Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.

EU as Client State of Joe's America

by Oui Wed Sep 27th, 2023 at 11:43:32 AM EST

What about European sovereignty ... the EU in Brussels has no unified foreign policy, not its own defense forces. Furthermore, it's not unified but a separation between New and Old European states, well nurtured by NGOs and multiple Atlantic think tanks. Each administration in the White House did their utmost to keep this tension within Europe, the Pentagon and NATO Command did the rest. Idiot president Trump forced compliance with the 2% of GDP military spending rule.

Confrontation in the Black Sea ...

Russia will directly bomb HMS Defender if it sails too close to Crimea again, its deputy foreign minister warns as MP Tobias Ellwood says tensions could spiral into an actual engagement after Black Sea stand-off | Daily Mail - 24 June 2021 |

My posts ...


Secret Rutte Visit to Downing Street -- The Big China Lie | 17 Sept. 2021 |

Once again the terror attack on civilian infrastructure is discussed in the media ... pack of lies now supplanted by NATO disinformation and propaganda ...

Bull$hit report from German DW News ...

Was Ukraine involved in last year's Nord Stream sabotage? | 25 Aug. 2023 |

Below the obvious strong facts repeated once more, not to be obfuscated by fabrication and conspiracies laid out by intelligence agencies.

Quite extended article professing what most independent media already concluded by lack of any transparency from official investigation by NATO partners Denmark and Sweden.

U.S. Motive For Destruction of Nord Stream Pipelines | by Seymour Hersh via MofA |

Seymour Hersh just published a new piece about the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines.

When the pipelines were blown up on September 27 2022 I had asked:

Whodunnit? - Facts Related to The Sabotage Attack On The Nord Stream Pipelines | MofA - 28 Sept. 2022 |

I had collected the various known facts around the incident and they in sum suggested that it had been the U.S. of A.
Seymour Hersh put the same question to some of his intelligence contacts. He was given the same answer.

He now reports on further facts and final motives to trigger the incident.

[...]
I do not know much about covert CIA operations--no outsider can--but I do understand that the essential component of all successful missions is total deniability. The American men and women who moved, under cover, in and out of Norway in the months it took to plan and carry out the destruction of three of the four Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea a year ago left no traces--not a hint of the team's existence--other than the success of their mission. 

There was a flaw--a gap in understanding between those who carried out the mission and President Biden, as to why he ordered the destruction of the pipelines when he did. My initial 5,200-word report, published in early February, ended cryptically by quoting an official with knowledge of the mission telling me: "It was a beautiful cover story." The official added: "The only flaw was the decision to do it." 

This is the first account of that flaw, on the one-year anniversary of the explosions, and it is one President Biden and his national security team will not like.
Inevitably, my initial story caused a sensation, but the major media emphasized the White House denials and relied on an old canard--my reliance on an unnamed source--to join the administration in debunking the notion that Joe Biden could have had anything to do with such an attack. I must note here that I've won literally scores of prizes in my career for stories in the New York Times and the New Yorker that relied on not a single named source. In the past year we've seen a series of contrary newspaper stories, with no named first-hand sources, claiming that a dissident Ukrainian group carried out the technical diving operation attack in the Baltic Sea via a 49-foot rented yacht called the Andromeda. 

I am now able to write about the unexplained flaw cited by the unnamed official. It goes once again to the classic issue of what the Central Intelligence Agency is all about: an issue raised by Richard Helms, who headed the agency during the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War and the CIA's secret spying on Americans, as ordered by President Lyndon Johnson and sustained by Richard Nixon. I published an exposé in the Times about that spying in December 1974 that led to unprecedented hearings by the Senate into the role of the agency in its unsuccessful attempts, authorized by President John F. Kennedy, to assassinate Cuba's Fidel Castro. Helms told the senators that the issue was whether he, as CIA director, worked for the Constitution or for the Crown, in the person of presidents Johnson and Nixon. The Church Committee left the issue unresolved, but Helms made it clear he and his agency worked for the top man in the White House. 

