Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts

Monday, February 24, 2025

Trump Is Destroying Western Unity as He ‘Cosies’ Up to Putin | Andrew Neil

Feb 24, 2025 | “Trump seems to be keener to cosy up to Putin than he is to defend his NATO allies.”

If Trump continues in his approach this is “the end in many ways” of a united western world, says Times Radio’s Andrew Neil.



FT! FA! LE! – © Mark Alexander

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Europe 'Will Almost Certainly Be At War with Russia' If Trump's Ukraine Chaos Continues

Feb 20, 2025 | "The way to prevent that is strong defense to spend money on defence to be prepared for the worst case, because that is the only way we are going to deter Russia." US withdrawal from NATO and failure to challenge Putin in ceasefire talks would cause a war in Europe in five years warns Former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Richard Shirreff on Frontline.

To the Point: Trump and Putin - A New Alliance to Weaken Europe? | DW News

Feb 20, 2025 | Europe is in shock just days before the German federal elections. Recent statements by several officials of the Trump administration suggest Germany, Ukraine and the European Union are now on their own, as Trump suddenly recites Vladimir Putin’s talking points.

The war in Ukraine, the economic crisis, and a series of attacks by asylum seekers are unsettling many German voters. Now, the country’s most important ally is turning its back. The US is negotiating directly with Russia, bypassing the Europeans. America is no longer a warrant of safety in the region. At the same time, representatives of the Trump administration are interfering in the electoral process by openly endorsing the partially far-right AfD. On To the Point we ask: " Trump and Putin - a new alliance to weaken Europe?

Our guests:
Rachel Tausendfreund, Senior Research Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations
Ulrike Herrmann, author and Business Editor at Germany’s daily taz
John Kampfner, author, journalist and foreign affairs specialist.


Tuesday, February 18, 2025

US-Russia Talks Is 'the Last Warning for Europe,' Gabrielius Landsbergis Says

Feb 18, 2025 | The Kyiv Independent’s Martin Fornusek speaks with former Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, at the 2025 Munich Security Conference as U.S. officials undermine Ukraine’s NATO prospects and territorial integrity ahead of peace negotiations with Russia. He urges Europe to take stronger action, including integrating Ukraine into the EU and offering security guarantees, while stressing the need for long-term leadership to prevent Ukraine from being left alone in the face of future Russian aggression.

Trump’s ‘Disorganised and Uncoordinated’ Deal Puts Ukraine On the Menu | Ambassador Mitchell Reiss

Feb 18, 2025 | “The United States is allowing Russia to break out of its diplomatic isolation cost free.” Trump has put Ukraine “on the menu” by “removing them from the table” as he pushes for a “disorganised and uncoordinated” peace deal, says ambassador Mitchell Reiss.

The One Move that Could Change Everything for Trump/Putin: Sir Bill Browder

Feb 18, 2025 | Sir Bill Browder tells Times Radio’s Maddie Hale it’s “crunch time” to end the war in Ukraine and the entire negotiation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will change if Europe “picks up the slack” by confiscating the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets.

What the US and Russia Might Agree On without Ukraine and Europe | DW News

Feb 18, 2025 | US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov today in Saudi Arabia.

Talks are aimed at setting up negotiations for a peace plan for Ukraine without Kyiv or Europe at the table. It's the first high-level meeting between the two countries since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor three years ago. A day earlier, European leaders held an emergency summit in Paris over the prospect of being excluded from peace talks.


Monday, February 17, 2025

Why the Lithuanian President Thinks “Ukraine Is Only the First Target” | DW News

Feb 17, 2025 | Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda warned not to underestimate the long-term threat that Russia would pose to Europe in the coming decades. Speaking with DW’s Teri Schultz, Nauseda said Putin was not planning to stop in Ukraine. A quick peace deal would only provide Russia with a break in fighting and allow it to restock, produce more ammunition and attack once again, possibly also other targets, like Baltic countries such as Lithuania. Instead, the West should negotiate with Russia from a position of strength, Nauseda said, and Europe should be part of such negotiations. But to be able to do so, European states need to unite and increase their military spending, he emphasized, something the United States have long called for.

