cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11207069

Hungary ordered 10 members of Russia’s diplomatic mission in Budapest to leave the country over activities deemed unacceptable, the government said Tuesday, signaling a shift away from the previous administration’s warm relations with Moscow.

The Russian ambassador was informed that “according to the assessment of the Hungarian authorities, 10 members of the Russian mission had engaged in activities in Hungary that are unacceptable for diplomats under the Vienna Convention,” Foreign Minister Anita Orbán said.

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Romania's SRI intelligence service prevented a sabotage operation coordinated by Russia on ​Romanian territory, it said on Tuesday, ‌as Ukraine's European allies seek to counteract what they say are Moscow's attempts to destabilise them.

European countries blame ​Moscow for sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation targeting ​supporters of Kyiv's war effort.

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Romania's SRI intelligence service prevented a sabotage operation coordinated by Russia on ​Romanian territory, it said on Tuesday, ‌as Ukraine's European allies seek to counteract what they say are Moscow's attempts to destabilise them.

European countries blame ​Moscow for sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation targeting ​supporters of Kyiv's war effort.

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"The Russian citizen was instructed by ​an intermediary ​to make ⁠photo-video materials with targets of strategic military interest, including Ukrainian ANTONOV cargo ​aircraft during their presence on the ​national ⁠territory," SRI said in a statement.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11206967

• While emissions in the EU have dropped by nearly 40 per cent since 1990, imported emissions represented 35 per cent of the bloc’s carbon footprint in 2023, according to the Traded Emissions Tracker by the European Climate Foundation (ECF)
• China is the top source country of imported emissions into the EU with a share of almost 10 percent as China was responsible for 27.2% of global consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions in 2023
• A commitment from the EU to reduce imported emissions would send a clear message to the global business community about the direction of travel, says ECF

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The European Union is ramping up its internal push to lower emissions, but figures from the European Climate Foundation (ECF) and climate consultancy Matiere indicate that 35% of its carbon footprint in 2023 originated outside its borders.

These numbers, which also show that more than a fifth of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are now connected to cross-border commerce, pose a political dilemma for Brussels, which is pouring resources into cleaning up its industrial sites, energy generation, and transport sector while still relying on imported goods whose manufacturing processes release significant carbon abroad.

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As the ECF’s director of industrial policy and trade, Richard Baron, reminded attendees at an event in Brussels to launch the tracker, the EU’s trade deficit with China stands at a record €1bn a day.

Baron suggested a first step could be for the EU and China to agree on a translation tool to enable them to at least agree on how to measure carbon in products and not to “end up with zillions of labels if we want innovation”.

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In Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Cyprus, Malta, and Spain, imports represented over 40% of the national carbon footprint in 2023, with intra-EU trade excluded from the calculation. Covering 45 major economies between 2010 and 2023, the tracker finds that emissions tied to trade have expanded at a quicker pace than overall global emissions, increasing by 10 percentage points from 1995 to 2023.

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The EU has already taken steps to limit overseas emissions through mechanisms like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes a carbon levy on selected imports. Under its anti-deforestation regulation, which takes effect on 30 December 2027, Brussels will prohibit imports of goods such as cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood if their production led to deforestation or forest damage.

Although CBAM and the European Union Deforestation Regulation can help weave carbon considerations into trade, the tracker's developers advocate for broader cooperation with trading partners to achieve substantial progress. Please mention the

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The ECF tracker covers 45 economies and 64 sectors. It shows greenhouse gas emissions linked to international trade growing faster than global emissions by a margin of 10 percentage points between 1995 and 2023. More than one tonne of CO₂e out of every five emitted produces a good or service that will ultimately be consumed in a different country than where it was produced, says the ECF.

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France is the only country that has set the ambition of reducing its imported emissions in its latest national climate plan published in July. Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden have also announced their intention to include them in national climate policies.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11206781

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Brussels is expected to unveil new “Buy European” procurement rules that would give governments and public authorities greater scope to favour European companies when awarding contracts, while potentially restricting bidders from countries that do not offer equivalent access to their own public markets.

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The move reflects a much broader shift in Europe’s relationship with Beijing.

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Brussels is no longer looking at trade simply through the traditional lens of price and consumer choice. The question increasingly is whether European taxpayers should finance foreign industrial capacity at a time when Europe is trying to rebuild its own.

