French President Emmanuel Macron has postponed a trip to Germany due to begin on Sunday after a fourth night of rioting in cities across France, as family and friends buried the teenager whose killing by police unleashed the unrest.

The killing of 17-year-old Nahel M. during a police traffic stop this week was a depressingly familiar addition to France’s list of police brutality cases. But when the UN called on the government to address racial discrimination in its police force, the official reaction was just as familiar and depressing for France’s minorities.

The family of Nahel M, a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent who was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop on Tuesday, held a private funeral at a mosque in Nanterre, a Paris suburb.

We are concerned by the killing of a 17-year-old of North African descent by police in France,” UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a press briefing in Geneva.

« This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement, » she added.

Shamdasani’s comments echoed innumerable statements released over the past few years by international rights groups, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, calling on the French state to address “systematic discrimination” particularly “the use of ethnic profiling” during identity checks.

If the UN human rights office believed the police killing of the teenager of Algerian descent, named Nahel M., could be the “moment” for an official French reckoning, it proved to be mistaken.

Shortly after the press conference in Geneva, the French foreign ministry released a statement rejecting the UN’s accusation of racism among its police. « Any accusation of racism or systemic discrimination in the police force in France is totally unfounded, » the foreign ministry said.

Race is a thorny issue in France, a nation that has become multi-ethnic since World War II and the subsequent decolonisation of several African and Asian countries.

The atrocities committed during World War II – including the complicity of the Vichy regime in deporting French Jews to Nazi concentration camps – continue to haunt the issue of ethnic and racial identity in France. The post-war state that emerged from the ashes of World War II is officially colour blind, grants equality to all its citizens, and tends to address social inequalities using class or geographic criteria.

But in the geographic neighbourhoods that experience the worst of police brutality and discrimination, that argument fails to persuade ethnically diverse residents.

Violent clashes continued on Friday night, despite the deployment of some 45,000 police officers backed by light armoured vehicles, and a similar number of police will again be on the street on Saturday night, according to the interior ministry.

The ministry said on Twitter that 1,311 people had been arrested overnight, compared with 875 the previous night, although it added the violence was “lower in intensity”.

Justice Minister Eric Dupont-Moretti said 30 percent of detainees were under 18.

Looting and rioting took place in the cities of Lyon, Marseille and Grenoble with bands of youths pillaging shops, setting fires and pelting officers with projectiles.

Finance minister Bruno Le Maire said more than 700 shops supermarkets, restaurants and bank branches had been “ransacked, looted and sometimes even burnt to the ground since Tuesday”.

Rioters in Marseille, France’s second-largest city, looted a gun store and stole hunting rifles but no ammunition, police said.

Marseille’s Mayor Benoit Payan called on the government to send extra troops to tackle “pillaging and violence” after three police officers were slightly wounded on Saturday.

Events including two concerts at the Stade de France on the outskirts of Paris were cancelled, while LVMH-owned fashion house Celine cancelled its 2024 menswear show on Sunday, according to Women’s Wear Daily.

Tour de France organisers said they were ready to adapt to any situation when the cycle race enters the country on Monday from Spain.

Violence also erupted in some French overseas territories, where a 54-year-old died late Thursday after being hit by a stray bullet in French Guiana.

On the small Indian Ocean island of Reunion, protesters set rubbish bins ablaze, threw projectiles at police, and damaged cars and buildings, officials said. Some 150 police officers were deployed there on Friday night.

World Opinions + Agencies

L’article Teen’s killing raises a French policing issue that dare not be named.. Video est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on a tour of European capitals, tells leaders at a summit in Brussels that Europe’s freedom depends on Ukraine’s.

Russian forces have significantly stepped up attacks in eastern Ukraine and are trying to break through defences near Kreminna, says the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk.

The Russian embassy in London warns of “military and political consequences” after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said “nothing is off the table”, including combat aircraft for Ukraine.

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group says it has stopped recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine.

He was earlier given a standing ovation at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Czech Republic to repair damaged Ukrainian armoured vehicles

The Ukrainian army’s armoured vehicles will be repaired in the Czech Republic, the Czech Defence Ministry said.

The ministry said that state-owned company VOP CZ signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine’s government arms manufacturer Ukroboronprom on the repairs on Monday.

“The memorandum … contains a specific plan and timetable for the repairs or securing of spare parts,” said Ales Vytecka, director of the Czech government’s AMOS agency for military cooperation, who co-signed the memorandum.