Back to the Nord Stream pipelines: It is important to understand that no Russian gas was flowing to Germany through the Nord Stream pipelines when Joe Biden ordered them blown up last September 26. Nord Stream 1 had been supplying vast amounts of low-cost natural gas to Germany since 2011 and helped bolster Germany's status as a manufacturing and industrial colossus. But it was shut down by Putin by the end of August 2022, as the Ukraine war was, at best, in a stalemate. Nord Stream 2 was completed in September 2021 but was blocked from delivering gas by the German government headed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz two days prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Given Russia's vast stores of natural gas and oil, American presidents since John F. Kennedy have been alert to the potential weaponization of these natural resources for political purposes. That view remains dominant among Biden and his hawkish foreign policy advisers, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and Victoria Nuland, now the acting deputy to Blinken.

Sullivan convened a series of high-level national security meetings late in 2021, as Russia was building up its forces along the border of Ukraine, with an invasion seen as almost inevitable [nonsense -- refusal for diplomacy]. The group, which included representatives from the CIA, was urged to come up with a proposal for action that could serve as a deterrent to Putin. The mission to destroy the pipelines was motivated by the White House's determination to support Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Sullivan's goal seemed clear. "The White House's policy was to deter Russia from an attack," the official told me. "The challenge it gave to the intelligence community was to come up with a way that was powerful enough to do that, and to make a strong statement of American capability."

The major gas pipelines from Russia to Europe [Map by Samuel Bailey / Wikimedia Commons].

I now know what I did not know then: the real reason why the Biden administration "brought up taking out the Nord Stream pipeline." The official recently explained to me that at the time Russia was supplying gas and oil throughout the world via more than a dozen pipelines, but Nord Stream 1 and 2 ran directly from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany.

"The administration put Nord Stream on the table because it was the only one we could access and it would be totally deniable," the official said. "We solved the problem within a few weeks--by early January--and told the White House. Our assumption was that the president would use the threat against Nord Stream as a deterrent to avoid the war."

It was no surprise to the agency's secret planning group when on January 27, 2022, the assured and confident Nuland, then undersecretary of state for political affairs, stridently warned Putin that if he invaded Ukraine, as he clearly was planning to, that "one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward." The line attracted enormous attention, but the words preceding the threat did not. The official State Department transcript shows that she preceded her threat by saying that with regard to the pipeline: "We continue to have very strong and clear conversations with our German allies."

My take on US policy and the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines to Europe .... cutthroat Capitalism from Wall Street and the ugly fossil fuel lobby owning world powers.

I agree with the first 5 comments ... we all knew these facts and US aggression had been years in the making ... if US Congress and Poland had the power, the Nord Stream pipelines would have been blown years before.

The promise Joe made to Angela in June 2021 was a dud ... Joe knew there would be no diplomatic effort to preserve peace in Europe. U.S. leadership declared war on Russia  in 2008, the NATO Bucharest Summit of Bush-Cheney-Nuland crossed the red line, provocation to invite Georgia and the Ukraine as NATO member. The stage of conflict was set.

Joe knew Angela Merkel would be gone in the Fall of 2021 and spent bullying all leaders across Europe to prepare for war ... I called it Biden's Blitzkrieg across the EU.

Joe's most experienced diplomat Antony Blinken traveled multiple times to Europe and NATO meetings to clear any obstacle of wavering states ...

The Moscow visits by Liz Truss - Annalena Baerbock - Ben Wallace and others was obviously for the Bühne ... comedy capers ... Groucho Marx would have done a better job.

Von der Leyen bears great responsibility ... she was very compliant and sat at the desk of Joe from the start of decision making ...

Letting the Azov battalion start hostilities mid-February 2022 in the Donetsk region as last provocation and trigger to force the hand of Putin. No formal decision by NATO was needed to "defend" the Ukraine from the aggressor.

Besides the political warfare on Russia, from the time of Boris Yeltsin, it had been a war for oil & gas resources of Soviet territory and Central Asia and the Caspian Sea basin ... what date were BP and Royal Dutch She'll booted out of their majority stake in Siberian gas projects?

The US lost its foothold in Central Asia by recognizing defeat and retreat from Afghanistan in August 2021. More than embarrassing...

🔻🔻

Special recognition for Dutch PM Mark Rutte, a compulsive liar and special relationship with Trump and UK's Boris Johnson. From the earliest moment in 2014 and especially with the downing of Malaysian flight MH-17, he played the tune of the White House, State Department and a prolific contributor to cyber warfare against Russia and supporter of NATO aggression vs Russia. Quite embarrassing for the Netherlands and the capitol The Hague, dubbed the city of Peace with the Carnegie peace palace, ICJ, OPCW and ICC. Hundred years celebrating peace efforts flushed down the VVD gutter. Should rename the Defense to Minister of War as it used to be correctly identified.

