315 shaares
Jun 24, 2022
Afew hours ago the Supreme Court of United States (SCOTUS) confirmed their ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the case which set the precedent for abortion as a human right in the US back in the 1970s.
As soon as this decision was first "leaked" a few months ago it became the trending topic all across the US and to a certain extent the rest of the anglosphere. Since it was confirmed this afternoon, the already supercharged dialogue has reached new heights.
Pro-choice pundits, politicians and celebrities have been flooding the cyber public square with comparisons to the Handmaid's Tale and other forced memes. They argue abortion-on-demand is a fundamental right, and take up the rather unsettling position that having an abortion is a point of pride.
On the other side of the divide Christians, traditionalists and republican politicians argue for the sanctity of all life, regardless of context or complication.
Both sides are entrenched to the point of hysteria, and not really looking like budging.
As with most things, the reasonable ground is somewhere in the middle.
Regardless of the law, women will sometimes seek out abortions, and it's probably best they have access to safe, clean places to do so. That said, the use of abortions as a form of contraception is both obscene and impractical, and aborting viable mid or late term babies is revolting – both in concept, and in practice.
None of that really matters though, because the Roe v Wade finding isn't even about abortion, it's about Federal overreach. The Justices made that clear.
Though it has gotten lost in 250 years of ever-expanding centralization, the USA originated as a loose federation of quasi-independent states, with the central federal government having strictly limited powers to overrule local legislation.
Simply put, the Constitution lays out all the powers of the federal government, and anything not specifically mentioned therein is de facto a matter for states on an individual basis.
For decades federal governments used SCOTUS decisions to get around these limitations, relying on precedents rather than actual legislation in order to control state laws from Washington DC.
Roe v Wade is a classic example of this, and reversing it changes only one thing: abortion law will revert to a state-level matter, not a federal one.
…but is it even really just about that?
On a deeper level, there seems to be a prolonged campaign in place to violently divide the United States, perhaps to the point of outright civil war.
From Black Lives Matter to January 6th, the 2nd amendment to Roe v Wade, there is an increasing supply of hot-button issues accompanied by a deluge of divisive rhetoric.
Both sides are being encouraged to take to the streets, protest, mock, yell and scream without any search for common ground.
The office of the Presidency is degraded more every term, with a crass blowhard followed by a jittering dementia patient.
Some states are even openly talking about seceding.
At the end of the Cold War, Russia was economically raped and globally humiliated. It came within inches of shattering into a dozen or more failed states. As the big money players head East, and the hegemonic powers turn from the US Empire to a new globalist powerbase, you have to wonder if the US is destined for the same fate.
Just as the USSR had to fail, and be seen to fail pour encourager les autres, perhaps the US – with its history of individualism and personal liberty – is considered surplus to requirements in the new age of faux collectivism.
Whatever America became at its Imperial zenith, its constitutional foundation has always arguably been the most egalitarian on Earth. Could it be that those ideas enshrined in the Bill of Rights are considered an impediment to the "progressive" New World Order?
The US falling into failed statehood could even act as a moral lesson to the rest of the world, and be held up as a warning about what can happen when "liberty is taken too far", or when people are allowed to "selfishly put their own rights ahead of the public good".
Perhaps the US being torn apart – or encouraged to tear itself apart – is key to bringing about the next stage of the great reset.
One thing is for sure, no matter the endgame, US politics are dry tinder piled high, waiting for a spark.
Afew hours ago the Supreme Court of United States (SCOTUS) confirmed their ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the case which set the precedent for abortion as a human right in the US back in the 1970s.
As soon as this decision was first "leaked" a few months ago it became the trending topic all across the US and to a certain extent the rest of the anglosphere. Since it was confirmed this afternoon, the already supercharged dialogue has reached new heights.
Pro-choice pundits, politicians and celebrities have been flooding the cyber public square with comparisons to the Handmaid's Tale and other forced memes. They argue abortion-on-demand is a fundamental right, and take up the rather unsettling position that having an abortion is a point of pride.
On the other side of the divide Christians, traditionalists and republican politicians argue for the sanctity of all life, regardless of context or complication.
Both sides are entrenched to the point of hysteria, and not really looking like budging.
As with most things, the reasonable ground is somewhere in the middle.
Regardless of the law, women will sometimes seek out abortions, and it's probably best they have access to safe, clean places to do so. That said, the use of abortions as a form of contraception is both obscene and impractical, and aborting viable mid or late term babies is revolting – both in concept, and in practice.
None of that really matters though, because the Roe v Wade finding isn't even about abortion, it's about Federal overreach. The Justices made that clear.
Though it has gotten lost in 250 years of ever-expanding centralization, the USA originated as a loose federation of quasi-independent states, with the central federal government having strictly limited powers to overrule local legislation.
Simply put, the Constitution lays out all the powers of the federal government, and anything not specifically mentioned therein is de facto a matter for states on an individual basis.
For decades federal governments used SCOTUS decisions to get around these limitations, relying on precedents rather than actual legislation in order to control state laws from Washington DC.
Roe v Wade is a classic example of this, and reversing it changes only one thing: abortion law will revert to a state-level matter, not a federal one.
…but is it even really just about that?
On a deeper level, there seems to be a prolonged campaign in place to violently divide the United States, perhaps to the point of outright civil war.
From Black Lives Matter to January 6th, the 2nd amendment to Roe v Wade, there is an increasing supply of hot-button issues accompanied by a deluge of divisive rhetoric.
Both sides are being encouraged to take to the streets, protest, mock, yell and scream without any search for common ground.
The office of the Presidency is degraded more every term, with a crass blowhard followed by a jittering dementia patient.
Some states are even openly talking about seceding.
At the end of the Cold War, Russia was economically raped and globally humiliated. It came within inches of shattering into a dozen or more failed states. As the big money players head East, and the hegemonic powers turn from the US Empire to a new globalist powerbase, you have to wonder if the US is destined for the same fate.
Just as the USSR had to fail, and be seen to fail pour encourager les autres, perhaps the US – with its history of individualism and personal liberty – is considered surplus to requirements in the new age of faux collectivism.
Whatever America became at its Imperial zenith, its constitutional foundation has always arguably been the most egalitarian on Earth. Could it be that those ideas enshrined in the Bill of Rights are considered an impediment to the "progressive" New World Order?
The US falling into failed statehood could even act as a moral lesson to the rest of the world, and be held up as a warning about what can happen when "liberty is taken too far", or when people are allowed to "selfishly put their own rights ahead of the public good".
Perhaps the US being torn apart – or encouraged to tear itself apart – is key to bringing about the next stage of the great reset.
One thing is for sure, no matter the endgame, US politics are dry tinder piled high, waiting for a spark.
25 Giugno 2022
La sentenza della Corte Suprema cancella non "il diritto all'aborto", come strillano tutti i media cialtroni, ma la "legalizzazione obbligatoria dell'aborto in tutti gli Stati", e restituisce il potere di decidere sulla "profonda questione morale dell'aborto", se consentirlo o no, "al popolo e ai suoi rappresentanti eletti", a quali la Roe versus Wade l'aveva sequestrato.
Con questa straordinaria sentenza, gli Stati Uniti cominciano un lungo viaggio. Abbandonano l'Occidente : l'Occidente dei Soros e dei Kagan e dei Bill Gates, del Planned Parenthood che vende i pezzi dei feti, l'Occidente del Forum di Davos, l'Occidente dei continui gay prides obbligatori sponsorizzati dalle autorità. L'Occidente dove le ambasciate espongono la bandiera arcobaleno. Lo strano Occidente come s'è venuto formando sotto i nostri occhi e non riconoscevamo più. L'Occidente di Greta e degli insetti come cibo per eliminare il CO2 dall'aria. La Dittatura dell'Innaturale. In USA, dalla sentenza del 1973, sono stati abortiti 63 milioni di bambini. Enormemente più dei morti per stragi da arma da fuoco, effetto collaterale del diritto costituzionale di portare armi – un intero popolo è stato eliminato, al ritmo di oltre un milione di vite l'anno, senza fare titoli sui giornali.
La sentenza della Corte Suprema cancella non "il diritto all'aborto", come strillano tutti i media cialtroni, ma la "legalizzazione obbligatoria dell'aborto in tutti gli Stati", e restituisce il potere di decidere sulla "profonda questione morale dell'aborto", se consentirlo o no, "al popolo e ai suoi rappresentanti eletti", a quali la Roe versus Wade l'aveva sequestrato.
Con questa straordinaria sentenza, gli Stati Uniti cominciano un lungo viaggio. Abbandonano l'Occidente : l'Occidente dei Soros e dei Kagan e dei Bill Gates, del Planned Parenthood che vende i pezzi dei feti, l'Occidente del Forum di Davos, l'Occidente dei continui gay prides obbligatori sponsorizzati dalle autorità. L'Occidente dove le ambasciate espongono la bandiera arcobaleno. Lo strano Occidente come s'è venuto formando sotto i nostri occhi e non riconoscevamo più. L'Occidente di Greta e degli insetti come cibo per eliminare il CO2 dall'aria. La Dittatura dell'Innaturale. In USA, dalla sentenza del 1973, sono stati abortiti 63 milioni di bambini. Enormemente più dei morti per stragi da arma da fuoco, effetto collaterale del diritto costituzionale di portare armi – un intero popolo è stato eliminato, al ritmo di oltre un milione di vite l'anno, senza fare titoli sui giornali.
Another trouble spot against Russia is being created in Moldova, unnoticed by the German media. The head of the opposition was placed under house arrest, and inconvenient media were banned.
June 24, 2022
I have often reported that the next trouble spot against Russia is being set up in Moldova. The country has now been named a candidate for EU membership, although it does not meet the criteria for EU membership because it has border disputes. Before we come to the current developments, I will summarize the previous history again, since only a few people in Germany know the situation in Moldova.
Moldova and Transnistria
Moldova is a small country with a short but difficult history. Located between Ukraine and Romania, the country is a former Soviet republic that experienced civil war after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then, the country has been divided and consists of Moldova, which is recognized under international law, and the breakaway Republic of Transnistria. The civil war was ended by an agreement between Moldova and Russia and Russian peacekeepers have been protecting the former front line for almost 20 years now.
Moldova is comparable to Ukraine because it is a multi-ethnic country where the dominant Moldovans, who are often referred to as Romanians, discriminate against the languages of other minorities. For example, although Russian is widely spoken and used primarily in cities and in business, it does not have the status of a national language. Exactly these ethnic problems were the reason for the civil war at the time.
Moldova has written into its constitution that it is a neutral state. However, in late 2020, pro-Western, US-educated politician Maia Sandu, closely associated with George Soros, narrowly won Moldova's presidential election . After that, she also replaced the government with controversial political maneuvers in 2021 and has been consistently leading the country west since the summer of 2021.
After taking power completely, she openly announced a "cleansing" of the country's judiciary in the summer of 2021, which was presented positively in the West and as a measure to fight corruption. In truth, it was a political purge, as Sandu wants to cement her country's westward course and remove its opponents who want to preserve the country's neutrality. Sandu also spoke of needing support from the USA for the upcoming reforms and shortly thereafter described the USA as an important strategic partner.
Already in January there were indications of aggravation of the situation in the region, about which you can find details here , and in recent weeks there have been drone attacks from Ukrainian territory on Transnistria.
State of emergency and repression
There was increasing resistance to the government's pro-Western course, and demonstrations have been taking place regularly since May. At the end of May, opposition leader and former President Dodon was first arrested and then placed under house arrest. The first journalists reported censorship , they were hindered in their work by the government. Since the country has been under a state of emergency since the end of 2021, the government has the right to "coordinate", as it is called, the work of the press.
Maia Sandu pursues several goals at the same time. First, it wants to regain control of Transnistria, apparently by force if necessary. Second, she doesn't call Moldovan a language, she says it's actually Romanian. She is also a Romanian citizen and appears to be aiming for union with Romania.
Sandu studied in the US and is said to be a project of George Soros because there are many people around her who come from Soros' Open Society Foundation. This also applies to Alexander Mustyatse, who was appointed head of the Moldovan secret service on June 2.
On June 8, opposition leader Dodon warned of the danger of Moldova being annexed to Romania with the words :
"The military and political incorporation of our country into Romanian territory, with the abandonment of neutrality, is being prepared. (...) In order to prepare the technical association, the Republic of Moldova had to prove that it is not capable of providing economic, energy and territorial security on its own. It was necessary to demoralize citizens to stop believing in their own country."
Union with Romania?
The Moldovan government's anti-Russian course was highlighted again on June 10, when Moldova suggested that the United States should act as a "mediator" in the Transnistrian conflict. The minister responsible for the "reintegration of Transnistria" said:
"The five-plus-two format has stalled since 2019. It's tired, it needs a reset, it's not working at the moment. But no one signed his death warrant; the only and most important obstacle to the format at the moment are the relations between Ukraine and Russia. In my opinion, we should reconsider the role of the EU and the US in this process and make them full participants. That would be the right thing to do, especially in the current situation."
On June 18th, the parliaments of Romania and Moldova decided to cooperate closely in many fields, which should include judiciary and anti-corruption, public security, border protection and policing, culture, education and science. This also points to the union with Romania desired by Sandu.
On June 22, censorship was officially introduced and all Russian news and political programs were banned . On June 23, despite opposition protests, the state of emergency was again extended by 45 days .
The pressure on the opposition also increased further. The opposition leader, who is under house arrest, said that not only has his own property been blocked, but that these measures have also been used against his relatives.
The government of Transnistria also reacted to all this on June 23 and declared:
"The Moldovan leadership may make all sorts of statements, but in practice it is impossible to unite these two states and societies. On the contrary, they do everything to divide them and create tension. This applies to the economic blockade, the rupture of economic relations and the cultural and media area. (...) The trend in Moldova promoted by the current government means a complete and total severing of relations with Transnistria. The Moldovan leadership, having made its decisions without asking the people of Transnistria, must realize that they must sit down at the negotiating table, sign a peace agreement with us, we must recognize each other and end the conflict."
Following the EU's decision to give Moldova candidate status, Sandu said her country would pay any political price for EU membership. They are not interested in the protests in the country.
June 24, 2022
I have often reported that the next trouble spot against Russia is being set up in Moldova. The country has now been named a candidate for EU membership, although it does not meet the criteria for EU membership because it has border disputes. Before we come to the current developments, I will summarize the previous history again, since only a few people in Germany know the situation in Moldova.
Moldova and Transnistria
Moldova is a small country with a short but difficult history. Located between Ukraine and Romania, the country is a former Soviet republic that experienced civil war after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then, the country has been divided and consists of Moldova, which is recognized under international law, and the breakaway Republic of Transnistria. The civil war was ended by an agreement between Moldova and Russia and Russian peacekeepers have been protecting the former front line for almost 20 years now.
Moldova is comparable to Ukraine because it is a multi-ethnic country where the dominant Moldovans, who are often referred to as Romanians, discriminate against the languages of other minorities. For example, although Russian is widely spoken and used primarily in cities and in business, it does not have the status of a national language. Exactly these ethnic problems were the reason for the civil war at the time.
Moldova has written into its constitution that it is a neutral state. However, in late 2020, pro-Western, US-educated politician Maia Sandu, closely associated with George Soros, narrowly won Moldova's presidential election . After that, she also replaced the government with controversial political maneuvers in 2021 and has been consistently leading the country west since the summer of 2021.
After taking power completely, she openly announced a "cleansing" of the country's judiciary in the summer of 2021, which was presented positively in the West and as a measure to fight corruption. In truth, it was a political purge, as Sandu wants to cement her country's westward course and remove its opponents who want to preserve the country's neutrality. Sandu also spoke of needing support from the USA for the upcoming reforms and shortly thereafter described the USA as an important strategic partner.
Already in January there were indications of aggravation of the situation in the region, about which you can find details here , and in recent weeks there have been drone attacks from Ukrainian territory on Transnistria.
State of emergency and repression
There was increasing resistance to the government's pro-Western course, and demonstrations have been taking place regularly since May. At the end of May, opposition leader and former President Dodon was first arrested and then placed under house arrest. The first journalists reported censorship , they were hindered in their work by the government. Since the country has been under a state of emergency since the end of 2021, the government has the right to "coordinate", as it is called, the work of the press.
Maia Sandu pursues several goals at the same time. First, it wants to regain control of Transnistria, apparently by force if necessary. Second, she doesn't call Moldovan a language, she says it's actually Romanian. She is also a Romanian citizen and appears to be aiming for union with Romania.
Sandu studied in the US and is said to be a project of George Soros because there are many people around her who come from Soros' Open Society Foundation. This also applies to Alexander Mustyatse, who was appointed head of the Moldovan secret service on June 2.
On June 8, opposition leader Dodon warned of the danger of Moldova being annexed to Romania with the words :
"The military and political incorporation of our country into Romanian territory, with the abandonment of neutrality, is being prepared. (...) In order to prepare the technical association, the Republic of Moldova had to prove that it is not capable of providing economic, energy and territorial security on its own. It was necessary to demoralize citizens to stop believing in their own country."
Union with Romania?
The Moldovan government's anti-Russian course was highlighted again on June 10, when Moldova suggested that the United States should act as a "mediator" in the Transnistrian conflict. The minister responsible for the "reintegration of Transnistria" said:
"The five-plus-two format has stalled since 2019. It's tired, it needs a reset, it's not working at the moment. But no one signed his death warrant; the only and most important obstacle to the format at the moment are the relations between Ukraine and Russia. In my opinion, we should reconsider the role of the EU and the US in this process and make them full participants. That would be the right thing to do, especially in the current situation."
On June 18th, the parliaments of Romania and Moldova decided to cooperate closely in many fields, which should include judiciary and anti-corruption, public security, border protection and policing, culture, education and science. This also points to the union with Romania desired by Sandu.
On June 22, censorship was officially introduced and all Russian news and political programs were banned . On June 23, despite opposition protests, the state of emergency was again extended by 45 days .
The pressure on the opposition also increased further. The opposition leader, who is under house arrest, said that not only has his own property been blocked, but that these measures have also been used against his relatives.
The government of Transnistria also reacted to all this on June 23 and declared:
"The Moldovan leadership may make all sorts of statements, but in practice it is impossible to unite these two states and societies. On the contrary, they do everything to divide them and create tension. This applies to the economic blockade, the rupture of economic relations and the cultural and media area. (...) The trend in Moldova promoted by the current government means a complete and total severing of relations with Transnistria. The Moldovan leadership, having made its decisions without asking the people of Transnistria, must realize that they must sit down at the negotiating table, sign a peace agreement with us, we must recognize each other and end the conflict."
Following the EU's decision to give Moldova candidate status, Sandu said her country would pay any political price for EU membership. They are not interested in the protests in the country.
Dieciocho migrantes han muerto este viernes por la mañana en un intento de entrada masiva a Melilla, según han confirmado las autoridades de la localidad marroquí de Nador. Las víctimas han fallecido por aplastamiento o asfixia, al producirse una avalancha y quedar atrapadas en una vaguada cercana al perímetro fronterizo. Otras murieron al caer de la valla, según indicaron las mismas fuentes. El balance de fallecidos ha aumentado al morir los 13 migrantes que estaban graves, con lo que el balance de migrantes heridos es de 63, a los que se suman 140 policías marroquíes han sufrido lesiones (cinco de ellos están graves), según confirma a este una autoridad local de Nador.
La Asociación Marroquí de Derechos Humanos (AMDH), la de mayor implantación en el país, informó citando a fuentes hospitalarias de que habían muerto seis emigrantes y dos gendarmes marroquíes.
La Asociación Marroquí de Derechos Humanos (AMDH), la de mayor implantación en el país, informó citando a fuentes hospitalarias de que habían muerto seis emigrantes y dos gendarmes marroquíes.
Spanish and Moroccan forces battled more than 2,000 migrants who stormed the city of Melilla on the African continent on Friday, according to reports.
The autonomous Spanish enclave, which shares a border with Morocco, was the target of an organized invasion mission by thousands of mostly sub-Saharan migrants.
A "significant number" of the migrants managed to reach European soil, authorities say.
"Despite the broad security apparatus of the Moroccan forces, which actively collaborated and coordinated with the Spanish law enforcement agencies, a large group of people from sub-Saharan African countries, perfectly organized and violent, forced the entrance and broke the access door to border control," the prefecture told AFP.
Apocalyptic video footage shows waves of migrants, many of whom were armed, rushing towards the city and triumphantly marching through its streets.
The autonomous Spanish enclave, which shares a border with Morocco, was the target of an organized invasion mission by thousands of mostly sub-Saharan migrants.
A "significant number" of the migrants managed to reach European soil, authorities say.
"Despite the broad security apparatus of the Moroccan forces, which actively collaborated and coordinated with the Spanish law enforcement agencies, a large group of people from sub-Saharan African countries, perfectly organized and violent, forced the entrance and broke the access door to border control," the prefecture told AFP.
Apocalyptic video footage shows waves of migrants, many of whom were armed, rushing towards the city and triumphantly marching through its streets.
24 Jun, 2022
Assange's wife sounds alarm over his treatment
WikiLeaks founder was subjected to 'especially cruel' treatment after extradition to US was approved in UK, Stella Moris has said.
Julian Assange was strip-searched and moved to a bare cell on the very day the UK Home Secretary Priti Patel approved his extradition to the US, the WikiLeaks founder's wife, Stella Moris, told journalists on Thursday. The 50-year-old remained there for a weekend as prison guards searched his own cell, she added.
"Prison is a constant humiliation but what happened on Friday felt especially cruel," Moris, who married Assange in March, has said, adding that the guards had told their inmate that it had all been done "for his own protection."
According to Moris, the guards were looking for any things that could be used by a person to take their own life. In the bare cell where Assange was placed, the guards checked his status every hour until he was allowed to return to his cell on Tuesday.
The WikiLeaks founder currently remains in the maximum security Belmarsh Prison in south-eastern London, having been placed there in April 2019 as the UK was deciding on his extradition to the US. On June 17, Patel approved his transfer to US custody.
Assange's wife sounds alarm over his treatment
WikiLeaks founder was subjected to 'especially cruel' treatment after extradition to US was approved in UK, Stella Moris has said.
Julian Assange was strip-searched and moved to a bare cell on the very day the UK Home Secretary Priti Patel approved his extradition to the US, the WikiLeaks founder's wife, Stella Moris, told journalists on Thursday. The 50-year-old remained there for a weekend as prison guards searched his own cell, she added.
"Prison is a constant humiliation but what happened on Friday felt especially cruel," Moris, who married Assange in March, has said, adding that the guards had told their inmate that it had all been done "for his own protection."
According to Moris, the guards were looking for any things that could be used by a person to take their own life. In the bare cell where Assange was placed, the guards checked his status every hour until he was allowed to return to his cell on Tuesday.
The WikiLeaks founder currently remains in the maximum security Belmarsh Prison in south-eastern London, having been placed there in April 2019 as the UK was deciding on his extradition to the US. On June 17, Patel approved his transfer to US custody.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov sees parallels between the current EU policy towards Russia and Hitler's policy towards the Soviet Union.
June 24, 2022
At a press conferenceRussian Foreign Minister Lavrov compared today's EU policy towards Russia with Hitler's policy towards the Soviet Union. This is not so well known in Germany, but after the attack on the Soviet Union, the language of Nazi propaganda was that not Germany, but "united Europe" was waging a war against "the enemy in the east". It was also not unjustified to speak of a "united Europe", because volunteers from practically all European countries volunteered to fight the Soviet Union. The number of non-German soldiers who fought on the side of Germany against the Soviet Union ran into the millions. The Soviet Union therefore saw itself not only at war against Nazi Germany, but against "fascist Europe."
Responding to a journalist's question about the EU, Lavrov recalled and said that the path taken politically by the current EU leadership is reminiscent of the time before the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
Another detail in Lavrov's answer is also important. The Russian government is turning its back on the EU, I've written that many times. The policy with which Putin started 20 years ago, to create a large common space from Lisbon to Vladivostok, and which Putin pursued undeterred for 20 years - despite all hostilities from Europe - was declared a failure in Moscow. Lavrov says that too in no uncertain terms.
I fully translated the journalist's question and Lavrov's answer.
- Start of translation:
Question: Ukraine and Moldova are now official candidates for EU membership. Charles Michel called this moment historic. Do you think this EU decision will have any practical implications? Or is it just a show against Russia?
Lavrov: Our position has always assumed that the EU is not a military-political bloc. Unlike the North Atlantic Alliance, we do not see any threat or danger in developing its relations with any countries that wish to do so. Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed this in his speech at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
At the same time, we are aware that the European Union has evolved significantly in recent years and has acquired aggressive ideological, primarily anti-Russian overtones. The EU Heads of State and Government themselves, in their public address to countries either having or aspiring to candidate status, state explicitly that a candidate country has no choice but to support all EU foreign policy approaches without exception, including any measures taken against the Russian Federation, that is an almost verbatim quote. It is precisely these demands that European officials are addressing to Serbia in particular. The country is a candidate, but it is categorically unwilling to lose its independence and submit to decisions like everyone else,
Our country was one of the few countries that stood on the side of Serbia in those years when NATO undertook aggression against Yugoslavia in flagrant violation of all OSCE principles. This was the first situation in which OSCE countries attacked and bombed a state that was part of the OSCE, including civilian infrastructure. They bombed bridges, passenger trains, a television center and other purely civilian facilities. Serbia does not want to forget the solidarity shown by Russia in those years. The least one should do is respect the Serbian people and their historical memory. Not to mention older history: World War II and other events in our common history that preceded it.
It is an unreasonable and frivolous demand of the EU: whoever wants to become a candidate country must take an anti-Russian stance on the way to membership. The EU is proving that it does not want any tendencies towards unification in Europe, that it does not and does not fulfill the existing agreements between the Russian Federation and the EU countries on the development of common spaces in the economy, in the humanitarian sphere and in internal security that it does not want to fulfill the tasks formulated as high goals: the creation of a common space from the Atlantic to the Pacific and so on.
All of that is behind us, in the past. We should be realistic about the behavior of the EU and see what steps it is actually taking and how the accession countries are responding to these demands or whether they are trying to retain their autonomy.
We have few illusions that the current Russophobia in the EU will somehow "dissipate" or change anytime soon or in the long run. The path chosen by the Europeans is reminiscent of the beginning of the Second World War. Hitler rallied most, if not most, of the European countries under his banner for war against the Soviet Union. Now the same thing is happening, including the EU assembling a modern coalition together with NATO to fight against the Russian Federation, or actually to make "war". We will monitor all of this carefully.
- End of translation
You don't have to share Lavrov's opinion, but you should accept and understand that this is how it is seen in Russia. All the transatlantic cheerleaders who determine politics in Germany should be aware of this. Apparently most of these political arsonists have already forgotten the stories their parents and grandparents told them about the war. There is no other way to explain why they keep pushing the escalation forward.
Apparently, the collective memory of the Germans has forgotten how terrible war is, because instead of diplomacy and peace talks, they are united in favor of prolonging the war and escalating it. One can only hope that the phrase "Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it" does not come true...
June 24, 2022
At a press conferenceRussian Foreign Minister Lavrov compared today's EU policy towards Russia with Hitler's policy towards the Soviet Union. This is not so well known in Germany, but after the attack on the Soviet Union, the language of Nazi propaganda was that not Germany, but "united Europe" was waging a war against "the enemy in the east". It was also not unjustified to speak of a "united Europe", because volunteers from practically all European countries volunteered to fight the Soviet Union. The number of non-German soldiers who fought on the side of Germany against the Soviet Union ran into the millions. The Soviet Union therefore saw itself not only at war against Nazi Germany, but against "fascist Europe."
Responding to a journalist's question about the EU, Lavrov recalled and said that the path taken politically by the current EU leadership is reminiscent of the time before the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
Another detail in Lavrov's answer is also important. The Russian government is turning its back on the EU, I've written that many times. The policy with which Putin started 20 years ago, to create a large common space from Lisbon to Vladivostok, and which Putin pursued undeterred for 20 years - despite all hostilities from Europe - was declared a failure in Moscow. Lavrov says that too in no uncertain terms.
I fully translated the journalist's question and Lavrov's answer.
- Start of translation:
Question: Ukraine and Moldova are now official candidates for EU membership. Charles Michel called this moment historic. Do you think this EU decision will have any practical implications? Or is it just a show against Russia?
Lavrov: Our position has always assumed that the EU is not a military-political bloc. Unlike the North Atlantic Alliance, we do not see any threat or danger in developing its relations with any countries that wish to do so. Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed this in his speech at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
At the same time, we are aware that the European Union has evolved significantly in recent years and has acquired aggressive ideological, primarily anti-Russian overtones. The EU Heads of State and Government themselves, in their public address to countries either having or aspiring to candidate status, state explicitly that a candidate country has no choice but to support all EU foreign policy approaches without exception, including any measures taken against the Russian Federation, that is an almost verbatim quote. It is precisely these demands that European officials are addressing to Serbia in particular. The country is a candidate, but it is categorically unwilling to lose its independence and submit to decisions like everyone else,
Our country was one of the few countries that stood on the side of Serbia in those years when NATO undertook aggression against Yugoslavia in flagrant violation of all OSCE principles. This was the first situation in which OSCE countries attacked and bombed a state that was part of the OSCE, including civilian infrastructure. They bombed bridges, passenger trains, a television center and other purely civilian facilities. Serbia does not want to forget the solidarity shown by Russia in those years. The least one should do is respect the Serbian people and their historical memory. Not to mention older history: World War II and other events in our common history that preceded it.
It is an unreasonable and frivolous demand of the EU: whoever wants to become a candidate country must take an anti-Russian stance on the way to membership. The EU is proving that it does not want any tendencies towards unification in Europe, that it does not and does not fulfill the existing agreements between the Russian Federation and the EU countries on the development of common spaces in the economy, in the humanitarian sphere and in internal security that it does not want to fulfill the tasks formulated as high goals: the creation of a common space from the Atlantic to the Pacific and so on.
All of that is behind us, in the past. We should be realistic about the behavior of the EU and see what steps it is actually taking and how the accession countries are responding to these demands or whether they are trying to retain their autonomy.
We have few illusions that the current Russophobia in the EU will somehow "dissipate" or change anytime soon or in the long run. The path chosen by the Europeans is reminiscent of the beginning of the Second World War. Hitler rallied most, if not most, of the European countries under his banner for war against the Soviet Union. Now the same thing is happening, including the EU assembling a modern coalition together with NATO to fight against the Russian Federation, or actually to make "war". We will monitor all of this carefully.
- End of translation
You don't have to share Lavrov's opinion, but you should accept and understand that this is how it is seen in Russia. All the transatlantic cheerleaders who determine politics in Germany should be aware of this. Apparently most of these political arsonists have already forgotten the stories their parents and grandparents told them about the war. There is no other way to explain why they keep pushing the escalation forward.
Apparently, the collective memory of the Germans has forgotten how terrible war is, because instead of diplomacy and peace talks, they are united in favor of prolonging the war and escalating it. One can only hope that the phrase "Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it" does not come true...
Explorers have found the deepest shipwreck ever identified, a US navy destroyer escort sunk during WWII.
The USS Samuel B Roberts went down during the Battle Off Samar in the Philippine Sea in October 1944. It lies in 6,895m (22,621ft) of water.
Texan financier and adventurer Victor Vescovo, who owns a deep-diving submersible, discovered the "Sammy B" battered but largely intact.
The vessel is famed for a heroic final stand against the Japanese.
The USS Samuel B Roberts went down during the Battle Off Samar in the Philippine Sea in October 1944. It lies in 6,895m (22,621ft) of water.
Texan financier and adventurer Victor Vescovo, who owns a deep-diving submersible, discovered the "Sammy B" battered but largely intact.
The vessel is famed for a heroic final stand against the Japanese.
Cue card for Biden to behave!
FOTO
VIDEO
FOTO
VIDEO
22 juin 2022
Le député suisse et ancien rédacteur-en-chef de la "Tribune de Genève", Guy Mettan, dresse le portrait du saltimbanque qui joue le rôle de président de l'Ukraine. Il montre comment cet amuseur public s'est transformé en allié des bandéristes et installe pour eux une dictature.
>
Le problème de l'Ukraine est que son président, bon gré ou mal gré, a cédé son pouvoir aux extrémistes sur le plan intérieur et aux militaires de l'Otan sur le plan extérieur pour s'adonner au plaisir d'être adulé par les foules du monde entier. N'est-ce pas lui qui déclarait à un journaliste français, le 5 mars dernier, dix jours après l'invasion russe : « Aujourd'hui, ma vie est belle. Je crois que je suis désiré. Je sens que c'est le sens le plus important de ma vie : être désiré. Sentir que vous n'êtes pas banalement en train de respirer, marcher et manger quelque chose. Vous vivez ! ».
On vous l'a dit : Zelenski est un grand acteur. Comme son prédécesseur qui avait incarné le Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hide en 1932, il mérite de gagner l'Oscar du meilleur rôle masculin de la décennie. Mais quand il devra s'atteler à la tâche de reconstruire son pays dévasté par une guerre qu'il aurait pu éviter en 2019, le retour à la réalité risque d'être difficile.
Le député suisse et ancien rédacteur-en-chef de la "Tribune de Genève", Guy Mettan, dresse le portrait du saltimbanque qui joue le rôle de président de l'Ukraine. Il montre comment cet amuseur public s'est transformé en allié des bandéristes et installe pour eux une dictature.
>
Le problème de l'Ukraine est que son président, bon gré ou mal gré, a cédé son pouvoir aux extrémistes sur le plan intérieur et aux militaires de l'Otan sur le plan extérieur pour s'adonner au plaisir d'être adulé par les foules du monde entier. N'est-ce pas lui qui déclarait à un journaliste français, le 5 mars dernier, dix jours après l'invasion russe : « Aujourd'hui, ma vie est belle. Je crois que je suis désiré. Je sens que c'est le sens le plus important de ma vie : être désiré. Sentir que vous n'êtes pas banalement en train de respirer, marcher et manger quelque chose. Vous vivez ! ».
On vous l'a dit : Zelenski est un grand acteur. Comme son prédécesseur qui avait incarné le Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hide en 1932, il mérite de gagner l'Oscar du meilleur rôle masculin de la décennie. Mais quand il devra s'atteler à la tâche de reconstruire son pays dévasté par une guerre qu'il aurait pu éviter en 2019, le retour à la réalité risque d'être difficile.
Dopo due anni di lockdown si sono scatenati in trenini multirazziali in giro per il mondo e poi l'anno portato in Europa. Non è per nulla sorprendente che abbia avuto la possibilità di mutare così velocemente.
Il virus responsabile degli attuali focolai di vaccino delle scimmie "è mutato in modo sorprendentemente forte", secondo uno studio portoghese pubblicato su 'Nature Medicine'. "Rispetto ai virus correlati nel 2018 e nel 2019", il patogeno presenta oggi "circa 50 differenze nel genotipo", un dato "6-12 volte superiore rispetto a quello che ci si sarebbe aspettato per questo tipo di virus sulla base di stime precedenti", spiegano gli autori che ipotizzano una "evoluzione accelerata". "I nostri dati mostrano ulteriori indizi sull'evoluzione virale in corso e sul potenziale adattamento" del Monkeypox virus "all'uomo", si sottolinea nel lavoro guidato da João Paulo Gomes dell'Instituto Nacional de Saúde 'Doutor Ricardo Jorge' (Insa) di Lisbona. Finora gli esperti avevano parlato di uno sviluppo piuttosto lento per il patogeno, specie se confrontato con velocità di mutazione del coronavirus di Covid-19.
Gli studiosi portoghesi sospettano che all'origine dei nuovi focolai di vaiolo delle scimmie ci siano uno o più ingressi da un Paese in cui il Monkeypox virus circola in modo persistente, con 'super diffusori' e viaggi internazionali che possono avere alimentato una ulteriore escalation dei contagi. Gli autori ipotizzano che nell'indurre questi cambiamenti del genoma virale possano avere giocato un ruolo anche enzimi del sistema immunitario umano. I ricercatori precisano che non ci sono al momento evidenze sulla possibilità che le mutazioni stiano favorendo la diffusione del Monkeypox virus, ma che non è nemmeno possibile escluderlo.
La globalizzazione è all'origine di ogni male. Il mondo è diventato troppo 'piccolo'. Prima un virus impiegava mesi per arrivare da un continente all'altro, poi sono diventate settimane. Ora bastano poche ore. Basta un barcone.
Il virus responsabile degli attuali focolai di vaccino delle scimmie "è mutato in modo sorprendentemente forte", secondo uno studio portoghese pubblicato su 'Nature Medicine'. "Rispetto ai virus correlati nel 2018 e nel 2019", il patogeno presenta oggi "circa 50 differenze nel genotipo", un dato "6-12 volte superiore rispetto a quello che ci si sarebbe aspettato per questo tipo di virus sulla base di stime precedenti", spiegano gli autori che ipotizzano una "evoluzione accelerata". "I nostri dati mostrano ulteriori indizi sull'evoluzione virale in corso e sul potenziale adattamento" del Monkeypox virus "all'uomo", si sottolinea nel lavoro guidato da João Paulo Gomes dell'Instituto Nacional de Saúde 'Doutor Ricardo Jorge' (Insa) di Lisbona. Finora gli esperti avevano parlato di uno sviluppo piuttosto lento per il patogeno, specie se confrontato con velocità di mutazione del coronavirus di Covid-19.
Gli studiosi portoghesi sospettano che all'origine dei nuovi focolai di vaiolo delle scimmie ci siano uno o più ingressi da un Paese in cui il Monkeypox virus circola in modo persistente, con 'super diffusori' e viaggi internazionali che possono avere alimentato una ulteriore escalation dei contagi. Gli autori ipotizzano che nell'indurre questi cambiamenti del genoma virale possano avere giocato un ruolo anche enzimi del sistema immunitario umano. I ricercatori precisano che non ci sono al momento evidenze sulla possibilità che le mutazioni stiano favorendo la diffusione del Monkeypox virus, ma che non è nemmeno possibile escluderlo.
La globalizzazione è all'origine di ogni male. Il mondo è diventato troppo 'piccolo'. Prima un virus impiegava mesi per arrivare da un continente all'altro, poi sono diventate settimane. Ora bastano poche ore. Basta un barcone.
June 24, 2022
BepiColombo, a joint endeavor between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), captured beautiful views of the planet Mercury on June 23, 2022 as the spacecraft flew past the planet for its second gravity assist maneuver.
BepiColombo, a joint endeavor between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), captured beautiful views of the planet Mercury on June 23, 2022 as the spacecraft flew past the planet for its second gravity assist maneuver.
April 10, 2022
Although polio is thought to have been around for thousands of years, it didn't reach pandemic proportions until the 20th century. And while it's highly contagious, a vast majority of polio cases are asymptomatic, which made it difficult to track transmission and isolate those who were infected.
In roughly 2 percent of cases, polio is so severe that it affects the muscles and causes paralysis in the limbs... and the muscles needed for breathing. The difficulty breathing that people with polio suffered from is what led to the invention of the iron lung, which confined thousands of young children and is still used by some in 2020.
The eradication of wild polio has been one of the more successful medical campaigns that science has undertaken. As of 2020, two out of the three types of wild polio have been eradicated in every country except for Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, there are still cases of vaccine-derived polio and until wild polio is completely wiped out, there remains a risk of a worldwide resurgence, so it's good to be aware just how bad it used to be. This is the messed up history of polio.
Although polio is thought to have been around for thousands of years, it didn't reach pandemic proportions until the 20th century. And while it's highly contagious, a vast majority of polio cases are asymptomatic, which made it difficult to track transmission and isolate those who were infected.
In roughly 2 percent of cases, polio is so severe that it affects the muscles and causes paralysis in the limbs... and the muscles needed for breathing. The difficulty breathing that people with polio suffered from is what led to the invention of the iron lung, which confined thousands of young children and is still used by some in 2020.
The eradication of wild polio has been one of the more successful medical campaigns that science has undertaken. As of 2020, two out of the three types of wild polio have been eradicated in every country except for Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, there are still cases of vaccine-derived polio and until wild polio is completely wiped out, there remains a risk of a worldwide resurgence, so it's good to be aware just how bad it used to be. This is the messed up history of polio.
June 24, 2022
On February 29, 1940, Hattie McDaniel made history by becoming the first Black person to win an Oscar. At the ceremony, the crowd's reaction was enthusiastic, according to columnist Harold Heffernan, who wrote, "The tumult got under way ... The crowd was tendering an ovation never paralleled in Academy history." McDaniel acknowledged the historic moment in her acceptance speech: "I sincerely hope that I shall always be a credit to my race and the motion picture industry," she said (via The Washington Post).
The rest of the night hadn't been quite so rosy. The ceremony took place at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, which didn't allow Black patrons. McDaniel was only permitted to attend by special request of producer David O. Selznick. She wasn't allowed to sit with her white co-stars.
The film for which she won, "Gone with the Wind," was already being criticized as racist by the NAACP and others. They censured McDaniel as well. Her role as Mammy was one of 74 times in her career she played a servant. According to Black advocacy groups, McDaniel was complicit in perpetuating stereotypes of Black people (via Oprah Daily).
McDaniel felt her Oscar win was a step forward for Black people, saying, "[Black people] felt that in honoring me, Hollywood had honored the entire race ... This was too big a moment for my personal back-slapping. I wanted this occasion to prove an inspiration to Negro youth for many years to come" (via Smithsonian Magazine).
On February 29, 1940, Hattie McDaniel made history by becoming the first Black person to win an Oscar. At the ceremony, the crowd's reaction was enthusiastic, according to columnist Harold Heffernan, who wrote, "The tumult got under way ... The crowd was tendering an ovation never paralleled in Academy history." McDaniel acknowledged the historic moment in her acceptance speech: "I sincerely hope that I shall always be a credit to my race and the motion picture industry," she said (via The Washington Post).
The rest of the night hadn't been quite so rosy. The ceremony took place at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, which didn't allow Black patrons. McDaniel was only permitted to attend by special request of producer David O. Selznick. She wasn't allowed to sit with her white co-stars.
The film for which she won, "Gone with the Wind," was already being criticized as racist by the NAACP and others. They censured McDaniel as well. Her role as Mammy was one of 74 times in her career she played a servant. According to Black advocacy groups, McDaniel was complicit in perpetuating stereotypes of Black people (via Oprah Daily).
McDaniel felt her Oscar win was a step forward for Black people, saying, "[Black people] felt that in honoring me, Hollywood had honored the entire race ... This was too big a moment for my personal back-slapping. I wanted this occasion to prove an inspiration to Negro youth for many years to come" (via Smithsonian Magazine).
J Virol. 2013 Aug; 87(15): 8270–8271.
doi: 10.1128/JVI.01449-13
PMCID: PMC3719820
PMID: 23740991
In Memoriam: Hilary Koprowski, 1916–2013
Hilary Koprowski, who died this year at the age of 96, was an extraordinary person. He excelled as an innovative scientist, a director of a research institute, a classical pianist, a composer of music, a connoisseur of art, and a polyglot world traveler. Born in Warsaw, Poland, where he obtained a medical degree, the Nazi invasion forced him and his wife, Irena, to flee to Italy, where he studied piano at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. During the Second World War, he managed to emigrate to Brazil, where he became a research assistant in the Rockefeller Foundation Laboratories. There, his work on yellow fever and several arboviruses so impressed the senior staff that a position was found for him at the Lederle Laboratories in Pearl River, New York. At Lederle, he began work leading to improved rabies vaccines and on attenuation of polio virus, the work for which he will be most remembered.
An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is zjv9990979330001.jpg
In the early 1950s, there was pessimism about the development of a polio vaccine subsequent to disastrous clinical trials of two experimental vaccines. Koprowski set out to attenuate the virus through adaptation to mouse brain. Starting with what later was identified as a type 2 strain, he achieved attenuation of neurovirulence in monkeys. After ingesting the orally administered vaccine himself, he arranged to vaccinate 20 mentally disabled children in collaboration with the physician in charge of the institution in which they resided, although it is said that his superiors at Lederle were unaware of this step. The ethical justification was the fear of poliovirus entering the institution, a common occurrence at the time. Although this first trial showed safety and immunogenicity of the strain, the presentation of the results at a later scientific meeting was greeted with shock because of the audacity of the work (1).
In the mid-1950s, cell culture became available, and Koprowski and Albert Sabin separately began to attenuate polioviruses by passage in monkey kidney cells. Both succeeded, and the Koprowski strains were tested extensively in the former Belgian Congo, his native Poland, and elsewhere (2). Nevertheless, because the Sabin strains were less neurovirulent in monkeys and were given successfully to millions of children in the former Soviet Union, they achieved licensure in the United States and adoption by the WHO for use throughout the world. During the battle between the oral polio vaccines, the atmosphere between Sabin and Koprowski became quite heated, with many colorful exchanges of insults, but afterwards they reestablished a friendship.
doi: 10.1128/JVI.01449-13
PMCID: PMC3719820
PMID: 23740991
In Memoriam: Hilary Koprowski, 1916–2013
Hilary Koprowski, who died this year at the age of 96, was an extraordinary person. He excelled as an innovative scientist, a director of a research institute, a classical pianist, a composer of music, a connoisseur of art, and a polyglot world traveler. Born in Warsaw, Poland, where he obtained a medical degree, the Nazi invasion forced him and his wife, Irena, to flee to Italy, where he studied piano at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. During the Second World War, he managed to emigrate to Brazil, where he became a research assistant in the Rockefeller Foundation Laboratories. There, his work on yellow fever and several arboviruses so impressed the senior staff that a position was found for him at the Lederle Laboratories in Pearl River, New York. At Lederle, he began work leading to improved rabies vaccines and on attenuation of polio virus, the work for which he will be most remembered.
An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is zjv9990979330001.jpg
In the early 1950s, there was pessimism about the development of a polio vaccine subsequent to disastrous clinical trials of two experimental vaccines. Koprowski set out to attenuate the virus through adaptation to mouse brain. Starting with what later was identified as a type 2 strain, he achieved attenuation of neurovirulence in monkeys. After ingesting the orally administered vaccine himself, he arranged to vaccinate 20 mentally disabled children in collaboration with the physician in charge of the institution in which they resided, although it is said that his superiors at Lederle were unaware of this step. The ethical justification was the fear of poliovirus entering the institution, a common occurrence at the time. Although this first trial showed safety and immunogenicity of the strain, the presentation of the results at a later scientific meeting was greeted with shock because of the audacity of the work (1).
In the mid-1950s, cell culture became available, and Koprowski and Albert Sabin separately began to attenuate polioviruses by passage in monkey kidney cells. Both succeeded, and the Koprowski strains were tested extensively in the former Belgian Congo, his native Poland, and elsewhere (2). Nevertheless, because the Sabin strains were less neurovirulent in monkeys and were given successfully to millions of children in the former Soviet Union, they achieved licensure in the United States and adoption by the WHO for use throughout the world. During the battle between the oral polio vaccines, the atmosphere between Sabin and Koprowski became quite heated, with many colorful exchanges of insults, but afterwards they reestablished a friendship.
20.03.2019
Despite all progress in the first years after World War II in the fight against polio had been made, demand for a cheaper to produce a vaccine to date. The Sabin vaccine is to provide a permanent immunity against polio, but the production was very high.
Why did Hilary Koprowski, an American of Polish origin, developed a new method to eradicate the polio problem quickly?
The vaccine was indeed easy within monkey kidney cells to produce, but the extract from polio-infected monkey kidney tissue thus obtained, was so badly filtered that only bacteria to the substance have been withdrawn, while in monkey tissue resident deadly viruses, amongst them SV40, freely were passed. Anyone with the contaminated vaccine from Koprowski was handled, thus willingly received viruses that do not occur naturally in humans.
After Koprowski vaccines are cheap in the United States had been tested on twenty mentally handicapped children from a mental health facility in New York, he decided the massive preparation to serve in Africa and not first in the United States for which he never gets any permission.
To implement its first major immunization, he settled in the Belgian Congo. He built a laboratory building at Camp Lindi in Stanleyville, now called Kisangani, and took out the final tests by all black animal keepers with Chat an l-type vaccine to vaccinate.
Apparently, the results to him were satisfactory and as quickly as possible in the northeast of the present Federal Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, in the current mass of people in the fifties, he rounded up and directed them massively to vaccination stations.
There they were, mostly by Belgian doctors and nurses, the polio-active vaccine with long needles into the open mouths sprayed. The exact number of doses is not known. But estimates indicate that approximately one-quarter of a million men women and children with the strongly contaminated vaccine Type l-Chat is inoculated.
About the real impact of the Congo vaccine in this former Belgian colony, thanks to a relentless stream of violent conflicts till today, to date nothing officially announced. From the late fifties, the black population of the Federal Republic of the Congo affected by many diseases whose cause seems difficult to trace.
What people have by now discovered that in the case of the polio vaccinations two different methods were used. Hundreds of thousands of Africans were "sprayed" while a contrast to the white "caps" was awarded.
The latter method has the advantage that when the vaccine is not viral and bacterial infections in the mouth and the esophagus can occur because the capsule is only dissolved in the stomach. Moreover, a vaccine in a capsule keeps better. In any case, the pause for thought that the application of the spray vaccine in Belgium itself, and whites living in the colony was banned.
That the vaccine of Koprowski causes very dangerous side effects is shown in 1959, because of a publication on May 14th of that year when Sabin published an article in the British Medical Journal explaining that he has found an unknown cell-killing virus in the polio vaccine of Koprowski.
The thus attacked American scientist, who had vaccinated only black-skinned people massively in the former Belgian Congo, did not respond to this serious accusation. He was nevertheless accepted by a committee of American Congress called to account, which he took off a statement that he developed a chat-type a vaccine which was indeed very much contaminated with numerous serious monkey viruses.
Despite all progress in the first years after World War II in the fight against polio had been made, demand for a cheaper to produce a vaccine to date. The Sabin vaccine is to provide a permanent immunity against polio, but the production was very high.
Why did Hilary Koprowski, an American of Polish origin, developed a new method to eradicate the polio problem quickly?
The vaccine was indeed easy within monkey kidney cells to produce, but the extract from polio-infected monkey kidney tissue thus obtained, was so badly filtered that only bacteria to the substance have been withdrawn, while in monkey tissue resident deadly viruses, amongst them SV40, freely were passed. Anyone with the contaminated vaccine from Koprowski was handled, thus willingly received viruses that do not occur naturally in humans.
After Koprowski vaccines are cheap in the United States had been tested on twenty mentally handicapped children from a mental health facility in New York, he decided the massive preparation to serve in Africa and not first in the United States for which he never gets any permission.
To implement its first major immunization, he settled in the Belgian Congo. He built a laboratory building at Camp Lindi in Stanleyville, now called Kisangani, and took out the final tests by all black animal keepers with Chat an l-type vaccine to vaccinate.
Apparently, the results to him were satisfactory and as quickly as possible in the northeast of the present Federal Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, in the current mass of people in the fifties, he rounded up and directed them massively to vaccination stations.
There they were, mostly by Belgian doctors and nurses, the polio-active vaccine with long needles into the open mouths sprayed. The exact number of doses is not known. But estimates indicate that approximately one-quarter of a million men women and children with the strongly contaminated vaccine Type l-Chat is inoculated.
About the real impact of the Congo vaccine in this former Belgian colony, thanks to a relentless stream of violent conflicts till today, to date nothing officially announced. From the late fifties, the black population of the Federal Republic of the Congo affected by many diseases whose cause seems difficult to trace.
What people have by now discovered that in the case of the polio vaccinations two different methods were used. Hundreds of thousands of Africans were "sprayed" while a contrast to the white "caps" was awarded.
The latter method has the advantage that when the vaccine is not viral and bacterial infections in the mouth and the esophagus can occur because the capsule is only dissolved in the stomach. Moreover, a vaccine in a capsule keeps better. In any case, the pause for thought that the application of the spray vaccine in Belgium itself, and whites living in the colony was banned.
That the vaccine of Koprowski causes very dangerous side effects is shown in 1959, because of a publication on May 14th of that year when Sabin published an article in the British Medical Journal explaining that he has found an unknown cell-killing virus in the polio vaccine of Koprowski.
The thus attacked American scientist, who had vaccinated only black-skinned people massively in the former Belgian Congo, did not respond to this serious accusation. He was nevertheless accepted by a committee of American Congress called to account, which he took off a statement that he developed a chat-type a vaccine which was indeed very much contaminated with numerous serious monkey viruses.
24 June, 2022
The Russian president says Moscow is not impeding Ukraine's grain exports after Berlin accused it of weaponizing hunger
Western nations are deliberately stirring up tensions regarding Ukrainian grain exports, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a BRICS+ video conference. He was responding to comments by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who has accused Moscow of holding the whole world "hostage" by blocking Ukrainian grain shipments.
Putin said Russia is not impeding exports and criticized the West for its "cynical attitude" towards the food supply of the developing nations, which have been worst affected by soaring prices. He said rising inflation in the West was "a result of their own irresponsible macroeconomic policies."
Moscow is ready to provide free passage to international waters for ships carrying grain, Putin said, adding that Russia had reached an "understanding" on that issue with the UN Secretariat.
The Russian president suggested that the Ukrainian military should demine the country's ports to further facilitate exports, however, and said "a constructive approach on Kiev's part" is the only thing that is lacking.
According to the president, Russia itself may be able to export between 37 and 50 tons of grain this year.
The Russian president says Moscow is not impeding Ukraine's grain exports after Berlin accused it of weaponizing hunger
Western nations are deliberately stirring up tensions regarding Ukrainian grain exports, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a BRICS+ video conference. He was responding to comments by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who has accused Moscow of holding the whole world "hostage" by blocking Ukrainian grain shipments.
Putin said Russia is not impeding exports and criticized the West for its "cynical attitude" towards the food supply of the developing nations, which have been worst affected by soaring prices. He said rising inflation in the West was "a result of their own irresponsible macroeconomic policies."
Moscow is ready to provide free passage to international waters for ships carrying grain, Putin said, adding that Russia had reached an "understanding" on that issue with the UN Secretariat.
The Russian president suggested that the Ukrainian military should demine the country's ports to further facilitate exports, however, and said "a constructive approach on Kiev's part" is the only thing that is lacking.
According to the president, Russia itself may be able to export between 37 and 50 tons of grain this year.
24 Giugno 2022
È più probabile che i vaccini Covid ti facciano andare all' ospedale più che tenertene fuori: l'analisi del direttore del BMJ su Pfizer e Moderna
Un nuovo articolo dell'editore BMJ Dr. Peter Doshi e colleghi ha analizzato i dati degli studi sui vaccini Pfizer e Moderna covid e ha scoperto che è più probabile che i vaccini ti mandino ospedale con un grave evento avverso piuttosto che ti tengano fuori proteggendoti dal Covid .
Il pre-print (non ancora sottoposto a revisione paritaria) si concentra sugli eventi avversi gravi evidenziati in un " elenco prioritario di potenziali eventi avversi rilevanti per i vaccini COVID-19″ approvato dall'OMS. Gli autori hanno valutato questi gravi eventi avversi di particolare interesse come osservati in "trial randomizzati di fase III di vaccini mRNA COVID-19".
