cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11504538

Archived link (removepaywall.com)

...

Belgium’s foreign ministry has warned internally that the US under Donald Trump is no longer a reliable ally and urged officials to cultivate ties with his opponents to protect the country’s interests, according to a document seen by the FT.

As alarm mounted in Europe about Trump’s apparent hostility to traditional allies in the region, the ministry set out a strategy to “calibrate” engagement with Washington to protect Belgian interests while avoiding being seen as “hostile”, the internal document shows.

“It is now clear that the American partner is no longer the ally it has been in the past,” says the strategy document, produced by the ministry’s Americas and Caribbean unit in late 2025.

It calls for a “thorough re-evaluation of the relation between the European Union and Belgium on the one hand, and the US on the other hand,” adding that “the dynamics currently at play in the United States… are likely to compromise several vital interests of Belgium and the European Union”.

...

The Belgian document says that “an engagement with the current US administration remains indispensable”, dialogue with the levels below the federal government should be “significantly reinforced”, including with both Republican and Democratic states and mayors of large cities.

It also recommends keeping up discussions with the Democratic opposition, engaging with Congress and “identifying the new generations of bipartisan elites that could play a role in tomorrow’s America”.

...

The document — dated October 27 2025, roughly eight months after Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s government took power — also notes: “We should not underestimate the respect that President Trump has for royal families.”

...

Since the document was drafted, Belgium’s King Philippe has flown to the US to attend the football World Cup in July, while Queen Mathilde has accompanied several Belgian ministers to New York for the UN General Assembly this week.

The document outlines a “strategy and operational implementation” on dealing with the US, outlining various risks of officials engaging with the Trump administration, and proposing to focus on joint areas of interest such as drug trafficking.

“Our federal and regional ministers will need to calibrate . . . their presence and actions . . . taking into account the opportunities and risks inherent in these visits,” the foreign ministry said.

...

A spokesperson for the foreign ministry said the paper was an “internal working document” and that its contents “should be distinguished from an agreed policy strategy”.

...

Archived link

Suspected Russian drones crashed in Romania and Moldova overnight on Sept. 24, amid a sustained mass drone and missile attack on Ukraine.

Moldovan police said in a post on Facebook that a drone with "specific elements of the 'Gerbera' type used by the Russian Federation" was found in the country's Floresti district.

Another drone violated Romania's airspace for around four minutes before crashing near Solca, Suceava County, Digi24 reported.

Romania did not blame Russia directly but acting Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruța told the outlet that a protest to Moscow over the incident was required.

...

No casualties were reported in either country.

...

Russian drones and missiles have routinely violated the airspace of both Romania and Moldova in recent months.

A suspected Russian Shahed-type drone that violated Moldovan and Romanian airspace on Sept. 8 nearly hit President Volodymyr Zelensky's plane as it was departing from Moldova.

On Aug. 16, NATO fighter jets shot down a suspected Russian drone that violated Romanian airspace near the Moldovan border, Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruta confirmed, the fourth such instance of a suspected Russian drone incursion this year.

A day later on Aug. 17, a Russian S8000 Banderol cruise missile entered Moldovan airspace during a Russian attack on Odesa, before crashing in a cornfield approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) outside of the village of Talmaz, in the Stefan Voda district of Moldova.

...

Archived link (removepaywall.com)

...

The Danish Defence Intelligence Service said on Thursday that there was a “low but growing risk” that Russia could move a small number of troops, possibly without insignia, into a neighbouring country or use long-range weapons on infrastructure used to support Ukraine.

“It could involve the deployment of military forces into a limited area inside Nato countries bordering Russia — for instance, under the pretext of protecting local Russian minorities,” Thomas Ahrenkiel, the head of the DDIS, told a news conference. “The aim would be to divide the alliance.”

The Danish statement is the most explicit warning yet about Russia’s plans following a number of “hybrid” attacks, including a foiled drone strike on Leipzig airport in Germany and a Russian ship firing flares at a Danish helicopter over the Baltic Sea.

...

Danish intelligence said that Russia was under more pressure than at any other time since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The intelligence service added that there was “no prospect” of Russia making a major breakthrough in the next six months.

...