The Czech Republic has been one of the top weapons providers to Kyiv among NATO allies, supplying Ukraine with armoured personnel carriers, tanks or howitzers.

Russia may take legal action over Nord Stream investigation

Russia might take political or legal action in response to a report alleging that the US was involved in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines last year, the TASS news agency reported, citing a foreign ministry official.

In a blog post, Pulitzer Prize-winning American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh cited an unidentified source as saying US navy divers had planted explosives on the pipelines in the Baltic Sea on the orders of President Joe Biden.

The White House dismissed the report as “utterly false and complete fiction”, and Norway, which is investigating the explosions, said the allegations were “nonsense”.

Mr Zelensky said Germany and France had the potential to be « game-changers » in the war. The sooner Ukraine received heavy, long-range weapons and modern planes, « the quicker this Russian aggression will end », he explained.

Although President Macron has previously signalled some openness to providing fighter jets, Mr Scholz has not.

The French leader vowed Ukraine could count on his support, with France « determined to help Ukraine to victory and the re-establishment of its legitimate rights ». Chancellor Scholz added: « The position is unchanged: Russia must not win this war. »

Because of the 11-month long Russian invasion, Mr Zelensky rarely leaves his own country and a senior Ukrainian official said that the purpose of his trip was to obtain results.

He argues that fighter jets and long-range missiles are important in addition to the Leopard 2 tanks that Western nations have recently committed to supplying. While Mr Zelensky said he had discussed the issue of combat planes in Paris, he warned there was « very little time » to provide much-needed weaponry.

The Dutch prime minister said that many sensitive issues had to be discussed before a decision could be made on supplying fighter jets. « The pros and cons – you have to make absolutely sure that you are not getting into an Article Five direct confrontation between Nato and Russia, » Mr Rutte told the BBC.

Moscow has repeatably warned the West against weapons deliveries since the war began, frequently threatening to retaliate against what it calls « provocations ».

Asked by reporters in Moscow about the growing debate over sending warplanes to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia saw it as evidence of the growing involvement of the UK, France and Germany in the conflict.

« We regret this and state that such actions of these countries lead to the escalation of tension around this conflict, prolong it and make it more painful and torturous for Ukraine, » said Mr Peskov.

Chancellor Scholz agreed only recently to allow German Leopard tanks and has warned against getting involved in a « public bidding war » of weapons systems for Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky had earlier addressed a joint session of the UK Parliament in Westminster Hall, underlining his plea for fighter jets: « Freedom will win – we know Russia will lose. »

Downing Street said UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was investigating what aircraft could potentially be offered, but emphasised this was « a long-term solution » and that training pilots could take years.

World Opinions – agencies

L’article Analysis. Zelenskyy lobbies EU leaders as battles rage est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

After the New Year’s Eve attacks on police and rescue workers in several German cities, the political debate about the causes of the violence and Germany’s integration policy continues to gain momentum. In Berlin, 145 people, most of whom were under the age of 25, were arrested by police in connection with the riots.

Nach den verheerenden Ausschreitungen in der #Silvesternacht berichten Berliner #Feuerwehr|leute, wie sie die Situation erlebt haben – und was sie sich wünschen. pic.twitter.com/74qGivxBsv

— rbb Abendschau (@rbbabendschau) January 3, 2023

Flying bottles and firecrackers, injured first responders and videos of violence — the New Year’s Eve riots in Berlin and other cities across Germany has prompted a heated debate not only about a possible ban on fireworks, but also the root causes of the riots, Germany’s allegedly failed integration policy, racist stereotypes and punishments of the rioters.

« We have a big problem in major German cities with certain young men with an immigrant background who despise our state, commit acts of violence and are hardly reached by education and integration programs, » federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the Funke Mediengruppe (Funke media group) on Wednesday (January 4), 

Young perpetrators would have to face swift and clear consequences under criminal law, the politician said. However, Faeser warned against stirring up racist resentment, saying « those who exploit the necessary debate in order to exclude do not solve the problem, but intensify it. »

Wir müssen gewaltbereiten Integrationsverweigerern in unseren Städten die Grenzen aufzeigen: mit harter Hand und klarer Sprache. Aber ohne rassistische Ressentiments zu schüren. Wer die notwendige Debatte ausnutzt, um auszugrenzen, löst das Problem nicht, sondern verstärkt es.

