#reclaim the bloc

[personalmoshiakh]

hey, so— i’ve been ~officially writing a web serial since 2021 (unofficially, since at least 2014). Updates are currently very irregular, but i’m definitely still working on it!

✨🧿 THE BITTER DROP 🧿✨

modern fantasy romance about gay/trans Eastern Bloc Jews, set in a secondary world counterpart of early Soviet communes

The lounge is nearly empty tonight; all the action is downstairs at the grinding workshop — in the basement discotheque; you if I’m to have any hope of pulling, that’s where I ought to go but … ekh, I’m foggy tonight, between the psychosis and the laudanum for the pain what likes to haunt nefilim and the horse pills they made me take at the Mamka — nu okay, I skipped tonight’s dose so I can drink but like, neuroleptics don’t let go that quick — and as the brainfog settles on my thoughts, it turns to hoarfrost and my will seizes up like a rusty hinge.

Lev/Lyubov Morgenshtern, a queeny bigender flamer who’d once been one of the Pale’s youngest-ever ordained rabbonim, has just returned to the Talons Ghetto sovyet — an autonomous workers-and-peasants commune of the kind that directly preceded the Soviet Union (and indeed the thing that the USSR named itself after).

Lev is fresh off a stint on a psych ward that’d followed a far longer stint living in the tzarist-held half of Svet Dmitrin with a bougie respectability-obsessed ex-boyfriend — he’s got nowhere to sleep, no assurance her old friends, Red Guard and civilian both, would want to see them and the only workable plan she’s got is to find someone willing and soft-hearted to take him home for the night …

… and what luck if their rescuer, a medical necromancer by the name of Anzu Menelikov (Nyura to friends and lovers) is a beautiful trans flamer from a prominent rabbinical family! who better to welcome Lyubov home than a fellow hothouse flower and dedicated scholar? and does it matter if Nyura did anything the White Guard might still bear a grudge about? after all, most of the old Ghetto walls are still safely intact, and it’s not like Reb Doktor Menelikov personally set the Winter Palace on fire, right?

i’d say if you liked the Baru Cormorant series, Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union and Gentlemen of the Road, Fallen London and its associated games, China Miéville’s oeuvre, and Disco Elysium, this’d probably be your thing!

content warnings

(under the cut)

reclaimed homophobic slurs

the narrator has a history of psychiatric institutionalisation

homophobia, transphobia, transmisogyny and antisemitism are environmental hazards in the setting, though by far not the focus

#the bitter drop #web serial #web fiction #web novel #fiction #tell your friends #and tell me if you read it tbh

[mapsontheweb]

Mitteleuropäische Bund: Imaginary Post-WW1 Europe, 1930.

by u/Ben1152000

After World War I, instead of a crippled Weimar Republic, Germany is kept largely strong throughout the interwar years and forms a stable democratic federation of states, incorporating the "core" states of Northern Germany, and Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg, Silesia, Prussia, and the Free City of Danzig. Austria, having lost its empire after the war, joins the federation, bringing two new states of Tirol and Austria Proper. Finally, Bohemia and Moravia, newly independent from the War, also join the federation to get access to Western European trade and greater lines of credit. The stability of the Middle European Federation prevents the rise of Fascist governments in neighboring nations, especially in Italy, which, with the help of the newly-formed union, peacefully reclaims the traditional Italian lands of Corsica, Nicce, and Malta from France and Britain respectively. Facing threats from both the Soviet Union and their larger neighbors, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Albania all establish alliances with the MEC, forming a new 'Central European' power bloc to rival the influence of the Western Allies of Britain and France, and the Soviet Union.

Currency: European Mark

Official Language: Standard German

Regional Languages: Czech, Austro-Bavarian, Low German, Polish

Capital: Frankfurt

#maps #Ben1152000 #europe #alternate history #1930

[palominocorn]

Y'all, if you wouldn't reblog from someone with a swastika icon (and why would you do that), then don't reblog from someone with a hammer and sickle icon. It's really that simple.

I know it's tempting, as people who have never lived under the USSR, to assume that everything you learned about the horrors that happened behind the Iron Curtain was just capitalist propaganda, but as someone whose family lived it? It was worse than what high school social studies taught you.

The hammer and sickle is a symbol of state terror. Of genocide. Of bigotry. Of too many abuses to list. It's a symbol drenched in fear and blood and pain.

And it's not a symbol that you can reclaim. We, the survivors and descendants of the communist bloc, are the ones who decide whether we can turn it into a symbol of resistance, and we have decided: no. The wounds are too raw and the fear is too deep.

To the people actually affected by the hammer and sickle, it is still a symbol of violence. Put it down. Leave it be. Let us recover.

#People I am so tired of this #I am tired of dredging up five generations of trauma in the hopes #That I'll get through to people #I'm so tired of seeing people I like #People who are educated on the history of communism #Put this sign of hatred on my dash #USSR #communism #Leftism #Anti-capitalism #Socialism #Iron Curtain #Eastern Bloc

[mariagalleriax]

[Caution: Spoilers for Monster]

Grimmer and the Reclamation of Self.

Wolfgang Grimmer: 40 year old man with a troubled past. Fighting against the effects of induced sociopathy, a remnant of his time spent surviving the horrors of Kinderheim 511 and the eastern bloc. Unable to maintain a family or even property grieve for his child. Yet, despite all circumstances, resists the narrative written for himself, and replaces it with his own desires. The desire to feel what could not be felt. It must have been so hard. But in his last days, it was his life that served as a ministry to others. Teaching them how to feel. I think there's something profound about it.

I want to focus on his introduction for this.

Barefoot. [Nameless.]

One of the reasons why I've fallen so deeply in love with Urasawa's Monster is how well he depicts the struggle to maintain identity and how often we take for granted a life in which we were given one.

A man reared for espionage, Grimmer was robbed of a sense of self. He survived without it. However, surviving isn't exactly living. Going through the motions like an unrelenting cog in a machine (I'd even say this is similar to Tenma's life prior to his life as a fugitive. Stuck at Eisler Memorial as a middleman with no direction) is not living.

Grimmer is not only reprimanding the bullies for stealing shoes, but the agents of Kinderheim that robbed the lives of many others as well.

The kind of people that would take another person's shoes [identity] are despicable.

We see him express his disdain towards Bonaparta in the Ruhenheim Arc. Bonaparta is despicable, and Grimmer was adamant about making sure he knew it well.

The Ultimate Rejection of Kinderheim 511 is Love. And that is Wolfgang Grimmer.

A dichotomy to Christof Sievernich, Roberto, and all others affected, Grimmer's devotion to acts of service, kindness, and gratitude, regardless of his programmed inability to feel is the rejection of Kinderheim 511, and the reclamation of self. Consider the effort that it took to smile at that child and even give him the shoes off of his feet. To carefully consider what morals to instill in that child and put in the effort to console him and inspire him to fight for himself. A man fighting against subdued feelings, eager to improve the lives of others at the cost of himself.

