but combined, NATO allies have half of the world’s economy and half its military might,' outgoing NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg wrote. “Together, our deterrence is more credible, our support to Ukraine is more constant, and our cooperation with outside partners is more effective.’ (Source: msn */ The Washington Post **)
* MSN (Microsoft Network), an American web portal
** The Washington Post, the most widely circulated daily newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. It has a national audience. Headquarters Washington, D.C., U.S.

Space

18:41 BST, 8 July 2024  The internet is awash with videos appearing to show UFOs flying near nuclear reactors, warheads and even high-speed planes. Nearly dozen UFOs appeared above Japan's Fukushima lab after its nuclear disaster in 2011. Witnesses told the Netflix docuseries, Encounters, that the UFOs aved them by lowering radioactivity levels. Local outlets caught several glimmering white orbs above the plant dipping into the lab before emerging again, in a sort of assembly line. UFO activity and nuclear devices and sites have been intertwined since the invention of the Atom Bomb in 1945. 'All of the nuclear facilities - Los Alamos, Livermore, Sandia, Savannah River - all had dramatic incidents where these unknown craft appeared over the facilities and nobody knew where they were from or what they were doing there,' investigative journalist Knapp told. The former head of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, Elizondo, agreed that there 'seems to be a lot of correlation' between UFO appearances and nuclear sites. And independent researcher Hastings, who has been working toward full government disclosure of UAP activity, said in 2010, 'Declassified US government documents and witness testimony from former or retired US military personnel confirm beyond any doubt the reality of ongoing UFO incursions at nuclear weapons sites.' Now, new research - in the form of three studies helmed by a retired US Air Force staff sergeant, Hancock, and a data analyst affiliate with Harvard's UFO-hunting Galileo Project, Porritt - shows that not only has there been unusual activity around nuclear weapons and facilities; UFO sightings over America's nuclear arsenal appeared to shift their interest from the making of the bombs to silos and bomber bases as the Cold War arms race grew over the years. 'You would see this interest' at silos when they were being installed before 'the activity would drop off,' Porritt previously told. As the UFOs appeared more and more over armed and ready nuclear weapons sites, the apparent craft also started to appear more at night. And when a new arsenal of ICMBs was built in the 1960s, UFOs became 'much more intrusive' in their approach of ICBM bases, Porritt said. 'They're very low altitude, they penetrate the security perimeters of the base.' Experts have an alarming theory for why these locations are being targeted. Former US Air Force ICBM launch officer Salas said he was contacted by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in an email to gather information after he said an orange flying disc shut off 10 warheads at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana in 1967. Despite a thorough investigations by the military, no conclusion was drawn. This echoes what former US Air Force First lieutenant Jacobs said happened in 1964, when a UFO 'deactivated' an unarmed warhead in 1964. 'Now remember, all this stuff is flying at several thousand miles an hour. So this thing fires a beam of light at the warhead, hits it, and then it moves up… fires another beam of light… goes down and fires another beam of light, and then flies out the way it came in. And the warhead tumbles out of space,' he said in a 2000 interview. Eerily similar to these encounters are the instances of UAPs following fighter jets that were disclosed by the UAP Task Force, including a 'giant Tic Tac' UFO witnessed by Navy veteran fighter pilot Commander Fravor in 2004. Fravor's fellow co-pilot Underwood witnessed the 'perfectly white' wingless oblong that was captured from his cockpit's in-flight video. Two Air Force veterans previously told they have testified to the AARO in June 2023 that ’UFOs turned off their nuclear warheads’. Given the shared similarities, there seems to be a connection between the behavior of UFOs toward aircraft and nuclear weapons - and it may come from the very same reason. Whatever is up there is concerned about us, especially when it comes to the prospect of blowing ourselves up with nukes. The question emerges: are UFOs approaching high-speed aircraft because they are concerned they contain nuclear capability? In 1976, British Airways aired an ad for their Concorde flight in which an orb-like UFO darts toward the aircraft at an incredibly high speed, seemingly analyzes the plane and then accelerates away. In June 2022, at the Queen's Jubilee, the longest-serving royal monarch was honored by a cadre of nine fighter jets spewing streams of smoke in the Union Jack's red, white and blue colors - and one unidentified disc. No clear answer has ever been provided as to what it was. (Source: dailymail *)
* The Daily Mail, a British daily, middle-market tabloid newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

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Europe

Hungary
July 2024  Europe invaded - warnings from Hungary and Poland about migration. Sitek, a Polish soldier on duty at the frontier with Belarus, was an easy target. As he tried to close a hole in the border fence someone holding a makeshift weapon - a knife taped to a tree branch - rammed it through the gap straight into his chest. Sitek, 21, died a few days later on 6 June. His murder was little noticed in the West, but it caused fury across Poland. Sikorski, the foreign minister, demanded that the Belarusian authorities hand over his killer. They are unlikely to agree. Poland’s border fence is 5.5 metres high, runs for 186 kilometres and is topped with razor-wire. So far this year there have been 17,000 attempts to breach it - and 90 per cent of those caught have Russian visas. Polish officials say that the flow is organised by Russia and Belarus to destabilise Poland. Europe’s borders are under assault from highly-organised, violent armed gangs. People trafficking is a multi-billion dollar business. During the first half of 2023 Hungary’s southern frontier was the pressure point. The two sets of barriers have been heightened to four metres and reinforced with razor wire, night vision and thermal cameras. But they can still be crossed. Migrants, mostly young men, daily besieged the fence. The Serbian side was divided up between different armed gangs. Each controlled a section and anyone passing through had to pay protection money. The frontier was closed to the media during the campaign for the European elections. But video footage of the southern fence obtained from the Hungarian National Police Headquarters shows the ferocity of those attempting to force their way across. Several migrants are armed, either with a pistol or what seems to be an assault rifle. Others fire slingshots into Hungary. The breaches are swift and coordinated. The border guards frequently drive up the path between the fences, or run after the migrants, at which point they either speed up or return to Serbia. The murder of Sitek, and those trying to break through Hungary’s southern frontier, are part of a continuum that reaches back to the migrant crisis of August 2015. Hundreds of people were camped out all around Keleti station. I focused on speaking to the migrants about their stories. But now, with hindsight, I wish I had pushed harder. Many questions still linger. How had Europe’s borders simply collapsed? How had hundreds of thousands of people simply traipsed through the continent? Many used smartphones and apps to plot their routes, sharing information on messaging groups. Who was paying for the wifi, the electricity and the extension leads where the migrants were charging their mobile telephones at Keleti? How did they know to sit quietly each morning in concentric circles and place a photogenic boy in the middle? Each time a television crew passed by, the boy held up a piece of cardboard emblazoned with the words Syria and Germany with a heart in the middle. And why was my coverage, like the coverage of most journalists, so sentimental and sympathetic? After all, this was an organised invasion, not just of Hungary, but of Europe. Instead of writing sob-stories, we should all have been asking much tougher questions. Hungary responded by building a secure fence along its southern frontier and deploying border guards to stop the migrants. This caused a predictable storm of outrage, as though a country defending its own - and the EU’s - southern border from an attack on its sovereignty was an affront to human rights. The following month I interviewed Viktor Orbán. He was on fine form, enjoying the world’s attention, but understandably puzzled about the barrage of criticism. “We are the only country in the last month to take seriously and put real effort into following the Schengen regulations. For that we are criticised. That is the strangest story I have seen since we joined the EU.” Orbán was open about his determination to keep Hungary a Christian country and not allow substantial Muslim immigration. Muslim communities live in parallel societies and do not integrate, he said. “I am speaking about culture and the everyday principles of life such as sexual habits, freedom of expression, equality between men and women and all those kind of values which I call Christianity.” Other countries were of course free to allow parallel societies. “But we Hungarians would not like to have it.” Hungarian officials repeatedly warned that it was impossible to know who was coming in. Later it was revealed that Europe’s collapsing frontiers provided cover for Islamist terrorists. General Bodnár told Pancevski of the Sunday Times that seven of the nine terrorists who carried out the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, in which 130 people were killed, passed through Hungary. In total 14 members of isis terror cells were based in Hungary and used it as a gateway to western Europe. Some took part in the Brussels terrorist attacks in March 2016 that claimed 32 lives. “Terrorists were mingled with the migrants from terror,” Bakondi, Hungary’s chief security adviser, told me recently. Many of the migrants had destroyed their papers and passports. “The people who were arriving had no travel documents at all. So their identity was established totally at the mercy of what they were saying.” In an article, Soros called for the EU to accept ’at least a million asylum-seekers a year for the foreseeable future”’and provide €15,000 for each asylum seeker for two years, to help cover the costs of housing, health care and education. These funds would be raised by issuing long-term bonds, he added ’helpfully’. The article was a gold-plated gift for the Orbán government, already engaged in a bitter culture war with Soros, his Open Society Foundations (OSF) and Central European University in Budapest. I asked the OSF what role, if any, it had played in the 2015 crisis. It directed me to a statement issued that year, denying that either Soros himself or the OSF ’had funded the production or distribution of materials to aid people smugglers’ However, the OSF said it had funded organisations in the region which provided legal assistance to migrants and refugees, which monitored and documented their reception on arrival, as well as for ’emergency response efforts and longer-term initiatives to ease the crisis’. Angela Merkel’s decision to admit one million mostly Muslim migrants in the summer of 2015 is still reshaping the continent. The results of the European elections show a surge in support for hard-right and 'far-righ't parties, in part because few centrist politicians will speak frankly about the impact of mass migration. The 2015 migration crisis was a shock, but the liberal consensus meant that open debate on immigration was stifled, says Lloyd, author of the forthcoming Their Iron Indignation: Dispatches from Europe’s Far Right Revolution: The EU, centrist governments and the liberal consensus meant that anyone who was against mass immigration was perceived as a racist and against foreigners. It inhibited speech and maybe even thought. So far Hungary has spent 650 billion forints (approximately £1.4 bn) on defending its (and Europe’s) southern border. Finally, after nine years, a senior EU official is due to visit. The border is quieter now after a sustained crackdown last year by the Hungarian and Serbian police and security services. “We would like to guarantee our internal security to keep away illegal migrants most of whom were moved by organised crime,” says Bakondi. “Most of them are young men, and they are often very aggressive. So we want to keep them as far away from Hungary as possible.” So far the crackdown has worked. There were 50,707 border violations and 415 smugglers detained to the year ending in May 2023. This year there have been 1,273 border violators and 28 smugglers detained. Lord Sacks, Britain’s former Chief Rabbi, once said that 'the hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews'. For some the 7 October massacre triggered a surge not in solidarity with Jews, but anti-Semitism. Nine months later, most weekends, pro-Palestine demonstrators take control of swathes of space across British cities, intimidating passersby and Jewish counter-demonstrators. The police watch benignly. The British state has proved unwilling and unable to act decisively to secure the streets. Yet this is an issue for everyone, whatever their faith. When members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an extremist Islamist group, called for “Jihad” after 7 October, the Metropolitan police issued a tweet, explaining that 'jihad has a number of meanings'. Which is technically true, but it seems unlikely that the activists were demanding a more fervent struggle for greater self-knowledge and moral improvement. Even as Hamas terrorists were still rampaging through Israel, pro-Palestinian activists in Neukölln, Berlin, handed out sweets to passersby to celebrate the slaughter. In Malmö in May, around 12,000 people took to the streets to protest Israel’s entry in the Eurovision final. Around 20 per cent of Malmö’s population are Muslim. The city, like Stockholm and other major conurbations, is riven by gang violence. Anti-semitism is surging. Sweden, a once peaceful, prosperous country, now has the second highest gun crime rate per capita in Europe after lawless Albania - and 30 times higher per capita than London. None of this is happening in central Europe. This year marks the eightieth anniversary of the Hungarian Holocaust. Budapest, like Prague and Warsaw, is still haunted by its lost Jewish population. Ironically, central Europe, the graveyard of so many Jews, is now one of the safest places in the world to be Jewish. In Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic there is widespread solidarity with Jews and Israel. Jewish people freely wear stars of David or signal their support for the Jewish state. Posters of the hostages abducted by Hamas remain untouched. There are no demonstrations in Budapest calling for the destruction of Israel as such protests are illegal. The ongoing migration crisis has forged an unlikely alliance: between Viktor Orbán and Donald Tusk, his Polish counterpart. Orbán is a 'populist' conservative eurosceptic, firmly on the right. Tusk is a liberal centrist, usually described as pro-EU. Not any more. In May this year EU member states finally approved the migration pact. Countries can either accept their quota or pay €20,000 a year for each migrant they refuse. Soon after, the European Court of Justice fined Hungary €200m for refusing to make changes in its border asylum policy, with a daily fine of €1m until it agrees to, causing fury in Budapest. Tusk, like Orbán, has been vocal in his opposition to the idea of quotas. Like Orbán, he argues that unrestricted mass migration poses an existential threat to Europe. “This is a question of the survival of our Western civilisation,” he said in February. Poland must “wake up and understand that we have to protect our territory, our borders, that if we are open to all forms of migration without any control, our world will collapse”. His declaration was greeted with a wry smile in Budapest. I lived in Budapest for about 25 years, covering Hungary and central Europe. I see now how something still thrives there that has almost vanished in Britain: a powerful sense of national and social cohesion. Hungarians, like Poles and Czechs, know who they are. They have a determined grasp of their history and culture. They know their national icons, their composers, artists and poets. They take a deep pride in them. There is no elite-led cultural onslaught on history and identity. National holidays prompt celebration rather than breast-beating. The contrast with Britain is sharp. A poll carried out in June for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission showed that only 48 per cent of 18-34 year olds even knew what D-Day was. Today there is no sign that Keleti was once the epicentre of Europe’s migrant crisis. The underpasses that were once home to legions of Afghans, Syrians and others are spotless, the station forecourt litter free. Around three miles away, on Freedom Square, stands one of the continent’s most poignant Holocaust memorials. It’s a decade-old ad hoc gathering of stories, photographs of victims, memories and documents in flimsy plastic folders, interspersed with personal possessions. Such a construct in a western European city would last a very short time before being daubed in paint or destroyed. In April the Holocaust memorial in Hyde Park had to be covered in blue plastic sheeting to prevent it being vandalised during a pro-Palestinian demonstration. The memorial on Freedom Square remains unguarded and untouched, as has it been for years, the fading testimonies gently rippling in the summer breeze. (Source: thecritic *)
* The Critic, a monthly British political and cultural magazine, based in London
Based on the writing of Mr LeBor

France
(Monday) July 8, 2024 4:01 AM CET  Voters in France have once again mobilized to stop Le Pen’s 'far right' taking power. But it was a close-run thing for the anti-Le Pen movement, and this time it was a case of winning ugly. The election delivered a chaotic result, with no party taking enough seats for a majority in parliament, plunging French politics into turmoil that could last months. Macron called the snap election in June in an effort to stop Le Pen’s surging 'far-right' National Rally in its tracks. But her party enhanced its profile and won 50 more seats than in 2022, while the president’s own liberal coalition fell back. Even though the leftist alliance and Macron’s liberals agreed to collaborate and vote tactically to stop Le Pen’s National Rally from winning, a deeper coalition between the two groups to govern France appears unlikely. Veteran 'far-left' firebrand Mélenchon’s France Unbowed, one of the parties within the left-wing alliance, has ruled out governing with the president’s liberals. Likewise Macron’s Prime Minster, Gabriel Attal, has said his side would never share power with Mélenchon. Yesterday evening, Attal opened the door to leading a caretaker government to provide some stability during the Olympic Games later this month. The 'far right' is now stronger and the liberals weaker, ahead of a wide-open presidential race in 2027. Before the snap election, the president commanded the largest group in parliament. Now he will likely have to work with an opposition politician as prime minister. His authority at home and credibility abroad have been damaged. The veteran left-wing radical Mélenchon who won the race to get his message out, leaping on stage at his party’s rally to demand Macron appoint a leftist prime minister and bring his movement into power. The three-times presidential candidate has indicated he wouldn’t mind becoming France’s prime minister himself. That’s not going to happen. The firebrand is toxic to many frontline politicians, with his fascination for Latin American strongmen, his temper tantrums and his vicious attacks on opponents. Most recently, critics accused him of flirting with antisemitism when he appeared to downplay attacks against Jews in France. The French voted massively, the centre was defeated, and if it ends with Attal staying on as prime minister, it’s not a good thing for France’s democracy. (Source: politico *)
* Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.

(Monday), 08/07/2024 - 01:22  Le Pen and Bardella attributed their party's setback on Sunday to what Bardella called the "disgraceful alliance" the anti-RN forces, who he said had caricatured the party and disrespected its voters. Bardella and Le Pen strove to put a brave face on their result. The party had increased its share of seats in the National Assembly to a record high, they noted, vowing to keep fighting until they won power. "The tide is rising, but it didn't rise quite high enough this time," said Le Pen, who is likely to mount her fourth presidential campaign in 2027. "Our victory has merely been delayed." (Source: france24 / Reuters *)
* Reuters, News agency. Headquarters London, England

(Monday), 08/07/2024 - 00:32  Macron dissolved parliament and called for snap legislative elections after the 'far right' came out ahead of his centrist alliance in June elections for the European Parliament. Leftist parties – including the 'hard-left' France Unbowed, the Communists, the centre-left Socialists and the Greens – hastily agreed to form an alliance called the New Popular Front in the days after Macron’s shock decision. Le Pen's 'far-right' National Rally party led the first round of voting with 33% followed by the New Popular Front with almost 28% and President Macron's ruling coalition trailing at 20%. Between the first and second rounds, more than 200 candidates from various parties who qualified for the run-off stepped aside to allow a better-placed rival to go head-to-head with the National Rally candidate in their constituencies, increasing the chances of defeating them. 'Leftist' alliance was trouncing Macron's ruling party. France's snap legislative elections yesterday showed the leftist New Popular Front leading both Macron's ruling party and the right-wing National Rally but falling short of an absolute majority, according to Ipsos Talan projections. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would resign today but will carry out his duties as long as required. It is France's president who nominates the PM but the candidate must be approved by parliament and thus often hails from whatever party or coalition holds the most seats. One of the coalition's leaders, Mélenchon of the 'far-left' France Unbowed party, urged Macron to invite them to form a government, saying the alliance “is ready to govern". (Source: france24 *)
* France 24, French international news television network based in Paris, owned by the French government.