Display:
Tonight's paper AD - Rotterdam

NORD STREAM

A year after explosions: 'We actually don't need those gas pipelines anymore'

The Nord Stream gas pipelines were severely damaged after an explosion a year ago. After an investigation, many fingers point to Ukraine as responsible, but that is not certain. What are the consequences of this sabotage? "We remain vulnerable, but on the other hand, no one expected that Europe could absorb the lack of gas so quickly."

Sanne Schelfaut  27-09-2023

At what price for the consumer ... energy price at 4-5 fold of what it should be for the lower income household ... energy poverty ... fossil fuel giant corporations get an annual €43 billion handout to keep chemical and refineries in Rotterdam and surroundings. Fu*king a$$hole propagandists pro-war and likely big business lobby of Rutte's VVD ... time to clean House in The Hague ...22-11-23 election new parliament.

Independent journalism, both sides ?? ... western propaganda and censorship of Russian media outlets.So sad ... speaks of Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008. Worthless piece of shit.

Prime article publication of non- or disinformation.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Sep 27th, 2023 at 06:59:46 PM EST
How commercial power companies are wreaking havoc in developing countries | TRT World |

Independent Power Producers (IPPs) have become synonymous with trouble for close to a billion people in low- and middle-income countries.

So once a power plant is built and capacity is added to the grid, there's no going back on it. To ensure they are adequately compensated, the IPPs sign PPAs with the government that include a 'capacity payments' clause -- a contractual obligation that's draining the budgets of several developing countries.

For instance, an agreement for a 100 MW power plant covers a period of 20 years, during which the government, via its utility company, promises to buy 80 percent of the plant's capacity no matter what the circumstances. This means even if the national grid is not taking a single megawatt from the power plant, the government (taxpayers) pay for 80 MW to the plant's owner.

The contracts are airtight, often protected under Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), which allow private firms to sue governments at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Losing a case at this World Bank-led arbitration court can result in hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties.

Even developed countries such as the Netherlands and Spain have been dragged LG to the ISCSID by power producers in recent years.

How the IPPs became so pervasive is a story that can be traced back to the UK during the government of late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

[...]

His story offers a rare insight into the inner workings of power plant equipment suppliers and engineering firms.

US authorities have regularly targeted power companies from other countries, including Germany's Siemens and Japan's Hitachi, for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act -- a law that is applicable to any company that is, in some way, related to the US market.

"How do these US companies go about securing business for the last fifty years without once getting their hands dirty? Admittedly, these companies have the backing of US diplomacy," writes Pierucci in this book.

"In 2010, for example, GE was able to sell $3 billion worth of gas turbines to the Iraqi government by mutual agreement (i.e. without a tender bid) under abnormal conditions," he notes.

In the past three decades, Indonesia has seen several rounds of IPP investments -- each followed by concerns that too much electricity has been added to the grid.

Headline:
Fostering Energy Transitions in the Global South: Insights from Chile, Jordan, Malaysia, and Kenya


'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Sep 27th, 2023 at 08:10:44 PM EST
Close ties Azerbaijan with EU ... Von der Leyen ... gas pipeline Southern Corridor via Türkiye green energy transition stays color blue

EU signs deal with Azerbaijan to double gas imports by 2027 | Al Jazeera / EuroNews - 18 July 2022 |

The European Commission signed a deal with Azerbaijan to double imports of natural gas by 2027.

The announcement came after European commission president Ursula von der Leyen visited Baku for talks on increasing energy supplies to the EU. 

"Victory for EU over Russian unprovoked war"

The deal, which intends to bring imports of Azeri natural gas to at least 20 billion cubic metres a year in 15 years, will help the EU  reduce its reliance on Russian energy.

How will the REPowerEU be funded?

25 years war policy by the West to gain access to the riches of the Caspian Sea ... it may cause some collateral damage in human lives as we go ... oh wait ... we celebrate 110 years anniversary of Admiral Winston Churchill and his vision warships transition from sail to combustion engines running on oil. 😂 First Lord of the Admiralty known for it's siege in the Dardanelles ... just ask the Aussies.

Back to square ONE ... transition back to wind power and solar energy ...