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cross-posted from: https://lazysoci.al/post/53577155

Paywall? https://unwall.app/www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-08/eu-and-canada-plan-far-reaching-alliance-to-strengthen-partnership?srnd=homepage-europe

Renault's value brand Dacia is switching production of its low-cost Dacia Spring EV to Europe from China so it can benefit from French subsidies, the company announced. Priced at €17,900 for the base model ($20,789), the Spring will cost as little as €12,200 ($14,169) after French EV credits are applied. Dacia has also redesigned the Spring, making it sit a little higher and adding some sporty allure with a more muscular body design.

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The Dacia Spring will be assembled in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, at the same plant where Renault builds its Twingo E-Tech city car. The Spring now appears to be Europe's cheapest EV after incentives, which vary depending on country and your household income.

The Spring has been a relative success for Renault, with sale of 210,000 units across the world since 2021. It's designed to help Renault meet its ambitious 2030 goal of a 100 percent electrified mix in Europe, with half electric and half hybrid vehicle sales. Europe has ordained that fleet emissions must drop 90 percent by 2035 compared to 2021 levels.

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Edit:

New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe (EU, EFTA, UK) increased by 4%, with all-electric car sales up by 51% to take a 25% market share

Best-Selling Carmakers and Car Brands in Europe in 2026 (July):

1 Volkswagen

2 Skoda

3 Toyota

4 BMW

5 Mercedes

6 Renault

7 Audi

8 Peugeot

9 Kia

10 Dacia

Drought has left Europe hunting for millions more tons of corn just as Russia chokes off Ukraine’s cheapest route to market, creating an unlikely opening for the American farm belt.

Italian technology collective Autistici/Inventati (A/I) said on Sunday it would shut down its services after a U.S. terrorism designation led to the suspension ​of its .org domain and the closure of its bank account.

The volunteer-run provider, founded in 2001, offers privacy-focused email, websites, mailing lists ​and blogging services to activists, campaigners and others seeking alternatives to ​commercial platforms.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11193826

Hyundai Mobis has begun mass-producing electric powertrain systems at a new plant in Slovakia, its first such facility in Europe, as it strengthens its foothold in the region’s electric vehicle market.

The company ... can produce 280,000 power electric, or PE, systems annually.

A PE system combines an electric motor, inverter and reducer into a single powertrain unit.

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The facility is Hyundai Mobis’ third electrification production base in Europe, joining its battery system plants in the Czech Republic and Spain.

The auto parts supplier views Europe, the world’s second-largest EV market, as a key growth region. The Slovak plant expands an electrification production network that also covers South Korea, the US, the Czech Republic and Indonesia.

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cross-posted from: https://feddit.online/c/euro@feddit.online/p/1943390/new-files-reveal-eu-plans-to-accelerate-deportations-to-syria

The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures the skills of 15-year-olds in reading, maths and science. It has been carried out every three years since 2000.

In reading, mathematics and science, last year's results show the lowest scores ever measured for Germany since the first study.

[Op-ed by Petr Čermák, Research Fellow at the Association for International Affairs focusing on Western Balkan politics.]

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During his visit to Belgrade in July, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis joined Serbian President Aleksandar President Vucic in criticising the EU’s ambivalent approach to enlargement, mentioning that he “does not understand at all why Serbia is not in [the] Schengen [Area] yet”.

This was neither a slip of the tongue nor a rhetorical misstep on Babis’s part. In his address to Czech ambassadors in Prague at the end of August, Babis paid unusually significant attention to supporting Western Balkan enlargement and criticising EU policy, while reiterating that the Western Balkans, including Serbia, should have joined the passport-free Schengen Area long ago.

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Yet the idea of a rapid expansion of the Schengen Area is not only politically unfeasible and technically impracticable but is, above all, dangerous. It completely overlooks Russia’s ties to Serbia, which maintains a visa-free regime with Moscow despite European pressure, turning Belgrade into a convenient hub for Russians in Europe. The ongoing investigation into the hybrid attack in Leipzig is one more piece of evidence indicating that Serbia is being used not only as a transit country but also as a base for Russian operations directed against Europe.

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Delays [of membership of other Schengen countries that previously joined the bloc] resulted from both the technical complexity of the process and the political reluctance of certain EU members. Integrating into the Schengen system and securing complex land and sea borders presented a technical and administrative challenge for the new members.

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By calling for the immediate admission of the Western Balkans to Schengen, Babis is turning the logic of the entire process upside down. Under his proposal, states should become part of the zone immediately, regardless of their technical and institutional readiness.

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While even the harshest EU sceptics did not question Croatia or Romania’s pro-Western orientation, fundamental questions remain about the true foreign policy orientation of some Western Balkan states and their willingness to align their policies with Europe.