Russia
(Monday), 7/8/2024 12:00  Russian missiles smashed down in Kyiv, Dnipro and other Ukrainian cities on today, killing at least 31 people, including two at a children’s hospital in Kyiv.  The Russian Defense Ministry, posting on Telegram, confirmed that it had carried out a major missile attack on Ukraine today but insisted that the targets were “Ukrainian military industry facilities” and “air bases.” (Source: msn / The Washington Post)

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Europe

France
(Sunday ), July 7, 2024 6:00am EDT  Second round of voting is underway today in France's parliamentary election. French President Macron on edge as France's right-wing National Rally Party gained momentum in first round of elections. Le Pen’s National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) outperformed expectations in the European parliamentary elections, trouncing Macron’s centrist party and prompting him to call a snap election as he felt it created tension in the country if the electorate no longer believed in his party and their policies. France's right-wing National Rally looks to seize on recent electoral gains. Bardella could become France's next prime minister. The 28-year-old ’right-wing populist’ Bardella shocked the establishment when his party got 31.5% of the vote in the recent EU election. Rivals move to block France 'right-wing national party's election momentum. (Source: foxnews)

European Parliament
(Sunday), 07/07/2024  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's new alliance of 'far-right' parties passes the threshold to form a political group called "Patriots for Europe" in the European Parliament. On Saturday, the group secured the membership of the 'far-right' Danish People's Party and the 'far-right' Flemish Vlaams Belang, meeting the required threshold. Notable partners include Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Wilders. To form the group, 23 MEPs from seven countries are needed. Viktor Orbán announced his intention to form a new EU parliamentary group on June 30, promising a "new era" that would "change European politics." He made the announcement in Strasbourg with the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria, Kickl, and the centrist ANO of former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. Since then, five other parties have said they will join. They include the Portugal's far-right Chega party and Spain's Vox party. Orbán, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency as of July for six months, said the parties would meet in Brussels tomorrow. By then he will know if the French National Rally has decided to join forces with him after the conclusion of Sunday's second round of French parliamentary elections. With 30 MEPs, the National Rally would be the largest political force in the group if it decides to join the "Patriots for Europe." If the National Rally joins, the "Patriots for Europe" would potentially become the third largest parliamentary group, following the conservative European People's Party (EPP) and the Social Democrats (SD). It would then even overtake the other right-wing group, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Several of the groups joining Orbán's movement were previously part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which includes members of France's National Rally. Babis's ANO party defected from Renew Europe, which includes liberals and centrists. Vox is leaving the ECR movement, Orbán's main rival as the dominant player in right-wing EU politics. (Source: dw *)
* Deutsche Welle, the German public, state-owned international broadcaster, headquartered in Bonn

(Sunday), 7 July 2024  Orbán’s new right-wing group hits EU parliament threshold. In Strasbourg, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced June 30 his intention to form a new EU parliamentary group called “Patriots for Europe”, vowing “a new era” that “will change European politics”. Andrej Babis, former prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the ANO party, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, leader of the ruling Fidesz party and Kickl, head of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) were holding a press conference after signing a trilateral political agreement of cooperation entitled "A Patriotic Manifesto for a European Future", which outlines the ideals and objectives of the grouping, in Vienna, Austria, 30 June 2024. Hungarian premier’s fledgling political movement attracted enough parties today to achieve recognition from the European Parliament in a boost for his latest ploy to shift Brussels rightwards. Five more parties said they will join: the Party for Freedom (PVV) of Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Wilders, Portugal’s 'far-right' Chega party and Spain’s Vox. With the Danish People’s Party and the Flemish nationalist pro-independence Vlaams Belang announcing they would join yesterday, Patriots for Europe fulfilled the EU parliament’s threshold for formal recognition - 23 lawmakers from seven countries. Orbán said the parties would meet tomorrow in Brussels. By that time, Orbán will know if France’s National Rally has chosen to join forces with him after the second round of the country’s legislative elections today. The new ‘Patriots’ for Europe grouping are on track to become the third largest political force - the dominant 'hard-right' force - in the European Parliament with Spain’s VOX party leaving the Conservatives and Le Pen’s party likely to join too with the biggest political force within the group with 30 MEPs. Vox is leaving the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) movement associated with Italian Prime Minister Meloni - dominant player in right-wing EU politics. Several of the groups joining Orbán’s movement were previously part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group. Babiš’s ANO party defected from Renew Europe, which includes liberals and centrists, among them French President Macron’s Renaissance party. Italy’s League, led by Salvini, has also expressed an interest in the new movement but has not confirmed its participation. Orbán - whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency - has long railed against the “Brussels elites'. His Fidesz party has been non-aligned in the EU Parliament since it left the 'right-wing' European People’s Party (EPP) in 2021. The group would push back against European support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and immigration and would campaigning for conservative family values. (Source: euractiv * )
* Euractiv, a European news website. Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium

Russia
Sunday, July 7, 2024.  Citing the Russian Ministry of Defence, state news agencies claimed that Iskander ballistic missiles destroyed two launchers for Patriot surface-to-air missile systems in Ukraine’s Odesa region. The Russian Defence Ministry said seven drones were intercepted over the Belgorod region. Russian strikes left some 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine and cut off the water supply to a regional capital. The northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, was plunged into darkness after Russian strikes starting late on Friday damaged energy infrastructure. (Source: aljazeera *)
* Al Jazeera Media Network, a media conglomerate headquartered at Doha. Qatar

Europe
07.07.2024  European Union (EU) is turning blind eye to members' arms trade with Tel Aviv. Also the United Kingdom (UK) continues its arms trade with Israel. The EU lacks a provision prohibiting arms trade with Israel that is being tried at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It allows member states to continue exports to and imports from Israel, Irish journalist Cronin said. When Israel attacked Gaza in 2014, that same year the EU imposed an arms embargo on Russia for annexing Crimea but did not apply the same to Israel, he said. 'So, there's obviously very clear double standards.' He noted that the ICJ decision could lead to additional cases challenging arms cooperation between Europe and Israel, causing concern in some countries. “The weapons cooperation with Israel makes the European Union complicit in the current genocide in Gaza,' Cronin stressed. Also, Cronin noted that the United Kingdom continues its arms trade with Israel. “Elbit Systems, the largest privately-owned Israeli weapons company, has something like 10 different factories and offices in Britain. Engines for Israeli drones are being manufactured near Birmingham in England.' Emphasizing that arms trade operates bilaterally, Cronin said Berlin has transferred numerous weapons to Israel in the last decade, but Germany is also an important customer of the Israeli arms industry. “So we really need to be talking about a two-way arms embargo.” “German officials paid a visit to the headquarters of Israel Aerospace Industries in May, where there was a discussion about Germany possibly buying the Arrow 3,” he said, referring to the hypersonic anti-ballistic missile that is jointly funded, developed and produced by Israel and the US. Cronin stressed that the state-owned Israeli weapons company “has made many of the weapons that are currently being used, drones and other weapons that are currently being used to kill people in Gaza.' Cronin said France has given indications of halting arms sales to Israel due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Noting that Israeli companies were banned from participating in the Eurosatory arms fair in Paris last month, but that decision was overturned following a complaint by the France-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Cronin said major Israeli companies were not able to participate in the way they planned in the exhibition. He said despite being fully Israeli-owned, Elbit's 'OIP Sensor Systems" arms company in Belgium registered as a Belgian company to participate in Eurosatory. The Irish expert noted that Dutch, Polish and Spanish arms companies also participated in Eurosatory, showcasing weapons systems composed of Israeli-made components. “The cooperation has been going on for a long time and it's become quite sophisticated, so we really need to have a total ban on all trading between Israel and the European Union.' (Source: aa *)
* Anadolu Agency, a state-run news agency. Headquarters Ankara, Turkey.

Asia

Azerbaijan
7 July 2024 14:25 (UTC+04:00)  Hungarian PM's participation in Organization of Turkic States (OTS) summit cuases much of EU leadership's consternation. Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán did not represent the European Union at the informal Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS/TDT) held on July 6 in Shusha, Azerbaijan - this was stated in the statement of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Borrell. In addition, the European Union, as stated by the European Commissioner, condemns the OTS's attempts to legitimize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as an observer in the organization. Note that Hungary presides over the EU Council from July 1 to December 31, 2024. The logic of such a denial by Brussels is not entirely clear, because the OTS organization itself has never considered the European Union as its "Turkish' partner, to have a representative from the entire European Union among its members and even observer states. (Source: azernews *)
* Azernews, a centre-right, weekly newspaper. Headquarters Baku, Azerbaijan

China
July 07, 2024 8:37 PM  Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrived in Beijing today for talks with Chinese President Xi, Orbán's press chief told. Orbán's visit came days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine. Orbán, a critic of Western military aid to Ukraine who has the warmest relations of any EU leader with Russian President Putin, said last week he recognized he had no EU mandate for the trip to Moscow, but that peace could not be made "from a comfortable armchair in Brussels." Hungary's foreign minister, Szijjártó, was accompanying Orbán on the China trip. The foreign ministry canceled late last week a meeting for today in Budapest with Germany's foreign minister and Szijjártó. (Source: voanews * / Reuters)
* Voice of America, the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Israel
(Sunday ), July 7, 2024 6:00am EDT  An Israeli minister has endorsed Marine Le Pen for French president, as her right-wing party seeks significant gains in the current election. "It is excellent for Israel that she will be the president of France, with 10 exclamation marks," Diaspora Affairs Minister Chikli said Tuesday, later indicating that his view may be shared by other members of Israel's leadership. "I think I and Netanyahu are of the same opinion," he said. 'It remains unclear' what had prompted Chikli to discuss Le Pen - Presidential race not until 2027. Le Pen has unsuccessfully run for president three times – in 2012, 2017 and 2022, improving her rank and share of the vote each time during that decade. Her most recent run saw her win 41.5% of the vote against Macron. Some speculate that the cultural issues at the heart of the election will propel National Rally – and potentially, in the 2027 presidential election, Le Pen – to control of the country. Immigration has proven a strong issue for right-wing parties across Europe. Klarsfeld, a Nazi hunter, last week announced that he would throw his weight behind National Rally, telling French outlet LCI that if choosing between 'an antisemitic party and a pro-Jewish party, I would vote for a pro-Jewish party," referring to National Rally. Antisemitism has taken sharp focus in the election after the alleged gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl that many have cast as a hate crime. Two adolescent boys arrested in a Paris suburb were hit with preliminary charges in relation to the crime, with prosecutors alleging that the rape had been religiously motivated. Rabbi Sebbag of the Grande Synagogue in Paris said that the election has indicated to him that French Jews have ’no future" in France, telling The Jerusalem Post that he urges "everyone who is young to go to Israel or a more secure country.’ Sebbeg argued that even if the far-right National Rally has voiced support for Israel’s defense against Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack, the party’s roots come from a place of antisemitism that continues to trouble him. "Many Ashkenazi Jewish families here since before World War II couldn’t think to vote for National Rally, yet the Left has been antisemitic in recent times," said Sebbag. "The Jews are in the middle, because they don’t know who hates them more.' (Source: foxnews *)
* Fox News Channel (FNC), an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website. Headquarters New York City, New York

NATO

07/07/2024 05:00 AM EDT  With President Biden listing badly in his bid for reelection, many allies anticipate that at this time next year they will be dealing with a new Trump administration - one defined by skepticism toward Europe, a strident strain of right-wing isolationism and a hard resolve to put confronting China above other global priorities. Earlier this year, Trump said he would give Russia free rein to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that do not meet their defense-spending obligations. He wants European countries to spend far more on their own defense. The alliance’s strategy is to provide Trump with a message to his own voters letting himself take credit for making the alliance fairer and more effective. Twenty-three of the 32 NATO member states are assessed to spend 2 percent or more of their GDP on defense, meeting a goal outlined for the alliance in 2014. America’s NATO allies are ramping up weapons 'production', consulting Trump’s advisers and holding secret meetings with each other to feverishly lay the groundwork for his return. Italy and Canada, are far from meeting the 2 percent threshold. So are several smaller allies, including Spain, Portugal and Belgium. In May two dozen Republican and Democratic senators wrote to Prime Minister Trudeau a letter saying they were 'profoundly disappointed' that Canada was going to 'fail to meet its obligations' to NATO. In April, Norway unveiled a 12-year plan to spend $152 billion on defense, much of it focused on production of rockets and artillery. Romania signed a $4 billion deal to acquire Patriot missiles under the Trump administration, is helping expand what will soon become NATO’s largest military base in Europe. Poland spends more than 4 percent of its GDP on defense, the most of any NATO country. Poland’s 'right-wing' president Duda, who is friendly with Trump, 'has called on alliance members to hit a 3 percent spending target'. There is extensive personal outreach to Trump and his advisers, there are policy shifts aimed at pleasing by soothing Trump’s complaints about inadequate European defense spending and there are creative diplomatic and legal measures in the works to armor NATO priorities against tampering by a Trump administration. Last fall, German Foreign Minister Baerbock visited Texas to meet with Gov. Abbott, a powerful Trump supporter. Since Trump locked up the Republican nomination, Duda, and Japan’s former prime minister, Aso, have paid respects to him in person. So has Cameron, the former British foreign secretary and prime minister, who used a visit to Mar-a-Lago to make the case to Trump for supporting the war effort in Ukraine. Champagne, a Canadian minister has met with Republican governors including McMaster of South Carolina and Pillen of Nebraska. During a visit to Washington in May, Labour Party politician Lammy, Britain’s shadow foreign secretary at the time, who was appointed the U.K.’s top diplomat last week after elections there met with Trump allies and MAGA luminaries, including Sens. Graham and Vance. In public remarks, Lammy said Trump’s criticism of NATO had often been 'misunderstood,” and that the former president mainly wanted Europe to spend more on defense. Lammy previously described Trump as a racist and a 'woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath.' Lammy’s MAGA-friendly tour - a mission accomplished - frustrated some center-left leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, including in the White House particularly given his warm relationships with Democrats including Obama. In recent weeks, several diplomats from NATO member states quietly traveled to Washington to meet with conservative academics and people associated with think tanks that they believed could have some influence on Trump’s policy. In Ankara, Turkish officials have reviewed the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy road map for clues into Trump’s designs on Syria. In Atlanta, Austin and Lincoln, Nebraska, top ministers from Germany and Canada have met with Republican governors to shore up relations on the American right. At one of monthly breakfast meetings of ambassadors from European countries, the top envoy from one country asked his colleagues whether they were engaged in a fool’s errand more than six months before the next American president takes office. It has become a full-time mission for U.S. allies to parse who is an authentic Trump emissary and who is a pretender. Personal relationships are paramount with the former president and the people closest to him. Trump formed warm bonds as president with an eclectic range of leaders, from Abe and Bolsonaro to Johnson and Kim, all of whom used that direct personal link to their own advantage.    If allies do not see this time Trump withdrawing the U.S. from NATO as a likely scenario, the alliance is still in a state of trepidation only sharpened by the rising power of right-wing NATO skeptics in France and elsewhere on the continent. In Washington, last December a bipartisan majority in the House and Senate voted to make it impossible for a president to withdraw from NATO without strong support from Congress - a measure plainly aimed at handcuffing Trump or a future president who shares his views.      American ally South Korea, was pressing for an early renewal of a deal that helps pay for the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in the country. The current deal does not expire until 2025, but renegotiating it with Trump could be much more difficult, given his frequent complaints about the cost of American support for South Korea.      In a June speech, Trump deplored the ongoing stream of American money into the war effort in Ukraine. “It never ends,' he railed. A scant two weeks before NATO’s leaders were set to descend on Washington for the summit, a rumor tore through the diplomatic world: Trump had a plan to bring peace to Ukraine. If Putin refused to negotiate an end to the war, the U.S. would flood Ukraine with even more weapons. And if President Zelenskyy refused to sit at a negotiating table with Russia, the U.S. would withdraw its copious military support. The plan was being pitched not by Trump himself, but by several of his many allies and self-described surrogates circulating through political and diplomatic circles. Upon closer scrutiny, it became clear that there was no secret, Trump-approved blueprint to end the war.       In Brussels, 'NATO officials have devised a plan to lock in long-term military support for Ukraine so that a possible Trump administration can’t get in the way'. At a mid-June meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, members of the alliance agreed in principle on a plan to shift control of NATO’s support for Ukraine. Up to this point, the United States has taken the lead in organizing military aid through a 300-person unit known as the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, housed at an American military office in Wiesbaden, Germany. Stoltenberg proposed an alternative configuration: 'transferring responsibility for aid management to NATO itself, and especially to European partner states'. The final decision is expected at the NATO summit in Washington. This plan would gradually shift control of aid to a group of 200 NATO soldiers in the Belgian city of Mons - a group that would continue working with the United States, but under the NATO flag.      Some Trump advisers have unnerved Europe by speaking with ambivalence about America’s commitment to defending NATO allies with its full military might. Colby, a former top Pentagon official who is seen as a contender to lead the National Security Council in a second Trump administration has rattled allies repeatedly by saying that the U.S. cannot overextend itself in Europe at the expense of countering China. In an interview he indicated there were limits to what the U.S. might do to counter certain kinds of Russian aggression, like an attack on the Baltic states. “The NATO treaty does not oblige us to send our whole military. Kissinger supposedly once said that alliances are not suicide contracts,” Colby said, adding that he was concerned about leaving the U.S. “vulnerable to a knockout blow by China.' (Source: politico *)
.* Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.

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 Europe    Európa  

France
09:15 BST, 6 July 2024  The fall of Macron. Since his entry into France's Elysée Palace in 2017, Macron has billed himself as the ultimate statesman - a quick-witted, slick-talking diplomat with a fierce political nous and a dab hand at economics thanks to a background in banking. But the murder and beheading of history teacher Paty in 2020, sparked national outrage. Immigrants constituted 5% of the population in 1946. This figure increased to 8.5% in 2010, After Macron came to power in 2017, now more than 10% of France’s population is made up of immigrants. But his detractors claim he's focused on building his rep in Europe at the expense of his own voters at home - and the results of recent votes appear to validate that criticism. Macron's first presidential term was blighted by the Yellow Vest protests - months of demonstrations by citizens enraged by fuel tax increases, among other policies. When Angela Merkel finally left office as German Chancellor in 2021, he picked up the baton as the most influential leader in Europe. But La Rotonde restaurant - one of Macron's favourite Parisian establishments – was attacked by protesters after the government pushed a pensions reform through parliament without a vote, using the article 49.3 of the constitution, in Paris on April 2023. France's retirement age will gradually rise from 62 to 64, with the age increased by three months each year starting from this September until 2030. From 2027, most workers will also have to make social security contributions over 43 years rather than 42 years in order to draw a full pension. The move prompted widespread riots, clashes with police, that endured for weeks, workers refusing to work. Macron's presidency has seen a litany of shockingly violent attacks authored by Islamic extremists. Late last year, another French schoolteacher was stabbed to death and several others injured by the 20-year-old Chechen Muslim refugee, Islamist knifeman in Arras in northern France. And a German tourist was killed by a 26-year-old man who had previously been sentenced to a four-year prison sentence for planning to join the islamic state in Syria. But the National Front’s National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party members see themselves as 'nationalists" and 'localists" who hold the interests of the French people above all others. This means cracking down on immigration. In December Macron's government passed a bill that made it harder for migrants to access state benefits that at the time was lauded by Le Pen as an 'ideological victory” for the RN. Unemployed immigrants must wait five years before they can get benefits - the previous stipulation was of just six months. Non-EU citizens working in France now have to prove they have been in the country for 30 months before they can receive welfare benefits such as child care. But these measures are seemingly too little, too late, with the RN promising a much tougher stance on immigration. And Macron's party was battered in European parliament elections last month - the catalyst behind his decision last month to call a snap election in France. The first round of the legislative elections last week saw Le Pen and Bardella's National Rally (RN) win some 33% of the vote ahead of a left-wing alliance on 28% - with Macron's centrists languishing in a distant third on just 20%. It seems to have been the final nail in the coffin. Is set to be slaughtered the 'Together' alliance - a coalition of centrists led by Macron's party - when the French electorate heads to the polls tomorrow? NR President Bardella himself has declared he will wage a 'cultural battle' against Islam if his party emerges victorious from parliamentary elections. If he is made Prime Minister in the case of an RN absolute majority, the party will seek to pass legislation to 'combat Islamist ideologies' in France that would grant the government enhanced powers to shutter mosques and deport imams suspected of being associated with extremist ideologies. The RN candidate also declared he would prevent dual citizens from accessing certain 'strategic' state jobs. France is also flouting the bloc's own regulations on debt and budget deficits. The EU stipulates that its members must not exceed a budget deficit of 3% of GDP. Public debt meanwhile must be held within 60% of GDP. Under Macron, France ran up a budget deficit of 5.5% of GDP last year - and the nation's debt now sits at well over €3 trillion. In December 2023, the public debt was put at 110.6% of GDP according to CEIC data. Last week, in an attempt to assuage the French people's concerns over the economy Prime Minister Gabriel Attal declared the government would lower energy bills, soften inheritance tax and link pensions to inflation to ease the strain on household finances if the Macron alliance remains in power after July 7. 'There will be no tax hikes, no matter what,' he said. Bardella attacked Attal, claiming the centrist Prime Minister had zero credibility on public finances, adding France was now in a state of 'near bankruptcy'. The RN's leading finance expert, Tanguy, was claiming the RN's economic programme would be entirely financed by closing tax loopholes, reducing red tape, and spending cuts - especially on welfare for immigrants as part of the crackdown on immigration. Bardella has also declared the RN would demand a huge cut of between €2 billion and €3 billion in France's contributions to Europe. Concerns over immigration and extremism, the state of the economy and the rehabilitation of the RN's image have all hastened the tilt of the French public to the right. Most French people simply do not like their president anymore. A week before Sunday's first round elections, Macron's approval rating was mired at just 26% - a historic low equal only to the weeks following the introduction of his detested pension reforms. Macron's party is fully aware of the nation's perception of their leader. His face has been removed from election posters and flyers. MPs from his party have implored him to allow his prime minister Gabriel Attal to take the lead in running the legislative campaign. Yet Macron still appears ubiquitous, giving regular speeches, interviews and even appearing on podcasts. Much of the French electorate sees the president as pig-headed and arrogant - a man who is convinced he knows best and simply cannot satiate his lust for the limelight. But subsequent comments made by Macron, in which he said a far-right or far-left victory in the elections could lead to 'civil war', saw him lambasted for stoking fear among voters and trying to paint himself and his party as the only stable choice, with the alternative being chaos. (Source: dailymail *)
* The Daily Mail, a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