— Nancy Faeser (@NancyFaeser) January 4, 2023

Instead of using the attacks on police and firefighters as a reason for an integration debate, the federal government’s integration and anti-racism commissioner believes the focus should be on young men as perpetrators. « What we need is an honest debate about youth violence, » Reem Alabali-Radovan told the dpa news agency on Wednesday. After all, she said, it is « mainly about young men who experience violence in a group. »

« We must judge perpetrators by their actions, not by their presumed origins, as some are now doing, » Alabali-Radovan added.

What happened on New Year’s Eve?

In the night of New Year’s Day, police officers and firefighters on duty in several cities were attacked, including with fireworks. In Germany’s most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia, some 250 mostly young people were temporarily detained, around half of them German citizens.

In Berlin, 41 police officers on duty were reportedly injured. According to a spokesman for the authorities, one policeman who suffered severe burns has since been released from hospital. 145 people were arrested by the police in connection with the riots in the German capital.

According to a police report, the alleged perpetrators in Berlin were almost all male and of 18 different nationalities. 45 of the suspects were German citizens, followed by 27 Afghan nationals and 21 Syrians. All suspects have since been released.

Moreover, about two-thirds of the 145 arrested are under 25 years old, according to police. Of those, 27 suspects are still minors, police said Wednesday (January 4).

Andreas Zick, head of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University, warned against blaming people with a migration background. « The fact that New Year’s Eve was so violent is part of an increase in violence throughout society, » he told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

‘Society-wide’ problem

Echoing Zick’s comments, political scientist Hans Vorländer said repeated outbreaks of violence including attacks on police or firefighters was « a problem of violence in society as a whole, » he told news agency dpa.

According to Vorländer, who is a member of the German Council of Experts on Integration and Migration (SVR), this problem exists not only in neighborhoods with a high proportion of people with a migration background, but has also occurred, for example, around the COVID-19 demonstrations, at right-wing extremist marches and in the violent soccer fan scene.

Problems arise above all, Vorländer added, with young men and in a certain environment, where « there are problems of accommodation, where the level of education is low » and a « widespread street culture of showing off, where the desire for recognition, even through acts of violence, is prevalent. »

Ulrich Wagner, a social psychologist, said that alcohol often plays a role, as well as a mood between cheerfulness and aggression, which then turns as a mixture of « attack and joke » against the rescue forces. At the same time, Wagner pointed to an overall downward trend in violence. However, he added that specific forms of violence — such as those directed at emergency personnel at the recent turn of the year — are on the rise.

Psychologist and migration expert Ahmad Mansour said the topic is also about youth culture. The suspects were people who wanted to understand and live out their masculinity in such a way that they were also prepared to use violence, he told tagesschau24. « It was pure lust for violence, » Mansour said, « but it also has to do with patriarchal structures that lead to these people perceiving our rule of law, our police, our rescue forces as something weak that is allowed to be attacked. »

Psychologe und Migrationsexperte Ahmad Mansour betrachtet eine Lösung zur Reduzierung der Gewalt in der Arbeit mit Eltern. Und er beklagt, dass Moscheen nicht die Werte der Gesellschaft ermitteln. (T+) https://t.co/0JXjKXvKso

— Tagesspiegel (@Tagesspiegel) January 4, 2023

Mansour further said that many mosques were part of the problem. « Of course, these riots on New Year’s Eve have nothing to do with Islam, » he told news outlet Tagesspiegel. However, many mosque associations repeatedly conveyed values « that contradict our fundamental values. »

« If I keep making parents afraid of equality and freedom of opinion and reject the values of this society, then I cannot credibly say the day after tomorrow that they should raise their children without violence, » he said.

What did emergency forces say?

Some responders also joined the debate in the wake of the New Year’s Eve riots. A Twitter user named Martin who says he’s a member of his local voluntary fire brigade, lamented an « increasing aggressiveness, impatience and incomprehension » during operations when people feel restricted by first responders.

« People’s aggression has increased since the #AfD has been dumping their filth all over the media and no, it’s not just migrants and foreigners, » he said, referring to Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party. « The aggression/impatience comes from all sectors of society, » he tweeted, adding that « in this respect, we do not have a specific problem with people of a certain origin (apart from hot spots), but a problem for society as a whole. »

Wir haben diesbezüglich (von Brennpunkten abgesehen) kein spezifisches Problem mit Menschen bestimmter Herkunft, sondern ein gesamtgesellschaftliches Problem /End

— Martin (@ybessal) January 2, 2023

Baris Coban, a fireman on the scene in Berlin on New Year’s Eve described how he and his colleagues were being attacked with stones, bottles and firecrackers by « young adults, » most of whom supposedly had a migration background. « I’m saying that despite having a migration background myself, » he told RBB24. « I’ve been fighting prejudices all my life. » Coban further said he and his colleagues had to stop extinguishing a burning coach and leave the scene to protect themselves.