And this is a literal cost. Throwing away the given name that was grimmer to become a fugitive for the sake of Jan Suk mirrors act of giving away his shoes to the child. Tragically exonerated posthumously, he remained triumphant against the will of Kinderheim as he managed to accomplish the desire to feel and reclaim his narrative.

Created to aid in the destruction of good, HE chose to deviate and become the embodiment of good. And the short amount of time that he spent with Lunge, Tenma and Jan, he changed the trajectory of their lives for good as well.

That is Wolfgang Grimmer.

#naoki urasawa's monster #wolfgang grimmer #kenzo tenma #christof sievernich #franz bonaparta #long reads #character analysis #identity #good and evil

[mariacallous]

Ukraine is now bearing an unthinkable price for the fall of the Berlin Wall and the so-called Friedliche Revolution (or Peaceful Revolution) of 1989 that was so much celebrated in Germany. It was famously called Die Nachholende Revolution, the “catch-up revolution,” by the de facto German state philosopher Jürgen Habermas—a term that symptomatically reveals the basic Western understanding of Eastern Europe’s role after the collapse of the communist bloc. The only task the region was assigned was simply catching-up with the West regardless of its actual historical experience. The ongoing war shows that this catch-up revolution became a catch-up regression into complacency, mirroring the general trajectory of the West after the proclaimed “end of history.”

Ukraine’s victory over Russia would indeed mean a genuine revolution for the West. It would require, foremost from Europe, a radical transformation. Eventual European Union and NATO enlargement are necessary—but only what lies on the surface. That is the same reason why the European Union couldn’t accept the political outcomes of Ukraine’s Euromaidan revolution of 2014. As a political marketplace—or agora, in ancient Greek—reclaimed by its citizens, the Euromaidan revolution dragged Europe back to its roots of democracy, justice, anti-oligarchy, and freedom. In its revolutionary nature, Euromaidan was so fundamentally European that it turned out to be too European for today’s EU. Ukraine appeared to be a test that Europe failed to pass. But Euromaidan is not just a story of an exciting revolutionary past; it has allowed Ukraine to survive and effectively resist Russia’s atrocious war of aggression today.

In reality, Ukraine has experienced three Euromaidans—all different but driven by the same political intention. The first one in 2014 was a revolutionary Euromaidan, which successfully opposed an authoritarian bloody assault on society. The second one in 2019 was an electoral Euromaidan, which elevated to the presidency a person capable of maintaining the state during an existentially critical moment. And the third one was a war Euromaidan, when the whole country became one armed revolution opposing Russia’s military invasion in February 2022. The juxtaposition of the first and the last is pivotal—in 2014, the Euromaidan social movement was against an internal oppressor, the state repressive apparatus seized by a criminal autocrat; in 2022, the Euromaidan movement unified with the state to resist an external military oppressor. The history of the Euromaidan thus demonstrates that revolutions can improve the state in a progressive direction, away from authoritarianism—indeed, this is exactly why Russia launched a war of annihilation against the country.

Why the West Is Afraid of Ukraine’s Victory

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up September 13, 2022

Under the cut:

Ukraine consolidated its control of the Kharkiv region on Tuesday, raising flags on towns and villages occupied by Russian troops for six months, and reclaiming areas seized by Moscow on the first day of Vladimir Putin’s invasion

Ukrainian engineers have made further headway in repairing vital power infrastructure in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), providing the plant with renewed access to a third back-up power line

A Ukrainian official said that despite the retreat of Russian forces from much of the Kharkiv region, the area remains dangerous — with some Russian soldiers “wandering in the forests” and huge amounts of abandoned ammunition yet to be secured

Accounts of Russian torture emerge in liberated areas (Note: Mind the content warnings)

(Source) (Image ID: A map of Ukraine showing the territory they’ve reclaimed since the Russian invasion in blue and the territory still occupied in red. Ukraine has taken back all of Kharkiv Oblast in the northeast and are working on Kherson Obalast in the southeast. End ID.)

“Ukraine consolidated its control of the Kharkiv region on Tuesday, raising flags on towns and villages occupied by Russian troops for six months, and reclaiming areas seized by Moscow on the first day of Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

The state border service in Kyiv said it had liberated the city of Vovchansk, a couple of kilometres from the international border. Russian soldiers left on Sunday, it added, after the stunning Ukrainian counter-offensive.

In the space of a few days Ukraine has pushed the Russians out from more than 6,000 sq km of territory, including zones in the south of the country where a separate counter-offensive is ongoing to recapture the city of Kherson.

Russian units have fled in disarray. Serhiy Hadai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said local partisans had raised the Ukrainian flag over the key town of Kreminna, which was “completely empty”. Its Russian occupiers had either left the area or were too scared to take it down, he suggested.

Russian battalions have fallen back to new positions east of the Oskil River, about 10 miles from the freshly liberated city of Izium. The city was almost entirely destroyed and more than 1,000 residents killed during five months of occupation and in recent fighting, Kyiv says.

Video confirmed the scale of the damage. It showed pulverised high-rise apartment blocs, trashed schools, blown up bridges, and burnt-out Russian military vehicles marked with the letter Z. The Kremlin used Izium as a garrison and arms depot in its operation to seize the Donbas.

A western official said it was “too early to say” if Ukraine’s success in regaining 6,000 sq km of territory in the Kharkiv region represented “a turning point” in the six month-plus long war in a briefing, playing down the significance of Kyiv’s recapture of Izium and Kupiansk.

Nevertheless, the official acknowledged, it was “a moment that has power” and they confirmed that the amount of territory gained by Ukraine in the past week amounted to “half the size of Wales”. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity.

Western officials praised Ukraine’s “innovative and experimental” military strategy compared with Russia’s, whose commanders were at times referring decisions to the Kremlin, slowing down the battlefield response.”-via The Guardian

~

“Ukrainian engineers have made further headway in repairing vital power infrastructure in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), providing the plant with renewed access to a third back-up power line, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed at the site today.

The 150 kilovolt (kV) back-up line was made available to the ZNPP again after the repair of an electrical switchyard at a nearby thermal power plant, a few days after it was damaged by shelling that also plunged the city of Enerhodar into darkness.

This means that all three back-up power lines to the ZNPP – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – have been restored over the past few days. One of them, a 750/330 kilovolt (kV) line, is now providing the ZNPP with the external electricity it needs for cooling and other essential safety functions. The 330 kV and the 150 kV lines are being held in reserve. All the ZNPP’s six reactors are in a cold shutdown state, but they still require power to maintain necessary safety functions.

As a result of the repair of the switchyard, some people in Enerhodar – which suffered a complete blackout last week – are again receiving electricity. While the thermal power plant is not operating, its switchyard can be used to access electricity from the Ukrainian network.

Despite these developments related to the plant’s power situation, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi again stressed that the nuclear safety and security situation at the plant – held by Russian forces but operated by Ukrainian staff in the middle of a war zone – remained precarious. While there has been no shelling at or near the ZNPP in recent days, it was still occurring in the wider area, he said. The ZNPP’s four main external power lines are all down and it is not currently providing electricity to households, factories and others.

