#EU Foreign Affairs Council

[kyreniacommentator]

Turkish Foreign Ministry reaction to EU General Affairs Council

Turkish Foreign Ministry reaction to EU General Affairs Council

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted to the European Union (EU) General Affairs Council conclusions regarding Türkiye’s trade relations with Russia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Cyprus issue. In the written statement issued by the Ministry, it was noted that such conclusions sacrificing EU’s common interests for the benefit of certain Member States neither contribute to…

[attheexactlyrighttimeandplace]

It has been more than 24 hours since the last massacre of Palestinian civilians organized by the Americans and jewish zionists in Gaza, and Algeria has still not officially reacted to the crimes committed.

No declarations from the usual communication channels which are our Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Algerian Press Agency which exclusively represents the voice of our President since last April (he "appropriated" it by decree because the war approaches our borders).

I wonder if this silence is a turning point. The final nail in the coffin on what has been a very turbulent journey to try to change our relationship with the United States.

The journey began with the war in Ukraine in 2022: like all Arab countries, we really angered the United States by refusing to side with the EU against Russia. And we reached the point of open conflict with the United States (they sent their deputy secretary of state in March 2022) when we terminated our energy contract with Spain (we are their main supplier of gas) after the Spanish Prime Minister began supporting Morocco's claims on Western Sahara's land.

But Algeria surprisingly backed down on many points and began to rapidly improve its relations with the United States - Blinken, the US Secretary of State came to Algeria several times, our Foreign Ministry was invited to Washington - to the point that our country, which has been a faithful ally of Russia for 60 years seemed on the verge of joining NATO last April (I think Algeria might become a Major Non Nato Ally but is hidding its true intention for various reasons linked to the international context in North Africa, more precisely in the Sahel where 3 countries have expelled, under the influence of Russia, the American and French military bases from their lands and are openly eyeing the Algerian borders to destabilize us, in addition to the conflict with Morocco).

A few decades ago, the genocide of the Palestinians would have stopped these efforts very quickly, probably leading to a further breakdown in diplomatic relations with the United States.

Not this time: Algeria was still signing massive contracts in fossil fuels and unconventional energy (shale gas) with major American companies like Exxon Mobile and Chevron (although at a slower pace than expected) in May 2024, and our president was invited to the G7 summit which will take place next week in Italy, an invitation designed as a reward for Algeria's support for Europe's energy security and for its fight against illegal immigration which largely benefits Europeans.

This is why the decision of the Algerian mission to the UN to oppose the very important vote scheduled for Friday, June 7 to transform Biden's plan for Gaza into a resolution at the UN Security Council, was the most stupid move ever taken.

Blinken, the US Secretary of State, made a very special call to our Department of Foreign Affairs to obtain our consent to the plan proposed by Biden. This call was heavily promoted as a turning point by the entire US diplomatic network on all social media platforms, including on X: from the US Embassy in Algiers to the US State Department account, and their X account in Arabic for the MENA region.

Algeria obviously adhered to this plan, there is no other way to explain our pure and simple abandonment of the resolution we wrote to implement the latest decision of the ICJ which ordered the end of all operations in Rafah.

It is therefore easy to measure the extent to which Algeria has been incoherent, senseless and dangerous for itself and for Palestine in this context where the United States show no mercy, approve of genocide and have repeatedly rejected our demands during the previous negotiations in the UN Security Council to save more lives - when through the voice of our ambassador to the UN, Algeria gave the feeling of thinking that it could once again stop the vote, and try to negotiate new demands regarding Palestinian prisoners.

This is not surprising when you consider who our ambassador to the UN is: an overly old diplomat who has been unable to include the American point of view in his analysis. His conviction of being right against the rest of the world, his romantic views on resistance and his desire to play the savior of Palestine lead him to demonstrate a lack of humility and a lack of relevance in his analysis (like in his speech on terrorism at the UN where he asked for compassion for terrorists as if we hadn't lost 100,000 people in a civil war because of terrorism (!).

However, I do not believe that it was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or by our President. We have experienced a lot of management problems in the last 15 days at the highest level of the state, due to keeping the wrong people in important positions for the wrong reasons, to the point that it has had disastrous consequences, with deadly human consequences. Last week, some civil servants were fired and others were forcibly transferred, but explaining that doesn't cover the extent of the problem.

But back to the UN, after a revised version of Biden's plan was presented, we were given a 48-hour period of silence to object. In the end, the vote was to take place on Friday June 7, 2024, but due to Algeria's intervention in the Security Council, it was postponed until next Monday. There is no doubt that Algeria is responsible for the breakdown of consensus on the plan, because China seems to have forgotten the issue and only reacted and opposed it after us, and Russia only followed China!

The next day, the massacre took place in the Nuseirat camp: the latest reports say that there were 274 deads, 814 injured.

I really wonder, given the timing, how it would be possible that Algeria's decision, which comes after a long period of tense disagreements with the United States in the UN Security Council, not only on Palestine but also Africa and the Arab world, might not have triggered the so-called rescue? The United States had known for weeks where the hostages were because English planes had been flying over the area to gather information for weeks as well, so the plan was set and ready to be executed in case it was needed.

Which to me is the decisive proof that this was an American operation from conception to execution, Netanyahu would not have waited a second to take the opportunity to increase his popularity, and could never have carried it out without American support (his genocidal zionist soldiers only know to drop bombs on civilians). On the same day of the Nuseirat massacre, Gantz, a member of Netanyahu's war cabinet and government, was expected to resign. A few weeks ago, at the request of the United States, he issued an ultimatum to Netanyahu to find a solution for Rafah, or to accept his (Gantz) resignation which would have led to new elections that Netanyahu was certain to lose. Yesterday, not knowing what to do after the rescue, Gantz asked the United States what they wanted and the United States' response was that they do not interfere with Israel's internal politics! Algeria probably also ruined this plan indirectly.

My impression is that the United States did not betray Algeria: it did not intend to carry out its rescue mission because it was more concerned about the potential support Algeria could provide in the war against Russia (the Algerian army has been training with live ammunition for weeks, and my theory is that a large Algerian contingent is going to be sent to Ukraine), than they cared about the zionist settlers and zionist soldiers being held hostage by Hamas.

