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The Authoritarian Collaboration Index, for example, traces the evolution of relations between Reform UK, the party led by Nigel Farage, and Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, which have formalised a partnership with a commitment to tackle immigration together in the run-up to a possible election victory. The two parties agree that sovereignty takes precedence over international law, including the European Convention on Human Rights.

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Another revelation is that the AfD, Germany’s far-right party, has been dependent on Russian funding since 2016, but the flow of money has increased over the last six months and the link with Moscow has intensified in tandem with their electoral success. Following the AfD’s recent victories in the local elections in Saxony-Anhalt, “Russia’s support has gone far beyond traditional funding, evolving into a close dialogue that recognises the AfD’s importance as a future governing party”.

These parties, which also include Vox in Spain, have not formed a single bloc but prefer to strengthen bilateral ties, which give them greater legitimacy, whilst employing common tactics and methods.

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“What emerges from the report is that an increasingly dense network of collaboration is forming between governments, parties and authoritarian movements at a global level, one that utilises every possible means of repression,” explained Domonkos Kovacs, head of the Authoritarian Collaboration Index and director of Action for Democracy. “ ‘These movements used to be isolationist, but they have now learnt to collaborate using technology and social media. The only possible response is to establish an equally intensive collaboration between democratic parties, governments and movements.’

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Beyond Europe

Looking beyond Europe, the report emphasises that ‘although China and Russia remain the main pillars of the global axis of autocracy, other states are playing an active role in exporting surveillance and control tactics to Africa and South-East Asia’.

At the presentation, Jesus Armas, the former leader of the opposition in Venezuela, who was imprisoned and tortured for a long time by Nicolás Maduro’s government, said that his country still has a long way to go before it can return to democracy, but that Maria Corina Machado’s recent return home bodes well.

Carmen Lau, a Chinese dissident living in exile in the UK with a $1 million bounty on her head imposed by the Hong Kong Government, highlighted just how pervasive Beijing’s global influence is and criticised the British Government for failing to speak out against the repressive regime in its former colony.

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More than 60% of women serving in Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, have experienced sexual misconduct ranging from lewd remarks to physical harassment, according to a new study presented by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), on Wednesday.

Fifteen percent said they had been harassed with images taken against their will or altered using artificial intelligence. Nine percent of servicewomen and 3% of servicemen said they had been physically assaulted, while 2% of both women and men said they had experienced outright sexual violence in the Bundeswehr.

The amendment would make it possible to introduce laws where Swedish nationality of dual nationals can be revoked if they received it on a 'false basis' or if they were convicted of crimes that seriously hurt Sweden's 'vital interests.' It will be up to the next government to present a bill to put it into practice.

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As Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine approaches its sixth year, the likelihood of it joining the EU is still being actively debated. Neighbouring Moldova is also driving towards EU membership, even though it is aware that Russia is actively opposed.

It means both countries, and others in the region where people have expressed a desire to join the EU, such as Georgia, find themselves the subject of online campaigns which, critics say, are aimed at undermining those efforts.

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After the war [in Ukraine] began in 2022, the OECD published a policy paper on ‘Disinformation and Russia’s War of Aggression against Ukraine’, in which it said: “The Russian disinformation narratives are often false, or obscure facts with half-truths and ‘whataboutisms’.”

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Disinformation frequently attempts to erode political reputations and steer voters towards particular political agendas.

As with other forms of political disinformation, this takes many forms when it comes to EU accession, according to Vladyslav Lesyk, a journalist at Ukrainian media outlet Rubryka.

“One of the primary Russian narratives regarding Ukraine’s EU accession is the claim that Ukraine’s efforts to join the Union are futile,” he said.

“For instance, Russian sources have spread fakes asserting that granting candidate status is a merely formal decision that offers no actual benefits. The functions of this narrative are to demoralise Ukrainian society and create the impression that the reforms required for EU membership are pointless.

“Another Russian narrative suggests that joining the EU would mean Ukraine losing its sovereignty. This builds upon a broader Russian narrative, maintained since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014, which portrays Ukraine as a state with an illegitimate government controlled by the West, specifically the EU and the US.”

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Lesyk said narratives spread in European countries lean into the idea of Ukraine becoming a “burden” on EU member states.

“In this context, Ukraine is presented as a poor and corrupt state whose accession would supposedly drain the European budget. A specific sub-narrative focuses on the negative impact of Ukrainian grain on European farming. Russians have been spreading the narrative of ‘harmful’ Ukrainian grain for several years to sow discord.”

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Yet as an analysis from the European Policy Centre points out, Ukraine joining the EU would have very obvious benefits – including opening up the country’s energy potential to the EU, boosting EU food security, and providing ready trade in critical minerals.

