Europe

Syrian migrant living in Austria has been hailed as a hero after he rammed his car into an attacker, bringing down a radicalised assailant who had killed one teenager and left five others injured.

The stabbing, described by Austria’s interior minister as having been carried out by a Syrian man who was legally living in the country and who had become radicalised by the Islamic State group, happened on Saturday in the southern Austrian city of Villach.

FYI: I ended up posting this with some reservation. Pravda's mediabias is mostly factual. The story sounds quite credible. Other media's report are more or less similar, but weren't as complete. check out telegraph

Two quotes that made my hair stand on end:
Vance’s message couldn’t have been clearer: Our way, or we’ll join Putin in hybrid warfare to roil your domestic politics — something billionaire Elon Musk has already done by boosting the prospects of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
Kuleba: "In Paris, he literally said, 'Don’t try to compete with us on AI. Embrace our companies, remove all the obstacles, and then everything will be fine.' … Then he came here, and after attacking Europe’s economic model, he attacked its political model."

TLDR: approx € 5 B worth

AMSTERDAM, Feb 17 (Reuters) - ABP, the Netherlands' largest pension fund, has sold its shares in tech companies Meta (META.O) and Alphabet (GOOGL.O), its CEO told Dutch newspaper FD in an interview published on Monday.

In second quarter of 2024 the pension fund held Alphabet shares worth about 3 billion euros ($3.15 billion) while its Meta holdings totalled 2 billion euros, FD said. Its Tesla holdings were valued at 597 million euros at the time.

Van Wijnen said the sales were not related to the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President and the support he received from the CEOs of those companies.

Mirror: https://archive.is/2025.02.17-135304/https://www.ft.com/content/3f951e0b-a9cb-489a-be89-fdf9f996ed27

Episode of "EU Scream" podcast.

There are many more politicians and policymakers from the far right on our TVs, in our social media feeds, and in our legislatures. They have a new swagger and an even more conspicuous disdain for their adversaries. “They act like they own the place,” observes Raquel García Hermida-van der Valle, a liberal member of the European Parliament for the Dutch D66 party. Two far-right groups, the Patriots and Sovereigntists, still face a so-called cordon sanitaire. But another, the European Conservatives and Reformists, has been welcomed into a right-wing mainstream that includes the party of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. And, in reality, all three far-right groups have much in common, from xenophobia, to distrust of state institutions, and a fixation on free speech.

In this episode: Raquel talks about her recent showdowns with increasingly combative far-right lawmakers including a race-baiting Bulgarian and a conspiracy theorist from Hungary. Raquel speculates that some far-right MEPs have “gone down the rabbit hole” and actually believe the EU is replacing white Christians with Muslims and people of colour. Others, says Raquel, are probably following Steve Bannon’s notorious battle plan, “to flood the zone with shit,” so as to disorient the media and voters. Raquel also talks about how she’s looking to better coordinate with other MEPs to counter a European far right that appears to be growing more openly radical as it grows in size and influence. Also in this episode, snapshots of MEPs from the three far-right blocs: Stephen Nikola Bartulica, Zsuzsanna Borvendég, Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Ivan David, Geadis Geadi, Sarah Knafo, Rada Laykova and Jaak Madison.

MP3: https://www.buzzsprout.com/178148/episodes/16539164-ep-112-resisting-nazi-era-narratives-at-the-european-parliament.mp3

Archived

China has on Feb 13 sought to reject a Swiss government report suggesting that it has been cracking down on Tibetans and Uyghurs living in Switzerland under the globally condemned campaign of transnational repression. It has sought to castigate the report’s findings as “false information”.

China routinely rejects offhandedly any report criticizing its human rights record, especially when it concerns Tibetans and Uyghurs, claiming it inherently amounts to interfering in its internal affairs.

The Swiss government report published on Feb 12 expressed “suspicion” that China was inciting Tibetans and Uyghurs living in Switzerland to spy on and exert pressure on members of their own communities, while also engaging in other forms of “transnational repression”, such as cyber-attacks and surveillance.