But Algeria's inability to keep its word after Biden's plan was officially accepted by our officials made us truly unreliable, even to be sent to Russia, and even though Algeria is the best card the West has, given the Ukraine's lack of soldiers (Algeria has been Russia's main customer for all types of military contracts for decades and is very familiar with Russian aircraft and equipment, and has conducted joint military exercises with Russia even deep within Russian territory).

If our president decides to save Algeria's commitments to the West: he should really fire our ambassador to the UN, and completely review and change our internal process of opposition to resolutions at the UN (we have a status of non-permanent membership until the end of 2025, which the United States helped us gain).

If he doesn't save it, and doesn't go to the G7 summit, I don't know how we will survive future wars to come: Morocco has expansionist views, and its military capacity is currently being improved by the genocidal Israeli. who are building a drone factory on our borders and launching two satellites for Morocco; Russia, which threw us under the bus because we refused to help Putin in his plan to destroy the EU's energy security, entered Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Libya militarily, made them its vassals and now claims a percentage of our oil and gas resources!

I don't know what the future holds for us….

[zvaigzdelasas]

[Kyiv Independent is Private Ukrainian Media]

The European Union will urge its member states to shut off all EU funding to Budapest if Hungary does not back down on its pledge to veto the EU's proposed $55 billion military aid package for Ukraine, a leaked document prepared by EU officials and seen by the Financial Times revealed on Jan. 28.[...]

The leaked document, drawn up by officials in the European Council, criticizes the "unconstructive behaviour of the Hungarian PM," while establishing a framework for countries to permanently cut EU funding with the intention of "spooking the markets, precipitating a run on the country’s forint currency and a surge in the cost of its borrowing," according to the Financial Times.

The alleged document also notes that Brussels would aim to impact investor confidence in the country's ability to create jobs and drive growth.[...]

The EU has also considered using the "nuclear option" of revoking Hungary's voting rights if it again vetoes the $55 billion aid package for Ukraine at an upcoming European Council summit next week, Politico reported on Jan. 26.

The Hungarian far-right party Our Homeland declared its claim to Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast if Ukraine loses the war, party leader Laszlo Toroczkai said on Jan. 27.

Zakarpattia Oblast, bordering Slovakia and Hungary to the west, and Romania to the south, has a significant population of ethnic Hungarians. The issue of minority rights has created friction between Hungary and Ukraine, particularly centered around Ukrainian state linguistic policies.

The language law that has long been a source of strife between Hungary and Ukraine was instituted in 2017 and requires at least 70% of education above fifth grade to be conducted in Ukrainian.

In response to criticism, Ukraine has said that it does not intend to limit the linguistic rights of its minorities but rather to simply ensure that all Ukrainian citizens have the sufficient capability to speak the national language, Ukrainian.[...]

Hungary's Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on Toroczkai's statements, Reuters said.

The news came ahead of a meeting between Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto scheduled to take place on Jan. 29 in the Zakarpattia Oblast city of Uzhhorod.

In the leadup to Szijjarto's visit, the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, considered to be closely affiliated with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, published an article condemning the state of Ukraine's press freedom. It also criticized Ukrainian media directives for journalists to use the official Ukrainian spelling of city names instead of the Russian version.

28 Jan 24

[Ukrinform is Private Ukrainian Media]

The Hungarian side is asking Ukraine that a Hungarian minority be given back all the rights it had before 2015.

This was stated by Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto at a joint briefing with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office Andriy Yermak following the talks in Uzhhorod, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We have come here to reestablish good neighborly relations, we have a long way to go, but we, from the Hungarian side, are ready to do this work. In Zakarpattia, Hungarians and Ukrainians live in peace," Szijjarto said.[...]

"Since 2017, laws have been passed to reduce the rights of the Hungarian minority. In December, Parliament passed a law that stopped that. But we have a request - maybe it's too much, and you will think I'm not being polite - but we ask that the Hungarian minority be given back all the rights it had before 2015. We are not asking for anything else," the minister said.

The Foreign Minister said that the Hungarian side had formulated an 11-point request: including restoring the status of the national school, the possibility of taking a high school diploma in Hungarian and using Hungarian in social life. According to him, the commission was tasked with agreeing on these issues as soon as possible and developing proposals for the ministries.

29 Jan 24

[mariacallous]

As 400 million Europeans get set to elect 720 EU parliamentarians in June, polls are predicting big gains for right-wing populists. As a result, for the first time since the European Parliament was directly elected in 1979, it is expected to have a solid majority on the right. This will mark a “sharp right turn” for Europe, the European Council of Foreign Affairs (ECFR) recently noted. The consequences for European politics and policy are already coming into view.

The center-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the left-leaning Socialists and Democrats party (S&D) are again expected to finish in first and second place, although both may lose a handful of seats. The EU’s far-right groups, Identity and Democracy (ID) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), will improve their tally mainly at the expense of liberals and Greens. According to ECFR, populists are likely to be the top vote-getter in nine countries, including Austria, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Poland, and Italy. In nine others, including Spain and Germany, they could emerge as strong second or third-place contenders.

ID—which includes the main anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic parties in Germany (Alternative for Deutschland or AfD), France (National Rally), and Italy (the League or Lega)—is likely to become the EU parliament’s third-largest group after elections are held between June 6 and 9. The ECR is led by Georgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister and leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, and is home to Sweden’s Sweden Democrats and Poland’s Law and Justice party (PiS). If authoritarian Hungarian leader Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, a member of the EPP until a few years ago, joins the ECR as expected, the far-right could claim a quarter of the total seats.

Political machinations already seem to be underway among some establishment parties to create cooperation with this newly powerful bloc. Experts say if the EPP, the strongest conservative party in the EU, welcomes far-right politicians in its fold or co-opts their policies, as it has lately been accused of, the balance of power in Europe will decisively shift to the right and have major implications for not just the EU’s common agenda but may also influence how member states decide critical policies.

