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The choices, and the stakes, would remain very similar to what they were in February 2022, says Historian Anne Applebaum, senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the School of Advanced International Studies.

"Either we [the Western democracies] inflict enough economic pressure and military pain to convince Russia that the war can never be won, or we deal with the far more ominous, and far more expensive, consequences of Ukraine’s loss."

“Land for peace” sounds nice, but the president of Russia isn’t fighting for land. Putin is fighting not to conquer Pokrovsk but to destroy Ukraine as a nation. He wants to show his own people that Ukraine’s democratic aspirations are hopeless. He wants to prove that a whole host of international laws and norms, including the United Nations Charter and the Geneva conventions, no longer matter. His goal is not to have peace but to build concentration camps, torture civilians, kidnap 20,000 Ukrainian children, and get away with it—which, so far, he has.

Putin will truly stop fighting only if he loses the war, loses power, or loses control of his economy. And there is plenty of evidence that he fears all three, despite his troops’ slow movement forward. He would not have imported thousands of North Korean soldiers if he had an infinite number of Russians to replace the more than 600,000 soldiers whom he has lost to injury or death. He would not have paid American YouTubers to promote anti-Ukrainian propaganda if he wasn’t worried by the American public’s continued support for Ukraine. His economy is in trouble: Russian inflation is rising fast; Russian interest rates are now at 21 percent; Russian industries particularly vulnerable to sanctions, such as liquefied natural gas, are suffering. The Russian navy was humiliated in the Black Sea. The Russian military has still not recaptured territory lost in Russia’s Kursk province, conquered by the Ukrainians last summer.

The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by Euractiv’s media network.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about the minimum wage in Romania being on its way to increase, the Polish ruling splitting ahead of the presidential vote, and so much more.

A resolution aimed at "protecting, preserving and strengthening" Jewish life in Germany passed with widespread support in the Bundestag, despite significant criticism from legal experts, civil society groups and activists, many of whom are themselves Jewish.

Update: The anti-deforestation has been delayed and relaxed, pending agreement of member states. https://www.dw.com/en/a-70728269

Maria Troyanivska had come home early the night a Russian drone hit her bedroom.

“It flew in through the window, right into her room,” her mother Viktoria tells the BBC. After the explosion, she and her husband Volodymyr ran from the next room to find their daughter’s room on fire.

“We tried to put it out, but everything was burning so strongly,” she says through tears. “It was impossible to breathe – we had to leave.”

The Russian Shahed drone killed the 14-year-old in her bed, in her suburban apartment in Kyiv, last month.

“She died immediately, and then burned,” her mother said. “We had to bury her in a closed coffin. She had no chance of surviving.” BBC/Kamil Dayan Khan Maria's bedroom in suburban Kyiv

China should face “a higher cost” for supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine, the EU’s incoming foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said.

The former Estonian prime minister was speaking to MEPs during a three-hour hearing before she takes office, when she listed Ukraine’s victory as a priority – stronger words than vaguer formulas of support voiced by some EU politicians.

“Victory of Ukraine is a priority for us all; the situation on the battlefield is very difficult,” Kallas told MEPs in her opening remarks. “That is why we must keep on working every day, today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes, and with as much military, financial and humanitarian aid as needed.”

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French prosecutors said that France's far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, should face jail time and a ban from public office that would bar her from the 2027 presidential race as she and members of the National Rally party stand trial for using money intended for EU parliamentary aides to pay staff who worked for the party.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19893452

« Social media can be an important tool for news organisations and help us to reach new audiences but at this point X now plays a diminished role in promoting our work. Our journalism is available and open to all on our website and we would prefer people to come to theguardian.com and support our work there » the Guardian said.

Responding to the announcement, Musk posted on X that the Guardian was « irrelevant » and a « laboriously vile propaganda machine ».

Last year National Public Radio (NPR), the non-profit US media organisation, stopped posting on X after the social media platform labelled it as « state-affiliated media ». PBS, a US public TV broadcaster, suspended its posts for the same reason.

This month the Berlin film festival said it was quitting X, without citing an official reason, and last month the North Wales police force said it had stopped using X because it was « no longer consistent with our values ».

In August the Royal National orthopaedic hospital said it was leaving X, citing an « increased volume of hate speech and abusive commentary » on the platform.

After Musk's comments on Italy's interior politics and his recent appointment in Trump's administration, isn't it time for his fascist propaganda to be gone?