The report was based on the results of a University of Basel study commissioned by the Federal Office of Justice and the State Secretariat for Migration. The investigation was carried out In response to a parliamentary postulate.

[...]

In its report, the Swiss government recommended examining a series of measures concerning prevention, coordination and awareness-raising. It also wanted to raise awareness among all federal, cantonal and communal services likely to be involved in transnational repression.

China is accused of carrying out a campaign of genocide in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), the homeland of the Uyghur, in the name of combatting religious extremism, and the obliteration of Tibetan culture and identity in the name of Sinicization in Tibet. It is also routinely criticized at the UN Human Rights Council both for its systemic violations and poor response to calls for accountability by its expert investigators.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders urged Europeans on Saturday to "stand tall against right-wing extremism" after the American vice president scolded the continent's leaders for not accommodating parties like the neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany, which appears poised for a strong performance in the approaching general election.

Archived

Several private Chinese companies have begun operations in temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine, supplying essential equipment and helping rebuild destroyed factories, reports the Ukrainian media outlet NV, suggesting that these business activities likely have the backing of the Chinese Communist Party.

Chinese entrepreneurs from varying sectors such as energy, agriculture, and light industry are traveling to these regions to form joint Chinese-Russian companies and are actively seeking local workers.

"Currently, Russians lack the financial resources to develop the captured Ukrainian territories, prompting the Kremlin to seek Chinese investment," stated Pavlo Lysianskyi, Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Security.

Since the spring of 2023, companies from the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk have appeared at China's "Canton Fair" in Guangzhou. For instance, Artom Zhykharyev, "advisor to the general director" of the "state company 'Nadra'" from the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, visited industrial equipment plants in Beijing, Zhengzhou, Jinan, and Taiyuan. By 2024, the Chinese company Liming Heavy Industry Science & Technology is expected to supply various industrial equipment, including stationary crushers and vibrating feeders.

...

The media reports that the Chinese are aiding Russians not only in rebuilding the devastated industries of Donbas but also by supplying equipment to mines occupied by Russia in Torez, Snizhne, and Khrestivka. Moreover, Russia is seeking to connect the highway "Rostov-on-Don — Mariupol — Melitopol — Simferopol," which it is actively constructing, to an international transportation corridor "Europe — Western China."

...

https://archive.is/gzMPE

Mario has entered the chat

Mirror: https://archive.is/2025.02.16-064401/https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/russia-spy-covert-attacks-8199e376

Archived (available only in Dutch)

Reijer Passchier, Assistant Professor in Constitutional Law, warns against copying the destructive tech-giant model that exists in the US and China. He proposes developing European tech companies to ensure that Europe retains its sovereignty, according to a commentary in the Dutch newspaper 'De Volkskrant' [only in Dutch, but you'll find a useful translation].

To limit the influence of US and Chinese tech giants, Europe will have to try to repel such companies while making plans for its own tech industry. According to Reijer Passchier, big tech in the US has led to unprecedented inequality of wealth and the state has little control over these companies. Tech giants are willing to innovate, but only when this is to their advantage. If not, they will go all out to stop competitors threatening their business model. Elon Musk is an example of their powerful position. At the same time, problems arise from mixing public and private interests and the interests of the companies often take precedence over those of society. In China, the state is able to control the tech giants through its authoritarian political system and strict control over internet access.

'Europe must avoid allowing such fundamental risks to arise.' Passchier says that Europe has the means to develop both technical and institutional opportunities that are both democratic and in line with the rule of law. As an example, Passchier mentions the messaging app Signal – a company that uses technology to serve society, without putting profits first. More information?

Former Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin says Europe's response to Ukraine has fallen short.

Here is the study (available in English and German).

Increased defense spending could significantly boost Europe’s economic growth and industrial base if outlays are targeted at high-tech, regionally made armaments. A new Kiel Report by the Kiel Institute shows that gross domestic product (GDP) could increase by 0.9 percent to 1.5 percent per year if governments raised annual defense spending from the NATO target of 2 percent to 3.5 percent of GDP and shifted from buying weapons designed and mainly made in the USA to home-grown innovations.