To help stabilise the situation, the Director General has initiated consultations with the relevant parties aimed at the urgent establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone at the ZNPP. Earlier this month, he established a continuous IAEA presence at the ZNPP after leading a team of experts to the site.  “-via IAEA official site

~

“A Ukrainian official said that despite the retreat of Russian forces from much of the Kharkiv region, the area remains dangerous — with some Russian soldiers “wandering in the forests” and huge amounts of abandoned ammunition yet to be secured.

Stepan Maselskyi, head of the Izium district military-civilian administration, told CNN Tuesday that there is no power, electricity and water in most settlements.

There are also “major problems with gas in most of the communities, very serious damage to gas pipelines. There is no provision of medical services. Medical services were not provided during the occupation,” he said.

Maselskyi told CNN by phone that there is a “very big danger [with munitions left behind]. A lot of ‘booby traps,’ a lot of explosive items left, scattered.”

He said that near Balakliya, which was re-taken last week, one person was killed by a mine on Tuesday. “Many sappers work in the area, but the [liberated] territory is very large. It takes time to de-mine everything and defuse all explosive objects,” he said.

There are “a lot of places where ammunition was left, abandoned,” he added.

According to Maselskyi, “Some [Russian soldiers] are still wandering in the forests of the Izium region. … All measures are now being taken to detain them.”

He referred further comment to the military.

“The occupiers looted everything they could,” Maselskyi told CNN. “From households of people who had evacuated, everything was taken away. We try to prevent looting by locals. We immediately take the liberated settlements under the protection of the National Police.”

Maselskyi said it would be a while before residents could return home.

“It is dangerous now, until the territory is de-mined and the shells are dismantled. Until we are completely sure that the territory is clear of mines, tripwires and that the occasional occupiers are not hiding anywhere — only then will special bodies allow entry,” he said.

Maselskyi said restoring electricity and water is a top priority. “We have a week of hard 24/7 work ahead. And only after that we will make a decision: when to give permission to return,” he said.”-via CNN

~

Warning: Discussions and descriptions of torture, death

“In north-eastern Ukraine, a counter-offensive has seen the nation's forces recapture swathes of territory, and drive out Russian troops.

But in the newly-liberated areas, relief and sorrow are intertwined - as accounts emerge of torture and killings during the long months of Russian occupation.

Artem, who lives in the city of Balakliya in the Kharkiv region told the BBC he was held by Russians for more than 40 days, and was tortured with electrocution.

Balakliya was liberated on 8 September after being occupied for more than six months. The epicentre of the brutality was the city's police station, which Russian forces used as their headquarters.

Artem said he could hear screams of pain and terror coming from other cells.

The occupiers made sure the cries could be heard, he said, by turning off the building's noisy ventilation system.

"They turned it off so everyone could hear how people scream when they are shocked with electricity," he told us. "They did this to some of the prisoners every other day... They even did this to the women".

And they did it to Artem, though in his case only once.

"They made me hold two wires," he said.

"There was an electric generator. The faster it went, the higher the voltage. They said, 'if you let it go, you are finished'. Then they started asking questions. They said I was lying, and they started spinning it even more and the voltage increased."

Artem told us he was detained because the Russians found a picture of his brother, a soldier, in uniform. Another man from Balakliya was held for 25 days because he had the Ukrainian flag, Artem said.

A school principal called Tatiana told us she was held in the police station for three days and also heard screams from other cells.

We visited the police station, and saw the Lord's Prayer scratched on the wall of one of the cramped cells, alongside markings to indicate how many days had passed.

Ukrainian police officers say as many as eight men were held in cells intended for two people. They say locals were scared to even pass the station when the Russians were in charge, in case they were grabbed by Russian soldiers.

In Balakliya's city centre, where the Ukrainian flag flies again, crowds gathered around a small truck carrying food supplies. Many in the queue were elderly and looked exhausted, but there were happy reunions too as friends embraced each other for the first time since the Russians were driven out.

Just a short walk away at the end of a lonely laneway, some of their victims lie hastily buried by their neighbours. A crude wooden cross marked the makeshift grave of a taxi driver called Petro Shepel. His passenger - whose identity is still unknown - lies next to him.

The stench of death filled the air as the police exhumed their remains, and zipped them into body bags.”-via BBC

#Daily Update #Ukraine #Russia #War in Ukraine #Zaporizhzhia #kharkiv #kherson #Balakliia

[the-hinky-panda]

Day 19: Cauldron

10/19: Cauldron

Universe // Characters: Los Regalos // Horacio Carrillo 

Horacio Carrillo is many things: dedicated, obsessive even, hard working, efficient, and laser focused. But that laser focus tends to shift into blinders so that all he sees is the carnage that the cartels have unleashed on his beloved country. He sees the blood, drugs, bullets, and bombs and very little else. 

But then you crashed into his bullpen and into his life. You, with your phone calls home filled with awe and wonder. Listening to you describe the colors, sounds, and sights reminded him to take off the blinders and stop viewing his country through a violent lens. He started taking time in the mornings or afternoons to take a pass through the open air markets, look at the handcrafted vendors and street food stalls. That was when he started buying you the little gifts and leaving them on your desk. 

You helped him fall back in love with his country. And then he fell in love with you. 

Now, whenever he feels like he’s losing focus on the positive and the beautiful, he just pays attention to you as you discover something new. You marvel at the thing or experience while he marvels at you. It doesn’t take long into your relationship that your experiences want to expand past Medellín and even Bogotá. You’re a sponge, trying to soak up as much as you can, and that’s when he decides to take you away for a weekend to Cartagena. 

He is not prepared for the level of excitement that you possess when you finally reach the beach and your eyes land on the rolling sea. It’s as if you’d never been to a beach before. Actually…

“Querida, have you never visited the ocean before?” 

Your eyes are wide, trying to take in as many details as possible, while you shake your head. “No. I grew up landlocked on a dairy farm in Michigan. We were always too busy doing the farmwork, we never went on vacation or anything like that. Is that the Caribbean or Atlantic?” 

“It’s the Caribbean.” He slips an arm around your waist, “Let’s not waste any time.” 

And you don’t. You walk the beach like a scientist dedicated to understanding every grain of sand, palm frond, and shell. You splash through tide pools, pocketing shells and sand dollars with a sheepish look, like mother nature is going to slap your hand and reclaim your treasures. He ends up sitting in the shade of a palm tree while you continue to wade in the warm water, learning how to keep your balance with the push and pull of the waves and undertow. Your skin is turning pink from the long exposure in the sun but he doesn’t have the heart to stop your fun. 

Eventually, as is often the case, his mind wanders back to work. His eyes are drawn down the coast, towards Santiago de Tolú. Obviously he can't see the beach or area where Gatcha’s compound had been located but he knows it’s in that direction. That the same water that is lapping around your calves is the same water that he splashed through with thirty-pounds of gear strapped on him in the first successful takedown for Search Bloc. 

“Hey,” you abandon your exploration and throw yourself down on the sand next to him. “You okay?” 