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Lesyk said Telegram is the primary hub for disseminating these Russian narratives in Ukraine, as it allows for the use of anonymous channels and is one of the most popular sources of information in the country.

Regarding Moldova, media and fact-checking organisations have tracked a number of lines of attack regarding proposed EU membership, ranging from farms there closing due to Moldovan agricultural products not being in demand, to higher utility bills and same-sex marriage.

These were analysed in depth by the website NewsMaker.md. Romanian fact-checking website Veridica has tracked numerous disinformation campaigns, including that Moldova could become a destination for migrants, could lose its statehood, or even be annexed by Romania.

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In Georgia, another country seemingly at a crossroads when it comes to possible EU membership, websites such as OC Media have tracked what they believe are coordinated Russian information operations in recent years.

Salome Khvedelidze of OC Media said some of this runs on Facebook and other platforms. The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy detailed material it described as “the dissemination of anti-Western, particularly anti-EU narratives”.

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The German Armed Forces have banned the use of Chinese commercial drones at military facilities and training grounds.

According to Der Spiegel, citing its own sources and Germany’s Ministry of Defence, the decision was made over concerns about potential espionage.

The Bundeswehr has also restricted access to military facilities for certain models of Chinese cars due to the risk of espionage.

The ministry confirmed the decision, stating that the German military will no longer use Chinese-made drone models and that existing systems will be replaced with German or other European alternatives.

The move was prompted by concerns over the potential leakage of confidential information through Chinese-made equipment.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12415167

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The Commission’s assessment remains that Ukraine has met the conditions required to open all remaining clusters.

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It is now for the Council to consider today’s recommendations of the Commission and take decisions on the steps ahead in the enlargement process.

On 15-16 November the EU Enlargement Forum will gather in Brussels, bringing together a broad and diverse range of participants, from high-level national and regional political leaders to civil society representatives, entrepreneurs, artists, youth voices, and policy experts from both EU Member States and enlargement countries.

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cross-posted from: https://feddit.online/c/euro@feddit.online/p/2097087/deportations-frontex-broke-eu-law-blew-through-budget-and-tried-to-cover-it-up

While the Nasdaq crashed 6% in a single day, European stocks barely moved, and in 2026, Europe's STOXX 600 is actually beating the S&P 500. In this video, we break down why: Europe is far less exposed to the AI bubble, trades at a ~30% valuation discount, and has untapped growth potential through the Single Market, the Capital Markets Union and Eurobonds, with €10 trillion in European savings just sitting in bank accounts. So is it finally time to invest in Europe or will we waste this moment like we wasted the Draghi Report?

If you want to look at it on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr0RoXuUsCE

Also, title slightly edited to remove clickbait.

An investigation by the foundation Maldita.es has detected more than 20,000 profiles of potential paedophiles on TikTok, more than 7,000 of them in Spanish, and over 1,000 child sexual abuse videos that together add up to around 48 million views. The tracking lasted 35 days, between 11 September and 15 October.

On Monday, after the results became known, the Ministry of Youth and Childhood asked the Prosecutor's Office to take action and left open the possibility of suspending the platform in Spain.

The report, entitled "TikTok: the paedophile's home", is the third investigation by Maldita.es into child sexual abuse on the platform. The team analysed profiles, comments and live broadcasts, and created its own accounts to see how the algorithm responded.

It identified 231 profiles that posted 1,183 explicit items of content, 780 accounts that use the network to attract buyers and more than 10,000 that ask for exchanges of sexual images in the comments. When all the categories set out in the report are added together, the foundation says, it has found some 26,000 accounts of potential paedophiles.

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'Maldita' reported a sample of 50 videos with explicit material to the platform, which had amassed 8.9 million views. TikTok removed five of them, that's 10%, and blocked another 13 only for users in Spain.

Seventy-two hours later, 40% of the accounts that had posted them were still active. The most viewed video in the sample, with more than four million plays, was restricted in Spain, but its account remained open with more than 3,000 followers.

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'Maldita' says that it contacted TikTok before publishing and did not receive a reply. There was no public response from the platform at the time this article was written. In May, another investigation by the foundation stated that TikTok had agreed with 'Maldita' in 99% of its complaints, but had kept the accounts active.

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Meanwhile, the [Spanish] Ministry of Youth and Childhood has sent the Office of the Attorney General a request to investigate the possible cases of child sexual abuse detected on TikTok. The department has also raised the possibility of shutting down the platform's services in Spain if circumstances make it necessary.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12410238

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Chengdu, which is the capital of Sichuan province, and Sheffield have been twinned since 2010.