Un evento avverso grave è stato definito secondo i protocolli di studio come un evento avverso che si traduce in una delle seguenti condizioni:
morte;
pericolo di vita al momento dell'evento;
ricovero ospedaliero o prolungamento del ricovero in corso;
disabilità/incapacità persistente o significativa;
un'anomalia congenita/difetto alla nascita;
evento clinicamente importante, sulla base del giudizio medico.
Il Dr. Doshi e colleghi hanno scoperto che i vaccini Pfizer e Moderna mRNA COVID-19 erano associati a un aumento del rischio di eventi avversi gravi di particolare interesse di 10,1 eventi per 10.000 vaccinati per Pfizer e 15,1 eventi per 10.000 per Moderna (IC 95% -0,4 rispettivamente a 20,6 e da -3,6 a 33,8). Quando combinati, i vaccini mRNA erano associati a un aumento del rischio di eventi avversi gravi di particolare interesse di 12,5 per 10.000 vaccinati (IC 95% da 2,1 a 22,9).
Gli autori osservano che questo livello di aumento del rischio post-vaccino è maggiore della riduzione del rischio di ricovero per COVID-19 negli studi Pfizer e Moderna, che era 2,3 per 10.000 partecipanti per Pfizer e 6,4 per 10.000 per Moderna. Ciò significa che su questa misura, il vaccino Pfizer determina un aumento netto degli eventi avversi gravi di 7,8 per 10.000 vaccinati e il vaccino Moderna di 8,7 per 10.000 vaccinati.
Affrontando la differenza tra i loro risultati e quelli della FDA quando ha approvato i vaccini, gli autori osservano che l'analisi della FDA sugli eventi avversi gravi "includeva migliaia di partecipanti aggiuntivi con pochissimo follow-up, di cui la grande maggioranza aveva ricevuto solo uno dose". La FDA ha anche contato le "persone colpite" piuttosto che i singoli eventi, nonostante ci fossero il doppio degli individui nel gruppo del vaccino rispetto al gruppo del placebo che hanno avuto più eventi avversi gravi.
È più probabile che i vaccini Covid ti facciano andare all' ospedale più che tenertene fuori: l'analisi del direttore del BMJ su Pfizer e Moderna
Un nuovo articolo dell'editore BMJ Dr. Peter Doshi e colleghi ha analizzato i dati degli studi sui vaccini Pfizer e Moderna covid e ha scoperto che è più probabile che i vaccini ti mandino ospedale con un grave evento avverso piuttosto che ti tengano fuori proteggendoti dal Covid .
Il pre-print (non ancora sottoposto a revisione paritaria) si concentra sugli eventi avversi gravi evidenziati in un " elenco prioritario di potenziali eventi avversi rilevanti per i vaccini COVID-19″ approvato dall'OMS. Gli autori hanno valutato questi gravi eventi avversi di particolare interesse come osservati in "trial randomizzati di fase III di vaccini mRNA COVID-19".
Un evento avverso grave è stato definito secondo i protocolli di studio come un evento avverso che si traduce in una delle seguenti condizioni:
morte;
pericolo di vita al momento dell'evento;
ricovero ospedaliero o prolungamento del ricovero in corso;
disabilità/incapacità persistente o significativa;
un'anomalia congenita/difetto alla nascita;
evento clinicamente importante, sulla base del giudizio medico.
Il Dr. Doshi e colleghi hanno scoperto che i vaccini Pfizer e Moderna mRNA COVID-19 erano associati a un aumento del rischio di eventi avversi gravi di particolare interesse di 10,1 eventi per 10.000 vaccinati per Pfizer e 15,1 eventi per 10.000 per Moderna (IC 95% -0,4 rispettivamente a 20,6 e da -3,6 a 33,8). Quando combinati, i vaccini mRNA erano associati a un aumento del rischio di eventi avversi gravi di particolare interesse di 12,5 per 10.000 vaccinati (IC 95% da 2,1 a 22,9).
Gli autori osservano che questo livello di aumento del rischio post-vaccino è maggiore della riduzione del rischio di ricovero per COVID-19 negli studi Pfizer e Moderna, che era 2,3 per 10.000 partecipanti per Pfizer e 6,4 per 10.000 per Moderna. Ciò significa che su questa misura, il vaccino Pfizer determina un aumento netto degli eventi avversi gravi di 7,8 per 10.000 vaccinati e il vaccino Moderna di 8,7 per 10.000 vaccinati.
Affrontando la differenza tra i loro risultati e quelli della FDA quando ha approvato i vaccini, gli autori osservano che l'analisi della FDA sugli eventi avversi gravi "includeva migliaia di partecipanti aggiuntivi con pochissimo follow-up, di cui la grande maggioranza aveva ricevuto solo uno dose". La FDA ha anche contato le "persone colpite" piuttosto che i singoli eventi, nonostante ci fossero il doppio degli individui nel gruppo del vaccino rispetto al gruppo del placebo che hanno avuto più eventi avversi gravi.
Jun 24, 2022
Polio is on the front pages of British newspapers again for the first time in decades. What a time to be alive.
For those who missed it, two days ago the UK government declared a "national incident" after traces of the polio virus were detected in sewage from North London.
Yes, a "national incident"… for traces… found in sewage.
This is a massive escalation, even compared to the pandemic. Covid and Monkeypox at least had the good taste to wait for a single person to actually have the disease (allegedly) before hitting the big red panic button.
In a somewhat startling coincidence, just two days before the "polio in London" news broke, Forbes published an article headlined…
"There may be a new polio epidemic on its way- if so, what we can do"
It's totally unrelated, talking about a "polio-like" enterovirus that hasn't yet had a vaccine approved in the US, and never mentions London once.
The same (or similar) news hitting headlines around the world for (supposedly) totally different reasons makes my inner-cynic twitch.
So, what's going on here?
While it may look like polio is suddenly back in the news, it's actually been there longer than you'd think and has been building to this point.
The truth is it all fits into a very predictable pattern.
In November of 2020, a new "genetically engineered" and "triple-locked" polio vaccine was the first vaccine to be granted "emergency use listing" by the World Health Organization, despite there being only around five thousand cases of polio in the world over the last decade.
In October 2021, the government of Ukraine declared a "biological emergency" due to the "re-emergence" of polio, which was blamed on low vaccine uptake.
This was steadily reported in back pages of the news for months. Culminating in headlines like "Polio makes a comeback in Ukraine as war halts vaccination campaign", following Russia beginning its "special operation".
Later, in March of this year, Israel reported they too had a "re-emergence" of polio after allegedly detecting "vaccine-derived" polio in the stool of a young girl suffering from paralysis.
At this point, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) started speaking out. GPEI is a project co-funded by the W.H.O., the U.S. CDC, GAVI the vaccine alliance and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
…in other words, exactly who you'd expect.
Following the reported case in Israel, GPEI released a statement calling for "enhanced surveillance"…
The GPEI partnership urges all health authorities to enhance surveillance for poliovirus and implement enhanced vaccination response to prevent further transmission, so that no child is at risk of lifelong paralysis from a disease that can so easily be prevented. GPEI is committed to assisting the health authorities in their efforts to stop the cVDPV3 outbreak.
A month later, in April of this year, using alleged "re-emergence" as a springboard, GPEI called for "renewed efforts" to combat polio, launching their new "Strategy" and claiming to need a further 4.8 billion dollars in funding.
Then in late May, at the WHO's 75th World Health Assembly, "global health leaders" called for "urgent action to end polio once and for all before a unique window of opportunity closes for good."
The same week, the WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the assembly regarding polio [emphasis added]:
"Worrying developments in recent months highlight how fragile this progress [of eradicating polio] is […] This year, we have the real opportunity to halt wild poliovirus transmission. At the same time, we must respond faster and better to cVDPV outbreaks, to interrupt all transmission by end-2023."
…which brings us to June, and scare-stories on both sides of the Atlantic warning of "low vaccination rates"
Note that the WHO report claims the virus entered the UK on someone who received a "live vaccination" overseas, and the alleged outbreak in Israel is "vaccine-derived".
Do you see how this works yet?
The WHO approves "emergency use vaccine", bypassing need for trials and safety data
A handful of cases of polio are reported (as they are every year)
Gates/WHO funded thinktank calls for "increased surveillance", meaning more testing (using PCR tests)
More testing inevitably finds more "cases"
Cases are blamed on the old vaccines
New "modern" and "safer" vaccines are rolled out.
Everyone makes a LOT of money.
In October, at the World Health Summit in Germany, GPEI is launching a "pledging moment" to try and raise around 5 billion dollars to "achieve a polio-free world".
Given the headlines, they should pass that mark pretty easily, wouldn't you think?
It's interesting to note that market researchers found the polio vaccine market had "stagnated" through 2020 and 2021, due to the Covid19 "pandemic".
No more stagnation now.
Polio is on the front pages of British newspapers again for the first time in decades. What a time to be alive.
For those who missed it, two days ago the UK government declared a "national incident" after traces of the polio virus were detected in sewage from North London.
Yes, a "national incident"… for traces… found in sewage.
This is a massive escalation, even compared to the pandemic. Covid and Monkeypox at least had the good taste to wait for a single person to actually have the disease (allegedly) before hitting the big red panic button.
In a somewhat startling coincidence, just two days before the "polio in London" news broke, Forbes published an article headlined…
"There may be a new polio epidemic on its way- if so, what we can do"
It's totally unrelated, talking about a "polio-like" enterovirus that hasn't yet had a vaccine approved in the US, and never mentions London once.
The same (or similar) news hitting headlines around the world for (supposedly) totally different reasons makes my inner-cynic twitch.
So, what's going on here?
While it may look like polio is suddenly back in the news, it's actually been there longer than you'd think and has been building to this point.
The truth is it all fits into a very predictable pattern.
In November of 2020, a new "genetically engineered" and "triple-locked" polio vaccine was the first vaccine to be granted "emergency use listing" by the World Health Organization, despite there being only around five thousand cases of polio in the world over the last decade.
In October 2021, the government of Ukraine declared a "biological emergency" due to the "re-emergence" of polio, which was blamed on low vaccine uptake.
This was steadily reported in back pages of the news for months. Culminating in headlines like "Polio makes a comeback in Ukraine as war halts vaccination campaign", following Russia beginning its "special operation".
Later, in March of this year, Israel reported they too had a "re-emergence" of polio after allegedly detecting "vaccine-derived" polio in the stool of a young girl suffering from paralysis.
At this point, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) started speaking out. GPEI is a project co-funded by the W.H.O., the U.S. CDC, GAVI the vaccine alliance and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
…in other words, exactly who you'd expect.
Following the reported case in Israel, GPEI released a statement calling for "enhanced surveillance"…
The GPEI partnership urges all health authorities to enhance surveillance for poliovirus and implement enhanced vaccination response to prevent further transmission, so that no child is at risk of lifelong paralysis from a disease that can so easily be prevented. GPEI is committed to assisting the health authorities in their efforts to stop the cVDPV3 outbreak.
A month later, in April of this year, using alleged "re-emergence" as a springboard, GPEI called for "renewed efforts" to combat polio, launching their new "Strategy" and claiming to need a further 4.8 billion dollars in funding.
Then in late May, at the WHO's 75th World Health Assembly, "global health leaders" called for "urgent action to end polio once and for all before a unique window of opportunity closes for good."
The same week, the WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the assembly regarding polio [emphasis added]:
"Worrying developments in recent months highlight how fragile this progress [of eradicating polio] is […] This year, we have the real opportunity to halt wild poliovirus transmission. At the same time, we must respond faster and better to cVDPV outbreaks, to interrupt all transmission by end-2023."
…which brings us to June, and scare-stories on both sides of the Atlantic warning of "low vaccination rates"
Note that the WHO report claims the virus entered the UK on someone who received a "live vaccination" overseas, and the alleged outbreak in Israel is "vaccine-derived".
Do you see how this works yet?
The WHO approves "emergency use vaccine", bypassing need for trials and safety data
A handful of cases of polio are reported (as they are every year)
Gates/WHO funded thinktank calls for "increased surveillance", meaning more testing (using PCR tests)
More testing inevitably finds more "cases"
Cases are blamed on the old vaccines
New "modern" and "safer" vaccines are rolled out.
Everyone makes a LOT of money.
In October, at the World Health Summit in Germany, GPEI is launching a "pledging moment" to try and raise around 5 billion dollars to "achieve a polio-free world".
Given the headlines, they should pass that mark pretty easily, wouldn't you think?
It's interesting to note that market researchers found the polio vaccine market had "stagnated" through 2020 and 2021, due to the Covid19 "pandemic".
No more stagnation now.
23 June 2022
The attempts to make a universal tragedy out of the amount of grain that remains in Ukraine is an absolutely unscrupulous policy, the Russian Foreign Minister noted
There is no link between Russia's ongoing special military operation in Ukraine and the world food crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference following talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Adollahian on Thursday.
"I would like to stress once again that there is no link between Russia's special operation in Ukraine and the food crisis", Lavrov said.
"The efforts that are now being exerted by both Turkey and the UN Secretary-General would have been successful long ago, had Ukraine and its Western patrons solved the problem of clearing Black Sea ports of mines."
"The attempts to make a universal tragedy out of the amount of grain that remains in Ukraine is an absolutely unscrupulous policy, because everyone knows that this grain accounts for less than 1% of the global production of wheat and other grain crops", Lavrov said. "Therefore, now it is crucial to make the Ukrainians let out the foreign ships that are being held hostage there, and by no means to use this problem as a gimmick that distracts attention from the failures and mistakes committed by the West itself in world politics and in trade in food and fertilizers, in particular."
The attempts to make a universal tragedy out of the amount of grain that remains in Ukraine is an absolutely unscrupulous policy, the Russian Foreign Minister noted
There is no link between Russia's ongoing special military operation in Ukraine and the world food crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference following talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Adollahian on Thursday.
"I would like to stress once again that there is no link between Russia's special operation in Ukraine and the food crisis", Lavrov said.
"The efforts that are now being exerted by both Turkey and the UN Secretary-General would have been successful long ago, had Ukraine and its Western patrons solved the problem of clearing Black Sea ports of mines."
"The attempts to make a universal tragedy out of the amount of grain that remains in Ukraine is an absolutely unscrupulous policy, because everyone knows that this grain accounts for less than 1% of the global production of wheat and other grain crops", Lavrov said. "Therefore, now it is crucial to make the Ukrainians let out the foreign ships that are being held hostage there, and by no means to use this problem as a gimmick that distracts attention from the failures and mistakes committed by the West itself in world politics and in trade in food and fertilizers, in particular."
"The West ignores international law"
24/06/2022
The ghost of the Cold War returns, with Russia turning to China and Iran in the light of Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
In fact, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is in Iran, referred to the specter of the Cold War, describing the relationship between Russia and China as "the new East."
In an interview, Lavrov said that Russia is moving away from the West in response to sanctions from developed countries, according to bankingnews.gr
"We are working with the East," he told Russian NTV. "As we have done in the past, we are expanding our contacts. "Europe is no longer our priority", he said.
Joint Moscow-Tehran front
Russia and Iran - both of which are burdened by Western sanctions - are trying to form a common front against the West, which raises concerns.
Moscow and Tehran condemn the unacceptable practice of illegal unilateral sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Serge Lavrov said at a news conference on Thursday after talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran.
"And, of course, both we and Iran condemn the unacceptable practice of illegal unilateral sanctions, which are imposed in violation of the UN Charter and which require the treatment of all independent members of the international community", Lavrov said.
"To this end, the Group of Friends for the Defense of the United Nations Charter has been set up recently, includes both Iran and the Russian Federation, and now has more than twenty member states.
"I'm sure it will expand", said the Russian foreign minister.
As the minister noted, Iran and Russia also oppose the concept of order based on rules promoted by the West.
"We are united in rejecting the notion of the so-called rule-based order promoted by the United States and its satellites, a concept designed to replace international law, to replace the basic principles of the United Nations Charter, above "all the principle of sovereign equality of states," Lavrov added.
"Everything the United States and its allies do on the international stage directly undermines this fundamental principle of the United Nations."
Russia is a leading supplier of crude oil
Since the beginning of the year, Russia has been working to expand its economic ties with China.
On June 20, Reuters reported that Russian crude oil exports to China jumped 55% to nearly 8.42 million tonnes, a significant increase from May 2021 levels, according to the Chinese general customs administration.
As a result, Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become the world's leading supplier of crude oil.
In addition, exports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China have increased by 56% - equivalent to 400,000 tons - compared to May 2021 levels.
24/06/2022
The ghost of the Cold War returns, with Russia turning to China and Iran in the light of Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
In fact, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is in Iran, referred to the specter of the Cold War, describing the relationship between Russia and China as "the new East."
In an interview, Lavrov said that Russia is moving away from the West in response to sanctions from developed countries, according to bankingnews.gr
"We are working with the East," he told Russian NTV. "As we have done in the past, we are expanding our contacts. "Europe is no longer our priority", he said.
Joint Moscow-Tehran front
Russia and Iran - both of which are burdened by Western sanctions - are trying to form a common front against the West, which raises concerns.
Moscow and Tehran condemn the unacceptable practice of illegal unilateral sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Serge Lavrov said at a news conference on Thursday after talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran.
"And, of course, both we and Iran condemn the unacceptable practice of illegal unilateral sanctions, which are imposed in violation of the UN Charter and which require the treatment of all independent members of the international community", Lavrov said.
"To this end, the Group of Friends for the Defense of the United Nations Charter has been set up recently, includes both Iran and the Russian Federation, and now has more than twenty member states.
"I'm sure it will expand", said the Russian foreign minister.
As the minister noted, Iran and Russia also oppose the concept of order based on rules promoted by the West.
"We are united in rejecting the notion of the so-called rule-based order promoted by the United States and its satellites, a concept designed to replace international law, to replace the basic principles of the United Nations Charter, above "all the principle of sovereign equality of states," Lavrov added.
"Everything the United States and its allies do on the international stage directly undermines this fundamental principle of the United Nations."
Russia is a leading supplier of crude oil
Since the beginning of the year, Russia has been working to expand its economic ties with China.
On June 20, Reuters reported that Russian crude oil exports to China jumped 55% to nearly 8.42 million tonnes, a significant increase from May 2021 levels, according to the Chinese general customs administration.
As a result, Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become the world's leading supplier of crude oil.
In addition, exports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China have increased by 56% - equivalent to 400,000 tons - compared to May 2021 levels.
Lugansk is over: An entire Brigade was lost in a few hours - The Ukrainians received an order to leave -
Lugansk is over for the Ukrainian Army, as WarNews247 first predicted yesterday. The trapped Ukrainian soldiers received the coveted order to leave Severodonetsk and Lisichank, seeing that there was only 1.6 km left to close the plunder in Lugansk.
The Ukrainian Army is counting thousands of casualties. The figures, which will be published in the second year, will shock the millions killed in the greater Luhansk region. It is characteristic that even the Russians seem to wonder about the size of the prisoners. When asked by the Ukrainians who the rest of the soldiers were, the Ukrainians reportedly replied that "they have been killed".
The final blow was given in the last 24 hours. The Russian Army and Air Force launched an unprecedented pounding with fighters, attack helicopters, MLRS, artillery, etc., resulting in the rapid collapse of the Ukrainian lines of defense.
The Ukrainians tried to escape via the road west of Lysichansk. A Ukrainian phalanx was completely destroyed. Russian military sources say an entire Ukrainian brigade has been lost in recent hours.
Lugansk is over for the Ukrainian Army, as WarNews247 first predicted yesterday. The trapped Ukrainian soldiers received the coveted order to leave Severodonetsk and Lisichank, seeing that there was only 1.6 km left to close the plunder in Lugansk.
The Ukrainian Army is counting thousands of casualties. The figures, which will be published in the second year, will shock the millions killed in the greater Luhansk region. It is characteristic that even the Russians seem to wonder about the size of the prisoners. When asked by the Ukrainians who the rest of the soldiers were, the Ukrainians reportedly replied that "they have been killed".
The final blow was given in the last 24 hours. The Russian Army and Air Force launched an unprecedented pounding with fighters, attack helicopters, MLRS, artillery, etc., resulting in the rapid collapse of the Ukrainian lines of defense.
The Ukrainians tried to escape via the road west of Lysichansk. A Ukrainian phalanx was completely destroyed. Russian military sources say an entire Ukrainian brigade has been lost in recent hours.
Ciò che non si dice è che le sanzioni sono state volute dagli USA anche per colpire la Germania e la UE (e riaffermare il proprio ruolo) ---
24 Giugno 2022
La scorsa settimana, il fornitore di energia russo Gazprom è stato costretto a ridurre del 60% i flussi di gas naturale verso la Germania che passano attraverso il gasdotto Nord Stream 1, perché le turbine Siemens della stazione di pompaggio Gazprom di Portovaya a Vyborg erano trattenute a Montreal – dove erano state inviate per manutenzione – perché rientrano nelle sanzioni del Canada contro la Russia.
Il Canada ha effettivamente trattenuto le turbine a gas russe prodotte da Siemens dopo che la loro manutenzione programmata era stata effettuata in Canada. Nello specifico, si tratta di turbine che operano nelle stazioni di compressione per creare pressione nella tubazione. Senza di esse il gas non passerà attraverso la tubazione. I russi potrebbero mettere quelle domestiche ma sembra che non superino la certificazione europea.
Si tratta di turbine?
Quindi non è vero che quella del malfunzionamento delle turbine, non è una 'scusa russa'? Sì e no. Perché puoi smontare le turbine dall'SP-2, poi togliere le turbine da SP1 e sostituirle. Oppure puoi aumentare le forniture di gas attraverso il gasdotto ucraino: questi da solo è in grado di pompare molte volte di più dell'intero SP-1. Oppure puoi far passare il gas lungo il gasdotto che attraversa la Bielorussia e la Polonia (attraverso il quale il transito è stato del tutto interrotto).
Ma Gazprom – cioè la Russia – non lo fa. Questo non deve meravigliarci, perché le abbiamo dichiarato guerra. la Russia vuole soltanto dimostrare l'illogicità delle decisioni prese da Bruxelles, che danneggiano soprattutto i paesi membri U.E. Abbiamo scelto la guerra e di prolungare un conflitto il cui esito è già scontato (ovviamente, a meno che l'Occidente non entri direttamente in guerra, scatenando una guerra mondiale con milioni di morti).
Le sanzioni servono anche per "causare un dolore significativo alla Germania" -- e alla U.E.
Naturalmente, quello che viene detto pubblicamente dalla politica è poco, ci sono molte reticenze e bugie. Ma se osserviamo, i fatti ci suggeriscono dov'è la verità.
Ad esempio, martedì, la pubblicazione Bloomberg – citando il ministro canadese delle risorse naturali Jonathan Wilkinson – ha riferito che Ottawa sta pensando come restituire alcune turbine Siemens bloccate in Canada a causa delle sanzioni. Come abbiamo accennato, queste turbine sono cruciali per il funzionamento dell'oleodotto russo Nord Stream. E la Russia, per i paesi ostili, non ha voglia legittimamente di trovare altre soluzioni.
Da parte sua Ottawa, tramite Wilkinson dice: "Vogliamo rispettare le sanzioni perché le sanzioni sono state messe in atto per un motivo. Detto questo, l'intento delle sanzioni non è mai stato quello di causare un dolore significativo alla Germania, che è uno dei nostri più stretti amici e alleati. Quindi, siamo molto presi da questo problema". Il ministro ha aggiunto che il Canada sta negoziando con Berlino sui modi per restituire l'attrezzatura.
Secondo la Federal Grid Agency tedesca, la riduzione del flusso di gas ha influito sulla fornitura di gas russo dalla Germania ad altri paesi europei, tra cui Francia, Austria e Repubblica Ceca. In tutto questo, sebbene abbiamo visto che ci sono altre soluzioni, ma la Russia ha solo un modo per ammorbidire la U.E. e lo usa.
Quindi ci troviamo nella situazione in cui i paesi occidentali sono in difficoltà per le stesse proprie sanzioni, mentee un alleato oltreoceano sta studiando come aggirarle per sollevare gli alleati europei. Ma questo è vero solo nelle dichiarazioni. In realtà è più plausibile che il tutto sia stato studiato per dimostrare che la Germania ha sbagliato ad affidarsi alla Russia per le forniture energetiche europee.
IL GAS GNL STATUNITENSE NON BASTA PER SODDISFARE LE ESIGENZE EUROPEE
Perché allora il Canada sembra voler venire aiuto della Germania? È molto semplice: basandoci sul comportamento del Canada, possiamo concludere che il gas liquefatto (GNL) – il quale dovrebbe sostituire il gas russo – questo inverno non sarà sufficiente per il fabbisogno europeo. Infatti ci sono due problemi:
1. La capacità degli impianti di GNL americani non è sufficiente.
2. La capacità dei terminali GNL esistenti in Europa è insufficiente.
In altre parole, la carenza di forniture di GNL dagli Stati Uniti, a fronte di una significativa riduzione delle forniture da Gazprom, questo inverno destabilizzerà l'Europa, costringendo decisioni affrettate in un ambiente di stress estremo.
CREARE ARTIFICIALMENTE UNA CRISI DEL GAS
Qui veniamo al punto. Il desiderio degli Stati Uniti e della Gran Bretagna (e del Canada, come membro del Commonwealth britannico) di incolpare la Germania creando artificialmente una crisi del gas, e quindi dell'energia, in Europa, spiega pienamente la situazione prevalente intorno alle turbine Siemens. Perché è nell'interesse dei piani di Stati Uniti e Gran Bretagna di privare completamente l'Europa delle forniture di gas questo inverno, incolpando Gazprom per questo.
La situazione è paradossale: il gasdotto North Stream 2 è pieno di gas, efficiente al 100% e dotato di turbine nuove di zecca, ma non può essere messo in funzione per l'opposizione degli Stati Uniti, allora il Canada deve cercare di aggirare le sanzioni per tenere operativo il North Stream 1.
Questo accade mentre Mosca per disappunto prende ogni occasione buona per mettere in atto ritorsioni verso la U.E.
Capite? La Germania non restituisce le turbine che sono in Canada. La turbina non pompa gas in Germania. Non c'è abbastanza gas in Germania. La colpa è della Russia. Che, francamente, non ha preso alcuna decisione in merito.
È un male, ovviamente, che la Russia non abbia le proprie turbine. Ma, d'altra parte, queste turbine pompavano gas in Germania e non in Russia. Quindi perché la Russia dovrebbe preoccuparsi? Se la U.E. vuole può usare North Steam 2…
24 Giugno 2022
La scorsa settimana, il fornitore di energia russo Gazprom è stato costretto a ridurre del 60% i flussi di gas naturale verso la Germania che passano attraverso il gasdotto Nord Stream 1, perché le turbine Siemens della stazione di pompaggio Gazprom di Portovaya a Vyborg erano trattenute a Montreal – dove erano state inviate per manutenzione – perché rientrano nelle sanzioni del Canada contro la Russia.
Il Canada ha effettivamente trattenuto le turbine a gas russe prodotte da Siemens dopo che la loro manutenzione programmata era stata effettuata in Canada. Nello specifico, si tratta di turbine che operano nelle stazioni di compressione per creare pressione nella tubazione. Senza di esse il gas non passerà attraverso la tubazione. I russi potrebbero mettere quelle domestiche ma sembra che non superino la certificazione europea.
Si tratta di turbine?
Quindi non è vero che quella del malfunzionamento delle turbine, non è una 'scusa russa'? Sì e no. Perché puoi smontare le turbine dall'SP-2, poi togliere le turbine da SP1 e sostituirle. Oppure puoi aumentare le forniture di gas attraverso il gasdotto ucraino: questi da solo è in grado di pompare molte volte di più dell'intero SP-1. Oppure puoi far passare il gas lungo il gasdotto che attraversa la Bielorussia e la Polonia (attraverso il quale il transito è stato del tutto interrotto).
Ma Gazprom – cioè la Russia – non lo fa. Questo non deve meravigliarci, perché le abbiamo dichiarato guerra. la Russia vuole soltanto dimostrare l'illogicità delle decisioni prese da Bruxelles, che danneggiano soprattutto i paesi membri U.E. Abbiamo scelto la guerra e di prolungare un conflitto il cui esito è già scontato (ovviamente, a meno che l'Occidente non entri direttamente in guerra, scatenando una guerra mondiale con milioni di morti).
Le sanzioni servono anche per "causare un dolore significativo alla Germania" -- e alla U.E.
Naturalmente, quello che viene detto pubblicamente dalla politica è poco, ci sono molte reticenze e bugie. Ma se osserviamo, i fatti ci suggeriscono dov'è la verità.
Ad esempio, martedì, la pubblicazione Bloomberg – citando il ministro canadese delle risorse naturali Jonathan Wilkinson – ha riferito che Ottawa sta pensando come restituire alcune turbine Siemens bloccate in Canada a causa delle sanzioni. Come abbiamo accennato, queste turbine sono cruciali per il funzionamento dell'oleodotto russo Nord Stream. E la Russia, per i paesi ostili, non ha voglia legittimamente di trovare altre soluzioni.
Da parte sua Ottawa, tramite Wilkinson dice: "Vogliamo rispettare le sanzioni perché le sanzioni sono state messe in atto per un motivo. Detto questo, l'intento delle sanzioni non è mai stato quello di causare un dolore significativo alla Germania, che è uno dei nostri più stretti amici e alleati. Quindi, siamo molto presi da questo problema". Il ministro ha aggiunto che il Canada sta negoziando con Berlino sui modi per restituire l'attrezzatura.
Secondo la Federal Grid Agency tedesca, la riduzione del flusso di gas ha influito sulla fornitura di gas russo dalla Germania ad altri paesi europei, tra cui Francia, Austria e Repubblica Ceca. In tutto questo, sebbene abbiamo visto che ci sono altre soluzioni, ma la Russia ha solo un modo per ammorbidire la U.E. e lo usa.
Quindi ci troviamo nella situazione in cui i paesi occidentali sono in difficoltà per le stesse proprie sanzioni, mentee un alleato oltreoceano sta studiando come aggirarle per sollevare gli alleati europei. Ma questo è vero solo nelle dichiarazioni. In realtà è più plausibile che il tutto sia stato studiato per dimostrare che la Germania ha sbagliato ad affidarsi alla Russia per le forniture energetiche europee.
IL GAS GNL STATUNITENSE NON BASTA PER SODDISFARE LE ESIGENZE EUROPEE
Perché allora il Canada sembra voler venire aiuto della Germania? È molto semplice: basandoci sul comportamento del Canada, possiamo concludere che il gas liquefatto (GNL) – il quale dovrebbe sostituire il gas russo – questo inverno non sarà sufficiente per il fabbisogno europeo. Infatti ci sono due problemi:
1. La capacità degli impianti di GNL americani non è sufficiente.
2. La capacità dei terminali GNL esistenti in Europa è insufficiente.
In altre parole, la carenza di forniture di GNL dagli Stati Uniti, a fronte di una significativa riduzione delle forniture da Gazprom, questo inverno destabilizzerà l'Europa, costringendo decisioni affrettate in un ambiente di stress estremo.
CREARE ARTIFICIALMENTE UNA CRISI DEL GAS
Qui veniamo al punto. Il desiderio degli Stati Uniti e della Gran Bretagna (e del Canada, come membro del Commonwealth britannico) di incolpare la Germania creando artificialmente una crisi del gas, e quindi dell'energia, in Europa, spiega pienamente la situazione prevalente intorno alle turbine Siemens. Perché è nell'interesse dei piani di Stati Uniti e Gran Bretagna di privare completamente l'Europa delle forniture di gas questo inverno, incolpando Gazprom per questo.
La situazione è paradossale: il gasdotto North Stream 2 è pieno di gas, efficiente al 100% e dotato di turbine nuove di zecca, ma non può essere messo in funzione per l'opposizione degli Stati Uniti, allora il Canada deve cercare di aggirare le sanzioni per tenere operativo il North Stream 1.
Questo accade mentre Mosca per disappunto prende ogni occasione buona per mettere in atto ritorsioni verso la U.E.
Capite? La Germania non restituisce le turbine che sono in Canada. La turbina non pompa gas in Germania. Non c'è abbastanza gas in Germania. La colpa è della Russia. Che, francamente, non ha preso alcuna decisione in merito.
È un male, ovviamente, che la Russia non abbia le proprie turbine. Ma, d'altra parte, queste turbine pompavano gas in Germania e non in Russia. Quindi perché la Russia dovrebbe preoccuparsi? Se la U.E. vuole può usare North Steam 2…
June 24, 2022
During the latest gravity assistance maneuver, the BepiColombo spacecraft came within 200 km of the planet and snapped new photographs revealing intricate features on the surface of Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system.
[ PHOTOS ]
During the latest gravity assistance maneuver, the BepiColombo spacecraft came within 200 km of the planet and snapped new photographs revealing intricate features on the surface of Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system.
[ PHOTOS ]
THE STOPPAGE COULD BE FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD, according to Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
GERMANY COULD BE FORCED TO CLOSE DOWN ENTIRE INDUSTRIAL SECTORS IF THERE IS A NATIONWIDE NATURAL GAS SHORTAGE, Economy Minister Robert Habeck told the newspaper Der Spiegel on Friday.
"ALL FACTORY ACTIVITIES WILL BE SUSPENDED. IT WILL BE A DISASTER FOR SOME INDUSTRIES. AND WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT TWO DAYS OR WEEKS, BUT ABOUT A LONG TIME. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE, WHO WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS AND REGIONS THAT WILL LOSE ENTIRE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES", Habeck said.
The minister insisted, however, that Germans are united in the face of these difficulties, support anti-Russia sanctions, and are ready to endure some degree of hardship.
Earlier this week, Habeck said the reduction of Russian gas supplies to Germany demonstrates the effectiveness of Western sanctions, and claimed EU restrictions on goods and services provided to Moscow are preventing it from using money generated through energy sales.
GERMANY COULD BE FORCED TO CLOSE DOWN ENTIRE INDUSTRIAL SECTORS IF THERE IS A NATIONWIDE NATURAL GAS SHORTAGE, Economy Minister Robert Habeck told the newspaper Der Spiegel on Friday.
"ALL FACTORY ACTIVITIES WILL BE SUSPENDED. IT WILL BE A DISASTER FOR SOME INDUSTRIES. AND WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT TWO DAYS OR WEEKS, BUT ABOUT A LONG TIME. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE, WHO WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS AND REGIONS THAT WILL LOSE ENTIRE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES", Habeck said.
The minister insisted, however, that Germans are united in the face of these difficulties, support anti-Russia sanctions, and are ready to endure some degree of hardship.
Earlier this week, Habeck said the reduction of Russian gas supplies to Germany demonstrates the effectiveness of Western sanctions, and claimed EU restrictions on goods and services provided to Moscow are preventing it from using money generated through energy sales.
Lavrov had previously blamed the West for exaggerating the issues surrounding Ukrainian grain, pointing out that the blocked supplies accounted for "less than 1% of the global production of wheat and other cereals."
"Therefore, the current situation with Ukrainian grain has nothing to do with the food crisis," he said, speaking a few weeks ago.
"Therefore, the current situation with Ukrainian grain has nothing to do with the food crisis," he said, speaking a few weeks ago.
23 juin 2022
Il y a des rapports de Bruxelles sur la situation du transit de marchandises russes vers la région de Kaliningrad et retour. Rappelons que ce sujet s'est intensifié au cours de la semaine en raison du fait que les autorités lituaniennes ont imposé une interdiction de transit par chemin de fer et pour les camions sur les routes pour un certain nombre de types de produits. Sous l'interdiction de transit à travers le territoire de la Lituanie se trouvaient des métaux, des matériaux de construction, de l'énergie et bien plus encore.
Dans le même temps, Vilnius a déclaré qu'elle respecte "seulement" les directives de la Commission européenne pour maintenir le régime de sanctions contre la Fédération de Russie. Et la Commission européenne a indiqué qu'il s'agissait "d'une interprétation de la Lituanie elle-même".
Les autorités russes ont souligné que si l'interdiction de transit de marchandises d'une région russe à une autre et vice versa n'était pas levée, la réponse pourrait être aussi dure que possible. En tant que proposition, par exemple, l'idée était de commencer des exercices militaires à long terme de la marine russe dans la Baltique avec la fermeture pour les navires civils (pour leur sécurité, bien sûr ...) des approches du port de Klaipeda et d'autres ports de Lituanie.
Aujourd'hui, le chef de la diplomatie européenne, Josep Borrell, a déclaré que l'Union européenne « va revoir un certain nombre de directives de sanctions qui restreignent le transit vers la région de Kaliningrad. On peut parler du fait que la Lituanie a quand même été épinglée par des responsables européens, conseillant de ne pas aggraver la situation.
Le fait est que si les États-Unis et la Grande-Bretagne ouvriraient volontiers un deuxième front anti-russe, alors les pays de l'UE ne sont manifestement pas prêts pour cela, réalisant que cela pourrait tout simplement faire exploser toute l'Europe.
Il y a des rapports de Bruxelles sur la situation du transit de marchandises russes vers la région de Kaliningrad et retour. Rappelons que ce sujet s'est intensifié au cours de la semaine en raison du fait que les autorités lituaniennes ont imposé une interdiction de transit par chemin de fer et pour les camions sur les routes pour un certain nombre de types de produits. Sous l'interdiction de transit à travers le territoire de la Lituanie se trouvaient des métaux, des matériaux de construction, de l'énergie et bien plus encore.
Dans le même temps, Vilnius a déclaré qu'elle respecte "seulement" les directives de la Commission européenne pour maintenir le régime de sanctions contre la Fédération de Russie. Et la Commission européenne a indiqué qu'il s'agissait "d'une interprétation de la Lituanie elle-même".
Les autorités russes ont souligné que si l'interdiction de transit de marchandises d'une région russe à une autre et vice versa n'était pas levée, la réponse pourrait être aussi dure que possible. En tant que proposition, par exemple, l'idée était de commencer des exercices militaires à long terme de la marine russe dans la Baltique avec la fermeture pour les navires civils (pour leur sécurité, bien sûr ...) des approches du port de Klaipeda et d'autres ports de Lituanie.
Aujourd'hui, le chef de la diplomatie européenne, Josep Borrell, a déclaré que l'Union européenne « va revoir un certain nombre de directives de sanctions qui restreignent le transit vers la région de Kaliningrad. On peut parler du fait que la Lituanie a quand même été épinglée par des responsables européens, conseillant de ne pas aggraver la situation.
Le fait est que si les États-Unis et la Grande-Bretagne ouvriraient volontiers un deuxième front anti-russe, alors les pays de l'UE ne sont manifestement pas prêts pour cela, réalisant que cela pourrait tout simplement faire exploser toute l'Europe.
The war in Ukraine has proven that the age of industrial warfare is still here. The massive consumption of equipment, vehicles and ammunition requires a large-scale industrial base for resupply – quantity still has a quality of its own. The mass scale combat has pitted 250,000 Ukrainian soldiers, together with 450,000 recently mobilised citizen soldiers against about 200,000 Russian and separatist troops. The effort to arm, feed and supply these armies is a monumental task. Ammunition resupply is particularly onerous. For Ukraine, compounding this task are Russian deep fires capabilities, which target Ukrainian military industry and transportation networks throughout the depth of the country. The Russian army has also suffered from Ukrainian cross-border attacks and acts of sabotage, but at a smaller scale. The rate of ammunition and equipment consumption in Ukraine can only be sustained by a large-scale industrial base.
23 Giugno 2022
"È un grande piacere per me vederli tutti qui!": è iniziato il vertice BRICS, che si prevede si trasformerà in un "G8 alternativo" nel prossimo futuro.
Loro però gestiscono in modo diretto o indiretto il 90% delle materie prime sul pianeta tenendo conto che hanno l'appoggio dei paesi Arabi e Africani.
L'occidente gestisce la finanza creativa ovvero la carta da cesso neanche buona da bruciare per scaldarsi visto che non è neanche di carta vera ma informatica.(Siro Mazza)
> > >
- Il Presidente della Russia, Vladimir Putin:
Presidente Xi Jinping, Presidente Ramaphosa, Presidente Bolsonaro, Primo Ministro Modi, signore e signori:
Per cominciare, vorrei unirmi agli oratori che mi hanno preceduto nel ringraziare il Presidente della Repubblica Popolare Cinese Xi Jinping e tutti i nostri amici cinesi per gli sforzi proattivi compiuti quest'anno per promuovere il nostro partenariato strategico all'interno dei BRICS.
I Paesi che formano questo gruppo hanno cercato di intensificare la loro cooperazione su tutte le questioni globali e regionali. Il formato BRICS ha aumentato costantemente il suo prestigio e la sua influenza internazionale. Si tratta di un processo oggettivo, poiché i cinque Paesi BRICS, come tutti sappiamo, hanno un immenso potenziale politico, economico, scientifico, tecnico e umano. Abbiamo tutto ciò che serve per lavorare insieme e ottenere risultati per garantire la stabilità e la sicurezza globale, una crescita e una prosperità sostenute e un migliore benessere per i nostri popoli.
Ritengo che il tema dell'incontro di oggi,
"Promuovere un partenariato BRICS di alta qualità, inaugurare una nuova era per lo sviluppo globale", sia molto rilevante. Considerando la complessità delle sfide e delle minacce che la comunità internazionale sta affrontando e il fatto che esse trascendono i confini, dobbiamo trovare soluzioni collettive. I BRICS possono dare un contributo significativo a questi sforzi.
Abbiamo ripetuto più volte che sfide come la risoluzione dei conflitti, la lotta al terrorismo e alla criminalità organizzata, compreso l'uso criminale delle nuove tecnologie, il cambiamento climatico e la diffusione di infezioni pericolose, possono essere affrontate solo attraverso sforzi congiunti.
E, naturalmente, è solo sulla base di una cooperazione onesta e reciprocamente vantaggiosa che possiamo cercare una via d'uscita dalla situazione critica che è emersa nell'economia mondiale a causa delle azioni sconsiderate ed egoistiche di alcuni Stati che, utilizzando i meccanismi finanziari, stanno di fatto scaricando i propri errori di politica macroeconomica sul resto del mondo.
Siamo certi che oggi, come mai prima d'ora, il mondo ha bisogno della leadership dei Paesi BRICS per definire un percorso unificante e positivo per la formazione di un sistema di relazioni interstatali realmente multipolare, basato sulle norme universali del diritto internazionale e sui principi chiave della Carta delle Nazioni Unite. In questo contesto, possiamo contare sul sostegno di molti Stati dell'Asia, dell'Africa e dell'America Latina, che cercano di perseguire una politica indipendente.
Sono certo che, come da tradizione, l'attuale Vertice BRICS sarà sostanziale ed efficace e che riusciremo a tenere uno scambio di opinioni franco e dettagliato su tutte le più importanti questioni globali e regionali e sui vari aspetti del partenariato strategico, anche nel formato di dialogo allargato di BRICS+.
Permettetemi di sottolineare che la Russia è pronta a continuare a promuovere un'interazione stretta e versatile con tutti i partner BRICS e a contribuire al rafforzamento del ruolo del gruppo negli affari internazionali.
Vi ringrazio per l'attenzione.
"È un grande piacere per me vederli tutti qui!": è iniziato il vertice BRICS, che si prevede si trasformerà in un "G8 alternativo" nel prossimo futuro.
Loro però gestiscono in modo diretto o indiretto il 90% delle materie prime sul pianeta tenendo conto che hanno l'appoggio dei paesi Arabi e Africani.
L'occidente gestisce la finanza creativa ovvero la carta da cesso neanche buona da bruciare per scaldarsi visto che non è neanche di carta vera ma informatica.(Siro Mazza)
> > >
- Il Presidente della Russia, Vladimir Putin:
Presidente Xi Jinping, Presidente Ramaphosa, Presidente Bolsonaro, Primo Ministro Modi, signore e signori:
Per cominciare, vorrei unirmi agli oratori che mi hanno preceduto nel ringraziare il Presidente della Repubblica Popolare Cinese Xi Jinping e tutti i nostri amici cinesi per gli sforzi proattivi compiuti quest'anno per promuovere il nostro partenariato strategico all'interno dei BRICS.
I Paesi che formano questo gruppo hanno cercato di intensificare la loro cooperazione su tutte le questioni globali e regionali. Il formato BRICS ha aumentato costantemente il suo prestigio e la sua influenza internazionale. Si tratta di un processo oggettivo, poiché i cinque Paesi BRICS, come tutti sappiamo, hanno un immenso potenziale politico, economico, scientifico, tecnico e umano. Abbiamo tutto ciò che serve per lavorare insieme e ottenere risultati per garantire la stabilità e la sicurezza globale, una crescita e una prosperità sostenute e un migliore benessere per i nostri popoli.
Ritengo che il tema dell'incontro di oggi,
"Promuovere un partenariato BRICS di alta qualità, inaugurare una nuova era per lo sviluppo globale", sia molto rilevante. Considerando la complessità delle sfide e delle minacce che la comunità internazionale sta affrontando e il fatto che esse trascendono i confini, dobbiamo trovare soluzioni collettive. I BRICS possono dare un contributo significativo a questi sforzi.
Abbiamo ripetuto più volte che sfide come la risoluzione dei conflitti, la lotta al terrorismo e alla criminalità organizzata, compreso l'uso criminale delle nuove tecnologie, il cambiamento climatico e la diffusione di infezioni pericolose, possono essere affrontate solo attraverso sforzi congiunti.
E, naturalmente, è solo sulla base di una cooperazione onesta e reciprocamente vantaggiosa che possiamo cercare una via d'uscita dalla situazione critica che è emersa nell'economia mondiale a causa delle azioni sconsiderate ed egoistiche di alcuni Stati che, utilizzando i meccanismi finanziari, stanno di fatto scaricando i propri errori di politica macroeconomica sul resto del mondo.
Siamo certi che oggi, come mai prima d'ora, il mondo ha bisogno della leadership dei Paesi BRICS per definire un percorso unificante e positivo per la formazione di un sistema di relazioni interstatali realmente multipolare, basato sulle norme universali del diritto internazionale e sui principi chiave della Carta delle Nazioni Unite. In questo contesto, possiamo contare sul sostegno di molti Stati dell'Asia, dell'Africa e dell'America Latina, che cercano di perseguire una politica indipendente.
Sono certo che, come da tradizione, l'attuale Vertice BRICS sarà sostanziale ed efficace e che riusciremo a tenere uno scambio di opinioni franco e dettagliato su tutte le più importanti questioni globali e regionali e sui vari aspetti del partenariato strategico, anche nel formato di dialogo allargato di BRICS+.
Permettetemi di sottolineare che la Russia è pronta a continuare a promuovere un'interazione stretta e versatile con tutti i partner BRICS e a contribuire al rafforzamento del ruolo del gruppo negli affari internazionali.
Vi ringrazio per l'attenzione.
March 7, 2021
Geert Vanden Bossche, PhD, DVM, is a vaccine research expert. He has a long list of companies and organizations he's worked with on vaccine discovery and preclinical research, including GSK, Novartis, Solvay Biologicals, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr Vanden Bossche also coordinated the Ebola vaccine program at GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization).
He is board-certified in Virology and Microbiology, the author of over 30 publications, and inventor of a patent application for universal vaccines. He currently works as an independent vaccine research consultant.
"One could only think of very few other strategies to achieve the same level of efficiency in turning a relatively harmless virus into a bioweapon of mass destruction."
We're Risking Creating a Global, "Uncontrollable Monster"
Dr Bossche believes that vaccinologists, clinicians, and scientists are only focusing on short-term results at the individual level and not the consequences at the global population level, which he believes will soon become evident. Evident in the form of having transformed "a quite harmless virus into an uncontrollable monster".
His concern rests on 'immune escape'. For those needing an quick introduction to the topic, read Jemma Moran's article Mutant variations and the danger of lockdowns.
For those needing a sweeping overview of our immunology, watch Ivor Cummins interview Creon Levit, Ep81, The Amazing Immunology of our Viral Issue – incredible science at work! Many physicians would also benefit from watching this (note: the average physician receives exceptionally little training in immunology and virology).
Those wishing to dig deeper into immunology in general, read for example, Roitt's "Essential Immunology", Thirteenth Edition.
Bossche states that the multiple emerging, "much more infectious" viral variants, are already examples of "immune escape" from our 'innate immunity', and were most-likely created by the government interventions themselves; the so-called Non-Pharmacological Interventions (NPIs) – i.e. lockdowns and cloth facial coverings. Unofficially, but also more aptly known as the Non-Scientific Interventions.
He believes that:
Ongoing mass vaccination deployments are "highly-likely to further enhance 'adaptive' immune escape as none of the current vaccines will prevent replication/transmission of viral variants".
As such, "The more we use these vaccines for immunizing people in the midst of a pandemic, the more infectious the virus will become".
And "With increasing infectiousness comes an increased likelihood of viral resistance to the vaccines".
He claims his beliefs are basic principles taught in a student's first vaccinology class – "One shouldn't use a prophylactic vaccine in populations exposed to high infectious pressure (which is now certainly the case as multiple highly infectious variants are currently circulating").
He states that to "fully escape", the highly mutable virus, "only needs to add another few mutations in its receptor-binding domain".
People stand to lose their natural 'innate' immunity as a consequence of the meddling
His real worry though, or as he puts it, "beyond worried", is that the humankind may severely damage it's own, natural 'innate' immunity, because of the mass deployment of vaccination programs at this critical juncture. Our 'innate' immunity would be lost (a rich, variant-nonspecific, form of natural immunity).
It would also mean that vaccine-mediated protection would be lost.
All whilst new, more dangerous variants would be getting actively breed by mankind. In effect, "turning a relatively harmless virus into a bioweapon of mass destruction".
Geert Vanden Bossche, PhD, DVM, is a vaccine research expert. He has a long list of companies and organizations he's worked with on vaccine discovery and preclinical research, including GSK, Novartis, Solvay Biologicals, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr Vanden Bossche also coordinated the Ebola vaccine program at GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization).
He is board-certified in Virology and Microbiology, the author of over 30 publications, and inventor of a patent application for universal vaccines. He currently works as an independent vaccine research consultant.
"One could only think of very few other strategies to achieve the same level of efficiency in turning a relatively harmless virus into a bioweapon of mass destruction."
We're Risking Creating a Global, "Uncontrollable Monster"
Dr Bossche believes that vaccinologists, clinicians, and scientists are only focusing on short-term results at the individual level and not the consequences at the global population level, which he believes will soon become evident. Evident in the form of having transformed "a quite harmless virus into an uncontrollable monster".
His concern rests on 'immune escape'. For those needing an quick introduction to the topic, read Jemma Moran's article Mutant variations and the danger of lockdowns.
For those needing a sweeping overview of our immunology, watch Ivor Cummins interview Creon Levit, Ep81, The Amazing Immunology of our Viral Issue – incredible science at work! Many physicians would also benefit from watching this (note: the average physician receives exceptionally little training in immunology and virology).
Those wishing to dig deeper into immunology in general, read for example, Roitt's "Essential Immunology", Thirteenth Edition.
Bossche states that the multiple emerging, "much more infectious" viral variants, are already examples of "immune escape" from our 'innate immunity', and were most-likely created by the government interventions themselves; the so-called Non-Pharmacological Interventions (NPIs) – i.e. lockdowns and cloth facial coverings. Unofficially, but also more aptly known as the Non-Scientific Interventions.
He believes that:
Ongoing mass vaccination deployments are "highly-likely to further enhance 'adaptive' immune escape as none of the current vaccines will prevent replication/transmission of viral variants".
As such, "The more we use these vaccines for immunizing people in the midst of a pandemic, the more infectious the virus will become".
And "With increasing infectiousness comes an increased likelihood of viral resistance to the vaccines".
He claims his beliefs are basic principles taught in a student's first vaccinology class – "One shouldn't use a prophylactic vaccine in populations exposed to high infectious pressure (which is now certainly the case as multiple highly infectious variants are currently circulating").
He states that to "fully escape", the highly mutable virus, "only needs to add another few mutations in its receptor-binding domain".
People stand to lose their natural 'innate' immunity as a consequence of the meddling
His real worry though, or as he puts it, "beyond worried", is that the humankind may severely damage it's own, natural 'innate' immunity, because of the mass deployment of vaccination programs at this critical juncture. Our 'innate' immunity would be lost (a rich, variant-nonspecific, form of natural immunity).
It would also mean that vaccine-mediated protection would be lost.
All whilst new, more dangerous variants would be getting actively breed by mankind. In effect, "turning a relatively harmless virus into a bioweapon of mass destruction".
June 22, 2022
On this scorching Saturday June 18, the Aquarives nautical center in Hagondange was the scene of a particularly shocking scene. When the doors opened at 2 p.m., nearly 400 individuals, according to the establishment's management, forced their way through and fraudulently entered the establishment.
The order service provided by the management was overwhelmed and the police had to intervene at 2:20 p.m. "There was a big jostling and great tension," noted the police who intervened to secure the scene. According to the management, 1,500 people were present at the same time in the enclosure of the center, whose gauge is invariably fixed at 1,247 people.
Gates and turnstiles spanned, fences folded
"All of a sudden, we had to deal with a massive influx of people who jumped over the gates and turnstiles and bent the fences to be able to enter through the gardens," says Bastien Grandin, the director of the aquatic center, relieved that the day nevertheless ended without any injuries.
Intrusions also at the Amnéville swimming pool
At the height of the turmoil, twenty-one police officers were present but six of them were detached to Amnéville where a similar scene was happening at the Olympic swimming pool. "There was an incident involving a group of young people who had already been talked about the previous week", confirms a police source who indicates that he also intervened, the same day, at the Montigny-lès-Metz swimming pool. Still according to the police, these two establishments, overwhelmed by the crowds, had to close their doors earlier than planned.
The Hagondange aquatic center remained open on Saturday, as planned, until 6 p.m. The police remained on site to ensure the safety of swimmers but did not evacuate the establishment. On the other hand, this Sunday, the center, which was to be open to the public before closing from June 20 to July 2 for the annual emptying, did not open at all. "A significant financial loss for the nautical center", laments Bastien Grandin, "but we took advantage of this day to restore the place and begin to take stock of the damage and assess the damage". "Witnesses will send us the videos they have recorded and which should allow us to identify the fraudsters and thus to file a complaint," he added.
Christophe Legendre, the director of human resources and information of the Prestalys group which manages the establishment, described a scene "shocking, devastating and of rare violence".
On this scorching Saturday June 18, the Aquarives nautical center in Hagondange was the scene of a particularly shocking scene. When the doors opened at 2 p.m., nearly 400 individuals, according to the establishment's management, forced their way through and fraudulently entered the establishment.
The order service provided by the management was overwhelmed and the police had to intervene at 2:20 p.m. "There was a big jostling and great tension," noted the police who intervened to secure the scene. According to the management, 1,500 people were present at the same time in the enclosure of the center, whose gauge is invariably fixed at 1,247 people.