“I think in our campaign we will ask the EPP to be pragmatic, to pick the alternative to a center-left majority,” Marco Campomenosi, a Lega politician and the head of the Italian delegation in ID, told Foreign Policy.

Experts say any such shift will have major implications for the EU as a whole, tainting its recent promises to pursue a humane migration policy and to establish rule of law at home that encourages democratic checks and balances. An empowered far-right may also keep coordination on a common defense policy to the bare minimum in the face of a looming threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The EU’s flagship Green Deal climate framework, which has set a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, is also at stake, as the populists try to push the EU to erode its commitment to renewable energy development and other climate policies.

Charlie Weimers, a member of the far-right Sweden Democrats that supports Sweden’s minority center-right government, said, his party’s priority is to push for a “Migration Pact 2.0,” with more stringent measures to stop the influx of immigrants than already listed in the new migration pact. “We need to stop asylum,” he told FP over the phone. “We need breathing space to deal with the immigrants already here otherwise we can never catch up.”

Lega’s Campomenosi said, “it’s not about the money” but about the “trouble” immigrants make. (Under the new migration pact an EU member state which refuses to accept an asylum seeker should pay a sum of 20,000 euros to an EU fund.) “If there are too many immigrants they can’t be integrated,” he added.

Three far-right parliamentarians told FP that with bigger numbers in Parliament they will be able to apply more pressure on the EU commissioner to throw out or dilute the green deal.

It “needs to go away,” Joachim Kuhs, the acting head of the AfD delegation in EU which is polling as the second strongest party in Germany, told FP in his office in the parliament. “It should be repealed and replaced,” Weimers added.

The liberal groups say the center-right has strengthened the far-right by co-opting its policies and forming alliances in individual member states.

Pedro Marques, a vice president of the S&D group, said the EPP parties have been “eroding the Cordon Sanitaire,” erected to keep the far-right out of governments and important positions. “The EPP is dancing with the far right,” he added, with grave consequences for the future of the union.

The cordon sanitaire is crumbling in many European nations. In Italy, the far-right is in power, in Sweden the center-right government is backed by the far-right. In Austria, center-right and far-right have been in a coalition, and the latter is polling ahead of all others in the run up to national elections. In France, Marine Le Pen is leading the polls, and in Germany, the conservatives have hinted at future cooperation at a regional level with the far-right AfD.

The legitimization of the far-right isn’t limited to member states. Ursula Von Der Leyen, a member of the EPP and EU commissioner, has alluded to Meloni’s inclusion in her grouping. She said it wasn’t clear which parties will remain in the ECR after the elections and which will leave, and “join EPP.”

Hans Kundnani, writer of a book called Eurowhiteness, said the boundaries between the ID, ECR and the EPP have always been “very fluid.”

“As soon as Meloni indicated she won’t be disruptive in the Eurozone, that she won’t be pro-Russian, centrist pro-European EPP said that’s great, we don’t mind,” Kundnani said. “The center right has no problem with far-right at all, they just have a problem with those who are Eurosceptic.”

Experts say Von Der Leyen has often backed off on key policies to appease the far-right. Just over the last few months as the farmers protested against the provisions of the green deal, the far-right found another issue to mobilize against mainstream parties. During election season, Von Der Leyen quickly conceded and granted several concessions to the agriculture sector that will affect the 2050 net zero target.

The best example of how the EU commissioner validated the far-right’s worldview, Kundnani argued, was when she created a post for an EU commissioner to promote a European way of life.

“The big theme of the European far-right is that the immigrants threaten European civilization,” he said. When Von Der Leyen created the position, she framed “immigration as a threat to the European way of life,” and in doing so legitimized the far-right.

It is unclear if co-opting the far-right’s talking points benefits the center right in keeping their traditional voters from moving towards populists, but there is an emerging consensus that it strengthens the radical right in the longer run. For its part, the far-right has moderated its own positions on many issues to appeal to the voters more to the center. The far-right parties say they are no longer calling for an exit from the EU, but merely to reform it from within. They say they back Ukraine and not Putin.

Many parties on the far-right advocate return of border controls in violation of the EU’s founding principle of free movement of people and goods. Last year, the AfD described the EU as a “failed project,’’ while Sweden Democrats said they had “good reasons to seriously reevaluate our membership in the union.” There is still a lingering suspicion that the rank-and-file members of the far-right parties harbor sympathy for Putin. Last month, Lega’s leader Matteo Salvini deflected when asked if he blamed Putin for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s sudden death.

The parliamentarians of the ID and ECR with whom FP spoke expressly rejected Von Der Leyen’s proposal to appoint a dedicated defense commissioner to improve coordination among member states on matters of defense.

“We say that we want to manage immigration in a humane way, we can do better to manage the borders,” added Marques of the S&D. In response to the far-right’s demand to externalize the screening of asylum seekers, he said it was difficult to find credible partners. “We did this agreement with the Tunisian authorities, but when we tried to go there to check the conditions, to see how European money will be spent, they said we don’t want your agreement anymore. These have to be credible partnerships.”

The center-left S&D party simply dismisses the moderated stances of far-right parties as a charade. They believe the far-right simply wants the benefits of being in the union, not the costs that sometimes come with upholding its values. “They want an EU without the rule of law, without humanity,” Marques said. “That’s not what we built after the Second World War. They want to change the EU into something that it isn’t. Their values are not European.”