Russia would intensify its hybrid attacks against European countries with “greater consequences” for those targeted, the Danes warned, including “destructive cyber attacks that cripple societal functions as well as sabotage attacks that carry a high risk of casualties”.

...

Danish intelligence said on Thursday that it still believed it would take Russia six months to wage a local war against a neighbouring country that belongs to Nato, two years to pose a credible threat of a regional war and five years to launch a large-scale war in Europe.

But it added that it now thought that Russia could escalate against the west through increased hybrid attacks or a limited military attack in the coming months “even if the war in Ukraine continues”.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11497601

Archived link (removepayall.com)

The European Union's regulatory arm has proposed rules that would force data center operators to disclose their energy and water use through a common rating system. The European Commission says this will cover data centers with a capacity above 500 kW.

The bloc wants to triple its data center capacity within the next seven years in a bid to bolster its digital sovereignty, which includes reducing its dependence on US tech companies. It acknowledges that increasing the number of data centers in the region could strain power grids and natural resources like water while increasing carbon emissions.

The Commission cited stats from the International Energy Agency indicating that data centers consumed 68 TWh of electricity in the EU in 2024. Due in large part to the race to build out compute power for artificial intelligence, that figure is expected to increase to 114 TWh by 2030, which would account for over three percent of the bloc's total electricity use.

...

The EU aims to enhance Europe’s cloud computing and AI capabilities, and "the better integration of the energy and digital systems in the Union", according to a directive (opens pdf).

...

The Commission has opened a two-month consultation period for the European Parliament and Council to scrutinize (and potentially object to) the rules before they come into force. If all goes to plan, data centers are expected to start publishing the sustainability labels next year.

...

This is a credible problem. If the CIA director was in Moscow some months ago, last time right before the start of the war, this is a problem.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski confronted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, rejecting Kremlin claims about Ukraine.

Sikorski dismantled Lavrov’s claims one by one – from Moscow’s portrayal of Ukraine’s 2014 revolution to the status of the Russian language – before delivering a blunt message to the Kremlin over its war against Ukraine.

...

Sikorski began by answering Lavrov directly after the Russian foreign minister invoked him by name and described the events that removed former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 as a “bloody coup.”

“Mr. President, please allow me a few extra sentences because I was called out by name by the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, and I feel I need to answer.

“First of all, he [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov] calls the events of 2014 in Kyiv in Ukraine a bloody coup. I was indeed there with the foreign ministers of Germany and France, and there was no coup.

“The President of Ukraine, Mr. Yanukovych, was voted out of office by a democratically elected parliament of Ukraine, including by his own Party of Regions.

“Because he carried out a massacre in which 100 or more Ukrainian civilians were killed.”

...

Sikorski next rejected Lavrov’s claim that the Russian language is banned in Ukraine.

“Mr. Lavrov also claims, and I quote from the transcript, that in the territory of Ukraine, there is a total ban on the Russian language in all spheres.

“I was in Kyiv 10 days ago under Russian bombs, and I can assure him that the Russian language is widely spoken there.

...

Sikorski said Moscow’s escalation reflected mounting pressure on the Kremlin after more than four years of its full-scale invasion rather than Russian strength.

“Russia is escalating because Russia’s leadership is panicking.

“After more than four years of a senseless colonial war, Vladimir Putin has achieved nothing.

...

“He is running out of troops and resources and needs a pretext to mobilize.

“His unnecessary war has killed or wounded one and a half million Russians.

“Millions of Ukrainians and other Europeans are increasingly in danger.

...

Sikorski warned that the danger was spreading beyond Ukraine, pointing to strikes near NATO borders, airspace violations and Russian-linked sabotage and covert operations across Europe.

“Russia is now bringing the same tactics into Europe.

“On September 13, a Russian jet-powered drone hit a Ukrainian train barely two kilometers from the border crossing with Poland.

“Another followed on the 17th.

“Drones and missiles have also attacked border crossings with Moldova and Romania.

“Russia planted an armed drone at Leipzig Airport in Germany.

“Russian drones and aircraft have violated the airspace of, among others, Lithuania, Estonia, Norway and Finland.

“Russian hit squads have killed people in Spain, Britain, Poland and Germany.”