Szlovákia
(Szombat), 2024. július 6. 10:19  Robert Fico szlovák miniszterelnök az ellene végrehajtott májusi merényletkísérlet óta első nyilvános fellépésében Orbán Viktor magyar kormányfő közvetítői erőfeszítéseit méltatta az ukrajnai konfliktusban. A Szent Cirill és Metód szláv apostolok tiszteletére a dévényi várban rendezett pénteki ünnepélyes rendezvényen Robert Fico élesen bírálta ’a liberális ideológiát’ és nagyra méltatta a magyar kormányfő azon erőfeszítését, hogy közvetíteni próbál az ukrajnai konfliktusban. "Ha egészséges lennék, csatlakoztam volna hozzá" - utalt a szlovák miniszterelnök Orbán Viktor moszkvai útjára. "Nem lehet elegendő békekezdeményezés" annak érdekében, hogy megakadályozzák az ukrajnai háború elmérgesedését és egy jóval szélesebb katonai konfliktussá terebélyesedését - hangsúlyozta Robert Fico. Mint mondta, "csodálattal adózik" Orbán Viktornak, amiért Kijevbe és Moszkvába is elutazott, hogy Zelenszkij elnökkel, illetve Putyin orosz államfővel is találkozzon. Fico úgy fogalmazott, hogy a béke ugyan nem minden, de "a béke nélkül minden semmis". (Forrás: infostart * / MTI **)
* Az Infostart tárgyilagos online közéleti hírportál, az InfoRádióval együttműködve.
** Magyar Távirati Iroda: magyar állami hírügynökség 1880 óta. 2015. július 1-jén a hírügynökség a Magyar Televízióval, a Duna Televízióval és a Magyar Rádióval egyesült Duna Médiaszolgáltató Nonprofit Zrt. néven

Slovakia
6 July 2024  Slovak PM in first public appearance since shooting. Yesterday, at Devin Castle, during a ceremony to mark Saints Cyril and Methodius Day, a public holiday in Slovakia, Mr Fico, 59, the Slovakian prime minister has made his first public appearance since being wounded in an assassination attempt on 15 May. Mr Fico used a speech at the commemoration to criticise the expansion of progressive ideologies and the West's stance towards Russia over the war in Ukraine. He said 'meaningless' liberal ideas were "spreading like cancer", and that there were 'not enough peace talks" with Russia over Ukraine. (Source: bbc *) by 'Philips'
* British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the oldest and largest local and global British public service broadcaster, founded in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company. Headquartered in London, England.

Russia
7:15 PM CEST, July 6, 2024  Two civilians were wounded after Ukrainian forces overnight shelled a border town in the southern Belgorod region, Gov. Gladkov reported. The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops overnight shot down a total of eight drones over the Kursk and Belgorod regions in the south. In Krasnodar province next to Crimea, local authorities reported damage caused during the night by falling drone debris. Debris sparked a fire at an oil depot, set fuel tanks ablaze in a separate location and damaged a cellphone tower, the reports said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian forces on yesterday and overnight launched six rocket strikes and 55 airstrikes across Ukraine, and used more than 70 “glide bombs”. Late yesterday Russian strikes damaged energy infrastructure, overnight left over 100,000 households without power in the northern Sumy region, which borders Russia. Russian drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, which had a pre-war population of over 256,000, cutting off water by hitting power lines that feed its system of pumps. Moscow’s forces overnight hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city, Explosions rocked the city during an air raid warning early today. A funeral ceremony for the 49-year old British combat medic Fouché, a native of west London took place in the center of Kyiv today. Since 2022 he ferried drones, vehicles, uniforms and food to Ukrainian soldiers in the east at the volunteer group Project Konstantin. Fouché helped build a field hospital in Kyiv and later enlisted in the Ukrainian army. At least five other Britons have been killed while volunteering in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. In the Donetsk region in the east, Russian shelling yesterday and overnight killed 11 civilians and wounded 43, local Gov. Filashkin reported today. Five people died in the town of Selydove southeast of Pokrovsk city, that has emerged as a front-line hotspot. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced its troops had captured a village some 30 kilometers east of the city. According to Filashkin, three more civilians died in Chasiv Yar, a town in Donetsk that has been reduced to rubble under a monthlong Russian assault. The town’s elevated location gives it strategic importance, and military analysts say its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy. It could also compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region. A Ukrainian military spokesperson on July 4 told that Ukrainian forces had retreated from a neighborhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar. (Source: apnews)

(Saturday), 18:54, 06-Jul-2024  Yesterday Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Russian President Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow to discuss peace in Ukraine. Before leaving Budapest or announcing the Moscow trip, Orbán had said he was on a mission for peace: "Hungary does not have the mandate or the international political weight (...) but we can be an instrument in the service of God and of those who want peace." According to the Kremlin, Budapest proposed the visit on Wednesday, the day after the Hungarian Prime Minister's visit to Ukraine, a country with which he maintains difficult relations, not least because of 'his' willingness to reach out to Russia. "I understand that this time you have come not only as a long-standing partner, but also as the President of the Council" of the EU, Putin told Orbán during a press conference in the Kremlin. "I expect you to tell me your position (on Ukraine) and that of the European partners", he added. In turn, Orbán told Putin that "the number of countries that can talk to both sides of the war is shrinking. Hungary is gradually becoming the only country in Europe that can talk to everyone." NATO member Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU on Monday. Five days in and Orbán has visited President Zelenskyy in Kyiv and formed the "Patriots for Europe" alliance with other right-wing 'nationalists". During his visit to Kyiv, Orbán had said that Ukraine should accept a ceasefire. He then chose to go to Moscow on what he called a "peace mission," days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine as the conflict with Russia continues. "You were in Kyiv recently. You came here to discuss all the nuances of the Ukrainian issue," noted Putin in his meeting with Orbán. The Russian president recalled during the meeting that in June he had set out his conditions for peace in Ukraine: complete withdrawal of all Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Ukraine is calling for a ’just peace" that includes the withdrawal of Russian troops and respect for its territorial integrity. For the EU, which has cut ties with Moscow and imposed tough sanctions on Russia, Orbán is not its representative in Moscow for this visit, and is not authorized to speak about Ukraine on its behalf. 'The rotating presidency of the EU has no mandate to engage in dialogue with Russia on behalf of the EU,' wrote Michel, President of the European Council on X, who had already reacted on Thursday evening to the unofficial announcement of the trip. "Appeasement will not stop Putin,’ European Commission President von der Leyen said on X. amid Orbán's trip. According to the EU's top diplomat, Borrell, Orbán ’does not represent the EU in any way’. A few days ahead of a NATO summit in Washington where Ukraine will be a major topic of discussion, and with this visit likely to blur positions, Secretary General Soltenberg insisted that "Viktor Orbán does not represent NATO at these meetings, he represents his own country", stressing however, without further details, that NATO had been "informed" of the trip. (Source: cgtn *)
* China Global Television Network (CGTN), a state-run international division of China Central Television (CCTV). Headquartered in Beijing, China

(Saturday), 6 July 2024 7:02  Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán travelled to Moscow on Thursday (4 July) to meet Russian President Putin, only a few days after his surprise visit to Kyiv, where he urged Ukraine’s leadership to work towards a rapid ceasefire with Russia. Russian President Putin was hosting Orbán - the friendliest leader in the EU to Moscow - for talks at the Kremlin, described by the Russian president as a “really useful, frank conversation” on the conflict in Ukraine. Putin said at the start of the talks that he wanted to “discuss the nuances that have developed” over the conflict in Ukraine with Orbán, who visited Kyiv earlier this week. Putin told Viktor Orbán on Friday (5 July) that Ukraine must effectively capitulate if it wants peace. The pair “talked about the possible ways of resolving” the Ukraine conflict, Putin said in remarks after a bilateral meeting. The Kremlin leader repeated his demand that Ukraine withdraw all its troops from regions that Moscow has annexed and said Kyiv was 'not ready to drop the idea of waging war until a victorious end'. Orbán in turn said he had realised “positions are far apart' between the two sides. “The number of steps needed to end the war and bring about peace is many,” he said. The visit came days after Hungary took over the EU’s rotating presidency and Putin told Orbán he expected him to outline “the position of European partners” on Ukraine. The visit had been Orbán’s idea and Russian officials only heard about the trip on Wednesday - a day after Orbán had visited Kyiv, Kremlin spokesman Peskov told. EU foreign policy chief Borrell said that Orbán’s “visit to Moscow takes place, exclusively, in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia'. 'If we just sit in Brussels, we won’t be able to get any closer to peace. Action must be taken,” Orbán said on 2 July during his regular interview on Hungarian state radio. Orbán and Putin last met in October 2023 in Beijing, where they discussed energy cooperation. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who appeared in public yesterday for the first time since a May assassination attempt, backed Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán’s visit to Moscow, saying that he would have joined his Hungarian colleague on his visit if health allowed. Hungary’s six-month EU presidency gives the central European country sway over the bloc’s agenda and priorities for the next six months. The Hungarian leader yesterday insisted that peace cannot be achieved without dialogue. The visit is the first to Moscow by a European leader since a trip by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in April 2022. NATO head Stoltenberg said Orbán had informed the alliance of his trip but stressed the Hungarian leader was “not representing NATO at these meetings. He’s representing his own country”. (Source: euractiv * "with AFP')
* Euractiv, a European news website. Its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

Ukraine
July 6, 2024, 3:44 pm  On July 1, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán assumed the rotating Presidency of the European Union (EU) for six months despite his friendship with Putin, his efforts to obstruct Europe’s military aid to Ukraine, and his sanctions-breaking energy dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. But no sooner did he assume the role, than 'he trekked to Kyiv and recommended an immediate ceasefire to President Zelensky, not to Russia the predator'. Orbán also improperly suggested that Ukraine surrender a region called 'Kakarpattia' * that has traded hands for decades and where only 12 percent of residents speak Hungarian. He boasted he will “occupy Brussels” and organize a right-wing bloc within the European Parliament among those parties that made gains in recent Euro elections. He is also the darling of America’s pro-Russia right, invited to Republican and MAGA conferences and feted by Trump and Carlson. Orbán has just copied MAGA’s motto, with his “Make Europe Great Again” slogan. Hungary should be fiercely anti-Russian. It was the first Soviet satellite to stage an uprising against Moscow in 1956 which was brutally suppressed. But as of 2024, Budapest relied on Russia for 75 percent of its natural gas, 80 percent of its oil, and 100 percent of its nuclear fuel. This economic dependency is why Orbán rejected sanctions against Russian energy in 2014 and in 2022, despite European Union pressure. Orbán also claims that Ukraine has discriminated against the language rights of 156,000 ethnic Hungarians who live in 'Kakarpattia'. He believes this territory “belongs” to Hungary, and this has become his pretext for not supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. 'In his recent meeting with Zelensky, he handed over a list of 11 demands which included that he hand over this territory to Hungary". Orbán wants 'Kakarpattia', 12 percent Hungarian population. He has blocked more than €6.6bn in military aid for Ukraine via the European Peace Facility fund. He temporarily stalled Ukraine’s EU accession talks but agreed to leave the room during a meeting with EU counterparts in order to allow them to vote unanimously in favor of launching the process. Further, he has weakened EU sanctions against Russia and run afoul of Brussel’s regulations for years. In October, he met with Putin in Beijing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Budapest is now involved with China in a railway project and 'in May Hungary’s biggest and government-linked football club, "Ferencvárosi', announced massive funding from its new sponsor, Russia’s oil giant Gazprom". (The football club’s President is also deputy chair of Orbán’s ruling Fidesz political party.) Hungary is landlocked, has only 10 million people, and is bordered by seven countries. Orbán assumed the Presidency even though he has excoriated Europe’s bureaucrats as war-mongers: 'Europe is increasingly being dragged into a war, in which it has nothing to gain and everything to lose. The Brussels bureaucrats want this war, they see it as their own, and they want to defeat Russia. They keep sending the money of the European people to Ukraine, they have shot European companies in the foot with sanctions, they have driven up inflation, and they have made making a living difficult for millions of European citizens.” “Orbán has been playing this ‘peacock’ dance for a decade, and Hungary’s energy dependency on Russia will remain stronger than ever,” said Professor Zgut-Przybylska. (Source: kyivpost **)
** Kyiv Post, news media in Ukraine in Syrian possession
* derogatory denotation of Transcarpathia; fake assertions

United Kingdom
3:30 PM CEST, (Saturday), July 6, 2024  New UK Prime Minister Starmer says controversial Rwanda deportation plan is ‘dead and buried’. It’s unclear what Starmer will do differently to tackle the same crisis with a record number of people coming ashore in the first six months of this year. “Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked,” Braverman, a Conservative hard liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace Sunak as party leader, said today. “There are big problems on the horizon which will be I’m afraid caused by Starmer,” she criticized Starmer’s plan to end the Rwanda pact. Foreign Secretary Lammy was to begin his first international trip today to meet counterparts in Germany, Poland and Sweden to reinforce the importance of their relationship. (Source: apnews)

1:17 PM CEST, July 6, 2024  Britain’s new Prime Minister Starmer has appointed a Cabinet of Labour Party lawmakers and a few outside experts as he tries to tackle priorities including boosting a sluggish economy, building more homes and fixing the creaking state-funded health service. Labour has spent 14 years in opposition, so few have held government office before. (Source: apnews *)
* The Associated Press, an American news agency headquartered in New York City, U.S.

Asia

China
July 6, 2024.  Dongting Lake embankment collapsed in Hunan Province yesterday. Pieces of central disaster relief materials support local efforts to carry out emergency relocation and resettlement work for flood-affected people in the area affected by the pipe burst. /Video/ (Source: YouTube */ About Nature )

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Iran
(Saturday), July 06, 2024 18:29 IST  Following the historically low turnout in the presidential election on June 28, a runoff election was declared. There was a voter turnout of almost 50 per cent in Friday’s vote. The recent security crackdowns that restrained any public dissent from Islamic orthodox had widely affected the people of Iran. With the support of the urban middle class and the young, Pezeshkian emerged victorious. During the row over Amini's death in 2022, Pezeshkian demanded clarification from authorities about her death. Amini had died in custody after she was arrested for allegedly violating the law restricting women's dress. "We will respect the hijab law, but there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behaviour toward women," Pezeshkian said after casting his vote in the first round. Iran's next president defeated hardliner Jalili. Pezeshkian, 69, a cardiac surgeon, is known to be a reformist and a moderate. His views offer a contrast to that of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. Iran's ultimate authority is Supreme Leader Khamenei. Though the president's role is limited as shots are called by the Supreme Leader on matters regarding top affairs, Pezeshkian vowed to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Pezeshkian, a combatant and physician, was tasked with the deployment of medical teams to the front lines. He lost his wife and one of his children in a car accident in 1994 and raised his surviving two sons and a daughter alone. Pezeshkian was health minister from 2001-5 in former president Khatami's second term. Pezeshkian is likely to be welcomed by world leaders as he is believed to pursue peaceful ways amid tensions in the Middle East. (Source: theweek *)
* The Week, the largest circulated English news magazine in India, based in Kochi

July 6, 2024  Iranian markets reacted positively to the outcome of the second round of snap elections held on July 5, which saw Pezeshkian emerge as the victor with 53.7% of the votes, becoming the 14th President of Iran. According to the final tally released by the election committee, the election saw a voter turnout of 30,530,157, with Pezeshkian garnering 16,384,403 votes. His main rival, Jalili, received 13,538,179 votes, accounting for 44.3% of the total, while spoiled ballots constituted 2%. The election commenced at 8 AM on July 5 and continued until midnight. Pezeshkian's victory represents an increase from the previous round, where he had secured over 10,415,000 votes with a 39.9% turnout. The overall participation rate in the final round stood at 49.75%, with 30,573,931 ballots cast out of 61,452,351 eligible voters. (Source: intelliNews *)
* bne IntelliNews, a news wire agency and media company. Headquarters Berlin, Germany

North America

United States
July 6, 2024, 2:52 AM  "If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Trump, will you stand down?" Stephanopoulos asked. "It depends on - on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that,' Biden said. (Source: abcnews *)
* ABC News, the news division of the American television network ABC. Headquarters New York City

Space

July 6, 2024  Back in 1962, the United States exploded a 1.4-megaton nuclear weapon in space in a test known as Starfish Prime. The bomb blast created a powerful electromagnetic pulse and unleashed a belt of radiation that lingered for months circling the Earth. It crippled one-third of the 24 satellites in orbit at that time, knocking out streetlights in Hawaii and damaging the electric grid. A Defense Department report noted its “intense' burst phenomena illuminated “a very large area of the Pacific.” Today, low Earth orbit is infinitely more crowded. Hundreds of satellites might lose the ability to correct their positioning, sending them careening into one another. That could create fields of debris moving at more than 10,000 miles per hour, slamming into thousands of other satellites and creating a theoretical cascade effect known as Kessler Syndrome. (Source: msn */ The Washington Post)
* MSN (Microsoft Network), an American web portal

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Europe

France
Friday 05 July 2024 10:02 BST  Will Macron resign? Macron has hitherto ruled this out, but it might become more appealing to him if policy paralysis prevails. Neither parliament nor the government can force a president to resign. The constitution says there can be no new parliamentary election for another year, so an immediate repeat vote is not an option. (Source: independent *)
* The Independent, a British online newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

Italy
05 July 2024, 11:12  The SAC agency that operates Catania airport closed its airspace early today due to ash in the atmosphere caused by eruptions on Mount Etna. It was ash on the runways but expects flights to resume at 15:00 today. Catania Mayor's order is banning people from using two-wheeled forms of transport for 48 hours and setting a speed limit of 30 km/h because of the ash. The Sicilian island of Stromboli is on red alert because of volcanic activity there. Each part of the island's emergency evacuation plan was being verified. (Source: ansa *)
* Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata ("National Associated Press Agency"), the leading news agency in Italy.