But Clara Cheung, a former Hong Konger who moved to Sheffield in 2021, told a council meeting that she and others believed such a relationship told Chinese students that the city was "aligning or endorsing the authoritarian regime in China".

Fran Belbin, leader of the council, said: "Maintaining a relationship with a city does not imply formal endorsement of the policies or actions of that city's national government."

Cheung, who left Hong Kong after the national security law was introduced, told the Sheffield Council meeting last week that cities sharing such a twinning relationship should also share "common values, about human rights, about religious freedom".

She also highlighted the treatment of Uyghur Muslims and Tibetans, the arrest of young women for publishing gay erotica and Chinese state pressure on Sheffield Hallam University's research into Uyghur forced labour.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12409256

The UK Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee issued two reports last week: “China and the UK economy: the case for risk-managed growth” (“China Report” - opens pdf) on 2 November 2026, and “Critical minerals” (“Critical Minerals Report” - opens pdf) on 5 November 2026.

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The China Report finds that the UK Government has not delivered on its 2024 promise of a strategic, long-term, consistent approach to China, and that its record of decision making has been characterised by “reactivity, inconsistency, and opacity”.

The China Report recommends, amongst other things:

• A “traffic light” risk framework of red (off limits), amber (permitted subject to risk mitigations) and green (permitted) zones for economic engagement with China;

• That the UK Government insist on fair trade, the strengthening of trade remedies and reform of procurement to enable British firms to compete on a level playing field. It should prevent the transfer of sensitive technologies and data to China by better resourcing the UK’s research security apparatus, banning high risk connected tech from UK critical national infrastructure and strengthening the regulation of data traffic between connected vehicles in the UK and foreign entities;

• Updating the NSIA to give ongoing oversight of foreign ownership of, or control over, strategic entities and assets, including a power to review ownership where material circumstances (including the national security situation) change;

• Amending section 54 NSIA so that the Government can share more information on screening decisions with Parliament. The Government has resisted similar calls since the inception of the regime on the basis that Parliament’s role in scrutinising individual case is exceptional rather than routine.

The Critical Minerals Report inds that the UK “is now dangerously dependent on supply chains that are dominated by China” and calls for the UK Government to “precision de-risk” UK critical mineral supply chains.

The Critical Minerals Report’s recommendations most relevant to dealmakers are:

• Create a Critical Minerals Finance Facility, bringing together the UK’s public finance institutions (including domestic, export and overseas development finance bodies) to finance strategic projects through equity, loans, long-term offtake agreements and price floors – mechanisms already being deployed by other governments. Individual UK finance bodies have previously supported UK critical mineral sources including tungsten (Tungsten West, 2026), tin (Cornish Metals, 2025 and 2026) and lithium (Cornish Lithium, 2023). Direct state investment is not proposed (although the UK Government has procured offtake rights in relation to some projects financed by UK finance bodies) and has not been a condition of NSIA clearances to date (and would be a radical step).

• Establish “buyers” clubs with G7, EU and other allies to aggregate demand, jointly finance projects (for example, sharing the costs of new mines and smelters – a single US rare earth magnet facility required USD 1.25 billion of investment) and to secure offtake.

• Publish lists of desired “sovereign capabilities”, critical mineral dependencies and minerals to be sourced domestically. These would crystallise economic security sensitivities and inform NSIA review of deals touching those areas. The Critical Minerals Report also recommends mapping UK workforce / skills requirements, which can be an area of focus for NSIA remedies.

• Introduce procurement preference for firms sourcing from domestic and allied sources, with large-contract suppliers required to reduce exposure to high-risk jurisdictions, making supply chain origin a value driver in diligence (with echoes of the EU’s “European preference” strategy, discussed in our client memo). The US, for example, has offered tax credits to firms sourcing minerals domestically or from partners.

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The UK Government is under no obligation to act on the committee’s recommendations but aims to respond within two months. With continued pressure from China, the two Reports will likely receive close attention. The Government did not accept any NSIA reform recommendations made by a 2025 report on economic security (discussed in our client memo).

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Archived

On Nov. 8, Moldova activated the Vulcănești-Chișinău power line, allowing the country to import electricity from Romania and other European countries without routing supplies through the breakaway region of Transnistria.

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Moldova’s Energy Ministry said the new 400-kilovolt line was energized in the presence of President Maia Sandu and EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos. Sandu said the new supply route means Russia will no longer be able to use Moldova’s energy dependence as a tool of political pressure.

“No one will be able to blackmail us anymore, turn off our lights, or cut off our heating,” Sandu said at the ceremony. She said Moscow had previously threatened to cut off Moldova’s energy supplies any time the authorities in Chișinău made decisions that ran counter to Kremlin interests. Kos, who also attended the event, said Moldova’s energy dependence on Russia was now a thing of the past.