Narrative of sovereignty, secure borders and the UN Charter ... whenever it pleases our urgent need for more resources ... reap the planet Earth. Barbarians indeed ... fascists.

I do see a bit of Winston in Ursula now you mention it ... oil complex a commutable disease.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Sep 28th, 2023 at 08:00:15 AM EST
Azerbaijan: Israeli Arms Sales, Greased Palms, Ethnic-Conflict | Tikun Olam |

Israel sold tens of billions in weapons to the country's corrupt dictator, permitting him to conquer Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijan is ruled by a corrupt dictator, Ilham Aliyev, who has amassed enormous wealth from the country's oil and other natural resources.  He's stolen as much of it as he can to enrich himself and his interests. In 2013, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project declared him its Corrupt Person of the Year. His greed and territorial ambitions have only grown since then.

He's also built up a close relationship with Israel's weapons industry and purchased well over $10-billion [SIPRI] of the country's most advanced weapons systems. Its largest purchase has been drones, which it has used to devastating effect against Armenian soldiers.

Armenia, on the other hand, has chosen its allies poorly. Before it invaded Ukraine, Russia served as a guarantor of of Armenian territorial integrity, and as a mediator in the conflict between the two countries.

A captive ally: Why Russia isn't rushing to Armenia's aid | CFR Europe - 8 Oct. 2020 |

The ongoing war between Armenia and Azerbaijan around Nagorno-Karabakh is throwing a spotlight on a new paradox in Russian foreign policy: Russia seems to have been more outraged by the European Union signing a free trade deal with Ukraine in 2013 than by Azerbaijan and Turkey fighting Armenia, a Russian military ally and close partner.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2023 at 12:20:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Naturally the lobby effort of Tony Blair popped up speaking of Azerbaijan ... quite likely at the time he was acting as ME peace envoy Israel-Palestine. 🇵🇸 2007-2015

It's a complicated world ... Armenia on the pyre of a destroyed UA. NWO

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Oct 5th, 2023 at 08:34:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Why is Germany's economy shrinking? | DW News |

Economists say skyrocketing energy prices in 2022 -- linked to Russia's LNG suppliers profiteering from war in Ukraine -- put a halt to post-pandemic economic recovery.This drove up inflation, meaning people could buy less with their money, and dampened industrial production.

"Industry and private consumption are recovering more slowly than we had expected in spring," said Oliver Holtemöller, vice president of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).

Germany below EU average | DW News |

The new report confirmsthe International Monetary Fund's forecast from earlier this year that Europe's largest economy is set to shrink in 2023.

Recent figures from other major European economies like the UK and Italy show that they might face economic contraction as well. However, Germany's neighbor France is on track to rebound to a growth rate of 1% in 2023, according to European Commission figures.

Across the European Union as a whole, the Commission currently predicts 0.8% growth, putting Germany well below the bloc's average.

2023 Global Macroeconomic Midyear Outlook: Slower Global Growth with Bright Spots in Emerging Markets  Research Morgan Stanley |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Sep 28th, 2023 at 03:51:18 PM EST
Entrepreneurs fill the VVD coffers:'I am in favor of fair earnings, not fair distribution'

At dinners for entrepreneurs, generous donors come into contact with prominent VVD politicians. It is paying off: the VVD has by far the most campaign money with 1.2 million euros in its cash. "This is where access to power is bought."

Loes Reijmer September 30 De Volkskrant

Important source of income: the dinners that millionaire real estate entrepreneur Cor Zadelhoff gives. Rich entrepreneurs can participate in this for a high fee. They can talk to VVD leaders there. De Volkskrant writes that last week an extra dinner took place around Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius. Proceeds: 750,000 euros.

De Volkskrant gives the floor to one of the entrepreneurs present. Amsterdam catering king Won Yip: 'Things are going in completely the wrong direction with this country. Entrepreneurs are given the cold shoulder.

You shouldn't think about Frans Timmermans becoming Prime Minister, should you? I am in favor of earning fairly, not distributing fairly. Depositing money is the only thing I could do.'

Narcissistic business men don't give a fu*k it's right wing populism like VVD party of Mark Rutte at the root cause of destruction of society. Fu*king morons with bundles of money believing political power can be bought ... time for change.