Nach den verheerenden Ausschreitungen in der #Silvesternacht berichten Berliner #Feuerwehr|leute, wie sie die Situation erlebt haben – und was sie sich wünschen. pic.twitter.com/74qGivxBsv

— rbb Abendschau (@rbbabendschau) January 3, 2023

Conservative politicians criticized for comments

Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative Union party, told the Münchner Merkur newspaper, « The chaotic people, many of them with « migration backgrounds, » are challenging the state they despise with their rampage. »

Markus Söder, Prime Minister of the state of Bavaria, said that « Berlin is unfortunately developing into a chaos city — starting with politics, which can neither organize elections nor guarantee the safety of its citizens, » referring to last year’s flawed election that led to a re-election planned for February 12.

It was « of course without question that emergency forces must never, with any justification, in any situation be attacked, hindered in their mission, » Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on the sidelines of her visit to Lisbon.

The legal policy spokesman for the Greens in the Bundestag, Helge Limburg, condemned the riots. He told the Tagesspiegel that the attempt by some conservative politicians to locate the problems primarily in Berlin was obviously an election campaign maneuver. Racist resentment was being served instead of solutions being presented, Limburg said.

Canan Bayram, a member of Parliament for the Green Party, complained that the discussion about the attacks on New Year’s Eve was serving « racist stereotypes ».

Wenn ein MdB der #CDU nicht in der Lage ist, über Herausforderungen zu reden, ohne rassistische Stereotype zu bedienen, müssen wir wohl endlich über Integrationskurse für Menschen reden, denen die Integration in die Einwanderungsgesellschaft in #Deutschland nicht gelingen will pic.twitter.com/xltqYf21tW

— Canan Bayram (@LieblingXhain) January 3, 2023

Jens Spahn, deputy parliamentary group leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party, blamed a failed integration policy in part for the escalation. « This is more about unregulated migration, failed integration and a lack of respect for the state rather than fireworks, » Spahn told the portal t-online.

‘Strong state,’ education, parents and mosques as levers

Political scientist Vorländer said counteracting outbreaks of violence like the one on New Year’s Eve didn’t require special projects but « strengthening the regular systems of school, work, housing » as well as law enforcement and justice.

« To stop the violence, » Germany’s commissioner for integration and anti-racism Reem Alabali-Radovan said on Twitter, « we need not only a strong state that shows a presence on the streets and sanctions crimes quickly and severely, but also an interlocking of social work and prevention in schools, as well as the police and the courts. »

Um die Gewalt zu stoppen, brauchen wir neben einem starken Staat, der Präsenz auf der Straße zeigt und Straftaten schnell und hart sanktioniert, auch ein Ineinandergreifen von Sozialarbeit und Prävention an Schulen, aber auch von Polizei und Gerichten. 3/4

— Reem Alabali-Radovan (@ReemAlabali) January 4, 2023

Psychologist and migration expert Ahmad Mansour considers a solution to reducing violence to be working with parents. « Violence is not questioned at all as an educational method; they think that they can educate their children with violence. That’s why we have to have dialogues with the parents. »

Finally, Mansour and other psychologists said the onus is also on mosques, especially when it comes to promoting integration work.

World Opinions – Info Migrants With dpa, tagesschau.de, KNA

L’article Germany: Integration debate following New Year’s violence est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

People with untreatable cancers have had their immune system redesigned to attack their own tumours.

The experimental study involved only 16 patients, but has been called a « leap forward » and a « powerful » demonstration of the potential of such technology.

Each person had a treatment developed just for them, which targeted the specific weak spots in their tumour.

It is too early to fully assess the therapy’s effectiveness and it is expensive and time-consuming.

The work focuses on a part of the immune system called T-cells, which patrol the body and inspect other cells for problems.

They use proteins – called receptors – to effectively sniff out signs of infection or deviant cells that have become cancerous.

Cancers can be tricky for T-cells to spot. A virus is distinctly different to the human body, but cancers are more subtle because they are a corrupted version of our own cells.

The idea of the therapy is to boost levels of these cancer-spotting T-cells. It has to be tailored to each patient as each tumour is unique.