‘Now They Are Reaching Across the Atlantic’

Sikorski then pointed to a US criminal case involving a Russian intelligence network, warning that Moscow’s covert operations were reaching beyond Europe.

...

Sikorski then addressed Russia’s representatives directly, contrasting Moscow’s failure to conquer Ukraine with the vastly greater economic weight of the countries standing behind Kyiv.

“To the representatives of the Russian Federation, I have this to say:

“You have been trying to conquer Donbas for over 12 years, and Kyiv for over four.

“You have been stopped by heroic Ukraine, a country with one-tenth of Russia’s GDP.

“But Poland has almost half of your GDP.

“Europe has 10 times your GDP.

“NATO has 25 times your GDP.

“You can still kill a lot of people, but you cannot win.”

...

Sikorski closed with a direct message to Lavrov, telling him to carry the warning straight to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“You can stop this imperial war of choice at any time.

“Don’t endanger Europe and the world any further. Stop destroying Russia’s future.

“Sergey, I know you’re listening. Tell your boss: Enough is enough.”

Archived

TLDR, the drop in renewable energy generation is caused by the drought, because less water means less hydropower, but drought usually means more light, which could be compensated by additional solar panels.

According to Dataforce numbers reported by Automotive News, the overall market grew to 835,409 units while Chinese vehicles accounted for 11.7 percent of registrations.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/75822925

In a leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to EU Member States that the interest of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta and SpaceX to make profits should take precedence over the fundamental right to data protection. Use of personal data “in the context of AI” should automatically be lawful. There seems to be wide informal agreement by many Member States. In particular, Big Tech would be able to use all personal data collected over the past decades with virtually no restrictions, as long as this happens “in the context” of AI. Schrems: “Under these proposals, the profits of AI companies would trump European’s fundamental right to privacy. This is nothing but a digital expropriation of Europeans.” All this is happening despite the key figures of AI corporations actively warn about the enormous risks associated with their own products.

#EuropeanUnion #AI #BigTech #privacy #digitalRights

...

The European Commission will not extend its November 1 deadline for phasing out Chinese-made power inverters from EU-funded energy projects, despite calls from investors and the renewable energy industry for more time.

...

From November 1, projects connected or due to be connected to the EU electricity grid will have to exclude high-risk suppliers or progressively switch to inverters from suppliers not deemed high-risk.

...

Earlier this year, the EU executive adopted interim policy guidance restricting the use of EU funding for clean energy projects, namely solar, wind and storage, that rely on inverters from high-risk suppliers, meaning Chinese companies such as Huawei.

The move was driven by cybersecurity concerns, particularly the risk that manufacturers could remotely access and manipulate inverters, potentially destabilising electricity grids and triggering blackouts.

...

Following a business roundtable in June convened specifically to address these concerns, industry and investor stakeholders had hoped for derogations to the 1 November deadline.

...

The Commission, for its part, says that a viable alternative supply of non-Chinese inverters already exists, and that the price of guaranteeing the security of Europe's energy infrastructure is a modest one to pay.

...

removepaywall.com

...

The conference “A Vision of a United Europe: Shared Defense, Diplomacy, and Geopolitical Agency” was held in Kyiv on Sept. 18, bringing together Ukrainian and European politicians, diplomats, researchers and security experts to discuss Europe’s ability to respond to Russia’s war against Ukraine and growing geopolitical challenges.

A recurring message throughout the conference was that Europe cannot continue relying on assumptions that a major war is impossible on the continent.

...

Several speakers argued that Russia’s war in Ukraine should be viewed as part of a broader confrontation with the European security order, while others warned that Europe is already losing, or has nearly lost, the hybrid conflict being waged against it.

The conference is set to continue in Vienna from Oct. 2-4, when a Paneuropa Congress will take place. A draft Vienna Declaration has already been prepared and is expected to be presented after the two events.

...

Reinhard Kloucek, president of Paneuropa Austria, said a generation of European politicians had grown up believing that war was something that happened elsewhere rather than on the continent.

“That makes you lazy,” he said.

Kloucek argued that the international order is already changing and that Europe needs to become an independent geopolitical actor rather than remaining dependent on the US, China or Russia.

...

Kloucek also added that Ukraine is central to Europe’s ability to develop such a geopolitical role.