European Council
(Friday), July 5, 2024 8:31am EDT  Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc on Monday. Five days in and PM Orbán has visited Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Kyiv and formed the "Patriots for Europe" alliance with other 'right-wing' 'nationalists'. Now, he has chosen to go to Moscow on a "peace mission", days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine. Putin, who received Orbán in the Kremlin, told him that he was ready to discuss the "nuances" of peace proposals to end the two-and-a-half-year-old war. EU foreign policy chief Borrell said Orbán in Moscow was 'not representing the EU in any form'. Orbán, a critic of Western military aid to Ukraine who has the warmest relations of any EU leader with Putin, said he recognized he had no EU mandate for the trip, but that peace could not be made 'from a comfortable armchair in Brussels'. "We cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end," he wrote on X. (Source: foxnews *)
* Fox News Channel, an American news, commentary television channel and website, based in New York City

European Union
July 05, 2024 11:24  A 14-country study by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a Berlin-based think tank, reveals that the majority of Europeans do not believe Ukraine can win the war against Russia. Of the EU countries surveyed, only Estonia had a higher proportion of respondents (38 percent) who think Ukraine will win. In contrast Ukrainians (58 percent) remain confident that their troops can win and continue to count on the support of their international allies. Only 1 percent of Ukrainians believe that Russia will win the war, while 30 percent believe a negotiated settlement is the most likely outcome. Europeans polled are divided on the benefits of Ukraine joining the EU. The countries most supportive are Portugal, Estonia, Sweden, Spain and Poland, while the most skeptical are Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and France. However, the survey did not cover all countries. On defense spending, most countries are opposed to increasing contributions, except Poland (53 percent in favor), Estonia (45 percent), Sweden (41 percent) and Germany (40 percent). NATO leaders are unlikely to find support among the populations of member states for the deployment of troops. The percentage of those who support this idea varies between only 4 percent and 22 percent in different countries.
(Source: rmx *)
* Remix, published in Budapest, Hungary. Offers news and commentary from Central Europe, the Visegrád countries

Europol
FRI, 05 Jul, 2024 - 13:31  Over 2,000 items of anti-semitic content were identified online in Europe-wide policing operation for removal. The estimated 2,000 items of online content identified included Holocaust denial and the glorification of violence against Jews. Some 18 countries took part in the operation co-ordinated by Europol. It said the primary objective was to remove illegal content and ensure that online platforms adhered to European regulations concerning hate speech and discrimination. The Referral Action Day targeted a wide range of anti-semitic content, including hate speech, Holocaust denial, and the glorification of violence against the Jewish community, it said. It said the operation stemmed from the rise of widespread anti-semitism justified and cultivated in Jihadi-spheres and right-wing, as well as left-wing, extremist groups online. National Internet Referral Units and specialised police units from the following countries took part in this Referral Action Day: Albania, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. (Source: irishexaminer *)
* Irish Examiner, national daily newspaper, headquarters Corc, Ireland

Russia
13:14 BST, 5 July 2024  Moscow has claimed it wants tactical nuclear drills to 'cool the hot heads in Western capitals'. Findings from the Levada Centre show that some 34 per cent of Russians back Putin nuking Ukraine - five per cent higher than one year ago, more support than ever - for using the ultimate weapon in the conflict, following recent tactical nuclear drills. The upward trend shows the success of Russian propagandists. 31 per cent are definitely against the use of weapons, while 21 per cent are likely against it. On a photo taken from video on Monday, June 10, 2024, released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber is seen in flight during joint Russian-Belarusian drills intended to train the military to use tactical nuclear weapons. Putin's forces were drilling strikes from land, air and sea-based platforms, intended to train the troops in using tactical nuclear weapons on June 12. Footage showed naval crews 'equipping sea-based cruise missiles with training special warheads' before moving to 'designated patrol areas'. Nuclear-equipped 3M-80/82 Moskit/-M anti-ship missiles were reportedly shown being loaded into the launcher of a Project 12411M vessel of Russia's Baltic Fleet. The forces drilled strikes with tactical nuclear weapons on Ukraine or the West with land, air and sea-based launches on June 13. The Russian defence ministry stressed the launches were simulated, but everything else was performed by troops as it would be in a genuine attack. A naval crew was seen pressing the button on a nuclear hit from a warship believed to be in the Baltic Sea to hit a target some 220 miles away, while Tu-22M3 nuclear capable bombers were pictured taking off from an undisclosed airstrip. Meanwhile, a land-based mobile crew in Leningrad Military District was shown loading suspected Iskander nuclear-capable mobile short-range ballistic missiles, although the warheads were blurred in the footage. The footage came as the US announced an expansion of its sanctions regime against the Kremlin. 'Here are the new American sanctions', Russia's deputy chairman of the Security Council Medvedev, a former Russian president and prime minister declared in a stunning rant published on the Telegram messaging app in June. 'There will be new European ones soon. Do we need to respond to them? It seems not, their number is already measured in tens of thousands. We have learned to live and develop with them. 'On the other hand, it is necessary. Not only to the authorities, the state, but to all our people in general. To everyone who loves our Motherland - Russia. After all, they - the USA and their f***ing allies - declared war on us without rules!' Medvedev went on: 'Every day we must try to inflict maximum harm on those countries that have imposed these restrictions on our country and all our citizens. Harm in everything that can cause harm. Harm to their economies, their institutions and their rulers. Harm to the well-being of their citizens. 'Cause damage in all places, paralyzing the work of their companies and government agencies. Find problems in their most important technologies and strike them mercilessly. Literally destroy their energy, industry, transport, banking and social services. Instill fear of the imminent collapse of all critical infrastructure'. 'Let's turn their life into a complete crazy nightmare in which they will not be able to distinguish wild fiction from the realities of the day, infernal evil from the routine of life. And no rules regarding the enemy! 'Let them get everything in full for harming Russia and as painfully as possible! Everyone can contribute!,' he said. Putin recently ordered tactical nuclear missile drills in Russia, considering changing the country's nuclear doctrine, to lower the threshold for using such weapons. Russian ally, neighbouring Belarus, supplied with atomic weapons, is also involved in coordination in the second stage of the tactical nuclear missile tests currently in progress. The drills are the second part of several phases of tactical nuclear weapons exercises planned by the Russian defence ministry. Currently Putin could authorise the use of tactical - or battlefield - nuclear weapons on the basis of a perceived threat to the Russian state from attack by conventional or nuclear weapons. On the orders of Putin, the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile crews practised deployment in two regions, Irkutsk and Ivanovo. 'Similar exercises will be held by other missile units in the near future,' said the Russian defence ministry. 'Units of Yars ground mobile missile systems are implementing measures to perform marches to a distance of up to 100km, disperse the systems at the same time changing their field positions and their engineering equipment, camouflage them and ensure their combat storage,' said the ministry. A still image taken from a handout video made available by the Russian Defence Ministry press-service shows Russian servicemen operating a non-strategic nuclear missile for Iskander operational-tactical missile system during the second stage of tactical nuclear drills of Russian and Belarus armed forces at an undisclosed location. 'During the second phase of the exercises, personnel from the rocket division and naval patrol operations of the Leningrad Military District practised covert movement to designated positions and conducted electronic missile launches at simulated enemy targets. 'Additionally, Navy crews involved in the exercise deployed to their assigned patrol areas. 'Earlier, tasks were completed for receiving special training ammunition for arming sea- and land-based missile carriers.' The Russians did not give a location for the targets, but previously threats have included Ukraine or NATO territory. Russia expects the incoming administration to be as supportive of Ukraine as the outgoing Rishi Sunak government. /photo/ (Source: dailymail *)
* The Daily Mail, a British newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

United Kingdom
14:58 5 July (2024)  Sir Keir Starmer prime minister by lunchtime after 14 years under Tory rule. Labour set to govern the UK, it has won 412 seats. In many ways, this looks more like an election the Conservatives have lost than one Labour have won. The transition in 10 Downing Street is rapid. Early morning Rishi Sunak was speaking as he held on to his seat in Richmond, Yorkshire but conceded that the Labour Party had won the election. I take responsibility for the loss, Sunak said. They have performed strikingly badly in seats with large numbers of Muslim voters. Labour’s vote is down on average by 10 points in seats where more than 10% of the population identify as Muslim. The advances that the Conservatives secured in Leave-voting areas after the EU referendum, most notably in 2019, have been entirely lost. Compared with 2019, support for the Conservatives is down by 12 points in seats where less than 45% voted leave. In contrast, support for the party is down by 27 points in seats where more than 65% voted leave. With all the seats declared in Wales, the Tories have lost every single one they were defending, taking them back to the zero seats to which they fell in 1997. Sinn Féin is now the largest Westminster party from Northern Ireland with seven seats. Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats in the House of Commons due to a long-standing policy of abstentionism. The Liberal Democrat Party's vote share is around 12%, managing 71 Westminster seats. Reform UK leader Farage has won a parliamentary seat. (Source: bbc *)
* The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), a British public service broadcaster. Headquarters London, England, UK

(Friday), 5 July 2024  The British public went to the polls in the UK general election yestersay, handing Sir Starmer’s Labour Party a landslide victory and ousting Rishi Sunak’s unpopular Conservatives. Trump has congratulated his 'right-wing' ally Farage after he won his first seat in UK’s parliament following seven failed attempts. Trump made no mention of the Labour party sweep and failed to congratulate Starmer. (Source: independent *)
* The Independent, a British online newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

North America

United States
Jul 5, 2024 5:51pm PT  Elections have been won and lost on television since the Nixon-Kennedy debate in 1960. And it may not be a fair expectation that a President be able to make the case on TV - but it is the expectation. Biden took eight days of preparation to give ABC News 22 minutes of screen time. It wasn’t enough. How much more preparation would have been? Or how much shorter should they have whittled down the interview? When, describing the stresses he is under, Biden said, “Not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world,' viewers’ hearts may have stopped for a moment; Biden went on to clarify his statement, but a certain facility with words is simply gone. He waited eight days to give a scant amount of time to a relatively sympathetic interviewer - and this was the result. (Source: variety *)
* Variety, a magazine based in Los Angeles, California, U.S.

7/5/2024 3:30 PM  In several summits, going back to a 2022 gathering in the Bavarian Alps, it was apparent that the president’s schedule was kept thin and his advancing years were being accounted and accommodated for in the planning. There is anxiety about how Biden will present at a NATO summit he is due to host in the US next week, where his every move, gesture and word will be scrutinized in an unforgiving light. It’s no longer possible to hide the fact that the president is a shadow of his former self and may not even be able to govern or set policies. One senior NATO diplomat said US counterparts have acknowledged they can’t afford such moments from the president and their priority is to ensure the summit is not overshadowed by the spotlight on Biden. Daalder, the former US ambassador to NATO, pointed to a moment in last week’s debate that was largely overlooked at home but jolted US allies: When Biden asked Trump if he’d defend a NATO country against Russian President Putin, Trump responded with a shrug. “That’s not a comforting answer for countries who have, for 75 years, depended on America’s security commitment to their defense as core to their security,” Daalder said in an interview. Biden heads into a make-or-break weekend that could end his political career if the lapses keep multiplying. On July 4, in an interview with the Philadelphia WURD radio station, he flubbed again and seemed to mix himself up with Vice President Harris, who is emerging as a clear alternative to Biden and unlike some other potential Democrat contenders already has both a national and international profile. (Source: msn */ Bloomberg)
* MSN (Microsoft Network), an American web portal

Jul 5 2024  Just days before President Biden told a host of Democratic colleagues of his plans to enact a self-imposed curfew, turning down any official events past 8pm. He has described himself as a "black woman" during a confused radio interview. The bumbling commander-in-chief, 81, appeared to mix himself up with Vice President Harris during the awkward chat. Biden, speaking to Philadelphia station WURD yesterday, said: 'I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman… to serve with a black president.' He previously served as VP to President Obama, likely the source of his confusion. In the footage shared on Trump's own Truth Social network, he claimed Kamala would be taking over from Biden despite repeated comments from his camp which insist he won't quit. The MAGA leader ranted: "He just quit you know, he's quitting the race, he's out of the race." He continued: 'And that means we have Kamala [Harris]... She's so bad, she's so pathetic, she's so f*****g bad.' In a patronising sneer, Trump added: "Can you imagine that girl dealing with Putin and the president of China who is a very fierce person?" President Putin has bizarrely said he backs President Biden to win the election in November. He admitted to watching the painful debate and added: “I saw some fragments - but I have enough to do". /video/ (Source: the-sun *)
* The U.S.Sun, headquartered in Manhattan - a U.S. version of United Kingdom--based newspaper The Sun

July 5, 2024  Dr. Motykie, the top Beverly Hills surgeon who runs a medical spa in West Hollywood favored by celebrities has analyzed who he thinks has had more procedures done.   Biden appears to have had more cosmetic surgery than rival Trump. He has undergone many cosmetic procedures to reverse the effects of aging and spent $160,000 approximately on multiple facelifts over the years. The 81-year-old also shows signs of eye lift and brow work. 'You can see it if you look at his neckline near his ears. Those are signs he's probably had one or two facelifts. He's also had upper and lower eyelid surgery because you can see that changing', he added. Biden's brow has an unnatural expression to it. In men that usually isn't done but about 20 years ago people did brow lifts.   The former president appears to age more ‘naturally’ than Biden. Trump has mostly undergone hair reconstruction surgery leaving his neck and jawline all natural. His estimates reveal he spent around $100,000 on cosmetic procedures. "Trump battled with his hair for a while and I do think he's had multiple hair restoration surgeries', the doctor shared. The way his hair parts and flows suggests he is trying to disguise it. "I am suspicious he had an older technique done 30 years or more ago". He explained that the older hair restoration techniques come with some scarring which is why Trump’s hair often looks funny. Trump’s ex-wife Ivana has also confirmed in 1990 that he underwent scalp reduction surgery the previous year. Clarifying the accusations about Trump’s tanned orange look, Dr. Motykie claims that his famously orange skin color is due to tanners and makeup. (Source: ohmymag * / Daily Mail)
* Oh! mymag is "an infotainment web magazine" - an online media focused on news, lifestyle, health and wellness, targeting women of generations Y and Z.

NATO

Jul 05, 2024  The point of NATO is peace, not endless war - Opinion. 'NATO, the most successful military alliance in world history' started as a peace project, and its future success depends on its ability to maintain peace. But today, instead of peace, the agenda is the pursuit of war; instead of defense it is offense. All this runs counter to NATO's founding values. Hungary's historical experience is that such transformations never lead in a good direction. The task today should be to preserve the alliance as a peace project. When the Hungarian nation joined NATO it was the first time in several centuries - perhaps as long as five hundred years - that Hungary had voluntarily joined a military alliance. Our collective experience is one of wars periodically fought within alliance systems of which we did not originally want to be a part, and which were established with some form of conquest in mind - or at least with some explicitly militaristic goal. However much we sought to stay out of the two world wars, and however vehemently we tried to warn those countries we were forced into alliances with, each occasion brought a defeat that almost erased Hungary from the face of the Earth. Our losses were colossal. These wars left Hungary with no control over its future. After 1945 we became an unwilling part of the Soviet bloc, and thus also of the Warsaw Pact. In the second half of the 20th century Hungary was cut off from its natural civilizational environment - the West - and, more immediately, from the whole of Europe. In 1956 our revolution drove the first nail into the coffin of communism; and, as that system was finally being overthrown, our then-prime minister was the first leader in the former Eastern bloc to declare (in Moscow!) that the Warsaw Pact must be dissolved. The military alliance that had been imposed on us almost immediately broke up, and just a few days after that famous meeting in Moscow the Hungarian foreign minister was in Brussels, negotiating the commencement of our NATO accession process. 25 years ago, we saw in NATO our guarantee of peace and defense. In addition to our natural desire to free ourselves from Soviet domination and to join the West, a special factor made NATO attractive to us: we were finally joining a military alliance that was committed not to waging war but to keeping the peace, not to offensive expansion but to the defense of ourselves and one another. From a Hungarian perspective we could not have wished for anything better. U.S. President Truman, upon the founding of the alliance, summed up its essence in the following words: In this pact, we hope to create a shield against aggression and the fear of aggression - a bulwark which will permit us to get on with the real business of government and society, the business of achieving a fuller and happier life for all our citizens. President Truman's words coincided with the aspirations of Hungarian history: peace. It is clear that the concept underpinning NATO was emphatically that of a military alliance for defense. Its primary task was to create a geopolitical environment in which the members of the alliance would mutually defend one another. This is not only a security guarantee, but also a competitive advantage. Mutual guarantees enable each member country to direct its resources to economic development rather than to warding off military threats. But there was another important element in President Truman's speech: NATO provides not only defense and deterrence, but also reassures external actors. "Twenty-five years ago, on September 16, 1999, as prime minister I was present when the Hungarian flag was raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels. This is how I summed up what joining the world's largest military alliance meant for us: "For Hungary, joining NATO also means peace. Well, to fight a war - even successfully - all you need are enemies; but to create lasting peace in this corner of the world is impossible without allies." Ever since then I have been closely following the development of the alliance's vision for the future, and the manner in which Hungary has been fulfilling the commitments it made when it joined. I have done so not only out of a general sense of political responsibility for Hungary, but also as a result of my personal memories and direct involvement. A sense of honor and a clear understanding of its self-interest dictate that when a country voluntarily joins a military alliance, its minimum obligation is to fulfill its commitments to that alliance. This is not least because the original purpose of NATO - to guarantee peace - demands strength, determination, and experience. And Hungary has done its utmost to increase its strength, demonstrate its determination, and gain experience in the maintenance of peace. Thus, together with our NATO allies, we participated in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, where Hungary was the first from the most recent intake of member countries to assume the national role of leader of a provincial reconstruction team. We have been a member of KFOR, the Kosovo peacekeeping mission, since day one in 1999, and Hungary is the fourth-largest contributor to that mission in terms of forces on the ground. Moreover, Hungary provides air defense for two other NATO allies, Slovakia and Slovenia, and - on a rotational basis - for the Baltic states. We also host the Central European Headquarters Multinational Division Centre, a key element of the military cooperation system forming part of NATO's Eastern Wing. Hungary is also of the opinion that, in addition to participating in missions, we can only demand solidarity from other NATO member countries if we are able to defend ourselves. This is a fundamental question of sovereignty". In order to rebuild Hungary's defense capabilities, our defense spending in 2023 was already 2 percent of GDP, in accord with the commitments we had made at the NATO summit in Wales the previous year. By July's NATO summit in Washington, in addition to Hungary two-thirds of member countries are expected to have met this requirement. In 2016 Hungary also embarked on a comprehensive force modernization program, and we are spending 48 percent of the defense budget on force development - more than double the NATO requirement. This has made us one of the 10 highest-performing member countries. We are purchasing the most modern equipment for the Hungarian Defence Forces. Our soldiers are already using Leopard tanks, new Airbus helicopters and Lynx and Gidrán armored vehicles, and we have acquired NASAMS air defense system units. Thanks also to the organizational modernization that is taking place in parallel with the acquisitions, the Hungarian Defence Forces have been raised from the combat level to the operational level. The rebuilding of the Hungarian defense industry is also in progress. The war in Ukraine has shown that European NATO member countries are facing a serious shortfall in military industrial capacity. The development of our defense industry had already started long before the outbreak of the war, as part of Hungary's economic development plans, but it has since become a key factor for NATO's future position. Hungary's defense industry focuses on six priority sectors: the manufacture of combat and other military vehicles, production of munitions and explosives, radio and satellite communications systems, radar systems, small arms and mortar production, and aerospace industry and drone development. Strengthening the Hungarian armed forces and defense industry benefits not only Hungary, but NATO as a whole. Hungary is an ally that, in addition to being a loyal partner, stands ready to actively cooperate with other members of the alliance to achieve its goals of preserving peace and ensuring predictable development. Hungary is punching above its weight in developing its defence capabilities, participating in missions, and developing its military forces. But when it comes to the future of NATO, we are not in full agreement with the majority of member countries. Today ever more voices within NATO are making the case for the necessity - or even inevitability - of military confrontation with the world's other geopolitical power centers. The more that NATO's leaders believe conflict to be inevitable, the greater will be their role in precipitating it. Today the self-fulfilling nature of this confrontation prophecy is becoming increasingly apparent, with the news that preparations have begun for a possible NATO operation in Ukraine - and even high-level reports that troops from NATO member countries are already near the Ukrainian front. Happily, though, Hungary has come to an important agreement with NATO acknowledging our essential role in the alliance while exempting us from its direct support efforts in Ukraine, whether military or financial, as a peace-loving nation. We understand NATO as a defensive alliance - which this agreement helps to ensure. Those who argue in favor of confrontation typically base their arguments on the military superiority of NATO and the Western world. Toynbee argued that "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder." An external enemy, if it has any sense, will not dare to launch an attack on any NATO member country. 'As the strongest military alliance the world has ever known', it is not defeat at the hands of any external enemy that we should fear. But we should very much fear our own rejection of the values that gave birth to our alliance. The purpose for which NATO was created was to secure peace in the interest of stable economic, political, and cultural development. "NATO fulfills its purpose when it wins peace, not war. If it chooses conflict instead of cooperation, and war instead of peace, it will be committing suicide". From the very beginning NATO has existed as a defensive alliance. Therefore our task is to preserve it as what it was created to be: a peace project.
(Source: newsweek *)
The views expressed in the article are the writer's own, Viktor Orbán's, Prime Minister of Hungary.
* Newsweek is a weekly news magazine, based in New York City

