Europe

Fund pins blame on weak productivity and ageing workforce as it highlights continent’s weak post-pandemic performance

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4068466

The European Commission -for the first time- officially backs Taiwan in its interpretation of UN Resolution 2758. While the EU still supports the “One China” principle, the bloc opposes "any unilateral actions that change the status quo by force or coercion", said Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights.

Resolution 2758 was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1971, It recognized the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It also expelled the then- representatives of Chiang Kai-shek, the former authoritarian regime, whose central government had retreated to Taiwan.

Beijing, however, increasingly claims that Resolution 2758 supports its stance that “Taiwan is part of the PR,” legitimizing its claim over Taiwan, even though the resolution provides no such legal basis, experts and lawmakers have said.

As a result of Beijing’s interpretation of Resolution 2758, however, Taiwan has not seat at the U.N. nor in other international organizations. Lawmakers around the globe have long been criticizing China’s stance and as well as its recent military manoeuvres in the Taiwan Strait and expressing their solidarity with Taiwan as a regular victim of disinformation campaigns and interference by Beijing.

It is for the first time that a member of the Commission officially expressed this opinion, and explicitly mentioning U.N. Resolution 2758. In his speech, Schmit reiterated the regional bloc's long-held "One China" principle, but also emphasized that the EU and Taiwan are "like-minded" and the European Commission opposes "any unilateral actions that change the status quo by force or coercion."

Referring to China’s recent military activities, Schmit said that “tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait have a direct impact on European security and prosperity,” adding that, therefore, the EU has a direct interest in the preservation of the status-quo in the Strait.

“We should take all opportunities to promote a more positive dynamic in cross-Strait relations, which contributes to peace, not only in the region, but also globally,” Schmit said.

Recent developments of U.N. Resolution 2758

Schmit’s speech is the first time that an EU Commissioner officially rejected China’s interpretation of U.N. Resolution 2758, joining Taiwan and the U.S.

In a resolution adopted in December 2023, European lawmakers also confirmed that the EU’s ‘One China policy’ has not changed, but that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, is not acceptable.

Back in September this year, the Dutch Parliament also rejected China's interpretation of the resolution in its claims over Taiwan and called for an EU-wide effort to support Taiwan's representation.

In August 2024, the Australian parliament also condemned China's use of UN Resolution 2758 by stating that the resolution"does not establish the People’s Republic of China's sovereignty over Taiwan and does not determine the future status of Taiwan in the UN".

Interesting, but somewhat biased video, about the economic issues facing Europe.

Ukraine into NATO is the only way to prevent Russian aggression, as Ukraine's Western allies are hesitant about allowing the war-torn country in the alliance.

"NATO should extend an invitation for membership to Ukraine as part of guaranteeing its future security," the Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas said.

Kasčiūnas also said "Russia needs to know that it can’t have a ‘veto’ over another country, or over the future size of NATO".

"Lithuania always supported Ukraine's invitation into the NATO, because in our understanding, you cannot send the message to Russia that they have at least informal veto power on NATO's enlargement," said the minister.

‘It's the biggest mistake,” he added.

[...]

"How we respond to Russia's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine tells the world who we are and the values we stand for," Kaja Kallas has said in a letter to the European Parliament ahead of her confirmation hearing.

Kaja Kallas, the former primer minister of Estonia, has made her pitch to become the next foreign policy chief of the European Union by issuing stark warnings against Russia's "imperialistic dream" and China's "unfair competition".

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"My priority in engaging with China will be to safeguard the EU’s geopolitical and economic security," Kallas tells MEPs.

"The most pressing challenges here are China's support for Russia as well as structural imbalances between the EU and China that result from non-market policies and practices, which create unfair competition and an unlevel playing field."

China has been accused of excessively subsidising its domestic industries, flooding the global markets with cheap products, passing discriminatory laws against foreign firms and stealing sensitive know-how.

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Kallas believes an "assertive" joint response is indispensable to navigate the 21st century and ensure the EU is protected against "malign external influence."

[...]

cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/18367590

Interior Minister confirms: Turkey: dead in terrorist attack in Ankara 23.10.2024 | 15:36 | According to government sources, there has been an attack on the premises of a Turkish aerospace company in Ankara. There are dead and injured, explained Interior Minister Yerlikaya.

A Turkish flag flies in the wind. Symbolic image Source: Christian Charisius/dpa/Archive image According to government reports, there were ‘deaths and injuries’ in an attack near Ankara on Wednesday. The ‘terrorist attack’ was carried out on the premises of the Turkish Aerospace Corporation (TUSAS), Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on the X online service. An explosion and gunshots could be heard on video recordings. According to the state news agency Anadolu, employees of the company were taken to safety in bunkers. The surrounding area was cordoned off. Ankara's mayor expresses his condolences Turkish Aerospace is a developer and producer of aerospace systems such as fighter planes and drones. Among other things, Tusas co-developed the prototypes of the Turkish Kaan fighter aircraft. Ankara's mayor Mansur Yavas also stated on X that he was shocked by the terrorist attack and expressed his condolences. Source: dpa, AFP, Reuters

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Russia expects the local subsidiaries of European banks Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and UniCredit to participate in the mass launch of the digital rouble in July 2025 or face potential fines.

Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and Italy's UniCredit are two of Russia's 13 systemically important banks but they are also under pressure from the European Central Bank to cut their exposure to Russia.

Russia has been piloting a digital rouble and plans to begin mass implementation on July 1, 2025. Under the pilot scheme, a select group of individuals and companies has been allowed to open digital wallets and make purchases and transfers with digital roubles. Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the full rollout next year would be voluntary for individuals, but not for systemically important lenders.

[...]

Meanwhile, the Russian government is signaling that it will block any attempt by lenders including Raiffeisen Bank International AG and UniCredit SpA to sell local units to any buyer that risks being sanctioned, according to people familiar with the matter.

That effectively rules out a Russian buyer, and given the opposition by Western governments to any outside bidder stepping in, makes a sale next to impossible. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. abandoned a potential purchase of UniCredit’s Russian operations last year on the basis that the US government would oppose it, people familiar with the matter said.

Raiffeisen and UniCredit have been seeking a way out of their entanglement in the country since the invasion of Ukraine over two years ago. The Western banks, two of the largest left with operations in Russia, are seen by the government of President Vladimir Putin as vital conduits for foreign payments, one of the people said.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/45562910

Successive murders in France’s second-largest city have cast a grim light on the growing use of teenage contract killers by rival drug lords in Marseille, the subject of a new book by a trio of French journalists that explores an alarming development in the port city’s deadly drug wars.

A leading Uyghur activist has accused the Labour government of “falling behind” its allies in failing to stand up to China, after ministers backtracked on plans to push for formal recognition of the country’s treatment of the minority group as genocide.

Speaking after David Lammy’s first visit to China as UK foreign secretary, the human rights activist Rahima Mahmut, who has lived in exile in the UK since 2000, said she had hoped there would be a shift in UK policy once the party came into power, including following the US in declaring a continuing genocide in Xinjiang.

“The Conservative governments all those years [had] big words but very little action,” said Mahmut, who is the UK director of the World Uyghur Congress. She has long campaigned against the crackdown on Uyghurs, which several governments and human rights bodies have described as a genocide.

“But, sadly, after Labour came into power I didn’t even hear big words,” she added. “I am very, very disappointed, the community is very disappointed.”

Since 2017, China has swept an estimated 1 million Uyghurs and other minority groups into internment camps, which it called training centres. Hundreds of thousands are believed to still be incarcerated, and in many cases families have no idea about the fate of relatives who had been detained.

The lawsuit concerns intercompany loans amounting to some €600 million, which Forward Energo has failed to repay. Most of these loans have reached their maturity date, and no payments have been made. In addition, Forward Energo has defaulted on the interest payments for all the loans, Fortum says in a statement.

The company involved in the lawsuit was formerly owned by Fortum but was placed under temporary management by decree of Russian Leader Vladimir Putin in 2023, transferring it to the Federal Agency for State Property Management. Afterward, the company changed its name to Forward Energo.

Fortum expects the legal proceedings to last several years.

According to the initial loan agreements, disputes between the parties are to be settled in Dutch courts and according to Dutch law.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Finland’s hawkish President Alexander Stubb will discuss Ukraine’s ‘victory plan’ on Tuesday, as the Finnish foreign minister urged Germany to shed its reservations about weapon deliveries and embrace its "very important role".

Stubb and Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen arrived in Berlin on Monday (21 October).

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Germany has lifted restrictions [removal of restrictions on the use of Western weapons against military targets in Russia] only around the Kharkiv region, while Scholz refuses to deliver missiles of the range for which such removal is primarily relevant.

[...]

Valtonen appeared to respond to Scholz’s reservations before Tuesday’s talks, urging Germany to show military leadership.

“It must be said in Berlin that we hope that Germany will play a very important role [in facing the Russian threat],” Valtonen said in German at a press conference with her Nordic and German counterparts on Tuesday.

“No matter what Russia says, we [must] understand that we aren’t responsible for any escalation because we work within international law,” she said. Valtonen added that those who believe that Russia will let go “if we down our weapons err.”

She thus echoed the position of Germany’s Christian Democratic opposition leader, Friedrich Merz, who has repeatedly pushed Scholz to deliver long-range weapons. Stubb, Valtonen, and Merz belong to the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), while Scholz is a Social Democrat.

Helsinki has allowed Ukraine to use its weapons against Russian territory in compliance with international law and backs restrictions being lifted.

[...]

[Edit typo.]

The greatest espionage threat to Switzerland currently comes from the Russian intelligence services, the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service’s (FIS) says in its latest report. The threat to Switzerland from the Chinese intelligence services is also high. Numerous services maintain covert bases in Switzerland, known as residencies. These usually operate out of diplomatic missions.

The war against Ukraine and the escalating power political confrontation worldwide have increased the hybrid threat to countries including Switzerland, in particular from Russian influence activities. As far as the issue of proliferation is concerned, Russia's attempt to circumvent Western sanctions via private companies in third countries poses a major challenge to Swiss export controls on dual-use goods subject to licence.

Violent right-wing and left-wing extremist groups are continuing their activities as normal, the report also says. The threat posed by both violent right-wing and violent left-wing extremism has stabilised at a heightened level.

cross-posted from: https://fed.dyne.org/post/283764