“The clear point is if we, as Europe, want to play a geo-political role, we need Ukraine,” he said, adding that Russia’s success in conquering Ukraine would demonstrate its ability to divide Europe despite the continent’s greater economic potential.

...

Valeriy Pekar, chairman of the board of the NGO Decolonization, offered one of the conference’s most detailed scenarios for how a wider European conflict could begin.

He argued that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 should not necessarily be viewed as the model for future Russian military action. Instead, he pointed to what he described as Russia’s concept of “liminal war” – a conflict designed to create uncertainty over whether and how an adversary should respond.

...

Pekar said a future confrontation could begin with a combination of missile and drone strikes, sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation, political influence operations and covert activity, potentially without the immediate deployment of ground forces.

He used Poland as a hypothetical example, saying a combination of attacks and infrastructure disruption could create a refugee crisis and undermine European decision-making.

...

Archived

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11478176

According to Seznam Zprávy, Czech police detained and questioned Russian nationals Vitaly Chashchukhin and Igor Dolmatov, whom the outlet’s journalists identified as working for Rybar, a Telegram channel with ties to the Russian Defense Ministry. The two were ordered to leave the country within three days.

During questioning, Chashchukhin and Dolmatov said they worked for the Russian newspaper Izvestia, which is under EU sanctions. Chashchukhin was questioned for about nine hours, then left the country but remained in Europe. He has long lived in Germany, where he works for sanctioned Russian media outlets. He told Seznam Zprávy that he has had permanent residency there for about 10 years.

...

Czech police shared information about Chashchukhin with their German counterparts, and Seznam Zprávy asked the German authorities whether they planned to take up the case.

A spokesperson for Germany’s General Customs Directorate, the agency responsible for enforcing sanctions, did not answer directly but said that the circumstances of any possible sanctions violation are examined carefully on a “case-by-case basis.”

...

A day earlier, Seznam Zprávy reported that Rybar representatives work in Europe and regularly seek comments from politicians and experts. Seznam Zprávy journalists arranged the Prague meeting by pretending to be media literacy expert Bohumil Kartous, whom Rybar had invited for an interview. Chashchukhin and camera operator Igor Dolmatov traveled from Germany for the shoot.

Seznam Zprávy identified Moscow-based documentary filmmaker Boris Dvorkin as the shoot’s producer. Dvorkin had not previously been publicly linked to Rybar. The team reportedly planned interviews not only in Czechia but also in Slovakia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, and France.

...

Archived

• President Karol Nawrocki said he hopes the US will finalize plans to establish a permanent military base in Poland, to be called ‘Fort Trump.’

• Nawrocki is confident that a decision is “just a question of time” and he’d like construction to be completed before President Donald Trump’s term ends.

• The idea of a permanent US base was first floated by Nawrocki’s predecessor Andrzej Duda in 2018, and officials in Warsaw have redoubled their efforts to lock in a presence for US troops since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11476438

Poland has affirmed that China is obligated to comply with the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, adding another European voice to calls for respect for the landmark ruling that upheld key Philippine maritime rights.

The statement reinforces the Philippines’ position that the arbitral award remains legally binding under international law. The ruling, issued in 2016 under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, rejected the legal basis of China’s claim to historic rights over resources within the so-called nine-dash line.

The award also clarified the maritime entitlements of several features in the South China Sea and found that China had breached Philippine sovereign rights in areas within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

China, however, has continued to reject the ruling, maintaining that it is “null and void” and that it does not accept or recognize the tribunal’s decision.

...

Poland’s position adds to the growing list of countries that have expressed support for the arbitral award and the broader principle that disputes in the South China Sea should be addressed in accordance with international law.

For Manila, the 2016 decision remains a central reference in its diplomatic and maritime position in the West Philippine Sea, particularly as tensions and competing claims continue in the region.

...

Poland’s latest statement therefore puts renewed attention on the legal framework governing the South China Sea, with the Philippines continuing to invoke the arbitral award as the basis for its maritime rights.

...

Archived

Excerpt:

The doctor who performed the Netherlands’ first case of euthanasia on a child under 12 did so with due care, the supervising committee concluded after investigating. The patient, a child of nearly 2 years who suffered from several severe medical conditions, died at the end of 2025.