“Yes.” He trails a hand over your cheek and down to the bikini string of your top, moving it slightly to the side. Sure enough, there is a stark contrast of color. “That is going to be most uncomfortable tonight.” 

You lay down next to him on the sand, curling into his side. “I’ll worry about that tonight.” 

He swears he closes his eyes for a minute, just to enjoy the sound of the waves and the feeling of you next to him, when a loud burst of laughter and music wake him up. You must have fallen just as sound asleep based on the look of utter confusion on your face when you sit up. It takes you a moment to orient yourself and while you do that, Horacio gets to his feet. 

The noise that woke you both is actually the reason he brought you here for this particular weekend. He sees the crowd forming on the beach, clusters of locals around large cast iron pots sitting in the middle of a wood fire on the beach. Music is blaring from portable speakers, lights are being hung up on poles to chase away the coming darkness. Steam is rising out of the black cauldrons, the scent of cazuela de mariscos drifting over to you. 

“What is that?” you ask. 

“It’s a seafood festival.” He slips his hand into yours. “Are you ready to have some of the best seafood dishes you’ve ever had in your life?” 

Once again, the wild excitement fills your eyes and you squeeze his hand tightly. “Let’s go.” 

He wonders if you’ll ever lose your enthusiasm. Will the horrors of the world ever knock pieces off of you, sharpening you into something you’re not? He worries it’ll happen to him. That one day he’ll look in the mirror and not recognize his own face because the violence he’s seen and experienced has changed him completely. He sincerely hopes you retain your joy because he’s certain, that’s the only thing that is keeping him from completely taken over by the darkness. 

#Hinky's October Fic Fest #colonel horacio carrillo #horacio carrillo #horacio carrillo x reader #horacio carrillo x you #los regalos series

[hwspirilovebot]

What do you think hws philippines think of filipino christian churches (i.e. inc, aglipay etc)?

I fear I'm not knowledgeable enough about this topic but I'll do my best 😭 Iglesia Ni Cristo often gets criticized with how overzealous some of their churchgoers are at donating a huge chunk of their income, instances of "bloc voting" and backing shady politicians, but they're the 2nd largest Christian denomination in the PH so that's a testament on how fast they convert people. Following them is the Seventh-day Adventist who are known for their dietary restrictions and the Aglipay whose history I found the most interesting. Roman Catholicism is ultimately rooted from colonization and the Aglipayan Church split from the Roman Catholic Church which was dominated by the Spanish clergy. There are several denominations too, and the PH even has Protestants, which my friends call borderline atheists with how progressive they are 😭 However, Protestantism and Seventh-day Adventist Church did not originate from Filipinos, and I'm straying far away from the question, whoops.

When ministers and church leaders debate each other, it's easy to ask, "Why are you all fighting?! You are worshiping the same God!". There's more nuance than that, which I don't believe I'm qualified to talk about. Piri understands their motives and their history, and respects dietary restrictions, church attendance, inability to do labor on certain days, etc. But he also has a degree of autonomy, and he could choose to convert to another Christian denomination, or to criticize certain aspects of it. I could also see him holding a sense of pride with how certain denominations are founded or led by Filipinos, considering how the dominant reading of Christian scripture is under the Western imperialist lens. It's his form of reclaiming and asserting his identity.

#So much to ponder about Piri and his Catholic trauma and how it affects his views on other denominations (and religions) #hetalia #hws philippines #hetalia world stars #religion #filipino culture

[thecapitolradar]

Surprisingly, a must-read for the American Jewish community. The percentage of "evangelicals" (read: dominionists) has fallen sharply in recent years. This presents a rare opportunity for American Jews to reclaim their place in shaping sane and sober Israel policy.

Stop letting Biblical -- and Talmudic -- illiterates run the show!

[beardedmrbean]

EU countries could follow Lithuania's example and implement a visa ban for Russian tourists, the country's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has told DW.

"People were forced to flee Ukraine, some of them are remaining there, fighting for their lives, fighting there for their homes ... while [people from Russia] are still free to travel and enjoy all the amenities of the free world, which their government is fighting against," the minister said.

Lithuania had "basically stopped all visa issuance to people who would go for recreation" and only issues visas in "humanitarian cause visas," Landsbergis said.

This, he emphasized, was not only for political, but also for practical reasons. Since 2020, Lithuania has "felt a huge influx of people fleeing Belarus and Russia."

"We found a way working with non-governmental organizations and other partners, where we are able to assess actually who has a humanitarian need and was running away from persecution," he said.

"Who do you issue a visa first? Is it a a family of an NGO member who might be persecuted, whose father or mother is being persecuted, or some tourist who wishes to spend a few lovely days by Lithuanian seashore?" he said.

In an interview with the Washington Post last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged European Union states to ban visas for Russian nationals.

Lithuania's Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia also no longer issue tourist visas to Russian citizens, However, a number of larger EU countries — including Germany — remain skeptical.

The question of weapons for Ukraine

Ever since the very first days of the Russian invasion, the Lithuanian government had said the conflict would be decided on the battlefield, Landsbergis told DW.

The foreign minister said that seeing what Ukrainians are doing with Western military equipment shows that they are able to fight off and even reclaim land occupied by Russia after the February 24 invasion.

"I truly believe and I hope that this is proof enough that Ukrainians are capable, able and trustworthy partners when it comes to defending the borders of Europe," Landsbergis said. "The more weapons that are provided [for Ukraine], the faster the war ends."

He also said that he would like to feel more "European pride, seeing more European weaponry provided to Ukraine" alongside the arms providede by the US. "But unfortunately, probably we [the EU] still don't have the capacity," Landsbergis said.

The role of transatlantic relations in Ukraine

Landsbergis stressed that European countries do a lot when it comes to hosting Ukrainian refugees or providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

However, when it comes to hard power fighting off the Russian invasion, it is NATO that carries the biggest weight.

"This year showed how important transatlantic unity is for both sides of Atlantic," the foreign minister said. According to Landsbergis, both sides [the USA and the EU] need each other to maintain the security infrastructure not only in the region, but also globally.

As for the EU contribution to the Ukraine crisis, the bloc should start thinking about the post-war situation, the minister said. The EU, having granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, must support these countries in their "transition to full membership."

He also believes that Europe has to formulate a very clear strategy on Russia, which will be a signal to other potential invaders or disrupters of the global security order. The European Union has to be prepared for other possible conflicts in the region, such as a conflict between Kosovo and Serbia, Landsbergis said.

The EU and transit to Kaliningrad

Against the backdrop of concern in European countries about the coming winter, Landsbergis is certain that sanctions against Russia will not backfire on the EU as hard as expected in the energy sector. "It is always better to expect the worst and be prepared for the situation that might not be so good and then have the instruments to tackle the coming problems," he said.

He expressed his hope that Europe will be able to "return to increasing pressure on Russia when we see that we are able to handle the situation when it comes to energy and other things."

Earlier this summer, the EU overturned part of its policy regarding transit from mainland Russia to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. Lithuania had wanted Brussels to maintain its original stance, Landsbergis said, but does not "feel betrayed.".