This is how it works:

• The researchers scoured patient’s blood for rare T-cells that already had receptors which could sniff out their cancer
• They then harvested other T-cells that could not find the cancer and redesigned them
• Their original receptors, which may find other problems or infections, were replaced with those from the cancer-searching T-cells
• Finally, these modified T-cells were then put back into the patient to seek out the tumour

Transforming T-cells into a form that can hunt cancer requires considerable genetic manipulation to both remove the genetic instructions for building their old receptors, and give them the instructions for the new ones.

It was made possible by tremendous advances in the gene-editing technology Crispr, which acts like a pair of molecular scissors – allowing scientists to easily manipulate DNA. The researchers who developed Crispr won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2020.

The trial involved people with colon, breast or lung cancers that had failed to respond to other treatments.

The study was designed to test the safety and feasibility of the technology, and showed the modified cells were finding their way into the tumour.

The disease continued to get worse in 11 patients, but stabilised in the other five. However, it will take larger studies to work out the correct dose and how effective it really is.

« This is a leap forward in developing a personalised treatment for cancer, » said Dr Antoni Ribas, one of the researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, who tested the approach developed by the company Pact Pharma.

The results were presented at a meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer and published simultaneously in the journal Nature.

Dr Manel Juan, head of the immunology service at Clinic Hospital in Barcelona, said it was « extraordinary work » and « undoubtedly one of the most advanced in the field ».

He added: « It opens the door to using this personalised [approach] in many types of cancer and potentially in many other diseases. »

Prof Waseem Qasim, who has given life-saving designer immune systems at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said it was a « powerful early demonstration of what might be possible with newer techniques ».

Dr Astero Klampatsa, from the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said the study was « important » but warned that the « time, labour and expense involved » were « huge ».

By By James Gallagher – BBC news

L’article ‘Leap forward’ in tailored cancer medicine est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

The United States has said the Group of Seven (G7) nations will ban the import of Russian gold with the aim of tightening sanctions screws on Moscow, which on Sunday carried out missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv after making territorial gains in the eastern Luhansk region.

“Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia,” President Joe Biden said as the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations gathered in the Bavarian Alps.

The measure was initially flagged by the United Kingdom as joint action being taken along with fellow G7 members Canada, Japan and the US.

However, a senior US administration representative who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters the G7 would make an official announcement on the gold import ban on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden said the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations will announce the ban during the G7 summit in Munich.

Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from the G7 summit, said the first session on Sunday will be focusing on the global economy and the “very worrying picture” as the conflict in Ukraine drives up inflation and energy prices.

Bays added the sanctioning of Russian gold has been hailed as one of the summit’s achievements and is likely to go ahead. But mindful of their own economies, G7 leaders are unlikely to greenlight any additional sanctions, “particularly gas imports from Russia to Europe”, he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday called on G7 countries to respond to the new missile attack on Kyiv by imposing further sanctions on Russia and providing more heavy weapons to Ukraine.

“This 7 y.o. Ukrainian kid was sleeping peacefully in Kyiv until a Russian cruise missile blasted her home. Many more around Ukraine are under strikes. G7 summit must respond with more sanctions on Russia and more heavy arms for Ukraine,” Kuleba said on Twitter.

This 7 y.o. Ukrainian kid was sleeping peacefully in Kyiv until a Russian cruise missile blasted her home. Many more around Ukraine are under strikes. G7 summit must respond with more sanctions on Russia and more heavy arms for Ukraine. Russia’s sick imperialism must be defeated. pic.twitter.com/0kn2hl7A4x

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) June 26, 2022

World Opinions – Aljazeera

L’article G7 nations to announce ban on import of Russian gold est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

President Putin says Russia is ready for talks on confidence-building measures, but the West needs to heed its main demands.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is “ready to work further” with the West on security issues to de-escalate tensions over Ukraine, but emphasised the need for the West to heed Russia’s main demands.

He spoke on Tuesday during a news conference following talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow.

Scholz said at the briefing that he agrees with Russia’s assessment that there is still a chance to avert war over Ukraine and that “diplomatic options are far from exhausted”.

Meanwhile, some troops in Russia’s military districts adjacent to Ukraine returned to their bases after completing drills, Russia’s defence ministry was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying, a move that could de-escalate friction between Moscow and the West.

Blinken told Lavrov US needs to see credible de-escalation: State Department

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov the US has ongoing concerns about Russia’s ability to launch an invasion of Ukraine and needs to see “verifiable, credible, meaningful de-escalation.”

“While further Russian aggression against Ukraine would result in a swift, severe, and united Transatlantic response, we remain committed to the diplomatic path and believe that a window remains to resolve the crisis peacefully,” Blinken told Lavrov, according to the statement.