[protoindoeuropean]

ok so the slovenian government announced today it will participate in the ICJ proceedings against israeli occupation of gaza and the west bank, which is based on a december 2022 UN resolution and is thus separate from the SA genocide case {wiki page}

there have been calls for slovenia to intervene in the genocide case too, to which the minister of foreign affairs has said that "Slovenia supports the proceedings regarding the violations of the Genocide Convention both in the case of Ukraine and Palestine ...", but that it is not yet possible to intervene as the court has to first decide whether it has jurisdiction over the case or not (her statement of support is also not an official position of the country afaict) {x}. she said that the decision will be made at the governnent level {x} (i.e. she evaded the question, but the fact the she hasn't dismissed it is positive, and both the pm and the president as a rule follow her lead, not the other way around; not to mention that the left party, a coalition member, has been very vocal about how slovenia is not doing enough, how we should recognize the state of palestine, apply the bds measures etc., so that's a force pushing in that direction as well). the ambassador to the UN security council said that slovenia regards the case "with great interest" {x}

considering the fairly consistent discourse of slovenian foreign policy on the israel-palestine conflict and especially the expressed need for principled and consistent political positioning during the slovenian mandate in the UN security council, i am moderatly optimistic that it might actually intervene in the case

fajon can be quite frustrating, because you really have to comb through what she's saying to find anything of substance, but i have been surprised at times by her discourse in the past few months, for example when she said that if not the EU as a whole, then a smaller group of like-minded countries within the EU could jointly recognize the state of palestine "when the time is right" (– slovenian politicians have been waiting for the right time to recognize palestine for literally a decade, but in this context specifically fajon has said that the condition for that to happen is permanent ceasefire) {x}, or when she explitictly designated the attacks on schools and hospitals and critical infrastructure as severe violations of international humanitarian law – apparently she appeared on CNN a few days ago where she said that Israel was "definitely" in the breach of international humanitarian law {fb link to the video} {x}, which reportedly made israel angry, but she'd already said the same thing in the UN security council chambers a month ago {x}, so that wasn't new for them and she'd been saying that since november at least {x}. i was also really positively surprised when in the context of the exchange of hostages she designated the palestinian prisoners as political prisoners {x} (only in a podcast, but still)

ofc this is still far from ideal, much more decisive measures would be needed (cf. what the left party wants above) and they'd be more effective too, imho, but this is honestly more than i expected from a politician who, idk – i suspect! – wants to present our country as a potential mediator in the conflict and thus doesn't want to step on israel's toes too much, or at least wants to keep the image of a "reliable partner" with regards to the us, still, while going as far as possible in (what she thinks might be) toeing the line

[manorpunk]

A Brief Materialist History of the Former US in the Mid-21st Century

2030s: the Polycrisis. Unresolved issues of climate and pollution cause more and more intense natural disasters, which wipe out swathes of vital but poorly-maintained infrastructure. The US federal gov't is too hollowed-out at this point to fix anything, and the tangle of middlemen contractors responsible for actually building and repairing that infrastructure all try to deny responsibility, causing a massive growth spurt of federalism as state governments are forced to step in and try to put out the literal and metaphorical fires. All this embarrassing chaos tarnishes the US's economic reputation of stability, causing a feedback loop of economic contractions as more and more foreign investors pull back from US investments, causing stock market drops which make even more investors panic and pull back, etc. The decade ends with the signing of the Qingdao Accords, a sort of reverse Marshall Plan where the newly-formed Global Logistics Network pours money into infrastructure projects in exchange for creating their own tangle of middlemen contractors. The signing of the Qingdao Accords is generally taken as the end of the Second Cold War with a Chinese victory.

2040s: the Sheriff's Insurrection. A loose alliance of small-town sheriffs (as well as small-business tyrants, conspiracy theorists, retvrn types, and various opportunists, all collectively referred to as 'Sheriffs') resist the "Chinese takeover of America" in a 21st century version of the evergreen landowners-vs-industrialists conflict. They are quickly fought off by GLN-hired paramilitary forces (the same forces will go on to form the Surplus Young Men, an Armored Core/Outer Heaven style 'security force' which is technically unaligned but everyone knows they're cashing GLN checks). The Sheriffs flee to the Midwest, creating a decentralized zone of tiny feuding principalities derogatorily dubbed ‘the manors.’ Other former US states begin to unite into new regional nations - Boswash, California, Cascadia, Texaplex, and the Great Lakes Republic. These new nations actually seem like they might be here to stay, but with much less ability to go sticking their nose in the rest of the world's business, and the decade ends with a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, China’s victory in the Second Cold War proves to be a Pyrrhic victory as the death of Xi Jinping (probably of natural causes but who knows) allows the GLN to balloon in wealth and influence. The CCP takes a sharp nationalist turn, re-branding itself as the Chinese China Party and turning party politics into a game of who can dunk on Americans the most.

2050s: Things are… good? The GLN is delivering on their promise of a new economic order, an automated and algorithmic 21st century market socialism with an infrastructure-based middle class of technicians, data analysts, and civil servants. There's still a global underclass of cheap mobile labor to actually go out to the middle of nowhere and build all this stuff but, y'know, it's a smaller global underclass. The manors calm down a little as the GLN supports the formation of autochthonous American nations: the Seven Council Fires of the Lakota and Dakota in the Midwest and the Diné Nation in the southwest, along with the progressive majority-black government of Piedmont in the Atlantic South, make it feel like we might be doing something about that whole ‘foundational white supremacy’ thing (The GLN was, of course, happy to take credit for solving racism forever). The GLN gets to claim even more PR victories as various post-colonial regions peacefully unify as ‘leagues,’ EU-style intra-national coalitions that work together on economic on diplomatic matters while letting individual states largely manage their own affairs. The US nations start to wonder if it might be time to form a league of their own. (Incidentally, by this point the EU has split apart into Frankistan and Mitteleuropa, Spain has exploded again, and Punished Britain is not coping well with their fall from grace.)

2060s: Who knows? Things start getting tense as the global construction boom slows down and the money-hose starts to dry up. 'Minor' regional problems and potential long-term issues are swept under the rug because "we’ve got a good thing going here, don't fuck this up," and the once-radical new visions for the world are already beginning to seem calcified and sclerotic. The newly-formed American League is poised to be little more than a rubber stamp for GLN policy… or is it?