Gates and turnstiles spanned, fences folded
"All of a sudden, we had to deal with a massive influx of people who jumped over the gates and turnstiles and bent the fences to be able to enter through the gardens," says Bastien Grandin, the director of the aquatic center, relieved that the day nevertheless ended without any injuries.
Intrusions also at the Amnéville swimming pool
At the height of the turmoil, twenty-one police officers were present but six of them were detached to Amnéville where a similar scene was happening at the Olympic swimming pool. "There was an incident involving a group of young people who had already been talked about the previous week", confirms a police source who indicates that he also intervened, the same day, at the Montigny-lès-Metz swimming pool. Still according to the police, these two establishments, overwhelmed by the crowds, had to close their doors earlier than planned.
The Hagondange aquatic center remained open on Saturday, as planned, until 6 p.m. The police remained on site to ensure the safety of swimmers but did not evacuate the establishment. On the other hand, this Sunday, the center, which was to be open to the public before closing from June 20 to July 2 for the annual emptying, did not open at all. "A significant financial loss for the nautical center", laments Bastien Grandin, "but we took advantage of this day to restore the place and begin to take stock of the damage and assess the damage". "Witnesses will send us the videos they have recorded and which should allow us to identify the fraudsters and thus to file a complaint," he added.
Christophe Legendre, the director of human resources and information of the Prestalys group which manages the establishment, described a scene "shocking, devastating and of rare violence".
21 Giugno 2022
La Commissione Europea ritiene che il litio sia classificato come tossico, potenzialmente pericoloso per la sicurezza energetica e per il raggiungimento degli obiettivi climatici.
Rystad Energy 16 giugno 2022
La possibile decisione della Commissione Europea (CE) di classificare il litio come tossina riproduttiva di categoria 1A – che probabilmente sarà presa nel quarto trimestre di quest'anno – potrebbe vanificare gli sforzi dell'Unione Europea (UE) per creare e gestire una catena di approvvigionamento interna per i materiali delle batterie. Attualmente, l'UE fa molto affidamento sull'importazione di litio per rifornire il suo nascente settore manifatturiero di veicoli elettrici e la classificazione potrebbe aumentare la dipendenza da altre regioni nella fase in cui l'UE si concentra sulla sicurezza energetica e sulla riduzione delle emissioni.
Secondo una ricerca di Rystad Energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rystad_Energy , l'Europa ha annunciato l'intenzione di aumentare la produzione di carbonato di litio per le batterie dall'attuale livello zero all'8,3% della produzione mondiale entro il 2025. L'Europa ha un'ambizione simile per quanto riguarda l'idrossido di litio, che è fondamentale per le batterie dei veicoli elettrici a lungo raggio. Secondo una ricerca di Rystad Energy – anche senza una potenziale decisione della Commissione Europea, non sarà possibile colmare il gap stimato del 218% nella lavorazione dell'idrossido di litio, che l'Europa dovrà affrontare entro la fine del 2030.
Il comitato di valutazione dei rischi (RAC) dell'Agenzia europea per le sostanze chimiche (ECHA) ha pubblicato un parere alla fine del 2021 in cui concordava con le proposte francesi di classificare tre sali di litio come tossici per la riproduzione di categoria 1A. Ha concluso che il carbonato di litio, l'idrossido di litio e il cloruro di litio dovrebbero essere classificati ai sensi del regolamento sulla classificazione, l'etichettatura e l'imballaggio (CLP) come sostanze che possono nuocere alla fertilità e ai bambini non ancora nati. È stato inoltre accertato che queste sostanze possono essere dannose per i bambini allattati al seno.
Le conclusioni preliminari sono state presentate alla CE il 23 e 24 marzo e sono attualmente in fase di revisione e consultazione e la CE pubblicherà il suo primo progetto di regolamento tra ottobre e dicembre. Gli Stati membri dell'UE possono ancora opporsi a queste proposte fino all'estate.
Sebbene la classificazione non interromperà l'uso del litio, è altamente probabile che abbia un impatto su almeno quattro fasi della catena di approvvigionamento delle batterie al litio nell'UE: estrazione, lavorazione, produzione di catodi e riciclaggio del litio. Ciascuno di questi settori in erba in Europa potrebbe essere influenzato da una serie di problemi amministrativi, gestione del rischio e vincoli, aumento dei costi.
"Se la Commissione europea decidesse di farlo, potrebbe minare la sicurezza energetica dell'UE e gli obiettivi "net zero" e aumentare i costi nel mercato nazionale dei veicoli elettrici. L'UE è un potere di regolamentazione globale, quindi qualsiasi decisione di classificare il litio come sostanza tossica di categoria 1A nel più grande mercato unico del mondo sarà attentamente esaminata dalle autorità di regolamentazione di altri paesi. L'industria odia l'incertezza legale, quindi più tempo ci vuole per aspettare una decisione, più ritarda le decisioni di investimento esistenti e significative. Questa è più di una semplice domanda tecnica; gli effetti possono essere di vasta portata e ampi » , afferma James Ley, vicepresidente senior della ricerca.
Implicazioni per la produzione di veicoli elettrici
I recenti eventi del settore hanno sottolineato che uno dei principali ostacoli al rapido sviluppo di nuovi progetti minerari in Europa è il lungo processo di rilascio dei permessi per nuove iniziative minerarie. Sia il carbonato di litio che l'idrossido sono fondamentali per la catena di approvvigionamento delle materie prime delle batterie poiché la maggior parte delle nuove batterie dei veicoli elettrici contengono litio. Questa possibile regolamentazione arriva in un momento in cui la stessa UE si sta adoperando per costruire e stabilire catene di approvvigionamento locali del litio. La questione dei permessi è stata più volte evidenziata in occasione di recenti eventi del settore come uno dei principali ostacoli al rapido sviluppo di nuovi progetti minerari nell'UE.
C'è anche un ulteriore rischio di perdere il sostegno della comunità per potenziali progetti di estrazione e lavorazione del litio. Potrebbero sorgere ulteriori preoccupazioni se la decisione in sospeso rallenta l'afflusso di nuovi e necessari nuovi investimenti nell'industria dell'estrazione e della lavorazione del litio dell'UE. Rystad Energy è a conoscenza di almeno un nuovo progetto per il trattamento dell'idrossido di litio, che sta trattenendo una decisione di investimento fino alla decisione finale della Commissione Europea.
L'industria richiede chiarezza
I rappresentanti dell'industria del litio sollecitano la Commissione europea a rivalutare il parere originario del RAC . Sostengono inoltre che i tre sali di litio non possono essere visti nella stessa luce e che ci sono seri dubbi sul read-across dell'idrossido di litio a causa delle sue proprietà corrosive. La classificazione errata dei sali di litio creerà incertezza negli affari con numerose implicazioni per gli investimenti futuri.
Altri paesi extra UE possono giungere a una diversa conclusione di classificazione, ottenendo un vantaggio competitivo. Ad esempio, il Regno Unito proporrà la propria classificazione entro il 30 giugno, il che significa che, a seconda di una decisione presa a Londra, gli investimenti di elaborazione proposti a uno Stato membro dell'UE potrebbero essere trasferiti nel Regno Unito. https://www.rystadenergy.com/newsevents/news/press-releases/european-commission-considers-classifying-lithium-as-toxic-potenzialmente-eroding-its-energy-security-and-climate-goals/
La Commissione Europea ritiene che il litio sia classificato come tossico, potenzialmente pericoloso per la sicurezza energetica e per il raggiungimento degli obiettivi climatici.
Rystad Energy 16 giugno 2022
La possibile decisione della Commissione Europea (CE) di classificare il litio come tossina riproduttiva di categoria 1A – che probabilmente sarà presa nel quarto trimestre di quest'anno – potrebbe vanificare gli sforzi dell'Unione Europea (UE) per creare e gestire una catena di approvvigionamento interna per i materiali delle batterie. Attualmente, l'UE fa molto affidamento sull'importazione di litio per rifornire il suo nascente settore manifatturiero di veicoli elettrici e la classificazione potrebbe aumentare la dipendenza da altre regioni nella fase in cui l'UE si concentra sulla sicurezza energetica e sulla riduzione delle emissioni.
Secondo una ricerca di Rystad Energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rystad_Energy , l'Europa ha annunciato l'intenzione di aumentare la produzione di carbonato di litio per le batterie dall'attuale livello zero all'8,3% della produzione mondiale entro il 2025. L'Europa ha un'ambizione simile per quanto riguarda l'idrossido di litio, che è fondamentale per le batterie dei veicoli elettrici a lungo raggio. Secondo una ricerca di Rystad Energy – anche senza una potenziale decisione della Commissione Europea, non sarà possibile colmare il gap stimato del 218% nella lavorazione dell'idrossido di litio, che l'Europa dovrà affrontare entro la fine del 2030.
Il comitato di valutazione dei rischi (RAC) dell'Agenzia europea per le sostanze chimiche (ECHA) ha pubblicato un parere alla fine del 2021 in cui concordava con le proposte francesi di classificare tre sali di litio come tossici per la riproduzione di categoria 1A. Ha concluso che il carbonato di litio, l'idrossido di litio e il cloruro di litio dovrebbero essere classificati ai sensi del regolamento sulla classificazione, l'etichettatura e l'imballaggio (CLP) come sostanze che possono nuocere alla fertilità e ai bambini non ancora nati. È stato inoltre accertato che queste sostanze possono essere dannose per i bambini allattati al seno.
Le conclusioni preliminari sono state presentate alla CE il 23 e 24 marzo e sono attualmente in fase di revisione e consultazione e la CE pubblicherà il suo primo progetto di regolamento tra ottobre e dicembre. Gli Stati membri dell'UE possono ancora opporsi a queste proposte fino all'estate.
Sebbene la classificazione non interromperà l'uso del litio, è altamente probabile che abbia un impatto su almeno quattro fasi della catena di approvvigionamento delle batterie al litio nell'UE: estrazione, lavorazione, produzione di catodi e riciclaggio del litio. Ciascuno di questi settori in erba in Europa potrebbe essere influenzato da una serie di problemi amministrativi, gestione del rischio e vincoli, aumento dei costi.
"Se la Commissione europea decidesse di farlo, potrebbe minare la sicurezza energetica dell'UE e gli obiettivi "net zero" e aumentare i costi nel mercato nazionale dei veicoli elettrici. L'UE è un potere di regolamentazione globale, quindi qualsiasi decisione di classificare il litio come sostanza tossica di categoria 1A nel più grande mercato unico del mondo sarà attentamente esaminata dalle autorità di regolamentazione di altri paesi. L'industria odia l'incertezza legale, quindi più tempo ci vuole per aspettare una decisione, più ritarda le decisioni di investimento esistenti e significative. Questa è più di una semplice domanda tecnica; gli effetti possono essere di vasta portata e ampi » , afferma James Ley, vicepresidente senior della ricerca.
Implicazioni per la produzione di veicoli elettrici
I recenti eventi del settore hanno sottolineato che uno dei principali ostacoli al rapido sviluppo di nuovi progetti minerari in Europa è il lungo processo di rilascio dei permessi per nuove iniziative minerarie. Sia il carbonato di litio che l'idrossido sono fondamentali per la catena di approvvigionamento delle materie prime delle batterie poiché la maggior parte delle nuove batterie dei veicoli elettrici contengono litio. Questa possibile regolamentazione arriva in un momento in cui la stessa UE si sta adoperando per costruire e stabilire catene di approvvigionamento locali del litio. La questione dei permessi è stata più volte evidenziata in occasione di recenti eventi del settore come uno dei principali ostacoli al rapido sviluppo di nuovi progetti minerari nell'UE.
C'è anche un ulteriore rischio di perdere il sostegno della comunità per potenziali progetti di estrazione e lavorazione del litio. Potrebbero sorgere ulteriori preoccupazioni se la decisione in sospeso rallenta l'afflusso di nuovi e necessari nuovi investimenti nell'industria dell'estrazione e della lavorazione del litio dell'UE. Rystad Energy è a conoscenza di almeno un nuovo progetto per il trattamento dell'idrossido di litio, che sta trattenendo una decisione di investimento fino alla decisione finale della Commissione Europea.
L'industria richiede chiarezza
I rappresentanti dell'industria del litio sollecitano la Commissione europea a rivalutare il parere originario del RAC . Sostengono inoltre che i tre sali di litio non possono essere visti nella stessa luce e che ci sono seri dubbi sul read-across dell'idrossido di litio a causa delle sue proprietà corrosive. La classificazione errata dei sali di litio creerà incertezza negli affari con numerose implicazioni per gli investimenti futuri.
Altri paesi extra UE possono giungere a una diversa conclusione di classificazione, ottenendo un vantaggio competitivo. Ad esempio, il Regno Unito proporrà la propria classificazione entro il 30 giugno, il che significa che, a seconda di una decisione presa a Londra, gli investimenti di elaborazione proposti a uno Stato membro dell'UE potrebbero essere trasferiti nel Regno Unito. https://www.rystadenergy.com/newsevents/news/press-releases/european-commission-considers-classifying-lithium-as-toxic-potenzialmente-eroding-its-energy-security-and-climate-goals/
16.04.2022
Eight years ago this week, Kiev kicked off its 'anti-terrorist operation' in Donbass. The fiercest battles of the war were fought between 2014 and 2015. After that, the civil conflict turned into a war of position, but troops and civilians alike continued to die in both Donetsk and Lugansk. The war claimed the lives of over 13,000 people.
6 April 2014: Seizure of the Ukrainian Security Service Building in Lugansk
This event would mark a turning point of the 'Russian Spring' – the widespread pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine which followed the February 2014 Western-backed coup d'état in Kiev. Fledgling militia forces in Lugansk seized the Ukrainian Security Service building in the city, arming themselves en masse with weapons from its large armoury.
6 April 2014: Capture of Donetsk Administration and Start of the Defence of Slavyansk
The same day in neighbouring Donetsk, participants of a protest rally took over the building of the Donetsk Regional Council and the regional administration, formally proclaiming the Donetsk People's Republic and creating the People's Council on 7 April. The council adopted twin declarations on the sovereignty and independence of the DPR.
Several days later, on 12 April, a group over 50 local militiamen and Russian volunteer commander Igor Strelkov, a subscriber to pan-Slavic views, began the seizure of administrative buildings in Slavyansk in northern Donetsk region. Preparations for the defence of the city began.
13 April 2014: 'Anti-Terrorist Operation' Kicks Off in Donbass
On 13 April, the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine signed off on the start of an 'anti-terrorist operation' (ATO) in Donbass, with acting President Oleksandr Turchynov – appointed to the role following the ouster of democratically-elected President Viktor Yanukovych, approving it. In essence, there was nothing 'anti-terrorist' about it. It was a military operation against the population of those eastern regions of Ukraine which did not support the coup in Kiev.
At about 9 am on the morning of 13 April, a vehicle containing Special Group Alpha Ukrainian Spetsnaz troops assigned to administrative buildings in Slavyansk was ambushed by militias. Kiev announced the start of an ATO in the city the same morning. Alpha Captain Gennady Bilichenko was killed, and three other Spetsnaz fighters were injured.
2 May 2014: Assault on Slavyansk
This date is considered the real jumping off point to a full-fledged war in Donbass. Ukrainian forces made an attempt to storm Slavyansk, pushing into the city with air support. Some fortified DPR positions were taken, along with commanding heights in the area of Karachun, where artillery batteries were deployed. However, militia members managed to shoot down several enemy helicopters using MANPADs, killing five Ukrainian military pilots.
Left without air support, Ukraine's internal troops curtailed their offensive. In all, nine Ukrainian troops were killed, with Donbass militia suffering one casualty and over a dozen injuries. The first Ukrainian military assault on Slavyansk ended in failure.
The city's defenders reported that nationalist fighters from the Right Sector, a neo-Nazi political party and paramilitary group, had taken part in fighting for the city. The militants later confirmed their involvement.
At the Security Council, Russia demanded that Kiev "immediately stop this punitive operation and any violence against its own people, release political prisoners, and ensure the complete freedom of the work of journalists".
9 May 2014: Bloodbath in Mariupol
The Azov Sea coast city of Mariupol saw mass protests by residents opposed to the coup in Kiev. On 6 May, the first major confrontation between local militia members and Ukrainian nationalist battalions took place. In fighting with a national battalion created and financed by Ukrainian lawmaker Oleh Liashko, leader of the nationalist Radical Party, a militiaman was killed and the first defence minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic, Igor Khakimzyanov, was taken prisoner.
On 9 May, Ukrainian security forces opened fire on demonstrators, including pensioners who were out celebrating the anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. Armed clashes broke out, with pro-Russian activists occupying a local police department building, and Ukrainian troops, including neo-Nazi Azov Battalion fighters, attempting to storm it. At least 13 people were killed in fighting, and many more wounded.
The confrontation in Mariupol became a major signpost on Kiev's path toward a broader war.
26 May 2014: Donetsk Airport – Long-Running Meat Grinder
The battle for Donetsk Airport began on 26 May 2014, and continued until 21 January 2015, lasting a total of 242 days. The pre-coup government spent over $875 million renovating and expanding the airport just before the conflict began, with the facility almost completely gutted by the time the fighting was ended.
On 26 May 2014, DPR militia forces entered the airport, gaining a foothold in one of its terminals. Kiev responded with airstrikes, attacking lightly armed volunteer fighters with Su-25 ground attack aircraft and Mi-24 helicopter gunships, and pounding them from the ground using anti-aircraft guns and grenade launchers. Facing heavy losses, the militiamen pulled back.
Fighting of varying intensity would continue for eight months. The militias finally drove Ukrainian forces out of the area in January 2015. The DPR estimates that nearly 600 Ukrainian troops died in fighting for the airport. Kiev, for its part, claims that about 800 militia were killed, and that as many as 2,000 were wounded.
2 July 2014: Airstrike on the Lugansk Regional Administration
On 2 July, Ukrainian forces carried out airstrikes on the building of the former Lugansk regional administration, the parking lot in front of it, and the park named after the Heroes of the Great Patriotic War nearby. Ukrainian forces fired 20 bombs and missiles in total. The park is surrounded by residential buildings, and a kindergarten and playground (containing children at the time of the attack) is located directly behind the administration.
Lugansk People's Republic government personnel were in the building at the time of the strike. Eight people were killed, with 28 others wounded by shrapnel. The LPR's leaders declared that then-head of the republic Valery Bolotov and his entourage were the targets.
The Ukrainian side denied that any air raid had taken place, and suggested that the building was rocked by an explosion caused by the "inept handling of small arms and explosives" by militiamen. Another version claimed that a MANPAD missile fired at a Ukrainian aircraft scraped an air conditioner on the building's façade and then slammed into the building.
On 3 June, Organisation for Security Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers concluded that the administration building was hit by unguided rockets fired from an aircraft.
5 June 2014: Battles for Lugansk Airport
In June, fighting broke out between Ukrainian security forces and the Donbass militias at Lugansk Airport. Kiev saw the airport as a key goal in its broader plans to capture the city of Lugansk itself.
By the end of August 2014, the airport was being defended by between 1,500-2,000 Ukrainian troops. At the same time, LPR forces had been strengthened, and the garrison at the airport was surrounded. On the night of 1 September, Ukrainian forces which had held the airport for 146 days blew up its runway (a strange measure, given that the Donbass militias had no air forces of their own) and retreated. The airport has been under the complete control of the LPR ever since.
The liberation of the airport frustrated Kiev's plans to capture Lugansk and break through to the self-proclaimed republic's border with Russia through the settlement of Novosvetlovka, which would have allowed them to block the Lugansk-Krasnodon highway.
2 July 2014: Bombardment of Stanitsa Luganskaya
On 2 July, Ukrainian air power bombed the settlement of Stanitsa Luganskaya. Vladislav Bylous, chief of the local administration, said the first strike took place at 11 am, destroying the police station, the courthouse, and two other buildings. Three people were killed. A second strike followed, killing nine and injuring 11 others. Among the dead were a five-year-old boy, who had his legs blown off, and his father. Ukraine alternated between denying the incident took place and blaming Donbass forces, claiming they used artillery to strike the town.
5 July 2014: Siege of Slavyansk
Throughout the spring and summer of 2014, Slavyansk faced constant shelling, with scores of civilians killed and, by early July – well over half of its pre-war population of 143,000 had been forced to flee. In an appeal on 4 July, commander Strelkov said that "over 30,000 people" remained trapped in the besieged city. After three months of fierce fighting involving over 15,000 Ukrainian troops and between 800 and 1,000 militiamen, the militias was forced to evacuate Slavyansk, with the city occupied by the Ukrainian army since that time. Part of the militia regrouped in Kramatorsk, while others travelled to the city of Donetsk.
Summer 2014: Zelenopolye and the 'Southern Cauldron'
In June 2014, Lugansk militiamen took control of about 100 km of the border between the region and Russia. The border was opened to the free movement of volunteers, cargo, and equipment. Kiev sent troops up from Mariupol to try to regain control of the frontier area.
When a Ukrainian group of 5,000 troops and over 100 vehicles entered an area between Zelenopolye and Saur-Mogila, militiamen sprung a trap, blocking Ukrainian forces in a cauldron, leaving them unable to retreat toward Mariupol, while blocking the path to Lugansk.
Ukrainian forces spent a month in the cauldron, with the militias lacking the resources to destroy the enemy, but having just enough manpower to keep them surrounded. For a month they shelled the Ukrainian grouping with artillery and awaited their surrender. Ukrainian high command forbade surrender, and made several failed attempts to break the forces out of encirclement.
The southern cauldron took its final shape after the militia garrison was evacuated from Slavyansk. Fighters from this direction significantly strengthened militia positions in the city of Donetsk and blocked the Ukrainian military's room for manoeuvre, stopping them from breaking through to the southern cauldron, as well as Donetsk and Lugansk.
Ukraine is estimated to have lost between 3,000 and 3,500 servicemen in the southern cauldron, with the militiamen believed to have lost between 500 and 1,000 fighters in the operation.
Summer 2014: Battles for Saur-Mogila
The summer of 2014 also witnessed heavy fighting between Ukrainian forces and Donbass militia for Saur-Mogila, a strategic height in Donetsk's Shakhtyorsky district.
During the Second World War, in the course of Donbass strategic offensive, fierce battles raged for Saur-Mogila, with thousands of Red Army and Wehrmacht troops killed there in brutal fighting in the summer of 1943. In the 2014 conflict, the strategic height – serving as an observation post and firing position, again acquired great importance for the warring parties.
In mid-July 2014, militia forces controlling the height played a major role in the encirclement of the 5,000 strong grouping of Ukrainian troops trapped in the southern cauldron. The height was the only route through which the encircled units could receive reinforcements.
The heaviest battles raged in July, with both sides periodically announcing that they had taken control of the strategic vantage point. By the end of August, Ukrainian forces retreated and joined the rest of the forces surrounded in the southern cauldron.
Control of Saur-Mogila allowed DPR troops to reach the Sea of Azov and, eventually, to take control of the town of Novoazovsk, along with a 40 km slice of the coast.
10 August 2014: Battle for Ilovaisk
Three weeks of fighting in eastern Donetsk led to the formation of the so-called 'Ilovaisk cauldron', named after the small town of the same name, which contains a major rail junction. For Kiev, the area was an important staging ground from which a foothold for an offensive to the east could be formed. On top of that, taking control of the territory would cut off the administrative centre of the DPR from Lugansk and the Russian border.
Ukrainian command deployed a strike group of up to 2,000 troops and volunteers in the area. On 10 August, the Azov and Donbas volunteer battalions attempted a head-on assault. Opposing them were Oplot and Vostok – experienced DPR militia battalions. Ukrainian troops were forced to retreat, taking heavy losses, while the Azov and Donbas commanders accused Kiev of failing to provide them with sufficient heavy weaponry support.
On 19 August, Ukrainian forces made a second assault attempt, and were again forced to retreat 24 hours later. A week after that, on 26 August, the combined company of the 93rd and 17th Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, plus fighters from the Dnepr-1, Kherson, Svityaz, and Myrotvorets volunteer battalions were surrounded. By this time, most of the group's senior officers had evacuated from the front.
Kiev says it lost 366 troops and volunteers killed and 289 injured, with another 158 declared missing in action and 128 captured in the fighting. The DPR estimates that Ukraine lost over 900 dead in the battles. The militia suffered 200 killed.
17 July 2014: Downing of the Malaysian Boeing
On 17 July, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crashed near Grabovo in the Donetsk People's Republic. All 298 people on board were killed. The Dutch-led Joint Investigative Team concluded that the airliner was shot down by a Buk surface to air missile system from territory controlled by the militias. The DPR alleged that a Ukrainian Su-25 spotted three-five km from the civilian aircraft may have shot it down. Satellite imagery showed that the Ukrainian forces had moved a Buk to an area of the region controlled by the DPR. A comprehensive investigation by the Russian military and Buk manufacturer Almaz-Antey in 2018 determined that the missile which downed the jetliner was manufactured in 1986, and belonged to a military unit in western Ukraine. Kiev denies all responsibility and blames the Donbass militias and Moscow.
15 July 2014: Bombardment of the Settlement of Snezhnoye
At 6:30 in the morning on 15 July, Ukrainian aircraft carried out an air raid on the town of Snezhnoye in Donetsk. 12 people were killed, with nearly a dozen others, including a small child, injured. The missile and bomb attack levelled a five-story residential building on Lenin Street and destroyed the city's tax administration. Kiev denied involvement, claiming that an "unknown aircraft" bombed the settlement.
13 August 2014: Bombing of a Beach in Zugres, DPR
On 13 August, Ukrainian forces bombed a beach area in the sleepy DPR town of Zugres. 12 civilians were killed and about 40 received injuries of varying severity. An investigation showed that cluster munitions, banned under international law, were used in the attack. An unexploded shell from a BM-30 Smerch MLRS – which has a firing range of between 20 and 70 km, was also found. An analysis of satellite imagery later determined the exact Ukrainian MLRS systems involved – the 1st Division of the 107th Rocket Artillery Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the command of Col. A.M. Kelembet.
25-28 August 2014: Liberation of Novoazovsk
On 25 August, the Donbass militias began an assault on Novoazovsk, a southern Donetsk region town east of Mariupol on the Azov Sea. Kiev and NATO have claimed that Russian troops were present during the battle and directly involved in the fighting, acting in concert with militias. Russia dismissed these claims as disinformation. Novoazovsk was captured by DPR units on 27 August.
5 September 2014: Minsk I
On 5 September, the Minsk Protocol, a ceasefire agreement between Kiev and the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, was signed in the Belarusian capital. After the agreement was approved, fighting temporarily subsided, but soon resumed with new intensity, with the warring parties essentially ceasing to comply with its terms completely by mid-January 2015.
22 January 2015: Shelling of a Bus Stop in Donetsk
During the morning rush hour on 22 January 2015, Ukrainian forces fired at a bus stop in the Leninsky district of the city of Donetsk, killing 13 people and injuring dozens of others.
December 2014-February 2015: Battle for Debaltsevo
On 23 January 2015, DPR troops began an offensive on the city of Debaltsevo and its suburb of Uglegorsk, with the urban areas separating Donetsk and Lugansk forces, and ensuring Kiev access to a key road and rail junction.
As DPR troops advanced, LPR forces pinned down the enemy. The Donbass militias advanced towards one another's positions, eventually encircling Ukrainian forces in a new cauldron. On 12 February 2015, Minsk II, a new attempt at a ceasefire and eventual peace, was signed. A ceasefire was declared beginning on 15 February. In Debaltsevo, the DPR units finished what they started and took the city on 16 February.
Each side threw everything they had into the meat grinder, with some 6,000 Ukrainian troops, including army, National Guard and volunteer battalions involved. Then-DPR chief Alexander Zakharchenko personally took part in and was wounded in the battle. 80 percent of the residential buildings and infrastructure were destroyed, with Kiev accused of deliberately destroying everything in its path as it left using scorched earth tactics.
Casualty figures vary wildly depending on whom you ask. Kiev claims it lost just 267 troops killed. The DPR estimated that some 3,000 Ukrainian troops were killed. The latter also says its own losses amounted to only 30 troops lost. Kiev says nearly 3,800 DPR troops were killed, injured, or taken prisoner in the battle.
2016-2021: Uneasy Ceasefire Punctuated by Bombs, Bullets, and Shelling
After Minsk was signed, the conflict in Donbass transformed into a war of position. Outbursts of hostilities emerged in the areas of Avdeevka and Shirokino in Donetsk, with Kiev forces taking several small settlements along the line of contact, in violation of the agreements.
Between 2016 and 2021, a number of high-profile Donbass militia commanders were killed. Sparta Battalion commander Arseniy Pavlov, better known as Motorola, was killed on 16 October 2016 in the lift of his apartment building in the city of Donetsk, with a homemade bomb attached to the lift going off. Somali Battalion commander Mikhail 'Givi' Tolstyh died on 8 February 2017 on the territory of his military unit in Makeevka, DPR in his office, either at the hands of a Shmel man-portable disposable rocket-assisted flamethrower or in an explosion of a planted bomb. Pyatnashka battalion commander Oleg 'Mamai' Mamiev received a fatal shrapnel injury in fighting at an industrial zone outside Avdeevka on 17 May 2018. DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko was killed on 31 August 2018 in an explosion at the Separ cafe in central Donetsk.
Fighting during the period after 2015 was not as intensive as before, but the shelling of military positions and civilian settlements in Donbass continued unabated. According to OSCE figures, in 2016 alone over 300,000 violations of the ceasefire were recorded. In 2017, over 401,000 more violations took place, with the OSCE calculating that 479 Donbass civilians were killed that year.
In 2019, over 200,000 additional violations of the ceasefire took place.
On 22 July 2020, the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbass (Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE) agreed on the terms of an indefinite and comprehensive ceasefire, which stepped into force at midnight on 27 July. However, OSCE monitors later reported that by October of that year, the ceasefire had been violated 1,605 times.
Between August 2021 and February 2022, OSCE monitors recorded another 70,865 violations of the ceasefire.
Factually, notwithstanding the Minsk Agreements, the war in Donbass did not stop throughout the past eight years. People continued to live their lives under the threat of shelling. Some were killed or injured. Others lost their homes.
Eight years ago this week, Kiev kicked off its 'anti-terrorist operation' in Donbass. The fiercest battles of the war were fought between 2014 and 2015. After that, the civil conflict turned into a war of position, but troops and civilians alike continued to die in both Donetsk and Lugansk. The war claimed the lives of over 13,000 people.
6 April 2014: Seizure of the Ukrainian Security Service Building in Lugansk
This event would mark a turning point of the 'Russian Spring' – the widespread pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine which followed the February 2014 Western-backed coup d'état in Kiev. Fledgling militia forces in Lugansk seized the Ukrainian Security Service building in the city, arming themselves en masse with weapons from its large armoury.
6 April 2014: Capture of Donetsk Administration and Start of the Defence of Slavyansk
The same day in neighbouring Donetsk, participants of a protest rally took over the building of the Donetsk Regional Council and the regional administration, formally proclaiming the Donetsk People's Republic and creating the People's Council on 7 April. The council adopted twin declarations on the sovereignty and independence of the DPR.
Several days later, on 12 April, a group over 50 local militiamen and Russian volunteer commander Igor Strelkov, a subscriber to pan-Slavic views, began the seizure of administrative buildings in Slavyansk in northern Donetsk region. Preparations for the defence of the city began.
13 April 2014: 'Anti-Terrorist Operation' Kicks Off in Donbass
On 13 April, the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine signed off on the start of an 'anti-terrorist operation' (ATO) in Donbass, with acting President Oleksandr Turchynov – appointed to the role following the ouster of democratically-elected President Viktor Yanukovych, approving it. In essence, there was nothing 'anti-terrorist' about it. It was a military operation against the population of those eastern regions of Ukraine which did not support the coup in Kiev.
At about 9 am on the morning of 13 April, a vehicle containing Special Group Alpha Ukrainian Spetsnaz troops assigned to administrative buildings in Slavyansk was ambushed by militias. Kiev announced the start of an ATO in the city the same morning. Alpha Captain Gennady Bilichenko was killed, and three other Spetsnaz fighters were injured.
2 May 2014: Assault on Slavyansk
This date is considered the real jumping off point to a full-fledged war in Donbass. Ukrainian forces made an attempt to storm Slavyansk, pushing into the city with air support. Some fortified DPR positions were taken, along with commanding heights in the area of Karachun, where artillery batteries were deployed. However, militia members managed to shoot down several enemy helicopters using MANPADs, killing five Ukrainian military pilots.
Left without air support, Ukraine's internal troops curtailed their offensive. In all, nine Ukrainian troops were killed, with Donbass militia suffering one casualty and over a dozen injuries. The first Ukrainian military assault on Slavyansk ended in failure.
The city's defenders reported that nationalist fighters from the Right Sector, a neo-Nazi political party and paramilitary group, had taken part in fighting for the city. The militants later confirmed their involvement.
At the Security Council, Russia demanded that Kiev "immediately stop this punitive operation and any violence against its own people, release political prisoners, and ensure the complete freedom of the work of journalists".
9 May 2014: Bloodbath in Mariupol
The Azov Sea coast city of Mariupol saw mass protests by residents opposed to the coup in Kiev. On 6 May, the first major confrontation between local militia members and Ukrainian nationalist battalions took place. In fighting with a national battalion created and financed by Ukrainian lawmaker Oleh Liashko, leader of the nationalist Radical Party, a militiaman was killed and the first defence minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic, Igor Khakimzyanov, was taken prisoner.
On 9 May, Ukrainian security forces opened fire on demonstrators, including pensioners who were out celebrating the anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. Armed clashes broke out, with pro-Russian activists occupying a local police department building, and Ukrainian troops, including neo-Nazi Azov Battalion fighters, attempting to storm it. At least 13 people were killed in fighting, and many more wounded.
The confrontation in Mariupol became a major signpost on Kiev's path toward a broader war.
26 May 2014: Donetsk Airport – Long-Running Meat Grinder
The battle for Donetsk Airport began on 26 May 2014, and continued until 21 January 2015, lasting a total of 242 days. The pre-coup government spent over $875 million renovating and expanding the airport just before the conflict began, with the facility almost completely gutted by the time the fighting was ended.
On 26 May 2014, DPR militia forces entered the airport, gaining a foothold in one of its terminals. Kiev responded with airstrikes, attacking lightly armed volunteer fighters with Su-25 ground attack aircraft and Mi-24 helicopter gunships, and pounding them from the ground using anti-aircraft guns and grenade launchers. Facing heavy losses, the militiamen pulled back.
Fighting of varying intensity would continue for eight months. The militias finally drove Ukrainian forces out of the area in January 2015. The DPR estimates that nearly 600 Ukrainian troops died in fighting for the airport. Kiev, for its part, claims that about 800 militia were killed, and that as many as 2,000 were wounded.
2 July 2014: Airstrike on the Lugansk Regional Administration
On 2 July, Ukrainian forces carried out airstrikes on the building of the former Lugansk regional administration, the parking lot in front of it, and the park named after the Heroes of the Great Patriotic War nearby. Ukrainian forces fired 20 bombs and missiles in total. The park is surrounded by residential buildings, and a kindergarten and playground (containing children at the time of the attack) is located directly behind the administration.
Lugansk People's Republic government personnel were in the building at the time of the strike. Eight people were killed, with 28 others wounded by shrapnel. The LPR's leaders declared that then-head of the republic Valery Bolotov and his entourage were the targets.
The Ukrainian side denied that any air raid had taken place, and suggested that the building was rocked by an explosion caused by the "inept handling of small arms and explosives" by militiamen. Another version claimed that a MANPAD missile fired at a Ukrainian aircraft scraped an air conditioner on the building's façade and then slammed into the building.
On 3 June, Organisation for Security Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers concluded that the administration building was hit by unguided rockets fired from an aircraft.
5 June 2014: Battles for Lugansk Airport
In June, fighting broke out between Ukrainian security forces and the Donbass militias at Lugansk Airport. Kiev saw the airport as a key goal in its broader plans to capture the city of Lugansk itself.
By the end of August 2014, the airport was being defended by between 1,500-2,000 Ukrainian troops. At the same time, LPR forces had been strengthened, and the garrison at the airport was surrounded. On the night of 1 September, Ukrainian forces which had held the airport for 146 days blew up its runway (a strange measure, given that the Donbass militias had no air forces of their own) and retreated. The airport has been under the complete control of the LPR ever since.
The liberation of the airport frustrated Kiev's plans to capture Lugansk and break through to the self-proclaimed republic's border with Russia through the settlement of Novosvetlovka, which would have allowed them to block the Lugansk-Krasnodon highway.
2 July 2014: Bombardment of Stanitsa Luganskaya
On 2 July, Ukrainian air power bombed the settlement of Stanitsa Luganskaya. Vladislav Bylous, chief of the local administration, said the first strike took place at 11 am, destroying the police station, the courthouse, and two other buildings. Three people were killed. A second strike followed, killing nine and injuring 11 others. Among the dead were a five-year-old boy, who had his legs blown off, and his father. Ukraine alternated between denying the incident took place and blaming Donbass forces, claiming they used artillery to strike the town.
5 July 2014: Siege of Slavyansk
Throughout the spring and summer of 2014, Slavyansk faced constant shelling, with scores of civilians killed and, by early July – well over half of its pre-war population of 143,000 had been forced to flee. In an appeal on 4 July, commander Strelkov said that "over 30,000 people" remained trapped in the besieged city. After three months of fierce fighting involving over 15,000 Ukrainian troops and between 800 and 1,000 militiamen, the militias was forced to evacuate Slavyansk, with the city occupied by the Ukrainian army since that time. Part of the militia regrouped in Kramatorsk, while others travelled to the city of Donetsk.
Summer 2014: Zelenopolye and the 'Southern Cauldron'
In June 2014, Lugansk militiamen took control of about 100 km of the border between the region and Russia. The border was opened to the free movement of volunteers, cargo, and equipment. Kiev sent troops up from Mariupol to try to regain control of the frontier area.
When a Ukrainian group of 5,000 troops and over 100 vehicles entered an area between Zelenopolye and Saur-Mogila, militiamen sprung a trap, blocking Ukrainian forces in a cauldron, leaving them unable to retreat toward Mariupol, while blocking the path to Lugansk.
Ukrainian forces spent a month in the cauldron, with the militias lacking the resources to destroy the enemy, but having just enough manpower to keep them surrounded. For a month they shelled the Ukrainian grouping with artillery and awaited their surrender. Ukrainian high command forbade surrender, and made several failed attempts to break the forces out of encirclement.
The southern cauldron took its final shape after the militia garrison was evacuated from Slavyansk. Fighters from this direction significantly strengthened militia positions in the city of Donetsk and blocked the Ukrainian military's room for manoeuvre, stopping them from breaking through to the southern cauldron, as well as Donetsk and Lugansk.
Ukraine is estimated to have lost between 3,000 and 3,500 servicemen in the southern cauldron, with the militiamen believed to have lost between 500 and 1,000 fighters in the operation.
Summer 2014: Battles for Saur-Mogila
The summer of 2014 also witnessed heavy fighting between Ukrainian forces and Donbass militia for Saur-Mogila, a strategic height in Donetsk's Shakhtyorsky district.
During the Second World War, in the course of Donbass strategic offensive, fierce battles raged for Saur-Mogila, with thousands of Red Army and Wehrmacht troops killed there in brutal fighting in the summer of 1943. In the 2014 conflict, the strategic height – serving as an observation post and firing position, again acquired great importance for the warring parties.
In mid-July 2014, militia forces controlling the height played a major role in the encirclement of the 5,000 strong grouping of Ukrainian troops trapped in the southern cauldron. The height was the only route through which the encircled units could receive reinforcements.
The heaviest battles raged in July, with both sides periodically announcing that they had taken control of the strategic vantage point. By the end of August, Ukrainian forces retreated and joined the rest of the forces surrounded in the southern cauldron.
Control of Saur-Mogila allowed DPR troops to reach the Sea of Azov and, eventually, to take control of the town of Novoazovsk, along with a 40 km slice of the coast.
10 August 2014: Battle for Ilovaisk
Three weeks of fighting in eastern Donetsk led to the formation of the so-called 'Ilovaisk cauldron', named after the small town of the same name, which contains a major rail junction. For Kiev, the area was an important staging ground from which a foothold for an offensive to the east could be formed. On top of that, taking control of the territory would cut off the administrative centre of the DPR from Lugansk and the Russian border.
Ukrainian command deployed a strike group of up to 2,000 troops and volunteers in the area. On 10 August, the Azov and Donbas volunteer battalions attempted a head-on assault. Opposing them were Oplot and Vostok – experienced DPR militia battalions. Ukrainian troops were forced to retreat, taking heavy losses, while the Azov and Donbas commanders accused Kiev of failing to provide them with sufficient heavy weaponry support.
On 19 August, Ukrainian forces made a second assault attempt, and were again forced to retreat 24 hours later. A week after that, on 26 August, the combined company of the 93rd and 17th Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, plus fighters from the Dnepr-1, Kherson, Svityaz, and Myrotvorets volunteer battalions were surrounded. By this time, most of the group's senior officers had evacuated from the front.
Kiev says it lost 366 troops and volunteers killed and 289 injured, with another 158 declared missing in action and 128 captured in the fighting. The DPR estimates that Ukraine lost over 900 dead in the battles. The militia suffered 200 killed.
17 July 2014: Downing of the Malaysian Boeing
On 17 July, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crashed near Grabovo in the Donetsk People's Republic. All 298 people on board were killed. The Dutch-led Joint Investigative Team concluded that the airliner was shot down by a Buk surface to air missile system from territory controlled by the militias. The DPR alleged that a Ukrainian Su-25 spotted three-five km from the civilian aircraft may have shot it down. Satellite imagery showed that the Ukrainian forces had moved a Buk to an area of the region controlled by the DPR. A comprehensive investigation by the Russian military and Buk manufacturer Almaz-Antey in 2018 determined that the missile which downed the jetliner was manufactured in 1986, and belonged to a military unit in western Ukraine. Kiev denies all responsibility and blames the Donbass militias and Moscow.
15 July 2014: Bombardment of the Settlement of Snezhnoye
At 6:30 in the morning on 15 July, Ukrainian aircraft carried out an air raid on the town of Snezhnoye in Donetsk. 12 people were killed, with nearly a dozen others, including a small child, injured. The missile and bomb attack levelled a five-story residential building on Lenin Street and destroyed the city's tax administration. Kiev denied involvement, claiming that an "unknown aircraft" bombed the settlement.
13 August 2014: Bombing of a Beach in Zugres, DPR
On 13 August, Ukrainian forces bombed a beach area in the sleepy DPR town of Zugres. 12 civilians were killed and about 40 received injuries of varying severity. An investigation showed that cluster munitions, banned under international law, were used in the attack. An unexploded shell from a BM-30 Smerch MLRS – which has a firing range of between 20 and 70 km, was also found. An analysis of satellite imagery later determined the exact Ukrainian MLRS systems involved – the 1st Division of the 107th Rocket Artillery Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the command of Col. A.M. Kelembet.
25-28 August 2014: Liberation of Novoazovsk
On 25 August, the Donbass militias began an assault on Novoazovsk, a southern Donetsk region town east of Mariupol on the Azov Sea. Kiev and NATO have claimed that Russian troops were present during the battle and directly involved in the fighting, acting in concert with militias. Russia dismissed these claims as disinformation. Novoazovsk was captured by DPR units on 27 August.
5 September 2014: Minsk I
On 5 September, the Minsk Protocol, a ceasefire agreement between Kiev and the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, was signed in the Belarusian capital. After the agreement was approved, fighting temporarily subsided, but soon resumed with new intensity, with the warring parties essentially ceasing to comply with its terms completely by mid-January 2015.
22 January 2015: Shelling of a Bus Stop in Donetsk
During the morning rush hour on 22 January 2015, Ukrainian forces fired at a bus stop in the Leninsky district of the city of Donetsk, killing 13 people and injuring dozens of others.
December 2014-February 2015: Battle for Debaltsevo
On 23 January 2015, DPR troops began an offensive on the city of Debaltsevo and its suburb of Uglegorsk, with the urban areas separating Donetsk and Lugansk forces, and ensuring Kiev access to a key road and rail junction.
As DPR troops advanced, LPR forces pinned down the enemy. The Donbass militias advanced towards one another's positions, eventually encircling Ukrainian forces in a new cauldron. On 12 February 2015, Minsk II, a new attempt at a ceasefire and eventual peace, was signed. A ceasefire was declared beginning on 15 February. In Debaltsevo, the DPR units finished what they started and took the city on 16 February.
Each side threw everything they had into the meat grinder, with some 6,000 Ukrainian troops, including army, National Guard and volunteer battalions involved. Then-DPR chief Alexander Zakharchenko personally took part in and was wounded in the battle. 80 percent of the residential buildings and infrastructure were destroyed, with Kiev accused of deliberately destroying everything in its path as it left using scorched earth tactics.
Casualty figures vary wildly depending on whom you ask. Kiev claims it lost just 267 troops killed. The DPR estimated that some 3,000 Ukrainian troops were killed. The latter also says its own losses amounted to only 30 troops lost. Kiev says nearly 3,800 DPR troops were killed, injured, or taken prisoner in the battle.
2016-2021: Uneasy Ceasefire Punctuated by Bombs, Bullets, and Shelling
After Minsk was signed, the conflict in Donbass transformed into a war of position. Outbursts of hostilities emerged in the areas of Avdeevka and Shirokino in Donetsk, with Kiev forces taking several small settlements along the line of contact, in violation of the agreements.
Between 2016 and 2021, a number of high-profile Donbass militia commanders were killed. Sparta Battalion commander Arseniy Pavlov, better known as Motorola, was killed on 16 October 2016 in the lift of his apartment building in the city of Donetsk, with a homemade bomb attached to the lift going off. Somali Battalion commander Mikhail 'Givi' Tolstyh died on 8 February 2017 on the territory of his military unit in Makeevka, DPR in his office, either at the hands of a Shmel man-portable disposable rocket-assisted flamethrower or in an explosion of a planted bomb. Pyatnashka battalion commander Oleg 'Mamai' Mamiev received a fatal shrapnel injury in fighting at an industrial zone outside Avdeevka on 17 May 2018. DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko was killed on 31 August 2018 in an explosion at the Separ cafe in central Donetsk.
Fighting during the period after 2015 was not as intensive as before, but the shelling of military positions and civilian settlements in Donbass continued unabated. According to OSCE figures, in 2016 alone over 300,000 violations of the ceasefire were recorded. In 2017, over 401,000 more violations took place, with the OSCE calculating that 479 Donbass civilians were killed that year.
In 2019, over 200,000 additional violations of the ceasefire took place.
On 22 July 2020, the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbass (Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE) agreed on the terms of an indefinite and comprehensive ceasefire, which stepped into force at midnight on 27 July. However, OSCE monitors later reported that by October of that year, the ceasefire had been violated 1,605 times.
Between August 2021 and February 2022, OSCE monitors recorded another 70,865 violations of the ceasefire.
Factually, notwithstanding the Minsk Agreements, the war in Donbass did not stop throughout the past eight years. People continued to live their lives under the threat of shelling. Some were killed or injured. Others lost their homes.
On Wednesday, Ukraine was one of the dominant topics at the Russian Foreign Ministry's press conference. I translated what was said.
Jun 23, 2022
Since you always have to hear both sides of a dispute in order to form an opinion, I translated the parts of the press conference by Maria Zakharova , spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, that discussed Ukraine. This was initially a detailed Russian statement, later journalists asked further questions.
- Start of translation:
Eighty-one years later, the Russian military is once again fighting Nazism, neo-Nazism, the same kind of widespread fascism that then apparently has not been eradicated, and is ridding Ukraine of the neo-Nazi infestation fostered there by its Western "partners" for decades. Now our people are being killed again with weapons now made in NATO countries.
I would like to remind you that the slogan in the Third Reich was "Drang nach Osten". In fact, this has now become the motto of the Alliance, I didn't come up with it, they say it themselves. Recall the statements of all EU and NATO representatives about the "battlefield" that nothing positive is associated with Russia allowed, let alone victory in the Second World War. Remember the denial of Nazism and fascism in Ukraine, the raising of funds and the dispatching of military equipment if only it could go east from Brussels. All of this is happening against the background that the military infrastructure of the alliance has been moving ever closer to our borders for years.
The Ukrainian armed forces, which are withdrawing from the battlefield, are now exercising outright terror on the civilian population. Even now, their western curators fail to notice their nationalistic and misanthropic character. In Lysychansk in the LNR, the neo-Nazis set up positions and ammunition depots in schools. These are real schools, not schools retouched and made up in social media accounts and glued together from photos. They are real schools: schools No. 9, 14 and 28, also kindergarten No. 6, and in the residential buildings on Pobedy Street machine gun and sniper nests were built. Armored vehicles, artillery, and multiple rocket launchers are located in areas adjacent to the buildings. Not only are people not evacuated from the dangerous areas, but they are even forcibly detained there. A similar tragic situation was observed in other settlements under the control of the Zelensky regime - in Pryvolnoye, Kramatorsk, Zaporizhia and many others.
There have been instances of deliberate kidnapping to induce people into Ukrainian nationalist positions. According to the Interior Ministry of the Lugansk People's Republic, 1,200 civilians are forcibly detained at the Azot plant in Severodonetsk alone. Once again, civilians are being used as "human shields." Apparently that's what the Ukrainian military is taught at NATO headquarters. ( Translator's note: It is telling that the Western media, which reported daily on the situation in Azovstal, now does not report a word about the Azot Chemical Plant in Severodonetsk, which is repeating the same tragedy that we witnessed in Azovstal had to watch )
For several years, the neo-Nazis have been deliberately creating unbearable living conditions for the population in the Donbass republics. Ukrainian forces are demolishing homes, leaving people without food, water, medicine, electricity and heating. Following NATO methods, they deliberately attack civilian and non-military facilities.
According to official data from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, more than 230 civilians, including 10 children, have been killed in the republics since February 17, when the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics came under massive shelling by Ukrainian forces. Over 1,000 civilians, including 66 minors, were injured. More than 5,000 buildings and more than a thousand civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged, including dozens of medical facilities and nearly two hundred educational institutions. The Ukrainian war criminals have more than 50,000 projectiles of various calibers, including 47 Tochka-U rockets, thousands of rockets of various calibers, including Smerch (300 mm caliber), Uragan (220 mm caliber) and Grad (122 mm caliber) on the cities and Villages of the DNR and the LNR fired.
It is obvious that the Zelensky regime has no intention of stopping its criminal activities. But that suits the Western countries very well, because they are pushing the regime in exactly this direction. They have a unique opportunity to dispose of obsolete military equipment in Ukraine and arm their own armies with new weapons, overloading their military corporations with work and performing a variety of financial, material and other sleights of hand.
Meanwhile, political repression against those who think differently is intensifying in Ukraine. This is in the worst tradition of totalitarian regimes. By the end of the summer, according to Ukraine's Justice Minister Dmitry Malyusko, Kyiv plans to make the practice of mass seizures of Ukrainian companies from citizens arbitrarily labeled by the authorities as pro-Russian norms the norm. What law, what democracy, what liberalism are we talking about? This is the worst thing that has ever happened in world history. Members of political parties that did not support the 2014 coup, the Opposition Platform - For Life and the Opposition Bloc, have already had their property confiscated.
The policy of forced Ukrainization and persecution of everything Russian continues. On June 19, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a bill banning the performance of Russian music on the streets of Ukrainian cities, in concert halls, stadiums, on radio and television. The most amazing thing is that the world-renowned composer of children's songs, Kyiv-born Vladimir Shainskyy, fell under these draconian measures. He died in 2017 and never lived through that nightmare again. Otherwise he would now know that his children's songs can no longer be sung there either. Books, newspapers and magazines from Russia and Belarus are banned in Ukraine. Russian-language authors will be removed from world literature classes. And this is not done by secret or secret decrees, but by the public attitude of the regime. Akhmatova, a native of Odessa, wrote: "We are not afraid to lie dead under bullets, it is not bitter to be without a roof over your head and we will protect you, you great Russian language."
The goals and tasks that the Russian leadership has set itself for the military operation are all the more urgent. We will continue to keep you informed of developments in this area.
Question : Last week the heads of state and government of Germany, France and Italy visited Kiev and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated after his visit that the European Union and Germany in particular will continue to upgrade the Ukrainian armed forces. How long will this river of arms continue?
Answer: They do not hide their goals. They call not for peace, not for negotiations, not for diplomacy, but for solving the problem on the "battlefield". On this point they are quite open. Another point is that they contradict each other. In word and declaration they support international law, but in practice they do something completely different.
We have understood this point of view, we take it into account. The question to ask them is how much more they have in their arsenal. We have drawn our conclusions. The European Union has outlined its role in history. It is no longer about some mistakes or miscalculations that could be talked about for eight years when, unfortunately, they failed in their mission to mediate a solution in the internal Ukrainian situation. Now it's no longer about miscalculations and mistakes by the European Union and the Western regimes, but about their targeted, aggressive policies.
Question: Regarding Ukraine's invitation to the European Union. On the one hand, Russia does not seem to object because the EU is a kind of "economic organization". On the other hand, in an interview with NTV on June 16, Lavrov said that the EU is a geopolitical project and that the US has subjugated Brussels. Is that a kind of "EuroNATO Union"?
Answer: I see no contradiction. All types of economic integration are excellent when it comes to business and finance. But it is quite a different matter when the economy is "run" from political centers or because of political issues. Then it is no longer a matter of economics, but of political economy. Geopolitics, economy and national interests are of course closely linked, but there must be no dictation.
There are either liberal democracies or totalitarian regimes. In liberal democracies, law and liberty rule, while in totalitarian regimes, political mandates rule and rule everything else. Their economic goals are ideologically incompatible with the actions of any one or country in the world. That is entirely possible, but then they would have to act on the basis of the law and international legal obligations that they claim are sacred.
If the policy of a state is structured in this way, then it can be said that the EU, based on political or ideological unacceptance of this or that country, introduces certain measures that its own economic activities are based on them. But the basis must be the law. If infinite political dominance - not even your own, but that from overseas - is the only "stick", the dominating "manipulative means of influence", then one can no longer speak of economics.
The basis of the invitation to join is mostly not objective economic reality, potential or economic development, but political reasons. There are not even criteria that EU members could come up with to explain their own moves. They would contradict the criteria announced six months or a year ago, according to which a positive decision was rejected or, on the contrary, made towards other states. The criteria should be the same. In many ways, this isn't politics, it's manipulation.
On the other hand, they do not deny that they want to live in a "rules-based world order" whose rules change over the course of the game, which is not based on applicable law without politically motivated changes. ( Translator's note: If you've ever wondered what the "rules-based world order" that the West has been promoting in recent years is actually supposed to be, you can read about it here . )
An invitation to the European Union is no longer something predictable, logical and based on objective indicators of the economic, social, legal and other development of European states. The current anti-Russian leadership of the European institutions ignores the criteria clearly laid out in their documents. They also contradict each other. What is the EU basing its actions on? Where is that "golden rulebook," the tablet that could be consulted? One has the impression that the most important criteria are Russophobia and the anti-Russian oath to be taken in Brussels. Then there are new promises and limitless possibilities for the candidates in beautiful words. It all looks more like manipulation and intrigue.