Two decades VVD politics in The Hague ... extreme housing crisis, (Im)migration and asylum, Groningen gas fields and damaging quakes, €43bn fossil fuel subsidies, delay Green energy transition, and government embedded racism and discrimination ... a benefits crisis and tax office algorithm fraud.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Sep 30th, 2023 at 12:48:02 PM EST
Historian Maarten van Rossum doesn't like conventional politeness but makes it clear what his point of view is and reasoning behind it.

He will not be vague or equivocate about the chaos left behind by an outgoing PM Mark Rutte with his permanent smile how easy it is to do politics in The Hague.

Rutte may not be an Orbán, the dictator, but it is never a good sign when someone stays on far too long, like Netanyahu, and a country just can't rid itself from such a figure as a nation sinks in destruction mode. Of course Dilan Yesilgöz in her speech at the VVD party Congress says it's time for change. The nation was very well fed-up with nearly two decades of Mark Rutte and his VVD.

And she follows up by repeating all the old conservative policy rhetoric of smaller government, less regulations, more room for entrepreneurs and self initiatives in the economy. Yesilgöz most likely ends up quite similar to UK's Liz Truss ... speaking at a level distant from reality in people's lives. She has no policy that would touch the lives of the middle class in a positive way.

De fascist right-wing rag newspaper De Telegraaf situated in Amsterdam writes the fictional headline with no shame ...

VVD leader Yesilgöz wants to break with the past and stand up for 'large silent majority'

Everyone knows the VVD is rightwing with same electorate as Geert Wilders. Yesilgöz wants to govern with Wildernis a next cabinet, so her advisors suggested go for the centrist electorate for the numbers ... the void left by poor performance of Christian Democrats (CDA) and the liberals D'66 who have reigned with Mark Rutte.

The voters have punished both the CDA and D'66 for joining once again in a Rutte IV after the collapse of Rutte III and most parliamentarians were done with the irritating and presidential cloak of VVD leader Mark Rutte.

The large "silent majority" are a protest vote and have voted this Spring for the farmers coalition BBB and will now move to new party of Pieter Omtzigt. He has a broad base across the country, some accent on farming community, he lives in Overijssel, and has been a thorn in Rutte's side for many years.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Sep 30th, 2023 at 06:25:57 PM EST
Pro-Nato progressive party leads in Slovakia election, say exit polls | FT |

Tight margin means Michal Šimečka might struggle to form a stable coalition government if he wins

A liberal, pro-Nato party was ahead in Slovakia's elections on Saturday, according to exit polls, but with a slim margin over the party of an anti-Ukraine former prime minister, which could complicate the formation of a solid government coalition. 

Michal Šimečka and his liberal Progressive Slovakia party won 23.5 per cent of the votes, putting him ahead of former premier Robert Fico and his Smer party on 21.9 per cent, according to an exit poll by agency Focus for TV Markiza. Fico had been the frontrunner for most of the campaign.

After counting votes during most of the night ...

Slovakia election: pro-Moscow former PM on course to win with almost all votes counted | Politico |

Robert Fico's Smer party was ahead of rivals Progressive Slovakia in vote that could fuel fears about Slovakia's future foreign policy orientation

Former Prime Minister Robert Fico's leftist-populist Smer party won Saturday's election in Slovakia after promising to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, to block Kyiv's potential NATO membership and to oppose sanctions on Russia.

With 98 percent of ballots counted in the country of 5.5 million people, Smer had 23.4 percent of the vote, ahead of the liberal, Western-oriented Progressive Slovakia by nearly seven percentage points and almost 200,000 votes. The election winner gets the first chance to form a majority in the 150-seat parliament

Fico's campaign has raised alarm across the Continent amid fears that he will shift Slovakia to the anti-Ukraine camp alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

"If Smer enters government, we will not send a single round of ammunition to Ukraine," Mr Fico recently told supporters.

Mr Fico brushes aside the label "pro-Russian politician", but this result will be celebrated in Moscow, and met with alarm in Brussels and Washington.

The threat has led to concerns among European Union and Nato members, while gaining support on social media among Slovaks who traditionally have warm sentiments towards Moscow.

Slovakia has been a loyal and steadfast ally to Kyiv, supplying surface-to-air missiles and helicopters and even donating its entire fleet of retired MiG-29 fighter jets.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Oct 1st, 2023 at 07:53:01 AM EST
Robert Fico, pro-Russian Slovak political heavyweight wins another election | Reuters |

During a three-decade career, Fico, 59, has skilfully weaved between pro-European mainstream and nationalistic anti-Brussels and anti-American positions while showing a willingness to change course depending on public opinion or changed political realities.