[zerosecurity]

Russia's APT28 Cyber Espionage Group Targets Czechia, Germany Using Outlook Exploit

Czechia and Germany have exposed a long-running cyber espionage campaign conducted by the notorious Russia-linked APT28 hacking group, drawing harsh criticism from international organizations like the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Czech Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that certain entities within the country were targeted using a critical Microsoft Outlook vulnerability (CVE-2023-23397), allowing Russian state-sponsored hackers to escalate privileges and potentially gain unauthorized access. Germany Accuses APT28 of Targeting Social Democratic Party Similarly, Germany's Federal Government attributed the APT28 threat actor, also known as Fancy Bear, Pawn Storm, and Sofacy, to a cyber attack aimed at the Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party, exploiting the same Outlook flaw over a "relatively long period" to compromise numerous email accounts. The targeted industries spanned logistics, armaments, air and space, IT services, foundations, and associations located in Germany, Ukraine, and other European regions. Germany also implicated APT28 in the 2015 cyber attack on the German federal parliament (Bundestag). Widespread Condemnation of Russia's Malicious Cyber Activities NATO stated that Russia's hybrid actions "constitute a threat to Allied security," while the Council of the European Union condemned Russia's "continuous pattern of irresponsible behavior in cyberspace." The UK government described the recent APT28 activity, including targeting the German Social Democratic Party, as "the latest in a known pattern of behavior by the Russian Intelligence Services to undermine democratic processes across the globe." The US Department of State acknowledged APT28's history of engaging in "malicious, nefarious, destabilizing and disruptive behavior," and reiterated its commitment to upholding a "rules-based international order, including in cyberspace." Disruption of APT28's Criminal Proxy Botnet Earlier in February, a coordinated law enforcement action disrupted a botnet comprising hundreds of SOHO routers in the US and Germany believed to have been used by APT28 to conceal their malicious activities, such as exploiting CVE-2023-23397 against targets of interest. Cybersecurity researchers warn that Russian state-sponsored cyber threats, including data theft, destructive attacks, DDoS campaigns, and influence operations, pose severe risks to upcoming elections in regions like the US, UK, and EU, with multiple hacking groups like APT28, APT44 (Sandworm), COLDRIVER, and KillNet expected to be active. Securing Critical Infrastructure from Pro-Russia Hacktivist Attacks Government agencies from Canada, the UK, and the US have released a joint fact sheet to help critical infrastructure organizations secure against pro-Russia hacktivist attacks targeting industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) systems since 2022, often exploiting publicly exposed internet connections and default passwords. The recommendations include hardening human-machine interfaces, limiting internet exposure of OT systems, using strong and unique passwords, and implementing multi-factor authentication for all access to the OT network. Read the full article

[dougielombax]

Just leaving these articles here.

Feel free to reblog.

[toscanoirriverente]

CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said

China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday.

At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is through the “secret conditionality” of its donations to the governing body, Reilly wrote.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) “imposes a secret conditionality across UN agencies that the monies so provided may not be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan,” she said.

“Essentially, the PRC instumentalises the UN to increase pressure on” small island developing states and least developed countries, “which account for a majority of states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, to transfer their allegiance to the PRC,” she said.

The “Chief of the Human Rights Council Branch in OHCHR, a French national, was secretly providing the PRC with advance information on which human rights activists planned to attend the Human Rights Council,” Reilly wrote.

That information included British citizens and residents, she added.

The families of non-governmental organization (NGO) delegates were visited by Chinese police and “forced to phone them to tell them to stop their advocacy, arbitrarily arrested, placed under house arrest for the period of the meeting, disappeared, sentenced to long prison terms without cause, tortured, or, as regards Uyghurs, put in concentration camps,” she said.

Some individuals had died in detention, and “in at least one case, the Chinese government issued an Interpol red notice against an NGO delegate,” she said.

Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Reilly said that WHO and UN Environment Programme reports on the origins of COVID-19 “were edited to reduce references to the possibility of a laboratory leak.”

She also included in her “written evidence” a British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office report that said that China is working to “shape the multilateral system to align more with a state-centric, authoritarian world view.”

Tuesday’s inquiry aimed to follow up on a 2021 report by the committee, which concluded that autocratic states were attempting to aggressively co-opt strategically important multilateral organizations and to fundamentally redefine their founding principles.

In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked Reilly for speaking out.

“Thank you, @EmmaReillyTweet, for speaking out on how the #PRC corrupts the @UN& the rules-based order. #Taiwan is a known victim of #China’s wrongdoing, but in reality the whole world suffers. We need this brought up in the #G7, #EU & other bodies to counter this evil empire,” it wrote on X.

[beardedmrbean]

Today, the European Commission (EC) confirmed what was stated in the latest assessment on the rule of law and officially ended the monitoring over Bulgaria and Romania. The decision was announced by the European Commission and the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs in Sofia.

This means that both countries have made significant progress in implementing the commitments they made before they joined the European Union in 2007, and that they have satisfactorily covered the criteria of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. For Bulgaria, the fulfillment of the commitments was found in the last report for the country under the mechanism, drawn up in 2019, and for Romania - in 2022. Only the work on implementing specific commitments, adopted according to the recommendations of these reports, remained, and this was completed in June this year.

The two countries will continue to be evaluated within the annual cycle of the Report on the rule of law, applicable to all other member states of the European Union. The report has a wider scope than the monitoring. In addition, specific commitments - for the reform of the administration of justice and the framework for fighting corruption - have been undertaken by Bulgaria according to the Recovery and Sustainability Plan.

The governments or parliaments of the other 26 countries in the EU, as well as the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, have nothing to do with the termination of monitoring. This is the exclusive competence of the European Commission. There is only a requirement that it notify the council sufficiently in advance (this happened on 5 July 2023) and comply with the council's findings, which it has done.

The last report on Bulgaria's progress under the mechanism is from 2019. However, the monitoring mechanism remained, and in the following years experts noted problems related to the prosecution, the lack of progress on corruption investigations and other problems.

In November 2022, the European Commission also stopped preparing reports on Romania's progress under the mechanism.

EC President Ursula von der Leyen said:

"I would like to congratulate Bulgaria and Romania on the significant progress made since their accession to the EU so far. The rule of law is one of our core shared values as a union and both Member States have achieved results on important reforms in recent years. Today we report on these efforts, ending the mechanism. Work can now continue within the annual rule of law review cycle, as is done for all other Member States."