Earth

10:00 AM EDT, Fri July 5, 2024  New research confirms the rotation of Earth's inner core has been slowing down in recent years as part of a decades-long pattern. Deep inside Earth is a solid metal ball that rotates independently of our spinning planet, like a top whirling around inside a bigger top. Since its discovery by Danish seismologist Lehmann in 1936, its rotation speed and direction has been at the center of a decades-long debate. Buried about 5,180 kilometers deep inside Earth, the solid metal inner core is surrounded by a liquid metal outer core. The inner core is made mostly of iron and nickel, and it is estimated to be as hot as the surface of the sun - about 5,400 degrees Celsius. Earth’s magnetic field yanks at this solid ball of hot metal, making it spin. At the same time, the gravity and flow of the fluid outer core and mantle drag at the core. Over many decades, the push and pull of these forces cause variations in the core’s rotational speed. “Differential rotation of the inner core was proposed as a phenomenon in the 1970s and ’80s, but it wasn’t until the ‘90s that seismological evidence was published,” said Dr. Waszek, a senior lecturer of physical sciences at James Cook University in Australia. Seismologists have gleaned information about the inner core’s motion by examining how waves from large earthquakes that ping this area behave. Variations between waves of similar strengths that passed through the core at different times enabled scientists to measure changes in the inner core’s position and calculate its spin. When scientists attempt to “see” all the way through the planet, they are generally tracking two types of seismic waves: pressure waves, or P waves, and shear waves, or S waves. P waves move through all types of matter; S waves only move through solids or extremely viscous liquids, according to the US Geological Survey. Seismologists noted in the 1880s that S waves generated by earthquakes didn’t pass all the way through Earth, and so they concluded that Earth’s core was molten. But some P waves, after passing through Earth’s core, emerged in unexpected places - a “shadow zone,” as Lehmann called it - creating anomalies that were impossible to explain. Lehmann was the first to suggest that wayward P waves might be interacting with a solid inner core within the liquid outer core, based on data from a massive earthquake in New Zealand in 1929. “Studies which followed over the next years and decades disagree on the rate of rotation, and also its direction with respect to the mantle,” Dr. Waszek added. Some analyses even proposed that the core didn’t rotate at all. The sloshing of metal-rich fluid in the outer core generates electrical currents that power Earth’s magnetic field, which protects our planet from deadly solar radiation. Though the inner core’s direct influence on the magnetic field is unknown, one model proposed in 2023 described an inner core that in the past had spun faster than Earth itself, but was now spinning slower. It’s rotation matched Earth’s spin, then it slowed even more, until the core was moving backward relative to the fluid layers around it. By tracking seismic waves from earthquakes that have passed through the Earth’s inner core along similar paths since 1964, the authors of the 2023 study found that the spin followed a 70-year cycle. By the 1970s, the inner core was spinning a little faster than the planet. It slowed around 2008, and from 2008 to 2023 began moving slightly in reverse, relative to the mantle. Now another team of scientists’ research published June 12 in the journal Nature confirms the core slowdown. It supports the 2023 proposal that the core deceleration is part of a decades-long pattern of slowing down and speeding up and also confirm that the changes in rotational speed follow a 70-year cycle, said study coauthor Dr. Vidale, Dean’s Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. For the new study, Vidale and his coauthors observed seismic waves produced by earthquakes in the same locations at different times. They found 121 examples of such earthquakes occurring between 1991 and 2023 in the South Sandwich Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean to the east of South America’s southernmost tip. The researchers also looked at core-penetrating shock waves from Soviet nuclear tests conducted between 1971 and 1974. When the core turns, Vidale said, that affects the arrival time of the wave. Comparing the timing of seismic signals as they touched the core revealed changes in core rotation over time, confirming the 70-year rotation cycle. According to Vidale team’s model and calculations, the core is just about ready to start speeding up again in about five to 10 years. The seismographs also revealed that, during its 70-year cycle, the core’s spin slows and accelerates at different rates. One possibility is that the metal inner core isn’t as solid as expected. If it deforms as it rotates, that could affect the symmetry of its rotational speed, Vidale said. The team’s calculations also suggest that the core has different rotation rates for forward and backward motion. Changes in core spin - though they can be tracked and measured - are all but imperceptible to people on Earth’s surface. When the core spins more slowly, the mantle speeds up. This shift makes Earth rotate faster, and the length of a day shortens. But such rotational shifts translate to mere thousandths of a second in day length, Vidale said. The mysterious region where the liquid outer core envelops the solid inner core, where solid and fluid are meeting and moving, this boundary might have volcanoes, he said.
(Source: cnn *)
* Cable News Network (CNN), a multinational news channel and website. Headquarters Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

.

Europe

France
July 4, 2024 4:01 AM CET  De-Macronization. Macron has been described as “crazy,” “an agent of chaos” and blamed for overseeing a “fiasco.” In recent weeks, several party heavyweights have lobbied for Macron, 46, to stay away from the campaign. Yesterday, the government’s spokesperson announced new appointments in the police and security forces after the weekly Cabinet meeting. Dozens of top military officials have also been appointed in the army, the navy and the air force. More appointments were expected, but faced with a growing outcry over the administrative reshuffle, the president was forced to scale back his plan. “[The president] underestimated how much the public were turned off by his personality,” an official said. “He was told to stop [campaigning] … And it’s not really that he heard our message, it’s more that he was forced to hear it,” said the Renaissance party official. If the 'far right' wins a very large majority, Macron would be under pressure to nominate the National Rally’s leader Bardella as prime minister. If not, the president could get involved in lengthy coalition talks with his current rivals on the 'left' and the right. (Source: politico)

Germany
July 4, 2024 4:00 AM CET  Scholz, after pledging last fall to begin deporting people “on a grand scale,” hasn’t kept that promise. Although the number of deportations rose 30 percent in the first quarter of this year, the total was still only 4,700. There are currently about 230,000 people in Germany eligible for extradition. The government has granted most of them a status known as Duldung - “tolerated”- given the impossibility of sending them back to their home countries. About 45,000 are slated for immediate extradition. Only 6 percent of the latter group come from Afghanistan and Syria. Many Germans were shocked when radical Islamists celebrated the stabbing of a police officer in online posts, leading Berlin to vow to deport those who praise acts of terror and violence. In a sign of his government’s growing panic over the issue, Scholz’s Cabinet last week endorsed a draft bill that would allow for the deportation of foreigners who praise acts of terror and other violence, even if they only do so on social media. It amounts to a desperate - and likely futile - effort to counter the rise of the AfD, whose politicians have seized on the issue, frequently depicting Germany as being overrun by violent crime. Personal safety was top of most voters’ minds, with 74 percent saying they were “very worried” about a “massive” increase in crime in the future. The number of criminal acts in Germany rose by about 6 percent last year compared to 2022, with authorities attributing the increase to high levels of migration. While foreigners make up about 15 percent of Germany’s population, they accounted for a record 41 percent of all crimes in 2023. Crime that authorities attributed to foreign suspects rose by 23 percent in 2022 and by 18 percent in 2023. The number of violent incidents involving a knife rose by nearly 40 percent from 2021 to 2023, hitting 14,000. “Islamist agitators stuck in the stone age do not belong in our country,” Interior Minister Faeser said last week. It’s far from clear that the deportation bill will make it through parliament given concerns among Germany’s Greens that the reform is an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. The tougher legislation is unlikely to curb Islamist hate speech online. The country’s most prominent Islamists aren’t migrants but German citizens who can’t be deported. Migrants who have been granted asylum are protected from deportation. The only people who could be deported are those with standard visas. Yet even they could only be sent home if they come from countries that Germany has deemed safe; Syria and Afghanistan aren’t on the list. It is now clear that any move by the government to push through extraditions would be met with legal challenges that would delay the initiative or scupper it altogether. Scholz’s willingness to take such risks suggests he understands that the German public has turned against his migration policies. With just a year until the next federal election, however, he may not have enough time to do anything about it. “It outrages me when someone who has found protection here commits the most serious of crimes,” Germany’s balding 65-year-old chancellor told his audience in Berlin’s Reichstag, adding to applause that violent migrants “had no business” in Germany. “Such criminals should be deported, even if they come from Syria or Afghanistan.” (Source: politico)

Russia
4 Jul 2024  Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi discussed Ukraine when they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana, and agreed that peace talks on Ukraine without Russia’s presence were pointless. Also meeting on the SCO sidelines, Turkish President Erdogan told Putin that Ankara could help end the conflict, but Putin’s spokesman Peskov said Erdogan could not play the role of an intermediary. He did not say why. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said he discussed bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on 'a number of regional and global threats posed by Russia, Iran and North Korea' with Israeli counterpart Katz. The United States announced $150m in new military assistance for Ukraine. The package includes missiles for HAWK air defence systems, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, 81mm mortar rounds, TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) missiles, Javelin and AT-4 antiarmour systems, as well as a range of other small arms ammunition and equipment. NATO allies agreed to fund military aid for Ukraine with 40 billion euros ($43bn) next year. (Source: aljazeera)

Ukraine
07/03/2024 05:38 PM EDT  "Ukrainians deserve to weigh their strategic options through clear eyes, not through rose-tinted glasses held out by outsiders who do not have the support of their countries". “The challenges Russia poses can be managed without bringing Ukraine into NATO.” "The purpose of NATO is not to signal esteem for other countries; it is to defend NATO territory and strengthen the security of NATO members. Admitting Ukraine would reduce the security of the United States and NATO Allies, at considerable risk to all". More than 60 analysts, foreign policy experts  called on NATO members yesterday to avoid advancing toward Ukrainian membership at alliance’s upcoming summit in Washington, warning that it would endanger the U.S. and allies and rupture the coalition. "Some claim that the act of bringing Ukraine into NATO would deter Russia from ever invading Ukraine again. That is wishful thinking. Since Russia began invading Ukraine in 2014, NATO Allies have demonstrated through their actions that they do not believe the stakes of the conflict, while significant, justify the price of war. If Ukraine were to join NATO, Russia would have reason to doubt the credibility of NATO’s security guarantee - and would gain an opportunity to test and potentially rupture the alliance. The result could be a direct NATO-Russia war or the unraveling of NATO itself". If Ukraine is admitted, the group argues, Russia attacking Ukraine in the future would trigger NATO’s Article 5, which calls on allies to defend the member attacked. Moving Ukraine toward membership could backfire, the letter continues, 'turning Ukraine into the site of a prolonged showdown between the world’s two leading nuclear powers' and play into Russian leader Putin’s narrative that it’s Moscow versus the West. The letter was organized by Ruger, president of the American Institute for Economic Research, and Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Atlantic Council has been pushing for NATO membership for Ukraine. The Biden administration has refrained from supporting Kyiv’s immediate membership, but top officials recently said a “bridge” into the alliance would be offered to Ukraine during the summit. NATO will also offer Ukraine a new headquarters to manage its military assistance. Yesterday the U.S. announced a new $2.3 billion 'security' package for Ukraine. Outgoing NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg alluded to Kyiv’s future alongside the alliance and concerns about the matter: 'Stepping up our support does not make NATO a party to this conflict.' Last week, RAND Corp. researchers wrote that allies would benefit from offering Ukraine clarity about conditions for its future membership at the summit. Ukraine isn’t expecting much movement on its membership at the summit. It was 'not ready to compromise,' even as some U.S. and European allies quietly whispered to officials in Kyiv that talks with Russia should begin, Yermak, President Zelenskyy’s top adviser told on July 3 night. Rather, security guarantees are what they’re looking for. According to a European Council on Foreign Relations poll released yesterday, 22 percent of Ukrainians are in favor of accepting NATO membership in exchange for giving up territory occupied by Russia, while 71 percent are against such a deal. (Source: politico)

4 July 2024  During a visit to Kyiv this week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suggested a ceasefire first to hasten negotiations, a position that officials in Kyiv are wary of. 'We [are] not ready to go to the compromise for the very important things and values,'Yermak, chief of staff to President Zelensky, told in Washington. Ukrainians fear without hard security guarantees - such as Nato membership, rather than vague talk of a bridge to such status - Russia may simply regroup and attack again in the future. Putin is counting on wearing down Ukraine on the battlefield and outlasting the West’s resolve to provide support. As well as launching guided aerial bombs against frontline positions and civilians in Kharkiv, Moscow has also targeted energy infrastructure across the country, leading to increasingly frequent power blackouts and concerns over what winter might bring. November’s US election adds another layer of uncertainty, along with a question mark as to whether the European Union could realistically pick up any slack. (Source: bbc)

United Kingdom
July 4, 2024 12:10 am ET  Britain is set for a seismic shift in its political landscape today as voters look set to elect the opposition Labour Party with a huge majority, putting a center-left government into Downing Street for the first time in 14 years. Voters look for fresh leadership after a tumultuous period of Conservative Party rule that included Britain’s departure from the European Union, political infighting and scandal that saw four prime ministers in five years, the pandemic, war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis. British voters are frustrated by the status quo and have a deep distrust in their political class. The British government raised taxes to the highest level since World War II, and government debt has climbed to 90% of annual economic output. A slow-growing economy, meanwhile, isn’t providing extra tax revenues. Some polls show Labour Party leader Starmer, a former public prosecutor turned politician, could be handed the biggest parliamentary majority in modern British history. The Conservatives are behind by more than 20 points in most polls. One poll this week showed the party risks coming in third place, behind the far smaller Liberal Democrats party. The result is likely to be the latest example of growing voter frustration with incumbent political parties across many democracies, at a time when the economic fallout from the pandemic and war have sparked high inflation and damaged incomes. The state-run public-health system currently has 7.5 million people waiting for treatment. Some 2.8 million people are off work sick. Immigration rose to record highs in 2022 and 2023. Starmer has spent the past six weeks crisscrossing the nation repeating his pledge to “stop the chaos” under the Conservatives and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs banker. To boost growth, he is planning to cut red tape to build more houses, reduce immigration, create a fund to accelerate the build-out of green energy infrastructure and make it easier for people to get appointments in the health system. The U.K. is likely to choose a technocratic Labour leader who is widely seen as dull and hasn’t made any big promises other than to run a more efficient and honest government. Starmer has moved the party sharply toward the center in recent years, shedding its more radical policies and members, and has promised to continue Britain’s pro-U.S. foreign policy, including continued support for Ukraine and Israel. A big challenge for Starmer and Labour is they won’t have much money to spend to improve public services such as the healthcare system and an aging network of railways. Just 5% who planned to vote for Labour said it was because of Labour’s policies. Probably within a year or 18 months there will be tensions. Starmer’s approval ratings are negative in many polls, as trust in politicians more widely sits at record lows. A handful of smaller parties are on track to perform well as they siphon protest votes. The Liberal Democrats' leader Davey, being filmed doing publicity stunts such as bungee jumping and falling into rivers, could record one of their best performances. Reform UK, led by Farage, who ran on a platform of anti-immigration, may win its first seats in Parliament. The immigration reached record levels under the Conservatives. Polls show Reform drawing about 15% to 17% support. Farage has said he would try to draw like-minded lawmakers from what is left of the Conservative Party and form a new right-wing voting bloc. Polls close at 10 p.m. local time. Final verdict is given, likely in the early hours of tomorrow morning. (Source: wsj)

Caribbean

(Thursday), July 4, 2024  At least three islands report more than 90% of the homes and buildings either destroyed or severely damaged, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency reported yesterday. All three are within the chain of Grenadine Islands, where Beryl roared into the Caribbean on the southern end of the Windwards, between St. Vincent and Grenada. Beryl struck the islands with sustained winds of 150 mph and higher gusts on Monday, and the National Hurricane Center had warned that winds could be up to 30% higher on the tops of hills and mountains. With 19 participating states across the Caribbean, the agency was helping coordinate disaster response on Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines even as it continued to track Beryl’s movements across Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Belize. The eye of Beryl is still a Category 4 storm. Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell described "total destruction" on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. In Carriacou, the total population of 6,081 has been affected, so shelter is "a significant consideration." Majority of homes and buildings have been extensively damaged, communications have been significantly compromised. In Petite Martinique estimated 80% of the houses and buildings are extensively damaged or destroyed. In Canouan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 100% of the island's population (12,600) has been affected, an estimated 90% of the houses were damaged, either extensively or destroyed; In Union Island, full population of 3,000 was affected by extensive damage, estimated 98% of buildings, including houses are badly damaged or destroyed; In Mayreau, total population of 300 people affected, 90% of the housing stock and buildings have been damaged or destroyed. In Barbados more than 40 homes with damage, a number expected to rise, confirmed significant damage to the fishing sector, more than 200 boats are damaged. In Trinidad and Tobago were power outages. In Dominica minimal damages were reported. (Source: eu.usatoday)

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North America

United States
(Wednesday), 07/03/24 6:00 AM ET  In Monday's ruling, the Supreme Court found that presidents have immunity for basic official actions taken during their time in office; while for all other official acts presidents are “at least presumably' immune. “When he exercises his official authority in any way, the majority argues, he will now be insulated from criminal prosecution. Order Navy SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Is he organizing a military coup to retain power? Immune. Does he accept bribes in exchange for favors? Immune. Immune, immune, immune,' Sotomayor wrote. (Source: thehill *)
* The Hill, an American newspaper and digital media company based in Washington, D.C.