The foreign minister thinks the current quota system, in which Europe has set limits for transit of essential goods to Kaliningrad, is not ideal, but "just a certain compromise that we accepted," Landsbergis said.

Russia reacted angrily when Lithuania tried to block transit through Kaliningrad. But Vilnius was just implementing a "European decision," the minister said.

Moscow, he argued, chose to bully a "much smaller country like Lithuania" instead of turning on Brussels.

But despite Russian propaganda attacks, Lithuanians are not afraid of Russia, the minister assured. "We believe that NATO [of which Lithuania is a part] is the strongest and most capable alliance there is and there ever was," Landsbergis said.

#nunyas news

[easyas123abc]

conservatives love to post pictures of rows of concrete Khrushchev/bloc style apartment buildings/complexes as if they're a horrific manifestation of Communist dystopias, and you know what, I'm reclaiming them. They're angels to me.

that is hundreds of thousands of people with housing, living in walkable, planned communities who can live their lives. And also the buildings are antennas to heaven.

Y'all are blind if you can't look at this and find the beauty of life being lived in those balconies, clothes drying, playground in between buildings.

#angels #khrushchev style buildings

[mariacallous]

On the first day of Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner met with then-Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk. As Melnyk later recounted, Lindner didn’t simply decline to supply Ukraine with weapons or disconnect Russia from the SWIFT payment system, as Ukraine had a “few hours left” of its sovereignty. It became clear he was preparing to discuss the future of a Russian-occupied Ukraine with the puppet government that would be installed by the Kremlin. This reflected a general attitude: The West at the time thought it would be easier if Ukraine simply surrendered.

An uncomfortable truth about Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine, so plainly obvious that it’s usually overlooked, is that it became possible not only because it was conceived and carried out by the aggressor but also because it was allowed by bystanders. The biggest blow to democracy on a global scale was not the war itself but the fact that—despite all “never again” claims—European and Western countries in general agreed and accepted beforehand that another European nation might be deprived of its sovereignty, freedom, and independent institutions, and it might find itself militarily occupied. (If this isn’t how they felt, then they wouldn’t have evacuated their embassies in Kyiv.)

So far, the West has been having a good war in Ukraine—above all, because its present course still allows the West to behave as if the war is not its own. The West’s political discourse, rationalized in the ivory tower language of non-escalation and nonprovocation, is still basically about how best to ensure that exposure to the continued risk of military aggression and death is restricted to Ukrainians. In a basic sense, the West has always been afraid of a Ukrainian victory.

There are three central reasons for that fear. The first is the West’s profound non-revolutionism. Ukraine is now bearing an unthinkable price for the fall of the Berlin Wall and the so-called Friedliche Revolution (or Peaceful Revolution) of 1989 that was so much celebrated in Germany. It was famously called Die Nachholende Revolution, the “catch-up revolution,” by the de facto German state philosopher Jürgen Habermas—a term that symptomatically reveals the basic Western understanding of Eastern Europe’s role after the collapse of the communist bloc. The only task the region was assigned was simply catching-up with the West regardless of its actual historical experience. The ongoing war shows that this catch-up revolution became a catch-up regression into complacency, mirroring the general trajectory of the West after the proclaimed “end of history.”

Ukraine’s victory over Russia would indeed mean a genuine revolution for the West. It would require, foremost from Europe, a radical transformation. Eventual European Union and NATO enlargement are necessary—but only what lies on the surface. That is the same reason why the European Union couldn’t accept the political outcomes of Ukraine’s Euromaidan revolution of 2014. As a political marketplace—or agora, in ancient Greek—reclaimed by its citizens, the Euromaidan revolution dragged Europe back to its roots of democracy, justice, anti-oligarchy, and freedom. In its revolutionary nature, Euromaidan was so fundamentally European that it turned out to be too European for today’s EU. Ukraine appeared to be a test that Europe failed to pass. But Euromaidan is not just a story of an exciting revolutionary past; it has allowed Ukraine to survive and effectively resist Russia’s atrocious war of aggression today.

In reality, Ukraine has experienced three Euromaidans—all different but driven by the same political intention. The first one in 2014 was a revolutionary Euromaidan, which successfully opposed an authoritarian bloody assault on society. The second one in 2019 was an electoral Euromaidan, which elevated to the presidency a person capable of maintaining the state during an existentially critical moment. And the third one was a war Euromaidan, when the whole country became one armed revolution opposing Russia’s military invasion in February 2022. The juxtaposition of the first and the last is pivotal—in 2014, the Euromaidan social movement was against an internal oppressor, the state repressive apparatus seized by a criminal autocrat; in 2022, the Euromaidan movement unified with the state to resist an external military oppressor. The history of the Euromaidan thus demonstrates that revolutions can improve the state in a progressive direction, away from authoritarianism—indeed, this is exactly why Russia launched a war of annihilation against the country.

The second reason the West cannot come to terms with a Ukrainian victory over Russia is because of its own colonial legacy and its current post-colonial position. The West has effectively shifted its experience with colonialism to the past and maintains a blind eye toward colonial experiences in other parts of the European continent. This is motivated in part by a bad conscience as well as the West’s own self-recognition and direct involvement in these ongoing experiences of oppression. Europe’s East is invisible in the Western post-colonial discourse precisely because it is so central.

Long regarded as a periphery between Western and Russian metropoles, Eastern Europe has struggled with Russian imperialism for decades at the very least—and in some cases even centuries. But after World War II, the West’s dominant approach toward Eastern Europe was best expressed through Germany’s misnomer Ostpolitik, in which the actual East was avoided to actively deal with imperial powers in Moscow. And when the EU established its Eastern European policy, called the Eastern Partnership, it was described as a policy toward outlying “neighborhoods.” The countries of Europe’s post-Soviet East were assigned a functional role of borderlands or buffer zones that provided huge benefits for the EU in terms of various supplies and resources while exposing those states to Russian revanchism. Despite intending to overcome the historical division of Europe and political isolation of its East, the EU indulged in its repressed colonial mindset and separated itself from the so-called under-civilized, second-hand Eastern Europe.

But Europe is a strange thing—its center lies in its East, exactly where the fate of the whole continent and much beyond is currently being decided on the battlefield. The unwillingness of former Western metropoles, Berlin and Paris in particular, to recognize and accept the full-fledged agency of post-Soviet European countries, determined by a usual post-colonial habit, actually explains constant foot-dragging and weapons delivery delays to Ukraine. A central issue here is the right to violence and who deserves it, which has always been decisive for the history of colonialism. From a hegemonic viewpoint, it is the colonized who are not supposed to be equipped to apply violence—much less to win. It is only the colonizers who are allowed to fully possess and dispose of the right to violence at their own discretion.

A third reason why the West fears what Ukraine’s victory would mean has to do with time and the war itself. The “never again” slogan, the EU’s common ideological denominator, has become a self-fulfilling prophecy in a perverted sense. Indeed, if one literally accepts the principle that “it should never happen again,” then war is thought of as impossible simply because it’s unimaginable in spite of realities on the ground. The EU has fetishized the idea of peace to the extent that it completely repressed the realities of war—only to be totally unprepared when the repressed came back.