...

The debate about Europe's ability to defend itself took on new urgency after Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022. Many countries increased military budgets, with EU spending falling just short of NATO's target of 2 percent of GDP in 2024. But NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has noted that Europe spent ”well over 3 percent” during the Cold War—and US President Donald Trump has even proposed a new target of 5 percent.

...

Most importantly, European governments should ensure that more defense spending ultimately stays within the region. Around 80 percent of defense procurement currently comes from suppliers outside the European Union. But only domestic production can generate the so-called technological spillovers to other industries and productivity gains that make defense spending generate significant economic activity with each euro spent.

”If Europe could develop the next generation of defense tech and other weapons at home instead of buying them from the US, the economic effects of additional defense spending could go far beyond short-term fiscal multiplier effects and boost growth in the medium term,” says Moritz Schularick, President of the Kiel Institute. ”An increase in European defense spending from just under 2 percent of GDP to 3.5 percent would currently cost around 300 euros billion per year—but the study suggests this sum could also generate a similar amount of additional economic activity, if properly spent on developing European capabilities.”

...

Tens of thousands of students marched into the central Serbian city of Kragujevac on Saturday, demanding justice after a deadly railway disaster, in one of the biggest shows of anger against the government.

In the three months since 15 people were killed when a roof collapsed at a newly-renovated train station in Serbia's second-biggest city of Novi Sad, mass demonstrations have grown into the biggest threat yet to President Aleksandar Vucic's decade-long grip on power.

Joined by teachers, farmers and other workers, the students have drawn support from the wider public as many Serbians have blamed the tragedy on corruption within the government.

On Saturday, students braved near-freezing temperatures to travel to Kragujevac from across Serbia, by bus and even on foot from the capital Belgrade, some 140 kilometres (87 miles) away, beating drums, blowing whistles and waving the country's flag. Locals greeted them with cheers.

...

Archived

Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, has called Donald Trump’s decision to hold direct talks with Vladimir Putin a “mistake”. He also warned him that failing to ensure a fair peace for Ukraine would undermine US credibility and embolden China in its ambitions to take Taiwan.

Sikorski was speaking today on a public panel at the Munich Security Conference alongside his German, French and British counterparts.

“I think the call was a mistake,” he said, regarding Trump’s conversation with Putin on Wednesday this week.

...

Asked what he would like to tell Trump, Sikorski listed three things. First, that his predecessor, Joe Biden, had “planted the US flag in downtown Kyiv and declared on behalf of the United States that the US will be with Ukraine for as long as it takes until Ukraine secures its independence.”

“Therefore, the credibility of the United States depends on how this war ends – not just the Trump administration, but the United States.”

Secondly, said Sikorski, “I would tell him that if you allow Putin to vassalise Ukraine, that will send a message to China that you can recover what you regard as a renegade province, and that would have direct consequences for US grand strategy, for the US system of alliances, and possibly for the future of Taiwan”.

Finally, Sikorski said, jokingly to laughs from the audience, “I would tell him that we Europeans control the Nobel Peace Prize [so] if you want to earn it the peace has to be fair”. Last month, an unnamed Trump advisor told CBS News that the US president had “a hyper fixation” on winning the Nobel prize.

...

Earlier this week, Sikorski also criticised Poland’s domestic opposition, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, for “fawning and sucking up” to the new Trump administration. This “humiliates me as a Pole”, said Sikorski, who suggested that PiS politicians should “get up off their knees”.

...

Romania, alongside other European states, was targeted by acts of "sabotage" characteristic of Russian tactics throughout 2024, according to a recent report from DIICOT. The goal of these hybrid attacks was to test NATO countries' defense preparedness and identify weaknesses in infrastructure, the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism said.

"Since 2022, at least 50 incidents have occurred in 13 European countries that could be Russian hybrid operations. These include cases of espionage, diversion, vandalism, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and three attacks on underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea," DIICOT stated.

Romanian prosecutors indicate that Russia has changed its tactics in launching hybrid attacks, no longer sending its agents into NATO states but instead recruiting random contractors via chat groups on the Telegram app in exchange for money.

"Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Sweden have been affected by hybrid attacks. In most cases, there were no casualties, although avoiding casualties is not a priority for Russian intelligence services," DIICOT explained.

...

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/32887070

Frankfurt (Germany) (AFP) – Running late and vastly over budget, a mammoth rail project stands as a monument to what critics say is Germany's glaring failure to tackle long-standing infrastructure woes.

"Stuttgart 21" is envisaged as a major, futuristic rail hub in the southwestern city, a fitting gateway to a region home to the headquarters of corporate heavyweights such as Bosch and Mercedes-Benz. But 15 years after work began, the project -- which involves replacing the current station with a major underground site -- is not yet complete.

Parts of the city centre remain a vast building site and costs have more than doubled to around 11 billion euros ($11.4 billion).

"Money is just being thrown out of the window," Dieter Reicherter, spokesman for protest group Action Alliance Against Stuttgart 21, told AFP.

"It would be much better if the money had just been used to improve and modernise the existing infrastructure."

Ageing, clapped-out infrastructure and badly planned projects are among some of the most visible problems facing Europe's top economy, whose malaise has become a key issue in the February 23 parliamentary election.

Germany's reputation for efficiency no longer holds true, critics contend -- trains do not run on time, internet and mobile phone coverage is often patchy, and roads and bridges are in a state of disrepair.

Observers blame years of underinvestment, cumbersome planning and approval procedures and political paralysis caused in recent years by the feuding ruling coalition, whose November collapse precipitated the polls.

A catalogue of problems meant it took 14 years to build a new international airport in the capital Berlin, which finally opened in 2020.

The parlous condition of the railways, run by state-owned operator Deutsche Bahn, is a frequent target of criticism, with passengers complaining of breakdowns, cancelled services and shuttered restaurant carriages.

In 2023 a total of 36 percent of long-distance trains were not punctual, defined as six minutes or more past their scheduled arrival time, according to data from the operator, a rate unthinkable in the past.

The problems sparked international headlines when Germany hosted the Euro 2024 football tournament last summer, with stories of fans facing arduous journeys, frequent delays and being left stranded on platforms.

Elsewhere there are concerns about the state of the country's bridges -- in a 2022 paper, the transport ministry identified 4,000 of them in need of modernisation.

Last September a bridge in Dresden collapsed into the Elbe river in the early hours, causing no injuries but snarling traffic in the eastern city.

It is not just physical infrastructure problems holding the country back, with critics also pointing to a slow rollout of new technologies and digitalisation.

Just 11 percent of Germany's fixed broadband connections are of the faster fiber-optic variety, one of the lowest rates among countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to OECD data.

The infrastructure woes have been partly blamed on Germany's constitutionally enshrined "debt brake", which limits annual public deficits to 0.35 percent of GDP, hampering borrowing and keeping spending low.

"The overarching reason is too little investment," ING bank analyst Carsten Brzeski told AFP.

He urged the next government to "invest, invest, invest", and suggested setting up an infrastructure fund and coming up with a 10-year plan.

Both the centre-right CDU, likely to take power after the vote, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD have voiced openness to easing the debt brake.

Berenberg bank economist Salomon Fiedler said there was a good chance of "helpful reforms" under the country's new leaders.

"I do expect that the next government will try to streamline bureaucratic procedures to speed up investment projects," he told AFP.

But that may be little comfort to residents of Stuttgart whose city centre has faced long-running disruption due to the monster rail project.

"When you come to Stuttgart by train, you have to walk around the construction site," said protest activist Reicherter. "It is like a long-distance hiking trail."

The alliance opposes the project on numerous grounds, including that its main aim is not to improve rail traffic but rather to free up space above ground for new real estate projects.

There is light at the end of the tunnel -- Deutsche Bahn believes the project will be mostly up and running at the end of next year, seven years late.

It insists there will be benefits to travellers, such as significant reductions in journey times and a better link to the airport. But Reicherter dismisses the claims as "fairy tales", and fears follow-up construction will continue for years to come.

"Unfortunately it never stops," he said.