United States
July 3, 2024  According to a CBSNews poll, 74% of registered American voters think Biden should not run for president, while 54% think Trump should not run.    Biden was particularly confused about what should have been one of his strongest lines of attack against Trump, abortion: 'Here's the deal, a lot of young women are raped - by their in-laws, spouses, brothers and sisters -- just -- it's just -- it's just ridiculous. And they can't do anything about it." Were they raped by their "sisters"?    Biden picks up on Netanyahu's eliminationist rhetoric about Hamas and suggests that the CIA helped Israel target assassinations or airstrikes against Hamas leaders: “Hamas cannot be allowed to continue. We will continue to send our experts and intelligence to see how they can get Hamas like we did Bin Laden… They must be destroyed'.    "Biden's last defense is that, despite his age and inarticulateness, unlike Trump, he doesn't lie. But that's only because he no longer remembers what the truth is...'    In fact, the idea that Biden doesn't lie is itself a lie. He lied about being arrested when he tried to see Mandela, he lied about being selected for the Naval Academy, he lied about being arrested as a civil rights activist, he lied about driving an 18 wheeler, he lied about having an uncle who was eaten by cannibals, lied about going to Iraq and Afghanistan 38 times, lied about writing my own speeches, lied about seeing beheaded babies, lied about seeing babies in ovens, lied about mass rape by Hamas, lied about Gaza about dead people, whoever obstructs the cease-fire agreement lied, lied in the debate about the fact that no US troops die in the world...    If Biden sticks with his 'Joe’s Alert from 10 to 4 Campaign,” he might make some headway by declaring a 6-hour day for the rest of America.    “'Will Biden blame his aging if he ever faces a war crimes tribunal for his role in weaponizing the genocide in Gaza?    Carville: 'He has no advisers. He has employees.'    If people understood his true views on bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war in Ukraine, genocide in Israel, immigration and inflation, he would probably lose even more voters. (Source: counterpunch)

(July 3, 2024 */ June 28, 2024))  Full debate: Biden and Trump in the first 2024 Presidential debate. /video/ (Source: youtube / CNN / WSJ): https://tinyurl.com/yc8bma5p
* At this date: 17 376 920 views; 120 416 comments

July 3, 2024  White House Press Briefing derailed by Reporter yelling, "Is He awake?' (Source: mediaite *)
* Mediaite, an American news website

NATO

July 3, 2024  More than 20 American nuclear bombs are installed at Büchel Air Base. The Büchel airstrip is currently being rebuilt to accommodate the new F-35 fighter jets carrying the new B61-12 nuclear bombs designed and manufactured in the United States. They are illegal under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Germany and the United States signed and ratified, as well as the Hague Convention, the Geneva Convention and the Nuremberg Charter. (Source: counterpunch)

July 3, 2024  The fundamental question is whether NATO can ever be a force for peace, or whether it can never be anything more than a dangerous, subservient extension of the US war machine. When asked in a November 2023 Economist/YouGov poll, "Would you support or oppose Ukraine and Russia agreeing to a ceasefire now?", 68% said they were "supportive" and only 8% said they were "opposed", while 24% said no sure. The vague hope that the other side will eventually give up is not a strategy. The endgame of this non-strategy is that Ukraine can negotiate with Russia only when it is faced with total defeat and has nothing left to negotiate with - exactly what NATO wants to avoid. According to the chapter VI of the UN Charter, all UN members are legally bound; according to Article 33, Paragraph 1: "In all disputes, the continuation of which may endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, the parties shall first of all seek a solution through negotiation, investigation, mediation, and negotiation" recourse to arbitration, court settlement, regional agencies or agreements, or other peaceful means of their choice. (Source: counterpunch *)
* CounterPunch, a 'left-wing' online magazine, based in Petrolia, California, United States

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Europe

Germany
2 July 2024  In an evaluation adopted on 20 June this year and published today, the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages acknowledges legal and policy measures that have been taken by the German federal authorities and by the Länder to protect and promote regional or minority languages. A mid-term review covers compliance by Germany with the recommendations for immediate action issued in the seventh evaluation report in 2022. These recommendations concern for the following areas and minority or regional languages: Danish, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian, North Frisian, Sater Frisian, Low German and Romani. (Source: coe *)
* Council of Europe

European Council
July 2, 2024  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made an unannounced visit to Kyiv today, marking his first visit to Ukraine since the onset of the war, for talks with President Zelenskiy expected to focus on peace and bilateral relations. Orbán, a vocal critic of Western military and financial aid to Ukraine, arrived in Kyiv a day after Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the EU Council. The decision to give Ukraine candidate status hence was brought forward by the outgoing Belgian presidency and the next aid package has also been cleared as EU members feared that Budapest, which has obstructed the disbursement of EU funds to help arm Ukraine, could have blocked Kyiv’s accession talks. Budapest has consistently opposed Ukraine's aspirations to join Nato and the EU, refused to send arms to Ukraine and obstructed EU aid, resisted sanctions on Russia, consistently called for peace talks, and maintained close relations with Moscow throughout the war. Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó has visited Russia at least five times since the war began, including a recent trip to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Despite this stance, Hungary announced last month that it would not block Nato decisions on supporting Ukraine, provided Budapest was not directly involved in the aid. Orbán also recently endorsed Rutte to become the next head of Nato, while assuring that Hungary’s forces and financial resources would not be committed to supporting Ukraine. Relations betwen Ukraine and Hungary have also been strained by what Budapest argues are discriminatory laws against ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine. The visit was confirmed after negotiations on the rights of the ethnic Hungarian minority living in Ukraine. Budapest has repeatedly accused Kyiv of discriminating against the Hungarian ethnic minority in southwestern Ukraine. Ukraine says it has addressed all Hungarian concerns about the language rights of ethnic Hungarians. (Source: intelliNews *)
* bne IntelliNews, a news wire agency and media company. Headquarters Berlin, Germany

Bosnia and Herzegovina
02 July 2024  Members of parliaments of Serbia and Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) today formed a joint “Parliamentary Forum” tasked to make proposals to institutions of both sides, at the moment when secessionist threats and moves by the leadership of the entity are increasing. (Source: dtt-net *)
*

Russia
July 2, 2024  Russia claimed today to have destroyed five Ukrainian military jets in a strike on an air base near the central Ukrainian city of Myrgorod, around 150 kilometers from the Russian border. Ukraine has not said where it will base F-16s. (Source: defensepost *)
*

Ukraine
(Tuesday), 2 July 2024  Viktor Orbán arrived in Ukraine today for an unannounced visit having just taken over as rotating president of the European Union. The EU opened membership talks for Ukraine the week before Hungary assumed the EU Council Presidency. For the next six months his position as head of the European Council means Mr Orbán has an influential role as a figurehead for Europe. He came to Ukraine on his second day in that role for discussions, saying there was a need to solve previous disagreements and focus on the future. Mr Orbán previously slowed agreement on a €50bn ($54bn) EU aid package designed to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia. He has been a critic of Western support for Ukraine and is seen as the European leader closest to Russian President Putin. This was Mr Orbán's first visit to Ukraine in 12 years, although he has met Mr Putin repeatedly during that time. While in Kyiv, the Hungarian prime minister said a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could speed up negotiations to end the war that followed Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. "My first trip has taken me here because the issue of peace is important not only for Ukraine, but for the whole of Europe. This war that you are suffering is deeply impacting European security," Mr Orbán said. "I have asked the president to consider whether... a quick ceasefire could be used to speed up peace negotiations...", Mr Orbán stressed in his own statement. "I am grateful for his frank dialogue and his answers." President Zelensky did not publicly respond to those comments. In his statement following their meeting, Mr Zelensky said it was 'very important to have Europe’s support for Ukraine maintained at sufficient level… it’s important for co-operation between all the neighbours in Europe to become more meaningful and mutually beneficial'. The two leaders also discussed bilateral issues including the 100,000 ethnic Hungarians who reside in Ukraine. Mr Orbán said the two countries were determined to put past disagreements behind them, and that he was reassured progress was being made on the rights of the ethnic Hungarians. During his joint appearance with President Zelensky the body language between them was not warm and neither took questions from the media after they gave their statements. Later, in a post on X, Ukraine's leader said Mr Orbán's visit to Ukraine was a "clear signal to all of us of the importance of unity in Europe and taking collective steps'. 'We discussed the path to a just, lasting, and fair peace.' Ukraine's Foreign Minister Kuleba said his country was open to 'work with everyone and solve problems'. “During the visit, President Zelensky had a candid but constructive discussion with Prime Minister Orbán about ways to achieve a just peace, not simply a ceasefire or peace talks.' 'Many Ukrainians believe a ceasefire would simply cement Russia’s hold over territory it has taken from Ukraine and, if negotiations were to take place, they would prefer them to be conducted from a position of strength rather than on the back foot'. (Source: bbc *)
* BBC, The British Broadcasting Corporation - a British public service broadcaster headquartered in London, England.

July 02, 2024  Ukraine has fewer than four weeks to strike a deal with its creditors or risk a default that could seriously harm the economic recovery of the war-ravaged country. Two years ago, Ukraine's private foreign bondholders had agreed to suspend debt wartime repayments - a let-off worth around 15 percent of the country's annual GDP. However, that agreement expires on August 1. If no restructuring deal is reached, Kyiv will have to either arrange an extension of the moratorium expiring on August 1 or default. A default would drain the willingness of Western voters to keep underwriting the conflict. A consortium of foreign bondholders, including BlackRock BLK and Pimco, will urge Ukraine to resume interest payments on its debt next year. Defaulting on the estimated $20 billion of outstanding private bonds could jeopardize future funding and divert focus from fighting against Russia. A deal within a month appears unlikely. (Source: miamiherald */ NewsWeek))
* Miami Herald, an American daily newspaper, headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

NATO

July 2, 2024  On July 9–11, the leaders of NATO will gather in Washington, D.C., for a historic summit, 75 years on since the alliance’s founding in 1949. The alliance is facing a war in Europe 'amid several global crises'. According to Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, the Washington summit will focus on three major topics. The first is boosting allied defense and deterrence, 'NATO’s core business.' The second is supporting Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself, 'the most urgent' agenda item. The third is continuing to strengthen NATO’s global partnerships, 'especially in the Indo-Pacific.' The summit will also be Stoltenberg’s last, as he hands over the reins to current Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte. NATO’s agenda will also be competing for airtime with the U.S. presidential race.     Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO’s main priority has been to strengthen defense and deterrence. Two years ago after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, NATO agreed to a new strategic concept at the Madrid summit that built on existing efforts. One year later, in Vilnius, allies agreed to new plans to meet that vision. Since Madrid, NATO allies have hiked up defense spending, boosted forward defense, increased high-readiness forces, modernized command and control, transformed collective defense exercising, and successfully integrated new allies Finland and Sweden. All this means NATO is ready to 'fight tonight.' The question remains as to whether NATO is ready to fight - and thereby deter - a protracted war, like the one in Ukraine. This is most relevant in Europe, 'to strengthen the European pillar' of NATO. 'The Washington summit will focus on implementing these plans to deter armed attack and defend the alliance'. 'NATO allies will take stock of the progress of the Defense Production Action Plan agreed on in Vilnius and likely commit to a new pledge to boost their industrial capacity'. 'Here, allied leaders will need to agree to four 'mores': more cash, more combat power, more capabilities, and more cooperation'. More cash means continued increases in European defense spending beyond the 2 percent of GDP target set by NATO allies a decade ago. More combat power means converting this spending into military outputs more efficiently while 'addressing personnel shortfalls across the alliance'. More capabilities means filling known gaps in critical capabilities, such as air and missile defense, long-range fires, air transport, military mobility, cyber defense, and space-based capabilities. 'More cooperation means reversing the decline in collaboration required to generate the industrial capacity allies will need to equip their own growing forces while continuing to help Ukraine'. 'In the margins of the summit', the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will also host a NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum in Washington on July 9. To complement stronger conventional deterrence, allies will also look to boost their defenses against hybrid threats such as cyberattacks and damage to critical infrastructure. Russia has stepped up these attacks in recent weeks to undermine further support for Ukraine. This is why NATO defense ministers recently agreed on “response options for Russia’s hostile actions against Allies,' with Stoltenberg confirming “Russia’s campaign will not deter us from supporting Ukraine.' Allies will return to this agenda in Washington, with the main focus likely to be on protecting critical undersea infrastructure.     Ukraine is unlikely to receive a formal invitation to join the NATO alliance in Washington. Kyiv’s ambitions for deeper European integration moved forward last week when it began formal accession talks with the European Union. The EU also signed a new 'Joint Security Commitment' to support Ukraine 'for the long term,' while the G7 nations agreed to loan Ukraine more than $50 billion in immobilized Russian assets. NATO’s own package for Ukraine will comprise three parts: language, coordination, and assistance. The language regarding Ukraine’s membership will need to build on the Vilnius pledge that 'Ukraine’s future is in NATO' - senior U.S. officials have referred to the Washington package as a 'strong bridge' toward membership that is 'well-lit, short, straight, unimpeded.' Negotiations on the exact wording of the final summit communiqué will likely continue until the last minute - allies will want to avoid arguing with Ukraine in public like they did at last year’s Vilnius summit.    'The summit will need to demonstrate that the Ukraine package is more than a metaphor'. This is where NATO’s enhanced role in coordinating support for Ukraine comes in. When he met with Zelensky last week, Stoltenberg confirmed he expected allies to 'agree for NATO to take the lead in coordination and provision of security assistance and training for Ukraine.' To date, that role has been filled by the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group of 50 nations, manned by around 300 soldiers at the U.S. Army’s European headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany. Earlier this month NATO defense ministers confirmed they will establish a new NATO command in Wiesbaden, with nearly 700 allied personnel (including at logistics hubs in Poland). Although Hungary agreed to the initiative, it will not take part or contribute owing to concerns about preserving the “defensive character” of NATO. Stoltenberg later confirmed: 'These efforts do not make NATO a party to the conflict, but they will enhance our support to Ukraine to uphold its right to self-defence.' Discussions are also underway to send a senior NATO civilian representative or envoy to Kyiv to improve coordination, as it did in Afghanistan.     The Washington summit may also yield further commitments of practical assistance to Ukraine. Following the G7 “joint declaration of support for Ukraine” agreed on in Vilnius, all seven nations have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine -  including a 10-year agreement with the United States and another with Japan. By the summit it is expected that 20 NATO allies will have concluded bilateral agreements with Ukraine. South Korea is even reportedly considering a similar agreement.  NATO allies may go much further in Washington if they agree to 'Stoltenberg’s idea for a five-year, $100 billion commitment of military aid to Ukraine'. Negotiations over the details of this ambition could go down to the wire. "One reported proposal is for allies to commit to maintain current levels of support (around $40 billion annually), with future contributions proportionate to GDP, similar to the 2 percent defense spending pledge'.     According to Admiral Bauer, chair of NATO’s Military Committee, these measures will further signal NATO’s long term support for Ukraine while making assistance more stable and predictable. 'To follow through on their Vilnius pledge, NATO allies will be keen to put Ukraine on a path in Washington toward becoming a militarily capable and interoperable partner so that when the political moment comes, Ukraine’s forces can seamlessly integrate into NATO’s - just like Finland and Sweden before them'. '    As U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs O’Brien confirmed, Indo-Pacific partnerships will be a primary theme of the Washington summit'. For example, 40 percent of Europe’s trade passes through an increasingly contested South China Sea. NATO’s four established Indo-Pacific partners -  Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea - have already become regular participants at allied summits. 'At the summit, NATO allies and Indo-Pacific partners may commit to further support to Ukraine', share best practices on countering Russian and Chinese cyber operations, combating Chinese economic coercion, and stepping up defense industrial cooperation. Representatives from all of NATO’s 40+ partners will attend the summit, including the European Union and countries closer to home that are vulnerable to Russian aggression on Europe’s eastern flank such as Moldova, Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. NATO leaders are aware of Russia’s continued pressure to destabilize these countries. NATO’s cooperation is coordinated through the Defence and Related Security Capacity Building Initiative.     Mark Rutte, outgoing prime minister of the Netherlands, was appointed NATO secretary general on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Rutte enjoyed the support of the United States, the United Kingdom, and other European major powers. His appointment risked being vetoed by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán due to Rutte’s controversial statement that 'Hungary has no business being in the European Union anymore.' Orbán recently changed his mind as part of a deal that sees Hungary exempted from providing military aid to Ukraine under NATO for the duration of the war. The likelihood of Rutte’s appointment solidified recently, shortly after his top contender, Romanian president Iohannis, dropped out of the race due to scarce support for his candidacy. As a prime minister, Rutte has viewed Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s aggression as critical for the freedom of Ukrainians 'and the Netherlands' and fundamental for democracy and sovereignty across NATO, channeling more than $3 billion in Dutch military support to Kyiv since 2022. In the past, he strongly championed the idea that Europe should bolster its defense and intelligence capabilities but also acknowledged that U.S. supplies remain critical to achieve this goal. Current secretary general Stoltenberg will remain at the helm for the Washington summit before handing over to Rutte on October 1.     How might U.S. domestic politics affect the summit? The U.S. election is highly relevant for NATO allies.  Following a contentious recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity and the first presidential debate, President Biden and former president Trump are ramping up their campaigns.  The two candidates have set out distinct positions on NATO. When he took office in 2021, current president Biden stated that 'America’s alliances are our greatest asset.' 'NATO allies have been at the core of the U.S.-led response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine'. In contrast, the more transactional approach to U.S. alliances taken by Trump - which, according to Trump, led him to encourage Russia 'to do whatever the hell they want' to allies that don’t 'pay your bills' when he was in office - 'has caused widespread concern' in Europe about the NATO policies of a second Trump administration. 'It remains prevalent' despite the significant increases in defense spending made by European allies in recent years - the average spending level across non-U.S. allies is now over 2 percent of their combined GDP, and rising further - which was Trump’s main critique of NATO. Mere days after the conclusion of the summit, Trump will take center stage at the Republican National Convention, to be held from July 15–18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Source: csis *)
* The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), based in Washington, D.C.
by Monaghan, a visiting fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the CSIS  in Washington, D.C;
Martinez, a program manager and research associate for the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program;
Palazzi, a research associate with the Geoeconomic Council of Advisers;
Svendsen is a research associate with the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program.