In the current phase of the "evolution" of the EU, decisions are based more on opportunistic considerations, on a policy of expansion, the appropriation of new spaces and the expansion of "spheres of influence" in Europe, than on genuine economic criteria. All this indicates that the EU is becoming less and less aligned with the fundamental interests of its member states or candidate countries. Social and economic development, deep integration and peaceful prosperity are no longer the guiding principles of the Union's accelerated militarization.
The goals and methods of the EU are almost indistinguishable from those of NATO. You speak of a unity of thought. The EU loses its own identity and is reborn from the ground up, becoming a geopolitical tool in the hands of the United States. The Americans, in turn, are draining the financial and economic resources of European states and European citizens to "contain" Russia, as they call it. In recent years, the White House has also targeted Brussels for confrontations with other countries. We're not the only ones. This also includes China. This immediately weakens the European continent, which spends its resources, or in principle foregoes resources, just to please Washington.
All of this affects the credibility of the EU as an independent actor. This prevents her from being able to realize herself independently.
- End of translation
Jun 23, 2022
Since you always have to hear both sides of a dispute in order to form an opinion, I translated the parts of the press conference by Maria Zakharova , spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, that discussed Ukraine. This was initially a detailed Russian statement, later journalists asked further questions.
- Start of translation:
Eighty-one years later, the Russian military is once again fighting Nazism, neo-Nazism, the same kind of widespread fascism that then apparently has not been eradicated, and is ridding Ukraine of the neo-Nazi infestation fostered there by its Western "partners" for decades. Now our people are being killed again with weapons now made in NATO countries.
I would like to remind you that the slogan in the Third Reich was "Drang nach Osten". In fact, this has now become the motto of the Alliance, I didn't come up with it, they say it themselves. Recall the statements of all EU and NATO representatives about the "battlefield" that nothing positive is associated with Russia allowed, let alone victory in the Second World War. Remember the denial of Nazism and fascism in Ukraine, the raising of funds and the dispatching of military equipment if only it could go east from Brussels. All of this is happening against the background that the military infrastructure of the alliance has been moving ever closer to our borders for years.
The Ukrainian armed forces, which are withdrawing from the battlefield, are now exercising outright terror on the civilian population. Even now, their western curators fail to notice their nationalistic and misanthropic character. In Lysychansk in the LNR, the neo-Nazis set up positions and ammunition depots in schools. These are real schools, not schools retouched and made up in social media accounts and glued together from photos. They are real schools: schools No. 9, 14 and 28, also kindergarten No. 6, and in the residential buildings on Pobedy Street machine gun and sniper nests were built. Armored vehicles, artillery, and multiple rocket launchers are located in areas adjacent to the buildings. Not only are people not evacuated from the dangerous areas, but they are even forcibly detained there. A similar tragic situation was observed in other settlements under the control of the Zelensky regime - in Pryvolnoye, Kramatorsk, Zaporizhia and many others.
There have been instances of deliberate kidnapping to induce people into Ukrainian nationalist positions. According to the Interior Ministry of the Lugansk People's Republic, 1,200 civilians are forcibly detained at the Azot plant in Severodonetsk alone. Once again, civilians are being used as "human shields." Apparently that's what the Ukrainian military is taught at NATO headquarters. ( Translator's note: It is telling that the Western media, which reported daily on the situation in Azovstal, now does not report a word about the Azot Chemical Plant in Severodonetsk, which is repeating the same tragedy that we witnessed in Azovstal had to watch )
For several years, the neo-Nazis have been deliberately creating unbearable living conditions for the population in the Donbass republics. Ukrainian forces are demolishing homes, leaving people without food, water, medicine, electricity and heating. Following NATO methods, they deliberately attack civilian and non-military facilities.
According to official data from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, more than 230 civilians, including 10 children, have been killed in the republics since February 17, when the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics came under massive shelling by Ukrainian forces. Over 1,000 civilians, including 66 minors, were injured. More than 5,000 buildings and more than a thousand civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged, including dozens of medical facilities and nearly two hundred educational institutions. The Ukrainian war criminals have more than 50,000 projectiles of various calibers, including 47 Tochka-U rockets, thousands of rockets of various calibers, including Smerch (300 mm caliber), Uragan (220 mm caliber) and Grad (122 mm caliber) on the cities and Villages of the DNR and the LNR fired.
It is obvious that the Zelensky regime has no intention of stopping its criminal activities. But that suits the Western countries very well, because they are pushing the regime in exactly this direction. They have a unique opportunity to dispose of obsolete military equipment in Ukraine and arm their own armies with new weapons, overloading their military corporations with work and performing a variety of financial, material and other sleights of hand.
Meanwhile, political repression against those who think differently is intensifying in Ukraine. This is in the worst tradition of totalitarian regimes. By the end of the summer, according to Ukraine's Justice Minister Dmitry Malyusko, Kyiv plans to make the practice of mass seizures of Ukrainian companies from citizens arbitrarily labeled by the authorities as pro-Russian norms the norm. What law, what democracy, what liberalism are we talking about? This is the worst thing that has ever happened in world history. Members of political parties that did not support the 2014 coup, the Opposition Platform - For Life and the Opposition Bloc, have already had their property confiscated.
The policy of forced Ukrainization and persecution of everything Russian continues. On June 19, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a bill banning the performance of Russian music on the streets of Ukrainian cities, in concert halls, stadiums, on radio and television. The most amazing thing is that the world-renowned composer of children's songs, Kyiv-born Vladimir Shainskyy, fell under these draconian measures. He died in 2017 and never lived through that nightmare again. Otherwise he would now know that his children's songs can no longer be sung there either. Books, newspapers and magazines from Russia and Belarus are banned in Ukraine. Russian-language authors will be removed from world literature classes. And this is not done by secret or secret decrees, but by the public attitude of the regime. Akhmatova, a native of Odessa, wrote: "We are not afraid to lie dead under bullets, it is not bitter to be without a roof over your head and we will protect you, you great Russian language."
The goals and tasks that the Russian leadership has set itself for the military operation are all the more urgent. We will continue to keep you informed of developments in this area.
Question : Last week the heads of state and government of Germany, France and Italy visited Kiev and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated after his visit that the European Union and Germany in particular will continue to upgrade the Ukrainian armed forces. How long will this river of arms continue?
Answer: They do not hide their goals. They call not for peace, not for negotiations, not for diplomacy, but for solving the problem on the "battlefield". On this point they are quite open. Another point is that they contradict each other. In word and declaration they support international law, but in practice they do something completely different.
We have understood this point of view, we take it into account. The question to ask them is how much more they have in their arsenal. We have drawn our conclusions. The European Union has outlined its role in history. It is no longer about some mistakes or miscalculations that could be talked about for eight years when, unfortunately, they failed in their mission to mediate a solution in the internal Ukrainian situation. Now it's no longer about miscalculations and mistakes by the European Union and the Western regimes, but about their targeted, aggressive policies.
Question: Regarding Ukraine's invitation to the European Union. On the one hand, Russia does not seem to object because the EU is a kind of "economic organization". On the other hand, in an interview with NTV on June 16, Lavrov said that the EU is a geopolitical project and that the US has subjugated Brussels. Is that a kind of "EuroNATO Union"?
Answer: I see no contradiction. All types of economic integration are excellent when it comes to business and finance. But it is quite a different matter when the economy is "run" from political centers or because of political issues. Then it is no longer a matter of economics, but of political economy. Geopolitics, economy and national interests are of course closely linked, but there must be no dictation.
There are either liberal democracies or totalitarian regimes. In liberal democracies, law and liberty rule, while in totalitarian regimes, political mandates rule and rule everything else. Their economic goals are ideologically incompatible with the actions of any one or country in the world. That is entirely possible, but then they would have to act on the basis of the law and international legal obligations that they claim are sacred.
If the policy of a state is structured in this way, then it can be said that the EU, based on political or ideological unacceptance of this or that country, introduces certain measures that its own economic activities are based on them. But the basis must be the law. If infinite political dominance - not even your own, but that from overseas - is the only "stick", the dominating "manipulative means of influence", then one can no longer speak of economics.
The basis of the invitation to join is mostly not objective economic reality, potential or economic development, but political reasons. There are not even criteria that EU members could come up with to explain their own moves. They would contradict the criteria announced six months or a year ago, according to which a positive decision was rejected or, on the contrary, made towards other states. The criteria should be the same. In many ways, this isn't politics, it's manipulation.
On the other hand, they do not deny that they want to live in a "rules-based world order" whose rules change over the course of the game, which is not based on applicable law without politically motivated changes. ( Translator's note: If you've ever wondered what the "rules-based world order" that the West has been promoting in recent years is actually supposed to be, you can read about it here . )
An invitation to the European Union is no longer something predictable, logical and based on objective indicators of the economic, social, legal and other development of European states. The current anti-Russian leadership of the European institutions ignores the criteria clearly laid out in their documents. They also contradict each other. What is the EU basing its actions on? Where is that "golden rulebook," the tablet that could be consulted? One has the impression that the most important criteria are Russophobia and the anti-Russian oath to be taken in Brussels. Then there are new promises and limitless possibilities for the candidates in beautiful words. It all looks more like manipulation and intrigue.
In the current phase of the "evolution" of the EU, decisions are based more on opportunistic considerations, on a policy of expansion, the appropriation of new spaces and the expansion of "spheres of influence" in Europe, than on genuine economic criteria. All this indicates that the EU is becoming less and less aligned with the fundamental interests of its member states or candidate countries. Social and economic development, deep integration and peaceful prosperity are no longer the guiding principles of the Union's accelerated militarization.
The goals and methods of the EU are almost indistinguishable from those of NATO. You speak of a unity of thought. The EU loses its own identity and is reborn from the ground up, becoming a geopolitical tool in the hands of the United States. The Americans, in turn, are draining the financial and economic resources of European states and European citizens to "contain" Russia, as they call it. In recent years, the White House has also targeted Brussels for confrontations with other countries. We're not the only ones. This also includes China. This immediately weakens the European continent, which spends its resources, or in principle foregoes resources, just to please Washington.
All of this affects the credibility of the EU as an independent actor. This prevents her from being able to realize herself independently.
- End of translation
Doctors in Afghanistan have told the BBC that many children may have been killed in Wednesday's earthquake.
More than 1,000 people died in the disaster, and heavy rain, threadbare resources and rugged terrain are hampering rescue workers.
Unknown numbers were buried in the rubble of ruined, often mud-built homes by the magnitude 6.1 earthquake.
One woman in hospital in Paktika province told reporters she had lost 19 family members.
"Seven in one room, five in another, four in another, then three in another, have all been killed in my family," she said from her bed.
The Taliban authorities have called for more international aid. Communication networks are also badly hit.
More than 1,000 people died in the disaster, and heavy rain, threadbare resources and rugged terrain are hampering rescue workers.
Unknown numbers were buried in the rubble of ruined, often mud-built homes by the magnitude 6.1 earthquake.
One woman in hospital in Paktika province told reporters she had lost 19 family members.
"Seven in one room, five in another, four in another, then three in another, have all been killed in my family," she said from her bed.
The Taliban authorities have called for more international aid. Communication networks are also badly hit.
"Of 500 patients who have come to the clinic since the morning, 200 have died" - that is the blunt assessment of Muhammad Gul, a staff member at a tiny clinic in Gyan, in eastern Afghanistan.
The facility has just five beds, but Tuesday's earthquake left even these meagre resources unusable.
"All the clinic's rooms have been destroyed," Mr Gul told the BBC.
He said a helicopter had airlifted a handful of patients from the remote district in Paktika province to cities for treatment, and two doctors were manning a makeshift outdoor clinic to try to treat people who had nowhere else to go.
The generator supplying power has only a limited supply of fuel, and the help promised by other provinces has yet to materialise.
Meanwhile, casualties keep on arriving.
"There are dozens of people who need immediate medical help. I don't think they will survive the night," Mr Gul added.
The earthquake struck impoverished hilly areas with weak buildings, ill-equipped to handle the shock. Hundreds of houses have been destroyed and there have been landslides.
Gyan is one of the worst-hit areas. Many people remain trapped under the rubble.
The facility has just five beds, but Tuesday's earthquake left even these meagre resources unusable.
"All the clinic's rooms have been destroyed," Mr Gul told the BBC.
He said a helicopter had airlifted a handful of patients from the remote district in Paktika province to cities for treatment, and two doctors were manning a makeshift outdoor clinic to try to treat people who had nowhere else to go.
The generator supplying power has only a limited supply of fuel, and the help promised by other provinces has yet to materialise.
Meanwhile, casualties keep on arriving.
"There are dozens of people who need immediate medical help. I don't think they will survive the night," Mr Gul added.
The earthquake struck impoverished hilly areas with weak buildings, ill-equipped to handle the shock. Hundreds of houses have been destroyed and there have been landslides.
Gyan is one of the worst-hit areas. Many people remain trapped under the rubble.
Les habitants du Burkina Faso ont organisé un rassemblement exigeant le retrait des troupes françaises du pays et l'entrée des troupes russes dans le pays.
Il n'y a pas si longtemps, la même chose s'est produite au Mali. Les Français sortent du Mali, et le Wagner PMC s'occupe maintenant des problèmes de sécurité là-bas.
En fait, selon ce schéma, 2 pays sont déjà tombés hors de l'empire néo-colonial français – la République centrafricaine et le Mali. Le Burkina Faso pourrait être troisième.
Il y a des conditions préalables à une situation similaire au Niger, mais la France tiendra le Niger des mains et des pieds, car il y a des gisements d'uranium extrêmement importants pour l'industrie nucléaire française.
Il n'y a pas si longtemps, la même chose s'est produite au Mali. Les Français sortent du Mali, et le Wagner PMC s'occupe maintenant des problèmes de sécurité là-bas.
En fait, selon ce schéma, 2 pays sont déjà tombés hors de l'empire néo-colonial français – la République centrafricaine et le Mali. Le Burkina Faso pourrait être troisième.
Il y a des conditions préalables à une situation similaire au Niger, mais la France tiendra le Niger des mains et des pieds, car il y a des gisements d'uranium extrêmement importants pour l'industrie nucléaire française.
Even if it is at the expense of Ukraine, 35 percent of Europeans prefer peace with Russia and only 22 percent support a continuation of the war until a Russian defeat. Beyond that, divisions are widening in the EU, threatening unity.
June 23, 2022
Countries were interviewed for the survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations, including Great Britain, Finland, France, Poland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden.
With the exception of Poland, the majority of respondents in all countries wanted peace, even if this meant territorial concessions from Ukraine. Italians are most interested in peace, with an absolute majority of 52 percent wanting an end to the conflict. In Germany, 49 percent of respondents wanted peace, while only 16 percent were in favor of continuing the war.
Romania followed with a ratio of 42:23, France with 41:20 and Sweden with 38:22. In contrast, 41 percent of Poles want Russia defeated and punished, while only 16 percent support a negotiated peace deal.
In Germany, the AfD stands most clearly for peace negotiations with 78 percent. The proportion of peace advocates is 55 percent among the Social Democrats and 43 percent among the CDU/CSU. Even among the Greens, who have campaigned most strongly for Ukraine's rearmament, the proportion of peace supporters (35 percent) is significantly higher than those who want to continue the war (22 percent).
In the eyes of most Europeans , there is one clear perpetrator of the war: Some 73 percent of all respondents blame Russia, while 15 percent believe Ukraine, the European Union and the United States are to blame.
Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of Europeans see Russia as the main obstacle to peace, while 35 percent blame Ukraine and the West, although they are particularly committed to continuing the war.
Peace is not always perceived the same: When asked whether the war should lead to a severing of relations with Russia, 50 percent of those who describe themselves as supporters of peace would end all economic, 42 percent all cultural and 40 percent all diplomatic ties with Russia.
June 23, 2022
Countries were interviewed for the survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations, including Great Britain, Finland, France, Poland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden.
With the exception of Poland, the majority of respondents in all countries wanted peace, even if this meant territorial concessions from Ukraine. Italians are most interested in peace, with an absolute majority of 52 percent wanting an end to the conflict. In Germany, 49 percent of respondents wanted peace, while only 16 percent were in favor of continuing the war.
Romania followed with a ratio of 42:23, France with 41:20 and Sweden with 38:22. In contrast, 41 percent of Poles want Russia defeated and punished, while only 16 percent support a negotiated peace deal.
In Germany, the AfD stands most clearly for peace negotiations with 78 percent. The proportion of peace advocates is 55 percent among the Social Democrats and 43 percent among the CDU/CSU. Even among the Greens, who have campaigned most strongly for Ukraine's rearmament, the proportion of peace supporters (35 percent) is significantly higher than those who want to continue the war (22 percent).
In the eyes of most Europeans , there is one clear perpetrator of the war: Some 73 percent of all respondents blame Russia, while 15 percent believe Ukraine, the European Union and the United States are to blame.
Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of Europeans see Russia as the main obstacle to peace, while 35 percent blame Ukraine and the West, although they are particularly committed to continuing the war.
Peace is not always perceived the same: When asked whether the war should lead to a severing of relations with Russia, 50 percent of those who describe themselves as supporters of peace would end all economic, 42 percent all cultural and 40 percent all diplomatic ties with Russia.
22 June 2022
The proposal voiced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to lower domestic thermostats in Europe by 2 degrees Celsius to replace gas supplies from Russia's Nord Stream 1 is "incredibly naive", energy experts said on Tuesday.
On Monday, the EC head said that Europeans can replace gas supplies coming via Russia's Nord Stream 1 pipeline by lowering the heating or air conditioner temperatures by 2 degrees, adding that the EU has comprehensive emergency plans in place, including energy savings.
Samuele Furfari, a professor of geopolitics of energy at ULB university in Brussels, believes that von der Leyen's proposal is "ridiculous", as a two-degree reduction in heating cannot replace energy demand of 194 million European households.
"It is incredibly naive of the President of the European Commission to present a 2-degree reduction in domestic heating, for more than 194 million households in the Europe at 27 [countries], as a solution to the end of the supply of Russian gas by Nord Stream 1. It is moreover only the capacity of Nord Stream 1 which would be 'covered' by this theoretical and simplistic reduction. There are other gas pipelines delivering Russian gas. She even specifies, since the commission seems to have thought about this ridiculous idea, that it would also apply to air conditioning. We navigate in a pure dream," Furfari said.
Gas demand is inelastic, so Europe cannot lower the heating in hospitals or schools, and it is "a dream" to believe that EU residents will simply comply with von der Leyen's proposal, which will "hit people hard" in their comfort zone, he added
"How are we going to apply this theoretical measure seriously? By installing 'limited' room thermostats, such as for car or motorcycle engines? Are we being prepared for Orwell's society? No EU government is going to accept that Brussels gives them temperature reduction instructions or face sanctions. I am not even talking about the electricity market, which does not work in Europe, with the emphasis wrongly put on pseudo-renewable energies. Obviously, the European Commission is totally stuck, and Brussels does not know what to do. There is no other solution than that of Russian gas supplies for a long time to come. We are waiting for the next 'brilliant' idea from the European Commission," Furfari said.
According to the professor, 70% of the gas consumed in Europe is allocated to the production of heat, and even when Germany relaunches its coal power stations, which emit large amounts of CO2, it will be far too little to compensate for the loss of gas.
Damien Ernst, a Liege university professor in Belgium and a specialist of electromechanical engineering and energy, said that von der Leyen's proposal shows how much the EU is "at a loss."
"Europe will suffer terribly in terms of energy prices and scarcity. This astonishing reaction from Ursula von der Leyen is even scary, as she is so naive, and shows how much the EU is at a loss. The EU is not going to send armies of controllers to check the ambient temperature in people's homes. At best, Europe can only carry out awareness campaigns on the need to save energy," Ernst said.
If there is a signal that the price will become "astronomically high," people and businesses will spontaneously reduce their consumption, causing a sharp decrease in demand and reducing the competitiveness of European producers compared to those from Asia and the US, Ernst explained.
"Europe has it all wrong," he lamented.
AfD spokesman in the Bundestag Economic Affairs and Energy Committee Steffen Kotre, in turn, said that the EC head should advise her German colleagues to immediately open the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, instead of proposing to reduce domestic heating.
"Mrs von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, should advise Germany to open Nord Stream 2 immediately to compensate for the loss of throughput of Nord Stream 1, and to restart German nuclear power plants for electricity production, rather than make ridiculous statements about the energy savings Europeans should make by reducing their thermostat to compensate for Europe's misguided policy in the Ukrainian conflict. It would impose a loss of comfort to all the citizens of the union," Kotre said.
According to the expert, the German federal government is endangering the country's future with its "energy policy narrow-mindedness," and the six nuclear power plants, which were shut down at the end of 2021, or scheduled to be shut down at the end of 2022, could replace a significant part of Russia's natural gas, which is converted into electricity. To cover the rest, the phase-out of Russian gas must be halted.
"Minister [Robert] Habeck's energy policy is driving our country against a wall," the professor concluded.
The proposal voiced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to lower domestic thermostats in Europe by 2 degrees Celsius to replace gas supplies from Russia's Nord Stream 1 is "incredibly naive", energy experts said on Tuesday.
On Monday, the EC head said that Europeans can replace gas supplies coming via Russia's Nord Stream 1 pipeline by lowering the heating or air conditioner temperatures by 2 degrees, adding that the EU has comprehensive emergency plans in place, including energy savings.
Samuele Furfari, a professor of geopolitics of energy at ULB university in Brussels, believes that von der Leyen's proposal is "ridiculous", as a two-degree reduction in heating cannot replace energy demand of 194 million European households.
"It is incredibly naive of the President of the European Commission to present a 2-degree reduction in domestic heating, for more than 194 million households in the Europe at 27 [countries], as a solution to the end of the supply of Russian gas by Nord Stream 1. It is moreover only the capacity of Nord Stream 1 which would be 'covered' by this theoretical and simplistic reduction. There are other gas pipelines delivering Russian gas. She even specifies, since the commission seems to have thought about this ridiculous idea, that it would also apply to air conditioning. We navigate in a pure dream," Furfari said.
Gas demand is inelastic, so Europe cannot lower the heating in hospitals or schools, and it is "a dream" to believe that EU residents will simply comply with von der Leyen's proposal, which will "hit people hard" in their comfort zone, he added
"How are we going to apply this theoretical measure seriously? By installing 'limited' room thermostats, such as for car or motorcycle engines? Are we being prepared for Orwell's society? No EU government is going to accept that Brussels gives them temperature reduction instructions or face sanctions. I am not even talking about the electricity market, which does not work in Europe, with the emphasis wrongly put on pseudo-renewable energies. Obviously, the European Commission is totally stuck, and Brussels does not know what to do. There is no other solution than that of Russian gas supplies for a long time to come. We are waiting for the next 'brilliant' idea from the European Commission," Furfari said.
According to the professor, 70% of the gas consumed in Europe is allocated to the production of heat, and even when Germany relaunches its coal power stations, which emit large amounts of CO2, it will be far too little to compensate for the loss of gas.
Damien Ernst, a Liege university professor in Belgium and a specialist of electromechanical engineering and energy, said that von der Leyen's proposal shows how much the EU is "at a loss."
"Europe will suffer terribly in terms of energy prices and scarcity. This astonishing reaction from Ursula von der Leyen is even scary, as she is so naive, and shows how much the EU is at a loss. The EU is not going to send armies of controllers to check the ambient temperature in people's homes. At best, Europe can only carry out awareness campaigns on the need to save energy," Ernst said.
If there is a signal that the price will become "astronomically high," people and businesses will spontaneously reduce their consumption, causing a sharp decrease in demand and reducing the competitiveness of European producers compared to those from Asia and the US, Ernst explained.
"Europe has it all wrong," he lamented.
AfD spokesman in the Bundestag Economic Affairs and Energy Committee Steffen Kotre, in turn, said that the EC head should advise her German colleagues to immediately open the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, instead of proposing to reduce domestic heating.
"Mrs von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, should advise Germany to open Nord Stream 2 immediately to compensate for the loss of throughput of Nord Stream 1, and to restart German nuclear power plants for electricity production, rather than make ridiculous statements about the energy savings Europeans should make by reducing their thermostat to compensate for Europe's misguided policy in the Ukrainian conflict. It would impose a loss of comfort to all the citizens of the union," Kotre said.
According to the expert, the German federal government is endangering the country's future with its "energy policy narrow-mindedness," and the six nuclear power plants, which were shut down at the end of 2021, or scheduled to be shut down at the end of 2022, could replace a significant part of Russia's natural gas, which is converted into electricity. To cover the rest, the phase-out of Russian gas must be halted.
"Minister [Robert] Habeck's energy policy is driving our country against a wall," the professor concluded.
23 Giugno 022
Il livello dei politici occidentali è "caduto in basso" e "l'ho visto con i miei occhi negli ultimi 20 anni".
In Europa, ad esempio, "non c'è nemmeno traccia di personaggi politici del livello di Helmut Kohl, Jacques Chirac o Margaret Thatcher" e "senza offesa per nessuno, è chiaro a tutti che Mario Draghi non è Silvio Berlusconi e che Olaf Scholz non è Angela Merkel".
Parola del vice presidente del Consiglio di sicurezza della Federazione russa, Dmitri Medvedev, che in un nuovo messaggio su Telegram torna a scagliarsi contro l'Europa.
Il livello dei politici occidentali è "caduto in basso" e "l'ho visto con i miei occhi negli ultimi 20 anni".
In Europa, ad esempio, "non c'è nemmeno traccia di personaggi politici del livello di Helmut Kohl, Jacques Chirac o Margaret Thatcher" e "senza offesa per nessuno, è chiaro a tutti che Mario Draghi non è Silvio Berlusconi e che Olaf Scholz non è Angela Merkel".
Parola del vice presidente del Consiglio di sicurezza della Federazione russa, Dmitri Medvedev, che in un nuovo messaggio su Telegram torna a scagliarsi contro l'Europa.
February 8, 2022
The UK government is planning to re-work its human rights law to put an increased emphasis on "personal responsibility" and "duties to the wider society", as well as preventing people "abusing" their rights.
Sounds pretty awful, doesn't it? But let's go back to the beginning.
In December 2020 the UK government announced they would be looking into Human Rights reform in the near future.
These announcements became more concrete a year later on December 14th 2021, when the government began a "consultation" on restructuring the Human Rights Act.
The plan is to replace current rights legislation with a so-called "UK Bill of Rights", a policy dating from the Cameron administration. The new "bill of rights" would update and replace the Human Rights Act.
As a brief summary of UK human rights law:
Some rights are enshrined in common law from the days of Magna Carta, but the vast majority of the time when we talk about "human rights" in the UK we're referring to the Human Rights Act 1998.
This act was written into law as essentially a verbatim copy of the European Convention on Human Rights passed by the Council of Europe in the 1950s.
The purpose of writing the international treaty into domestic law was so British citizens could take human rights cases to domestic courts, instead of having to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
As with most human rights laws, from the UN Declaration of Human Rights to the US Constitution, a lot of the time the Human Rights Act is flat-out ignored, or at best worked around. But it does exist, and it does offer some protection of the individual from the power of the state.
Will that continue to be the case after these "reforms"?
The UK's current "consultation" on Human Rights "reform" is set to end next month (March 2022), & whatever its final recommendations are will likely not be published for several months after that. But, while we can't yet be certain exactly what they will say…we can get some rough ideas from what they have released so far.
Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary who commissioned the consultation, recently said in an interview on LBC:
Our plans for a Bill of Rights will strengthen typically British rights like freedom of speech and trial by jury, while preventing abuses of the system and adding a healthy dose of common sense."
If you're anything like me, the phrases "abuses of the system" and "common sense" just made your inner cynic twitch, but there's no real detail there.
Perhaps you're thinking, at this point, that if you read the whole briefing document there will be nothing there to justify any paranoia.
…except I have, and there is.
If you drill down through the filler, and can read through the bureaucratic language, there are some pretty concerning red flags waving around, especially in their stated aims [emphasis added]:
Our reforms will be a check on the expansion and inflation of rights without democratic oversight and consent, and will provide greater legal certainty.
[The Bill of Rights will] provide greater clarity regarding the interpretation of certain rights, such as the right to respect for private and family life, by guiding the UK courts in interpreting the rights and balancing them with the interests of our society as a whole
[The Bill of Rights will] provide more certainty for public authorities to discharge the functions Parliament has given them, without the fear that this will expose them to costly human rights litigation
The government is committed to ensuring that the biggest social media companies protect users from abuse and harm, and in doing so ensuring that everyone can enjoy their right to freedom of expression free from the fear of abuse.
Protecting authorities from legal consequences, stamping out "abuse" online, subordinating privacy to national security…these are pretty routine aims of new legislation these days. They are expected, almost cliche.
The biggest and freshest warning sign is the sheer number of mentions of "duty" or "responsibility" or "the wider society".
For example, this sentence from the forward written by Raab himself:
"Our system must strike the proper balance of rights and responsibilities, individual liberty and the public interest"
And in point 6 of the Executive Summary…
The Bill of Rights will make sure a proper balance is struck between individuals' rights, personal responsibility, and the wider public interest.
…and then point 9 too:
[The Bill of rights will] recognise that responsibilities exist alongside rights, and that these should be reflected in the approach to balancing qualified rights and the remedies available for human rights claims
The header at the top of Chapter 3, "The Case for Reforming UK Human Rights Law", bemoans:
the growth of a 'rights culture' that has displaced due focus on personal responsibility and the public interest […] public protection [is] put at risk by the exponential expansion of rights
Going into greater detail further down:
The international human rights framework recognises that not all rights are absolute and that an individual's rights may need to be balanced, either against the rights of others or against the wider public interest. Many of the rights in the Convention are 'qualified', recognising explicitly the need to respect the rights of others and the broader needs of society […] The idea that rights come alongside duties and responsibilities is steeped in the UK tradition of liberty
And then again, in the first paragraph from section IV "Emphasising the role of responsibilities within the human rights framework" [emphasis added]:
We all have responsibilities in our society: to society (such as to obey the law and pay taxes), to our families, and to people around us. Everyone holds human rights whether or not they undertake their responsibilities, particularly the absolute rights in the Convention such as the prohibition on torture. Nonetheless, the government believes that our new human rights framework should reflect the importance of responsibilities.
It carries on in equally concerning fashion…
when a court is considering the proportionality of an interference with a person's qualified rights, it will consider the extent to which the person has fulfilled their own relevant responsibilities.
The overall message is clear: Human rights can be tempered with "responsibilities" & anyone who does not fulfil their "responsibilities" is less deserving of the legal protection of their rights.
This is neither new thinking nor new language. Throughout "Covid times" we have seen talk of liberty parried with talk of duty, but it predates Covid too.
For years free speech has been tempered with talk of "being offensive" or "spreading misinformation". The right to privacy has long been secondary to "national security" and "keeping people safe".
Human Rights law is regularly trumped by The Patriot Act or Investigatory Powers Act or a dozen equally appalling pieces of legislation from both sides of the Atlantic.
But now, rather than bypassing human rights laws, this government is going to – to quote Raab – "rebuild them". Meaning shred the existing ones and write all new ones. Ones that use "common sense" to make sure people are "responsible" and don't "abuse" their rights.
Within the scope of this so-called "reform" is the desire to add conditions to basic human liberties. Exchanging "self-evident" truths, "endowed upon men at their creation", for a quid-pro-quo agreement with the state.
This is a seismic shift in the very definition of "rights".
The entire point of human rights is that they are innate and inalienable, they exist for everyone everywhere, and are not in the gift of any authority.
But now, rather, the UK government is arguing your rights are given to you at their behest, and that they come at the cost of expected duty.
And given all the talk during the "pandemic" regarding "protecting others" and being "responsible" – with masks, lockdowns and most especially vaccines – it's not hard to see how these new "duties" could be applied in the future.
There's no direct talk of compulsory vaccination, yet, but if these new "human rights" laws are made a reality, the next pandemic could be much harder to navigate.
You can read the complete consultation on human rights reform here, if you feel the need. And if you spot something important we missed, post it in the comments below.
The UK government is planning to re-work its human rights law to put an increased emphasis on "personal responsibility" and "duties to the wider society", as well as preventing people "abusing" their rights.
Sounds pretty awful, doesn't it? But let's go back to the beginning.
In December 2020 the UK government announced they would be looking into Human Rights reform in the near future.
These announcements became more concrete a year later on December 14th 2021, when the government began a "consultation" on restructuring the Human Rights Act.
The plan is to replace current rights legislation with a so-called "UK Bill of Rights", a policy dating from the Cameron administration. The new "bill of rights" would update and replace the Human Rights Act.
As a brief summary of UK human rights law:
Some rights are enshrined in common law from the days of Magna Carta, but the vast majority of the time when we talk about "human rights" in the UK we're referring to the Human Rights Act 1998.
This act was written into law as essentially a verbatim copy of the European Convention on Human Rights passed by the Council of Europe in the 1950s.
The purpose of writing the international treaty into domestic law was so British citizens could take human rights cases to domestic courts, instead of having to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
As with most human rights laws, from the UN Declaration of Human Rights to the US Constitution, a lot of the time the Human Rights Act is flat-out ignored, or at best worked around. But it does exist, and it does offer some protection of the individual from the power of the state.
Will that continue to be the case after these "reforms"?
The UK's current "consultation" on Human Rights "reform" is set to end next month (March 2022), & whatever its final recommendations are will likely not be published for several months after that. But, while we can't yet be certain exactly what they will say…we can get some rough ideas from what they have released so far.
Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary who commissioned the consultation, recently said in an interview on LBC:
Our plans for a Bill of Rights will strengthen typically British rights like freedom of speech and trial by jury, while preventing abuses of the system and adding a healthy dose of common sense."
If you're anything like me, the phrases "abuses of the system" and "common sense" just made your inner cynic twitch, but there's no real detail there.
Perhaps you're thinking, at this point, that if you read the whole briefing document there will be nothing there to justify any paranoia.
…except I have, and there is.
If you drill down through the filler, and can read through the bureaucratic language, there are some pretty concerning red flags waving around, especially in their stated aims [emphasis added]:
Our reforms will be a check on the expansion and inflation of rights without democratic oversight and consent, and will provide greater legal certainty.
[The Bill of Rights will] provide greater clarity regarding the interpretation of certain rights, such as the right to respect for private and family life, by guiding the UK courts in interpreting the rights and balancing them with the interests of our society as a whole
[The Bill of Rights will] provide more certainty for public authorities to discharge the functions Parliament has given them, without the fear that this will expose them to costly human rights litigation
The government is committed to ensuring that the biggest social media companies protect users from abuse and harm, and in doing so ensuring that everyone can enjoy their right to freedom of expression free from the fear of abuse.
Protecting authorities from legal consequences, stamping out "abuse" online, subordinating privacy to national security…these are pretty routine aims of new legislation these days. They are expected, almost cliche.
The biggest and freshest warning sign is the sheer number of mentions of "duty" or "responsibility" or "the wider society".
For example, this sentence from the forward written by Raab himself:
"Our system must strike the proper balance of rights and responsibilities, individual liberty and the public interest"
And in point 6 of the Executive Summary…
The Bill of Rights will make sure a proper balance is struck between individuals' rights, personal responsibility, and the wider public interest.
…and then point 9 too:
[The Bill of rights will] recognise that responsibilities exist alongside rights, and that these should be reflected in the approach to balancing qualified rights and the remedies available for human rights claims
The header at the top of Chapter 3, "The Case for Reforming UK Human Rights Law", bemoans:
the growth of a 'rights culture' that has displaced due focus on personal responsibility and the public interest […] public protection [is] put at risk by the exponential expansion of rights
Going into greater detail further down:
The international human rights framework recognises that not all rights are absolute and that an individual's rights may need to be balanced, either against the rights of others or against the wider public interest. Many of the rights in the Convention are 'qualified', recognising explicitly the need to respect the rights of others and the broader needs of society […] The idea that rights come alongside duties and responsibilities is steeped in the UK tradition of liberty
And then again, in the first paragraph from section IV "Emphasising the role of responsibilities within the human rights framework" [emphasis added]:
We all have responsibilities in our society: to society (such as to obey the law and pay taxes), to our families, and to people around us. Everyone holds human rights whether or not they undertake their responsibilities, particularly the absolute rights in the Convention such as the prohibition on torture. Nonetheless, the government believes that our new human rights framework should reflect the importance of responsibilities.
It carries on in equally concerning fashion…
when a court is considering the proportionality of an interference with a person's qualified rights, it will consider the extent to which the person has fulfilled their own relevant responsibilities.
The overall message is clear: Human rights can be tempered with "responsibilities" & anyone who does not fulfil their "responsibilities" is less deserving of the legal protection of their rights.
This is neither new thinking nor new language. Throughout "Covid times" we have seen talk of liberty parried with talk of duty, but it predates Covid too.
For years free speech has been tempered with talk of "being offensive" or "spreading misinformation". The right to privacy has long been secondary to "national security" and "keeping people safe".
Human Rights law is regularly trumped by The Patriot Act or Investigatory Powers Act or a dozen equally appalling pieces of legislation from both sides of the Atlantic.
But now, rather than bypassing human rights laws, this government is going to – to quote Raab – "rebuild them". Meaning shred the existing ones and write all new ones. Ones that use "common sense" to make sure people are "responsible" and don't "abuse" their rights.
Within the scope of this so-called "reform" is the desire to add conditions to basic human liberties. Exchanging "self-evident" truths, "endowed upon men at their creation", for a quid-pro-quo agreement with the state.
This is a seismic shift in the very definition of "rights".
The entire point of human rights is that they are innate and inalienable, they exist for everyone everywhere, and are not in the gift of any authority.
But now, rather, the UK government is arguing your rights are given to you at their behest, and that they come at the cost of expected duty.
And given all the talk during the "pandemic" regarding "protecting others" and being "responsible" – with masks, lockdowns and most especially vaccines – it's not hard to see how these new "duties" could be applied in the future.
There's no direct talk of compulsory vaccination, yet, but if these new "human rights" laws are made a reality, the next pandemic could be much harder to navigate.
You can read the complete consultation on human rights reform here, if you feel the need. And if you spot something important we missed, post it in the comments below.
In the UK a new law is being prepared that will replace human rights as we know them with new human rights that are conditional.
June 23, 2022
I reported on 22 June that a change in human rights legislation is planned in the UK that will allow the UK, for example, to ignore rulings by the European Court of Human Rights. That would be bad enough, but that was just the tip of the iceberg, as one reader told me. He pointed me to an article that reported on these British plans back in February 2022 and whose predictions are now coming true.
The article has appeared on the portal Off-Guardian.org, of which I have not read much so far, but what I have read was (as with the Anti-Spiegel sometimes) formulated with a pointed tongue, but solidly researched in the matter and supported with sources. The Off-Guardian apparently has other similarities with the Anti-Spiegel, because while I called my portal "Anti-Spiegel" because I am angry that Der Spiegel lied to me for decades, the Off-Guardian was founded by people who were annoyed that they were censored and blocked by the Guardian as commentators on articles.
I will translate the article that appeared in the Off-Guardian in February and then say a few words about it. I have taken the links in the article from the original.
UK “reforming” human rights law… Compulsory vaccines on the horizon? - Feb 8, 2022
https://off-guardian.org/2022/02/08/uk-reforming-human-rights-law-compulsory-vaccines-on-the-horizon/
Welcome to the brave new world
What the Off-Guardian February has written, and what is currently being implemented in the UK, fits exactly with what my informant and I found out in our work on the book "Inside Corona". The pandemic was a tool to raise (state) control over people (in the West) to a new level that would not have been achievable without the pandemic. Under the pretext of the pandemic, people have become accustomed to unprecedented restrictions on their human rights and freedoms, including the right to assemble and demonstrate, freedom of expression and the press, data protection and even the abolition of the right to move freely. People (in the West) have become accustomed to all this in the two years of the pandemic and it cannot be ruled out that this will be repeated next autumn.
My informant and I found out during the research for "Inside Corona" that the pandemic was only a tool to make all this (and much more, for example genetic engineering interventions in humans, nature and the animal kingdom) possible. If you've read the book "Inside Corona," I'm just saying "malaria" and "gene drive" – and you know what I mean.
But there is much more at stake, namely the 2030 Agenda, which includes the SDGs (the UN's Sustainable Development Goals), which sound terribly positive and desirable when you read them. But if you look at the sub-points of the sub-points of the SDGs and the programmes with which they are to be achieved, it becomes clear that it is about total control of as many people as possible. It goes too far to explain this here, because the "German Sustainable Development Strategy" developed by the Federal Government to achieve the SDGs alone has 249 pages, the topic is really very complex. I dedicated a separate 14-page chapter to the topic in "Inside Corona", in which I could still only touch on the topic very superficially.
Anyone who wants to exercise this total control cannot have any interest in human rights as we know them so far, because they are contrary to total control. Therefore, the announcement from great Britain that human rights will soon be made dependent on the fulfillment of duties and on liability or responsibility, i.e. to grant human rights only under certain conditions (namely obedience to the authorities), fits exactly with what we found out while working on "Inside Corona".
The Off-Guardian article shocked me so much because it is from February and now, only four months later, exactly what was described in it is arriving. The fact that the British Minister of Justice is now justifying his reform with a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights only shows (as the Off-Guardian also shows) that this "reform" was prepared for a long time and that only one pretext was needed to bring the law to the British Parliament. Even the wording that Justice Minister Raab has now used in presenting the bill is the same as those quoted by the Off-Guardian in February.
So we should keep a close eye on developments in the UK. If this law actually passes, it will only be a matter of time before other Western states celebrate it as an innovation that needs to be adopted.
June 23, 2022
I reported on 22 June that a change in human rights legislation is planned in the UK that will allow the UK, for example, to ignore rulings by the European Court of Human Rights. That would be bad enough, but that was just the tip of the iceberg, as one reader told me. He pointed me to an article that reported on these British plans back in February 2022 and whose predictions are now coming true.
The article has appeared on the portal Off-Guardian.org, of which I have not read much so far, but what I have read was (as with the Anti-Spiegel sometimes) formulated with a pointed tongue, but solidly researched in the matter and supported with sources. The Off-Guardian apparently has other similarities with the Anti-Spiegel, because while I called my portal "Anti-Spiegel" because I am angry that Der Spiegel lied to me for decades, the Off-Guardian was founded by people who were annoyed that they were censored and blocked by the Guardian as commentators on articles.
I will translate the article that appeared in the Off-Guardian in February and then say a few words about it. I have taken the links in the article from the original.
UK “reforming” human rights law… Compulsory vaccines on the horizon? - Feb 8, 2022
https://off-guardian.org/2022/02/08/uk-reforming-human-rights-law-compulsory-vaccines-on-the-horizon/
Welcome to the brave new world
What the Off-Guardian February has written, and what is currently being implemented in the UK, fits exactly with what my informant and I found out in our work on the book "Inside Corona". The pandemic was a tool to raise (state) control over people (in the West) to a new level that would not have been achievable without the pandemic. Under the pretext of the pandemic, people have become accustomed to unprecedented restrictions on their human rights and freedoms, including the right to assemble and demonstrate, freedom of expression and the press, data protection and even the abolition of the right to move freely. People (in the West) have become accustomed to all this in the two years of the pandemic and it cannot be ruled out that this will be repeated next autumn.
My informant and I found out during the research for "Inside Corona" that the pandemic was only a tool to make all this (and much more, for example genetic engineering interventions in humans, nature and the animal kingdom) possible. If you've read the book "Inside Corona," I'm just saying "malaria" and "gene drive" – and you know what I mean.
But there is much more at stake, namely the 2030 Agenda, which includes the SDGs (the UN's Sustainable Development Goals), which sound terribly positive and desirable when you read them. But if you look at the sub-points of the sub-points of the SDGs and the programmes with which they are to be achieved, it becomes clear that it is about total control of as many people as possible. It goes too far to explain this here, because the "German Sustainable Development Strategy" developed by the Federal Government to achieve the SDGs alone has 249 pages, the topic is really very complex. I dedicated a separate 14-page chapter to the topic in "Inside Corona", in which I could still only touch on the topic very superficially.
Anyone who wants to exercise this total control cannot have any interest in human rights as we know them so far, because they are contrary to total control. Therefore, the announcement from great Britain that human rights will soon be made dependent on the fulfillment of duties and on liability or responsibility, i.e. to grant human rights only under certain conditions (namely obedience to the authorities), fits exactly with what we found out while working on "Inside Corona".
The Off-Guardian article shocked me so much because it is from February and now, only four months later, exactly what was described in it is arriving. The fact that the British Minister of Justice is now justifying his reform with a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights only shows (as the Off-Guardian also shows) that this "reform" was prepared for a long time and that only one pretext was needed to bring the law to the British Parliament. Even the wording that Justice Minister Raab has now used in presenting the bill is the same as those quoted by the Off-Guardian in February.
So we should keep a close eye on developments in the UK. If this law actually passes, it will only be a matter of time before other Western states celebrate it as an innovation that needs to be adopted.
June 22, 2022
Clarification: In this article I write that under the neoconservative Wolfowitz doctrine of US hegemony, "the Kremlin has two choices. Russia can surrender its sovereignty or Russia can destroy the West. Russia has no other alternative. The entire world needs to understand this." I am not advocating that Russia destroy the West. I am simply pointing out that for three decades the West has confronted Russia with this limited choice. Putin himself has complained about it over and over. I find it astonishing that the Western "foreign policy community," whatever that is, has permitted a policy that corners a powerful nuclear power such as Russia in this way. And it continues. Now we have Lithuania blocking Russia's access to part of Russia. This is insanity. This is confirming Russian conclusions that only force can constrain the West.
A wider war is Washington's goal
As I have many times written, the Kremlin's Ukraine operation cannot be limited. Washington will not permit it to be limited. Washington has already widened the conflict, and is now widening the conflict further. The insane Jewish neoconservatives who have control over US foreign policy have prevailed on tiny, helpless Lithuania to violate the agreement with Russia for the provision of Kaliningrad and has received a Russian ultimatum. The moronic State Department spokesman Ned Price dismissed the ultimatum as "bluster." The White House idiot says Washington backs Lithuania. In other words, Washington is egging on a wider war.
The conflict in Donbass has gone slowly, because it is a war in the midst of Russian people attached to Ukraine by Soviet leaders. The Russian troops are fighting under restrictions to minimize death and destruction in the Donbass region, from which Ukrainian forces are being driven out and destroyed. A wider war will not be fought among Russian populations. The world has never seen such recklessness as Washington and NATO are demonstrating. The sordid and utterly corrupt Democrats desperately need a war in order to rally Americans to the government and prevent a Democrat wipeout in the election. In their effort to hold on to power, the Democrats and whore media are widening the war. This is dangerous beyond belief. The Russian government declared some time ago that Russia will never again fight a war on her own territory.
It is astounding that the Kremlin believed that their intervention in Donbass could be limited. How the Kremlin managed to misread the West after such a total rebuffing of the Kremlin's efforts to reach a mutual security agreement with the West is inexplicable. Apparently, the Kremlin has not taken the Wolfowitz Doctrine seriously. The Kremlin and the dumbshit Russian Atlanticist Integrationists need to learn it by heart and repeat it every morning upon awakening as it is the operative doctrine. Under this doctrine the Kremlin has two choices. Russia can surrender its sovereignty or Russia can destroy the West. Russia has no other alternative. The entire world needs to understand this.
https://www.rt.com/russia/557466-nato-engaged-direct-aggression-russia/
Again I ask: Is the West pushing Russia too far? Read these high level Russian statements and answer the question for yourself:
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted on Monday that Vilnius's decision was "unprecedented" and "a violation of anything and everything."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Vilnius's "provocative" actions are a violation of the country's international legal obligations to allow the transit of cargo between Russia and Kaliningrad. She said that Russia sees this move as "openly hostile" and that unless Lithuania immediately lifts these restrictions, Russia reserves the right to "defend its national interests."
The head of Russia's commission for the defense of state sovereignty, Andrey Klimov, has argued that Lithuania's move was an act of "direct aggression" against Moscow and that unless the EU brought its member state to heel, Russia would have a free hand to "solve the problem of the Kaliningrad transit created by Lithuania by ANY means chosen by us."
Washington and its European puppets are intentionally provoking conflict between Lithuania and Russia:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/06/tyler-durden/russia-demands-lithuania-lift-openly-hostile-blockade-panic-buying-ensues/
Russian attitudes are hardening
The insane neoconservatives who control US foreign policy are leading us to nuclear war
Russia will never trust the West again – Kremlin
https://www.rt.com/russia/557570-russia-never-trust-west/
https://www.rt.com/russia/557547-putin-nuclear-missile-sarmat-deployment/
https://www.rt.com/russia/557539-putin-deployment-s-500-defense-systems/
I know of no reason other than delusions of power for Washington to expect Russia and China to subordinate their sovereignty and their interests to Washington. This totally unreal expectation of the neoconservatives is leading to Armageddon.
Putin's Speech: Are the Russian People Being Prepared to Do Their Duty and Destroy the Depraved and Evil West?
https://www.unz.com/aanglin/putin-gives-historic-speech-calls-sanctions-stupid-says-russia-a-thousand-year-old-empire-that-wont-crack/
Clarification: In this article I write that under the neoconservative Wolfowitz doctrine of US hegemony, "the Kremlin has two choices. Russia can surrender its sovereignty or Russia can destroy the West. Russia has no other alternative. The entire world needs to understand this." I am not advocating that Russia destroy the West. I am simply pointing out that for three decades the West has confronted Russia with this limited choice. Putin himself has complained about it over and over. I find it astonishing that the Western "foreign policy community," whatever that is, has permitted a policy that corners a powerful nuclear power such as Russia in this way. And it continues. Now we have Lithuania blocking Russia's access to part of Russia. This is insanity. This is confirming Russian conclusions that only force can constrain the West.
A wider war is Washington's goal
As I have many times written, the Kremlin's Ukraine operation cannot be limited. Washington will not permit it to be limited. Washington has already widened the conflict, and is now widening the conflict further. The insane Jewish neoconservatives who have control over US foreign policy have prevailed on tiny, helpless Lithuania to violate the agreement with Russia for the provision of Kaliningrad and has received a Russian ultimatum. The moronic State Department spokesman Ned Price dismissed the ultimatum as "bluster." The White House idiot says Washington backs Lithuania. In other words, Washington is egging on a wider war.
The conflict in Donbass has gone slowly, because it is a war in the midst of Russian people attached to Ukraine by Soviet leaders. The Russian troops are fighting under restrictions to minimize death and destruction in the Donbass region, from which Ukrainian forces are being driven out and destroyed. A wider war will not be fought among Russian populations. The world has never seen such recklessness as Washington and NATO are demonstrating. The sordid and utterly corrupt Democrats desperately need a war in order to rally Americans to the government and prevent a Democrat wipeout in the election. In their effort to hold on to power, the Democrats and whore media are widening the war. This is dangerous beyond belief. The Russian government declared some time ago that Russia will never again fight a war on her own territory.
It is astounding that the Kremlin believed that their intervention in Donbass could be limited. How the Kremlin managed to misread the West after such a total rebuffing of the Kremlin's efforts to reach a mutual security agreement with the West is inexplicable. Apparently, the Kremlin has not taken the Wolfowitz Doctrine seriously. The Kremlin and the dumbshit Russian Atlanticist Integrationists need to learn it by heart and repeat it every morning upon awakening as it is the operative doctrine. Under this doctrine the Kremlin has two choices. Russia can surrender its sovereignty or Russia can destroy the West. Russia has no other alternative. The entire world needs to understand this.
https://www.rt.com/russia/557466-nato-engaged-direct-aggression-russia/
Again I ask: Is the West pushing Russia too far? Read these high level Russian statements and answer the question for yourself:
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted on Monday that Vilnius's decision was "unprecedented" and "a violation of anything and everything."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Vilnius's "provocative" actions are a violation of the country's international legal obligations to allow the transit of cargo between Russia and Kaliningrad. She said that Russia sees this move as "openly hostile" and that unless Lithuania immediately lifts these restrictions, Russia reserves the right to "defend its national interests."
The head of Russia's commission for the defense of state sovereignty, Andrey Klimov, has argued that Lithuania's move was an act of "direct aggression" against Moscow and that unless the EU brought its member state to heel, Russia would have a free hand to "solve the problem of the Kaliningrad transit created by Lithuania by ANY means chosen by us."
Washington and its European puppets are intentionally provoking conflict between Lithuania and Russia:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/06/tyler-durden/russia-demands-lithuania-lift-openly-hostile-blockade-panic-buying-ensues/
Russian attitudes are hardening
The insane neoconservatives who control US foreign policy are leading us to nuclear war
Russia will never trust the West again – Kremlin
https://www.rt.com/russia/557570-russia-never-trust-west/
https://www.rt.com/russia/557547-putin-nuclear-missile-sarmat-deployment/
https://www.rt.com/russia/557539-putin-deployment-s-500-defense-systems/
I know of no reason other than delusions of power for Washington to expect Russia and China to subordinate their sovereignty and their interests to Washington. This totally unreal expectation of the neoconservatives is leading to Armageddon.
Putin's Speech: Are the Russian People Being Prepared to Do Their Duty and Destroy the Depraved and Evil West?
https://www.unz.com/aanglin/putin-gives-historic-speech-calls-sanctions-stupid-says-russia-a-thousand-year-old-empire-that-wont-crack/
June 22, 2022
Ukraine as a country might not have a future. Ukraine is a new country only three decades old. Historically, Ukraine has been a part of Poland or of Russia. It might be on the verge of being divided between them.
Most of the Donbass and much of the Black Sea coast has been liberated by Russian forces and the forces of the two Donbass republics. Clearly the Ukrainian forces have lost the war in Donbass. Clearly Zelensky, a Jew who somehow heads a neo-Nazi state, lies when he claims Ukraine had no intention of reconquering the breakaway Donbass republics. What other purpose did the 150,000 Ukrainian army and Nazi militias arrayed on the shrunken Donbass borders have? How can the Russian forces be destroying the Ukrainian army in Donbass if the army wasn't there? A question like this is too straightforward for the Western presstitutes.
What happens after Russia's victory in Donbass?
Will Washington permit its puppet government to agree to Russia's demand that Ukraine demilitarize and take a neutral status like Austria, or will Washington and NATO raise and equip a million-man army in Western Ukraine and attempt to take back the Donbass and Crimea?
Such an attempt would likely result in the destruction of Kiev and Lvov. The Ukrainian government would exist only in exile. As a number of NATO countries have made themselves combatants in the conflict, they are legitimate Russian targets. Clearly, a widening of the conflict is easily possible.
Ukraine could lose its standing as a country in another way. According to John Helmer, Russian intelligence reports Polish interest in reclaiming Western Ukraine. The idea seems to be that Polish troops in the guise of peacekeepers would occupy Western Ukraine in order to keep the Russians out and simply stay while the remains of Ukraine transition back into a Polish province.