Sunday, February 16, 2025

Von der Leyen's Powerful Address at Munich Security Conference: A Bold Vision for Europe's Future!

Feb 14, 2025 | In her compelling speech at the Munich Security Conference 2025, President Ursula von der Leyen outlines Europe’s response to an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape. From the war in Ukraine to global competition, she emphasizes the urgency of strengthening Europe's defenses and economy. Hear her call for unity and action, and her vision of a stronger, more resilient Europe ready to face global challenges head-on.

Editorial: America Is Folding. Europe, Will You Step Up?

THE KYIV INDEPENDENT: The U.S. administration is ready to hand Russia a win in its brutal war against Ukraine.

That’s the only conclusion we can make after following the news this week. If anyone held onto hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump would be tough on Russia’s Vladimir Putin, sorry to disappoint you.

As the week unfolded, the world watched as Trump and his team — a group of people who pride themselves on being artful dealmakers — threw away any possible leverage they may have had over Russia. They brought Putin back to the table, took NATO off of Ukraine’s, and said a return to pre-invasion borders was unrealistic.

In other words, they gave Moscow exactly what it wanted before the negotiations even started.

Here in Ukraine, that means we only have one hope remaining — we need you, in Europe, to step up. » | The Kyiv Independent | Friday, February 14, 2025

Trump Gets Rude Awakening as Europe Smack Him Down

Feb 16, 2025 | MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on European leaders rallying behind Ukrainian President Zelenskyy after Trump’s ultimate betrayal.


Volodymyr Zelenskyy is absolutely correct on this. Europe needs its own strong defences. America can no longer be relied on to defend our continent. We MUST do this ourselves. We can and we must. My visitors will know that I have been calling for this for a very long time. – © Mark Alexander

America Threatens Europe as World Order Shifts

Feb 16, 2025 | Donald Trump has thrown the world’s biggest military alliance into disarray, withdrawing America’s commitment to European security as Pete Hegseth told almost 50 of Ukraine ’s Western backers that he had joined their meeting “to directly and unambiguously express that stark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the security of Europe.” Anthony Davis reports.


Five Minute News can be supported on Patreon here.

Trump should have been put in jail long ago. – © Mark Alexander

Putin Has Long Wanted More Power in Europe. Trump Could Grant It.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Remarks by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are fueling concerns that the U.S. will move away from Europe and align with Moscow.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia shocked the audience at the annual security conference in Munich in 2007 by demanding the rollback of domineering American influence and a new balance of power in Europe more suitable to Moscow.

He didn’t get what he wanted — then.

Nearly two decades later, during the very same conference, top officials from President Trump’s cabinet made one thing clear: Mr. Putin has found an American administration that might help him realize his dream.

Comments by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance raised fears among attendees that under the new administration the U.S. might align with Russia and either assail Europe or abandon it altogether.

Such a shift, analysts say, would give Mr. Putin a previously unthinkable victory far more momentous for him than any objectives in Ukraine.

“Since the dawn of the Cold War in the late 1940s, the Kremlin has dreamed of pushing America out of its role as the cornerstone of European security,” said Andrew S. Weiss, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Putin surely is savvy enough to pounce on any openings provided by the new administration.” » | Paul Sonne | Reporting from Berlin | Sunday, February 16, 2025

God Almighty! Trump is such a stupid man! – © Mark Alexander

Putin Scores a Big Victory, and Not on the Battlefield: Vladimir Putin’s call with President Trump reinforced the Russian leader’s view that Moscow and Washington should decide the fate of Ukraine — and other weighty matters. »

Trump’s Ambition to Redraw the World Map Ignores Those Affected Most: President Trump’s approach to foreign policy deals is reviving a bygone imperial approach that may backfire, experts say. »

Saturday, February 15, 2025

Europe's Leaders Fuming after Trump's Deal with Putin Leaves Strategic Void

Feb 14, 2025 | Donald Trump's deal with Putin has created a "strategic void between the US and Europe," says Tobias Ellwood who is at the Munich Security Conference.