The Prime Minister Academician Nikolai Denkov:

"Another barrier has been removed to be equal with the rest of the European Union countries in all respects. Soon we must remove the others too - to be accepted in Schengen and join the Eurozone. On behalf of the Bulgarian government, I thank the European Commission and the leaders of European countries for assessing the progress of Bulgaria and Romania in implementing the rule of law and removing the special verification mechanism of our countries."

Atanas Slavov, Minister of Justice:

"Today's decision of the European Commission is a significant success and recognition of the reforms that are being carried out in Bulgaria in the field of the rule of law. The removal of the special monitoring under the mechanism, which lasted for nearly 17 years, means that the progress of our country in the field of judicial reform and the fight against corruption will be evaluated within the annual cycle for the rule of law in the EU and the regular annual reports of the European Commission, as it is for all other member states of the union. This significantly increases confidence in the Bulgarian justice system and will have a favorable impact on the process of Bulgaria's integration into Schengen and the Eurozone."

A reaction also came from the chairmen of the parliamentary groups of the two governing formations GERB and "We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria". Desislava Atanasova described the dropping of the monitoring as a "huge success for Bulgaria", which is the result of "the merits of many governments and many legislatures of the People's assembly". She expressed hope that this will help the country to be accepted into Schengen as soon as possible. "We are optimistic and we hope to succeed", she commented.

Kiril Petkov, for his part, called the cancellation of the monitoring "a huge victory" and attributed it to the success of the "Denkov-Gabriel" government. "This is only the 100th day of this government and this is a national success. This would not have happened without us, but Acad. Denkov and Mariya Gabriel worked together as a team and this is a huge success for them and a success for the whole government," he said. After that, he called on the Prime Ministers of Austria and the Netherlands, Mark Rutte and Karl Nehamer, to support Bulgaria for its entry into Schengen.

According to the leader of "Yes, Bulgaria" Hristo Ivanov, the dropping of the mechanism is "very good news for the Bulgarian image". According to him, this success is due to the fact that the European partners see that there is a political elite in Bulgaria that can set ambitious priorities and, based on them, form a government that will stabilize the political situation. According to him, this step should be seen as a credit of confidence to previous requests and actions.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us, serious changes to the Constitution are ahead, which should lead to the election of the SJC, the Inspectorate and a new chief prosecutor, who should really be convincing figures, because only then will our partners see that we have fulfilled this credit," he added.

According to Ivanov, Bulgaria's Schengen membership depends mainly on internal political processes, mainly in the Netherlands and Austria. "When two member countries like Bulgaria and Romania make efforts and they affect the general security and stability of the institutions in the European Union, we must see similar actions from the Netherlands and Austria, because otherwise, all European citizens will pay the price. After all - it is only European. Finally, Bulgaria and Romania will gain access to Schengen, so that Bulgarian citizens can be proper citizens of the EU," he added.

The informal leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delyan Peevski, who is sanctioned for corruption under the global Magnitsky Act, also indicated that this was a success for the government. According to him, after the termination of the monitoring, there are no grounds for the country not to be admitted to Schengen. "I hope that we will already do our things at the borders and reduce the migrant pressure, very soon we will have the good news that we are in Schengen. We hope that this will happen by December," said Peevski, according to whom, it is not possible to do this in October.

"The Commission has never made a connection between Schengen accession and the Monitoring, as these are separate lines of work, each with its own requirements," said a statement to today's decision.

"The Commission has always been very clear in its position that we should open the Schengen area to Bulgaria and Romania. For 12 years, Bulgaria and Romania have continuously met all the necessary conditions for joining the Schengen area, as stated in the Schengen Regulation. The expansion of Schengen remains a political priority for the commission. Bulgaria and Romania must obtain full participation in the Schengen area without further delay," the text adds.

[bopinion]

2023 / 15

Aperçu of the Week:

"The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because of his handle was made of wood he was one of them."

(Turkish proverb)

Bad News of the Week:

The European Union is actually well positioned in terms of foreign policy. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel are internationally recognized and have long been involved in the G7, for example. And Josep Borrell, formerly a Spanish minister and President of the European Parliament, as "High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy," is also an internationally recognized personality, the EU foreign minister, so to speak.

Nevertheless, each nation state likes to cook its own soup, a classic political power game. By this I don't even mean guys like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who regularly has to make it clear who is the master of the house by refusing to agree on common terms (not to say blackmailing). No, I mean, at least this week, French President Emmanuel Macron. He has been dreaming of being the "leading European" since the departure of Angela Merkel. Or as it is called in Washington DC, "the one to call when you want to talk to Europe."

All right, Macron is undoubtedly a committed European. And France, as the EU's second-largest member state, is a central power on the continent. With that comes the responsibility to appear wise, balanced and, above all, coordinated in awareness of one's own position. And that is precisely what Macron is not doing. The most recent example was his visit to Xi Jinping at Easter. Where he preferred to make his own mark and put France's economic interests first. As French head of state, he is allowed to do that, no question. But not under the European flag.

People on the old continent rubbed their eyes in amazement at his announcement that Europe should act more independently in the conflict with China over Taiwan. Explicitly delineated to the USA. If that would not happen, Europe would be in danger of becoming a vassal between the United States and China, even though it could be a third pole. "The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans should be fellow travelers on this issue and adapt to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction." Excuse me?

Criticism came from all sides. Manfred Weber, chairman of the conservative EPP as the largest group in the EU Parliament, for example, said that the EU states were making themselves untrustworthy "if on the one hand you demand sovereignty for Europe and then conclude every economic deal you can with China. (...) The Chinese leadership will not respect the Europeans like that." Or U.S. Senator Marco Rubio: If Europe does not side with China or the U.S. on the Taiwan issue, then perhaps the U.S. should not side with either in the Ukraine conflict. The unanimous opinion: a foreign policy disaster for Europe.

German Foreign Minister Annlena Baerbock showed in Beijing yesterday that there is another way. She demanded not only no Chinese arms deliveries to Russia, but also no so-called dual-use goods such as IT or chemicals that could be used militarily. She called for de-escalation on the Taiwan issue. She requested fair economic conditions. She denounced eroding human rights and discrimination. In short, she showed more balls than Macron. And she never forgot her role as a German politician. Not once did she presume to speak for Europe. Good girl.