Ukraine as a country might not have a future. Ukraine is a new country only three decades old. Historically, Ukraine has been a part of Poland or of Russia. It might be on the verge of being divided between them.
Most of the Donbass and much of the Black Sea coast has been liberated by Russian forces and the forces of the two Donbass republics. Clearly the Ukrainian forces have lost the war in Donbass. Clearly Zelensky, a Jew who somehow heads a neo-Nazi state, lies when he claims Ukraine had no intention of reconquering the breakaway Donbass republics. What other purpose did the 150,000 Ukrainian army and Nazi militias arrayed on the shrunken Donbass borders have? How can the Russian forces be destroying the Ukrainian army in Donbass if the army wasn't there? A question like this is too straightforward for the Western presstitutes.
What happens after Russia's victory in Donbass?
Will Washington permit its puppet government to agree to Russia's demand that Ukraine demilitarize and take a neutral status like Austria, or will Washington and NATO raise and equip a million-man army in Western Ukraine and attempt to take back the Donbass and Crimea?
Such an attempt would likely result in the destruction of Kiev and Lvov. The Ukrainian government would exist only in exile. As a number of NATO countries have made themselves combatants in the conflict, they are legitimate Russian targets. Clearly, a widening of the conflict is easily possible.
Ukraine could lose its standing as a country in another way. According to John Helmer, Russian intelligence reports Polish interest in reclaiming Western Ukraine. The idea seems to be that Polish troops in the guise of peacekeepers would occupy Western Ukraine in order to keep the Russians out and simply stay while the remains of Ukraine transition back into a Polish province.
June 20, 2022
Dr. Simone Gold, founder of America's Frontline Doctors, a group that saved huge numbers of American lives by treating Covid patients with Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine, while Big Pharma and its captive hospitals and Biden regime killed huge numbers of Americans with non-treatment and with ventilators, remdesivir and mRNA "vaccines," has been sentenced to prison for two months and fined $10,000.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/dr-simone-gold-sentenced-to-two-months-in-prison-and-fines-for-capitol-breach_4540013.html
The ostensible excuse is that she stepped inside the Capitol through the door opened by the police not to protest the stolen election or to insurrect, but to deliver a warning about coercive Covid mandates, which she did.
She was charged with entering a restricted building–note that the halls of democracy, the people's house, is a restricted building–violent entry, and disorderly conduct, all false charges.
Dr. Gold expressed her regret for entering the Capitol, a requirement so that the Nazi justice system didn't sentence her to 20 years or death for saving lives. Dr. Gold, like so many other medical doctors, such as Dr. Pierre Kory (https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/they-are-trying-to-revoke-dr-pierre) and Dr. Peter McCullough, are being punished for interfering with Big Pharma's profits, which are shared with Fauci and other NIH officials who serve Big Pharma, not public health, as marketing specialists.
The power of an utterly corrupt Big Pharma over the American Board of Internal Medicine to take away medical licenses of doctors, who saved lives by not following Big Pharma's Covid protocols, is extraordinary. It proves that independent medicine does not exist in the United States. Big Pharma has control over who practices medicine and how medicine is practiced.
The United States itself is so Nazified that there is no wonder the US supports the Ukrainian Nazis. In "the land of the free" parents cannot even complain to school boards about the indoctrination of their children under the guise of "education" without being beat up and arrested. If this isn't Third Reich, what is?
What the Covid orchestration has told us is that there is not a single country in the Western World that believes in liberty and human rights. Every "Western democracy" is willing to deceive and coerce its citizens just as dictatorships do.
Dr. Simone Gold, founder of America's Frontline Doctors, a group that saved huge numbers of American lives by treating Covid patients with Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine, while Big Pharma and its captive hospitals and Biden regime killed huge numbers of Americans with non-treatment and with ventilators, remdesivir and mRNA "vaccines," has been sentenced to prison for two months and fined $10,000.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/dr-simone-gold-sentenced-to-two-months-in-prison-and-fines-for-capitol-breach_4540013.html
The ostensible excuse is that she stepped inside the Capitol through the door opened by the police not to protest the stolen election or to insurrect, but to deliver a warning about coercive Covid mandates, which she did.
She was charged with entering a restricted building–note that the halls of democracy, the people's house, is a restricted building–violent entry, and disorderly conduct, all false charges.
Dr. Gold expressed her regret for entering the Capitol, a requirement so that the Nazi justice system didn't sentence her to 20 years or death for saving lives. Dr. Gold, like so many other medical doctors, such as Dr. Pierre Kory (https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/they-are-trying-to-revoke-dr-pierre) and Dr. Peter McCullough, are being punished for interfering with Big Pharma's profits, which are shared with Fauci and other NIH officials who serve Big Pharma, not public health, as marketing specialists.
The power of an utterly corrupt Big Pharma over the American Board of Internal Medicine to take away medical licenses of doctors, who saved lives by not following Big Pharma's Covid protocols, is extraordinary. It proves that independent medicine does not exist in the United States. Big Pharma has control over who practices medicine and how medicine is practiced.
The United States itself is so Nazified that there is no wonder the US supports the Ukrainian Nazis. In "the land of the free" parents cannot even complain to school boards about the indoctrination of their children under the guise of "education" without being beat up and arrested. If this isn't Third Reich, what is?
What the Covid orchestration has told us is that there is not a single country in the Western World that believes in liberty and human rights. Every "Western democracy" is willing to deceive and coerce its citizens just as dictatorships do.
As Putin says, the British government is nothing but an American lackey
The British are now ruled by their former colonial lackeys. An Indian who is the British Home Secretary has ruled, as he was ordered to do, the extradition of a foreign national who is not a citizen of the country extraditing him or a citizen of the country requesting his extradition. India, long an English colony, has some idea of British justice, but Priti Patel does not sufficiently appreciate the essence of British justice to be able to defend it. One can say that neither did the judges on the British courts who approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the US where Washington wants him for revenge. Britain, it seems, is no longer British, and America is no longer American.
Julian Assange has committed no crime in Britain, where he was held for years without charges in complete and total violation of habeas corpus for no other reason than Washington's ability to control British "justice." Assange has committed no crime in the US. He is a citizen of Australia. Yet he is being charged with treason against the US because as a journalist he did the same thing that Daniel Ellsberg and the New York Times did in 1971. He published leaked information that showed the US government knowingly committed and covered up war crimes and knowingly kept secret its deception of its gullible, trusting dumbshit allies who are without any doubt a pathetic bunch unable to act independently of Washington. Nothing happened to Ellsberg, because in those days the US Constitution and the First Amendment had more authority than embarrassed government officials–criminals actually who should be in prison. Today the corrupt, criminal government officials, backed up by their media whores, have far more authority than the US Constitution. Watching the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, NPR, the BBC lambast Julian Assange as a "Russian agent" made it clear that the freedom of the press was no longer a value of the Anglo-American press.
It is not a value of elected and appointed government officials either. As far as I can tell not a single sitting Western government believes in the principles of a free people and a free society. Vengeance, not law, rules in the West. As the illegal Covid protocols proved, the governments of the "free world" now order their citizens around with the same disregard of their rights as dictators do.
Edward Snowden, who had to flee America because he leaked evidence that the US government is illegally spying on its citizens, says that Assange's extradition shows that there is nothing left of any meaningful aspect of Western freedom. We are free to commit all sorts of sexually depraved acts, but we cannot speak freely or hold government accountable. A man is free to claim that he is a woman, but he cannot safely reveal government crimes or misbehavior. He can't, even if he is the most authoritative medical scientist in the world, challenge the Covid protocols without punishment.
https://sputniknews.com/20220617/hard-to-believe-snowden-slams-degradation-of-human-rights-in-uks-decision-to-extradite-assange-1096414615.html
We are handed narratives that serve secret agendas, and we are not permitted to question them. This is the hallmark of a totalitarian system. Totalitarian systems are now what exist everywhere in the Western world. Freedom, except for sexual perversion, exists nowhere in the Western world. Today in American universities, supposedly fonts of free inquiry, tenured professors are fired for using gender pronouns. People are excluded from social media if they disagree that a sexually fully equipped male is a female by self-declaration or if they disagree that the Covid vaccination is safe. This is still the case even though the court-ordered release of Pfizer documents prove beyond all doubt that the vaccine is, and was known to be prior to its use, deadly.
So as Pontius Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jews, the British Home Secretary has delivered an honest journalist to the criminal American government officials he exposed. Vengeance, said the Indian Priti Patel speaking for Britain, rules. Not law. Not justice. British honor is gone with the wind.
Julian Assange Faces an Election Year Show Trial Based on a Mountain of Lies
Assange should be given the Medal of Honor, Not Subjected to a Stalinist Show Trial
https://www.rt.com/news/557429-assange-extradition-trial-us/
The British are now ruled by their former colonial lackeys. An Indian who is the British Home Secretary has ruled, as he was ordered to do, the extradition of a foreign national who is not a citizen of the country extraditing him or a citizen of the country requesting his extradition. India, long an English colony, has some idea of British justice, but Priti Patel does not sufficiently appreciate the essence of British justice to be able to defend it. One can say that neither did the judges on the British courts who approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the US where Washington wants him for revenge. Britain, it seems, is no longer British, and America is no longer American.
Julian Assange has committed no crime in Britain, where he was held for years without charges in complete and total violation of habeas corpus for no other reason than Washington's ability to control British "justice." Assange has committed no crime in the US. He is a citizen of Australia. Yet he is being charged with treason against the US because as a journalist he did the same thing that Daniel Ellsberg and the New York Times did in 1971. He published leaked information that showed the US government knowingly committed and covered up war crimes and knowingly kept secret its deception of its gullible, trusting dumbshit allies who are without any doubt a pathetic bunch unable to act independently of Washington. Nothing happened to Ellsberg, because in those days the US Constitution and the First Amendment had more authority than embarrassed government officials–criminals actually who should be in prison. Today the corrupt, criminal government officials, backed up by their media whores, have far more authority than the US Constitution. Watching the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, NPR, the BBC lambast Julian Assange as a "Russian agent" made it clear that the freedom of the press was no longer a value of the Anglo-American press.
It is not a value of elected and appointed government officials either. As far as I can tell not a single sitting Western government believes in the principles of a free people and a free society. Vengeance, not law, rules in the West. As the illegal Covid protocols proved, the governments of the "free world" now order their citizens around with the same disregard of their rights as dictators do.
Edward Snowden, who had to flee America because he leaked evidence that the US government is illegally spying on its citizens, says that Assange's extradition shows that there is nothing left of any meaningful aspect of Western freedom. We are free to commit all sorts of sexually depraved acts, but we cannot speak freely or hold government accountable. A man is free to claim that he is a woman, but he cannot safely reveal government crimes or misbehavior. He can't, even if he is the most authoritative medical scientist in the world, challenge the Covid protocols without punishment.
https://sputniknews.com/20220617/hard-to-believe-snowden-slams-degradation-of-human-rights-in-uks-decision-to-extradite-assange-1096414615.html
We are handed narratives that serve secret agendas, and we are not permitted to question them. This is the hallmark of a totalitarian system. Totalitarian systems are now what exist everywhere in the Western world. Freedom, except for sexual perversion, exists nowhere in the Western world. Today in American universities, supposedly fonts of free inquiry, tenured professors are fired for using gender pronouns. People are excluded from social media if they disagree that a sexually fully equipped male is a female by self-declaration or if they disagree that the Covid vaccination is safe. This is still the case even though the court-ordered release of Pfizer documents prove beyond all doubt that the vaccine is, and was known to be prior to its use, deadly.
So as Pontius Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jews, the British Home Secretary has delivered an honest journalist to the criminal American government officials he exposed. Vengeance, said the Indian Priti Patel speaking for Britain, rules. Not law. Not justice. British honor is gone with the wind.
Julian Assange Faces an Election Year Show Trial Based on a Mountain of Lies
Assange should be given the Medal of Honor, Not Subjected to a Stalinist Show Trial
https://www.rt.com/news/557429-assange-extradition-trial-us/
The last independent government Germany had was Hitler's. Every succeeding German government has been a Washington puppet. As Mike Whitney writes, "Berlin will always march in lockstep with Washington rather than fulfill its business agreements or act in the interests of its own people." https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/meet-the-new-boss-putin-reroutes-critical-hydrocarbons-eastward-leaving-europe-high-and-dry/
Germany is paying a high price and soon American owners of BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, and Volkswagens will be too. The absurd sanctions against Russia are disorganizing the German economy. This week the sanctions caused a 40% reduction in natural gas to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline, giving a further boost to natural gas prices that have tripped in the last three months. Russian gas flows into Europe through Ukraine have been reduced by Ukraine and those from the pipeline through Poland have been stopped. As there is no readily available alternative supplies, Germany industry is going to have a difficult time functioning. Owners of German cars can likely expect a parts shortage. It is possible that Washington's sanctions against Russia will destroy the German automobile industry.
Some European factories are already shutting down. As the Federal Reserve seems determined to put the US economy into recession, the Western world could soon be in recession and experiencing political instability. Western governments and the presstitutes will blame Russia. However, it was Washington's sanctions, not Russia, that raised prices and disrupted energy and other markets. The ill-considered attempt to blackmail Russia has backfired on the West. The silver lining in the looming economic hardship is globalism's demise.
Germany is paying a high price and soon American owners of BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, and Volkswagens will be too. The absurd sanctions against Russia are disorganizing the German economy. This week the sanctions caused a 40% reduction in natural gas to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline, giving a further boost to natural gas prices that have tripped in the last three months. Russian gas flows into Europe through Ukraine have been reduced by Ukraine and those from the pipeline through Poland have been stopped. As there is no readily available alternative supplies, Germany industry is going to have a difficult time functioning. Owners of German cars can likely expect a parts shortage. It is possible that Washington's sanctions against Russia will destroy the German automobile industry.
Some European factories are already shutting down. As the Federal Reserve seems determined to put the US economy into recession, the Western world could soon be in recession and experiencing political instability. Western governments and the presstitutes will blame Russia. However, it was Washington's sanctions, not Russia, that raised prices and disrupted energy and other markets. The ill-considered attempt to blackmail Russia has backfired on the West. The silver lining in the looming economic hardship is globalism's demise.
23/06/2022
The Industrial Park of Hoechst is pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, June 23, 2022. Germany activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas. - Copyright AP Photo/Michael Probst
Germany has activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies, saying the country faces a "crisis" and warning that storage targets for the winter are at risk due to dwindling deliveries from Russia.
The move brings the country closer to rationing measures, in the wake of a 60% drop in deliveries from Moscow via the Nord Stream pipeline.
The government said the decision to raise the level to "alarm" follows the cuts to Russian deliveries made since June 14 and the continued high market price for gas.
The third and highest stage is the "emergency" level, which would allow the state to organise rationing.
It said that while gas storage facilities are currently filled to 58% capacity — higher than at this time last year — the goal of reaching 90% by December won't be achievable without further measures.
"The situation is serious and winter will come," Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.
"The reduction in gas supplies is an economic attack on us by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," he said. "We will defend ourselves against this. But our country is going to have to go down a stony path now."
"Even if we can't feel it yet: we are in a gas crisis," Habeck added.
The government said it had informed European partners of the move in advance.
The Russian group Gazprom blamed the 60% fall in gas deliveries to Germany via Nord Stream on a technical problem. But the German government says it is a "political decision", intended to influence the arm wrestling between Moscow and Western countries over the war in Ukraine.
This decision has had a heavy impact on several European countries, in particular Germany, Italy and France.
Last Sunday Germany announced a decision to use more coal to save gas, which accounted for 15% of the electricity produced in 2021.
The government will be able to "support" market players to cope with high prices, Habeck said. Berlin has announced the opening of a €15 billion credit line by state-owned KfW to finance gas purchases, via Trading Hub Europe, the body responsible.
The Industrial Park of Hoechst is pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, June 23, 2022. Germany activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas. - Copyright AP Photo/Michael Probst
Germany has activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies, saying the country faces a "crisis" and warning that storage targets for the winter are at risk due to dwindling deliveries from Russia.
The move brings the country closer to rationing measures, in the wake of a 60% drop in deliveries from Moscow via the Nord Stream pipeline.
The government said the decision to raise the level to "alarm" follows the cuts to Russian deliveries made since June 14 and the continued high market price for gas.
The third and highest stage is the "emergency" level, which would allow the state to organise rationing.
It said that while gas storage facilities are currently filled to 58% capacity — higher than at this time last year — the goal of reaching 90% by December won't be achievable without further measures.
"The situation is serious and winter will come," Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.
"The reduction in gas supplies is an economic attack on us by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," he said. "We will defend ourselves against this. But our country is going to have to go down a stony path now."
"Even if we can't feel it yet: we are in a gas crisis," Habeck added.
The government said it had informed European partners of the move in advance.
The Russian group Gazprom blamed the 60% fall in gas deliveries to Germany via Nord Stream on a technical problem. But the German government says it is a "political decision", intended to influence the arm wrestling between Moscow and Western countries over the war in Ukraine.
This decision has had a heavy impact on several European countries, in particular Germany, Italy and France.
Last Sunday Germany announced a decision to use more coal to save gas, which accounted for 15% of the electricity produced in 2021.
The government will be able to "support" market players to cope with high prices, Habeck said. Berlin has announced the opening of a €15 billion credit line by state-owned KfW to finance gas purchases, via Trading Hub Europe, the body responsible.
3 Giugno 2022
La siccità sta avendo conseguenze non solo su agricoltura e consumi domestici in diversi comuni del Nord Italia, ma anche sulla produzione di energia elettrica. La situazione è particolarmente critica lungo il Po, dove la centrale idroelettrica di Isola Serafini, in provincia di Piacenza, gestita da Enel Green Power, non è l'unica a essere stata spenta, in questo caso perché non si riuscivano più ad alimentare le turbine che generano elettricità. Spento è anche l'impianto di Sermide, in provincia di Mantova, gestito da A2A, una centrale termoelettrica: l'elettricità viene prodotta bruciando gas, ma c'è bisogno di acqua per il raffreddamento degli impianti. Sempre per la secca del fiume non lavorano a pieno regime le centrali termoelettriche di Ostiglia (in provincia di Mantova, gestita da EP Produzione) e di Moncalieri (vicino a Torino, del gruppo Iren): entrambe, in base a quanto riportato dalla transparency platform del sito di Entso-E, l'associazione europea dei gestori di rete, hanno fermato uno dei gruppi di generazione. Ci sono poi le centinaia di micro e mini centrali idroelettriche lungo i canali di irrigazione alimentati dal Po: "Il 90% è fermo a causa della scarsità d'acqua", dice Marco Gardella, funzionario tecnico dell'Autorità di bacino distrettuale del fiume Po. Si tratta di centraline, di solito gestite da piccole società o dai consorzi di bonifica, che producono potenze sotto i 250 kilowatt. Il Po in questi giorni ha pochissima acqua: "A Pontelagoscuro, sezione di chiusura dell'intero bacino padano, la portata in questo momento è di appena 177 metri cubi al secondo – spiega Gardella –. Molto meno della portata media, di 1.800 mc al secondo. Un record negativo, se pensiamo che siamo solo a giugno. Questa crisi idrica non si risolverà nel breve periodo".
Sia le centraline lungo i canali irrigui sia la centrale idroelettrica di Isola Serafini sono centrali ad acqua fluente: "Questi impianti utilizzano la portata del corso d'acqua dalla quale viene sottratta una portata di deflusso ecologico che deve essere rilasciata a valle per garantire le funzioni vitali dell'ecosistema fluviale – spiega Marco Mancini, docente di Costruzioni idrauliche al Politecnico di Milano -. Questi impianti risentono pertanto in modo diretto della carenza idrica". Altro tipo di impianti idroelettrici sono le centrali a bacino, cioè dotate di un serbatoio realizzato grazie a una diga: "Queste centrali – dice il professore – hanno una maggiore resilienza rispetto ai fenomeni di scarsità idrica perché possono contare sulla riserva d'acqua del lago, che sopperisce a una carenza idrica momentanea. Questa capacità di resilienza viene comunque messa in crisi dal perdurare di periodi di siccità e dall'elevata richiesta dell'utenza". È quanto sta già succedendo nei bacini montani attorno al Po, dove ci sono diverse centrali idroelettriche con serbatoio. "I dati puntuali ci restituiscono un quadro sconfortante – dice Gardella dell'Autorità di bacino -. Sappiamo che stanno producendo ai minimi degli ultimi vent'anni ed è probabile che alcune siano spente".
La carenza di acqua non si fa sentire solo lungo il Po. Anche dove per il momento non si è arrivati a fermare le centrali, la produzione di energia elettrica è inferiore al solito. Come in Liguria, dove Tirreno Power è il primo gestore di impianti idroelettrici, con una capacità complessiva, tra centrali ad acqua fluente e a bacino, di circa 75 MW: "La nostra produzione 2022 (gennaio-maggio) è pari a circa il 24% della media decennale – dicono dalla società -. Nell'ambito della regione, le condizioni di riduzione della produzione a causa della siccità sono piuttosto variegate. Ad esempio, gli impianti sul Bormida (sub-affluente del Po in area Savona/Alessandria) hanno avuto una produzione del 10% rispetto alla media decennale mentre gli impianti del levante ligure sono circa al 40%. Considerando la produzione di questi ultimi giorni, nel mese di giugno siamo al 20-25% del livello medio riferito allo stesso periodo". Produzione ridotta anche in Val d'Aosta, dove la Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque gestisce 32 impianti idroelettrici: "La produzione delle nostre centrali idroelettriche – fanno sapere da Cva – si attesta a valori pari a circa il 25% al di sotto del budget, soprattutto a causa delle scarse precipitazioni nevose dello scorso inverno".
La carenza di acqua, come detto, sta creando problemi non solo alle centrali idroelettriche, ma anche a quelle termoelettriche. Nel caso in cui questi impianti siano lungo un fiume, il raffreddamento avviene grazie a una pompa che preleva acqua, la fa passare per una serpentina di raffreddamento e la scarica più a valle nel corso d'acqua. Perché le pompe possano prelevare acqua, i loro imbocchi devono essere immersi. Se il livello del fiume è troppo basso, il rischio è che non si riesca a pescare l'acqua necessaria per il raffreddamento. È quello che è successo a Sermide e, in parte, a Ostiglia e Moncalieri.
La siccità sta avendo conseguenze non solo su agricoltura e consumi domestici in diversi comuni del Nord Italia, ma anche sulla produzione di energia elettrica. La situazione è particolarmente critica lungo il Po, dove la centrale idroelettrica di Isola Serafini, in provincia di Piacenza, gestita da Enel Green Power, non è l'unica a essere stata spenta, in questo caso perché non si riuscivano più ad alimentare le turbine che generano elettricità. Spento è anche l'impianto di Sermide, in provincia di Mantova, gestito da A2A, una centrale termoelettrica: l'elettricità viene prodotta bruciando gas, ma c'è bisogno di acqua per il raffreddamento degli impianti. Sempre per la secca del fiume non lavorano a pieno regime le centrali termoelettriche di Ostiglia (in provincia di Mantova, gestita da EP Produzione) e di Moncalieri (vicino a Torino, del gruppo Iren): entrambe, in base a quanto riportato dalla transparency platform del sito di Entso-E, l'associazione europea dei gestori di rete, hanno fermato uno dei gruppi di generazione. Ci sono poi le centinaia di micro e mini centrali idroelettriche lungo i canali di irrigazione alimentati dal Po: "Il 90% è fermo a causa della scarsità d'acqua", dice Marco Gardella, funzionario tecnico dell'Autorità di bacino distrettuale del fiume Po. Si tratta di centraline, di solito gestite da piccole società o dai consorzi di bonifica, che producono potenze sotto i 250 kilowatt. Il Po in questi giorni ha pochissima acqua: "A Pontelagoscuro, sezione di chiusura dell'intero bacino padano, la portata in questo momento è di appena 177 metri cubi al secondo – spiega Gardella –. Molto meno della portata media, di 1.800 mc al secondo. Un record negativo, se pensiamo che siamo solo a giugno. Questa crisi idrica non si risolverà nel breve periodo".
Sia le centraline lungo i canali irrigui sia la centrale idroelettrica di Isola Serafini sono centrali ad acqua fluente: "Questi impianti utilizzano la portata del corso d'acqua dalla quale viene sottratta una portata di deflusso ecologico che deve essere rilasciata a valle per garantire le funzioni vitali dell'ecosistema fluviale – spiega Marco Mancini, docente di Costruzioni idrauliche al Politecnico di Milano -. Questi impianti risentono pertanto in modo diretto della carenza idrica". Altro tipo di impianti idroelettrici sono le centrali a bacino, cioè dotate di un serbatoio realizzato grazie a una diga: "Queste centrali – dice il professore – hanno una maggiore resilienza rispetto ai fenomeni di scarsità idrica perché possono contare sulla riserva d'acqua del lago, che sopperisce a una carenza idrica momentanea. Questa capacità di resilienza viene comunque messa in crisi dal perdurare di periodi di siccità e dall'elevata richiesta dell'utenza". È quanto sta già succedendo nei bacini montani attorno al Po, dove ci sono diverse centrali idroelettriche con serbatoio. "I dati puntuali ci restituiscono un quadro sconfortante – dice Gardella dell'Autorità di bacino -. Sappiamo che stanno producendo ai minimi degli ultimi vent'anni ed è probabile che alcune siano spente".
La carenza di acqua non si fa sentire solo lungo il Po. Anche dove per il momento non si è arrivati a fermare le centrali, la produzione di energia elettrica è inferiore al solito. Come in Liguria, dove Tirreno Power è il primo gestore di impianti idroelettrici, con una capacità complessiva, tra centrali ad acqua fluente e a bacino, di circa 75 MW: "La nostra produzione 2022 (gennaio-maggio) è pari a circa il 24% della media decennale – dicono dalla società -. Nell'ambito della regione, le condizioni di riduzione della produzione a causa della siccità sono piuttosto variegate. Ad esempio, gli impianti sul Bormida (sub-affluente del Po in area Savona/Alessandria) hanno avuto una produzione del 10% rispetto alla media decennale mentre gli impianti del levante ligure sono circa al 40%. Considerando la produzione di questi ultimi giorni, nel mese di giugno siamo al 20-25% del livello medio riferito allo stesso periodo". Produzione ridotta anche in Val d'Aosta, dove la Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque gestisce 32 impianti idroelettrici: "La produzione delle nostre centrali idroelettriche – fanno sapere da Cva – si attesta a valori pari a circa il 25% al di sotto del budget, soprattutto a causa delle scarse precipitazioni nevose dello scorso inverno".
La carenza di acqua, come detto, sta creando problemi non solo alle centrali idroelettriche, ma anche a quelle termoelettriche. Nel caso in cui questi impianti siano lungo un fiume, il raffreddamento avviene grazie a una pompa che preleva acqua, la fa passare per una serpentina di raffreddamento e la scarica più a valle nel corso d'acqua. Perché le pompe possano prelevare acqua, i loro imbocchi devono essere immersi. Se il livello del fiume è troppo basso, il rischio è che non si riesca a pescare l'acqua necessaria per il raffreddamento. È quello che è successo a Sermide e, in parte, a Ostiglia e Moncalieri.
During the 1990s, Monsanto Corporation's devastating attack against farmers; their genetically-modified Frankenfoods and their neurotoxic pesticides inspired people to push government into legislating certification standards for foods.
But thanks to Big Pharma, Bill Gates and pop culture media brainwashing, Monsanto still stands strong and is ready to take complete control of your food supply with the help of the same powerful families and foundations who already control the money and the energy.
Their plans to do so are comprehensively laid out in a recent report published at Corey's Digs.
The indoor vertical farming industry, which is a highly-innovative and efficient method is being funded by Bill Gates and pushed by the World Economic Forum as a replacement to conventional outdoor farming.
Aerofarms is the industry leader in vertical farming and they also co-developed the first CRISPR gene-edited produce product and worked with the NIH to produce proteins for the deadly COVID vaxxines.
Aerofarms makes it clear that they are not conventional gardeners. They're all about synthetic food products, which is clearly the trend in this growing industry.
Monsanto is creating specially-tailored genetically-cut seeds for these vertical farms and the University of California is developing a plant-based mRNA vaxxine that farms can grow in heads of lettuce, which happens to be the main crop of these new farms.
These GMO farms already provide food at major outlets, including Kroger, Walmart and Whole Foods and are massively expanding.
And it's not only fresh produce that's getting genetically-modified. The USDA and FDA have already approved genetic modifications on pigs, salmon and cattle. And they have approved synthetic lab-grown meat.
Bill Gates' Good Food Institute plans to reimagine meat production with $10 million of support from the USDA. But in order to make their Big Pharma food supply the new American model, they will need a major crisis.
The 2020 lockdowns distressed the supply chain, which was further affected by US sanctions against Russia. This has created a food shortage crisis.
Add to that, over a dozen food processing plants been mysteriously been destroyed in the past several weeks, as well as several fertilizer plants during a major fertilizer crisis.
To make matters worse, Union Pacific Railroad forces a 20% reduction in shipments from the world's largest fertilizer company.
And when the people demand a solution, as it turns out, Bill Gates is heavily-invested in alternative fertilizers and is also a chief stockholder of the Canadian National railway, who claims to be helping the fertilizer market grow.
Perhaps Bill Gates and Monsanto will volunteer to save everyone with their new gene-edited bacteria fertilizer and maybe it will backfire, like it did in Africa, when after 15 years of trying to help, all Gates and Monsanto accomplished was increasing starvation by 31%.
But that's OK, because it's Monsanto-Bayer to the rescue, with their Big Pharma food factories with brand new mRNA vaxxine lettuce.
And as if this wasn't bad enough, the stated goal of this new Frankenfood industry is to make all food traceable and that means coating it all in nanotech.
Who controls the food supply controls the people;
who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.
– Henry Kissinger
But thanks to Big Pharma, Bill Gates and pop culture media brainwashing, Monsanto still stands strong and is ready to take complete control of your food supply with the help of the same powerful families and foundations who already control the money and the energy.
Their plans to do so are comprehensively laid out in a recent report published at Corey's Digs.
The indoor vertical farming industry, which is a highly-innovative and efficient method is being funded by Bill Gates and pushed by the World Economic Forum as a replacement to conventional outdoor farming.
Aerofarms is the industry leader in vertical farming and they also co-developed the first CRISPR gene-edited produce product and worked with the NIH to produce proteins for the deadly COVID vaxxines.
Aerofarms makes it clear that they are not conventional gardeners. They're all about synthetic food products, which is clearly the trend in this growing industry.
Monsanto is creating specially-tailored genetically-cut seeds for these vertical farms and the University of California is developing a plant-based mRNA vaxxine that farms can grow in heads of lettuce, which happens to be the main crop of these new farms.
These GMO farms already provide food at major outlets, including Kroger, Walmart and Whole Foods and are massively expanding.
And it's not only fresh produce that's getting genetically-modified. The USDA and FDA have already approved genetic modifications on pigs, salmon and cattle. And they have approved synthetic lab-grown meat.
Bill Gates' Good Food Institute plans to reimagine meat production with $10 million of support from the USDA. But in order to make their Big Pharma food supply the new American model, they will need a major crisis.
The 2020 lockdowns distressed the supply chain, which was further affected by US sanctions against Russia. This has created a food shortage crisis.
Add to that, over a dozen food processing plants been mysteriously been destroyed in the past several weeks, as well as several fertilizer plants during a major fertilizer crisis.
To make matters worse, Union Pacific Railroad forces a 20% reduction in shipments from the world's largest fertilizer company.
And when the people demand a solution, as it turns out, Bill Gates is heavily-invested in alternative fertilizers and is also a chief stockholder of the Canadian National railway, who claims to be helping the fertilizer market grow.
Perhaps Bill Gates and Monsanto will volunteer to save everyone with their new gene-edited bacteria fertilizer and maybe it will backfire, like it did in Africa, when after 15 years of trying to help, all Gates and Monsanto accomplished was increasing starvation by 31%.
But that's OK, because it's Monsanto-Bayer to the rescue, with their Big Pharma food factories with brand new mRNA vaxxine lettuce.
And as if this wasn't bad enough, the stated goal of this new Frankenfood industry is to make all food traceable and that means coating it all in nanotech.
Who controls the food supply controls the people;
who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.
– Henry Kissinger
June 22 -
"We need more money. We don't just need more money for vaccines for children, we need more money to plan for the second pandemic. There's gonna be another pandemic."
"We need more money. We don't just need more money for vaccines for children, we need more money to plan for the second pandemic. There's gonna be another pandemic."
June 23, 2022
The President of the United States has confirmed that “there is going to be a second pandemic” and the United States Government urgently needs money to prepare for it. The announcement came a day before the UK Government declared a national incident after the UK Health Security Agency discovered Polio in England for the first time since 1984.
The President of the United States has confirmed that “there is going to be a second pandemic” and the United States Government urgently needs money to prepare for it. The announcement came a day before the UK Government declared a national incident after the UK Health Security Agency discovered Polio in England for the first time since 1984.
Fully jabbed individuals are at high risk of passing on their artificially altered DNA to their future offspring, molecular biologist Dr. Daniel Nagase has warned.
23 Jun, 2022
Washington has prohibited a flight that was supposed to pick up Russian diplomats ordered to leave the US, Moscow says
Russia’s foreign ministry has described as “hostile” and “provocative” Washington’s decision not to let a “humanitarian” flight pick up Russian diplomats who had been ordered to leave the US.
In a statement published on the ministry’s website on Wednesday, and authored by its spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, Moscow warned that the US government’s latest move was yet another blow to Russian-American bilateral relations, “which are already in a sorry state.”
According to the official, Washington refused to issue an entry permit for a special flight which was supposed to bring Russian diplomats and their families home – a move Zakharova branded “hostile.”
“The Biden administration chose to completely ignore the fact that we are essentially talking about a humanitarian action,” the diplomat claimed. She explained that the “plane was supposed to come and pick up those of our colleagues who the Department of State had earlier ordered to leave the US by the end of the month.”
Zakharova stressed that the American government’s “provocative behavior” will not go unanswered. The official added that Moscow had warned Washington in advance that, should it not allow the flight to arrive, Russia would respond, including in an asymmetrical manner.
Since the start of Russia’s offensive against Ukraine in late February, a whole host of countries, mainly in the West, have expelled a total of several hundred Russian diplomats. The Kremlin has responded in kind, showing the representatives of those countries the door.
In fact, souring relations between Washington and Moscow had seen the two nations engage in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomatic staff for several years before the armed conflict broke out.
On multiple occasions, the US authorities have claimed that Russian diplomats had been doubling as spies – an allegation Moscow has consistently denied.
This latest episode stems from a decision made by the US Department of State in August 2021, according to which Russian diplomats, who had stayed in the country for more than three years, had to leave. Washington insisted that it was not an expulsion, but rather a tightening of rules aimed at making Russia rotate its diplomats with similar frequency to that of the US embassy in Moscow.
Russia argued that this was a mere pretext, and mirrored the newly introduced US three-year limit, ordering a number of American diplomatic staff to leave.
The first 24 Russian representatives vacated America in early September 2021.
Another 27 Russian diplomats and their families flew home on January 30, 2022.
Some 28 more embassy staff are expected to leave the US on June 30.
Washington has prohibited a flight that was supposed to pick up Russian diplomats ordered to leave the US, Moscow says
Russia’s foreign ministry has described as “hostile” and “provocative” Washington’s decision not to let a “humanitarian” flight pick up Russian diplomats who had been ordered to leave the US.
In a statement published on the ministry’s website on Wednesday, and authored by its spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, Moscow warned that the US government’s latest move was yet another blow to Russian-American bilateral relations, “which are already in a sorry state.”
According to the official, Washington refused to issue an entry permit for a special flight which was supposed to bring Russian diplomats and their families home – a move Zakharova branded “hostile.”
“The Biden administration chose to completely ignore the fact that we are essentially talking about a humanitarian action,” the diplomat claimed. She explained that the “plane was supposed to come and pick up those of our colleagues who the Department of State had earlier ordered to leave the US by the end of the month.”
Zakharova stressed that the American government’s “provocative behavior” will not go unanswered. The official added that Moscow had warned Washington in advance that, should it not allow the flight to arrive, Russia would respond, including in an asymmetrical manner.
Since the start of Russia’s offensive against Ukraine in late February, a whole host of countries, mainly in the West, have expelled a total of several hundred Russian diplomats. The Kremlin has responded in kind, showing the representatives of those countries the door.
In fact, souring relations between Washington and Moscow had seen the two nations engage in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomatic staff for several years before the armed conflict broke out.
On multiple occasions, the US authorities have claimed that Russian diplomats had been doubling as spies – an allegation Moscow has consistently denied.
This latest episode stems from a decision made by the US Department of State in August 2021, according to which Russian diplomats, who had stayed in the country for more than three years, had to leave. Washington insisted that it was not an expulsion, but rather a tightening of rules aimed at making Russia rotate its diplomats with similar frequency to that of the US embassy in Moscow.
Russia argued that this was a mere pretext, and mirrored the newly introduced US three-year limit, ordering a number of American diplomatic staff to leave.
The first 24 Russian representatives vacated America in early September 2021.
Another 27 Russian diplomats and their families flew home on January 30, 2022.
Some 28 more embassy staff are expected to leave the US on June 30.
23 Jun, 2022
Germany triggers 'alarm' stage of gas emergency plan
The move comes into play amid disruption to supply from Russia, which Moscow blamed on sanctions
The German government launched on Thursday the second "alarm" phase of its three-level emergency plan, which was prepared over possible disruptions to gas supplies. It said the country is facing a crisis with the fuel amid diminishing flows from Russia.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck described the shortage of Russian gas as an "economic attack" on his country by President Vladimir Putin.
"We will defend ourselves against this. But our country is going to have to go down a stony path now," he said.
The introduction of new emergency measures comes after Gazprom moved last week to decrease natural gas deliveries to Germany by 60%. While Berlin slammed the Russian company's decision as "political," Moscow explained: "there is simply nothing to pump with," pointing out that Gazprom was unable to safely maintain gas flow without a turbine that had been sent by Siemens Energy to Canada for maintenance, and not returned. The equipment got stuck there due to economic sanctions that Ottawa imposed on Russia.
The Canadian government said it was exploring ways to fix the problem. "The intent of the sanctions was never to cause significant pain to Germany, which is one of our closest friends and allies," Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson told Bloomberg.
The German regulator of gas distribution networks, Bundesnetzagentur, said it will work to reduce gas consumption by manufacturers in response to the looming emergency. The country is concerned about saving enough for the winter period, its head said.
At the moment, German gas storage facilities are filled to 58% capacity, Berlin said as it introduced the "alarm" stage. It's higher than it was at this time last year. Germany wants to reach 90% capacity by December.
If the highest third phase of the gas emergency plan is triggered, Germany will introduce gas rationing.
Germany triggers 'alarm' stage of gas emergency plan
The move comes into play amid disruption to supply from Russia, which Moscow blamed on sanctions
The German government launched on Thursday the second "alarm" phase of its three-level emergency plan, which was prepared over possible disruptions to gas supplies. It said the country is facing a crisis with the fuel amid diminishing flows from Russia.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck described the shortage of Russian gas as an "economic attack" on his country by President Vladimir Putin.
"We will defend ourselves against this. But our country is going to have to go down a stony path now," he said.
The introduction of new emergency measures comes after Gazprom moved last week to decrease natural gas deliveries to Germany by 60%. While Berlin slammed the Russian company's decision as "political," Moscow explained: "there is simply nothing to pump with," pointing out that Gazprom was unable to safely maintain gas flow without a turbine that had been sent by Siemens Energy to Canada for maintenance, and not returned. The equipment got stuck there due to economic sanctions that Ottawa imposed on Russia.
The Canadian government said it was exploring ways to fix the problem. "The intent of the sanctions was never to cause significant pain to Germany, which is one of our closest friends and allies," Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson told Bloomberg.
The German regulator of gas distribution networks, Bundesnetzagentur, said it will work to reduce gas consumption by manufacturers in response to the looming emergency. The country is concerned about saving enough for the winter period, its head said.
At the moment, German gas storage facilities are filled to 58% capacity, Berlin said as it introduced the "alarm" stage. It's higher than it was at this time last year. Germany wants to reach 90% capacity by December.
If the highest third phase of the gas emergency plan is triggered, Germany will introduce gas rationing.
NATO has been warned that it must pay closer attention to the Suwalki Gap, a 40-mile-long strip of border between Lithuania and Poland but flanked by Russia and Belarus, a potential invasion corridor for Vladimir Putin.
20/06/2022
Russia's Foreign Ministry has warned Lithuania The Lithuanian Chargé d'Affaires has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. APA's Moscow correspondent reports that the reason was Lithuania's decision to suspend the transit of a number of goods from Russia's Kaliningrad region. "The head of the diplomatic mission was strongly protested against the ban imposed by Vilnius on the transit of a wide range of goods from Lithuania to the Kali
The Lithuanian Chargé d'Affaires has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
APA's Moscow correspondent reports that the reason was Lithuania's decision to suspend the transit of a number of goods from Russia's Kaliningrad region.
"The head of the diplomatic mission was strongly protested against the ban imposed by Vilnius on the transit of a wide range of goods from Lithuania to the Kaliningrad region by rail without prior notice to Russia.
These restrictions were required to be removed immediately.
We stated that we consider Lithuania's provocative steps in violation of its obligations under international law, first of all, the Russian Federation and the European Union Joint Declaration on transit between Kaliningrad Oblast and the rest of the Russian Federation, as open hostility.
In this regard, we stated that if in the near future the transit of goods through the territory of Lithuania between Kaliningrad region and other territories of the Russian Federation is not fully restored, then Russia reserves the right to take measures to protect its national interests, "the Russian Foreign Ministry said. has been published.
Russia's Foreign Ministry has warned Lithuania The Lithuanian Chargé d'Affaires has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. APA's Moscow correspondent reports that the reason was Lithuania's decision to suspend the transit of a number of goods from Russia's Kaliningrad region. "The head of the diplomatic mission was strongly protested against the ban imposed by Vilnius on the transit of a wide range of goods from Lithuania to the Kali
The Lithuanian Chargé d'Affaires has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
APA's Moscow correspondent reports that the reason was Lithuania's decision to suspend the transit of a number of goods from Russia's Kaliningrad region.
"The head of the diplomatic mission was strongly protested against the ban imposed by Vilnius on the transit of a wide range of goods from Lithuania to the Kaliningrad region by rail without prior notice to Russia.
These restrictions were required to be removed immediately.
We stated that we consider Lithuania's provocative steps in violation of its obligations under international law, first of all, the Russian Federation and the European Union Joint Declaration on transit between Kaliningrad Oblast and the rest of the Russian Federation, as open hostility.
In this regard, we stated that if in the near future the transit of goods through the territory of Lithuania between Kaliningrad region and other territories of the Russian Federation is not fully restored, then Russia reserves the right to take measures to protect its national interests, "the Russian Foreign Ministry said. has been published.
21 June 2022
Russia has explicitly warned Lithuania that unless unrestricted rail passage is restored to the Russian state of Kaliningrad, immediately, "Russia will take action" against Lithuania.
These words were written and handed to the chargé d'affaires of Lithuania, who was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to receive the written warning today.
The last time Russia warned a country they had "x" time to do something, was Ukraine. Seven hours after being given that five-hour deadline, the Russian Army entered Ukraine by force.
Russia has explicitly warned Lithuania that unless unrestricted rail passage is restored to the Russian state of Kaliningrad, immediately, "Russia will take action" against Lithuania.
These words were written and handed to the chargé d'affaires of Lithuania, who was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to receive the written warning today.
The last time Russia warned a country they had "x" time to do something, was Ukraine. Seven hours after being given that five-hour deadline, the Russian Army entered Ukraine by force.
22 Junw, 2022
It will be based on a currency basket of the five-nation bloc, according to the Russian president
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – are currently working on setting up a new global reserve currency.
"The issue of creating an international reserve currency based on a basket of currencies of our countries is being worked out," he said at the BRICS business forum.
According to the Russian president, the member states are also developing reliable alternative mechanisms for international payments.
Earlier, the group said it was working on setting up a joint payment network to cut reliance on the Western financial system. The BRICS countries have been also boosting the use of local currencies in mutual trade.
It will be based on a currency basket of the five-nation bloc, according to the Russian president
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – are currently working on setting up a new global reserve currency.
"The issue of creating an international reserve currency based on a basket of currencies of our countries is being worked out," he said at the BRICS business forum.
According to the Russian president, the member states are also developing reliable alternative mechanisms for international payments.
Earlier, the group said it was working on setting up a joint payment network to cut reliance on the Western financial system. The BRICS countries have been also boosting the use of local currencies in mutual trade.
22 Jun, 2022 15:19
The country is prepared to face retaliatory steps by Russia, Gitanas Nauseda has said
Cargo train cars pictured in Kaliningrad, Russia on June 20, 2022. © Sputnik / Mikhail Golenkov
Vilnius is ready to expand the list of goods banned from transit to Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad should the European Union introduce new sanctions against Moscow, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Wednesday. The country is also ready to face any potential retaliatory measures Russia might introduce, he told Reuters in an interview.
"We are ready and we are prepared for unfriendly actions from Russia, such as disconnection from the BRELL [power grid] system, or others," Nauseda said.
The president stressed that the transit restrictions were not a sovereign move by Lithuania, but merely the implementation of the EU sanctions against Moscow introduced over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. "We feel the support of the European Union, because this is a decision made by the European Union," he said, adding that the country was ready to expand the list of banned goods should the bloc introduce new restrictions against Russia.
"We are looking forward to implementing the next stages of the sanctions, and it would be very good if the European Commission explains their content to the Russian authorities. It could remove some of the current tensions, which are not in the interest of either the European Union or Russia," Nauseda stated.
The country is prepared to face retaliatory steps by Russia, Gitanas Nauseda has said
Cargo train cars pictured in Kaliningrad, Russia on June 20, 2022. © Sputnik / Mikhail Golenkov
Vilnius is ready to expand the list of goods banned from transit to Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad should the European Union introduce new sanctions against Moscow, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Wednesday. The country is also ready to face any potential retaliatory measures Russia might introduce, he told Reuters in an interview.
"We are ready and we are prepared for unfriendly actions from Russia, such as disconnection from the BRELL [power grid] system, or others," Nauseda said.
The president stressed that the transit restrictions were not a sovereign move by Lithuania, but merely the implementation of the EU sanctions against Moscow introduced over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. "We feel the support of the European Union, because this is a decision made by the European Union," he said, adding that the country was ready to expand the list of banned goods should the bloc introduce new restrictions against Russia.
"We are looking forward to implementing the next stages of the sanctions, and it would be very good if the European Commission explains their content to the Russian authorities. It could remove some of the current tensions, which are not in the interest of either the European Union or Russia," Nauseda stated.
20/06/2022
Another major life insurance company in the United States is facing turmoil as death claims soar due to Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) "vaccines."
According to reports, Lincoln National, the country's fifth-largest life insurance carrier, reported a massive 163 percent increase in death benefits paid out under its group life insurance policies in 2021.
Another major life insurance company in the United States is facing turmoil as death claims soar due to Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) "vaccines."
According to reports, Lincoln National, the country's fifth-largest life insurance carrier, reported a massive 163 percent increase in death benefits paid out under its group life insurance policies in 2021.
The quake hit in a remote, rural area which rescuers face a difficult task just accessing
"A couple of helicopters came to help but it is not clear what else they can do other than moving the dead bodies."
This is how one Afghan described the situation after a powerful earthquake left hundreds dead.
The quake happened in the early hours of the morning, causing houses to collapse and crush people sleeping inside.
Rescuers have in some cases been digging with their bare hands, if they have been able to reach the affected areas at all. Rural eastern Afghanistan is not an easy place to travel to. The toll is expected to grow as the picture becomes clearer.
"It was shortly after 01:30 that the earthquake happened. I was scared. I tried to find my friends. Some of them lost their relatives. Some are ok but their homes are damaged," said Ahmad Nour.
"You can hear the ambulances' sirens everywhere. I talked to people. They are so frustrated. They lost their beloved ones. They are in a miserable situation."
Witnesses at the scene described a desperate situation. "Every street you go, you hear people mourning the deaths of their beloved ones," said one journalist.
"A couple of helicopters came to help but it is not clear what else they can do other than moving the dead bodies."
This is how one Afghan described the situation after a powerful earthquake left hundreds dead.
The quake happened in the early hours of the morning, causing houses to collapse and crush people sleeping inside.
Rescuers have in some cases been digging with their bare hands, if they have been able to reach the affected areas at all. Rural eastern Afghanistan is not an easy place to travel to. The toll is expected to grow as the picture becomes clearer.
"It was shortly after 01:30 that the earthquake happened. I was scared. I tried to find my friends. Some of them lost their relatives. Some are ok but their homes are damaged," said Ahmad Nour.
"You can hear the ambulances' sirens everywhere. I talked to people. They are so frustrated. They lost their beloved ones. They are in a miserable situation."
Witnesses at the scene described a desperate situation. "Every street you go, you hear people mourning the deaths of their beloved ones," said one journalist.
A vaccine-derived version of poliovirus has repeatedly surfaced in London sewage over the past several months, suggesting there may be a cryptic or hidden spread among some unvaccinated people, UK health officials announced Wednesday.
In Ukraine, captured Russian soldiers say their government tricked them. How are they treated as POWs? And what do they think of the war? DW was able to get exclusive access and speak with prisoners in one facility.
Unlike Western media, which prefer to sweep the fate of Julian Assange under the carpet, Russian media are following developments around him very closely.
June 20, 2022
In the UK, the decision was made to extradite Julian Assange to the USA. Assange still has the opportunity to challenge the decision, but anyone who has followed the farce that London is called a trial over Assange's extradition knows how the judges will decide.
In its weekly news review on Sunday, Russian television reported on the developments surrounding Assange and I translated the Russian television feature.
- Start of translation
At best, Assange faces death in prison
Westminster Magistrates Court in London has issued an extradition order against Julian Assange to the United States, where he faces 175 years in prison. The Australian journalist had published material on his website WikiLeaks that exposed the illegal activities of the US army in Iraq. Extradition to the US would mean death in prison for Assange. Our correspondent reports from London.
The last images of Julian Assange are from 2019, when British police carried him out of the Ecuadorian embassy and then took him to prison. The decision to extradite him was not surprising. London has never made a secret of its attitude towards the WikiLeaks founder. Here he was arrested for the first time. First, on the basis of a tip from Sweden, where Assange was accused of a sexual offence. But the cover-up of the true goals has long been forgotten, and the game has long been played completely openly. The United States is demanding his head and the British government is ready to hand him over.
Julian Assange's legal epic began in 2010. Of those 12 years in the UK, he spent 10 years in captivity. Everything has been done here to ensure that the founder of WikiLeaks is never released. In the United States, he faces a prison sentence of 175 years.
Niels Meltzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Professor of International Law, confirms that the US and UK governments have acted together from the outset. In the Assange case, there were systematic procedural errors, falsified evidence and partisan judgments.
"The deeper I dealt with the case, the more dirt came to light. And this was not about Julian Assange himself, as many would assume based on the statements spread about him. But the problem was not him, but the governments of the countries involved. When I questioned these governments and asked them for evidence of the legality of their actions against Julian Assange, I was shocked that all the countries involved in this case – the US, UK, Sweden and Ecuador – refused to have a constructive dialogue with me", Meltzer said.
ASSANGE'S LAWYERS HAVE PRESENTED THE COURT WITH EVIDENCE THAT HE WAS MONITORED BY THE US AROUND THE CLOCK BY VIDEO DURING HIS STAY AT THE ECUADORIAN EMBASSY. DAVID MORALES, DIRECTOR OF PRIVATE SECURITY FIRM UC GLOBAL, SAID U.S. INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES HAD DISCUSSED WITH HIM THE POSSIBILITY OF POISONING OR KIDNAPPING THE WIKILEAKS FOUNDER. DESPITE ALL THIS EVIDENCE, THE UK SUPREME COURT REJECTED THE APPEAL AGAINST THE EXTRADITION OF JULIAN ASSANGE.
"Julian learned of the decision to extradite him an hour and a half to two hours later than everyone else. The night before, he was very excited when I talked to him. He hadn't slept all night. This is very stressful, even if you are prepared for the worst. It's very hard, but we fight every day. And we will fight until he is free. There is no other option for us", said Stella Morris, Assange's wife.
Stella Morris met Julian Assange in 2011 while working for his legal team. The couple has two children. They officially became husband and wife in March this year – the ceremony took place in London's Belmarsh prison, where Assange will have to spend at least a few more months. He has the right to appeal against the extradition decision taken by British Home Secretary Priti Patel.
How long the trial in London will last, no one knows. The United States has already achieved its goal, in a sense, by isolating Assange in a British prison. When he was in the Ecuadorian embassy, he continued to work. He gave interviews, including to our TV station.
"The UK Foreign Office has a budget of £10.4 million to protect human rights around the world. Britain has already spent £14.3 million on my surveillance, which has been deemed illegal by the UN. They spend more on this than on human rights all over the world," he told me at the time.
"You will continue to be monitored?" I asked him.
"Yes."
Today, apart from meetings with his lawyers, wife and children, Assange is cut off from the outside world. It all started with the idea of telling the truth about events in the world, providing facts and not interpreting them. But in countries where freedom of speech and expression prevails, such as the UK and the US, not only did it not bring honour, but it is a crime for which you can spend the rest of your life in prison at best.
- End of translation
June 20, 2022
In the UK, the decision was made to extradite Julian Assange to the USA. Assange still has the opportunity to challenge the decision, but anyone who has followed the farce that London is called a trial over Assange's extradition knows how the judges will decide.
In its weekly news review on Sunday, Russian television reported on the developments surrounding Assange and I translated the Russian television feature.
- Start of translation
At best, Assange faces death in prison
Westminster Magistrates Court in London has issued an extradition order against Julian Assange to the United States, where he faces 175 years in prison. The Australian journalist had published material on his website WikiLeaks that exposed the illegal activities of the US army in Iraq. Extradition to the US would mean death in prison for Assange. Our correspondent reports from London.
The last images of Julian Assange are from 2019, when British police carried him out of the Ecuadorian embassy and then took him to prison. The decision to extradite him was not surprising. London has never made a secret of its attitude towards the WikiLeaks founder. Here he was arrested for the first time. First, on the basis of a tip from Sweden, where Assange was accused of a sexual offence. But the cover-up of the true goals has long been forgotten, and the game has long been played completely openly. The United States is demanding his head and the British government is ready to hand him over.
Julian Assange's legal epic began in 2010. Of those 12 years in the UK, he spent 10 years in captivity. Everything has been done here to ensure that the founder of WikiLeaks is never released. In the United States, he faces a prison sentence of 175 years.
Niels Meltzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Professor of International Law, confirms that the US and UK governments have acted together from the outset. In the Assange case, there were systematic procedural errors, falsified evidence and partisan judgments.
