Author: M Barbu

La menace croissante de l’extrémisme violent en Afrique occidentale côtière

Les groupes islamistes militants du Sahel menacent les zones frontalières des États côtiers où les injustices vécues par communautés d’éleveurs peuvent constituer un point d’entrée pour les intérêts extrémistes.

La violence des groupes islamistes militants au Burkina Faso, au Mali et dans l’ouest du Niger a augmenté de 70 % en 2021. Cela poursuit une escalade et une propagation ininterrompues d’événements violents dans la région depuis 2015. Initialement centrée au Mali, l’activité des groupes islamistes militants s’est progressivement déplacée vers le Burkina Faso, où se produisent désormais 58 % de tous les événements violents au Sahel.

The horrible dangers of pushing a US proxy war in Ukraine

If there is indeed a shift in strategy to another level of confrontation with Russia, we need to know what we’re getting into.

To judge by its latest statements, the Biden administration is increasingly committed to using the conflict in Ukraine to wage a proxy war against Russia, with as its goal the weakening or even destruction of the Russian state.

Tell us how this war in Ukraine ends

As calls grow for a ‘victory’ over Russia, we should examine whether such a win-lose outcome is even possible.

Tell me how this ends. General David Petraeus famously posed this question at the outset of the Iraq War in 2003.

Reckless and ruthless? Yes. But is Putin insane? No.

Declaring someone irrational leads to a place in which no one wants to negotiate, because, no one wants to talk to crazy people.

A number of things about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are not in doubt: that it was a deeply criminal act; that it has been accompanied by great brutality on the ground; that it was based on extremely faulty intelligence; and that in consequence it involved extremely serious political and strategic miscalculations.

Russian Spy Chief Naryshkin Claims Poland Seeks To Dismember Ukraine, But Others Impute The Same Designs To Russia

On April 27, 2022, the Director of Russian Foreign Intelligence Service [SVR], Sergey Naryshkin, (whom Vladimir Putin publicly humiliated on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) claimed that the Polish authorities are planning to take control of Ukraine. Russia has made these charges before[1] but Naryshkin now claimed that the assessments were backed by trustworthy sources.

Prague pressures Budapest to change its Russia stance

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala wants to convince his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán to change his stance on Russia as Hungary is among the countries willing to pay for natural gas imports in roubles – a move unacceptable for Czechia despite its heavy Russian gas dependency.

Greece to raise Turkey’s stance on Russia with EU states

The Greek government is expected to raise with its EU partners Ankara’s decision not to join western sanctions against Russia, questioning Turkey’s narrative of being a neutral broker, EURACTIV has learned.

“It’s inconceivable that Turkey has managed to escape western sanctions against Russia,” a source close to the matter told EURACTIV Greece.

Most Finns would accept permanent NATO presence

Most Finns would accept permanent NATO presence. Most Finns would allow permanent NATO military bases on their soil ahead of the country’s possible application for NATO membership, a survey conducted by media house Uutissuomalainen found.

French left and ecologists join forces on Labour Day

Thousands gathered across several French cities to participate in Labour Day demonstrations on 1 May, just a week after French President Emmanuel Macron was re-elected and as parties gear up for legislative elections in June. In a symbolic move, the same day Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La France insoumise (LFI) reached a deal with Julien Bayou’s Europe-Ecologie-Les-Verts (EELV).