He has remained steady throughout his career, however, on promises to protect living standards of those left behind in a country where living standards for many are only slowly catching up to western Europe and where many hold relatively fond memories of a communist-era past.

"Fico is a technician of power, by far the best in Slovakia. He does not have a counterpart at the moment," said sociologist Michal Vasecka, from the Bratislava Policy Institute.

"Fico is always following opinion polls, understands what is happening" in society.

[...]

Fico, who analysts see inspired by Hungary's Viktor Orban, has said he has Slovak interests at heart and wants the war to end. Western allies and Ukraine say halting military aid to Kyiv would only help Russia.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Oct 1st, 2023 at 08:28:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]
.

Babiš congratulates Fico on win in Slovak elections

Former Slovak leader Robert Fico says Czech president is interfering in Slovakia's election campaign | Radio Prague - 25 Sept. 2023 |

Robert Fico, former Slovak prime minister and leader of the Smer-Social Democracy Party, which is heading the polls ahead of Saturday's parliamentary elections, has criticized Czech President Petr Pavelfor allegedly interfering in the election campaign. Speaking to journalists in New York, the Czech president said that Fico's views were in line with Russian propaganda and his victory in the elections could disrupt Czech-Slovak relations.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Oct 1st, 2023 at 08:47:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Today he will be tested on knowledge and motivation to become Europe's Climate Czar ... green energy transition, a topic Rutte IV had neglected for many years ... appealed court decision forcing the Dutch government to meet the EU minimum requirements ... a farce if he passes the EU Parliament test.

Wopke Hoekstra speaks to the press in Brussels after a conversation with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

On Monday evening, MEPs will test whether Wopke Hoekstra is credible as climate commissioner. He has to start flaming, because a six is not enough.

EU parliament Wopke Hoekstra a credible as climate commissioner?

From an oil and gas company to the climate portfolio: Who is Wopke Hoekstra?

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Oct 2nd, 2023 at 04:25:54 PM EST
by Oui (Oui) on Mon Oct 2nd, 2023 at 07:27:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
In his short political life as leader Dutch Christian Democrats he failed and the party lost three-fourth of its seats. On Green Energy Hoekstra is not credible and has a horrendous track record.

Hearing of Commissioner-designate Wopke Hoekstra

Headline right wing Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, a conservative VVD Rutte supporter ...

From left to right there is still doubt about Wopke Hoekstra's suitability

Hoekstra made numerous green promises on Monday evening. His Hague taboos flew out the window in record time. That was mainly to appease the Greens and Social Democrats. But afterwards the doubts came from the left corner. Shouldn't the promises be put on paper again? According to insiders, the Christian Democrats and Liberals agree with Hoekstra's arrival in Brussels.

I read about promises for green transition and crucial points where Rutte and de Dutch have failed for over a decade. This guy would be a master to delay any progress ... already hear the ifs and dependence on "global" cooperation to reach EU goals.

Fossil fuel subsidies?

Denial at first by Rutte & Co. ...

Even more subsidies for fossil fuels than previously assumed, up to €46 billion annually

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2023 at 06:16:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Forget tulips and windmills, the Netherlands is the dirty old man of Europe | Open Democracy - 2021 |

The Dutch image of a progressive paradise is just good PR - you only have to look at its record on the climate

Progressives in the UK and US often seem to think that if we only had proportional representation all our political woes would be solved. But if the Netherlands is anything to go by, think again. After seven months of political wrangling and two failed votes of no confidence in `caretaker' prime minister Mark Rutte, it's looking like the next Dutch cabinet will be made up of exactly the same parties as the last one. This is despite the fact that 71% of Dutch voters oppose carrying on as before.

[Rutte III re-invented as Rutte IV .., ]

German climate movement Letzte Generation will come to The Hague to join Extinction Rebellion

Why not ... the German provide their protest control water canons ... damn reminds me of 1940-45 Nazi occupation and Gestapo in my district.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Oct 4th, 2023 at 11:35:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]
In an instant Wopke threw all his Dutch Christian Democrats {CDA) agriculture principles out of the EP Brussels high-rise window ... pretty incredulous ... blowing in the wind.

Hoekstra remake as a commissioner greener than Frans Timmermans ... believe it or not.