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United Kingdom
20:08, Mon, Jul 1, 2024  Mr Aaronovitch, the top BBC presenter who presents Radio 4's Briefing Room show has sparked fury today after calling - tweeting - for Trump to be 'murdered' by Biden. He took to X/Twitter shortly after 5 pm and said: 'If I was Biden I'd hurry up and have Trump murdered on the basis that he is a threat to America's security #SCOTUS'. The hashtag suggests his wild opinion was sparked by the ruling from the Supreme Court today, which ruled that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for their official acts. Aaronovitch's tweet sparked fury. He 'appeared to breach the BBC's rules on social media impartiality today with a controversial tweet about the US election'. Responding to journalist Montgomery who accused him of “Trump derangement syndrome”, Aaronovitch doubled down and lashed out, replying: 'Did you see the Supreme Court ruling Jack? Or were you too busy with your head up Farage's derriere?' An hour after posting the tweet, he told one critic that the post was 'satirical and based on today’s 6-3 ruling on presidential immunity'. Aaronovitch finally deleted the post after around 90 minutes, tweeting: 'There is now a 'far right' pile-on suggesting that my tweet about the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity is an incitement to violence when it’s plainly a satire'. So I’m deleting it. If nothing else though it’s given me a map of some of the daftest people on this site. “Note by the way that not one of them has a problem with the ruling itself.” Spectator columnist Barratt responded to Aaronovitch’s post with the observation: "'Impartiality' may not be in the best of health at the BBC…” (Source: express *)
* The Daily Express, newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

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Europe

Denmark
30 June 2024  King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark have begun their trip to Greenland. The couple arrived on the royal yacht, Dannebrog, in north Greenland at the Pituffik Space Base. They then travelled to Qaanaaq to greet the townspeople who performed dances and songs at the sports hall. They also attended a reception at the Town Hall. King Frederik and Queen Mary next visited Aasiaat where they were greeted by Mayor Hansen and members of the municipal council. A reception at Aasiaat Museum and Niels Egedes Plads followed with a cannon salute and choral singing at the museum and music and dancing at Niels Egedes Plads. The King and Queen first visited Greenland 20 years ago while Crown Prince and Crown Princess. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and is located in North America. It borders Canada. (Source: royal-news *)
*

France
30/06/2024 - 21:03  After France’s snap elections French President Macron and the 'leftist' union New Popular Front are urging voters to block the 'far right' in the decisive second-round elections on July 7. The “far right is at the gates of power,” said French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal today, adding that he would work to ensure the National Rally (RN) does not win an absolute majority. 'I would like to call on all French voters – not a single vote should go to the RN,' he said. (Source: france24 *)
* France 24, French international news television network based in Paris, owned by the French government.

30/06/2024 - 07:04  French voters are casting their ballots today in the first stage of the two-round legislative elections called by President Macron. A candidate can win in the first round by garnering 50 percent of votes cast if turnout represents at least 25 percent of the constituency's registered voters. In the case of a second round, anyone winning at least 12.5 percent of voters may stand. If no candidate garners the 12.5 percent required, the top two candidates compete in a second round. Some 49 million French are eligible to vote. Macron dissolved the National Assembly on June 9 after the 'far-right' National Rally hammered his centrist alliance in the European elections and called snap legislative elections for June 30 and July 7. Macron's decision sparked uncertainty in Europe's second-biggest economy. (Source: france24 )

30/06/2024 6:49 AM  French voters begin casting their ballots in the first of the two-round legislative elections. Voters in the overseas territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon began voting yesterday. Candidates securing more than 50% of the vote in the first round are elected, but that is rare. A second decisive round will be held on July 7. The top scorer wins. Four major blocks are competing for National Assembly's 577 seats. Macron's Renaissance party is part of the Ensemble (Together) coalition, the centrist, pro-EU and pro-NATO alliance, supporter of Ukraine's fight against Russian forces. The party was trounced by the 'far-right' National Rally (RN) party of Le Pen in the European Parliament elections earlier this month. It currently holds 250 seats. The New Popular Front (NFP), a coalition of 'left-wing' parties and the Greens was formed earlier this month after the snap elections was called by President Macron. Its platform includes overturning immigration and pension reforms, a wealth tax and increasing the minimum wage. It also wants to 'immediately recognize the Palestinian state" and stop "the French government's guilty support' for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. It currently holds 149 seats. In polls, NFP alliance is in second place, while Macron's centrist alliance is trailing in third. Le Pen's 'far-right' National Rally, projected to win this election, is anti-immigration and anti-EU. Le Pen heads the RN's parliamentary group which currently holds 88 seats. It is unclear whether the party will secure the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority. NR's president, Bardella, has said that if chosen as prime minister, he would not allow French missiles to be delivered to Ukraine that can strike targets within Russia itself, let alone send troops to the conflict, an idea floated by Macron. The prime minister is responsible for domestic laws, while Macron 'will remain head of the military' and in charge of decisions concerning foreign policy. The center-right Republicans are pro-business, a party that has shrunk massively after ruling France for decades. Currently, they hold 61 seats. If there is no majority, the president can name a prime minister from the group with the most seats in the National Assembly. Pre-election polls put the National Rally ahead of Macron's centrist alliance. (Source: dw *)
* Deutsche Welle, the German public, state-owned international broadcaster, headquartered in Bonn, funded by the German federal tax budget.

6:00 AM CEST, June 30, 2024  French voters around the world are casting ballots today in the first round of an exceptional parliamentary election that could put France’s government in the hands of nationalist, 'far-right' forces. Voting began early in France’s overseas territories. Macron called the early election after his party was trounced in the European Parliament election earlier in June by the National Rally. The outcome of the two-round election, which will wrap up July 7, could impact European financial markets, Western support for Ukraine and how France’s nuclear arsenal and global military force are managed. A new coalition on the 'left', the New Popular Front, is posing a challenge to the pro-business Macron and his centrist alliance Together for the Republic. Huge public spending promises by the National Rally and especially the 'left-wing' coalition have shaken markets and ignited worries about France’s heavy debt, already criticized by EU watchdogs. Many French voters are frustrated about inflation and economic concerns, as well as President Macron’s leadership, which they see as arrogant and out-of-touch with their lives. Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally party has tapped and fueled that discontent, notably via online platforms like TikTok, and dominated all preelection opinion polls which suggest that the National Rally is gaining support and has a chance at winning a parliamentary majority. In that scenario, Macron would be expected to name 28-year-old National Rally President Bardella as prime minister in an awkward power-sharing system known as “cohabitation.' Macron has said he won’t step down before his presidential term expires in 2027. Cohabitation would weaken him at home and on the world stage. Support for Le Pen’s party has spread deep and wide. The party has questioned the right to citizenship for people born in France, and wants to curtail the rights of French citizens with dual nationality. Bardella says he would use the powers of prime minister to stop Macron from continuing to supply long-range weapons to Ukraine for the war with Russia.
(Source: apnews *)
* The Associated Press - American news agency headquartered in New York City.

(Sunday), June 30, 2024 0:42 AM  Today, French voters will cast ballots in the first round of snap elections for the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, that could lead to the country's first 'far-right' government since the World War II. 'Political, racial tensions are the backdrop'. Citing security concerns, notably in impoverished areas in French suburbs or "banlieues," the 'far-right' National Rally wants to give a specific new legal status to police. If police officers use their arms during an intervention, they would be presumed to have acted in self-defense. Currently police officers have the same legal status as all French citizens and have to prove they acted in self-defense. Yesterday several hundred family members, friends and supporters gathered in the Paris suburb of Nanterre to remember 17-year-old Merzouk, a French teenager with North African origins who was shot dead at point-blank range by a police officer at a traffic check on June 27, 2023. His mother led a silent march to pay homage to her son. For many across France, he was the embodiment of young French Black and North African men who face police checks and discrimination more frequently than their white counterparts. The officer who fired the shot cited self-defense, and an 'extreme-right' figure started a crowdfunding campaign for the policeman that drew $1.6 million. Fueled by TikTok, riots spread with unprecedented speed before a mass police crackdown. The unrest caused, according to French authorities, more than $1 billion in damage. 'My son was executed,' his mother, Mounia, told the crowd. She expressed fear that she might run into the police officer who killed her son and has been released pending further investigation. The march ended at the spot where Merzouk was killed, and an imam sang and read a prayer the day before France's parliamentary elections. (Source: voanews *)
* Voice of America, the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Germany
29/06/2024 22:24  Members of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party congress in the western city of Essen reelected Chrupalla and Weidel for another two years as joint party leaders today. Around 600 delegates gathered at an indoor arena. In her opening speech to the conference ahead of the vote, Weidel attacked the governing coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. "Dear government, finally get out of here and clear the way for new elections," she said, before adding that firewalls against the AfD were not necessary. Weidel was referring to the refusal by Germany's mainstream parties to work with the 'far-right' party. Chrupalla, meanwhile, said the AfD was "stronger than ever" after the two leaders had brought peace to the once-divided party. According to him, the AfD now has 46,881 members, 17,723 more than at the beginning of 2023. It's expected that the membership will exceed 50,000 by the fall, he added. Chrupalla was receiving 82.72% support, Weidel received 79.77% of the vote. The AfD is being monitored by the German domestic intelligence agency (BfV) as a suspected right-wing extremist organization. The agency has warned that the party poses a racist, antisemitic and anti-democratic threat to Germany. Earlier today, at around 5:45 AM police used pepper spray and batons to stop a group of protesters breaking through a cordon near where the congress was being held. A few hundred protesters temporarily blocked the exit ramp of a motorway, while others occupied streets and intersections near the congress center. As the delegates voted, crowds gathered outside to protest the party. Several thousand police officers were deployed as part of security measures to prevent civil disorder. In all, some 100,000 protesters were expected to take part in the demos against the AfD. Police feared violence from some 1,000 'leftist' extremists who also planned to demonstrate. Mostly, it was a peaceful protest by members of church congregations, the Fridays for Future [climate movement] and Grandmothers Against the Far Right [Omas gegen Rechts]. Demonstrators, some of them hooded, attacked security forces, injuring 28 officers, one of which was left in a serious condition, injured from kicks to the head, taken to hospital. Police said they made several arrests. 'We need strong democratic forces and peaceful protest against right-wing extremism and racism,' Interior Minister Faeser wrote on X, adding that violence "cannot be justified by anything." The protest had calmed down by mid-afternoon. Despite a series of scandals, the AfD party came second in Germany in the European Parliament elections on June 9 and even took first place in the five eastern states. It's also expected to become the strongest party in September elections in three of those eastern states - Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg - amid fears other parties will not be able to form a governing coalition. The AfD's leaders are also looking to seize on the party's rising popularity, as Germany prepares for federal elections in the fall of 2025. (Source: dw)

June 29, 2024 8:00 PM  The nationalist, Eurosceptic AfD party came second with 15.9% in the European vote this month, ahead of the three parties in Scholz's coalition. AfD membership had grown by 60% to 46,881 members since January 2023, co-chief Chrupalla told nearly 600 delegates at a party convention in the western city of Essen. Some 22,000 people had joined while 4,000 had left. The AfD is on course to form a new political group in the European Parliament - a move which would require 23 MEPs from at least seven EU countries - after being expelled from the Identity and Democracy grouping last month, Weidel said. The congress was held despite resistance from city authorities - marked by the rainbow and EU flags flying on flagpoles outside the convention center - and protesters who sought to prevent AfD delegates from making it there, carriing at an anti-AfD march through the city. The interior ministry estimated some 20,000 people participated in the demonstration. The party congress will run until tomorrow, the same day neighboring France holds the first round of a snap parliamentary election that could bring 'the far right' to power. In discussing the party's policy platform, Weidel said AfD's future allies in the European Parliament should oppose the disbursal of taxpayer money to the "debt states" of Europe - a reference to countries such as Italy and Greece - and the idea that Ukraine belongs to the European Union, after it opened membership talks this week. (Source: voanews / Reuters)

European Union
Sun, 30 Jun, 2024 - 01:00  Just five years ago, young Europeans voted for parties advocating climate action, social justice, and democratic reform. But this may no longer be a viable political strategy. June’s European Parliament elections showed that many young voters have shifted to the 'far right', enabling eurosceptic, anti-immigrant, and anti-establishment parties to make significant gains. This movement is often anti-status quo, serving as a powerful warning to politicians about the need to reconsider both their message and their medium in appealing to disaffected young voters. These voters’ rightward shift is apparent across the European Union. After overwhelmingly supporting the Greens in 2019, 16% of German voters under 25 voted for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in this year’s European elections, putting the party in second place behind the center-right Christian Democrats and well ahead of chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats. By contrast, the 'far-right' Sweden Democrats came in fourth, despite winning 10% of voters aged 22-30. In France, 30% of the youth vote went to Le Pen’s 'far-right' National Rally. This outcome was in line with the 2022 presidential election runoff, when Le Pen won 39% of voters aged 18-24 and 49% of those aged 25-34. 21% of Italian voters aged 18-34 helped prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy win a strong mandate to pursue its agenda. In Spain, the ultra-conservative Vox party increased its share of the youngest voters (under 25) to 12.4%. Europe’s swing to the right has led many politicians to harden their positions on issues like immigration. Young Europeans grapple with a cost-of-living risis and dwindling economic prospects. The growing frustration can be partly attributed to EU politicians’ failure to ensure stable, well-paid jobs for young people. Youth unemployment among Europeans aged 15 to 24 reached 13.8% in 2023. In Spain, the rate was 27.9%, compared to 27.7% in Greece, 20.7% in Italy, and 18.9% in Sweden. Youth unemployment in France was 15.7% in 2023; in the Netherlands 8.7%; in Germany 6%. Support for the 'far right' has increased across the bloc amid growing evidence that no matter how hard they work, most young people will end up poorer than their parents. In many European countries, young people are also navigating a housing crisis, overcrowded classrooms, and struggling healthcare systems. In the face of rising rents, exorbitant tuition fees, and stagnant real wages, young voters are increasingly asking themselves who will address their concerns. 'Far-right' politicians, while blaming immigration, at least recognise that there is a problem, and they are doing so in ways that resonate with younger voters. In the age of platforms like TikTok, veteran politicians mistake social media for a broadcast medium, fail to understand that it can be a powerful tool for fostering engagement, bonding, and identity formation. 'Far-right demagogues' tailor their messaging to young people just as dangerous as those who ignore those platforms entirely. As a generation of young voters spends much of its time on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram – in the United States, teens spend an average of 4.8 hours per day on social media – the result could be a toxic political cocktail. Many EU policymakers feel increasingly isolated as they try to do their jobs while online groups mobilise against them. To win back disaffected young people, political leaders must offer them a future they can believe in and embrace the media platforms where young people live. (Source: irishexaminer *)
by Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.
* Irish Examiner, an Irish national daily newspaper, headquartered in Cork, Republic of Ireland.

Russia
(Saturday ), 29/06/2024 - 22:16  Russian officials reported Ukrainian attacks. The Russian Defense Ministry said that six Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight over the country’s Tver, Bryansk and Belgorod regions, as well as over the Crimean Peninsula. It didn't give information on the reported strike in the Kursk region where a strike was killing five people in the village of Gorodishche on the Russian-Ukrainian border. The Belarusian military was saying it had increased its forces along Ukraine’s northern border in response to what it described as security threats - Belarus’ border agency claimed its troops downed a Ukrainian drone that had flown across the border to gather intelligence. Kyiv denied the accusations. The Ukrainian air force said today that it had downed 10 Russian drones overnight. Russia continues to stretch out Ukrainian forces in several areas along the 1,000-kilometer front and has stepped up airstrikes in a bid to drain Ukraine’s resources. Rescuers in the city of Dnipro dug through rubble after a Russian strike ripped through a nine-story residential building, leaving one dead and 12 wounded. The strike destroyed the top four floors of the apartment building yesterday evening. Several residents remained missing. Seven people were killed today afternoon in Russian shelling on the town of Vilniansk, ten people were wounded, while infrastructure was also damaged. The shelling of the village of Niu-York in the Donetsk region also wounded five people. (Source: france24 / AP)

North America

United States
(Sunday), 07:15 BST, 30 June 2024  Allies within the Democratic Party acknowledged the difficulty Biden had in getting words out at this week's event in Atlanta, Georgia, some warning there was "panic" in the party as others suggested it was time for change. Biden, 81, refused to stand down after his performance on Thursday night, urging that in spite of his age he still knew how to do the job and would defend American democracy. Trump, 78, has threatened to cut spending, raised questions over the future of NATO and ominously said he could end the war in 'one day' if elected. Biden, has backed Ukraine with billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid since 2022. 'As far as Russia and Ukraine, if we had a real president, a president that knew – that was respected by Putin, he would have never – he would have never invaded Ukraine,' Trump claimed during the debate. He said Biden had given '$200 billion now or more to Ukraine'. Reuters reported earlier this week that two advisers close to Trump have presented him with a plan to end the war that involves threatening to withhold weapons unless Ukraine enters into peace talks with Russia. 'European allies call on Democrats to axe Biden following disastrous debate amid fears a win for Trump could impact support for Ukraine'. There is growing concern that if Trump is re-elected, support for Ukraine may too dry up. 'American democracy killed before our eyes by gerontocracy!' said Verhofstadt, a member of the European parliament and a former prime minister of Belgium. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz previously cheered on Biden's prospects for re-election. A spokesperson for Scholz did not comment on the specifics of the debate, but said the chancellor valued Biden highly and had never spoken to Trump as their terms did not overlap. 'Biden can't do it,' said Matteo Renzi, a centrist who was close to the Democrats while serving as Italy's prime minister. 'It's important to manage one's ride into the sunset,' foreign affairs minister for Poland, Sikorski, wrote in a cryptic reflection on legendary Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius' 'screwed up' succession, 'starting Rome's decline'. /videos/ (Source: dailymail *)
* Daily Mail, a British daily newspaper, published in London.

(Sunday), Jun 30, 2024 09:44 IST  Biden expected to discuss campaign future with family today, NBC News reported. A person familiar with the situation said he will ultimately listen only to his wife, Jill, 'who has ultimate influence with him'. White House denies Biden dropping out of race. And the family gathering is not a formal discussion about the campaign's future. Biden reassures supporters, campaign sees surge in fundraising. His campaign has reported a surge in fundraising, with over $27 million raised by Friday evening, including $3 million at a New York City fundraiser focused on the LGBTQ+ community. (Source: indiatoday *)
* India Today, a weekly Indian English-language news magazine, based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

Jun 30, 2024 08:26 AM IST  First Lady Jill's public support for President Biden has sparked controversy among Democrats. She is now under scrutiny from Democratic donors for not advising the President to withdraw from the 2024 race. They are now advocating for a change in presidential candidacy. Seemingly joining the chorus of people slamming her for pushing the prez for rerun, now Jill's ex-husband, Stevenson, expressed disappointment, suggesting that she has changed a lot. 'The Dr. Jill I've seen on TV in the last five years is not the same person I married or even recognize,' Stevenson remarked. Stevenson who was married to the First Lady from 1970 to 1975 added: “She’s matriculated into a completely different woman”. 'I just don’t understand why she is so adamant about defending him and keeping him in the race since it appears that he’s struggling.' After praising his ex-wife’s former abilities and recalling how he watched her grow, he expressed his disbelief to see her 'front and center in the middle of this battle.' 'People say she’s the one who wants to be president now,' he said. In 2020, as Biden embarked on his campaign for the presidency, he leveled allegations against Biden, accusing him of being a ‘home wrecker.’ The First Lady's ex-husband once supported Biden in his bid for a seat in the US Senate in 1972. He previously alleged that Jill and Biden's relationship began while she was still married to him in 1974. (Source: hindustantimes *)
* Hindustan Times, an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi.