The new 158-kilometer transmission line connects the Moldovan capital to the Vulcănești substation in the south of the country. Its capacity reaches 630 megavolt-amperes, which authorities say is enough to transmit electricity sufficient to cover more than half of the country’s peak-hour consumption. The key difference is that the new route does not pass through the Kuchurgan energy hub in Transnistria, a Russian-backed breakaway territory that is not under Chișinău’s control. Previously, a significant share of electricity imported from Romania reached Chișinău through that hub. Moldova now has an alternative route that does not depend on Transnistrian infrastructure.

Until 2025, Moldova also depended heavily on the Moldavskaya GRES power plant in Transnistria, which is owned by Russian energy company Inter RAO. The plant ran mainly on Russian gas and supplied most of the electricity consumed by the part of Moldova controlled by the government in Chișinău. Moldova had already stopped buying Russian gas for consumers in government-controlled territory in December 2022, switching instead to purchases on the European market.

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If you wonder what is the relation to Europe (apart from that Turkey is part of Europe): Europe is one of the fastest warming regions of the world, more than twice of the average rise in temperature, and all countries in the Mediterranean and in the South-East are already paying a high price.

The Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands sent a letter to members of the Dutch Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee urging them not to meet with Penpa Tsering, President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), who is currently on an official visit to the Netherlands.

The letter, dated November 4 and addressed to members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Dutch House of Representatives, sought to convey Beijing’s position on Tibet ahead of the CTA President’s scheduled meeting with the committee.

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In the letter, the Chinese Embassy asserted that Tibet, referred to as “Xizang” in the correspondence, had been an “inalienable part of China’s sacred territory since ancient times” and that the Chinese central government had long exercised effective sovereign jurisdiction over the region.

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The embassy ...urged the Dutch Foreign Affairs Committee to refrain from providing a platform for what it termed “Tibet independence forces to carry out anti-China activities.”

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Despite the Chinese Embassy’s intervention, the CTA President proceeded with his official engagements in the Netherlands, holding discussions with Dutch government officials and meeting members of the Dutch media to address a range of issues concerning Tibet.

During the visit, he also delivered a keynote address as a “lightning speaker” at the 6th Annual Summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), where he called on the international community to strengthen its support for Tibet and take concrete political and diplomatic action against what he described as China’s coordinated efforts to erode Tibet’s historical identity, religious freedom and cultural heritage.

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Chinese missions have engaged in aggressive tactics to dissuade foreign leaders from meeting Tibetan exile leadership including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and CTA leadership in the past.

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Original Reuters article.

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez last week appointed his deputy, Carlos Cuerpo, to provisionally run the Transport Ministry after Oscar Puente resigned over the two crashes on the same high-speed Madrid-Seville line this year, which killed 115 people.

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Talks with the government to improve safety on Spain’s high-speed network ... began after a crash in southern Spain in January that killed 46 people, but were abandoned in April, according to the train drivers’ union.

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The Chinese party-state uses all methods to varying extents, from abductions to espionage and harassment. The targets of the repression are all within the regime-critical diaspora, including members of the democracy movement, human rights advocates, Falun Gong, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongolians, Hongkongers, and Taiwanese, according to a new study (pdf) conducted by the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), a government agency.

A particularly common method is proxy punishment of friends or relatives in China in order to pressure the activist to cease their political activism. In the case of Sweden, despite being targets of China’s transnational repression (TNR), the interviewees generally felt safe. The Swedish authorities take TNR seriously and the security agencies have had contact with most of the interviewees.

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Some of the interviewees had experienced direct threats from Chinese authorities while residing in Sweden. Twelve of the 16 interviewees described incidents where relatives or friends in China have been harassed or punished by Chinese security authorities because of their connection to the interviewee.

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"Currently, because the domestic political situation is relatively stable and the regime has extensive means to monitor and control the population, the Chinese regime is not seriously threatened by regime-critical diaspora movements," the report says.

"However, this can quickly change if a major upheaval, what social movement researchers call a quotidian disruption, happens."

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Diaspora activism can make a difference in individual cases. The Chinese regime cares about outside criticism; its massive TNR policy to silence the diaspora is evidence of that. Several interviewees pointed to the importance of maintaining media attention on the human rights situation in China in general and on individual cases in particular.

China will most likely continue to expand its TNR. It will be of increasing importance for liberal democracies such as Sweden to maintain focus on how to guard against TNR, to ensure the safety of refugees, and to make sure that members of the diaspora can continue their lawful political activities.

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Archived