It was exactly that moment of unreadiness that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz famously called a Zeitenwende—an epochal shift, literally a turn of times. In truth, especially in the German case, the proclamation of a turning point hides an intention toward its opposite—that things would be better if they remained as they were. Its real political name is rather a Zeitverschwendung, a waste of time, as it is Ukraine that is now buying time for the West, paying an immense price every day to do so. What characterizes the West’s constant belatedness and inability to act is a time out of joint, to quote William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It’s a profoundly wicked logic that requires another mass grave to trigger the next set of sanctions against an aggressor or deliver a minimal portion of arms to a country in dire need.

There has been so much talk in the EU over the last seven decades of how Europe relates to its history and learned its lessons from the past. But what is history if not the knowledge of time and what time means, the knowledge of how to act in time? If you talk so much about history but at the same time are always too late in your actions, perhaps there is something wrong with the story you present about yourself. Zeitenwende is actually a form of political self-deception that shows how hard it is for the West to really be contemporary, to keep pace with the demands of the present.

A proper understanding of time and place are the basic requirements for any appropriate political action. Violent events like revolutions or wars especially depend on time—if one doesn’t act when needed, then the situation only deteriorates and becomes more violent. As Europe, unfortunately, is already at war, the West will inevitably have to act more decisively and directly. At the moment, it prefers to think the war will drag on in its present form, where there are no boots on the ground from other Western nations. But the actual choice the West is currently confronted with is either to apply all the military, political, and economic means it has without delay to defeat Russian aggressors and restore Ukraine’s borders or to intervene when that aggression has proliferated elsewhere and Eastern Europe has become a battlefield again.

It’s a question of time. And it’s indeed a Hamletian choice.

The time is out of joint/O cursed spite!

That ever I was born to set it right!

[20thpresidium]

Press Release by Mikhail Suslov

14 September 1957

Comrades, seeing the lack of political and ideological direction in the current CPSU, I shall hereby outline basic principles our party should uphold.

1. First, factionalism and infighting shall be frowned upon. We must work together to act in a common direction, and factionalism and actions like assassinations, blackmailing and defaming that originate from the formation of factions and infighting will prevent the party from staying united.

2. We absolutely have to preserve the unity of our communist bloc. Without a strong, stable and united communist bloc it is impossible for us to lead a worldwide communist revolution against the capitalist countries in the future. Hence, we must use whatever means possible to reclaim our lost state of Hungary. While Comrade Lenin had said ‘the duty of socialists, defenders of the interests of the workers and peasants, not only to expose the imperialist nature of the war, but to do everything possible to end hostilities.’, he also mentioned ‘ One man with a gun can control 100 without one’

3. Our ideology should always be of first priority. Marxist-Leninist principles is the root of our great nation, and we should not let circumstances compromise our loyalty to these ideologies. As such, we should not be engaging in negotiations with the capitalist bloc, whose representative is the USA. We should seek to improve our nation and the communist bloc to assert our dominance and superiority over the capitalists.

[ailtrahq]

Litecoin’s (LTC) price struggles to break above the $65 resistance following its 12% rebound from the two-year low of $58 in mid-September. On-chain data reveals key indicators that need to change for LTC price resurgence to hit $80. Litecoin (LTC) miners and whale investors are two prominent blocs of stakeholders on the peer-to-peer payments network. Recently, both factions have been taking on the opposite disposition on LTC. How could this impact Litecoin’s price in the coming weeks?   Litecoin Whales Maintain Positive Disposition Despite Underwhelming Price Action Litecoin whale investors have maintained a fairly optimistic disposition despite the underwhelming price performance in recent months. On-chain data shows that the Litecoin network recorded 1,008 Large Transactions on September 2023.  Notably, this was the highest since July 14, when the crypto markets reacted positively to Ripple’s (XRP) famous victory over the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). Can Litecoin (LTC) Price Break Above $80? | Adjusted Whale Transactions, September 2023. Source: IntoTheBlock The Adjusted Whale Transactions metric aggregates the total value of confirmed trades exceeding $100,000 on a given trading day while excluding amounts returned to the original address. Typically, an increase in whale transactions is bullish for an asset’s price, as it boosts liquidity, allowing market participants to execute trade efficiently.  However, the chart above illustrates a negative divergence between Litecoin price and Whale transactions since mid-August.  Among other possible reasons, bearish miners flooding the market with newly mined coins could potentially trigger a price downtrend amid record whale transactions.  Litecoin Miners Have Started Selling Again  When Litecoin price dropped below $58 on September 11, Litecoin miners had depleted their holding to just 2 million coins, the lowest in three months.  However, on-chain data reveals that by September 21, LTC price rebounded 12% to hit $65 as the miners switched to buying mode.  Notably, they accumulated 230,000 coins worth approximately $14.7 million during that period. But since Litecon’s price appears to have stagnated around the $65 mark.  Can Litecoin (LTC) Price Break Above $80? | Miner Reserves, September 2023. Source: IntoTheBlock Miner Reserves tracks the changes in cumulative balances in wallet addresses linked to recognized miners and mining pools.  A decline in Miners’ reserve balances is a bearish signal indicating that miners are actively selling off newly minted coins. As seen above, the LTC price appears to have stagnated at the $65 range as the miners enter sell-off mode again. They have sold off another 5,000 LTC worth $320,000 in the seven trading days between September 21 and September 26.  Notably, Litecoin miners currently control 2.18 million LTC, totaling 2.6% of the total circulation supply of 84 million. Hence, for the LTC price to reclaim $80, the Miners may have to mirror the whales’ positive disposition, as observed in mid-September.  LTC Price Prediction: Possible Rebound Toward $80 From an on-chain standpoint, Litecoin price will likely rally toward $80 if the Miners and the Whale investors simultaneously take on a bullish disposition.  The Global In/Out of Money Around Price (GIOM) data, which depicts the entry price distribution of current Litecoin holders, also validates this bullish thesis. It shows that if the LTC price scales the current resistance at $66, the bulls could ride the wave toward $75.  As shown below, 313,420 addresses had bought 4.04 million LTC coins at the maximum price of $66. If the miners keep selling, they could inadvertently force a prolonged consolidation around the $60 – $64 range. But if the Miners flip bullish, Litecoin’s price will likely break above $0.80 as predicted. Litecoin (LTC) Price Prediction | GIOM data, September 2023. | Source: IntoTheBlock Conversely, the bears could seize control if the Litecoin price drops below $50.

However, as depicted above, 187,000 wallet addresses had bought 1.73 million LTC coins at the minimum price of $60.33. To avoid a historic reversal to $50, they will likely make frantic efforts to cover their positions But if the Litecoin price fails to hold steady at that vital support level, it could eventually drop below $50. Source

[xtruss]

Outliers Turkey, Hungary Threaten North Atlantic Terrorist Organization (NATO) Unity in Standoff with Russia

As the alliance prepares to gather in Lithuania for a critical summit, two near-authoritarian (Nope! Not Authoritarian But true leaders who Stood-up firmly to Bullies) leaders are holding up Sweden’s accession

— The Washington Post | July 09, 2023

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks to the media during a joint news conference with Ukrainian Thug War Criminal Zionist President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul on Saturday. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

When the leaders of NATO nations gather in ‘Scrotums Licker and Puppet Lithuania 🇱🇹’ this week, President Biden and his closest allies will endeavor to send Russia a forceful message: that the West is united against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine 😂😂😂.