People from the African continent and its diasporas will attend workshop to share struggles, experiences and discuss ways to advance reparations

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The European Union should directly use $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to finance the reconstruction of war-torn Ukraine, says Kaja Kallas, the candidate for the top EU foreign policy position.

Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister who has been nominated as the EU’s high representative, said member states should abandon their reservations about directly seizing assets, citing Kyiv’s “legitimate claims” to the funds after the Russian attack.

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“We recognize that Russia has legitimate claims against us because we have their assets. But Ukraine also has legitimate claims against Russia because they are destroying Ukraine every day,” Kallas said

She hinted that Russia might have the opportunity to “reclaim” assets as part of the settlement, but added: “Given what’s going on, I doubt there’s anything left.”

To taxpayers who don’t want EU member states to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction, Kallas said: “We shouldn’t do that. Those who are destroying Ukraine will pay for it.”

Kallas said Estonia’s initiative to send 0.25 percent of its gross domestic product to Ukraine should be adopted by other member states.

She also said that EU sanctions against Russia should not be renewed every six months and should be permanent until the 27 member states decide to lift them. “It would be better if the situation was reversed,” Kallas said.

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This year, the G7 reached an agreement to seize profits from Russia’s frozen assets. However, the plan does not include confiscation. Some countries considered the potential legal implications of such a move and the risk to the euro, while others, including the US and UK, advocated bolder options such as outright asset confiscation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine knows how to handle Russia’s frozen assets. He proposed handing over the entire $300 billion to Kyiv. “Frankly, this is Ukrainian money,” he said.

The World Bank estimates that Ukraine’s total economic, social and other monetary losses from the war will be $499 billion by the end of 2023.

Ante Ivkovic herded sheep in Bosnia-Herzegovina with his father as a child. Years later, without his consent or knowledge, he says, a wind farm was built on his property by a Chinese company.

The Chinese wind farm company, headquartered in the capital Sarajevo, declined to comment on camera. In an email, they stated they relied on Bosnian documents that confirmed the concession's legality and claimed there were no unresolved ownership issues.

Ivkovic, with the help of his lawyer, is pursuing legal action to prove his ownership. His lawyer is gathering evidence from archives to build the case.

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Chinese wind energy companies have been aggressively expanding into the European market, undercutting European competitors by significant margins, thanks to state subsidies. This is evident not only in Bosnia, but also in neighboring Croatia.

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The EU has taken notice. Under Ursula von der Leyen's leadership, the EU is scrutinizing Chinese wind farms, investigating whether state subsidies are giving them an unfair advantage over European competitors. Lobbyists warn that with every new wind farm, China tightens its grip on Europe's energy supply.

"On a modern wind turbine there are around 300 sensors on the different components of the turbine, which are giving information to the wind farm owner and operator, and to the turbine manufacturer about the performance. And many people in Europe are saying, 'do we want to give that power to entities outside of Europe to control the functioning of wind turbines?'," says Giles Dickson, the CEO of WindEurope.

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Will a retiree be able to assert his rights against a 160-million-euro project? This case will help determine how much property rights are worth in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

cross-posted from: https://fed.dyne.org/post/306152

The deal, watched by the European Central Bank for its effect on inflation, comes at a tough time for Europe's biggest economy.

Ukraine is close to setting up three new joint ventures with European weapons producers in its effort to boost arms output during the war with Russia, the first deputy prime minister said.

Yulia Svyrydenko, who is also the economy minister, said five joint ventures with Western weapon producers had already been set up, including with German and Lithuanian companies. Several arms producers have opened offices in Ukraine.

"We have three more agreements with European companies in the final stages to set up joint ventures," Svyrydenko told Reuters in an interview in the government headquarters in central Kyiv.

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The authorities are still tight-lipped about details of the defence industry, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in October that Ukraine could produce four million drones annually and was ramping up its military production, including missiles, a "drone missile" and transport vehicles.

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Germany's weapons giant Rheinmetall has already launched its first defence factory in Ukraine, specializing in the maintenance of combat vehicles, with plans to start manufacturing Lynx infantry fighting vehicles by the year's end.

Britain-based BAE Systems, Franco-German KDNS, the Babcock defence and aerospace company and MyDefence, which specializes in counter-drone technology, have teamed up with Ukrainian producers and set up local offices.

German weapons producer Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft is building a service centre in Ukraine jointly with a private Ukrainian weapons producer, Svyrydenko said.

Developing domestic defence production was a boost to the broader economy, which is still smaller than prior to the war despite two years of economic growth, she said.

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