EU climate chief nominee Wopke Hoekstra vows more ambition in European Parliament hearing

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2023 at 05:59:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Pushback against Hoekstra's 2030 nitrogen goal remarks | Dutch News - June 2023 |

In an interview published in the AD, Hoekstra said that the 2030 deadline 'wasn't sacred' and supported pushing it back if need be. The CDA does not want to pass the problems on to the next generations,' he told the paper. 'But farmers must also be able to earn a fair living.'

The 50% reduction target is part of the coalition agreement and breaking away could mean major problems for the government.

Rutte Conservatie VVD party wasted years to appeal court decisions and ultimately lost ...

Landmark Decision by Dutch Supreme Court | 1 Jan. 2023 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2023 at 06:31:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The whole campaign by the US to overthrow a democratic elected leader turns out in a disaster ... who would have thought of such an outcome? Biden's legacy.

Right Versus Right In Ukraine | Responsible  Statecraft |

Washington must mitigate the tension between the just cause of helping Kyiv fight, versus the morality of ending a prolonged war.

German theorist Max Weber contrasted an "ethics of conviction" that battles against all injustice with an "ethics of responsibility" that calls for considering the potential results of such battles when weighing moral choices. An ethics of conviction argued that Western military intervention in Libya in 2011, intended to prevent mass atrocities by the barbarous Qadhafi regime, was the morally correct policy. An ethics of responsibility points out that America's good intentions resulted in disastrous instability that continues to radiate into Africa, the Middle East, and Europe to this day.

These contrasting approaches complicate our calculations in Ukraine. Viewed through the lens of conviction, the correct response to Putin's invasion seems clear: one does not indulge evil; one fights and defeats it. Viewed through the lens of results, the case for such an uncompromising approach is far less certain.

Having ruled out compromise with Putin, Biden's political room for maneuver in such a scenario would be perilously narrow. Yet the consequences of a military clash between the world's preeminent nuclear powers could be horrific for everyone.

See article @MofA

Ukraine SitRep: Bad Demographics - End of Support

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2023 at 09:27:00 PM EST
Another slap in the face of Ukrainian actor Zelenskyy ...
 a tough week for him.

The Nobel Prize In Chemistry 2023

Alexei I. Ekimov
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023
Born: 1945, Former USSR

Affiliation at the time of the award: Nanocrystals Technology Inc., New York, NY, USA

Prize motivation: "for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots"

Prize share: 1/3



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Oct 4th, 2023 at 10:28:19 AM EST
'If You Live Here, Defend Your Country' - Draft-Dodgers Spark Anger on Streets of Kyiv | Kyiv Post - 10 Sept. 2023 |

A small number of men of fighting age have fled their homes in Ukraine to avoid conscription. Those still in the country have little sympathy for their plight.

As Ukraine continues to bolster its armed forces as it fights against Russia's full-scale invasion, not everyone eligible for conscription has stuck around to wait to be called up to fight.

A recent report from AFP spoke with several Ukrainian men who had left Ukraine to avoid fighting. Ivan, a 24-year-old who declined to give his last name due to legal concerns, spent $5,000 on a medical certificate that exempted him from service - and allowed him out of Ukraine.

He is not proud of his actions, saying "it all felt wrong and disturbing," but added that "everyone knows there are opportunities" for avoiding service.

"Everybody has friends or acquaintances who can offer options," he said.

Ivan's plight garners little sympathy and much condemnation for people Kyiv Post spoke to in the capital, especially from those already serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Oct 4th, 2023 at 01:28:02 PM EST
The reasons why Azerbaijan refused the meeting in Granada - EXCLUSIVE | APA |

Azerbaijan refused the five-way meeting scheduled for October 5 in Granada, Spain.

According to the information obtained by APA from private sources, Azerbaijan proposed Türkiye's participation in the meeting and insisted on it. However, this was not allowed, France and Germany showed special zeal in this matter.

An anti-Azerbaijani atmosphere has been formed in the five-way format proposed to Azerbaijan (Armenia-Azerbaijan-France-Germany-European Union).

Against the background of the pro-Armenian statements of French officials (Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, etc.), the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Armenia and military cooperation, statements about the provision of arms and ammunition, the statement of EU Council President Charles Michel accusing Azerbaijan yesterday, Azerbaijan did not feel the need to participate in the negotiations in this format.

Therefore, Azerbaijan refused this meeting and President Ilham Aliyev did not go to Granada.