(Sunday), 30 Jun, 2024 06:43  Private call of top Democrats fuels more insider anger about Biden’s debate performance. In the Friday’s debate the president, who already faced serious concerns about his physical and mental stamina, offered a performance punctuated by repeated stumbles, uncomfortable pauses and a quiet speaking style that was often difficult to understand. Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Harrison and Biden campaign manager Rodriguez largely ignored Biden’s weak showing and the avalanche of criticism that followed when they held a call which spanned roughly an hour with dozens of committee members across the country, a group of some of the most influential members of the party. The call may have worsened a widespread sense of panic among elected officials, donors and other stakeholders, multiple committee members on the call said. Harrison offered what they described as a rosy assessment of Biden’s path forward, the people said. The chat function was disabled and there were no questions allowed. Biden’s closest allies insist he remains well-positioned to compete against Republican Trump and have given no indication they will push him to end his campaign. Those best positioned to replace him - US Vice-President Harris, California governor Newsom and Michigan governor Whitmer among them - reiterated their support for Biden after the debate. After Saturday’s DNC call, the Biden campaign released a memo from senior adviser O’Malley Dillon insisting the debate had no tangible impact on the election. “On every metric that matters, data shows it did nothing to change the American people’s perception, our supporters are more fired up than ever, and Trump only reminded voters of why they fired him four years ago and failed to expand his appeal beyond his Maga base,' O’Malley Dillon wrote. “If we do see changes in polling in the coming weeks, it will not be the first time that overblown media narratives have driven temporary dips in the polls,” she added. 'This should not be a close race,' Salazar, an elected DNC member from Colorado who was on the call said, pointing to Trump’s criminal record and long history of falsehoods. 'They’re the ones who should be looking for a new nominee, not us. And unfortunately for us, because of our president’s performance on Thursday night, that is now an open discussion.' (Source: nzherald *)
* The New Zealand Herald, a daily newspaper, headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand

(Saturday), 29 June 2024, 13:22  Supporters - party donors and congressmen - have called on the 81-year-old Biden to abandon his run for re-election to the presidency after appearing frozen and muddling his words multiple times during the first head-to-head TV debate of the 2024 election campaign against his opponent Trump, who was widely acknowledged the winner of the debate. He is facing calls from a number of Democratic strategists, donors and politicians to suspend his campaign in favour of a younger candidate at this year’s party convention in August. Biden given 'one week to stand down' by Democrats despite Obama defending US President. One congressman told Yglesias, a US political blogger: 'I think the president has one week to prove he is not dead.' Axelrod, who was a top White House and campaign official for former President Obama, said: 'How his voice sounded. He seemed a little disoriented. There are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.' Buell, a well-known Democratic donor, said: “Do we have time to put somebody else in there?” Current Democrat officials and politicians have publicly rallied around Biden despite his poor performance. Addressing Thursday’s debate, Mr Biden went on the offensive as he told the crowds: “I don't know what you did last night, but I spent 90 minutes on a stage debating with a guy who has the morals of an alley cat.' The President has clapped back at criticism and taken to the stand at a rally in North Carolina. Mr Biden was met with chants of “four more years” - less than 24 hours after his presidential debate had been labelled ‘disastrous’. He then hit out at Mr Trump's conviction from last month's hush money trial, as he said Trump isn't just a convicted felon, 'Trump is a one-man crime wave." He has 'more trials coming up', he then added. The US president also addressed concerns expressed by voters about his age after some of his recent appearances. He had been told he has a week to win over the Democrats before they try and get rid of him in the first presidential debate. He said: “Folks, I don't walk as easy as I used to, I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. "But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth, I know right from wrong. “I know like millions of Americans know - when you get knocked down you get back up.” He also added: “I wouldn’t be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul I can do this job because the stakes are too high.” It comes after Mr Biden appeared to forget what he was trying to say on several occasions during the debate, and at times spoke incomprehensibly. It did not take long for Mr Biden to lose his train of thought, as he suddenly started speaking about Medicare as he made a point about taxing billionaires before appearing to freeze. Former President Obama has also weighed in on the matter saying "Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know." "It would be difficult and very unusual for the Democrats to find a new nominee ahead of the convention, which begins on August 19". The convention is when the party officially chooses its nominee ahead of the actual election in November. (Source: lbc *)
* LBC News, a rolling news radio station based in the United Kingdom.

06/29/2024 07:00 AM EDT  Amid all of the Democratic panic-texting prompted by President Biden’s shaky debate performance Thursday, one name was curiously absent from many of those conversations: Vice President Harris. Names including California Gov. Newsom and Michigan Gov. Whitmer trended online as potential replacements for Biden on the Democratic ticket, while Harris - by several measures the most obvious and best-positioned candidate - was left to publicly defend Biden at the single worst moment of their four-year-old political partnership. Some allies of the first Black and South Asian woman to be vice president fumed Friday about the lack of attention Harris drew as a possible replacement - not a surrogate - for Biden, passed over in the Beltway chatter for the likes of Newsom, Whitmer and even Govs. Pritzker of Illinois and Shapiro of Pennsylvania. Her best strategy is to internally just be an amazing VP. She quickly made clear to her staff that they shouldn’t try to sugarcoat how badly her running mate had performed. Harris told her advisers her role was simple: project confidence as quickly and clearly as possible as a leader of the party, while preserving credibility by recognizing how weak the debate had been. Harris’ other two objectives were to zero in on attacking Trump and move the conversation away from the debate and toward Biden’s record. Harris, despite a rocky couple of years in the polls, still has the highest name ID of any plausible Biden replacement. A recent poll found that 41 percent of Democratic voters chose Harris as a hypothetical 2028 nominee. The next closest was Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, with 15 percent, and Newsom, with 14 percent. Were Biden to leave the presidential race, only Harris would have access to the coffers of the campaign she’s already a part of. Any other candidate would be faced with the tall task of building an infrastructure in a matter of months. Harris’ allies are not shy about pointing out the optics of substituting any other candidate (likely White, possibly male) for Harris — a move that they suggest would upset not only Black delegates at the convention but also Black voters with whom the Biden campaign is already on shaky ground. Still, she faces skepticism from the Democratic rank-and-file, who have been repelled by Harris’ weak polling numbers and see any of the more-popular-if-lesser-known governors as preferable - someone up who would not only be a good president, but be a good candidate. (Source: politico*)
* Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.

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Europe

Bulgaria
28 June 2024  Bulgarian president won’t attend NATO summit, disagrees with support for Ukraine. Radev “does not accept some provisions of the framework positions adopted by the Council of Ministers regarding commitments that our country undertakes regarding the war in Ukraine,” his press office said. Due to the political crisis, Bulgaria is currently without a regular government, and the caretaker prime minister is Dimitar Glavchev, a former deputy from the largest GERB (EPP) party. This caretaker position is appointed by the president, who is given greater representative power. Radev was elected by the parliament (and by the government) to lead the delegation in Washington, but in light of his refusal, Glavchev, also foreign minister, will attend. He has long opposed sending military aid to Ukraine and often talks about how Western military support hinders the achievement of peace. Similarly, the president has opposed the decision to allow Western weapons to fire on Russian territory, repeatedly accusing NATO of fuelling the conflict and of crossing “red lines that would have kept the war from spiralling out of control'. (Source: euractiv)

France
28 June 2024  Nation-state or Islamic Republic of France, Houellebecq’s question. Nine years ago, Houellebecq wrote Submission, wich not only describes contemporary France in an eerily naturalistic and politically-incorrect manner, but also makes a dystopian prophecy: that the French progressive fixation in favour of Islam and against traditional and national values will one day lead to France becoming an Islamic republic. He even describes 'exactly' how such a thing will happen. In the fictional second round of the 2022 Presidential Elections, writes Houellebecq, le Pen faces a Muslim opponent. With the support of the socialists, the liberals and the Left, France’s Islamist Party sweeps to power. Islamic law is then enforced, women are side-lined from professional and public office posts, universities are shut down and conversion to Islam is encouraged. What the author is suggesting is that French ruling elites hate their nation’s conservative values and ethnic tradition so much that they would prefer to see their country embrace the Sharia, rather than re-establish itself as a European nation-state. Earlier this week Macron spoke of a “civil war' if the far Right wins. Muslim extremists recently warned that 'all hell will break loose' if the National Rally comes to govern France. Is France in danger of being politically taken over by Islamists? Houellebecq himself has often been accused of bigotry. In fact, he is one of France’s top “love to hate” figures. He is despised, mocked and ridiculed on a regular basis. In 2010, his earlier novel, La Carte et le Territoire, won the prestigious Prix Goncourt. On January 7 2015, the day when Submission was published in France, Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly magazine, came out with a front page caricature of the author, making fun of him and his predictions. On that same day the magazine’s offices were attacked by two French-born Algerian Muslim brothers, who murdered 12 people and injured 11 others. /photo/ (Source: brusselssignal)

European Commission
3:45 AM CEST, June 28, 2024 The 65-year-old German politician von der Leyen, the 62-year-old socialist, former prime minister of Portugal Costa and the 47-year-old lawyer, Estonian staunch supporter of Ukraine Kallas were endorsed by 'European Union leaders' for the EU’s top jobs the European Council with the final nominee.    Von der Leyen's second term now needs to be approved by European lawmakers in a vote likely to take place in July. She has been 'praised' for her leading role during the COVID-19 crisis, when the EU bought vaccines collectively for its citizens, but she also found herself receiving sharp criticism for the opacity of the negotiations with vaccine makers. She has also embodied the EU’s plans to become climate neutral by 2050, but her commitment to the Green Deal policies has been questioned in the buildup to the European elections as the EU seemed cautious not to antagonize farmers who argued that EU environmental and climate laws were driving them toward bankruptcy.    The Socialists came in second place and Costa’s choice was controversial because of his government’s involvement in a widespread corruption investigation that forced him to resign as prime minister last year. Costa denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.    Kallas was chosen despite the liberal group she belongs to losing ground in the European elections, slipping to fourth place behind the 'far-right' ECR.    Like von der Leyen, Kallas 'must' also be confirmed by the EU Parliament. (Source: apnews)

European Council
June 28, 2024   Yesterday, European Union signed security commitments with Ukraine and disburses new €1.9 billion under the Ukraine Facility. President of the European Council Michel, President of the European Commission von der Leyen, and President Zelensky signed the document on the margins of the European Council, which is taking place in Brussels on 27 and 28 June. The commitments include following chapters: long-term provision of military equipment; EU and Ukraine’s defence industries corporation; resilience, cyber and hybrid threats; military and civilian mine action; civilian security sector reform and support to law enforcement; preventing and countering the diversion of firearms and small arms and light weapons; support to energy security, energy transition, and nuclear safety and security; sharing intelligence and satellite imagery. Concerning the provision of the military equipment, the document says that with the creation of the Ukraine Assistance Fund within the European Peace Facility, the European Union will continue to support the provision of both lethal and non-lethal military equipment and training to Ukraine. 'Building on the EU and bilateral initiatives on ammunition, notably the 1 million rounds initiative, missiles and air defence, the European Union and Member States will speed up and intensify the delivery of all the necessary military assistance. The Ukraine Assistance Fund will have a budget of €5 billion for 2024,' as noted in the commitments. Von der Leyen also announced on X that the EU will disburse a new €1.9 billion to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility, to keep the Ukrainian state running. (Source: euneighbourseast)

Asia

Iraq
Jun. 28 (2024)  'Yemen’s Armed Forces and Iraq’s anti-terror fighters - Iraq’s Islamic Resistance, which is an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters' - have carried out a fresh joint anti-Israeli operation, targeting the port of Haifa. The Armed Forces and the Iraqi fighters have been staging numerous anti-Israeli strikes, either separately or in cooperation with one another, 'since last October, when the Israeli regime began a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip'. It vowed that the forces would continue their operations in the Red and Arabian Seas as well as the Indian Ocean as long as the Israeli regime kept up the brutal military onslaught and a simultaneous siege that it has been enforcing against Gaza. (Source: mehrnews)

North America

United States
Jun. 28, 2024 6:43AM EDT  For the sake of the United States, Dr. Jill must step up now to help oust her husband. 'The threat of a second Trump presidency is enormous, far bigger than most Americans seem to grasp - Trump is scheming on a radical executive power-grab which could put everything from the Fed to control of the media in his hands, while he also promises vast human rights abuses, an end to a freedom-and-democracy-pursuing liberal international order, and a series of economic plans that would radically drive up prices and plunge the nation into financial free-fall. It’s no exaggeration to say that a second Trump presidency could mean everything from the termination of abortion rights nationwide, to deportation camps for immigrants, to the end of America as a beacon of economic and political stability, to the rise of global autocratic and imperialist power from Russia, China, and other dangerous actors'. (Source: thedailybeast)
by 'Filipovic'

June 28, 2024  The US has refused to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, instead believing that strengthening sanctions and imposing export restrictions is a more effective way to slow down Moscow’s war machine, US State Department spokesman Miller told on June 24. This position contrasts sharply with the efforts of some US senators who have been advocating for Russia to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. In particular, on June 20, Senators Graham and Blumenthal introduced a bill to the Senate as a means. President Biden previously decided against designating Russia as a state sponsor of terror in September 2022, following a unanimous resolution passed by the US Senate in July 2022, which called for such a designation. (Source: intellinews)

June 28, 2024  Marine Corps Order 5231.4 outlines the service’s approach to AI. The Marine Corps has pursued a two-track model with innovation at the lowest levels and resources at the highest. Bridging the gap between these parallel efforts will be critical to meaningful progress. "Only incremental progress has been made'. "The service is slow in moving towards its goals because it has decided, de facto, to pursue a two-track development strategy". It has concentrated efforts and resources at the highest echelons of the institution while relying on the rare confluence of expertise and individual initiative for progress at the lowest levels. "Every day, thousands of marines perform routine data-collection tasks and make hundreds of data-based decisions. They compile manning data on whiteboards to decide to staff units, screenshot weather forecasts and paste them into weekly commander’s update briefings, and submit training entries by hand. But anyone who has used ChatGPT or other large-scale data analytic services in the last two years knows the immense power of generative AI to streamline these processes and improve the quality of these decisions by basing them on fresh and comprehensive data. The U.S. Marine Corps has finally caught wind. Gen. Smith’s new message calls for the service to recognize that '[t]echnology has exponentially increased information’s effects on the modern battlefield, making our need to exploit data more important than ever.” The service’s stand-in forces operating concept relies on marine operating forces to integrate into networks of sensors, using automation and machine learning to simplify decision processes and kill chains. Forces deployed forward in littoral environments will be sustained by a supply system that uses data analysis for predictive maintenance, identifying which repair parts the force will need in advance'. 'Beyond education and planning, AI and machine learning can transform how the Marine Corps fights. During an operation, AI could employ a networked collection of manned and unmanned systems to reconnoiter and attack an adversary. It could also synthesize and display data from sensor networks more quickly than human analysts or sift through thousands of images to identify particular scenes or locations of interest. Either algorithms can decide themselves or enable commanders to make data-informed decisions in previously unthinkable ways. From AI-enabled decision-making to enhanced situational awareness, this technology has the potential to revolutionize military operations. A team of think tank researchers even used AI recently to rethink the Unified Command Plan. But, achieving these futuristic visions will require the service to develop technical skills and familiarity with this technology before implementing it'. "Marines in the operating forces perform innumerable routine tasks that could be easily automated. For example, marines in staff sections grab data and format it into weekly command and staff briefings each week. Intelligence officers retrieve weather forecast data from their higher headquarters. Supply officers insert information supply levels into the brief. Medical and dental readiness numbers are usually displayed in a green/yellow/red stoplight chart. This data is compiled - by hand - in PowerPoint slide decks. These simple tasks could be automated, saving thousands of hours across an entire Marine expeditionary force. Commanders would benefit by making decisions based on the most up-to-date information rather than relying on stale data captured hours before'. "The Army’s use of the 18th Airborne Corps to bridge the gap between service-level programs and individual initiatives offers a clear example for how to do so. The 18th Airborne Corps fills a contingency-response role like the Marine Corps. Located at Fort Liberty, it is the headquarters element containing the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions, along with the 10th Mountain and 3rd Infantry Divisions. As part of a broader modernization program, the 18th Airborne Corps has focused on creating a technology ecosystem to foster innovation. Individual soldiers across the corps can build personal applications that aggregate, analyze, and present information in customizable dashboards that streamline work processes and allow for data-informed decision-making". If the Marine Corps followed the 18th Airborne Corps model, it would designate one operating force unit as the service lead for data analysis and automation to link service headquarters with tactical units. Once designated, II Marine Expeditionary Force should establish an office, directorate, or company responsible for the entire force’s data literacy and automation effort. The Marine Corps should build the groundwork by training its workforce and building familiarity during garrison operations. Designating one major command to act as the service lead would go a long way toward accomplishing that goal. (Source: warontherocks)
by McGee, an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, currently serving with the Marine Innovation Unit.

NATO
28 June 2024  'If Russia is not punished for what they are doing, then there will be a pause of one, two years, and then everything will continue: the atrocities, the human suffering, everything.” Kallas adds that it will not just be Ukraine at risk of an emboldened Putin. 'I mean other countries around Russia. Moldova… The imperialistic dream has never died.' Few doubt that Estonia could be a prime target in such a situation. In 1949 her mother (then six months old), her grandmother and her great-grandmother were all sent to Siberia under Stalin’s mass deportations of Baltic citizens who were deemed “anti-Soviet”. “It was a stranger who gave my grandmother a jar of milk that kept my mother alive during this journey,” she told the European Parliament in a speech on 9 March. Her father, Siim, oversaw the country’s shift to democratic capitalism as president of the Bank of Estonia in the 1990s, and served as prime minister between 2002 and 2003 before becoming a European Commissioner. Baltic leader Kallas studied law and economics and worked as a lawyer before she was elected to the European Parliament for the liberal Estonian Reform Party in 2014. She returned to Tallinn to head the Reform Party, winning a leadership election in April 2018, and became Estonia’s female prime minister in January 2021, at the helm of a coalition with the centre-left Estonian Centre Party. Her government sent lethal weapons to Kyiv as early as December 2021. (After February 2022) her government accelerated its transfer of arms to Ukraine, sending FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles and artillery such as D-30 howitzers. She told European lawmakers: “We will, in the future, speak about ‘before times’ and ‘after times’.” The leader of a country with a population about the same size as Birmingham’s she has been cited 11,560 times in the international media in the two months from 1 March to 2 May. Kallas will be among the Nato leaders at the alliance’s landmark summit. What needs to happen there? 'We need the deterrence posture to turn into a defence posture,' she replies. This means a shift from warding Russia off an attack on Nato to being capable of preventing it from taking Nato territory at short notice. She specifies that this requires a division-level Nato presence in each Baltic state (a significant increase in troops from those already present, led by the UK in Estonia), more intelligence sharing and a shift from air policing to air defence. “Where now they just fly up and say ‘You can’t fly here’, air defence means that if someone comes into our airspace, we have a right to take them down as well.' She attributes to Putin the notion that 'if Russia can’t become the West, then the West must become Russia'. The Kremlin, argues Estonia’s prime minister, will continue trying to undermine Western unity through cyber threats and by promoting myths about morally corrupt and 'anti-family liberal' societies. (Source: newstatesman)
by 'Cliffe

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Interjú Orbán Viktor miniszterelnökkel

orosz-ukrán háborúról, választás tétjéről, reptér visszavásárlásáról;

 a Kossuth Rádió Jó reggelt, Magyarország! című műsorában

- hangzóanyag -

 Források:

- (soundcloud):

https://tinyurl.com/3tea4jpz

- (hirado / Kossuth Rádió):

https://tinyurl.com/hutwycj6

Kulcsszavak:

I. világháború    II. világháború    Afrika    Egyesült Államok    Európa    Európai Parlament    Európai Unió    Franciaország    hangzóanyag    Katar    Kína    Kuba    Liszt Ferenc Nemzetközi Repülőtér    Magyarország    NATO    Németország    Oroszország    Szlovákia    Ukrajna
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