This issue is particularly evident in Serbia, which has maintained close ties with Russia and China as part of a foreign policy that seeks to balance competing geopolitical interests, while remaining reluctant to bring its policies fully into line with those of Europe.

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A significant number of Russians have also settled permanently or temporarily in Serbia, which is not only easily accessible to them but also culturally relatively close. While the Serbian border police registered nearly a million single entries by Russians between 2022 and 2024, estimates put the number of Russians residing in Serbia long term at around 100,000. The Serbian government has accommodated this trend with generous residence permits and citizenship grants, in some cases through accelerated procedures “in the state interest” or even to Russians under sanctions.

What statistics fail to capture is the political profile of this new Russian diaspora. It is presumed to be a mix of pragmatically minded Russians, many of whom are successfully building businesses in Serbia; anti-Putin exiles; and prominent figures directly linked to Putin. The proportion of these individual groups remains unknown, and judging by recorded intelligence activities targeting the Russian opposition in Belgrade, Moscow is seeking that answer as well.

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Furthermore, Serbia is not merely a venue for Russian intelligence services to monitor their own opposition, but also a safe staging ground for operations elsewhere in Europe. For instance, BIRN recently documented the Russian recruitment of volunteers in Serbia for the war against Ukraine, as well as training centres for hybrid operations in Moldova. As-yet unconfirmed reports of a Serbian citizen’s involvement in a hybrid attack in Leipzig and the use of Serbia for the transit of Russian operatives provide further evidence of Serbia’s role in Russian activities on European soil.

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Serbia may have its place in the EU and Schengen someday, provided it genuinely desires membership and meets at least the basic political and security conditions. Ending its visa-free policy with Russia certainly ranks among them, regardless of the Czech prime minister’s disregard for the issue.

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Mercedes-Benz management warned that it plans to close one of its plants in Germany and move production to Eastern Europe if employees do not agree to cost-cutting measures. Wirtschaftswoche reports this, citing company sources, with UNN reporting, citing Bild.

According to the publication, management is demanding that employees give up some benefits, including vacation pay and Christmas bonuses, as well as reconsider the 35-hour workweek. Management believes that current conditions are making German plants less competitive amid

The European Parliament’s rapporteurs on the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act are closing the EU market to Chinese investment in sectors where Beijing is dominant, going further than what the European Commission suggested.

• Russia continues its intelligence, cyber, and influence operations and is also using new methods to recruit individuals for specific tasks, according to the BIS, the Czech Republic's Security Information Service.
• China focuses primarily on acquiring information, technology, and strategic know-how. In addition, cyberattacks, extremism, terrorism, and the circumvention of sanctions remain significant risks.
• For the Czech Republic, this means that national defense is no longer solely a matter for the military. Equally important is the resilience of institutions, critical infrastructure, industry, and the information space.

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While the reduction of Russia’s diplomatic presence in the Czech Republic has made the traditional work of Russian intelligence services more difficult, it does not mean the end of such activities. Moscow is seeking other ways to gather information, influence the environment in European countries, and support activities that could undermine their stability.

This development fits into a broader picture also described by NATO. The Alliance considers Russia to be the most significant and direct threat to the security of its allies and highlights a combination of conventional, cyber, and hybrid tools. These include, for example, sabotage, cyberattacks, electronic jamming, disinformation, political influence, and economic coercion.

One notable trend highlighted by the BIS is the so-called “disposable agents.” These are not necessarily professional intelligence operatives. Individuals may be approached via the internet and accept a specific task in exchange for financial compensation.

The main advantage of this model for the client is the low risk involved. There is no need to build a long-term relationship with the agent or integrate them into an extensive intelligence network. The individual is given a task that may be relatively simple to carry out, and contact can then be severed.

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According to the BIS, Chinese activities are of a different nature. The report highlights, above all, efforts to acquire information, knowledge, and technologies that may have strategic value ... security and economic policies are increasingly intertwined. Information on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, energy, advanced manufacturing, or defense technologies may not be classified in and of itself. However, the systematic acquisition of such information can be significant for the state’s technological and strategic competitiveness.

NATO views China as a systemic challenge. Among other things, it highlights China’s military growth, cyber activities, and cooperation with Russia. In its 2025 report, NATO also notes that following a cyber campaign against the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 2025 – which the Czech Republic attributed to China – the North Atlantic Council issued a statement of solidarity with the Czech Republic.

The Czech experience is thus not an isolated case. It is part of a broader European problem concerning the protection of technology, research, and critical systems.

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The Czech Republic is home to industrial companies whose products can have both civilian and military applications. This heightens the importance of export controls and preventing the circumvention of sanctions regimes.

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