Search the Community

"The worst thing would be to think that we, Europeans, should follow others in the matter of Taiwan and adjust to the American pace and the Chinese overreaction," said the French President in an interview during his trip to China. Macron urged the EU to so-called "wake up" and stressed that "our priority is not to adapt to the agenda of others in all regions of the world." He gave this interview just before Beijing launched major military maneuvers around Taiwan. Also, today, the CCP simulated an attack on Taiwan and posted the images on social media. It is concerning that Macron would downplay the seriousness of the situation in Taiwan during his visit to Beijing especially when the Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy's was visiting Taiwan. Tensions between EU and USA? or just a game of words from Macron to get the best economic deal in China? Macron, Macron, Macron ... pas bien...

In Czech Republic, one can see if the war in Ukraine has changed the view of the population. So far, good news for Europe, NATO and our Western Alliance. The populist side in Czech Republic even accepted the Communist Party support. 😄 --- Retired general and former NATO official Petr Pavel led billionaire ex-prime minister Andrej Babis by a nearly 18-point margin ahead of a Czech presidential election run-off vote, according to the final Ipsos agency poll published on Monday. Pavel was polling at 58.8% to 41.2% for Babis in the survey conducted on Jan. 20-22. The two candidates meet in the second round of the election on Jan. 27-28. ---> Pavel (picture 1), an independent backed by the centre-right government, has projected a clear pro-Western policy stance and support for Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression. ---> The populist, Babis (picture 2), who heads the largest opposition political party, won the backing of retiring President Milos Zeman as well as figures from the extreme fringes of the political scene, including the pro-Russian former ruling Communist Party. Zeman had favoured closer ties with China and Russia, until Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year. Sources: ABC News and my commentary 😃

?! "Hungary has been exempted from the application of the oil price cap", the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Péter Szijjártó, announced on his official Facebook page on Saturday . So in another words this person above is happy -> that Hungary will pay more to the Russians?. Not even in the time of Spartacus you did not see such loyal obedience or to use the correct word: slavery. How does Viktor Orban get away with this politically? Why is the EU making concessions for this loyal obedient to Moscow? So Hungary and Viktor Orbán get to smoke in the hallway and ban weapons transports in their country from NATO allies, and Croatia - Romania - Bulgaria, the good students have to beg to the EU to let them into the Schengen space? To be fair to the EU, he is investigated for other things: EU Commission calls for freeze on €13bn funding for Hungary: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63806254

From Equatorial Guinea’s leverage over Washington to Qatar’s scandal in Brussels, small resource-rich states are flexing their diplomatic muscle. By Emma Ashford, a senior fellow with the Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center, and Matthew Kroenig, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Emma A.: Good thing you didn’t put your money where your mouth was—you’d have lost it all! But gambling isn’t the only way to get rich off the World Cup. Have you been following the European Union corruption scandal that has been rocking Brussels in recent days? Matthew K.: Indeed. It was scandalous news. There are reports that Qatar bribed several European officials in order to influence EU policies in advance of the World Cup. It raises an interesting and broader policy problem. We have known that U.S. enemies, such as China and Russia, have been using “sharp power” tools against wide-open Western democracies in order to secure their interests. China bribed an Australian politician and Czech academics, for example, to follow a pro-China agenda. The United States and its allies have woken up to this threat and are putting in place policies to curtail it. But how do we handle relatively friendly autocracies, such as Qatar, engaging in similar tactics? You can read the full article here with the rest of the discussion: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/12/16/qatar-obiang-biden-eu-scandal-china-autocratic-allies-damaging-us-and-eu-credibility/

According to a strong theory coming from political analysts in Romania and Bulgaria, the European Union might do a deflection on the Schengen access and just allow it by "air". Behind this decision, the factor might be that the powers in Western Europe want to keep the 2 countries as a "buffer" zone, in terms of immigration coming from other areas. Ok, so let me bring up some points, I welcome anyone to disagree with me: - Romania and Bulgaria were the good student in class while Hungary and Poland created issues for the European Union block. - The European Union decision will look like a punishment for the good students in class. So Hungary, Poland can smoke in the hallway and the good students need to stay in class. Ok. - Putin's sabotage is not only towards the Ukrainians. He wants to hit in my view power grids so Ukrainians flee in Europe to seek shelter. Romania and Bulgaria, especially the first were also the good students receiving and will still receive refugees as that is the correct thing to do during the war. Is not the fault of the Ukrainian people. - Economy is bad already in those regions, this winter -> this will intensity and now enters on the stage the far right. - In Romania, a former street football hooligan started a movement with the usual nationalistic tendencies. His tactic is simple, he travels the country and targets the villages, people that do not have access to that much information, plays some local music, talks about foreigners disrespecting Romanians, EU sceptic, etc, etc. Propaganda 101. But guess what? Politics is not your idealism, is what you can do to win and take advantage also about mistakes on the other side. - If the European Union decides soon to bar entry to Schengen, the messages from the populists in Eastern Europe will become stronger. You add in the pot the economic insecurity. Does the European Union want a Orban in Romania, Bulgaria? Or is this some sort of punishment because Romania put America first and not old Europe first? - These are theories, I hope the powers that be at EU allow access to these 2 countries to the Schengen. Reward the good students in class, especially after this war. Loyalty needs to be rewarded, or else people will look somewhere else and that is a risk for democracy. The decision should be in a few days.