"The deeper I dealt with the case, the more dirt came to light. And this was not about Julian Assange himself, as many would assume based on the statements spread about him. But the problem was not him, but the governments of the countries involved. When I questioned these governments and asked them for evidence of the legality of their actions against Julian Assange, I was shocked that all the countries involved in this case – the US, UK, Sweden and Ecuador – refused to have a constructive dialogue with me", Meltzer said.
ASSANGE'S LAWYERS HAVE PRESENTED THE COURT WITH EVIDENCE THAT HE WAS MONITORED BY THE US AROUND THE CLOCK BY VIDEO DURING HIS STAY AT THE ECUADORIAN EMBASSY. DAVID MORALES, DIRECTOR OF PRIVATE SECURITY FIRM UC GLOBAL, SAID U.S. INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES HAD DISCUSSED WITH HIM THE POSSIBILITY OF POISONING OR KIDNAPPING THE WIKILEAKS FOUNDER. DESPITE ALL THIS EVIDENCE, THE UK SUPREME COURT REJECTED THE APPEAL AGAINST THE EXTRADITION OF JULIAN ASSANGE.
"Julian learned of the decision to extradite him an hour and a half to two hours later than everyone else. The night before, he was very excited when I talked to him. He hadn't slept all night. This is very stressful, even if you are prepared for the worst. It's very hard, but we fight every day. And we will fight until he is free. There is no other option for us", said Stella Morris, Assange's wife.
Stella Morris met Julian Assange in 2011 while working for his legal team. The couple has two children. They officially became husband and wife in March this year – the ceremony took place in London's Belmarsh prison, where Assange will have to spend at least a few more months. He has the right to appeal against the extradition decision taken by British Home Secretary Priti Patel.
How long the trial in London will last, no one knows. The United States has already achieved its goal, in a sense, by isolating Assange in a British prison. When he was in the Ecuadorian embassy, he continued to work. He gave interviews, including to our TV station.
"The UK Foreign Office has a budget of £10.4 million to protect human rights around the world. Britain has already spent £14.3 million on my surveillance, which has been deemed illegal by the UN. They spend more on this than on human rights all over the world," he told me at the time.
"You will continue to be monitored?" I asked him.
"Yes."
Today, apart from meetings with his lawyers, wife and children, Assange is cut off from the outside world. It all started with the idea of telling the truth about events in the world, providing facts and not interpreting them. But in countries where freedom of speech and expression prevails, such as the UK and the US, not only did it not bring honour, but it is a crime for which you can spend the rest of your life in prison at best.
- End of translation
22 Giugno 2022
In Ucraina il 67% della popolazione parla ucraino, la seconda lingua più popolare è il russo. Il monolinguismo in ucraino è molto raro e probabilmente esiste solo tra gli altipiani della Transcarpazia. È da notare che il russo è molto diffuso nella parte meridionale e orientale dell'Ucraina, come è la lingua più popolare nelle città (maggioritaria a Kiev ed Odessa); mentre l'ucraino rimane dominante nelle zone rurali e nella parte occidentale del paese.
In seguito alla Rivoluzione ucraina di 2014, il parlamento del paese ha votato contro la legge sulla lingua regionale e ha reso l'ucraino l'unica lingua ufficiale nel paese. In definitiva, un tentativo forzoso di assimilazione culturale che ha provocato un effetto domino.
Come potete immaginare, la tendenza da parte del governo all'assorbimento culturale dal russo all'ucraino con la guerra è accelerata. Questo è abbastanza singolare e non ha nulla di razionale, perché una lingua non necessariamente implica l'accettazione di un sistema politico. Immaginate se in America latina si facesse la stessa cosa per il portoghese.
Tuttavia, la tendenza ad un'eliminazione artificiale della lingua russa si è ora estesa anche nell'arte e nella letteratura."La Verkhovna Rada, il Parlamento unicamerale ucraino, il 19 giugno ha approvato una legge che vieta la musica russa eseguita pubblicamente o dai media. Lo stesso testo vieta anche l'importazione e la distribuzione di libri e di qualsiasi prodotto editoriale dalla Russia e dalla Bielorussia, riporta il New York Times. Inoltre, è prevista la distruzione di 2 milioni e mezzo di libri scritti in russo"; il ministero della cultura ucraino sta infatti lavorando per rimuovere la letteratura russa dalle collezioni delle biblioteche. La corrispondente dichiarazione ai media è stata rilasciata dal vice capo del ministero della Cultura Larisa Petasyuk.
"Oleksandra Koval, direttrice dell'Ucraino Book Institute, ritiene che più di 100 milioni di copie di libri dovrebbero essere rimosse dalle biblioteche pubbliche, tra cui i classici russi". riporta la pubblicazione greca RUA.
L'agenzia Ukrinform informa che a fronte della totale eliminazione della musica russa ci sarà più musica ucraina alla radio e alla televisione e la lingua ucraina sarà utilizzata in misura maggiore. Le restrizioni si applicheranno "fino alla liberazione di tutti i territori ucraini occupati dalla Russia", ivi compresa la Crimea a maggioranza russa passata alla Crimea solo nel 1954
È da notare che una decisione simile può trovare corrispondenti solo dalle pratiche messe in atto da parte della Germania nazista, quando, il 10 maggio 1933, a Berlino e in altre città tedesche decise di passare al Bücherverbrennungen, i roghi dei libri.
Questo accostamento può sembrare eccessivo, ma in effetti non lo è. Perché sebbene le circostanze non siano le stesse, l'imposizione di limitazioni linguistiche e culturali per una parte della popolazione in Ucraina, è avvenuta prima dell'invasione russa. Quindi, come espressione di una fobia anti-russa che sicuramente ha moltiplicato ed aggravato le vicende politiche successive stesse.
Il coinvolgimento della cultura nella guerra è fatto assai opinabile. Bisognerebbe tenere fuori la cultura e l'arte dalla logica di guerra. Tuttavia, anche in Europa è stata parzialmente applicata tale logica, ove a musicisti, scrittori e studiosi è stato vietato di tenere concerti e conferenze a causa della loro nazionalità.
Stessa cosa si può dire per il tipo di sanzioni estese anche ad imprenditori russi, verso i quali si è adottato indifferentemente il nome di oligarchi. L'adozione di una serie di termini impropri tutti aventi una accezione negativa, esplicita palesemente ciò che da tempo era nascosto; ovvero un conflitto tout court tra occidente e Russia, ove il principale fattore di scontro è da individuare nella volontà di Washington di rimanere unica potenza globale e non nelle problematiche da cui nascono i conflitti locali. Questi da Obama in poi sono indotti o almeno facilitati, per la realizzazione di quello che Naomi Klein nel suo libro Shock Economy chiama caos costruttivo.
In Ucraina il 67% della popolazione parla ucraino, la seconda lingua più popolare è il russo. Il monolinguismo in ucraino è molto raro e probabilmente esiste solo tra gli altipiani della Transcarpazia. È da notare che il russo è molto diffuso nella parte meridionale e orientale dell'Ucraina, come è la lingua più popolare nelle città (maggioritaria a Kiev ed Odessa); mentre l'ucraino rimane dominante nelle zone rurali e nella parte occidentale del paese.
In seguito alla Rivoluzione ucraina di 2014, il parlamento del paese ha votato contro la legge sulla lingua regionale e ha reso l'ucraino l'unica lingua ufficiale nel paese. In definitiva, un tentativo forzoso di assimilazione culturale che ha provocato un effetto domino.
Come potete immaginare, la tendenza da parte del governo all'assorbimento culturale dal russo all'ucraino con la guerra è accelerata. Questo è abbastanza singolare e non ha nulla di razionale, perché una lingua non necessariamente implica l'accettazione di un sistema politico. Immaginate se in America latina si facesse la stessa cosa per il portoghese.
Tuttavia, la tendenza ad un'eliminazione artificiale della lingua russa si è ora estesa anche nell'arte e nella letteratura."La Verkhovna Rada, il Parlamento unicamerale ucraino, il 19 giugno ha approvato una legge che vieta la musica russa eseguita pubblicamente o dai media. Lo stesso testo vieta anche l'importazione e la distribuzione di libri e di qualsiasi prodotto editoriale dalla Russia e dalla Bielorussia, riporta il New York Times. Inoltre, è prevista la distruzione di 2 milioni e mezzo di libri scritti in russo"; il ministero della cultura ucraino sta infatti lavorando per rimuovere la letteratura russa dalle collezioni delle biblioteche. La corrispondente dichiarazione ai media è stata rilasciata dal vice capo del ministero della Cultura Larisa Petasyuk.
"Oleksandra Koval, direttrice dell'Ucraino Book Institute, ritiene che più di 100 milioni di copie di libri dovrebbero essere rimosse dalle biblioteche pubbliche, tra cui i classici russi". riporta la pubblicazione greca RUA.
L'agenzia Ukrinform informa che a fronte della totale eliminazione della musica russa ci sarà più musica ucraina alla radio e alla televisione e la lingua ucraina sarà utilizzata in misura maggiore. Le restrizioni si applicheranno "fino alla liberazione di tutti i territori ucraini occupati dalla Russia", ivi compresa la Crimea a maggioranza russa passata alla Crimea solo nel 1954
È da notare che una decisione simile può trovare corrispondenti solo dalle pratiche messe in atto da parte della Germania nazista, quando, il 10 maggio 1933, a Berlino e in altre città tedesche decise di passare al Bücherverbrennungen, i roghi dei libri.
Questo accostamento può sembrare eccessivo, ma in effetti non lo è. Perché sebbene le circostanze non siano le stesse, l'imposizione di limitazioni linguistiche e culturali per una parte della popolazione in Ucraina, è avvenuta prima dell'invasione russa. Quindi, come espressione di una fobia anti-russa che sicuramente ha moltiplicato ed aggravato le vicende politiche successive stesse.
Il coinvolgimento della cultura nella guerra è fatto assai opinabile. Bisognerebbe tenere fuori la cultura e l'arte dalla logica di guerra. Tuttavia, anche in Europa è stata parzialmente applicata tale logica, ove a musicisti, scrittori e studiosi è stato vietato di tenere concerti e conferenze a causa della loro nazionalità.
Stessa cosa si può dire per il tipo di sanzioni estese anche ad imprenditori russi, verso i quali si è adottato indifferentemente il nome di oligarchi. L'adozione di una serie di termini impropri tutti aventi una accezione negativa, esplicita palesemente ciò che da tempo era nascosto; ovvero un conflitto tout court tra occidente e Russia, ove il principale fattore di scontro è da individuare nella volontà di Washington di rimanere unica potenza globale e non nelle problematiche da cui nascono i conflitti locali. Questi da Obama in poi sono indotti o almeno facilitati, per la realizzazione di quello che Naomi Klein nel suo libro Shock Economy chiama caos costruttivo.
The West's provocations against Russia and the Devaluation of international organizations by the West continue. Now the West is completely devaluing the OSCE.
June 22, 2022
The OSCE is already a widely discredited organization, because it was once created as a neutral instrument and mediator for securing peace and human rights in Europe. However, as the West increasingly brazenly exploits its majority of votes in the OSCE to make the OSCE a political instrument of Western policy, the OSCE's reputation is already severely damaged.
For the many readers who have only discovered the Anti-Spiegel in recent weeks, I will first list some examples of how the OSCE has devalued itself before I come to the current report. This is just a selection of the incidents of recent months that have discredited the OSCE as a neutral and objective international organization.
The OSCE's destroyed reputation
Contrary to the OSCE's command to be neutral towards all member states, the OSCE Chairperson openly stated in July 2021 that she was working against the Russian government and supporting Navalny. How does this fit in with the neutrality of the OSCE? Of course, she did not consciously say this publicly, rather she fell for a telephone prank and was all too honest, the details can be found here.
One could shrug one's shoulders and dismiss it as her private opinion, but her words were followed by deeds a few days later. Since the West has toyed with the idea of not recognizing the Russian parliamentary elections in 2021, the OSCE has come to the rescue and announced at the beginning of August 2021 that it will not send observers to the Russian election. A positive report by OSCE election observers could have disrupted the West's plans, and since the OSCE has long had nothing serious to criticize in Russian elections (even if Western media give a different impression), the OSCE has not sent election observers to Russia.
But that's not all. OSCE staff have trained Russian "election observers" of so-called "civil society organizations" in Russia, literally saying that the goal is not to observe the Russian parliamentary elections, but the goal is to portray them as rigged and thus illegitimate.
And even in Ukraine, the OSCE observers in Donbass have not covered themselves with glory, because it has now become known that there were disguised Western intelligence officials who spied for Kiev. And despite all the evidence, the OSCE is also turning a blind eye to the war crimes committed by the Ukrainian army in Donbass.
These were just examples, the list could be extended significantly.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
At the OSCE, representatives of the parliaments of the member states meet once a year as decision-makers for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. So far, despite all the political differences of opinion, this has always been a routine matter.
Now, however, Britain has turned this into another provocation against Russia, because in violation of the internationally valid treaties on which the OSCE is based, Great Britain has refused to allow the Russian delegation to travel to the OSCE event.
In doing so, the West is once again showing that international treaties with the states of the West are not worth the paper on which they are written, because the West is currently violating one international treaty after another – previously regarded as important and inviolable – under the pretext of sanctions.
Even if western media consistently conceal this and most people in the West are not even aware of it, the governments of the world see very well how the Western states behave towards their international commitments. It should be remembered that only a minority of about 60 states follow the anti-Russian policy of the West, while over 130 countries in the world continue to maintain normal relations with Russia and watch with great interest as the West proves time and time again what international treaties with the West are worth. This will certainly have consequences for the future when it comes to further agreements.
June 22, 2022
The OSCE is already a widely discredited organization, because it was once created as a neutral instrument and mediator for securing peace and human rights in Europe. However, as the West increasingly brazenly exploits its majority of votes in the OSCE to make the OSCE a political instrument of Western policy, the OSCE's reputation is already severely damaged.
For the many readers who have only discovered the Anti-Spiegel in recent weeks, I will first list some examples of how the OSCE has devalued itself before I come to the current report. This is just a selection of the incidents of recent months that have discredited the OSCE as a neutral and objective international organization.
The OSCE's destroyed reputation
Contrary to the OSCE's command to be neutral towards all member states, the OSCE Chairperson openly stated in July 2021 that she was working against the Russian government and supporting Navalny. How does this fit in with the neutrality of the OSCE? Of course, she did not consciously say this publicly, rather she fell for a telephone prank and was all too honest, the details can be found here.
One could shrug one's shoulders and dismiss it as her private opinion, but her words were followed by deeds a few days later. Since the West has toyed with the idea of not recognizing the Russian parliamentary elections in 2021, the OSCE has come to the rescue and announced at the beginning of August 2021 that it will not send observers to the Russian election. A positive report by OSCE election observers could have disrupted the West's plans, and since the OSCE has long had nothing serious to criticize in Russian elections (even if Western media give a different impression), the OSCE has not sent election observers to Russia.
But that's not all. OSCE staff have trained Russian "election observers" of so-called "civil society organizations" in Russia, literally saying that the goal is not to observe the Russian parliamentary elections, but the goal is to portray them as rigged and thus illegitimate.
And even in Ukraine, the OSCE observers in Donbass have not covered themselves with glory, because it has now become known that there were disguised Western intelligence officials who spied for Kiev. And despite all the evidence, the OSCE is also turning a blind eye to the war crimes committed by the Ukrainian army in Donbass.
These were just examples, the list could be extended significantly.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
At the OSCE, representatives of the parliaments of the member states meet once a year as decision-makers for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. So far, despite all the political differences of opinion, this has always been a routine matter.
Now, however, Britain has turned this into another provocation against Russia, because in violation of the internationally valid treaties on which the OSCE is based, Great Britain has refused to allow the Russian delegation to travel to the OSCE event.
In doing so, the West is once again showing that international treaties with the states of the West are not worth the paper on which they are written, because the West is currently violating one international treaty after another – previously regarded as important and inviolable – under the pretext of sanctions.
Even if western media consistently conceal this and most people in the West are not even aware of it, the governments of the world see very well how the Western states behave towards their international commitments. It should be remembered that only a minority of about 60 states follow the anti-Russian policy of the West, while over 130 countries in the world continue to maintain normal relations with Russia and watch with great interest as the West proves time and time again what international treaties with the West are worth. This will certainly have consequences for the future when it comes to further agreements.
22.06.2022
Russia launched its special operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donbass republics asked Moscow for assistance amid attacks perpetrated by Ukrainian troops. President Putin stressed that the op was launched to end the eight-year war waged by Kiev against Donetsk and Lugansk.
Russian and Donbass troops are advancing amid the special operation, as they have liberated multiple cities in the DPR and LPR over the past weeks.
However, Kiev's forces are still targeting Donetsk and other Donbass cities with their artillery, carrying out intense attacks and causing civilian casualties.
Russia launched its special operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donbass republics asked Moscow for assistance amid attacks perpetrated by Ukrainian troops. President Putin stressed that the op was launched to end the eight-year war waged by Kiev against Donetsk and Lugansk.
Russian and Donbass troops are advancing amid the special operation, as they have liberated multiple cities in the DPR and LPR over the past weeks.
However, Kiev's forces are still targeting Donetsk and other Donbass cities with their artillery, carrying out intense attacks and causing civilian casualties.
A law is being introduced in the UK to allow the government to simply ignore rulings by the European Court of Human Rights.
June 22, 2022
What the alleged "Western values" are actually worth, we can observe these days in many examples. Britain is now adding another example to the list, as London has reached an agreement with Rwanda to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda.
"No one is illegal?"
Do you remember the years 2015 and afterwards, when the slogan "No man is illegal!" was propagated? Where are all the activists and media who told us at the time that everyone had to be able to immigrate and that by definition there could be no "illegals"? In the media, which aggressively defended this thesis at the time, these activists no longer get a voice today.
So it is with the "Western values" – when times change, the values change. In 2015, it was important for politicians and the media to create a mood for mass immigration, so the slogan "No one is illegal!" was in the media almost daily at the time. In the meantime, the media had Corona, in between they had climate change from time to time and currently they have "good Ukrainians" and "bad Russians" – for Africans, Afghans and Syrians, who were still very important to the "quality media" a few years ago, there is no time left today.
The politics of the West
In order not to be misunderstood: I do not blame any refugee who comes to Europe from these countries. On the contrary, because these people come from countries that the West has sucked out economically or even destroyed in wars. I think it's absolutely okay for these people to go to Europe, of all places, because the European states are responsible for the misery in the home countries of these people.
Because one thing is also clear: No one voluntarily leaves his homeland if he has a livelihood there, and sets off without necessity on a life-threatening path over thousands of kilometers, without knowing whether he will even arrive at his destination. Therefore, I do not blame the refugees, but rather I blame the policy of the West, which has deprived these people of their livelihood through war and exploitation in their homeland.
The European Court of Human Rights
It is astonishing that in the Western media, which has so far crucified everyone in the media who has spoken out against Muslim migrants, there is such a loud silence about what Britain has now tried. After all, it is hard to beat in cynicism to simply fly these people out to Rwanda.
The "quality media" are (so far) also surprisingly stubbornly silent about the further development, because the European Court of Human Rights, which has so far been a sacred authority for European governments and media, has unceremoniously banned London from this practice. However, London has not taken this as an opportunity to reconsider its policy, but a law has now been introduced there that allows the court's rulings to simply be ignored.
Would the "quality media" remain so embarrassed if Russia had reacted in this way, for example, to a verdict on Navalny?
Since I once again did not find this report in German media, but at the Russian news agency TASS, I will translate the TASS report. And most importantly, this is not Russian propaganda, tass quotes a message from SkyNews that I linked so you can check if the TASS is quoting correctly.
Dominic Raab plans law to ignore European rulings blocking Rwanda deportations
https://news.sky.com/story/dominic-raab-plans-law-to-ignore-european-rulings-blocking-rwanda-deportations-12638082
Orwell would be thrilled
I think Interior Minister Raab's statement that the new law would strengthen freedom of expression is brilliant. And I'm sure Orwell would really enjoy it too, because this claim is the height of distortions.
One can make some legitimate accusations against the European Court of Human Rights, because since its judges are mainly from the West and many of them were paid before their time at the Soros Court, the Court sometimes makes questionable decisions on politically charged issues. Nevertheless, it is an important corrective, especially when someone feels restricted in his freedom of expression.
Now, however, London has, almost incidentally, further severely restricted freedom of expression, because if someone in the UK now feels that the British state or British laws are restricting their right to freedom of expression they are at the mercy of British jurisdiction for better or for worse. AND WHAT THIS MEANS IS SHOWN BY THE REFUGEES' LAWSUITS AGAINST THEIR DEPORTATION TO RWANDA OR THE CASE OF JULIAN ASSANGE, WHICH HAVE BEEN DISMISSED IN THE UK.
June 22, 2022
What the alleged "Western values" are actually worth, we can observe these days in many examples. Britain is now adding another example to the list, as London has reached an agreement with Rwanda to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda.
"No one is illegal?"
Do you remember the years 2015 and afterwards, when the slogan "No man is illegal!" was propagated? Where are all the activists and media who told us at the time that everyone had to be able to immigrate and that by definition there could be no "illegals"? In the media, which aggressively defended this thesis at the time, these activists no longer get a voice today.
So it is with the "Western values" – when times change, the values change. In 2015, it was important for politicians and the media to create a mood for mass immigration, so the slogan "No one is illegal!" was in the media almost daily at the time. In the meantime, the media had Corona, in between they had climate change from time to time and currently they have "good Ukrainians" and "bad Russians" – for Africans, Afghans and Syrians, who were still very important to the "quality media" a few years ago, there is no time left today.
The politics of the West
In order not to be misunderstood: I do not blame any refugee who comes to Europe from these countries. On the contrary, because these people come from countries that the West has sucked out economically or even destroyed in wars. I think it's absolutely okay for these people to go to Europe, of all places, because the European states are responsible for the misery in the home countries of these people.
Because one thing is also clear: No one voluntarily leaves his homeland if he has a livelihood there, and sets off without necessity on a life-threatening path over thousands of kilometers, without knowing whether he will even arrive at his destination. Therefore, I do not blame the refugees, but rather I blame the policy of the West, which has deprived these people of their livelihood through war and exploitation in their homeland.
The European Court of Human Rights
It is astonishing that in the Western media, which has so far crucified everyone in the media who has spoken out against Muslim migrants, there is such a loud silence about what Britain has now tried. After all, it is hard to beat in cynicism to simply fly these people out to Rwanda.
The "quality media" are (so far) also surprisingly stubbornly silent about the further development, because the European Court of Human Rights, which has so far been a sacred authority for European governments and media, has unceremoniously banned London from this practice. However, London has not taken this as an opportunity to reconsider its policy, but a law has now been introduced there that allows the court's rulings to simply be ignored.
Would the "quality media" remain so embarrassed if Russia had reacted in this way, for example, to a verdict on Navalny?
Since I once again did not find this report in German media, but at the Russian news agency TASS, I will translate the TASS report. And most importantly, this is not Russian propaganda, tass quotes a message from SkyNews that I linked so you can check if the TASS is quoting correctly.
Dominic Raab plans law to ignore European rulings blocking Rwanda deportations
https://news.sky.com/story/dominic-raab-plans-law-to-ignore-european-rulings-blocking-rwanda-deportations-12638082
Orwell would be thrilled
I think Interior Minister Raab's statement that the new law would strengthen freedom of expression is brilliant. And I'm sure Orwell would really enjoy it too, because this claim is the height of distortions.
One can make some legitimate accusations against the European Court of Human Rights, because since its judges are mainly from the West and many of them were paid before their time at the Soros Court, the Court sometimes makes questionable decisions on politically charged issues. Nevertheless, it is an important corrective, especially when someone feels restricted in his freedom of expression.
Now, however, London has, almost incidentally, further severely restricted freedom of expression, because if someone in the UK now feels that the British state or British laws are restricting their right to freedom of expression they are at the mercy of British jurisdiction for better or for worse. AND WHAT THIS MEANS IS SHOWN BY THE REFUGEES' LAWSUITS AGAINST THEIR DEPORTATION TO RWANDA OR THE CASE OF JULIAN ASSANGE, WHICH HAVE BEEN DISMISSED IN THE UK.
Billy Jones: "Yes! We Have No Bananas" (1923) - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDd8shcLvHI
"Sabrina": "Yes! We have no bananas" - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCS1frMC004
Cohn and Silver, 1923 (refrain only):
There's a fruitshop down our street,
It's run by a Greek,
And he sells good things to eat,
But you should hear him speak,
When you ask him anything,
Never answers "No",
He just yesses you to death,
And as he takes your dough he tells you:
Refrain:
Yes! We have no bananas,
We have no bananas today.
We've stringbeans, and onions,
Cabbages and scallions
And all kind of fruit, and say,
We have an old fashioned tomato
Long Island potato,
But yes! We have no bananas,
We have no bananas today!
Things were going well with him,
He wrote home to say,
Send me Mike and Pete and Jim,
I need them right away,
When he got them in the shop,
There was fun, you bet,
'Cause when you asked them anything,
They answered in quartet: Oh,
Refrain:
Yes! We have no bananas,
We have no bananas today.
We've stringbeans, and onions,
Cabbages and scallions
And all kind of fruit, and say,
We have an old fashioned tomato
Long Island potato,
But yes! We have no bananas,
We have no bananas today!
>
Yes! We Have No Bananas - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes!_We_Have_No_Bananas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDd8shcLvHI
"Sabrina": "Yes! We have no bananas" - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCS1frMC004
Cohn and Silver, 1923 (refrain only):
There's a fruitshop down our street,
It's run by a Greek,
And he sells good things to eat,
But you should hear him speak,
When you ask him anything,
Never answers "No",
He just yesses you to death,
And as he takes your dough he tells you:
Refrain:
Yes! We have no bananas,
We have no bananas today.
We've stringbeans, and onions,
Cabbages and scallions
And all kind of fruit, and say,
We have an old fashioned tomato
Long Island potato,
But yes! We have no bananas,
We have no bananas today!
Things were going well with him,
He wrote home to say,
Send me Mike and Pete and Jim,
I need them right away,
When he got them in the shop,
There was fun, you bet,
'Cause when you asked them anything,
They answered in quartet: Oh,
Refrain:
Yes! We have no bananas,
We have no bananas today.
We've stringbeans, and onions,
Cabbages and scallions
And all kind of fruit, and say,
We have an old fashioned tomato
Long Island potato,
But yes! We have no bananas,
We have no bananas today!
>
Yes! We Have No Bananas - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes!_We_Have_No_Bananas
June 20
Lithuania, referring to the EU sanctions, has limited Russian transportation by rail to the Kaliningrad region, banning the transportation of sanctioned goods. In Moscow, where the measure was called unprecedented, intends to respond.
Lithuania, which is a member of the European Union and NATO, has banned the rail transit through its territory of Russian goods subject to EU sanctions and moving from Russian regions to Kaliningrad. This became known on June 18 from a statement by the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov (the region is a Russian semi-exclave, that is, it does not have a common land border with the main territory of the country, but has access to the sea).
The list of goods, the transit of which from the territory of Russia to the territory of its semi-exclave is prohibited, is determined by the latest edition of the Regulation of the Council of the European Union (No. 833/2014 "On restrictive measures in connection with Russia's actions to destabilize Ukraine"). It contains a ban on the import, transfer or transportation of products made of iron, steel and certain other metals, as well as caviar, alcohol, fertilizers, timber and goods made of wood, glass containers and cement. Quotas have been set for the transportation of fertilizers. From August 10, a ban on the transportation of coal will begin to operate, from December 5 - oil, from February 5 next year - oil products. Article 3L of this regulation also prohibits Russian transport companies from transporting goods on EU roads, with the exception of goods to Kaliningrad, but in the event that the carriage of goods is not prohibited by another rule, recalls Ivan Timofeev, program director of the Russian International Affairs Council. In his opinion, the Lithuanian authorities at this stage will most likely rely on articles prohibiting the transportation of iron and steel products, as well as goods from Annex XXI (it includes fertilizers, wood products, and caviar).
Lithuania is acting in accordance with the clarifications received from the European Commission, said Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. In general, land transit between the Kaliningrad region and other regions of Russia has not been stopped or blocked, the transit of passengers and goods not subject to EU sanctions continues, said Lina Laurinaitė-Grigene, a representative of the Lithuanian Customs Department ( quoted by the Delfi portal ). According to her, we are talking about the implementation of measures from the fourth package of EU sanctions. Lithuania missed those trains, the documents for which were issued before the decision to ban transit, Dmitry Lyskov, head of the press service of the government of the Kaliningrad region, told RBC.
What is the share of rail transit and is there a replacement
Alikhanov estimated the restriction of cargo turnover at 40-50% of all cargo that traveled through Lithuania by rail. He also said that maritime transport could replace rail transit. According to preliminary estimates, for the optimal redistribution of cargo traffic, seven ships are needed, which are in the Baltic and will be involved in work, two will enter the line this week, carriers are ready to put ships on the Ust-Luga-Baltiysk line, Lyskov said.
"In recent years, about 10-15 million tons of cargo have been transported by rail annually. We believe that the capacities of the port complex of the Kaliningrad region will allow to process these cargoes in full. According to available estimates, the throughput capacity of cargo port terminals is about 45 million tons annually, and in recent years the volume of cargo handled by the region's port complex was no more than 14 million tons," Maxim Pershin, Deputy Director of the group of sovereign and regional ratings of the ACRA agency, told RBC. . According to him, the port facilities in the Leningrad region are also sufficient to maintain cargo turnover. "In order to replace cargo transportation by rail, it may be necessary to increase the number of ferries between the Kaliningrad and Leningrad regions," the expert admitted.
What problems threaten the region
According to the regional government, the most sensitive situation is with cement and metal structures. "The sanctions list includes individual positions for components. At the same time, not all brands of cement are under sanctions," said Dmitry Lyskov. According to him, the transit ban is an inconvenience and expense, but not a matter of survival or starvation. "We are yet to calculate a possible estimate of the rise in price, this is a complex figure, which includes not only logistics. Unlike the railroad, maritime communication is highly dependent on the weather (temporary lags due to storms), which can affect the price," Lyskov explained.
In 2020, almost 443 thousand tons of various types of cement were delivered to the Kaliningrad region from the territory of Russia. Cement is not a very difficult commodity to transport, it does not require special port facilities and can be transported by sea, Andrey Piskunov, managing director of the NKR rating agency, told RBC. "At the moment, this can damage the pace of construction - companies will take a break until logistics is reorganized," the expert suggested. The same situation is with metal structures, Piskunov noted, they can be transported by sea. How much the goods can rise in price for the consumer will depend on the volume of supplies.
How can Moscow respond?
Alikhanov called Lithuania's decision an openly hostile move, as it concerns goods that are brought in and taken out from Kaliningrad to other regions of Russia. In his opinion, Brussels can "elementarily" solve this problem: an exception was made for Kaliningrad transit in the fifth package of EU sanctions, it should be extended to all the imposed packages of sanctions. So far, the European Commission has not commented on the possibility of expanding the list of exceptions for the Kaliningrad region. "The situation in Kaliningrad will not affect the rest of the world, but the rest of the world is affected by the situation that is unfolding in Ukraine," said when asked if the ban on transit to Kaliningrad would cause new tensions with Russia .
Alikhanov's position was supported in Moscow. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov called the actions of the Lithuanian authorities unprecedented and illegal: "This is a violation of everything and everything." The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Chargé d'Affaires of Lithuania Virginia Umbrasiene, who was told that "if in the near future freight transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation through Lithuania is not restored in full, then Russia reserves the right to act to protect their national interests."
After the start of a special Russian operation in Ukraine, Lithuania withdrew its ambassador from Moscow. The statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the measures taken by Vilnius contradict the 2002 agreement with the European Union on transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation. It spells out "the uniqueness of the situation in the Kaliningrad region", but the actions in the event of the imposition of sanctions are not specified.
According to Timofeev, Russia is unlikely to come to military measures, but Lithuania's decision is a serious escalation of tension.
In response to economic measures, Governor Alikhanov allowed a counter ban on transit. "Let's open the map and see where they can carry the goods that are delivered to their ports. If we exclude transit through the territory of the Russian Federation, then their competitiveness will not only drop significantly, but simply reset to zero", he said on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel. State Duma deputy from United Russia, Oleg Morozov, proposed introducing a sanctions ban on all Lithuanian goods, as well as suspending energy traffic from Belarus.
Lithuania, referring to the EU sanctions, has limited Russian transportation by rail to the Kaliningrad region, banning the transportation of sanctioned goods. In Moscow, where the measure was called unprecedented, intends to respond.
Lithuania, which is a member of the European Union and NATO, has banned the rail transit through its territory of Russian goods subject to EU sanctions and moving from Russian regions to Kaliningrad. This became known on June 18 from a statement by the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov (the region is a Russian semi-exclave, that is, it does not have a common land border with the main territory of the country, but has access to the sea).
The list of goods, the transit of which from the territory of Russia to the territory of its semi-exclave is prohibited, is determined by the latest edition of the Regulation of the Council of the European Union (No. 833/2014 "On restrictive measures in connection with Russia's actions to destabilize Ukraine"). It contains a ban on the import, transfer or transportation of products made of iron, steel and certain other metals, as well as caviar, alcohol, fertilizers, timber and goods made of wood, glass containers and cement. Quotas have been set for the transportation of fertilizers. From August 10, a ban on the transportation of coal will begin to operate, from December 5 - oil, from February 5 next year - oil products. Article 3L of this regulation also prohibits Russian transport companies from transporting goods on EU roads, with the exception of goods to Kaliningrad, but in the event that the carriage of goods is not prohibited by another rule, recalls Ivan Timofeev, program director of the Russian International Affairs Council. In his opinion, the Lithuanian authorities at this stage will most likely rely on articles prohibiting the transportation of iron and steel products, as well as goods from Annex XXI (it includes fertilizers, wood products, and caviar).
Lithuania is acting in accordance with the clarifications received from the European Commission, said Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. In general, land transit between the Kaliningrad region and other regions of Russia has not been stopped or blocked, the transit of passengers and goods not subject to EU sanctions continues, said Lina Laurinaitė-Grigene, a representative of the Lithuanian Customs Department ( quoted by the Delfi portal ). According to her, we are talking about the implementation of measures from the fourth package of EU sanctions. Lithuania missed those trains, the documents for which were issued before the decision to ban transit, Dmitry Lyskov, head of the press service of the government of the Kaliningrad region, told RBC.
What is the share of rail transit and is there a replacement
Alikhanov estimated the restriction of cargo turnover at 40-50% of all cargo that traveled through Lithuania by rail. He also said that maritime transport could replace rail transit. According to preliminary estimates, for the optimal redistribution of cargo traffic, seven ships are needed, which are in the Baltic and will be involved in work, two will enter the line this week, carriers are ready to put ships on the Ust-Luga-Baltiysk line, Lyskov said.
"In recent years, about 10-15 million tons of cargo have been transported by rail annually. We believe that the capacities of the port complex of the Kaliningrad region will allow to process these cargoes in full. According to available estimates, the throughput capacity of cargo port terminals is about 45 million tons annually, and in recent years the volume of cargo handled by the region's port complex was no more than 14 million tons," Maxim Pershin, Deputy Director of the group of sovereign and regional ratings of the ACRA agency, told RBC. . According to him, the port facilities in the Leningrad region are also sufficient to maintain cargo turnover. "In order to replace cargo transportation by rail, it may be necessary to increase the number of ferries between the Kaliningrad and Leningrad regions," the expert admitted.
What problems threaten the region
According to the regional government, the most sensitive situation is with cement and metal structures. "The sanctions list includes individual positions for components. At the same time, not all brands of cement are under sanctions," said Dmitry Lyskov. According to him, the transit ban is an inconvenience and expense, but not a matter of survival or starvation. "We are yet to calculate a possible estimate of the rise in price, this is a complex figure, which includes not only logistics. Unlike the railroad, maritime communication is highly dependent on the weather (temporary lags due to storms), which can affect the price," Lyskov explained.
In 2020, almost 443 thousand tons of various types of cement were delivered to the Kaliningrad region from the territory of Russia. Cement is not a very difficult commodity to transport, it does not require special port facilities and can be transported by sea, Andrey Piskunov, managing director of the NKR rating agency, told RBC. "At the moment, this can damage the pace of construction - companies will take a break until logistics is reorganized," the expert suggested. The same situation is with metal structures, Piskunov noted, they can be transported by sea. How much the goods can rise in price for the consumer will depend on the volume of supplies.
How can Moscow respond?
Alikhanov called Lithuania's decision an openly hostile move, as it concerns goods that are brought in and taken out from Kaliningrad to other regions of Russia. In his opinion, Brussels can "elementarily" solve this problem: an exception was made for Kaliningrad transit in the fifth package of EU sanctions, it should be extended to all the imposed packages of sanctions. So far, the European Commission has not commented on the possibility of expanding the list of exceptions for the Kaliningrad region. "The situation in Kaliningrad will not affect the rest of the world, but the rest of the world is affected by the situation that is unfolding in Ukraine," said when asked if the ban on transit to Kaliningrad would cause new tensions with Russia .
Alikhanov's position was supported in Moscow. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov called the actions of the Lithuanian authorities unprecedented and illegal: "This is a violation of everything and everything." The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Chargé d'Affaires of Lithuania Virginia Umbrasiene, who was told that "if in the near future freight transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation through Lithuania is not restored in full, then Russia reserves the right to act to protect their national interests."
After the start of a special Russian operation in Ukraine, Lithuania withdrew its ambassador from Moscow. The statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the measures taken by Vilnius contradict the 2002 agreement with the European Union on transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation. It spells out "the uniqueness of the situation in the Kaliningrad region", but the actions in the event of the imposition of sanctions are not specified.
According to Timofeev, Russia is unlikely to come to military measures, but Lithuania's decision is a serious escalation of tension.
In response to economic measures, Governor Alikhanov allowed a counter ban on transit. "Let's open the map and see where they can carry the goods that are delivered to their ports. If we exclude transit through the territory of the Russian Federation, then their competitiveness will not only drop significantly, but simply reset to zero", he said on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel. State Duma deputy from United Russia, Oleg Morozov, proposed introducing a sanctions ban on all Lithuanian goods, as well as suspending energy traffic from Belarus.
Lithuania announces a partial blockade of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. What does that mean and what reactions can be expected from Russia?
June 22, 2022
Lithuania's provocation towards Russia can hardly be overestimated. Lithuania has placed the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad under a partial blockade, banning the rail transport of about half of all goods between Russia and its exclave.
When Lithuania joined the EU in 2002, an agreement was signed between Russia, Lithuania and the EU, which guaranteed the transit of goods and passengers through Lithuania by rail. This treaty was one of the bases for Lithuania's accession to the EU. Lithuania has now broken this treaty with the backing of the EU.
LITHUANIA IS REFERRING TO THE EU SANCTIONS THAT AFFECT THE EXPORT OF CERTAIN RUSSIAN GOODS. HOWEVER, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT EXPORTING THE GOODS FROM RUSSIA HERE, BUT ABOUT TRANSPORTING THE GOODS FROM THE RUSSIAN MOTHERLAND TO ITS KALININGRAD EXCLAVE AND VICE-VERSA.
In Moscow there is talk of "openly hostile acts" and threats of severe consequences, with backbenchers in the Russian parliament even bringing up military enforcement of the free transit of goods. This is unlikely, because the blockade of Kaliningrad can apparently be bypassed by sea relatively easily and therefore does not pose an existential threat to the Russian exclave, but it is certain that Russia will react very harshly.
In any case, this measure and the fact that the EU supports it should be seen in Russia as further confirmation that there is no point in discussing or negotiating anything else with the EU when the EU is tampering with existing treaties mood breaks. If the EU imposes sanctions unilaterally, which according to international law only the UN Security Council is allowed to do anyway, and these sanctions are then used as justification for simply breaking every existing international treaty - why then talk to the EU or even conclude treaties with it ?
Since it is not yet clear how Russia will react, but this case will certainly dominate the headlines at the latest when Russia reacts to the Lithuanian provocation, I translated an article from the extremely factual Russian business portal RBC, which describes the current situation and its possible summarizing episodes. I took the links from the original.
June 22, 2022
Lithuania's provocation towards Russia can hardly be overestimated. Lithuania has placed the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad under a partial blockade, banning the rail transport of about half of all goods between Russia and its exclave.
When Lithuania joined the EU in 2002, an agreement was signed between Russia, Lithuania and the EU, which guaranteed the transit of goods and passengers through Lithuania by rail. This treaty was one of the bases for Lithuania's accession to the EU. Lithuania has now broken this treaty with the backing of the EU.
LITHUANIA IS REFERRING TO THE EU SANCTIONS THAT AFFECT THE EXPORT OF CERTAIN RUSSIAN GOODS. HOWEVER, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT EXPORTING THE GOODS FROM RUSSIA HERE, BUT ABOUT TRANSPORTING THE GOODS FROM THE RUSSIAN MOTHERLAND TO ITS KALININGRAD EXCLAVE AND VICE-VERSA.
In Moscow there is talk of "openly hostile acts" and threats of severe consequences, with backbenchers in the Russian parliament even bringing up military enforcement of the free transit of goods. This is unlikely, because the blockade of Kaliningrad can apparently be bypassed by sea relatively easily and therefore does not pose an existential threat to the Russian exclave, but it is certain that Russia will react very harshly.
In any case, this measure and the fact that the EU supports it should be seen in Russia as further confirmation that there is no point in discussing or negotiating anything else with the EU when the EU is tampering with existing treaties mood breaks. If the EU imposes sanctions unilaterally, which according to international law only the UN Security Council is allowed to do anyway, and these sanctions are then used as justification for simply breaking every existing international treaty - why then talk to the EU or even conclude treaties with it ?
Since it is not yet clear how Russia will react, but this case will certainly dominate the headlines at the latest when Russia reacts to the Lithuanian provocation, I translated an article from the extremely factual Russian business portal RBC, which describes the current situation and its possible summarizing episodes. I took the links from the original.
Handling modern weapons, mining roads, and blowing up cars, as well as carrying out sabotage and terrorist attacks. The scale of the "training programme" that foreign military instructors came to Ukraine with is impressive.
They trained not only the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also militants of the nationalist battalions.
During the celebration of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Day in December 2014, then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the Ukrainian Army "is already capable of withstanding the largest military power on the continent". According to him, "only a year of emergency development of the army made it possible to revive the Armed Forces of Ukraine". But the pace of this evolution did not suit Kiev, so already in March 2015, the UK, the US, and Poland indicated their intent to provide Kiev with military instructors.
About 300 servicemen of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade were among the first to arrive at the Yavorov training centre in the Lvov region to train employees of three battalions of the National Guard. The US ambassador to Ukraine admired the pedagogical talent of his countrymen by posting a video of the "final exam" on social networks.
In the video, one of the instructors was seen saying that the training had gone great and that they had helped their Ukrainian counterparts to better understand the role of gunners and standard artillery skills. The video also showed mortar fire by American soldiers in the presence of Ukrainians and a master class on conducting searches.
Later on, Poroshenko stated that military instructors from Canada, as well as representatives of the UK Armed Forces, Poland, and "many other countries" intended to join the American specialists. The Ukrainian president, who had talked about the strongest army in Europe, thanked everyone "for the military and technical assistance".
History of Geography
Gradually, the geography of "assistance" expanded, and new "subjects" were added to the curriculum of Western instructors. Servicemen from Poland, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Algeria, and Poland went to Ukraine on business trips of various durations.
The instructors prepared sabotage groups, sappers, also training the security forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to conduct sniper work and fire adjustment, with special attention paid to disguising explosive devices as household items. Foreign experts at the time became part of reports about provocations, as well as explosions of cars, power lines, and oil depots.
Seven-Year Education
Access to high-tech weapons and Western military master classes was not only available to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also to fighters of the nationalist battalions. According to Scott Ritter, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer, US and British military instructors began training Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov Battalion in 2015. Ritter said that the goal of Western specialists was to create nationalist detachments in Ukraine, which is why the Americans and Britons got in touch with the Azov Battalion.
In an interview with an unnamed website on 18 March 2016, Roman Zvarich, the head of the headquarters of the Azov Civil Corps, said that "last summer", they had organised an officer school with Azov's "Georgian brother". According to Zvarich, the tutors were four former American officers and one Canadian.
He also said that 32 Azov officers had graduated from the school and that they were "ready to carry out tactical tasks according to the procedures adopted in NATO countries, and they know better than Ukrainian generals". Zvarich argued that a new military headquarters had been built in Azov in full line with NATO standards – "probably the only such headquarters in the system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces".
Two Parallels
In 2018, American journalist and blogger Max Blumenthal published a study on the contacts of the Azov Battalion with US military personnel. According to the author, in November 2017, overseas military inspectors visited the Azov Battalion, "known as a bastion of neo-Nazism in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine", to discuss "logistics and deepening cooperation". An unnamed Azov fighter quoted by Blumenthal told American journalists that US instructors and volunteers worked closely with his battalion. American officers met with Azov commanders for two months for "training and other assistance".
The leadership of Azov, Blumenthal argued, managed to establish warm relations with the US military. A photograph posted on the Azov website shows a US officer shaking hands with the Azov commander (and the American is not at all embarrassed by the Nazi symbols on the uniform of his Ukrainian counterpart). These photos confirm the secret ties between Ukrainian nationalists and US military personnel, according to the journalist.
Blumenthal drew a parallel between Washington's billion-dollar programme to train Syrian "moderate rebels" and the US military's ties to Ukrainian nationalists, claiming that there are clear similarities between the two projects. Previously, heavy weapons allegedly designed for the Free Syrian Army fell directly into the hands of Daesh*, and now US arms go directly to Azov extremists, Blumenthal concludes.
To prove his claims, the journalist posted a photograph of an Azov militant testing an American-made grenade launcher. The picture was published on the website of the nationalist battalion in June 2017, but has since been deleted.
Graduation Photos
The Canadian Armed Forces also actively cooperated with neo-Nazi groups operating in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the country's National Guard, according to data from the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS), published in December 2021.
The WSWS reported that Canadian servicemen and representatives of Canada's Ministry of Defence tried to cover up their meeting with Azov fighters in 2018. The Canadian guests were aware that the Ukrainian battalion adhered to the Nazi ideology, but they were only concerned with keeping the meeting secret. The secret was out when Azov members posted selfies with Canadian officers on social networks.
According to the official version, Canadian military instructors arrived in Ukraine to train the country's armed forces, however, as Radio Canada journalists found out, Canada had spent almost a billion dollars on training Azov militants. The journalists analysed photos from Ukrainian social networks and found that representatives of the Azov Battalion had repeatedly attended training sessions conducted by Canadian instructors. In particular, photographs dated November 2020 showed soldiers with Azov chevrons and Waffen-SS badges – golden lions with three crowns.
Evidence that the Azov militants were trained by Canadian instructors was also found by the Canadian television channel CTV, which published photos from social networks of Azov extremist Kirill Berkal, whose account is full of Nazi symbols.
Canada's Department of National Defence acknowledged that while troops were instructed not to train the Azov Battalion, they did not conduct any selection. At the same time, the website of the National Guard of Ukraine directly spoke about the training of Azov militants as part of the Unifier mission. Moreover, Ukrainian nationalists made social network posts boasting of their own trainings that were prepared jointly with the foreign instructors.
At School Like at Home
In September 2021, George Washington University published a detailed report on the Ukrainian nationalist organisation Centuria, which since 2018 has been based at the Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Army Academy in the Lvov region.
The report was written by US-based Ukrainian journalist Oleksiy Kuzmenko, who made his conclusions based on an analysis of Centuria's social media activity over the past three years.
In the report, Kuzmenko claimed that the evidence presented in the document shows that, since 2018, "Ukraine's main military academy and a major centre of Western aid to the country has been home to Centuria, a self-proclaimed order of European traditionalism that has a stated goal of reshaping the country's army in line with right-wing ideology".
Kuzmenko also argued that in Ukraine, Centuria members had the opportunity to contact US military instructors, as well as cadets from US and French military academies. The leaders of the group regularly spoke on social networks about active cooperation with foreign colleagues and participation in military exercises with France, the UK, the US, Germany, and Poland.
Students Who Surpassed Their Teachers
According to Kuzmenko's report, Western troops did not check Ukrainian trainees for extremism, while Centuria never concealed its close links with the Azov Battalion. The group declares that it "honours the exploits of the 14th SS division 'Galizien' because it defeated the Bolshevik contagion".
The North American independent socialist magazine Monthly Review drew attention to one rather curious incident. The news outlet published a photograph taken at the US-Canadian training centre in western Ukraine. The picture shows a Centuria member posing with two black US military personnel. None of this would be surprising if it were not for the tag "14/88" - a code slogan of the far-right and white supremacists.
According to WSWS authors, Centuria seeks to create an elite corps of officers committed to the neo-Nazi ideology. For several years, the organisation has managed to attract many cadets from the academy into its ranks, and they currently hold high-ranking positions in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The authors stressed that Centuria-related exposure does not point so much to accidental Nazi training, but to the conscious cultivation of far-right ideology in the Canadian Armed Forces and the militaries of its NATO partners.
Al Jazeera, for its part, pointed out that Ukraine had become a new centre for the far-right across the world. The media outlet added that in search of supporters, extremists from all continents join the Azov training units to gain combat experience.
Checking Human Rights Abuse Allegations
The governments of Canada, the US, and the UK launched a massive programme to prepare Ukrainian soldiers for an all-out war with Russia. Among those listening were the commanders of the Azov Battalion. One former CIA official told Yahoo News that the US is training militants "to kill Russians".
A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Ukraine, in turn said in an interview with The Daily Beast that they are checking allegations of human rights violations, not ideology-related breaches. According to the spokesperson, the battalions in question have been integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard and therefore they have a right to be trained.
Schedule Changes
All of the signs indicate that if it were not for the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, NATO would have implemented its scenario in the country. "Do you really think that they came only to train and are not narrow specialists from military companies who perfectly handle these weapons and will use them on the line of contact in the event of a military escalation?" Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Lugansk People's Republic, told Sputnik in early January.
He added that "it's not at all a fact that these mercenary instructors will pay any attention to the orders of Ukrainian commanders" because "they [the instructors] have their own employers and their own tasks".
They trained not only the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also militants of the nationalist battalions.
During the celebration of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Day in December 2014, then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the Ukrainian Army "is already capable of withstanding the largest military power on the continent". According to him, "only a year of emergency development of the army made it possible to revive the Armed Forces of Ukraine". But the pace of this evolution did not suit Kiev, so already in March 2015, the UK, the US, and Poland indicated their intent to provide Kiev with military instructors.
About 300 servicemen of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade were among the first to arrive at the Yavorov training centre in the Lvov region to train employees of three battalions of the National Guard. The US ambassador to Ukraine admired the pedagogical talent of his countrymen by posting a video of the "final exam" on social networks.
In the video, one of the instructors was seen saying that the training had gone great and that they had helped their Ukrainian counterparts to better understand the role of gunners and standard artillery skills. The video also showed mortar fire by American soldiers in the presence of Ukrainians and a master class on conducting searches.
Later on, Poroshenko stated that military instructors from Canada, as well as representatives of the UK Armed Forces, Poland, and "many other countries" intended to join the American specialists. The Ukrainian president, who had talked about the strongest army in Europe, thanked everyone "for the military and technical assistance".
History of Geography
Gradually, the geography of "assistance" expanded, and new "subjects" were added to the curriculum of Western instructors. Servicemen from Poland, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Algeria, and Poland went to Ukraine on business trips of various durations.
The instructors prepared sabotage groups, sappers, also training the security forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to conduct sniper work and fire adjustment, with special attention paid to disguising explosive devices as household items. Foreign experts at the time became part of reports about provocations, as well as explosions of cars, power lines, and oil depots.
Seven-Year Education
Access to high-tech weapons and Western military master classes was not only available to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also to fighters of the nationalist battalions. According to Scott Ritter, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer, US and British military instructors began training Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov Battalion in 2015. Ritter said that the goal of Western specialists was to create nationalist detachments in Ukraine, which is why the Americans and Britons got in touch with the Azov Battalion.
In an interview with an unnamed website on 18 March 2016, Roman Zvarich, the head of the headquarters of the Azov Civil Corps, said that "last summer", they had organised an officer school with Azov's "Georgian brother". According to Zvarich, the tutors were four former American officers and one Canadian.
He also said that 32 Azov officers had graduated from the school and that they were "ready to carry out tactical tasks according to the procedures adopted in NATO countries, and they know better than Ukrainian generals". Zvarich argued that a new military headquarters had been built in Azov in full line with NATO standards – "probably the only such headquarters in the system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces".
Two Parallels
In 2018, American journalist and blogger Max Blumenthal published a study on the contacts of the Azov Battalion with US military personnel. According to the author, in November 2017, overseas military inspectors visited the Azov Battalion, "known as a bastion of neo-Nazism in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine", to discuss "logistics and deepening cooperation". An unnamed Azov fighter quoted by Blumenthal told American journalists that US instructors and volunteers worked closely with his battalion. American officers met with Azov commanders for two months for "training and other assistance".
The leadership of Azov, Blumenthal argued, managed to establish warm relations with the US military. A photograph posted on the Azov website shows a US officer shaking hands with the Azov commander (and the American is not at all embarrassed by the Nazi symbols on the uniform of his Ukrainian counterpart). These photos confirm the secret ties between Ukrainian nationalists and US military personnel, according to the journalist.
Blumenthal drew a parallel between Washington's billion-dollar programme to train Syrian "moderate rebels" and the US military's ties to Ukrainian nationalists, claiming that there are clear similarities between the two projects. Previously, heavy weapons allegedly designed for the Free Syrian Army fell directly into the hands of Daesh*, and now US arms go directly to Azov extremists, Blumenthal concludes.
To prove his claims, the journalist posted a photograph of an Azov militant testing an American-made grenade launcher. The picture was published on the website of the nationalist battalion in June 2017, but has since been deleted.
Graduation Photos
The Canadian Armed Forces also actively cooperated with neo-Nazi groups operating in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the country's National Guard, according to data from the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS), published in December 2021.
The WSWS reported that Canadian servicemen and representatives of Canada's Ministry of Defence tried to cover up their meeting with Azov fighters in 2018. The Canadian guests were aware that the Ukrainian battalion adhered to the Nazi ideology, but they were only concerned with keeping the meeting secret. The secret was out when Azov members posted selfies with Canadian officers on social networks.
According to the official version, Canadian military instructors arrived in Ukraine to train the country's armed forces, however, as Radio Canada journalists found out, Canada had spent almost a billion dollars on training Azov militants. The journalists analysed photos from Ukrainian social networks and found that representatives of the Azov Battalion had repeatedly attended training sessions conducted by Canadian instructors. In particular, photographs dated November 2020 showed soldiers with Azov chevrons and Waffen-SS badges – golden lions with three crowns.