World Opinions + Agencies

L’article Putin says ready for talks on security, NATO concerns est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Provocation or preparation? And for what? The exact intentions informing the large-scale deployment of Russian forces close to Ukraine’s eastern border remain opaque. But it seems increasingly clear that the tensions stoked by Vladimir Putin in the spring – when a prior military build-up took place – were the initial phase of a new approach rather than a one-off performative episode. After five years of frozen conflict, a worrying thaw appears to be taking place.

In April, having marched tens of thousands of troops to the Ukrainian border, Mr Putin announced a partial pull-back, to the relief of Kyiv and the west. It has since emerged that the retreat was merely superficial; troops stayed in the region and many of the tanks, ballistic missiles and assorted artillery remain in place

. This hardware is now supplemented by an estimated 100,000 troops to the north, south and east of the Donbass region of Ukraine, controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, warned Moscow this week against “further provocation or aggressive actions” against an EU neighbour and ally. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said that any such aggression would be a “serious mistake”.

But Tuesday’s decision by the German energy regulator to temporarily suspend certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline adds another unpredictable dimension to an unstable situation. The pipeline, which will allow Russia to bypass Ukraine when transporting energy to Germany, is seen by Kyiv as a threat to both its finances and security.

The military build-up on Ukraine’s eastern border signals a change in strategy from Moscow

US intelligence suggests a high probability of Russian military intervention. An outright invasion would constitute an enormous geopolitical risk for the Kremlin to take, as sanctions imposed in 2014 continue to bite hard. But it is evident that Mr Putin has decided that the time is right to substantially raise the temperature in the Donbass. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, elected in 2019, has not proved as amenable to Russian influence and demands as anticipated, and Moscow has railed at treason charges brought against the pro-Russian politician and key Putin ally, Viktor Medvedchuk. The military build-up vastly enhances the Kremlin’s scope to convincingly sabre-rattle and react rapidly to alleged provocations.

Moscow’s suggestion that a recent drone attack in a separatist-controlled area could “destabilise the situation” is likely to be a taste of things to come. Having decided that moribund peace negotiations no longer serve its primary purpose of bullying Kyiv and obstructing its relationships with the EU and Nato, Moscow appears to be enacting a highly threatening plan B.

The military build-up thus represents a de facto escalation of a conflict that, while continuing to claim lives, has remained relatively static since the Minsk II agreement was signed in 2015. The west must make it clear to Moscow that upping the ante further will carry a substantial economic cost in the form of further sanctions and scupper the Nord Stream 2 project. From Bosnia to Belarus, Mr Putin’s baleful influence in the former Soviet sphere is deepening. Robust western solidarity with Kyiv will be needed to prevent a resurgence of the same in Ukraine this winter.

The Guardian View

L’article View on Russian troops at Ukraine’s border: Putin’s plan B est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Angela Merkel is about to walk off the European Union stage — and it’s about time, says DW’s Cristina Burack. The EU needs to break with her reactive style to meet the challenges it’s facing.

After the German election on September 26, when Merkel finally steps down after 16 years as chancellor, the European Union will say goodbye to its longest-serving head of government. 

Put plainly, Merkel’s been a major player at the EU level for a long time. She has seen and handled her fair share of crises in the bloc, and she’s ultimately helped keep the EU together in some of its most divisive hours.

Yet despite always pulling for Team EU at the end of the day, Merkel has often only taken action after evading decision-making for as long as feasibly possible. And lest anyone doubt how definitive this style of hers is, there’s a slang German verb for being indecisive and not doing anything: it’s called « merkeln. »

16 years of reactive policy

While Merkel has been a dependable rhetorical advocate for the ideological value of the EU, many of her decisions at the EU level were the stuff of feet-dragging, last-minute turnarounds or even of no other option left.

That doesn’t mean they weren’t uncontroversial or even sometimes bold. During the eurozone and Greek financial crisis, Merkel eventually countered both her conservative party’s dogma of tight spending controls and German popular sentiment to bailout the Greek government. But only after first insisting that such a move was off-the-table and stringing out action until the whole bloc teetered on the brink of a system-shattering debt default.

The harsh austerity conditions of the Greek bailouts and aid packages to other struggling southern Mediterranean nations also led to criticism that Merkel was imposing the « German way » on other countries — not exactly a sentiment that fostered EU solidarity. I remember conversations in my own Spanish family that were tinged with resentment over Germans continuing to benefit from the low costs in Spain on their package beach vacations while Spaniards were seeing public spending slashed and unemployment skyrocket. 