Good News of the Week:

Germany's last nuclear power plants will be shut down today. Forever, please. Because that was the plan of the German government, which not coincidentally includes the Greens. But the wailing is loud: Is our energy supply really secure? Aren't nuclear power plants cleaner than coal-fired power plants? What can be bad about a form of energy on which neighbor Poland (announced just this week) is betting its future? Why shut down safe nuclear power plants here, when next door in the Czech Republic, decrepit Soviet-era plants are crumbling away? And isn't this just a symbolic debate by the Greens?

No. And once again, in all clarity: No! Nuclear energy is and remains Pandora's box of energy sources. Three-Mile-Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima are already forgotten? If the technology of a photovoltaic system, a wind turbine or - yes, for gods sake - a coal-fired power plant fails, you simply shut it down. That's it. This is not possible with a nuclear reactor. Because the nuclear isotopes don't give a shit if mankind doesn't want them anymore. They just keep on reacting. Until eternity. That is their nature.

Just to remind you: the half-life of uranium 235, the isotope most commonly used in fuel rods, is 703,800,000 years. And it takes ten half-lives (yeah, that means over 7 billion years) before it is no longer highly harmful to humans. So the stuff is still reacting after a period of time before mankind even existed - because the prehistoric man Homo habilis emerged just a comparatively paltry 2 million years ago in East Africa. And still there is no secure final disposal for the nuclear waste. Not because the relevant authorities would not make an effort. But simply because the inconceivably long time in which the waste could enter the groundwater, for example, is beyond the imagination of material science and geology. By far.

So: any nation, any country, any government that decides not to add an additional risk to the one that already exists should be commended. Period. So, at this point, also a "Thank you, well done!". And, dear Mr. Macron, if you are already looking for your place in the history books: don't bet on a special role in Taiwan policy (see above), rather put an end to the madness of your country's energy policy. Unbelievable: sometimes even Germany is suitable as a role model for France. And I don't even have to put an ironic emoji behind this statement - at least in this case....

Personal happy moment of the week:

For over 30 years, I have hardly changed physically. Okay, the connective tissue is weakening and I have already shrunk by 4 cm. The only difference that really stands out, besides less and grayer hair, is my belly. Of which I thought it knew only one development: bigger and thicker. Last Wednesday I had to get out of the house early and wanted to let my wife sleep in. So I put my clothes out the night before. And then realized the next day that my pants were too baggy for me. And had to keep pulling them up all day to the amusement of my colleagues. And still thought that was pretty good. Because after all, that means nothing other than that my belly has been more fatty before.

I couldn't care less...

...about the leakage of top-secret US documents. How can a 21-year-old National Guardsman, who is barely old enough to buy a can of bad beer, already have access to such explosive information? This is simply a flaw in the system.

As I write this...

...I'm still full to bursting from a brunch with friends. The second time this week after Easter Monday. This could directly become my favorite meal. Especially if my wife makes a quiche for it. It just tastes good every time.

Post Scriptum

In 1938, farmer Earl Silas Tupper had a brilliant idea when he learned about polyethylene plastic at the DuPont chemical company: at a time when refrigerators were not yet a standard in every kitchen, food would keep longer in an airtight plastic bowl. Tupperware was born, the rest is history. Tupper parties have already taken place at my house, too, and certainly three dozen pieces are to be found in various cupboards and drawers for years - and in the refrigerator, of course.

Now Tupperware Brands Corporation is threatened with insolvency as sales and stock have plummeted. Since this can hardly be due to the product, especially in times when disposable packaging is being abolished, it must be the marketing and distribution. Because until 2018, at least in Germany, the products were only available at these legendary Tupperware parties. Now there is an online store, but still no sales in stationary retail. Allegedly, "promising talks" are currently taking place, one reads. I hope this happens quickly enough. I would really miss this brand.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Lucinda Creighton

Lucinda Creighton was born in 1980 in Claremorris, Ireland. From 2011 to 2013, Creighton served as Ireland's Minister for European Affairs. During this time, she represented Ireland in important negotiations with the EU's Foreign Affairs Council and General Affairs Council. From 2012 until 2014, Creighton was Vice President of the European People's Party, Europe's largest political party.

[jordanianroyals]

20 December 2022: King Abdullah II delivered a speech at the second Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership, hosted by Jordan with the participation of heads of state and delegations, as well as representatives of Arab, regional, and international organisations.

He expressed Jordan’s pride in hosting the conference, as it reflects the importance the Kingdom places on its ties with Iraq. His Majesty also thanked Iraq Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al Sudani and French President Emmanuel Macron for their cooperation in holding the conference. “Our meeting represents an opportunity to build on the outcomes of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership held last year, and reaffirm our support for Iraq’s efforts to continue on the path towards development and prosperity, as well as bolster its security, stability, and sovereignty,” the King said. (Source: Petra)

“This conference is also a chance to highlight Iraq’s pivotal role in the region and in bringing us together to bolster regional cooperation,” His Majesty added at the conference, attended by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II. The King said the conference is being held at a time when the region faces security and political crises, as well as challenges to food, water and health security, amid the need to safeguard energy resources and supply chains, while dealing with the repercussions of climate change. “We in Jordan believe that the region needs stability, just and comprehensive peace, regional cooperation, especially in the economic and development fields, as well as addressing the issues of poverty and unemployment. We believe that facing our shared challenges requires collective action with a positive, tangible impact for our peoples,” His Majesty noted. The King highlighted joint projects between Jordan and Iraq, as well as with other Arab countries in energy, industry, trade, and transportation, which have been strengthened by the trilateral cooperation mechanism between Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq. “We recognise the multitude and complexity of the challenges facing us, but we also believe that this conference is being held to serve our mutual interests in ensuring Iraq’s security, prosperity, and stability as a key pillar in our region. We look forward to continuing to work alongside you all to strengthen our partnerships in service of our peoples,” His Majesty concluded. The conference saw the participation of the presidents of Egypt and France, as well as the prime minister of Iraq, the ruler of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, the prime minister of Kuwait, and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran. Participants also included the secretaries general of the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as the assistant secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Turkish ambassador to Jordan, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy and European Commission vice-president, and the special representative of the UN secretary-general for Iraq and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.