Because Azerbaijan does not need such a format. Baku does not see the need to discuss the problems of the region with countries far from the region. Baku believes that these issues can be discussed and resolved in the regional framework.

However, if the previous EU-Azerbaijan-Armenia tripartite format is revived, Azerbaijan may participate in the meeting.

Any format in which France participates is not acceptable for Azerbaijan, Baku will not participate in such a platform.

It should be noted that the European Political Union summit will be held in Granada on October 5.

The five-way meeting was supposed to take place within the framework of the summit.

Angry Europeans refused to indicate further EU association talks with Baku ... and Baku can keep its fossil fuel too ... bury it in the Caspian 😡

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Oct 4th, 2023 at 03:22:28 PM EST

The EEC Six Nations gathered hope for peace in Europe ... it has turned into a monster with no morals, fundamental values and no destiny.

For illustration how Joe Biden [and Boris Johnson] changed the EU into their image ...

EU wants defense upgrade to resist Russia | Politico |

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the prospect of Donald Trump returning as U.S. president next year in Washington -- which could lead to less military support for Kyiv -- has forced Brussels to rethink its approach to defense.

On EU enlargement, the text argues that it will enhance "European sovereignty and is a geo-strategic investment in peace, security, stability and prosperity on our continent."



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Oct 4th, 2023 at 03:24:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Question raised:

Can Europe Survive Trump 2.0?

See my analysis, a bit more on the essentials for Europe's sovereignty.

Additional reading ...

Xenophobia and Islamophobia Roots of Today's Triad of Evil | by Oui on June 18th, 2018 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Oct 4th, 2023 at 03:25:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
HRC laughingly offered the faulty translated "reset button" to Lavrov.

Later Barack Obama pointed in a derogatory way to Russia as a regional power. What is the bloody US afraid of then?

Putin says NATO dismissed his proposal for admitting Russia

The president speculated that the root cause of the problem should be looked for precisely in the geopolitical interests and the West's arrogance and inflated ambitions

SOCHI, October 5. TASS. Russian President Vladimir Putin has recalled the West's refusal to admit Russia to NATO.

"I have already told our allies, our partners in public: there was a moment when yours truly simply suggested: 'Maybe we should join NATO, too?'

The answer was NO! NATO does not need such a country," he said at a plenary session of the Valdai discussion club.

"We thought that we were already on friendly terms, that we'd already turned 'bourgeois' enough, as some people say.

What more do they need? There is no ideological confrontation anymore! What's the problem?" he added.

Putin speculated that the root cause of the problem should be looked for precisely in the geopolitical interests and the West's arrogance and inflated ambitions.

Historical facts no one can deny .., has been quoted by me over a decade ago.

Getting a bit tired to dig up all the links that proves aggression by the Pentagon - White House - US Military Command (Gen. Breedlove) running wild at NATO HQ in Brussels. Intervening in EU diplomatic and internal affairs ... I have warned for many years ... the loose cannon and warmongering 😡

ET diary archive key term | Declaration of War |

NATO's Declaration of War on Russia

Former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder at the Atlantic Council: "Making Russia a pariah state."

Damn fools ... all of them ... members US Congress too over so many years ... (IRI)

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Oct 5th, 2023 at 08:27:29 PM EST
Biden says he's worried about Ukraine aid. The Pentagon warns it's running low | NPR |

President Biden says he is worried that the disarray in Congress could undermine his pledge to provide Ukraine with what it needs for its fight against Russia's invasion.

 NATO prepares industry plan to boost arms production

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Oct 5th, 2023 at 10:00:00 PM EST
Is this the end of large-scale support for the war in Ukraine? | Al Jazeera Interview |

Renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs says the US should be pushing for negotiations and compromise to end the Ukraine war.

Was it an historic blunder for Western leaders to keep expanding NATO eastward, even though they knew it would provoke a war with Russia eventually?

Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs argues that the United States provoked the tragedy in Ukraine, and that the Biden administration should be working to resolve it, even if that means painful compromises - such as redrawing the map of Ukraine.

Sachs tells host Steve Clemons that the war is becoming less and less popular throughout Europe and the US, which means that large-scale funding may soon dry up.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Oct 12th, 2023 at 06:57:34 AM EST
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Oct 12th, 2023 at 06:58:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Oct 18th, 2023 at 06:13:45 PM EST


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