Tag: eu

EU/NATO Keeps Poking the Bear, Still Wants Troops in Ukraine

UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer is looking to pitch the plan to Donald Trump, masking it under the “readiness to deploy British troops as a security guarantee for a free, sovereign and democratic Ukraine”. However, as Moscow is perfectly clear that it won’t tolerate any NATO occupation forces, this proposal makes no sense – unless Starmer is trying everything in his power to sabotage an actual peace deal, just like Boris Johnson did back in 2022.

As the strategic irrelevance of the dying European Union becomes more evident with every passing day, the troubled bloc is desperate to remain relevant, posing as a “great power”. This is rather amusing to Russia, China and now even the United States under Donald Trump. All three superpowers realize that Europe’s place in the geopolitical constellation of global powers is that of a highly dysfunctional second-rate player with little actual leverage over anything (including its own fate).

Several countries in Eastern Europe (particularly Hungary and Slovakia) are refusing to bow down to the diktat of the bureaucratic dictatorship in Brussels, choosing to align themselves with the new Trump administration. Thus, it’s pretty clear that the EU cannot even control its Eastern European members which were never meant to be more than second or even third-class (neo)colonies.

The only regional power outside of the troubled bloc that supports it is the endemically (and pathologically) Russophobic United Kingdom. Namely, London is terrified of seeing Moscow reclaim strong positions in Europe, so it wants to make sure that the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict continues for as long as possible. It did something similar in former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world, including in Ukraine itself even before 2014.

The former colonial superpower has always been adamant that wars between tellurocracies are a must if thalassocraies are to survive, which is why it invested so much of its power projection into pushing countries like Germany against Russia, including during both world wars. The concept remains unchanged to this day, which explains the UK’s obsession with Russia.

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Why EU Persists in War It’s Lost

Why is the EU being seemingly insane to pursue a war that is clearly decidedly lost, a destiny it has no ability to alter now that the conflict’s #1 instigator is calling it quits, since for the Outlaw US Empire to continue would mean the need to confront Russia directly with forces and arms proven incapable of doing the job? We know the EU was told to “Fuck Off!” by Nuland just before the coup, but European actors still had a role to play, and they did so in their refusal to honor he deal signed by them 24 hours before. Then of course we had major EU actors again refusing to honor international law with the Minsk Agreements, the plan to agree then to dishonor was confessed which cost the lives of thousands. We well know the Outlaw US Empire’s role, but what of the EU? Did it have its own plan while sharing the Outlaw US Empire’s goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia? I his SCF article today, ‘Baltic/Black Sea power games and red lines intersect in a “strange war.”’ Pepe Escobar provides his hypothesis based on his own investigations plus a critical article by Ilya Fabrichnikov, a member of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, that he says is a shortened version of the original which he didn’t link to and I couldn’t find. However, that shortened version was linked, “Make Europe Great Again,” published by Kommersant on 20 February, which is in Russian naturally. I won’t reproduce Pepe’s essay, but what follows in the translation of Ilya’s article…

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‘Inhumane, Reckless’: Critics Weigh in on Europe’s Approval of Self-amplifying COVID mRNA Vaccines

Europe has approved a self-amplifying mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for ages 18 and up. The move drew criticism from scientists, who cited several concerns, including high rates of serious side effects among clinical trial participants and no long-term safety data.

The European Commission, the European Union’s primary executive body, on Feb. 14, granted marketing authorization for ARCT-154 — marketed as KOSTAIVE — a vaccine manufactured by CSL and Arcturus Therapeutics.

Japanese regulators were the first to approve the ARCT-154 shot, which the country made available for the 2024-25 season to people 65 and over, and 60- to 64-year-olds with severe underlying conditions.

Self-amplifying mRNA vaccines are similar to synthetic mRNA vaccines in that they both contain foreign mRNA that the body’s cells translate into a protein. However, unlike synthetic mRNA vaccines, self-amplifying vaccines also contain an enzyme that instructs the body on how to make more mRNA.

“What makes self-amplifying mRNA technology so worrisome, is that the mRNA will perpetuate indefinitely,” said Karl Jablonowski, Ph.D., senior research scientist at Children’s Health Defense (CHD).