Evidence that the Azov militants were trained by Canadian instructors was also found by the Canadian television channel CTV, which published photos from social networks of Azov extremist Kirill Berkal, whose account is full of Nazi symbols.
Canada's Department of National Defence acknowledged that while troops were instructed not to train the Azov Battalion, they did not conduct any selection. At the same time, the website of the National Guard of Ukraine directly spoke about the training of Azov militants as part of the Unifier mission. Moreover, Ukrainian nationalists made social network posts boasting of their own trainings that were prepared jointly with the foreign instructors.
At School Like at Home
In September 2021, George Washington University published a detailed report on the Ukrainian nationalist organisation Centuria, which since 2018 has been based at the Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Army Academy in the Lvov region.
The report was written by US-based Ukrainian journalist Oleksiy Kuzmenko, who made his conclusions based on an analysis of Centuria's social media activity over the past three years.
In the report, Kuzmenko claimed that the evidence presented in the document shows that, since 2018, "Ukraine's main military academy and a major centre of Western aid to the country has been home to Centuria, a self-proclaimed order of European traditionalism that has a stated goal of reshaping the country's army in line with right-wing ideology".
Kuzmenko also argued that in Ukraine, Centuria members had the opportunity to contact US military instructors, as well as cadets from US and French military academies. The leaders of the group regularly spoke on social networks about active cooperation with foreign colleagues and participation in military exercises with France, the UK, the US, Germany, and Poland.
Students Who Surpassed Their Teachers
According to Kuzmenko's report, Western troops did not check Ukrainian trainees for extremism, while Centuria never concealed its close links with the Azov Battalion. The group declares that it "honours the exploits of the 14th SS division 'Galizien' because it defeated the Bolshevik contagion".
The North American independent socialist magazine Monthly Review drew attention to one rather curious incident. The news outlet published a photograph taken at the US-Canadian training centre in western Ukraine. The picture shows a Centuria member posing with two black US military personnel. None of this would be surprising if it were not for the tag "14/88" - a code slogan of the far-right and white supremacists.
According to WSWS authors, Centuria seeks to create an elite corps of officers committed to the neo-Nazi ideology. For several years, the organisation has managed to attract many cadets from the academy into its ranks, and they currently hold high-ranking positions in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The authors stressed that Centuria-related exposure does not point so much to accidental Nazi training, but to the conscious cultivation of far-right ideology in the Canadian Armed Forces and the militaries of its NATO partners.
Al Jazeera, for its part, pointed out that Ukraine had become a new centre for the far-right across the world. The media outlet added that in search of supporters, extremists from all continents join the Azov training units to gain combat experience.
Checking Human Rights Abuse Allegations
The governments of Canada, the US, and the UK launched a massive programme to prepare Ukrainian soldiers for an all-out war with Russia. Among those listening were the commanders of the Azov Battalion. One former CIA official told Yahoo News that the US is training militants "to kill Russians".
A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Ukraine, in turn said in an interview with The Daily Beast that they are checking allegations of human rights violations, not ideology-related breaches. According to the spokesperson, the battalions in question have been integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard and therefore they have a right to be trained.
Schedule Changes
All of the signs indicate that if it were not for the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, NATO would have implemented its scenario in the country. "Do you really think that they came only to train and are not narrow specialists from military companies who perfectly handle these weapons and will use them on the line of contact in the event of a military escalation?" Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Lugansk People's Republic, told Sputnik in early January.
He added that "it's not at all a fact that these mercenary instructors will pay any attention to the orders of Ukrainian commanders" because "they [the instructors] have their own employers and their own tasks".
Afghanistan’s deadliest earthquake in 20 years kills 1'000 peopleand injures another 1'500 in the provinces of Paktika and Khost.
Tremors could be felt in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, where there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Tremors could be felt in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, where there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Since the flow of Russian natural gas through Nord Stream 1 has fallen to 40 percent, the mirror has been in panic mode, spreading lies daily about the reasons for this.
June 22, 2022
The fact that the gas flow through Nord Stream 1 has fallen to 40 percent is an existential problem for Germany, because now Germany's gas supply will be in serious danger next winter. What's more, after a fire in the most important liquefaction plant for American liquefied petroleum gas, it is practically impossible to fill the German gas storage facilities sufficiently by the beginning of the heating season.
The fact that "quality media" such as Der Spiegel do not see their task in informing their readers, but in making Western politics palatable to their readers and demonizing Russia, is shown by Spiegel's reporting on this topic. To understand this, chronology is crucial again.
The reason for the problem with Nord Stream 1
The reduction in gas flow through Nord Stream began on June 14. On that day, Gazprom said it had to reduce gas flow because a turbine pumping the gas through the pipeline had not returned from the overhaul as planned. Although Der Spiegel has already suggested in its first article about this with its formulations that this could only be an excuse by Gazprom to turn off the gas tap to the EU, but in the Spiegel article of June 14 one could still learn the truth:
"Siemens Energy announced in the evening that a gas turbine for a compressor to increase the pressure of natural gas in the Baltic Sea pipeline is currently being overhauled in Canada. » For technical reasons, the overhaul of these aeroderivative gas turbines can only be carried out in Montreal," the press release said. Due to the sanctions imposed by Canada, it is currently not possible for Siemens Energy to deliver refurbished gas turbines to the customer. Against this background, we had informed the Canadian and German governments and are working on a viable solution."
So we can state that the problem is homemade and that the reason for the lower gas supplies is not to be found in Gazprom, but that the reason is the anti-Russian sanctions that Canada has introduced. Canada has thus created an existential problem for the EU – and especially Germany, which is most dependent on the gas from Nord Stream 1.
And very important: "Der Spiegel" knows this, reported it itself on 14 June!
June 22, 2022
The fact that the gas flow through Nord Stream 1 has fallen to 40 percent is an existential problem for Germany, because now Germany's gas supply will be in serious danger next winter. What's more, after a fire in the most important liquefaction plant for American liquefied petroleum gas, it is practically impossible to fill the German gas storage facilities sufficiently by the beginning of the heating season.
The fact that "quality media" such as Der Spiegel do not see their task in informing their readers, but in making Western politics palatable to their readers and demonizing Russia, is shown by Spiegel's reporting on this topic. To understand this, chronology is crucial again.
The reason for the problem with Nord Stream 1
The reduction in gas flow through Nord Stream began on June 14. On that day, Gazprom said it had to reduce gas flow because a turbine pumping the gas through the pipeline had not returned from the overhaul as planned. Although Der Spiegel has already suggested in its first article about this with its formulations that this could only be an excuse by Gazprom to turn off the gas tap to the EU, but in the Spiegel article of June 14 one could still learn the truth:
"Siemens Energy announced in the evening that a gas turbine for a compressor to increase the pressure of natural gas in the Baltic Sea pipeline is currently being overhauled in Canada. » For technical reasons, the overhaul of these aeroderivative gas turbines can only be carried out in Montreal," the press release said. Due to the sanctions imposed by Canada, it is currently not possible for Siemens Energy to deliver refurbished gas turbines to the customer. Against this background, we had informed the Canadian and German governments and are working on a viable solution."
So we can state that the problem is homemade and that the reason for the lower gas supplies is not to be found in Gazprom, but that the reason is the anti-Russian sanctions that Canada has introduced. Canada has thus created an existential problem for the EU – and especially Germany, which is most dependent on the gas from Nord Stream 1.
And very important: "Der Spiegel" knows this, reported it itself on 14 June!
22 June, 2022
The new Bill of Rights would give the UK government the power to ignore rulings from the European Court of Human Rights, which last week stopped a handful of asylum seekers being deported to Rwanda.
The UK will begin legislating on Wednesday for a new Bill of Rights to give the government the power to ignore rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which last week blocked ministers' plans to send migrants to Rwanda.
Last Tuesday, the ECHR issued last-minute injunctions to prevent a handful of asylum seekers being sent to the East African country, meaning Britain's first planned deportation flight did not go ahead on schedule.
The new Bill of Rights that will be put before parliament on Wednesday will make clear that Britain's Supreme Court, which had allowed the Rwanda flights, had legal supremacy and ECHR decisions did not always need to be followed by British courts.
It would confirm that injunctions issued by the ECHR under its Rule 39, which stopped the Rwandan flight, were not binding, the Ministry of Justice said.
"These reforms will reinforce freedom of speech, enable us to deport more foreign offenders and better protect the public from dangerous criminals," British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said.
The new Bill of Rights would give the UK government the power to ignore rulings from the European Court of Human Rights, which last week stopped a handful of asylum seekers being deported to Rwanda.
The UK will begin legislating on Wednesday for a new Bill of Rights to give the government the power to ignore rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which last week blocked ministers' plans to send migrants to Rwanda.
Last Tuesday, the ECHR issued last-minute injunctions to prevent a handful of asylum seekers being sent to the East African country, meaning Britain's first planned deportation flight did not go ahead on schedule.
The new Bill of Rights that will be put before parliament on Wednesday will make clear that Britain's Supreme Court, which had allowed the Rwanda flights, had legal supremacy and ECHR decisions did not always need to be followed by British courts.
It would confirm that injunctions issued by the ECHR under its Rule 39, which stopped the Rwandan flight, were not binding, the Ministry of Justice said.
"These reforms will reinforce freedom of speech, enable us to deport more foreign offenders and better protect the public from dangerous criminals," British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said.
22 Giugno 2022
Tratto da un'intervista alla neonata rivista tedesca "ViER" che sarà pubblicata ad agosto 2022" a Michel Hudson, il grande illustratore del conflitto tra finanza speculativa e produzione industriale.
Hudson afferma che il mondo della finanza svolge un ruolo chiave nello spingere all'adozione, da parte dei governi, di politiche economiche finalizzate a ridurre la capacità produttiva, sia degli U.S.A., sia degli stati europei in modo fatale. La finanza parassitaria si interessa all'economia reale con il solo fine di determinare quanta ricchezza sia possibile estrarre dall'industria e dal lavoro per via di tasse, interessi e acquisizioni di beni di pubblica utilità, piuttosto che con la finalità di fornire i capitali necessari ad aumentare la produzione e la capacità produttiva.
"The Destiny of Civilization" | Michael Hudson
https://michael-hudson.com/2022/05/the-destiny-of-civilization/
Tratto da un'intervista alla neonata rivista tedesca "ViER" che sarà pubblicata ad agosto 2022" a Michel Hudson, il grande illustratore del conflitto tra finanza speculativa e produzione industriale.
Hudson afferma che il mondo della finanza svolge un ruolo chiave nello spingere all'adozione, da parte dei governi, di politiche economiche finalizzate a ridurre la capacità produttiva, sia degli U.S.A., sia degli stati europei in modo fatale. La finanza parassitaria si interessa all'economia reale con il solo fine di determinare quanta ricchezza sia possibile estrarre dall'industria e dal lavoro per via di tasse, interessi e acquisizioni di beni di pubblica utilità, piuttosto che con la finalità di fornire i capitali necessari ad aumentare la produzione e la capacità produttiva.
"The Destiny of Civilization" | Michael Hudson
https://michael-hudson.com/2022/05/the-destiny-of-civilization/
June 21, 2022
Syria has often accused the United States of mounting an economic war against it by controlling the nation's crucial northeastern areas, which contain up to 90% of the country's oil and greatest agricultural resources. A new report has emerged claiming that a 40-truck US convoy loaded with stolen wheat was smuggled out of Syria recently.
According to domestic sources, US Marines and Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces militia groups smuggled a 40-truck convoy of trucks packed with Syrian wheat provisions out of the country via the al-Waleed border crossing point between Syria and Iraq northeast of al-Hasakah city.
According to the reports, US soldiers also used the same border to transport a convoy of 36 faulty military vehicles from Tel Hamees in northern al-Hasakah region to Iraq, reports The Cradle.
Wheat supplies were allegedly stolen from Syrian Jazira, which is part of the Fertile Crescent.
SANA's sources did not specify what kinds of trucks were involved, or whether the 40-truck figure included armed escorts, which typically accompany haulers during oil and food smuggling operations. In the United States, a single tractor trailer-worth of wheat can be used to make 42,000 loaves of bread worth over $100,000.
Syria has often accused the United States of mounting an economic war against it by controlling the nation's crucial northeastern areas, which contain up to 90% of the country's oil and greatest agricultural resources. Damascus has been obliged to depend on Russian and Iranian aid to ensure food and energy security while recovering from the devastating foreign-backed conflict that began in 2012.
Syria has often accused the United States of mounting an economic war against it by controlling the nation's crucial northeastern areas, which contain up to 90% of the country's oil and greatest agricultural resources. A new report has emerged claiming that a 40-truck US convoy loaded with stolen wheat was smuggled out of Syria recently.
According to domestic sources, US Marines and Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces militia groups smuggled a 40-truck convoy of trucks packed with Syrian wheat provisions out of the country via the al-Waleed border crossing point between Syria and Iraq northeast of al-Hasakah city.
According to the reports, US soldiers also used the same border to transport a convoy of 36 faulty military vehicles from Tel Hamees in northern al-Hasakah region to Iraq, reports The Cradle.
Wheat supplies were allegedly stolen from Syrian Jazira, which is part of the Fertile Crescent.
SANA's sources did not specify what kinds of trucks were involved, or whether the 40-truck figure included armed escorts, which typically accompany haulers during oil and food smuggling operations. In the United States, a single tractor trailer-worth of wheat can be used to make 42,000 loaves of bread worth over $100,000.
Syria has often accused the United States of mounting an economic war against it by controlling the nation's crucial northeastern areas, which contain up to 90% of the country's oil and greatest agricultural resources. Damascus has been obliged to depend on Russian and Iranian aid to ensure food and energy security while recovering from the devastating foreign-backed conflict that began in 2012.
17 Giugno 2022
Il lato violento dell'immigrazione tra reati sessuali e aggressioni delle forze dell'ordine: "In Italia una presenza stabile della compagine straniera"
Donne e ragazze molestate o violentate in mezzo alla strada. Agenti e carabinieri presi a pugni o minacciati con coltelli. E ragazzine maltrattate o uccise dai propri familiari perché rifiutavano le tradizioni della propria cultura e volevano vivere all'occidentale. Sono i delitti e le aggressioni che compaiono sulle pagine di cronaca e che coinvolgono criminali stranieri. È il fenomeno dell'immigrazione criminale, nato di pari passo con l'arrivo in Italia di gruppi sociali e culturali da diversi Paesi del mondo, fenomeno che dagli anni Settanta ha trasformato la Penisola in uno Stato di immigrazione. Ma come questa tendenza ha trasformato il panorama criminale?
"La presenza di gruppi sociali, etnici e culturali diversi comporta inevitabilmente una trasformazione delle fattispecie criminali - ha spiegato a ilGiornale.it la criminologa Francesca Capozza, autrice del libro Immigrazione criminale, che analizza il fenomeno, mostrando il volto della criminalità straniera in Italia - Si vede la presenza stabile della compagine straniera che prende la forma di criminalità organizzata, di quella comune, del terrorismo, nonché dei reati culturalmente motivati".
I numeri della criminalità straniera
Immigrazione non è sinonimo di criminalità. E viceversa. A partire dagli anni Settanta però nel nostro Paese si è registrato un aumento dell'arrivo di persone da altre parti del mondo, con cultura e abitudini diverse. E alle persone che migrano regolarmente si sono aggiunte quelle irregolari. Questo nuovo movimento ha comportato un cambiamento della delinquenza, perché ai criminali italiani si è aggiunta la compagine straniera, che è andata a modificare il panorama generale della criminalità e della sicurezza.
I dati, riportati nel XIII rapporto dell'associazione Antigone sulle condizioni di detenzione, raccontano di una crescita del numero degli stranieri presenti nelle carceri italiane che, a partire dai primi anni '90, ha subito un aumento "inarrestabile". Ora, stando ai dati del Ministero della Giustizia, aggiornati al 31 maggio 2022, gli stranieri detenuti sono 17.136, su un totale di 57.067 persone in carcere: una percentuale che supera di poco il 30%, come conferma anche la criminologa Francesca Capozza, che parla di dati ufficiali "che non registrano quindi eventuali ulteriori coinvolgimenti non accertati". Nelle grandi città, però, questa percentuale sale, tanto che, secondo quanto specificato a ilGiornale.it dall'assessore Riccardo De Corato, "a Milano oltre il 70% della popolazione carceraria di San Vittore è composta da immigrati".
Bisogna precisare però che tra i detenuti stranieri la percentuale dei migranti irregolari, riportata dal rapporto di Antigone, si attesta "tra il 60 e l'80% a seconda del tipo di crimine". Non solo. "Quasi tutti i migranti che commettono reati hanno dei precedenti - precisa l'assessore De Corato - Credo che molti dei clandestini presenti sul territorio italiano fuggano dal proprio Paese d'origine perché evidentemente hanno dei conti in sospeso con la Giustizia, probabilmente non possono neanche girare a piede libero o rischiano pene pesantissime. Altrimenti non si spiega il motivo per cui preferiscano pagare fior di soldi agli scafisti, rischiando la vita in mare, piuttosto che raggiungere l'Italia con altri mezzi. Non credo che tutti siano in fuga dalla guerra".
Il lato violento dell'immigrazione tra reati sessuali e aggressioni delle forze dell'ordine: "In Italia una presenza stabile della compagine straniera"
Donne e ragazze molestate o violentate in mezzo alla strada. Agenti e carabinieri presi a pugni o minacciati con coltelli. E ragazzine maltrattate o uccise dai propri familiari perché rifiutavano le tradizioni della propria cultura e volevano vivere all'occidentale. Sono i delitti e le aggressioni che compaiono sulle pagine di cronaca e che coinvolgono criminali stranieri. È il fenomeno dell'immigrazione criminale, nato di pari passo con l'arrivo in Italia di gruppi sociali e culturali da diversi Paesi del mondo, fenomeno che dagli anni Settanta ha trasformato la Penisola in uno Stato di immigrazione. Ma come questa tendenza ha trasformato il panorama criminale?
"La presenza di gruppi sociali, etnici e culturali diversi comporta inevitabilmente una trasformazione delle fattispecie criminali - ha spiegato a ilGiornale.it la criminologa Francesca Capozza, autrice del libro Immigrazione criminale, che analizza il fenomeno, mostrando il volto della criminalità straniera in Italia - Si vede la presenza stabile della compagine straniera che prende la forma di criminalità organizzata, di quella comune, del terrorismo, nonché dei reati culturalmente motivati".
I numeri della criminalità straniera
Immigrazione non è sinonimo di criminalità. E viceversa. A partire dagli anni Settanta però nel nostro Paese si è registrato un aumento dell'arrivo di persone da altre parti del mondo, con cultura e abitudini diverse. E alle persone che migrano regolarmente si sono aggiunte quelle irregolari. Questo nuovo movimento ha comportato un cambiamento della delinquenza, perché ai criminali italiani si è aggiunta la compagine straniera, che è andata a modificare il panorama generale della criminalità e della sicurezza.
I dati, riportati nel XIII rapporto dell'associazione Antigone sulle condizioni di detenzione, raccontano di una crescita del numero degli stranieri presenti nelle carceri italiane che, a partire dai primi anni '90, ha subito un aumento "inarrestabile". Ora, stando ai dati del Ministero della Giustizia, aggiornati al 31 maggio 2022, gli stranieri detenuti sono 17.136, su un totale di 57.067 persone in carcere: una percentuale che supera di poco il 30%, come conferma anche la criminologa Francesca Capozza, che parla di dati ufficiali "che non registrano quindi eventuali ulteriori coinvolgimenti non accertati". Nelle grandi città, però, questa percentuale sale, tanto che, secondo quanto specificato a ilGiornale.it dall'assessore Riccardo De Corato, "a Milano oltre il 70% della popolazione carceraria di San Vittore è composta da immigrati".
Bisogna precisare però che tra i detenuti stranieri la percentuale dei migranti irregolari, riportata dal rapporto di Antigone, si attesta "tra il 60 e l'80% a seconda del tipo di crimine". Non solo. "Quasi tutti i migranti che commettono reati hanno dei precedenti - precisa l'assessore De Corato - Credo che molti dei clandestini presenti sul territorio italiano fuggano dal proprio Paese d'origine perché evidentemente hanno dei conti in sospeso con la Giustizia, probabilmente non possono neanche girare a piede libero o rischiano pene pesantissime. Altrimenti non si spiega il motivo per cui preferiscano pagare fior di soldi agli scafisti, rischiando la vita in mare, piuttosto che raggiungere l'Italia con altri mezzi. Non credo che tutti siano in fuga dalla guerra".
"We must be prepared to use nuclear weapons'
Tough announcements by two European armies were made recently. "For credible deterrence, we need both the means and the political will to implement nuclear deterrence if necessary", said German Air Force Chief Ingo Gerhartz (56) on Friday at the Kiel International Seapowers Symposium.
June 22, 2022
In plain language: If necessary, NATO countries must be prepared to use nuclear weapons against Russia.
The German government wants to equip its Air Force with the US F-35 stealth jet. Referring to a possible Russian attack, he also said clearly: "Putin, don't mess with us!" Because: "By 2030, the Europeans will have over 600 modern fighter jets in the Baltic Sea region. Then there are the American planes."
UK top brass ignore Brexit
Appeals from Great Britain to get ready for combat were also heard. The kingdom may have to intervene again on the continent, as it did in the First and Second World Wars. "We are the generation that needs to prepare the army to fight again in Europe," said Sir Patrick Sanders, 56, Britain's new supreme army commander, according to The Sun.
Accordingly, Sanders has used his debut in his role as chief of staff to send a message to all his soldiers. And it was tough, because the phrase "to fight in Europe again" is a clear allusion to the Second World War. Sanders did not mention Brexit – that the UK voted to leave the EU. It is not clear why Sanders would want to defend a continent his country no longer wishes to be a part of.
Tough announcements by two European armies were made recently. "For credible deterrence, we need both the means and the political will to implement nuclear deterrence if necessary", said German Air Force Chief Ingo Gerhartz (56) on Friday at the Kiel International Seapowers Symposium.
June 22, 2022
In plain language: If necessary, NATO countries must be prepared to use nuclear weapons against Russia.
The German government wants to equip its Air Force with the US F-35 stealth jet. Referring to a possible Russian attack, he also said clearly: "Putin, don't mess with us!" Because: "By 2030, the Europeans will have over 600 modern fighter jets in the Baltic Sea region. Then there are the American planes."
UK top brass ignore Brexit
Appeals from Great Britain to get ready for combat were also heard. The kingdom may have to intervene again on the continent, as it did in the First and Second World Wars. "We are the generation that needs to prepare the army to fight again in Europe," said Sir Patrick Sanders, 56, Britain's new supreme army commander, according to The Sun.
Accordingly, Sanders has used his debut in his role as chief of staff to send a message to all his soldiers. And it was tough, because the phrase "to fight in Europe again" is a clear allusion to the Second World War. Sanders did not mention Brexit – that the UK voted to leave the EU. It is not clear why Sanders would want to defend a continent his country no longer wishes to be a part of.
21 Jun, 2022
Russia's newest Sarmat nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will be deployed in 2022, President Vladimir Putin has said.
"We have successfully tested the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile. According to the plan, the first such system will enter combat duty at the end of the year," Putin said in an address to graduating cadets on Tuesday.
The Sarmat was test-fired in April.
The missile will replace the older Voyevoda systems, also known by the NATO reporting name, SS-18 Satan.
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said in April that the Sarmat, dubbed 'Satan 2', is the most powerful missile of its class in terms of range and warheads. It was designed to be "invincible" to all existing air defenses, he said.
Rogozin added that Sarmats are much faster than Voyevodas and "can strike targets at virtually unlimited range."
Colonel General Sergey Karakayev, the commander of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, announced this month that modernization with top-notch combat-ready missiles, including the Sarmat and the Avangard hypersonic glide weapon, will reach 86% by the end of 2022.
Russia's newest Sarmat nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will be deployed in 2022, President Vladimir Putin has said.
"We have successfully tested the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile. According to the plan, the first such system will enter combat duty at the end of the year," Putin said in an address to graduating cadets on Tuesday.
The Sarmat was test-fired in April.
The missile will replace the older Voyevoda systems, also known by the NATO reporting name, SS-18 Satan.
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said in April that the Sarmat, dubbed 'Satan 2', is the most powerful missile of its class in terms of range and warheads. It was designed to be "invincible" to all existing air defenses, he said.
Rogozin added that Sarmats are much faster than Voyevodas and "can strike targets at virtually unlimited range."
Colonel General Sergey Karakayev, the commander of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, announced this month that modernization with top-notch combat-ready missiles, including the Sarmat and the Avangard hypersonic glide weapon, will reach 86% by the end of 2022.
21 Jun, 2022
The restrictions on transit to Kaliningrad have affected both railway and road traffic, according to officials
The restrictions imposed on the transit of goods to the Kaliningrad Region by Lithuania have already affected road traffic, officials of the Russian exclave said on Tuesday.
"The partial restriction of freight transit also applies to road vehicles passing through Lithuania. Like [goods transported by] rail, these goods can now only be transported by sea," the press service of the regional government has said.
Vilnius began implementing the restrictions on Saturday, when Lithuania's national railway operator banned the flow of sanctioned goods between the region and the rest of Russia, citing guidelines from the European Commission.
The restrictions on transit to Kaliningrad have affected both railway and road traffic, according to officials
The restrictions imposed on the transit of goods to the Kaliningrad Region by Lithuania have already affected road traffic, officials of the Russian exclave said on Tuesday.
"The partial restriction of freight transit also applies to road vehicles passing through Lithuania. Like [goods transported by] rail, these goods can now only be transported by sea," the press service of the regional government has said.
Vilnius began implementing the restrictions on Saturday, when Lithuania's national railway operator banned the flow of sanctioned goods between the region and the rest of Russia, citing guidelines from the European Commission.
Il capo di stato maggiore, il generale Sir Patrick Sanders, ha ordinato all'esercito britannico di prepararsi a sconfiggere la Russia
22 Giugno 2022
Il nuovo capo di stato maggiore dell'esercito britannico, il generale Sir Patrick Sanders, ha affermato che, alla luce della guerra russa in Ucraina, le truppe britanniche dovrebbero essere pronte per le operazioni militari contro la Russia capaci di "sconfiggere la Russia". Lo riferisce la pubblicazione The Indipendent, che riporta una lettera alle truppe britanniche, in cui l'alto ufficiale afferma:
"Ora la nostra necessità urgente è creare un esercito in grado di combattere al fianco dei nostri alleati e sconfiggere la Russia in battaglia. Siamo la generazione che deve nuovamente preparare l'esercito per combattere battaglie in Europa ", ha detto il generale Patrick Sanders.
PRATICAMENTE IN CONTEMPORANEA ALLE DUE DICHIARAZIONI DEI CITATI DUE ALTI UFFICIALI, L'ENCLAVE RUSSA DI KALININGRAD È STATA ISOLATA. L'ASSEDIO DELLA LITUANIA IMPEDISCE CHE I TRENI CON LE MERCI NECESSARIE POSSANO RIFORNIRE L'ENCLAVE. È CHIARO CHE QUESTA È UNA PROVOCAZIONE PER UNA ESCALATION, IN LINEA CON LE DICHIARAZIONI DEI DUE COMANDANTI BRITANNICO E TEDESCO.
Il capo di stato maggiore dell'esercito britannico ha promesso di creare un esercito che avrebbe sconfitto la Russia in battaglia.
Il 20 aprile, The Sun aveva riportato che il il generale britannico Richard Barrons, in un'audizione presso la commissione per la difesa del parlamento britannico, ha sottolineato che la NATO non era pronta per un conflitto con la Russia. La notizia è stata accolta senza entusiasmo, ma senza sorpresa.
La NATO, ha detto Barrons, potrebbe entrare in conflitto con la Russia ai sensi dell'articolo 5 della sua Carta. Per cui un attacco a uno dei membri dell'alleanza sarà considerato un attacco a tutti i membri della NATO, pertanto gli Stati membri intraprenderanno le azioni necessarie e forniranno assistenza al paese colpito: "In risposta a questa domanda, dirò : Sono preoccupato che il motivo principale per cui vogliamo evitare una guerra tra Russia e NATO sia che la NATO non è pronta. E dovremmo vergognarcene ", esclamò il generale.
Secondo Barrons, al vertice NATO, che si terrà dal 29 al 30 giugno a Madrid, l'agenda sarà il ripristino degli equilibri politici con la Russia, affinché Mosca "non pensi più di poter stabilire i termini del dibattito con la Nato".
Alla domanda se il Regno Unito dispone dei sistemi di difesa necessari per proteggersi in caso di conflitto militare con la Russia , ha risposto negativamente. Ha anche osservato che se il Regno Unito dovesse difendere un altro paese in un conflitto con la Russia, le truppe britanniche sarebbero state distrutte dagli aerei russi "in circa una settimana" .
Inoltre, dopo aver testato il missile balistico intercontinentale Sarmat, molti analisti militari hanno ammesso che per distruggere le isole britanniche ci sarebbe voluto esattamente lo stesso tempo necessario per preparare e lanciare due missili Sarmat. Non è molto tempo.
E si potrebbe presumere che né la Gran Bretagna né la NATO nel suo insieme abbiano alcun motivo per entrare in un conflitto militare aperto per non suicidarsi. Tuttavia, il potenziale di militanza nelle isole britanniche non può essere sottovalutato.
Londra vuole una guerra nel cuore dell'Europa?
Due mesi dopo il discorso del generale Barrons, l'umore nei circoli militari britannici è cambiato. Il 18 giugno, The Sun ha pubblicato una dichiarazione del nuovo capo di stato maggiore dell'esercito, il generale Sir Patrick Sanders. La notizia era sbalorditiva: gli inglesi devono essere preparati a combattere i russi in una potenziale terza guerra mondiale. Sanders ha promesso di creare un esercito in grado di sconfiggere la Russia in combattimento. Ha avvertito i soldati britannici che "è della massima importanza creare un esercito in grado di combattere fianco a fianco con i nostri alleati e sconfiggere la Russia in combattimento".
Nel frattempo, l'esercito britannico – come dimensione – è attualmente il più piccolo negli ultimi 300 anni: il governo ha ridotto la sua forza a 73.000 soldati, circa le dimensioni delle forze speciali americane. Anche gli armamenti sono stati ridotti: sono in via di radiazione circa 800 veicoli corazzati e 80 carri armati Challenger 2.
Tuttavia, Sanders ha ordinato di prepararsi per l'ingresso in guerra. Probabilmente il numero limitato di soldati di cui la GB dispone non preoccupa Sanders che sa che può contare sulla Polonia e gli alleati dei paesi baltici, veri vassalli di Londra.
Il 56enne Patrick Sanders dal 2019 al maggio 2022 ha guidato tutte le forze speciali della Gran Bretagna, ha preparato incursioni in Iraq e Afghanistan. Ora promette di organizzare il dispiegamento di truppe britanniche all'estero per rispondere più rapidamente alle crisi: questo "priverà la Russia della possibilità di occupare qualsiasi altra parte d'Europa" e "scoraggerà l'aggressione russa con la minaccia della forza" .
"Il mio unico dovere ", dice il Capo di Stato Maggiore Generale delle Forze di Terra, "è rendere il nostro esercito il più letale ed efficace possibile. È giunto il momento e dobbiamo cogliere questa opportunità".
Quindi, Londra promette di modernizzare l'esercito britannico e trasferirlo in Europa. Finora, ciò contraddice la promessa di Bruxelles di non entrare apertamente nel conflitto russo-ucraino. Quindi quale dei due piani verrà adattato dopo il vertice della NATO a Madrid?
L' Europa, ad eccezione della Polonia e dei paesi baltici, non cerca di esacerbare la situazione nel continente. Berlino, Parigi e Roma cercano di prendere le distanze dai "falchi" di Londra e Washington, pronti a combattere contro la Russia "fino all'ultimo ucraino". QUINDI IL PROBLEMA SONO I PAESI BALTICI CHE RISPONDONO A LONDRA: IL NUOVO PROBLEMA A KALININGRAD NON È CASUALE. È chiaro che il tentativo è provocare la Russia per poi invocare l'art. 5 della NATO del mutuo soccorso.
La Gran Bretagna sta costruendo di realizzare una nuova alleanza tripartita tra Londra, Varsavia e Kiev. Non è escluso che la Gran Bretagna da una parte cerchi di realizzare una nuova alleanza militare al di fuori della Nato, dall'altra cerchi un espediente per coinvolgere la NATO.
Secondo alcune fonti, la nuova alleanza militare dovrebbe comprendere anche Ucraina, Polonia, Moldova, Lettonia, Lituania, Estonia; e secondo gli inglesi, dovrebbe essere senza gli Stati Uniti, la NATO. Quindi interferenze della UE, in particolare di "Germania, Francia", i paesi più moderati.
22 Giugno 2022
Il nuovo capo di stato maggiore dell'esercito britannico, il generale Sir Patrick Sanders, ha affermato che, alla luce della guerra russa in Ucraina, le truppe britanniche dovrebbero essere pronte per le operazioni militari contro la Russia capaci di "sconfiggere la Russia". Lo riferisce la pubblicazione The Indipendent, che riporta una lettera alle truppe britanniche, in cui l'alto ufficiale afferma:
"Ora la nostra necessità urgente è creare un esercito in grado di combattere al fianco dei nostri alleati e sconfiggere la Russia in battaglia. Siamo la generazione che deve nuovamente preparare l'esercito per combattere battaglie in Europa ", ha detto il generale Patrick Sanders.
PRATICAMENTE IN CONTEMPORANEA ALLE DUE DICHIARAZIONI DEI CITATI DUE ALTI UFFICIALI, L'ENCLAVE RUSSA DI KALININGRAD È STATA ISOLATA. L'ASSEDIO DELLA LITUANIA IMPEDISCE CHE I TRENI CON LE MERCI NECESSARIE POSSANO RIFORNIRE L'ENCLAVE. È CHIARO CHE QUESTA È UNA PROVOCAZIONE PER UNA ESCALATION, IN LINEA CON LE DICHIARAZIONI DEI DUE COMANDANTI BRITANNICO E TEDESCO.
Il capo di stato maggiore dell'esercito britannico ha promesso di creare un esercito che avrebbe sconfitto la Russia in battaglia.
Il 20 aprile, The Sun aveva riportato che il il generale britannico Richard Barrons, in un'audizione presso la commissione per la difesa del parlamento britannico, ha sottolineato che la NATO non era pronta per un conflitto con la Russia. La notizia è stata accolta senza entusiasmo, ma senza sorpresa.
La NATO, ha detto Barrons, potrebbe entrare in conflitto con la Russia ai sensi dell'articolo 5 della sua Carta. Per cui un attacco a uno dei membri dell'alleanza sarà considerato un attacco a tutti i membri della NATO, pertanto gli Stati membri intraprenderanno le azioni necessarie e forniranno assistenza al paese colpito: "In risposta a questa domanda, dirò : Sono preoccupato che il motivo principale per cui vogliamo evitare una guerra tra Russia e NATO sia che la NATO non è pronta. E dovremmo vergognarcene ", esclamò il generale.
Secondo Barrons, al vertice NATO, che si terrà dal 29 al 30 giugno a Madrid, l'agenda sarà il ripristino degli equilibri politici con la Russia, affinché Mosca "non pensi più di poter stabilire i termini del dibattito con la Nato".
Alla domanda se il Regno Unito dispone dei sistemi di difesa necessari per proteggersi in caso di conflitto militare con la Russia , ha risposto negativamente. Ha anche osservato che se il Regno Unito dovesse difendere un altro paese in un conflitto con la Russia, le truppe britanniche sarebbero state distrutte dagli aerei russi "in circa una settimana" .
Inoltre, dopo aver testato il missile balistico intercontinentale Sarmat, molti analisti militari hanno ammesso che per distruggere le isole britanniche ci sarebbe voluto esattamente lo stesso tempo necessario per preparare e lanciare due missili Sarmat. Non è molto tempo.
E si potrebbe presumere che né la Gran Bretagna né la NATO nel suo insieme abbiano alcun motivo per entrare in un conflitto militare aperto per non suicidarsi. Tuttavia, il potenziale di militanza nelle isole britanniche non può essere sottovalutato.
Londra vuole una guerra nel cuore dell'Europa?
Due mesi dopo il discorso del generale Barrons, l'umore nei circoli militari britannici è cambiato. Il 18 giugno, The Sun ha pubblicato una dichiarazione del nuovo capo di stato maggiore dell'esercito, il generale Sir Patrick Sanders. La notizia era sbalorditiva: gli inglesi devono essere preparati a combattere i russi in una potenziale terza guerra mondiale. Sanders ha promesso di creare un esercito in grado di sconfiggere la Russia in combattimento. Ha avvertito i soldati britannici che "è della massima importanza creare un esercito in grado di combattere fianco a fianco con i nostri alleati e sconfiggere la Russia in combattimento".
Nel frattempo, l'esercito britannico – come dimensione – è attualmente il più piccolo negli ultimi 300 anni: il governo ha ridotto la sua forza a 73.000 soldati, circa le dimensioni delle forze speciali americane. Anche gli armamenti sono stati ridotti: sono in via di radiazione circa 800 veicoli corazzati e 80 carri armati Challenger 2.
Tuttavia, Sanders ha ordinato di prepararsi per l'ingresso in guerra. Probabilmente il numero limitato di soldati di cui la GB dispone non preoccupa Sanders che sa che può contare sulla Polonia e gli alleati dei paesi baltici, veri vassalli di Londra.
Il 56enne Patrick Sanders dal 2019 al maggio 2022 ha guidato tutte le forze speciali della Gran Bretagna, ha preparato incursioni in Iraq e Afghanistan. Ora promette di organizzare il dispiegamento di truppe britanniche all'estero per rispondere più rapidamente alle crisi: questo "priverà la Russia della possibilità di occupare qualsiasi altra parte d'Europa" e "scoraggerà l'aggressione russa con la minaccia della forza" .
"Il mio unico dovere ", dice il Capo di Stato Maggiore Generale delle Forze di Terra, "è rendere il nostro esercito il più letale ed efficace possibile. È giunto il momento e dobbiamo cogliere questa opportunità".
Quindi, Londra promette di modernizzare l'esercito britannico e trasferirlo in Europa. Finora, ciò contraddice la promessa di Bruxelles di non entrare apertamente nel conflitto russo-ucraino. Quindi quale dei due piani verrà adattato dopo il vertice della NATO a Madrid?
L' Europa, ad eccezione della Polonia e dei paesi baltici, non cerca di esacerbare la situazione nel continente. Berlino, Parigi e Roma cercano di prendere le distanze dai "falchi" di Londra e Washington, pronti a combattere contro la Russia "fino all'ultimo ucraino". QUINDI IL PROBLEMA SONO I PAESI BALTICI CHE RISPONDONO A LONDRA: IL NUOVO PROBLEMA A KALININGRAD NON È CASUALE. È chiaro che il tentativo è provocare la Russia per poi invocare l'art. 5 della NATO del mutuo soccorso.
La Gran Bretagna sta costruendo di realizzare una nuova alleanza tripartita tra Londra, Varsavia e Kiev. Non è escluso che la Gran Bretagna da una parte cerchi di realizzare una nuova alleanza militare al di fuori della Nato, dall'altra cerchi un espediente per coinvolgere la NATO.
Secondo alcune fonti, la nuova alleanza militare dovrebbe comprendere anche Ucraina, Polonia, Moldova, Lettonia, Lituania, Estonia; e secondo gli inglesi, dovrebbe essere senza gli Stati Uniti, la NATO. Quindi interferenze della UE, in particolare di "Germania, Francia", i paesi più moderati.
First, there were the claims of an alleged pandemic which inept mathematicians warned would ravage the world and kill millions. (Even though the British Government's own expert advisers said, in March 2020, that covid-19 was no more deadly than the ordinary flu.) Naturally, the flu completely disappeared – thus proving that covid was no more than the rebranded flu.
Then, insane global warming cultists invented ever scarier scenarios to encourage us to stop using fossil fuels. Everyone who's looked at the evidence knows that global warming is childish pseudoscience. There is no global warming. It's a trick to control us, to scare us and to impoverish us. But to the ignorant and the naïve and the stupid it all seems real.
The politicians and the telly tell us we're at war, though we're not quite sure how or why we got involved. No politicians spoke out when Russia invaded Ukraine last time. And the politicians don't care about bigger wars in Yemen and Syria.
The politicians and conspirators pushed Russia into a (for them) convenient war and quickly introduced sanctions which will result in much of the world running out of fuel and food and which everyone agrees will kill hundreds of millions in Africa and Asia.
Hundreds of millions will starve to death as a direct result of actions by Biden, Johnson et al.
You'd have to be stuck in a cupboard not to know that fuel and food prices are higher than ever – and going still higher. Food will be another 15% higher by the end of summer. And higher still by Christmas. Oil prices will continue to soar because the mad cultists have stopped companies looking for more oil supplies. Refinery prices are soaring too. Next winter most old people will have to choose between freezing to death or starving to death.
Oh, and food and fuel are bound to be rationed at some point. But you could see that coming, couldn't you?
As I predicted, interest rates are going up in an attempt to catch up with inflation which is soaring. Savers are losing 10% or more every year because of inflation. If you had £1,000 saved in the bank two years ago then it is now worth around £750. That's how inflation destroys savings.
And home owners will see their mortgage costs soaring. Thousands will lose their homes. Higher interest rates will result in thousands of small businesses going bust. Unemployment will soar.
GPs work three day weeks and hospital consultants want to work from home. Patients have to wait 8 hours for an ambulance and 12 hours to see a doctor if and when they eventually get to hospital. The NHS devotes more time and energy to being woke than it does to looking after patients. Some GP practices employed `assistants' to take over the work of GPs.
There are doctors who insist that more people died in 2020 and 2021 than in other years. If they would just look at the Government's own figures they'd know that is not true.
Everything is a lie. And doctors, journalists and lawyers protect the lies.
GPs no longer want to see patients face to face but were happy earning £100,000 a year giving covid-19 jabs – face to face.
Care homes have few staff members because the wise ones were fired for refusing to be poisoned with a toxic jab. As care home struggle, so hospitals are overcrowded with the frail and needy. And the waiting lists grow ever longer.
You'd have to be a fool not to see the truth.
Rail unions are on strike and airline workers might just as well be. Britons planning a holiday abroad can stay at home and stare at the chemtrails criss-crossing their seaside skies. The conspirators long ago decided that we'd have a rotten summer. (So much for that much promised global warming.)
And still, there are people who think this is just bad luck?
Millions of other workers, egged on by lefty `new world order' lunatics, are demanding industrial action as though industrial action will make things better. Teachers, nurses, doctors and other over-protected state employees are threatening strike action. The strikers are doing exactly what the evil conspirators want them to do. They are helping us along into the Great Reset and their actions will massively increase the number dying in the next few months. The conspirators will be rubbing their hands with glee as the strikes start.
The strikes will create more shortages of fuel and food. Prices will go up and up.
Then, insane global warming cultists invented ever scarier scenarios to encourage us to stop using fossil fuels. Everyone who's looked at the evidence knows that global warming is childish pseudoscience. There is no global warming. It's a trick to control us, to scare us and to impoverish us. But to the ignorant and the naïve and the stupid it all seems real.
The politicians and the telly tell us we're at war, though we're not quite sure how or why we got involved. No politicians spoke out when Russia invaded Ukraine last time. And the politicians don't care about bigger wars in Yemen and Syria.
The politicians and conspirators pushed Russia into a (for them) convenient war and quickly introduced sanctions which will result in much of the world running out of fuel and food and which everyone agrees will kill hundreds of millions in Africa and Asia.
Hundreds of millions will starve to death as a direct result of actions by Biden, Johnson et al.
You'd have to be stuck in a cupboard not to know that fuel and food prices are higher than ever – and going still higher. Food will be another 15% higher by the end of summer. And higher still by Christmas. Oil prices will continue to soar because the mad cultists have stopped companies looking for more oil supplies. Refinery prices are soaring too. Next winter most old people will have to choose between freezing to death or starving to death.
Oh, and food and fuel are bound to be rationed at some point. But you could see that coming, couldn't you?
As I predicted, interest rates are going up in an attempt to catch up with inflation which is soaring. Savers are losing 10% or more every year because of inflation. If you had £1,000 saved in the bank two years ago then it is now worth around £750. That's how inflation destroys savings.
And home owners will see their mortgage costs soaring. Thousands will lose their homes. Higher interest rates will result in thousands of small businesses going bust. Unemployment will soar.
GPs work three day weeks and hospital consultants want to work from home. Patients have to wait 8 hours for an ambulance and 12 hours to see a doctor if and when they eventually get to hospital. The NHS devotes more time and energy to being woke than it does to looking after patients. Some GP practices employed `assistants' to take over the work of GPs.
There are doctors who insist that more people died in 2020 and 2021 than in other years. If they would just look at the Government's own figures they'd know that is not true.
Everything is a lie. And doctors, journalists and lawyers protect the lies.
GPs no longer want to see patients face to face but were happy earning £100,000 a year giving covid-19 jabs – face to face.
Care homes have few staff members because the wise ones were fired for refusing to be poisoned with a toxic jab. As care home struggle, so hospitals are overcrowded with the frail and needy. And the waiting lists grow ever longer.
You'd have to be a fool not to see the truth.
Rail unions are on strike and airline workers might just as well be. Britons planning a holiday abroad can stay at home and stare at the chemtrails criss-crossing their seaside skies. The conspirators long ago decided that we'd have a rotten summer. (So much for that much promised global warming.)
And still, there are people who think this is just bad luck?
Millions of other workers, egged on by lefty `new world order' lunatics, are demanding industrial action as though industrial action will make things better. Teachers, nurses, doctors and other over-protected state employees are threatening strike action. The strikers are doing exactly what the evil conspirators want them to do. They are helping us along into the Great Reset and their actions will massively increase the number dying in the next few months. The conspirators will be rubbing their hands with glee as the strikes start.
The strikes will create more shortages of fuel and food. Prices will go up and up.
June 19, 2022
On June 10, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) in Paris asked for sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment for 20 defendants in the trial for the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris which took the lives of 130 people and injured more than 350. In the course of the trial, it was proven that the defendants were following Radical Islam, or were influenced by the political ideology.
On January 7, 2015, a deadly assault took place at the office of a magazine, Charlie Hebdo. A pair of terrorists following Radical Islam armed with assault rifles burst into the office and murdered 11 people. Over the next 48 hours, six more people were killed in the attacks in Paris and the surrounding area.
The November 13 attack was claimed by Al Qaeda, but the attacker had pledged his allegiance to ISIS. France had been targeting ISIS positions in Iraq since September 2014. Following the horrific attacks in Paris, French President Francois Hollande pledged more than $850 million to fund counterterrorism schemes.
On August 19, 2014, President Hollande confirmed in an interview with the French media Le Monde that France had been directly supplying arms to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in their role in the US-NATO attack on Syria for regime change. France had provided weapons including 12.7-mm machine guns, rocket launchers, body armor, and communications equipment. French intelligence officers were present in Syria, in areas then controlled by the FSA and their Al Qaeda and ISIS partners.
According to the Qatari official, Hamad bin Jassim, the US-NATO attack on Syria, using Radical Islamic terrorists as foot soldiers, was coordinated by the US CIA office in Southern Turkey, and all the money and weapons sent to the terrorists were coordinated through the Americans. In 2017, President Donald Trump shut down the CIA operation in Turkey. Since then, the conflict in Syria has turned into a stalemate, with only Idlib under the control of Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists, with weapons, funding, and protections provided to them by President Erdogan of Turkey, and food and humanitarian supplies provided to the terrorists, their families, supporters, and civilians held as human shields, by the United Nations World Food Programme.
According to Le Monde, France's leftist party, New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA), has supported the US-NATO attack on Syria for regime change, and the Socialist Party in France, (PS), has stood on a foreign policy platform that supports the FSA and their Al Qaeda and ISIS allies as "freedom fighters" in a democratic revolution. The NPA issued a resolution in September 2013 in support of the continued supply of weapons to the terrorists in Syria, who were murdering, raping, maiming, and kidnapping unarmed civilians daily.
In September 2013, NPA spokesman Olivier Besancenot called on Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to give weapons to the armed terrorists in Syria. He advised the government not to heed the advice of others who cautioned that the weapons might end up in the hands of terrorists who could harm France or French interests.
It has been said you shouldn't feed a monster, because it could turn to kill you. France has fed the Radical Islamic terrorists in Syria, and the terrorists who killed and maimed French people in Paris were following the same political ideology as those terrorists in Syria, who were using French weapons, and being trained and advised by the French military.
However, in a Paris courtroom, the families of the victims and the survivors of the November 13, 2015 attack will experience some justice for the suffering caused by those following Radical Islam, which President Emmanuel Macron has declared war on. When will the millions in Syria who have suffered, be made homeless, and lost loved ones have their day of justice? When will the Syrian people have their day in court against the US, UK, and France for their role in funding and providing the weapons to the terrorists who have destroyed Syria?
US occupation forces to steal the oil and keep an eye on ISIS
On June 15, the US-led coalition forces arrested three ISIS members in a daring airdrop mission. The senior ISIS leader is an explosive expert, as well as a drone specialist. Two of his fellow terrorists were arrested with him northeast of Aleppo in the Jarablus countryside.
The ISIS members were in an area occupied by Radical Islamic terrorists who are aligned with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the occupation forces in Idlib, who have a long history of harboring ISIS members. The US occupation forces have previously killed the ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi and his successor Al-Qurashi in Idlib. Turkish occupation forces have military outposts in Idlib which protect the terrorists from Russian or Syrian attacks.
Syrian conflict and the US-NATO support of terrorists in Syria
According to US General Wesley Clark, the Pentagon had shown him a list of seven countries the US had earmarked for regime change, and Syria was on the list. In the spring of 2011, the plan was put into motion in Deraa, a small and insignificant agricultural town on the Jordanian border with Syria. That spot was chosen as the epicenter of the Syrian conflict due to the proximity to the US military base in Jordan, which served as one of the staging areas of the US-NATO attack on the Syrian people.
The war on Syria may have been devised in Washington, DC. but French President Nicolas Sarkozy spearheaded the attack on Syria, in close coordination with US President Barak Obama, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
On June 10, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) in Paris asked for sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment for 20 defendants in the trial for the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris which took the lives of 130 people and injured more than 350. In the course of the trial, it was proven that the defendants were following Radical Islam, or were influenced by the political ideology.
On January 7, 2015, a deadly assault took place at the office of a magazine, Charlie Hebdo. A pair of terrorists following Radical Islam armed with assault rifles burst into the office and murdered 11 people. Over the next 48 hours, six more people were killed in the attacks in Paris and the surrounding area.
The November 13 attack was claimed by Al Qaeda, but the attacker had pledged his allegiance to ISIS. France had been targeting ISIS positions in Iraq since September 2014. Following the horrific attacks in Paris, French President Francois Hollande pledged more than $850 million to fund counterterrorism schemes.
On August 19, 2014, President Hollande confirmed in an interview with the French media Le Monde that France had been directly supplying arms to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in their role in the US-NATO attack on Syria for regime change. France had provided weapons including 12.7-mm machine guns, rocket launchers, body armor, and communications equipment. French intelligence officers were present in Syria, in areas then controlled by the FSA and their Al Qaeda and ISIS partners.
According to the Qatari official, Hamad bin Jassim, the US-NATO attack on Syria, using Radical Islamic terrorists as foot soldiers, was coordinated by the US CIA office in Southern Turkey, and all the money and weapons sent to the terrorists were coordinated through the Americans. In 2017, President Donald Trump shut down the CIA operation in Turkey. Since then, the conflict in Syria has turned into a stalemate, with only Idlib under the control of Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists, with weapons, funding, and protections provided to them by President Erdogan of Turkey, and food and humanitarian supplies provided to the terrorists, their families, supporters, and civilians held as human shields, by the United Nations World Food Programme.
According to Le Monde, France's leftist party, New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA), has supported the US-NATO attack on Syria for regime change, and the Socialist Party in France, (PS), has stood on a foreign policy platform that supports the FSA and their Al Qaeda and ISIS allies as "freedom fighters" in a democratic revolution. The NPA issued a resolution in September 2013 in support of the continued supply of weapons to the terrorists in Syria, who were murdering, raping, maiming, and kidnapping unarmed civilians daily.
In September 2013, NPA spokesman Olivier Besancenot called on Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to give weapons to the armed terrorists in Syria. He advised the government not to heed the advice of others who cautioned that the weapons might end up in the hands of terrorists who could harm France or French interests.
It has been said you shouldn't feed a monster, because it could turn to kill you. France has fed the Radical Islamic terrorists in Syria, and the terrorists who killed and maimed French people in Paris were following the same political ideology as those terrorists in Syria, who were using French weapons, and being trained and advised by the French military.
However, in a Paris courtroom, the families of the victims and the survivors of the November 13, 2015 attack will experience some justice for the suffering caused by those following Radical Islam, which President Emmanuel Macron has declared war on. When will the millions in Syria who have suffered, be made homeless, and lost loved ones have their day of justice? When will the Syrian people have their day in court against the US, UK, and France for their role in funding and providing the weapons to the terrorists who have destroyed Syria?
US occupation forces to steal the oil and keep an eye on ISIS
On June 15, the US-led coalition forces arrested three ISIS members in a daring airdrop mission. The senior ISIS leader is an explosive expert, as well as a drone specialist. Two of his fellow terrorists were arrested with him northeast of Aleppo in the Jarablus countryside.
The ISIS members were in an area occupied by Radical Islamic terrorists who are aligned with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the occupation forces in Idlib, who have a long history of harboring ISIS members. The US occupation forces have previously killed the ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi and his successor Al-Qurashi in Idlib. Turkish occupation forces have military outposts in Idlib which protect the terrorists from Russian or Syrian attacks.
Syrian conflict and the US-NATO support of terrorists in Syria
According to US General Wesley Clark, the Pentagon had shown him a list of seven countries the US had earmarked for regime change, and Syria was on the list. In the spring of 2011, the plan was put into motion in Deraa, a small and insignificant agricultural town on the Jordanian border with Syria. That spot was chosen as the epicenter of the Syrian conflict due to the proximity to the US military base in Jordan, which served as one of the staging areas of the US-NATO attack on the Syrian people.
The war on Syria may have been devised in Washington, DC. but French President Nicolas Sarkozy spearheaded the attack on Syria, in close coordination with US President Barak Obama, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
Il capo dell'U-E, Ursula von der Leyen, "è direttamente responsabile" dell'esplosione dei prezzi dell'energia e dei generi alimentari
22 Giugno 2022
Per quanto tempo gli europei saranno in grado di sopportare contraddizioni così grandi che denigrano la loro intelligenza fondamentale?
Il capo dell'UE Ursula von der Leyen è " direttamente responsabile " dell'impennata dei prezzi dell'energia e dei generi alimentari.
Durante il discorso destinato a convincere gli eurodeputati a sostenerla come presidente dell'Unione europea, Ursula von der Leyen nel 2019 si è impegnata a lavorare per un'Europa più forte e più prospera.