Then, in 2015, when millions of Syrians asylum-seekers sought safety in Europe, Merkel made the politically courageous and morally correct decision not to close Germany’s borders. But this was still reactive, occurring only after attempts to agree upon an EU-wide refugee distribution system had failed and overwhelmed EU nations like Hungary allowed tens of thousands of asylum-seekers to travel onward to Germany’s southern border.

Most recently, her yes to « coronabonds, » or debt shared at the EU level — anathema to Merkel throughout her time as chancellor — came only after many no’s that initially persisted even in the face of an unprecedented pandemic-spurred economic shutdown.

As a conservative, Merkel is by definition set on maintaining the status quo. She’s unwilling to take a step forward until she’s got her back up against a wall. But while this has helped keep the EU lumbering along so far, it is no longer enough. 

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L’article The EU doesn’t need another Angela Merkel est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Climate, migration, and the euro: Which issues has the Bundestag debated the most since 2005?

Coronavirus. This word was first heard in Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on the afternoon of February 12, 2020.

« Dear colleagues, the outbreak of the coronavirus in China is now having a worldwide impact, » said Health Minister Jens Spahn as he began his speech to lawmakers.

A few COVID-19 cases became a worldwide pandemic, and Germany alone has seen 90,000 virus-related deaths. In the Bundestag, lawmakers have debated lockdowns and their loosening, masks, and vaccine priorities. Again and again, one word was heard: coronavirus.

How often exactly? Bundestag transcripts show the tally. By the end of Germany’s 19th legislative period in June 2021, members of parliament had talked about the virus more than 10,000 times.

The word came up the most often on May 14, 2020, as lawmakers debated laws to stop the spread of the virus and financial compensation for those hit by the COVID-related economic slowdown. The pandemic has become one of the reigning political issues in Germany, and the last big crisis of the Merkel era.

The plenary transcripts of the Bundestag document how, before the pandemic, three crises have dominated debate since Merkel became chancellor in 2005: climate breakdown, the global financial crisis that began in 2007, and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees, mostly from Syria.

« It was the finance- and Euro-crisis that plagued Chancellor Merkel’s time in office the most, » said Merkel biographer Ursula Weidenfeld. « Because at the end of the day, it revolved around the question: how do you hold Europe together? And what role does Germany play in that? »

The many parachutes of the financial crisis

Merkel regularly had to come before parliament to defend what she called financial « parachutes » to save countries like Greece, Portugal, and Ireland from bankruptcy. Different forms of financial assistance were discussed more than 2,000 times in the Bundestag during her time as chancellor.

« If the euro collapses, Europe collapses, » she said on May 19, 2010.

At this time, her government and the parliament were very closely aligned. « That’s how we got through the financial crisis relatively quickly, » remembers finance policy expert Hermann Otto Solms, who’s been a member of the Bundestag for over forty years with the pro-free market Free Democrats (FDP).

However, in the years that followed there were many times Merkel had to push her own center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) to vote to supportemergency financial assistance because Germany would also have faced dire consequences if a eurozone country had defaulted on its debts.

The discord amongst the conservatives had its consequences. « One cannot forget that out of the resistance to the chancellor’s policy of rescuing other eurozone countries came the AfD, a political power to the right of the CDU, » said Ursula Weidenfeld, referring to the far-right populist Alternative for Germany party.

Millions fleeing conflict presents Germany’s next challenge

Founded in 2013, the AfD would however not find its guiding political principle until 2015 when the number of people fleeing conflict, particularly from Syria, and seeking refuge in Germany rose sharply. Nearly one million refugees came to Germany within one year.

‘Syria’ quickly became one of the most-used words in the Bundestag debates. On a single day, December 4, 2015, it was said more than 600 times. This was the day parliament authorized the German army, the Bundeswehr, to join the fight against the so-called « Islamic State. »

In August of that year, Merkel famously said « we can do this! » in reference to taking in the many refugees who were arriving in the country. The AfD made opposition to her open-door policy its central tenet. Two years later, this helped propel them to their debut in the Bundestag.

According to Hermann Otto Solms, having the AfD in parliament hasn’t been completely negative, saying that « robust debate » is good for the Bundestag, and « shows voters that we are looking for the best possible solutions. »

The term « integration » comes up most often in the parliamentary session of February 25, 2016 (around 350 times), together with the words « refugee » (around 380 times) and « asylum » (around 360 times). At the end of the debate, the Bundestag tightened the asylum law and restricted the reunification of families.