Jablonowski explained that with the traditional COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, “at least there is some solace in knowing the original mRNA will break down and stop production of the spike proteins.”

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Trump Is Right to Play Hardball with Europe

The rhetoric of European leaders in response to Vice President J.D. Vance’s statements at the Munich Security Conference has been a mix of genuine fear and false bravado. They are terrified about the prospect of the U.S. rethinking its lopsided trade relationship with Europe and abandoning its commitment to provide for Europe’s defense. At the same time, they have flirted with treating the U.S. as just another nation, as if Europe has the economic heft and military potential to assert itself as an autonomous geopolitical power center. The Trump administration’s response to this alleged confidence has been clear: Go ahead and try. 

After all, the 47th president’s first several weeks in office have showcased the effective use of tariffs as statecraft, with Trump getting concessions from Mexico and Canada on fentanyl and border security. Next up on the docket is a reported 10 percent levy on all exports coming from the European Union. This coincides with the EU’s commitment to ramp up sanctions against Russia later this month. Aluminum, fertilizer, and a number of other products will now be restricted, along with a host of additional sanctions on Russia’s shadow oil tanker fleet. The likely effect will be to raise prices even higher as agricultural costs increase and European industry is further strangled amid efforts to keep Russian energy out.

Europe appears to be at the crossroads of practical reality and ideological principle. The commitment of the political class to punish Russia for invading Ukraine no matter the cost is being rejected at the ballot box as populist parties win elections across the continent. In reaction to the rising tide of populism, the EU leadership is mulling a mechanism for outright rejecting election results they deem illegitimate. The blacklisting of certain populist parties in order to bar them from participating in governing coalitions is sure to further inflame political tensions. Vance, in his Munich speech, drew attention to this exact issue.

But in reality, it is the Trump administration’s America First agenda that can restore some balance to the European continent. This may sound like a paradox to those at the Munich conference who were so incensed about Vance’s chastisement of their liberal internationalist orthodoxy—a chastisement that equally applies to the U.S. ruling class as well, as evidenced by the recent revelations into the deep rot at USAID. Prioritizing the U.S. national interest by ensuring fair trading practices and more reciprocal relationships with European countries will not only serve America well, but will also help to strengthen the U.S. geopolitical position in Europe and the world more broadly.

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EU To Send More Military Aid To Ukraine, More Sanctions Against Russia, Denmark Say ‘Peace More Dangerous Than War’, Zelenskiy ‘Very Angry With Trump Team

Europe tries to rally around Ukraine as EU diplomats and officials flock to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy.

The Financial Times reports that Zelenskiy was ‘very angry’ during recent meetings with the Trump team and was shouting under Trump pressure.

Meanwhile, according to estimates from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), The Continent purchased more Russian hydrocarbons last year than aid was sent to Ukraine, highlighting European hypocrisy.

Europe will not send ‘peacekeepers’ to Ukraine said Kaja Kallas, the head of European diplomacy. “In order to send peacekeepers, you first need peace,” she declared.

Ukrainian Official Olesky Aresovych said on his X account that a new Ukrainian Recovery Fund will soon be announced totaling $1T, with 40% coming from the U.S., 40% from Russia, and 20% from China and Gulf States. The official said $350B in frozen Russia assets will be added.

The E.U. doesn’t like ‘Russian narratives’ coming from the United States.

Russia said it sees no reason to begin talks with Europe.

Former British PM Boris Johnson said reports of him pushing to start the war in Ukraine are untrue.

Danish PM Mette Frederkisen said there is a threat that peace in Ukraine could be more dangerous than the current war.

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Google to be hit with EU charges of breaching Big Tech rules, sources say

Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google is set to be charged with breaching EU rules aimed at checking the power of Big Tech after proposed changes to its search results failed to address the EU antitrust regulator’s concerns and those of its rivals, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The move by the European Commission comes amid tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump who has sided with U.S. tech giants lobbying against EU regulations and criticising fines as a form of tariff. That has in turn triggered concerns that the EU watchdog may ease up on Big Tech.

The European Commission has been investigating Google for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act since March last year.

One probe focuses on whether Google favours its vertical search engines such as Google Shopping, Google Flights and Google Hotels over rivals, and whether it discriminates against third-party services on Google search results.