"Al contrario, tre anni dopo vediamo un'Europa più debole e gli europei più poveri di prima", ha spiegato l'eurodeputato rumeno Cristian Terhes al Parlamento europeo . Milioni di europei stanno lottando per sbarcare il lunario a causa dell'impennata dei prezzi di energia, cibo e carburante, ha affermato Terhes.
L'eurodeputato Cristian Terhes ha scritto su Twitter: „Ursula @vonderleyen è direttamente responsabile dell'aumento dei prezzi dei prodotti alimentari e dell'energia nell'UE. Il suo piano utopico per combattere le emissioni di carbonio porterà a tasse e prezzi più elevati e, implicitamente, a una maggiore povertà nell'UE. Il piano #FitFor55 deve essere interrotto!
Una delle principali cause di questa crisi è il piano utopico e irrealistico di ridurre le emissioni di CO2. Terhes ha citato Von der Leyen: " Le emissioni devono avere un prezzo che cambia il nostro comportamento ".
Ora possiamo vedere che il piano della von der Leyen non riguardava la riduzione delle emissioni, ma il cambiamento del nostro comportamento attraverso tasse più alte e prezzi più alti, ha sottolineato Terhes .
Ha avvertito che i piani climatici della Commissione europea porterebbero a una povertà ancora maggiore. Il cosiddetto pacchetto Fit for 55 mira a ridurre le emissioni di CO2 nell'U.E. di almeno il 55% entro il 2030. La Commissione vuole raggiungere questo obiettivo estendendo il sistema di pagamento dei certificati di emissione di CO2, istituendo un fondo per il clima " per mitigare gli effetti sui cittadini " e introducendo una tassa sulle importazioni di acciaio e cemento prodotti " non amichevoli per il clima ".
Per contro, durante il vertice di crisi sulla carenza di gas nell'U.E., si è convenuto di fare nuovamente affidamento sul carbone. Lo ha rivelato alla radio di stato il ministro per la protezione del clima della BRD Leonore Gewessler (Verdi).
https://uncutnews.ch/eu-chefin-ursula-von-der-leyen-ist-direkt-verantwortlich-fuer-explodierende-energie-und-lebensmittelpreise/
22 Giugno 2022
Per quanto tempo gli europei saranno in grado di sopportare contraddizioni così grandi che denigrano la loro intelligenza fondamentale?
Il capo dell'UE Ursula von der Leyen è " direttamente responsabile " dell'impennata dei prezzi dell'energia e dei generi alimentari.
Durante il discorso destinato a convincere gli eurodeputati a sostenerla come presidente dell'Unione europea, Ursula von der Leyen nel 2019 si è impegnata a lavorare per un'Europa più forte e più prospera.
"Al contrario, tre anni dopo vediamo un'Europa più debole e gli europei più poveri di prima", ha spiegato l'eurodeputato rumeno Cristian Terhes al Parlamento europeo . Milioni di europei stanno lottando per sbarcare il lunario a causa dell'impennata dei prezzi di energia, cibo e carburante, ha affermato Terhes.
L'eurodeputato Cristian Terhes ha scritto su Twitter: „Ursula @vonderleyen è direttamente responsabile dell'aumento dei prezzi dei prodotti alimentari e dell'energia nell'UE. Il suo piano utopico per combattere le emissioni di carbonio porterà a tasse e prezzi più elevati e, implicitamente, a una maggiore povertà nell'UE. Il piano #FitFor55 deve essere interrotto!
Una delle principali cause di questa crisi è il piano utopico e irrealistico di ridurre le emissioni di CO2. Terhes ha citato Von der Leyen: " Le emissioni devono avere un prezzo che cambia il nostro comportamento ".
Ora possiamo vedere che il piano della von der Leyen non riguardava la riduzione delle emissioni, ma il cambiamento del nostro comportamento attraverso tasse più alte e prezzi più alti, ha sottolineato Terhes .
Ha avvertito che i piani climatici della Commissione europea porterebbero a una povertà ancora maggiore. Il cosiddetto pacchetto Fit for 55 mira a ridurre le emissioni di CO2 nell'U.E. di almeno il 55% entro il 2030. La Commissione vuole raggiungere questo obiettivo estendendo il sistema di pagamento dei certificati di emissione di CO2, istituendo un fondo per il clima " per mitigare gli effetti sui cittadini " e introducendo una tassa sulle importazioni di acciaio e cemento prodotti " non amichevoli per il clima ".
Per contro, durante il vertice di crisi sulla carenza di gas nell'U.E., si è convenuto di fare nuovamente affidamento sul carbone. Lo ha rivelato alla radio di stato il ministro per la protezione del clima della BRD Leonore Gewessler (Verdi).
https://uncutnews.ch/eu-chefin-ursula-von-der-leyen-ist-direkt-verantwortlich-fuer-explodierende-energie-und-lebensmittelpreise/
Juin 2022
Parallèlement à la poursuite du conflit militaire dans l'est de l'Ukraine, la guerre médiatique continue de battre son plein et ceux qui en sont à l'origine – ainsi que leurs relais, conscients ou inconscients – donnent de plus en plus dans la démesure, comme l'illustre la réaction mensongère et scandaleuse de représentants des forces pro-russes à la suite de la mort de Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, journaliste de BFM TV. Mais ce camp n'est pas le seul à être dans l'outrance en matière de communication, Zelensky et son entourage excellent particulièrement en la matière.
Après l'adoption par l'Union européenne d'un « sixième train » de sanctions contre la Russie, le président ukrainien a déclaré « inacceptable » le délai qui été nécessaire aux Européens afin de décréter l'embargo sur le pétrole russe. « Une cinquantaine de jours séparent le sixième train du cinquième, c'est une situation qui n'est pas acceptable pour nous », s'est-il exclamé lors d'une conférence de presse à Kiev, le 31 mai. Une nouvelle fois, alors qu'il a plongé son pays dans la guerre, tant par sa politique inconsidérée que pour avoir suivi les directives américaines, Zelensky se permet encore de critiquer les Européens.
De même, le 4 juin, Dmytro Kouleba, le ministre des Affaires étrangères ukrainien a fustigé la France – qui pourtant livre des armes à Kiev – à la suite de la déclaration d'Emmanuel Macron selon laquelle « il ne fallait pas humilier la Russie afin de conserver une option diplomatique ». Zelensky lui-même a ouvertement critiqué les propos du président français, rétorquant « Humilier la Russie ? Cela fait huit ans qu'ils nous tuent » (sic).
Cette attitude permanente de donneur de leçons et de réinterprétation de l'histoire des autorités ukrainiennes commence à exaspérer leurs soutiens et l'opinion.
L'INDÉNIABLE RESPONSABILITÉ DE KIEV DANS LE CONFLIT
Si la Russie est clairement l'agresseur dans ce conflit, ceux qui l'ont poussé à cette attaque sont sans conteste les Etats-Unis, l'OTAN et le gouvernement Zelensky. Il est essentiel de ne jamais l'oublier. Si les dirigeant américains n'avaient pas renié les promesses faites à Moscou, si l'OTAN ne s'était pas élargie sans cesse, si la France et l'Allemagne avaient été capables d'imposer à Kiev le respect des accords de Minsk et si Zelensky et sa clique n'avaient pas écoutés les conseils funestes de leurs mentors américains, nous n'en serions pas là. S'il n'est pas question d'excuser la Russie, lui faire porter à elle seule la responsabilité de ce conflit est une présentation fausse de la réalité, si ce n'est une désinformation délibérée.
Depuis 2014, Kiev a conduit une politique totalement condamnable l'égard des populations russophones du Donbass, auxquelles il a interdit l'usage de leur langue et refusé toute autonomie au sein de l'Ukraine, multipliant à leur encontre brimades, embargos et bombardements sans que personne en Europe ne dénonce cette situation scandaleuse, au prétexte que cela aurait été dans le sens des arguments de la Russie.
De même, les Occidentaux ont laissé Zelensky et les oligarques qui le sponsorisent – notamment Kolomoïski – financer les groupes néonazis et renforcer son armée afin de reprendre par la force les régions autonomistes, rejetant toute démarche de conciliation. Pire, le 17 février dernier, Kiev s'est délibérément lancé dans une action militaire afin de reconquérir les républiques de Donetsk et de Lougansk avec le soutien de l'OTAN, sachant pertinemment que Moscou ne pourrait rester sans réagir, déclenchant dès lors la crise actuelle.
S'il convient de reconnaître que le discours russe est excessif concernant la dénazification de l'Ukraine, il n'est cependant pas sans fondement. Individus et unités aux valeurs extrémistes – « bataillons » Azov et Aïdar, partis Svoboda et Pravy Sektor, etc. – sont une réalité que l'Occident cherche à minimiser dans le cadre de son soutien à Kiev, en dépit du fait que leurs exactions depuis 2014 sont avérées.
Les Européens sont donc devenus sans honte les alliés et les donateurs d'un régime protégeant et finançant des groupes néonazis alors que nous luttons dans chacun de nos pays contre l'extrême-droite. Car ces extrémistes ukrainiens ce ne sont pas d'inoffensifs nationalistes comme on voudrait nous le faire croire. Leur discours est clairement antisémite et leurs combattants arborent sur leur uniforme l'insigne de la tristement célèbre division Das Reich, composée en majorité d'Ukrainiens, responsable des massacres d'Oradour sur Glane en 1944.
Relevons au passage le paradoxe le plus éclatant : le soutien de l'Allemagne – notamment de sa très militante ministre des Affaires étrangères Annalena Baerbock du parti Les Verts – au régime Zelensky alors même que celui-ci intègre jusqu'au plus haut niveau de son armée des partisans d'une idéologie née outre-Rhin et que l'on croyait éradiquée depuis 1945. Mais nous ne sommes plus à une contradiction près…
Rappelons surtout que l'Ukraine a soutenu politiquement et par ses ventes d'armes le régime totalitaire et génocidaire d'Azerbaïdjan dans son opération militaire contre les Arméniens du Haut-Karabakh en 2020, lesquels réclamaient leur indépendance après des décennies de persécutions. Kiev a même fêté la victoire de Bakou en pavoisant ses villes aux couleurs de l'Azerbaïdjan alors même que ce pays a recouru à des milliers de djihadistes syriens au cours de ce conflit, lesquels ont commis de nombreuses atrocités sur les militaires et civils Arméniens[1].
Ainsi, nous avons inconsidérément pris fait et cause pour un régime douteux, fort peu démocratique et violant sans vergogne le droit des peuples à disposer d'eux-mêmes. Sous les injonctions de Zelensky, l'Europe s'est ainsi trouvée entraînée dans un conflit dont nous continuons à affirmer qu'il ne devait pas nous concerner compte-tenu de la part de responsabilité du gouvernement de Kiev qui a sciemment joué avec le feu…
UNE COMMUNICATION PARTICULIÈREMENT EXASPÉRANTE
Le 3 mars, le président ukrainien déclarait que si son pays était vaincu, « la Russie ira jusqu'au mur de Berlin ». Il ne cessait par ailleurs de harceler Berlin avec ses demandes répétées de couper le gaz russe, exaspérant les dirigeants allemands.
13 mars, la Rada, le Parlement ukrainien postait sur son compte Twitter une vidéo-montage d'une quarantaine de secondes où Paris était victime d'un bombardement dans lequel la Tour Eiffel était notamment prise comme cible et des avions russes survolaient la capitale française en semant la terreur parmi la population. Le clip se terminait par une annonce de Zelensky déclarant « Si nous tombons, vous tombez aussi ».
Le 14 mars, le président ukrainien déclarait que ce n'était qu'une question de temps avant que la Russie n'attaque l'OTAN. Dans une allocution vidéo, il avertissait les membres de l'Alliance atlantique que Moscou était susceptible d'envahir leur territoire à tout moment, les exhortant à instaurer une zone d'exclusion aérienne au-dessus de l'Ukraine. « Si vous ne fermez pas notre ciel, ce n'est qu'une question de temps avant que des missiles russes ne tombent sur votre territoire » affirmait-t-il sans rougir.
Depuis le début du conflit, la stratégie de Kiev, avec le soutien et les conseils des Etats-Unis, a été de faire culpabiliser l'Union européenne et de chercher à l'impliquer davantage dans cette guerre, la plaçant aujourd'hui en situation de cobelligérance. L'argument principal de Zelensky est de faire croire que l'agression russe « n'est pas une guerre en Ukraine mais une guerre en Europe » et que l'Ukraine est le « bouclier de l'Europe » face à la Russie. Les Européens, dénués de toute vision objective, soutiennent ainsi, consciemment ou non, une stratégie américaine dont les effets sont pour eux particulièrement négatifs, politiquement et économiquement.
Le président ukrainien, comédien de talent dirigé par des scénaristes jamais à court d'idées, persiste à s'habiller en costume militaire et à arborer une barbe de plusieurs jours – alors que Kiev n'est plus en danger comme en témoignent les nombreux visiteurs de haut niveau qui s'y rendent en toute sûreté – et s'attache par tous les moyens à imposer son point de vue à l'Occidentet à dénoncer ceux qui n'y adhèrent pas.
Les communicants de Kiev et de Washington sont ainsi parvenus à installer dans l'opinion l'idée que tout ce que dit Zelensky est vrai, et que les déclarations de Poutine et de Lavrov sont nécessairement mensongères. C'est là une vision manichéenne et fausse des choses qu'il importe de remettre en cause.
En conséquence, depuis trois mois toute analyse objective de ce conflit est devenue impossible. Le simple fait de proposer une lecture différente des événements de celle que Kiev et Washington cherchent à imposer au monde occidental, d'avoir une appréciation lucide sur ce triste conflit – ce qui conduit inévitablement à un constat qui n'est pas du tout en faveur de l'Ukraine sur le plan militaire – est insupportable pour Zelensky, ses sponsors et ses séides, qui accusent systématiquement ceux qui osent formuler un avis indépendant, ou ne reprennent pas aveuglement et intégralement leur Story Telling, d'être des relais de la propagande russe[2].
Heureusement, de plus en plus d'experts, en Europe mais aussi aux Etats-Unis, se dressent contre cette version des faits en dépit de l'omerta médiatique qui règne, et expriment l'exaspération croissante que suscite Zelensky par ses discours à tout-va jouant sur une émotion grossière, ses critiques régulières des Européens, ses oukases et ses appels à l'aide alors même qu'il interdit à ses troupes de se replier face à l'armée russe.
UNE OBSTINATION INCONSIDÉRÉE
De même, la politique jusqu'au-boutiste dont Kiev fait preuve – dont tout montre qu'elle est décidée à Washington avec le soutien des très pro-américains États baltes[3] et surtout de la Pologne qui y trouve des avantages et rêve de récupérer une partie du territoire ukrainien – est tout à fait inefficace et dangereuse, car elle accroît le risque d'un conflit majeur.
Pourtant, les Etats-Unis et l'OTAN poussent délibérément Zelensky dans cette voie funeste, l'encourageant à refuser toute négociation ou concession vis-à-vis de Moscou, contribuant ainsi directement à prolonger un conflit que l'Ukraine ne peut gagner et qui accroit chaque jour le nombre de victimes civiles et militaires et la destruction du pays bien davantage qu'il n'affaiblit la Russie.
C'est pourquoi, il est urgent de parvenir à une cessation rapide des hostilités et à un retour à la paix. Nous appelons à une négociation entre les diverses parties (Ukrainiens, populations du Donbass, Russes) et à la prise en compte de leurs intérêts respectifs.
Nous rappelons qu'il est une loi géopolitique que nul ne peut bafouer sans conséquence : aucun État ne peut assurer sa sécurité au détriment de son voisin, surtout quand celui est plus puissant. Les Etats-Unis l'ont toujours appliquée sans que personne ne trouve à y redire[4]. En l'ignorant, vraisemblablement trompés par les encouragements machiavéliques de Washington, Zelensky et son entourage se sont fourvoyés.
Nous maintenons que :
– cette guerre n'aurait jamais dû avoir lieu si l'OTAN, organisation qui aurait dû être dissoute à la fin de la Guerre froide, n'avait pas violé les promesses faites à Moscou et étendu son emprise jusqu'à ses frontières ;
– c'est une guerre que les Ukrainiens ne sont pas en mesure de gagner, en dépit du soutien financier, politique et matériel de l'Occident[5] ;
– l'obstination de Kiev ne fait qu'accroître les pertes civiles et militaires, les destructions du pays et les gains territoriaux de Moscou.
Malheureusement, force est de constater que la sortie de crise est aujourd'hui compromise car tous les Européens sont en situation de cobelligérance plus ou moins prononcée qui ne leur permet pas de jouer les médiateurs. Surtout, les Américains n'ont aucun intérêt à voir ce conflit se terminer rapidement car il leur est profitable. Ils viennent d'ailleurs de jeter encore de l'huile sur le feu en livrant à l'Ukraine quatre lance-roquettes M142 HIMARS à longue portée, capables d'atteindre le territoire russe[6]. Les Britanniques, tout aussi bellicistes, ont également annoncé le 6 juin qu'ils allaient livrer des lance-roquettes multiples M270 à Kiev.
*
Critiquer Zelensky et ses sponsors n'est pas ignorer les souffrances des populations civiles et des militaires ukrainiens car ce sont eux qui paient, chaque jour, le prix de l'obstination de leurs dirigeants. Il convient toutefois de rappeler que la quasi-totalité des combats se déroule dans des zones à majorité ou à forte population russophone et non dans l'ouest de l'Ukraine, dont les habitants ont pourtant fui massivement vers les pays voisins.
S'il est légitime que les Ukrainiens prennent les armes face à l'attaque russe et que les militaires se battent pour défendre leur patrie, cela l'était et le demeure tout autant pour les populations du Donbass face à l'agression intolérable de Kiev et de ses unités néonazies depuis 2014.
Que Zelensky soit devenu un symbole politique pour une partie du peuple ukrainien est compréhensible. Mais ne perdons jamais de vue qu'il n'est qu'un acteur et le porte-parole de quelques oligarques et des Américains, et que la guerre de communication qu'il anime ne saurait dissimuler ses responsabilités, ni la déroute croissante de l'armée ukrainienne.
[1] La Turquie, principal soutien de Bakou, en a été reconnaissante envers Kiev, l'approvisionnant en retour largement en drones de combat.
[2] https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/05/29/7349214/
[3] Ces trois États, qui ont eu certes à souffrir de la domination soviétique, comprennent à eux trois moins de 7 millions d'habitants (Estonie : 1,3 –Lettonie : 1,9 – Lituanie : 2,7), dont de nombreux russophones, c'est-à-dire qu'aucun d'entre eux n'a l'importance d'une région française. Or, avec la Pologne, ils orientent, dans ce conflit, la politique de l'Union européenne.
[4] Cf. Cuba 1962. De plus, les Américains, qui clament haut et fort que n'importe quel État peut librement adhérer à l'organisation de sécurité de son choix, viennent de menacer les Iles Salomon si celles-ci signaient un accord de coopération militaire avec Pékin.
[5] Les États de l'Union européenne ont, depuis le début du conflit, versé à l'Ukraine pour 500 milliards d'euros de matériels et équipements militaires et doivent reconstituer leurs stocks (ce dont compte bien profiter l'industrie d'armement américaine). Ils ont également dépensé 200 milliards dans la mise en place de solutions d'approvisionnement énergétique pour s'affranchir de leur dépendance du gaz et du pétrole russes, 17 milliards pour l'accueil des réfugiés et 9 milliards d'aide d'urgence à Kiev, soit près de 726 milliards d'euros (https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/guerre-en-ukraine-le-cout-eleve-de-l-autonomie-strategique-europeenne-20220529).
[6] https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/what-himars-rocket-systems-can-and-cant-do-for-ukraine?
Parallèlement à la poursuite du conflit militaire dans l'est de l'Ukraine, la guerre médiatique continue de battre son plein et ceux qui en sont à l'origine – ainsi que leurs relais, conscients ou inconscients – donnent de plus en plus dans la démesure, comme l'illustre la réaction mensongère et scandaleuse de représentants des forces pro-russes à la suite de la mort de Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, journaliste de BFM TV. Mais ce camp n'est pas le seul à être dans l'outrance en matière de communication, Zelensky et son entourage excellent particulièrement en la matière.
Après l'adoption par l'Union européenne d'un « sixième train » de sanctions contre la Russie, le président ukrainien a déclaré « inacceptable » le délai qui été nécessaire aux Européens afin de décréter l'embargo sur le pétrole russe. « Une cinquantaine de jours séparent le sixième train du cinquième, c'est une situation qui n'est pas acceptable pour nous », s'est-il exclamé lors d'une conférence de presse à Kiev, le 31 mai. Une nouvelle fois, alors qu'il a plongé son pays dans la guerre, tant par sa politique inconsidérée que pour avoir suivi les directives américaines, Zelensky se permet encore de critiquer les Européens.
De même, le 4 juin, Dmytro Kouleba, le ministre des Affaires étrangères ukrainien a fustigé la France – qui pourtant livre des armes à Kiev – à la suite de la déclaration d'Emmanuel Macron selon laquelle « il ne fallait pas humilier la Russie afin de conserver une option diplomatique ». Zelensky lui-même a ouvertement critiqué les propos du président français, rétorquant « Humilier la Russie ? Cela fait huit ans qu'ils nous tuent » (sic).
Cette attitude permanente de donneur de leçons et de réinterprétation de l'histoire des autorités ukrainiennes commence à exaspérer leurs soutiens et l'opinion.
L'INDÉNIABLE RESPONSABILITÉ DE KIEV DANS LE CONFLIT
Si la Russie est clairement l'agresseur dans ce conflit, ceux qui l'ont poussé à cette attaque sont sans conteste les Etats-Unis, l'OTAN et le gouvernement Zelensky. Il est essentiel de ne jamais l'oublier. Si les dirigeant américains n'avaient pas renié les promesses faites à Moscou, si l'OTAN ne s'était pas élargie sans cesse, si la France et l'Allemagne avaient été capables d'imposer à Kiev le respect des accords de Minsk et si Zelensky et sa clique n'avaient pas écoutés les conseils funestes de leurs mentors américains, nous n'en serions pas là. S'il n'est pas question d'excuser la Russie, lui faire porter à elle seule la responsabilité de ce conflit est une présentation fausse de la réalité, si ce n'est une désinformation délibérée.
Depuis 2014, Kiev a conduit une politique totalement condamnable l'égard des populations russophones du Donbass, auxquelles il a interdit l'usage de leur langue et refusé toute autonomie au sein de l'Ukraine, multipliant à leur encontre brimades, embargos et bombardements sans que personne en Europe ne dénonce cette situation scandaleuse, au prétexte que cela aurait été dans le sens des arguments de la Russie.
De même, les Occidentaux ont laissé Zelensky et les oligarques qui le sponsorisent – notamment Kolomoïski – financer les groupes néonazis et renforcer son armée afin de reprendre par la force les régions autonomistes, rejetant toute démarche de conciliation. Pire, le 17 février dernier, Kiev s'est délibérément lancé dans une action militaire afin de reconquérir les républiques de Donetsk et de Lougansk avec le soutien de l'OTAN, sachant pertinemment que Moscou ne pourrait rester sans réagir, déclenchant dès lors la crise actuelle.
S'il convient de reconnaître que le discours russe est excessif concernant la dénazification de l'Ukraine, il n'est cependant pas sans fondement. Individus et unités aux valeurs extrémistes – « bataillons » Azov et Aïdar, partis Svoboda et Pravy Sektor, etc. – sont une réalité que l'Occident cherche à minimiser dans le cadre de son soutien à Kiev, en dépit du fait que leurs exactions depuis 2014 sont avérées.
Les Européens sont donc devenus sans honte les alliés et les donateurs d'un régime protégeant et finançant des groupes néonazis alors que nous luttons dans chacun de nos pays contre l'extrême-droite. Car ces extrémistes ukrainiens ce ne sont pas d'inoffensifs nationalistes comme on voudrait nous le faire croire. Leur discours est clairement antisémite et leurs combattants arborent sur leur uniforme l'insigne de la tristement célèbre division Das Reich, composée en majorité d'Ukrainiens, responsable des massacres d'Oradour sur Glane en 1944.
Relevons au passage le paradoxe le plus éclatant : le soutien de l'Allemagne – notamment de sa très militante ministre des Affaires étrangères Annalena Baerbock du parti Les Verts – au régime Zelensky alors même que celui-ci intègre jusqu'au plus haut niveau de son armée des partisans d'une idéologie née outre-Rhin et que l'on croyait éradiquée depuis 1945. Mais nous ne sommes plus à une contradiction près…
Rappelons surtout que l'Ukraine a soutenu politiquement et par ses ventes d'armes le régime totalitaire et génocidaire d'Azerbaïdjan dans son opération militaire contre les Arméniens du Haut-Karabakh en 2020, lesquels réclamaient leur indépendance après des décennies de persécutions. Kiev a même fêté la victoire de Bakou en pavoisant ses villes aux couleurs de l'Azerbaïdjan alors même que ce pays a recouru à des milliers de djihadistes syriens au cours de ce conflit, lesquels ont commis de nombreuses atrocités sur les militaires et civils Arméniens[1].
Ainsi, nous avons inconsidérément pris fait et cause pour un régime douteux, fort peu démocratique et violant sans vergogne le droit des peuples à disposer d'eux-mêmes. Sous les injonctions de Zelensky, l'Europe s'est ainsi trouvée entraînée dans un conflit dont nous continuons à affirmer qu'il ne devait pas nous concerner compte-tenu de la part de responsabilité du gouvernement de Kiev qui a sciemment joué avec le feu…
UNE COMMUNICATION PARTICULIÈREMENT EXASPÉRANTE
Le 3 mars, le président ukrainien déclarait que si son pays était vaincu, « la Russie ira jusqu'au mur de Berlin ». Il ne cessait par ailleurs de harceler Berlin avec ses demandes répétées de couper le gaz russe, exaspérant les dirigeants allemands.
13 mars, la Rada, le Parlement ukrainien postait sur son compte Twitter une vidéo-montage d'une quarantaine de secondes où Paris était victime d'un bombardement dans lequel la Tour Eiffel était notamment prise comme cible et des avions russes survolaient la capitale française en semant la terreur parmi la population. Le clip se terminait par une annonce de Zelensky déclarant « Si nous tombons, vous tombez aussi ».
Le 14 mars, le président ukrainien déclarait que ce n'était qu'une question de temps avant que la Russie n'attaque l'OTAN. Dans une allocution vidéo, il avertissait les membres de l'Alliance atlantique que Moscou était susceptible d'envahir leur territoire à tout moment, les exhortant à instaurer une zone d'exclusion aérienne au-dessus de l'Ukraine. « Si vous ne fermez pas notre ciel, ce n'est qu'une question de temps avant que des missiles russes ne tombent sur votre territoire » affirmait-t-il sans rougir.
Depuis le début du conflit, la stratégie de Kiev, avec le soutien et les conseils des Etats-Unis, a été de faire culpabiliser l'Union européenne et de chercher à l'impliquer davantage dans cette guerre, la plaçant aujourd'hui en situation de cobelligérance. L'argument principal de Zelensky est de faire croire que l'agression russe « n'est pas une guerre en Ukraine mais une guerre en Europe » et que l'Ukraine est le « bouclier de l'Europe » face à la Russie. Les Européens, dénués de toute vision objective, soutiennent ainsi, consciemment ou non, une stratégie américaine dont les effets sont pour eux particulièrement négatifs, politiquement et économiquement.
Le président ukrainien, comédien de talent dirigé par des scénaristes jamais à court d'idées, persiste à s'habiller en costume militaire et à arborer une barbe de plusieurs jours – alors que Kiev n'est plus en danger comme en témoignent les nombreux visiteurs de haut niveau qui s'y rendent en toute sûreté – et s'attache par tous les moyens à imposer son point de vue à l'Occidentet à dénoncer ceux qui n'y adhèrent pas.
Les communicants de Kiev et de Washington sont ainsi parvenus à installer dans l'opinion l'idée que tout ce que dit Zelensky est vrai, et que les déclarations de Poutine et de Lavrov sont nécessairement mensongères. C'est là une vision manichéenne et fausse des choses qu'il importe de remettre en cause.
En conséquence, depuis trois mois toute analyse objective de ce conflit est devenue impossible. Le simple fait de proposer une lecture différente des événements de celle que Kiev et Washington cherchent à imposer au monde occidental, d'avoir une appréciation lucide sur ce triste conflit – ce qui conduit inévitablement à un constat qui n'est pas du tout en faveur de l'Ukraine sur le plan militaire – est insupportable pour Zelensky, ses sponsors et ses séides, qui accusent systématiquement ceux qui osent formuler un avis indépendant, ou ne reprennent pas aveuglement et intégralement leur Story Telling, d'être des relais de la propagande russe[2].
Heureusement, de plus en plus d'experts, en Europe mais aussi aux Etats-Unis, se dressent contre cette version des faits en dépit de l'omerta médiatique qui règne, et expriment l'exaspération croissante que suscite Zelensky par ses discours à tout-va jouant sur une émotion grossière, ses critiques régulières des Européens, ses oukases et ses appels à l'aide alors même qu'il interdit à ses troupes de se replier face à l'armée russe.
UNE OBSTINATION INCONSIDÉRÉE
De même, la politique jusqu'au-boutiste dont Kiev fait preuve – dont tout montre qu'elle est décidée à Washington avec le soutien des très pro-américains États baltes[3] et surtout de la Pologne qui y trouve des avantages et rêve de récupérer une partie du territoire ukrainien – est tout à fait inefficace et dangereuse, car elle accroît le risque d'un conflit majeur.
Pourtant, les Etats-Unis et l'OTAN poussent délibérément Zelensky dans cette voie funeste, l'encourageant à refuser toute négociation ou concession vis-à-vis de Moscou, contribuant ainsi directement à prolonger un conflit que l'Ukraine ne peut gagner et qui accroit chaque jour le nombre de victimes civiles et militaires et la destruction du pays bien davantage qu'il n'affaiblit la Russie.
C'est pourquoi, il est urgent de parvenir à une cessation rapide des hostilités et à un retour à la paix. Nous appelons à une négociation entre les diverses parties (Ukrainiens, populations du Donbass, Russes) et à la prise en compte de leurs intérêts respectifs.
Nous rappelons qu'il est une loi géopolitique que nul ne peut bafouer sans conséquence : aucun État ne peut assurer sa sécurité au détriment de son voisin, surtout quand celui est plus puissant. Les Etats-Unis l'ont toujours appliquée sans que personne ne trouve à y redire[4]. En l'ignorant, vraisemblablement trompés par les encouragements machiavéliques de Washington, Zelensky et son entourage se sont fourvoyés.
Nous maintenons que :
– cette guerre n'aurait jamais dû avoir lieu si l'OTAN, organisation qui aurait dû être dissoute à la fin de la Guerre froide, n'avait pas violé les promesses faites à Moscou et étendu son emprise jusqu'à ses frontières ;
– c'est une guerre que les Ukrainiens ne sont pas en mesure de gagner, en dépit du soutien financier, politique et matériel de l'Occident[5] ;
– l'obstination de Kiev ne fait qu'accroître les pertes civiles et militaires, les destructions du pays et les gains territoriaux de Moscou.
Malheureusement, force est de constater que la sortie de crise est aujourd'hui compromise car tous les Européens sont en situation de cobelligérance plus ou moins prononcée qui ne leur permet pas de jouer les médiateurs. Surtout, les Américains n'ont aucun intérêt à voir ce conflit se terminer rapidement car il leur est profitable. Ils viennent d'ailleurs de jeter encore de l'huile sur le feu en livrant à l'Ukraine quatre lance-roquettes M142 HIMARS à longue portée, capables d'atteindre le territoire russe[6]. Les Britanniques, tout aussi bellicistes, ont également annoncé le 6 juin qu'ils allaient livrer des lance-roquettes multiples M270 à Kiev.
*
Critiquer Zelensky et ses sponsors n'est pas ignorer les souffrances des populations civiles et des militaires ukrainiens car ce sont eux qui paient, chaque jour, le prix de l'obstination de leurs dirigeants. Il convient toutefois de rappeler que la quasi-totalité des combats se déroule dans des zones à majorité ou à forte population russophone et non dans l'ouest de l'Ukraine, dont les habitants ont pourtant fui massivement vers les pays voisins.
S'il est légitime que les Ukrainiens prennent les armes face à l'attaque russe et que les militaires se battent pour défendre leur patrie, cela l'était et le demeure tout autant pour les populations du Donbass face à l'agression intolérable de Kiev et de ses unités néonazies depuis 2014.
Que Zelensky soit devenu un symbole politique pour une partie du peuple ukrainien est compréhensible. Mais ne perdons jamais de vue qu'il n'est qu'un acteur et le porte-parole de quelques oligarques et des Américains, et que la guerre de communication qu'il anime ne saurait dissimuler ses responsabilités, ni la déroute croissante de l'armée ukrainienne.
[1] La Turquie, principal soutien de Bakou, en a été reconnaissante envers Kiev, l'approvisionnant en retour largement en drones de combat.
[2] https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/05/29/7349214/
[3] Ces trois États, qui ont eu certes à souffrir de la domination soviétique, comprennent à eux trois moins de 7 millions d'habitants (Estonie : 1,3 –Lettonie : 1,9 – Lituanie : 2,7), dont de nombreux russophones, c'est-à-dire qu'aucun d'entre eux n'a l'importance d'une région française. Or, avec la Pologne, ils orientent, dans ce conflit, la politique de l'Union européenne.
[4] Cf. Cuba 1962. De plus, les Américains, qui clament haut et fort que n'importe quel État peut librement adhérer à l'organisation de sécurité de son choix, viennent de menacer les Iles Salomon si celles-ci signaient un accord de coopération militaire avec Pékin.
[5] Les États de l'Union européenne ont, depuis le début du conflit, versé à l'Ukraine pour 500 milliards d'euros de matériels et équipements militaires et doivent reconstituer leurs stocks (ce dont compte bien profiter l'industrie d'armement américaine). Ils ont également dépensé 200 milliards dans la mise en place de solutions d'approvisionnement énergétique pour s'affranchir de leur dépendance du gaz et du pétrole russes, 17 milliards pour l'accueil des réfugiés et 9 milliards d'aide d'urgence à Kiev, soit près de 726 milliards d'euros (https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/guerre-en-ukraine-le-cout-eleve-de-l-autonomie-strategique-europeenne-20220529).
[6] https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/what-himars-rocket-systems-can-and-cant-do-for-ukraine?
21 Giugno 2022
Il presidente russo Putin ha recentemente definito la politica energetica europea come «suicida». La definizione putiniana, come spesso accade, è piuttosto accurata.
Per comprenderlo, è sufficiente guardare a come stanno reagendo i governi UE ai recenti tagli alle forniture del colosso del gas russo Gazprom, fino a ieri stabile e credibile fornitore dell'energia del Vecchio Continente.
I due Paesi più colpiti dai tagli del gas sono Germania e Italia, che importano rispettivamente 42,6 e 29,2 milioni di metri cubi.
Gazprom ha ridotto del 60% i flussi di gas attraverso il Nord Stream 1 verso la Germania e del 50% i flussi verso l'Italia.
La narrativa comune di Berlino e Roma è che i tagli non stanno mettendo in pericolo l'approvvigionamento energetico nazionale, perché attualmente le forniture stanno superando la domanda; ovviamente, le forniture ridotte ora stanno impedendo un rifornimento di scorte, compromettendo così l'approvvigionamento nazionale il prossimo inverno – stagione in preparazione della quale il governo polacco ha chiesto ai suoi cittadini di andare in giro per i boschi a raccoglier legna.
Secondo un'analisi del gruppo globale di ricerca e consulenza Wood Mackenzie, citatoaquesta settimana da Bloomberg, se le forniture attraverso il Nord Stream 1 si fermassero completamente, l'UE rischia di rimanere senza riserve per il periodo di picco della domanda a metà del prossimo inverno.
Tuttavia, bisogna prendere atto che non si tratta solo del prossimo inverno: la narrativa governativa per cui tutto va bene non regge più.
È il caso dei blackout a Milano e Torino.
Nonostante la retorica contraria dell'UE, le nazioni dell'UE, fornendo armi al governo ucraino, divengono automaticamente cobelligeranti, ossia nemiche della Russia.
Lo stesso primo ministro italiano Mario Draghi lo ha ammesso nelle sue osservazioni a Kiev il 16 giugno. «Siamo qui per aiutare l'Ucraina nella guerra», ha dichiarato l'ex capo BCE. Non stupisce, quindi, che ora si possa aver qualche problema con il fornitore russo.
Di fatto, l'ostinazione di Draghi e compagnia non è diversa da quella, ogni giorno più suicida, di Zelens'kyj, che non accetta di negoziare sulla pelle della Nazione, dei cittadini, delle famiglie, del futuro di milioni di esseri umani.
Al contrario, Roma e Berlino, come seguendo un copione comune (scritto a Bruxelles? a Washington? A Langley? A Davos?), stanno pianificando tagli energetici alle imprese e ulteriori riduzioni della libertà per le famiglie.
Secondo un documento interno di cinque pagine del ministero dell'Economia tedesco, pubblicato da Deutsche Presse-Agentur, il governo tedesco prevede i seguenti passaggi:
1) un credito di 15 miliardi di euro dalla banca statale Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau al Trading Hub Europe per acquistare gas a prezzi attuali costosi esclusivamente per il rifornimento delle scorte;
2) una compensazione per le aziende che tagliano la produzione per risparmiare gas che va a rifornire le scorte;
3) la riattivazione di tutte le centrali a carbone.
Non si sa cosa possa accadere in merito alle tre centrali nucleari tedesche rimaste in funzione dopo il passaggio del governo tedesco dal nucleare, la cui chiusura è prevista per la fine di quest'anno.
Come riportato da Renovatio 21, Berlino, contro la volontà delle sue aziende, sta tagliando le importazioni dalla Russia non solo per il gas ma anche per il carbone.
Il taglio del costo benzina voluto dal governo tedesco in questi giorni si è rivelato totalmente inutile a causa dell'aumento del prezzo del petrolio.
In Italia il ministro della Transizione Verde Roberto Cingolani sta preparando misure simili:
1) tagli ai produttori, inizialmente su «invito» del provider nazionale Snam;
2) pieno utilizzo delle sei centrali a carbone disponibili;
3) abbassamento di 1-2°C della temperatura per il riscaldamento di abitazioni e uffici pubblici, con prescrizioni per le fasce orarie in cui è possibile accendere il riscaldamento;
4) riduzione dell'illuminazione pubblica dei centri abitati e delle strade.
Inoltre, potrebbero essere contemplate misure simili a quelle introdotte durante lo shock petrolifero del 1973, ad esempio domeniche senz'auto, etc.
Come riportato da Renovatio 21, in Germania sono gli stessi membri del governo a insistere su possibili disordini sociali nel prossimo autunno ed inverno, che, secondo il ricercatore tedesco Andreas Zick, potrebbero essere «enormi».
In pratica, si potrebbe preparare un collasso sistemico nei due più Paesi più popolosi e industrializzati della UE – con un contagio verso la Francia, pur messa meglio in fatto di energia grazie al nucleare – più che possibile, e lo ammettono gli stessi ministri francesi.
Il presidente russo Putin ha recentemente definito la politica energetica europea come «suicida». La definizione putiniana, come spesso accade, è piuttosto accurata.
Per comprenderlo, è sufficiente guardare a come stanno reagendo i governi UE ai recenti tagli alle forniture del colosso del gas russo Gazprom, fino a ieri stabile e credibile fornitore dell'energia del Vecchio Continente.
I due Paesi più colpiti dai tagli del gas sono Germania e Italia, che importano rispettivamente 42,6 e 29,2 milioni di metri cubi.
Gazprom ha ridotto del 60% i flussi di gas attraverso il Nord Stream 1 verso la Germania e del 50% i flussi verso l'Italia.
La narrativa comune di Berlino e Roma è che i tagli non stanno mettendo in pericolo l'approvvigionamento energetico nazionale, perché attualmente le forniture stanno superando la domanda; ovviamente, le forniture ridotte ora stanno impedendo un rifornimento di scorte, compromettendo così l'approvvigionamento nazionale il prossimo inverno – stagione in preparazione della quale il governo polacco ha chiesto ai suoi cittadini di andare in giro per i boschi a raccoglier legna.
Secondo un'analisi del gruppo globale di ricerca e consulenza Wood Mackenzie, citatoaquesta settimana da Bloomberg, se le forniture attraverso il Nord Stream 1 si fermassero completamente, l'UE rischia di rimanere senza riserve per il periodo di picco della domanda a metà del prossimo inverno.
Tuttavia, bisogna prendere atto che non si tratta solo del prossimo inverno: la narrativa governativa per cui tutto va bene non regge più.
È il caso dei blackout a Milano e Torino.
Nonostante la retorica contraria dell'UE, le nazioni dell'UE, fornendo armi al governo ucraino, divengono automaticamente cobelligeranti, ossia nemiche della Russia.
Lo stesso primo ministro italiano Mario Draghi lo ha ammesso nelle sue osservazioni a Kiev il 16 giugno. «Siamo qui per aiutare l'Ucraina nella guerra», ha dichiarato l'ex capo BCE. Non stupisce, quindi, che ora si possa aver qualche problema con il fornitore russo.
Di fatto, l'ostinazione di Draghi e compagnia non è diversa da quella, ogni giorno più suicida, di Zelens'kyj, che non accetta di negoziare sulla pelle della Nazione, dei cittadini, delle famiglie, del futuro di milioni di esseri umani.
Al contrario, Roma e Berlino, come seguendo un copione comune (scritto a Bruxelles? a Washington? A Langley? A Davos?), stanno pianificando tagli energetici alle imprese e ulteriori riduzioni della libertà per le famiglie.
Secondo un documento interno di cinque pagine del ministero dell'Economia tedesco, pubblicato da Deutsche Presse-Agentur, il governo tedesco prevede i seguenti passaggi:
1) un credito di 15 miliardi di euro dalla banca statale Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau al Trading Hub Europe per acquistare gas a prezzi attuali costosi esclusivamente per il rifornimento delle scorte;
2) una compensazione per le aziende che tagliano la produzione per risparmiare gas che va a rifornire le scorte;
3) la riattivazione di tutte le centrali a carbone.
Non si sa cosa possa accadere in merito alle tre centrali nucleari tedesche rimaste in funzione dopo il passaggio del governo tedesco dal nucleare, la cui chiusura è prevista per la fine di quest'anno.
Come riportato da Renovatio 21, Berlino, contro la volontà delle sue aziende, sta tagliando le importazioni dalla Russia non solo per il gas ma anche per il carbone.
Il taglio del costo benzina voluto dal governo tedesco in questi giorni si è rivelato totalmente inutile a causa dell'aumento del prezzo del petrolio.
In Italia il ministro della Transizione Verde Roberto Cingolani sta preparando misure simili:
1) tagli ai produttori, inizialmente su «invito» del provider nazionale Snam;
2) pieno utilizzo delle sei centrali a carbone disponibili;
3) abbassamento di 1-2°C della temperatura per il riscaldamento di abitazioni e uffici pubblici, con prescrizioni per le fasce orarie in cui è possibile accendere il riscaldamento;
4) riduzione dell'illuminazione pubblica dei centri abitati e delle strade.
Inoltre, potrebbero essere contemplate misure simili a quelle introdotte durante lo shock petrolifero del 1973, ad esempio domeniche senz'auto, etc.
Come riportato da Renovatio 21, in Germania sono gli stessi membri del governo a insistere su possibili disordini sociali nel prossimo autunno ed inverno, che, secondo il ricercatore tedesco Andreas Zick, potrebbero essere «enormi».
In pratica, si potrebbe preparare un collasso sistemico nei due più Paesi più popolosi e industrializzati della UE – con un contagio verso la Francia, pur messa meglio in fatto di energia grazie al nucleare – più che possibile, e lo ammettono gli stessi ministri francesi.
All goods from Xinjiang, where China has established detention camps for Uighurs, are barred from import to the U.S.A.
21 Jun 2022
The United States is rallying allies against forced labour in China's Xinjiang as it begins implementing a law that bans goods from a region where Washington says Beijing is committing genocide against Uighurs and other Muslim groups.
US Customs and Border Protection started on Tuesday to enforce the "Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act", which US President Joe Biden signed into law in December.
"We are rallying our allies and partners to make global supply chains free from the use of forced labour, to speak out against atrocities in Xinjiang, and to join us in calling on the government of the PRC [People's Republic of China] to immediately end atrocities and human rights abuses, including forced labour," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Together with our interagency partners, we will continue to engage companies to remind them of US legal obligations," Blinken said.
US Customs said it is ready to implement the law's "rebuttable presumption" that all goods from Xinjiang, where Chinese authorities established detention camps for Uighurs and other Muslim groups, are made with forced labour and barred from import to the US unless it can be proven otherwise.
The agency has said a very high level of evidence would be required for importers to receive an exception to the law.
'Anti-China forces'
China has denied abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world's materials for solar panels.
China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said earlier in Beijing that claims of forced labour in Xinjiang were a "big lie concocted by anti-China forces".
"With this so-called law, the United States is trying to create forced unemployment in Xinjiang and to push for the world to decouple with China," Wang said.
Beijing initially denied the existence of any detention camps, but then later admitted it had set up "vocational training centres" necessary to curb what it said was terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism in Xinjiang.
Last week, US Customs issued a list of Xinjiang entities presumed to be using forced labour, which included textile, solar-grade polysilicon, and electronics companies.
US Customs also said imports from other countries would be banned if related supply chains include Xinjiang inputs.
The US, United Kingdom and other countries have called for the United Nations's International Labour Organization to set up a mission to probe alleged labour abuses in Xinjiang.
What’s happening with China’s Uighurs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9aLNxcokOE&t=11s
21 Jun 2022
The United States is rallying allies against forced labour in China's Xinjiang as it begins implementing a law that bans goods from a region where Washington says Beijing is committing genocide against Uighurs and other Muslim groups.
US Customs and Border Protection started on Tuesday to enforce the "Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act", which US President Joe Biden signed into law in December.
"We are rallying our allies and partners to make global supply chains free from the use of forced labour, to speak out against atrocities in Xinjiang, and to join us in calling on the government of the PRC [People's Republic of China] to immediately end atrocities and human rights abuses, including forced labour," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Together with our interagency partners, we will continue to engage companies to remind them of US legal obligations," Blinken said.
US Customs said it is ready to implement the law's "rebuttable presumption" that all goods from Xinjiang, where Chinese authorities established detention camps for Uighurs and other Muslim groups, are made with forced labour and barred from import to the US unless it can be proven otherwise.
The agency has said a very high level of evidence would be required for importers to receive an exception to the law.
'Anti-China forces'
China has denied abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world's materials for solar panels.
China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said earlier in Beijing that claims of forced labour in Xinjiang were a "big lie concocted by anti-China forces".
"With this so-called law, the United States is trying to create forced unemployment in Xinjiang and to push for the world to decouple with China," Wang said.
Beijing initially denied the existence of any detention camps, but then later admitted it had set up "vocational training centres" necessary to curb what it said was terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism in Xinjiang.
Last week, US Customs issued a list of Xinjiang entities presumed to be using forced labour, which included textile, solar-grade polysilicon, and electronics companies.
US Customs also said imports from other countries would be banned if related supply chains include Xinjiang inputs.
The US, United Kingdom and other countries have called for the United Nations's International Labour Organization to set up a mission to probe alleged labour abuses in Xinjiang.
What’s happening with China’s Uighurs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9aLNxcokOE&t=11s
Climate-crazy Germany is now being forced to burn more coal for energy after Russia dramatically reduced the country's supply of gas.
Despite the country's obsession with climate-crazy policy decisions, Germany has announced that it will be forced to rely more heavily on coal for its electricity supply after Russia reduced the amount of gas it will supply to the country.
This has left the central European state in a very precarious situation regarding energy security, a predicament that was predicted by former U.S. President Donald Trump back in 2018 over the fact that the country was overly reliant on energy exports provided by Moscow.
Despite the country's obsession with climate-crazy policy decisions, Germany has announced that it will be forced to rely more heavily on coal for its electricity supply after Russia reduced the amount of gas it will supply to the country.
This has left the central European state in a very precarious situation regarding energy security, a predicament that was predicted by former U.S. President Donald Trump back in 2018 over the fact that the country was overly reliant on energy exports provided by Moscow.
Russia has become China's biggest supplier of oil as the country sold discounted crude to Beijing amid sanctions over the Ukraine war.
Imports of Russian oil rose by 55% from a year earlier to a record level in May, displacing Saudi Arabia as China's biggest provider.
China has ramped up purchases of Russian oil despite demand dampened by Covid curbs and a slowing economy.
Imports of Russian oil rose by 55% from a year earlier to a record level in May, displacing Saudi Arabia as China's biggest provider.
China has ramped up purchases of Russian oil despite demand dampened by Covid curbs and a slowing economy.
RT talks to Russian citizens facing discrimination abroad and looks into the current situation for foreigners in the world's largest country
18 June 2022
In a move of staggering stupidity and hubris, Lithuanian banned the transit of Russian goods to Kaliningrad effective today, June 18, 2022. Kaliningrad, which is wedged between Poland on the west and Lithuania on the east, is home to almost a half-million Russians and the headquarters for the Russian Navy's Baltic Sea force.
Lithuania claims it is simply abiding by the sanctions imposed by the European Union. After all, Lithuania is a member of the European Union and NATO. But that is the point. This is a deliberate provocation. It is laying economic siege to a vital interest of Russia. While there is no immediate danger to the Russian population of Kaliningrad, this is a flash point that could lead to an actual war as opposed to a special military operation.
In a move of staggering stupidity and hubris, Lithuanian banned the transit of Russian goods to Kaliningrad effective today, June 18, 2022. Kaliningrad, which is wedged between Poland on the west and Lithuania on the east, is home to almost a half-million Russians and the headquarters for the Russian Navy's Baltic Sea force.
Lithuania claims it is simply abiding by the sanctions imposed by the European Union. After all, Lithuania is a member of the European Union and NATO. But that is the point. This is a deliberate provocation. It is laying economic siege to a vital interest of Russia. While there is no immediate danger to the Russian population of Kaliningrad, this is a flash point that could lead to an actual war as opposed to a special military operation.
The spring session at Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, US, provided milling and non-milling members of NAMA background information and analysis on wheat, a commodity in which Russia and Ukraine provide 14% of global supply, and corn, production of which is important to Ukraine but negligible in Russia.
Ukraine, one of the biggest countries in Europe and the 45th largest in the world, features a land area roughly the size of the US Central states stretching from Chicago, Illinois, US, to New York City, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Raleigh, North Carolina, US. Half of that land is devoted to agricultural endeavors that employ about 15% of the population compared with 3% of the US population. Wheat is produced throughout Ukraine, but most production takes place in the eastern areas, currently a hot spot for fighting, Lardy said. That's unfortunate for grain since the region is a key southerly logistical route for crops to ocean-going ports, which are closed indefinitely and will require extensive rebuilding.
"Even if a peace treaty was signed tomorrow, there's infrastructure that has been damaged and going to need to be replaced," Lardy said. "The longer the war goes on, certainly the more destruction takes place, but there's still going to be this period after the fact that's still going to take a lot of time to get resolved."
Ukraine, one of the biggest countries in Europe and the 45th largest in the world, features a land area roughly the size of the US Central states stretching from Chicago, Illinois, US, to New York City, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Raleigh, North Carolina, US. Half of that land is devoted to agricultural endeavors that employ about 15% of the population compared with 3% of the US population. Wheat is produced throughout Ukraine, but most production takes place in the eastern areas, currently a hot spot for fighting, Lardy said. That's unfortunate for grain since the region is a key southerly logistical route for crops to ocean-going ports, which are closed indefinitely and will require extensive rebuilding.
"Even if a peace treaty was signed tomorrow, there's infrastructure that has been damaged and going to need to be replaced," Lardy said. "The longer the war goes on, certainly the more destruction takes place, but there's still going to be this period after the fact that's still going to take a lot of time to get resolved."
A group of Malians demonstrated in the central city of Bankass on Tuesday (June 21) to demand state protection after more than 130 civilians were killed by jihadists in neighbouring villages.
Mali suffered one of its worst civilian killings over the weekend, the latest in an ongoing series across the Sahel.
According to the government, 132 civilians were killed by men from the Katiba Macina, the group of Fulani preacher Amadou Kouffa, in Diallassagou and two surrounding localities, a few dozen kilometres from Bankass.
Mali suffered one of its worst civilian killings over the weekend, the latest in an ongoing series across the Sahel.
According to the government, 132 civilians were killed by men from the Katiba Macina, the group of Fulani preacher Amadou Kouffa, in Diallassagou and two surrounding localities, a few dozen kilometres from Bankass.
June 21, 2022
The covid-19 pandemic featured an unprecedented fusion of the interests of large and powerful corporations with the power of the state. Democratically elected politicians in many countries failed to represent the interests of their own citizens and uphold their own constitutions and charters of rights. Specifically, they supported lockdown measures, vaccine mandates, the suppression of a variety of early treatment options, the censorship of dissenting views, propaganda, interference in the private spheres of individuals, and the suspension of various forms of freedom. All of these policies and measures were centrally designed by the social engineers of the pandemic.
The covid-19 pandemic featured an unprecedented fusion of the interests of large and powerful corporations with the power of the state. Democratically elected politicians in many countries failed to represent the interests of their own citizens and uphold their own constitutions and charters of rights. Specifically, they supported lockdown measures, vaccine mandates, the suppression of a variety of early treatment options, the censorship of dissenting views, propaganda, interference in the private spheres of individuals, and the suspension of various forms of freedom. All of these policies and measures were centrally designed by the social engineers of the pandemic.
Russia has warned Lithuania of "serious" consequences after it banned the rail transfer of some goods to the Russian territory of Kaliningrad.
Russia "will certainly respond to such hostile actions," senior security official Nikolai Patrushev said.
Lithuania says it is only following the EU sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Kaliningrad - a strategic region where Russia's Baltic Fleet is headquartered - has no border with mainland Russia.
The western territory was annexed from Germany after World War Two in 1945, and is bordered by EU and Nato members Lithuania and Poland.
The region - where an estimated one million people live - relies heavily on imports of raw materials and spare parts from Russia and the EU.
Regional Governor Anton Alikhanov said the ban would cover around 50% of the items that Kaliningrad imports.
Russia "will certainly respond to such hostile actions," senior security official Nikolai Patrushev said.
Lithuania says it is only following the EU sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Kaliningrad - a strategic region where Russia's Baltic Fleet is headquartered - has no border with mainland Russia.
The western territory was annexed from Germany after World War Two in 1945, and is bordered by EU and Nato members Lithuania and Poland.
The region - where an estimated one million people live - relies heavily on imports of raw materials and spare parts from Russia and the EU.
Regional Governor Anton Alikhanov said the ban would cover around 50% of the items that Kaliningrad imports.