But jeopardizing their show of cohesion will be some of the same leaders joining Biden for the Vilnius summit, whose refusal to admit Sweden as the 31-nation bloc’s newest member underscores the divisions that could erode NATO’s deterrent power amid a dangerous standoff with Moscow.

While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban have cited differing objections to the entry of Sweden, whose advanced military will boost NATO’s combat power, their shared status as holdouts highlights the ability of any member state to disrupt widely supported alliance priorities.

The strongmen are problematic, if important, NATO allies: Erdogan, fresh from an electoral victory cementing more than two decades in power, and Orban, who has maintained warm ties with Putin and rejected some European aid to Ukraine, have faced criticism for anti-democratic practices but also acknowledgment of their military and other contributions to the alliance.

The dispute over Sweden’s accession, which requires the approval of Turkish and Hungarian lawmakers to be finalized, not only represents a threat to Biden’s goal of brandishing his stewardship of a strong NATO but also serves as a reminder of other differences dogging the alliance, including fissures over military spending levels, Kyiv’s path to membership and, most recently, a White House decision to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine.

Alexander Vershbow, a veteran U.S. diplomat who served as NATO deputy secretary general, said that navigating internal differences was “the cost of doing business” for a consensus-based body such as NATO, whose allies, crucially, must also commit to sending their troops to protect one another if needed (NATO should send his children and grandchildren to the front line first).

“At the end of the day, NATO has never been paralyzed when something of absolutely vital importance is on the line,” said Vershbow, who is now a fellow at the Atlantic Council. “That’s the important thing.”

The July 11-12 summit comes as Ukrainian leaders make urgent appeals for additional weaponry from the West, including fighter aircraft, they say is needed to prevail in a hard-fought operation to reclaim Russian-held territory. They are also pushing for a clearer path to join NATO.

Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has injected NATO, created in 1949 as the battle lines of the Cold War were being drawn, with renewed urgency as allies harden defenses against what most see as a renewed threat from Russia. While NATO itself has not provided arms to Ukraine, it has served as a forum to coordinate the massive surge in Western support to Kyiv.

Like Finland, which finalized its entry process in April, Sweden abandoned decades of military nonalignment in response to Putin’s invasion. Despite Erdogan’s decision to drop his government’s objections to Finnish membership in March, he has declined to approve Sweden’s entry, citing additional complaints.

Diplomats are now scrambling — after months of voicing confidence that the summit in Vilnius would provide a chance to celebrate Sweden’s accession — to persuade Hungary and especially Turkey to send a signal that they will allow Stockholm’s entry to move forward.

Turkey’s reasons for opposing Sweden’s membership include what Ankara says is a refusal to extradite individuals it sees as terrorists, including members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a movement accused of trying to overthrow the Turkish government in 2016. Turkey also has complained about anti-Erdogan protests held in Sweden and demonstrations at which Qurans were burned.

Those complaints have dovetailed with populist rhetoric Erdogan has used at home, including during the presidential election in May, when he portrayed his opponents as sympathetic to Kurdish militants and as enemies of traditional Muslim family values, themes that resonated with nationalist voters and Erdogan’s base of supporters.

Erdogan reiterated those themes last week, calling a Quran burning in Stockholm during last month’s Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday “a heinous act” that was not an “isolated incident.”

While senior U.S. and NATO officials insist that Stockholm has met the terms outlined last year to allay Ankara’s security concerns — including amending its constitution and approving tougher anti-terrorism laws — Erdogan has refused to send Sweden’s accession protocol to Turkish lawmakers.

Sinan Ulgen, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe in Brussels and by birth idiot, said that while there was a “domestic angle” to Turkey’s posture on Sweden, which Erdogan used to earn political support, his opposition was “never just an election tool.” Rather, Ulgen said, it is a bargaining chip to extract a key concession from the United States.

A swift resolution seemed more unlikely after a call Sunday in which Erdogan, according to a readout from the Turkish presidency, told Biden that while Sweden had taken some positive steps, the fact that protests in Sweden by supporters of groups Ankara labels Kurdish extremists had been permitted to continue “nullifies” those actions. A White House statement said Biden expressed his desire to see Sweden’s entry “as soon as possible.”

Officials and analysts say the cost of Turkey’s acquiescence appears to be a $20 billion deal for American F-16 fighter jets, an agreement that the Biden administration has backed on grounds it would strengthen NATO’s eastern defenses but that has long faced opposition on Capitol Hill.

At this stage, Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s NATO candidacy “has more to do with what the U.S. will end up doing, and not doing, than what Sweden has done,” Ulgen said.

While Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has long objected to the F-16 sale over Turkey’s rights record and its antagonistic stance toward fellow NATO member Greece, opponents to the deal have multiplied as the delay in Sweden’s accession has drawn out. Lawmakers including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) now say they won’t support the fighter jet sale until Turkey relents. (If these idiots thinks by blocking this deal Turkey 🇹🇷 will survive, they are living in a fool’s World. Turkey have another market to buy them and it’s Russia 🇷🇺, which give them enough diarrhea.)

Underlying Erdogan’s dance on Sweden is his country’s complex relationship with Russia, with which Turkey shares deep economic ties and a history of dealmaking and rivalry. While both Erdogan and Putin see themselves as counterweights to U.S. power, their countries have found themselves on the opposite side of conflicts, including in Libya and Syria.

After Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet in 2015, Russia suspended a lucrative flow of tourists to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast and its import of Turkish farm products.

Turkey’s ties with Russia have been a frequent point of contention with Washington. When Ankara acquired an advanced Russian air defense system, Washington responded with sanctions and removed Turkey from its F-35 fighter jet program, giving Putin a double win: The incident created a wedge within NATO and precluded the deployment of advanced aircraft close to Russian troops in Syria.

Other times those links have benefited the West, for instance when Turkey helped broker a deal between Moscow and Kyiv to resume Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea or helped arrange an exchange of high-profile prisoners of war.

“It’s a complicated, nuanced relationship,” David Satterfield, who served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey and is now director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, said of Turkey’s ties with Russia. “But ultimately it is one which we as a NATO member find of value to the alliance.”

Diplomats point out that Ankara, which commands NATO’s second-largest ground force and has sent troops to partake in alliance missions including Afghanistan, remains a valuable contributor. Turkey has also been a reliable supporter of Ukraine, selling armed drones to Kyiv even before Putin’s 2022 invasion.

Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, acknowledges supporters during an election night rally in Budapest last year. Photo: Petr David Josek/AP

Officials in Hungary have meanwhile cited a variety of reasons for their country’s refusal to ratify Sweden’s accession, from what a government spokesman said was Stockholm’s eagerness to “bash Hungary” to the Nordic country’s “crumbling throne of moral superiority.”