The imminent charges concerned this issue, the people said.

The EU competition watchdog declined to comment. Google referred to a December blog post by its director, EMEA competition, Oliver Bethell, who said the company is working to find a balanced solution with the Commission.

Bethell said more changes in Google’s search result format to appease rivals could result in the removal of certain helpful features.

The U.S. tech giant has in recent months announced a series of changes to search result formats in a bid to address conflicting demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers. The majority of them have dismissed the proposals as not DMA-compliant.

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The Real Enemy of the American people Is Not Russia, but the EU Regime in Brussels

In his seminal speech at the recently concluded Munich Security Conference, US Vice President JD Vance said the following:

“[T]he threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values: values shared with the United States of America.”

Vance’s words convey a paradigm-changing truth that few have yet grasped.

The truth is this: As far as Europe is concerned, the real enemy of the American people is not Russia. The real enemy is the EU, specifically its ruling elite in Brussels.M.D. Rob

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Trump Should Cut Off Europe’s Defense Welfare Queens

The new administration isn’t even a month old, but already hysteria has swept Europe. After visits by Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, top European officials threw “a temper tantrum” in the words of one observer, which featured wailing, gnashing of teeth, and rending of garments on a Biblical scale. On Monday French President Emmanuel Macron hosted an emergency summit of selected continental leaders, which generated abundant kvetching but little more.

Ukraine and its European advocates warn of a new Dark Age if the U.S. makes peace with Russia, as President Donald Trump is trying to do. Even worse, NATO members fear the loss of their heretofore presumed birthright to defense by America. Governments which have repeatedly claimed that Kiev’s defeat would invite a reformed Red Army to march to the Atlantic are preparing new excuses for failing to spend more on defense. The spectacle resembles a theatrical farce.

Americans have subsidized the continent’s defense for eight decades. Despite complaints from Washington, Europeans have consistently minimized military expenditures, convinced that the U.S. would continue to do whatever was necessary to protect them. There were occasional American outbursts, such as by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates more than a decade ago. However, this political theater changed nothing—Gates retired three weeks after his famous speech—and the Pentagon continued to provide defense welfare for prosperous and populous nations across the pond and beyond.

Indeed, top U.S. officials, including Joe Biden as both vice president and president, repeatedly told the Europeans “never mind,” visiting the continent to assure listeners that no matter how little they did, they could count on America to bail them out. The Europeans understandably left the heavy lifting to Washington while concentrating on funding generous welfare states at U.S. expense. (The same Europeans often pilloried Americans for their “Anglo-Saxon model” of capitalism.)

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Europe Sending Peacekeeper Troops to Ukraine ‘Unacceptable’, Says Kremlin

Britain is set to pitch a plan for thousands of European NATO members’ soldiers to be deployed to Ukraine as peacekeepers in the coming week, a notion Russia says may constitute a “direct threat”.

Moscow has attempted to pre-empt a European initiative to buttress security in the east of the continent by deterring further fighting after a putative future ceasefire in Ukraine. Russia specifically cited a report in the UK’s Daily Telegraph this week professing to reveal the plan for a European deployment to Ukraine after a ceasefire to keep the peace that would allegedly run to 30,000 troops.

Responding on Thursday morning from the Kremlin, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned “the deployment of NATO countries’ troops to Ukraine cannot be acceptable for Russia”.

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Here’s Why Capital is Fleeing Europe… And Why the Climate Scam is to Blame

We did promise it after Putin blew up his own pipeline supplying cheap energy to Europe, but the implosion of European auto companies is really something to behold. The effects of Capital flight in the industry are stark and widespread.

Consider this:

VW’s profits dropped by 64%. Audi’s profits dropped by 91%. BMW’s profits dropped by 84%. And Mercedes-Benz’s profits dropped by 54%.

German carmakers are in trouble. Their business model was based on two things: cheap Russian energy powering the German engineering coupled with sales in China subsidizing antiquated, overblown unions protecting their cost structure at home. The first pillar collapsed and the second is now under severe pressure.

China now builds its own decent cars. There’s no need for the Chinese to buy anything other than Chinese cars which accelerates capital flight.

Now, let me show you something else. The flow of trade, of course, is seen in the currency markets.

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