Trump Would Be ‘Highly Irresponsible’ to Remove Military Support from Ukraine | Lord Dannatt

Feb 15, 2025 | “It would be endangering not only the security of Ukraine, but endangering the security of Europe.”

Donald Trump must not withdraw military capability and functions in Europe, as it may “force” the rest of Europe to intervene in the war in Ukraine, says Lord Dannatt.


Zelensky Warns the Days of America’s Guaranteed Support for Europe Are Over

Feb 15, 2025 | Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the days of guaranteed US support for Europe were over. This came following a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump, raising fears in Kyiv that it was being frozen out of negotiations, with the White House also downplaying the prospects of Ukraine joining NATO


This is the mess you get when you elect a political greenhorn into the White House as president. – © Mark Alexander

Europe Will Not Be Part of Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks, US Envoy Says

THE GUARDIAN: Keith Kellogg tells countries to offer concrete solutions and boost spending instead of complaining about talks role

Europe will be consulted – but ultimately excluded – from the planned peace talks between Russia, the US and Ukraine, Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine has revealed.

Asked if Europe would be present at the planned talks, Keith Kellogg said he was from “the school of realism, and that is not going to happen”.

“It may be like chalk on the blackboard, it may grate a little bit, but I am telling you something that is really quite honest,” he said on Saturday.

“And to my European friends, I would say: get into the debate, not by complaining that you might, yes or no, be at the table, but by coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up [defence] spending.”

Kellogg’s remarks will cause consternation among some European leaders who do not trust Trump and believe their country’s security is inextricably interwoven with the fate of Ukraine. The Polish foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, said the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had invited European leaders to Paris on Monday to discuss the situation. » | Patrick Wintour in Munich | Saturday, February 15, 2025

Friday, February 07, 2025

For Europe’s Right, Trump Stirs Caution Alongside Celebration

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The American president’s threat of tariffs is not in the interest of Europe’s nationalist parties, who are just as eager to put their own countries first.

Standing in the rotunda, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy was a privileged guest at President Trump’s inauguration.

The only European leader to attend the event last month, Ms. Meloni shares many of Mr. Trump’s conservative, nationalist impulses. She is friendly with his billionaire adviser Elon Musk. Many of her supporters hope that the Italian leader’s special relationship with Mr. Trump will bolster Italy’s standing — and her own.

But even as Ms. Meloni joined a standing ovation for the new American president, it took only moments for Mr. Trump to remind her and others on Europe’s right that the unpredictable American president may be as much an adversary as an ally.

“I will, very simply, put America first,” Mr. Trump said in his inaugural address. “We will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”

Since then, Mr. Trump has warned that he will “definitely” slap Europe with tariffs “pretty soon,” raising the same wariness that many Europeans feel among those on the right who would seem to be his natural allies.

While Mr. Trump promises to answer to no one as he prioritizes American interests, many nationalist parties in Europe pledge to do the same for their own countries. Mr. Trump’s threats go to the heart of their own agendas, and they could hurt the core constituencies on which nationalist parties have expanded their appeal. » | Emma Bubola and Catherine Porter | Reporting from Rome and Paris. | Thursday, January 6, 2025

Leer en español aquí.

Monday, February 03, 2025

Is Europe Still in the AI Race? | ARTE Europe Weekly

Jan 31, 2025 | The breakout success of Chinese DeepSeek has shaken the US’s position as a global leader in artificial intelligence. But although it might seem like a two-horse race between the US and China, the EU was the first region in the world to have created a legal framework for AI and is starting to massively invest in supercomputing and innovation. As the European Commission said, “The race for AI is far from over.”

Is Europe still in the AI race? | ARTE Europe Weekly
Available until 01/03/2025