[mariacallous]

The Polish foreign minister has urged his EU counterparts to remove restrictions placed by their countries on the use of long-range weapons donated to Ukraine.

Radosław Sikorski said that Ukraine should be able to use such weapons for “legal self-defense.” His comments come in the wake of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s British cabinet address where he appealed to politicians to remove restrictions on how Ukraine can use weapons supplied by its Western allies to allow long-range strikes on Russia. NATO members, which include all but four EU states, have adopted a number of approaches to how Ukraine can use the weapons they donate. Some have said that the Ukrainian military can use the donated weapons to attack targets inside Russia. However, the United States, a key NATO member, has taken a “narrower” approach. Washington has allowed weapons to be used only just inside Russia’s border against targets supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine. Sikorski made the call during a monthly meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels on Monday. He said that with long-range arms Ukraine could prevent Russian attacks, such as the recent shelling of a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, by being able to destroy fighter jets and attack the airports from which they take off. Sikorski argued that defending children’s hospitals “is not escalation… but self-defense, which is legal under international law.” During the conference, Sikorski pointed out that Hungary had announced it would continue to block the reimbursement of funds from the European Peace Facility for weapons transferred to Ukraine. The purchases of weapons for Ukraine are made by member countries, after which they can apply for reimbursement from the EU budget. However, the disbursement of funds has been blocked by Hungary for months, as the allocation of further tranches of funds to the EPF must be unanimously approved by EU states. “This is a big disappointment for me,” Sikorski said. He went on to list the reasons for Budapest’s opposition and said that now Hungary’s “pretext” to oppose the reimbursement was “that Hungary is not allowed to import Russian oil shipped by a specific Russian company, Lukoil, which is subject to sanctions, even though it can be done through another Russian company.” He told the FAC meeting that Poland was still waiting to be reimbursed 2 billion zlotys (€470 million) from the European Peace Facility.

[ynwa-chiesa]

Dont mind me im studying

MR stands for european council, P stands for the parlament, K for the comission and EuGH for the court OK

So the parlament which is voted in every 5 votes on the president of the comission. They then basically build up a team of ministers which the parlament can check up on and refuse to accept, the commissiom has to be voted by the P with an absolute majority. So then the K makes proposals for laws which the P and MR vote on. The laws can be immidiate and EU wide (Verordnung) or something the countries have to put in their won laws (Richtlinie) and both the P and MR discuss it and if theres a disagreement theres a Vermittlungsausschuss (conciliation committee) which forces a comptomise that has to be agreed upon??? The MR is just the ministers from every country (27) so if its an uuhmmm like an education issue the 27 education ministers come together? Oh also the comissiom has also 27 fucking people in it and they also represent one country eatch and have their own jobs like security education whatever. Now i think that the... MR can vote on stuff not with an absolute majority (unless its security or foreign affairs) but 15/27 AND represent 65 % of the populatiiooon.....also OH ok so the budget is put up by theee... BY BOTH THE MR AND P AGAIN and the K has to check up on it and if somethings wrong the K has to go to the EuGH like to sue and they check it and the only possible punishment is to have to pay i think??? Also you can always send petitions to the P..... And they have a guy... God idk.... What did i forget 😭 international treaties are negotiated by the K but... The MR and P vote on them????????????? I think..... Also the EuGH has 56 judges..... I said this already but the P and MR cannot draw up new laws... ALSO omg the parlament controlls the K and.... EuGH NO THE MR FUCK Because they can ask questions at any time 😭

[thesecrettimes]

EU Bans Crypto Companies for Russians in New Sanctions Over Ukraine Escalation

An array of crypto-related services have been targeted in the latest round of sanctions on Russia approved by the EU. The measures are part of an expected tightening of the economic and financial restrictions in response to Moscow’s decision to annex Ukrainian territories.

EU Council Adopts Full Ban on Crypto Wallet and Custody Services for Russian Persons

The Council of the European Union announced new sanctions against Russia on the backdrop of the deepening military conflict in Ukraine. The penalties, expected to hurt the Russian government and economy, come after Moscow took steps to annex the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. In a statement, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell emphasized that the sanctions are a response to the latest escalation with the “fake referenda” in these four oblasts. Russian individuals and entities that have played a role in their organization will be specifically targeted. Other Russian citizens and businesses are also going to take a hit, including those that deal with cryptocurrencies. The new measures include a full ban on the provision of wallet, account, or custody services for crypto assets to Russian persons and residents. That’s regardless of the value of these assets, according to the eighth package of sanctions imposed by Brussels. This spring, when the EU approved its fifth round of such measures, the Council prohibited only the provision of “high-value” crypto-asset services to Russians and organizations registered in their country. The ban applied to digital funds exceeding €10,000 (close to $11,000 at the time).

New European Sanctions to Hit Russian Imports and Exports

While the earlier restrictions were meant to limit the transfer of wealth through digital assets and close other loopholes in the crypto space, a recent report revealed that pro-Russian groups have been actively using cryptocurrency, often in small transactions, to fund paramilitary operations in Ukraine. According to the research, they have raised $400,000 in crypto since the start of the invasion in late February. Russian authorities have also been working to allow businesses to employ crypto payments for international settlements. With the latest move, the EU also bans the provision of IT consultancy and legal advisory services to Russia as well as architectural and engineering services. Russian imports and exports have been targeted, too, including the maritime transport of crude oil and petroleum products to third countries. The provision of related services will be allowed only if these have been purchased at or below a pre-established price cap, which is yet to be determined. Among the other measures is a ban on EU nationals to hold any posts on the governing bodies of some Russian state-owned or government-controlled entities. The Council also decided to broaden the criteria under which persons can be designated as facilitating the circumvention of restrictions imposed by the European Union. The European Commission, the executive body in Brussels, welcomed the latest sanctions package. Do you think the new EU sanctions will significantly limit access to cryptocurrencies for Russians? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Read the full article