Looking to the future: the climate crisis

But the topic that has preoccupied the Bundestag the most during Merkel’s time in office is undoubtedly climate change. The phrase « climate protection » was said at least once in 80% of parliamentary sessions while she was in charge. This means it came up in 768 of 958 sessions.

Merkel spoke directly about the need to avert environmental disasterwhen she first took up her post in November 2005, saying it was a challenge for the country’s economy. She promised to adhere to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 and to undergo international trips with climate protection in mind.  She said she wanted Germany to be the « top exporter in the world » of green technology and know-how.

A year later, she posed in her hiking jacket before a melting glacier. But in the intervening years, her reputation as the « climate chancellor » has largely diminished. Despite over 12,000 mentions of climate change in the Bundestag during her tenure, the few laws passed promoting renewable energy and other measures to protect the environment have been widely criticized as too little, too late, by many experts and activists.

When catastrophic floods stuck western Germany in July 2021, Merkel acknowledged that more had to be done, but stopped short of accepting responsibility. « We have not reached our goals, » she said, « we have to pick up the tempo. »

The environment, especially Germany’s plan to stop using coal for energy by 2038 at the latest, is one of the biggest issues in the campaign ahead of the country’s federal election on September 26.

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L’article How German parliament debated the big crises of the Merkel era est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

 The United States and Germany struggled Wednesday to resolve a major dispute over a Russian gas pipeline even as the Biden administration seeks to improve relations with Western Europe that had been strained during Donald Trump’s presidency.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his German counterpart Heiko Maas met in Berlin and extolled the depth and strength of U.S.-German relations, but there was no sign of progress in talks to overcome the impasse over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. And neither Blinken nor Maas could offer a timetable for a possible resolution.

“We don’t always agree and one of those areas of disagreement is the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which we continue to believe is a threat to European energy security,” Blinken said. “Germany has a different perspective and that happens from time to time. We’ll handle our disagreements while pressing ahead on the many areas where we are working very closely together.”

In addition to increasing the continent’s reliance on Russian gas, the U.S. believes the pipeline will become a tool for Russia to exert political pressure on vulnerable Eastern and Central European nations. As such, the project continues to be a significant irritant in U.S.-German ties despite steps by the Biden administration to cool the dispute.

Speaking alongside Blinken at a joint news conference, Maas said Germany was well aware of the U.S. concerns and was trying to address them.

“We are engaging in these talks,” he said. “We are aware of the expectations from Washington and it is of the utmost importance.”

Maas said that Germany is also speaking with Ukraine and other countries bypassed by the pipeline with an eye toward guaranteeing them an alternate energy supply.

“There is a whole host of ways and means and approaches that we are discussing but we are not discussing them in public,” Maas said.

Ideally, he added, a resolution could be reached by the time outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Biden in Washington next month. But, Maas stressed that timing was aspirational only.

Despite U.S. opposition and strident objections from Poland and Ukraine, Merkel strongly favors the project, which has been one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s key initiatives to increase Russia’s energy revenue.

The pipeline also faces strong bipartisan opposition in the U.S. Congress, where both Republican and Democratic lawmakers harshly criticized the administration for waiving sanctions against the German firm constructing it, the company’s German CEO and several other executives in May. Critics saw those sanctions as a last-ditch effort to prevent completion of the pipeline that is now more than 95% constructed.

In waiving the sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG and the executives, the White House rejected recommendations from the State Department and other agencies in favor of imposing the penalties, according to officials and congressional aides. Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan argued that the sanctions would do more harm than good in terms of repairing ties with Germany, they said.

Blinken is in Germany on his second visit to Europe in seven days, having just accompanied President Joe Biden to leaders’ summits in Britain and Belgium. In his meeting with with Maas, Blinken emphasized the “America is back” message that Biden also delivered last week.

Maas welcomed the commitment that Blinken is also expected to pass on to Merkel in a later meeting. He said Biden’s visit, coupled by Blinken’s return to Europe so quickly, “underlined impressively that America is back: back on the multilateral and international stage and we’re very pleased by this.”

Biden administration officials insist that there are still ways to mitigate the pipeline’s impact. They say even after the project is physically completed there are still permits, insurance and testing hurdles it must clear before becoming operational. Some officials believe that could delay its opening by nine to 12 months..

After Germany, Blinken will visit France and Italy as part of his weeklong tour, his first trips to all three nations as secretary of state.

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L’article US-Germany Talks Stall Over Russian Gas Pipeline est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.