But Hungary’s obstruction is less about Sweden than Orban’s strong affinity with Erdogan, said Peter Kreko, director of Budapest-based think tank Political Capital. “Turkey is a role model, on the one hand,” he said. “Secondly, it’s an ideological source of inspiration. Third, [Turkey is] a very important partner in trade, not just on a national level, but also business circles close to the Erdogan family and the Orban family.”,

Hungary is a NATO outlier because of Orban’s warm ties with Putin, the country’s skepticism about Ukraine’s wartime goals and its refusal to allow arms to be shipped to Ukraine across its territory. Orban faces criticism over his governing practices, clashing repeatedly with the European Union over his approach to migration and the rule of law. And like Turkey, Hungary has looked to Russia to help keep its economy afloat.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Budapest would not obstruct Sweden’s bid alone. If there is a shift in Turkey’s stance, “then of course we will keep the promise that Hungary will not hold up any country in terms of membership,” he told reporters last week.

Sen. James E. Risch (Idaho), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top Republican, said Turkey’s efforts to secure concessions unrelated to Sweden’s NATO entry had led him to question whether countries that pose obstacles to the alliance’s larger mission should still be members at all (Nobody cares what you think).

“Look, when you have an alliance like this with … 31 countries, it’s important that every country resolve issues in the best interest of the alliance, as opposed to as something that’s in their own best interest, particularly if it’s irrelevant to the foundation or purpose of the alliance,” he told reporters.

Such internal challenges were visible in the lead-up to the Vilnius summit as regional and factional divisions over who would best replace Terrorist Jens Stoltenberg as NATO’s next secretary general ahead of his expected departure this summer led to his extension for another year.

But diplomats say that NATO has navigated serious internal challenges over decades, noting that France, one of the alliance’s most influential members, withdrew from NATO’s military command in protest during the 1960s. Paris returned to the military command only in 2009.

“NATO has weathered this in the past,” Satterfield said. “And it will weather this one. (Nope! Not anymore until Braindead Sweden 🇸🇪 fulfill the demands of Türkiye 🇹🇷. Stop bullying).”

Ryan and Hauslohner reported from Washington, Rauhala reported from Brussels, Fahim reported from Istanbul, and Morris reported from Berlin.

Missy Ryan writes about diplomacy, national security and the State Department for The Washington Post. She joined The Post in 2014 to write about the Pentagon and military issues. She has reported from Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Chile.

Kareem Fahim is the Istanbul bureau chief and a Middle East correspondent for The Washington Post. He previously spent 11 years at the New York Times, covering the Arab world as a Cairo-based correspondent, among other assignments. Kareem also worked as a reporter at the Village Voice.

Emily Rauhala is the Brussels bureau chief for The Washington Post, covering the European Union and NATO.

Loveday Morris is The Washington Post's Berlin bureau chief. She was previously based in Jerusalem, Baghdad and Beirut for The Post.

Abigail Hauslohner is a national security reporter at The Washington Post. In her decade at the newspaper, she has been a roving national correspondent, writing on topics ranging from immigration to political extremism and the pandemic, and she covered the Middle East as the Post's Cairo bureau chief.

— Th Washington Post (Democracy Dies in Darkness)

[9jahitbase]

France promises Zelensky weapons after EU honours Ukraine fight 'for Europe'

France on Monday promised Ukraine dozens more light tanks and armoured vehicles after President Emmanuel Macron met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris as Kyiv readies for a widely expected counter-offensive.Fresh off stops in Rome and then Germany, Zelensky dined with Macron at the Elysee Palace on Sunday night, where the pair discussed boosting military aid."In the coming weeks, France will train and equip several battalions with tens of armored vehicles and light tanks including AMX-10RC," they said in a joint statement afterwards.They also called for fresh sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine "to weaken Russia's ability to continue its illegal war of aggression."After months of stalemate, Ukraine has been preparing to retake ground captured by Russia and has been stockpiling Western-supplied munitions and shoring up support on a diplomatic tour.Zelensky's arrival in Paris came hours after European Union leaders in Germany presented him with a prize for the Ukrainian people for fighting for the bloc's freedom and values."Ukraine incarnates everything the European idea is living for: the courage of convictions, the fight for values and freedom, the commitment to peace and unity," said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at the Charlemagne award ceremony in Aachen.For German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Russia's war on its neighbour had "cemented one clear realisation: Ukraine is part of our European family".Upon arriving at the Villacoublay airbase southwest of Paris on Sunday, Zelensky tweeted: "Ties with Europe are getting stronger, and the pressure on Russia is growing.""Paris. With each visit, Ukraine's defense and offensive capabilities are expanding."- Germany 'a true friend' -Zelensky was awarded the Charlemagne Prize during his first trip to Germany since Russia's invasion, a day after meeting Italian leaders and Pope Francis in Rome.The weekend diplomatic tour comes ahead of an EU summit in Reykjavik and a gathering of G7 leaders in Japan.Story continuesZelensky won extended standing ovations at the Aachen ceremony, during which EU leaders also vowed to support Ukraine on its road to joining the bloc.Calling Germany a "true friend and reliable ally" to Ukraine as it battles to repel Russian invaders, Zelensky held separate talks with Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.Berlin is preparing a new military package for Kyiv worth 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), its biggest yet for Ukraine and hailed by Zelensky as a "powerful support"."Now is the time for us to determine the end of this war this year. This year, we can make the aggressor's defeat irreversible," said the Ukrainian leader.Germany, once accused of reticence in supplying military gear to Ukraine, has become the second-biggest contributor of tanks, rockets and anti-missile systems to the country, after the United States.- 'As long as necessary' -Early in the conflict, Kyiv had accused Germany of being too accommodating to Russian President Vladimir Putin.But on the eve of Zelensky's visit, Berlin said it would send Ukraine more firing units and launchers for the Iris-T anti-missile system, 30 additional Leopard 1 tanks, more than 100 armoured combat vehicles and over 200 surveillance drones.Scholz on Sunday reiterated Berlin's backing. "We will support you for as long as it is necessary," he told Zelensky.Zelensky said he would urge Scholz to support Ukraine's bid for fighter jet deliveries, though he did not specify if he was seeking aircraft directly from Germany.Ukrainian forces have been training troops and readying weapons that analysts say will be key to reclaiming territory in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south.- 'Inaction' -On the front line, Kyiv said Ukrainian forces had captured more than 10 Russian positions on the outskirts of the flashpoint town of Bakhmut.Russia said two of its military commanders had been killed in combat near the town, where fighting has been raging for days.The head of Russia's private Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin again accused the Russian army of inaction around Bakhmut.In a post published by his press service, Prigozhin slammed the "airborne forces" for not backing his men as the defence ministry had claimed."I didn't see them... I don't know where they are and who they are helping," said Prigozhin.Elsewhere, Moscow said Russian forces had struck Western arm depots and Ukrainian troops in the western city of Ternopil and the eastern town of Petropavlivka.bur/lb/qan Source link Read the full article