European Union nations reached a tentative breakthrough deal to provide Ukraine with billions in additional funds for arms and ammunitions coming from the profits raised from frozen Russian central bank assets held in the bloc.

The agreement among the 27 EU ambassadors was announced by Belgium, which holds most of the frozen assets in the bloc. It came after weeks of tough negotiations among member states, which were made more complicated by the stringent financial limits on using such funds.

The deal should free up to 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) a year for Kyiv, of which 90% could be spent on ammunition and other military equipment.

Officials said a first installment of the funds could reach Kyiv in July.

The EU is holding around 210 billion euros ($225 billion) in Russian central bank assets, most of it frozen in Belgium, in retaliation for Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Kyiv has long been urging that those funds be used to get vital military supplies as it struggles to stave off renewed Russian attacks.

A small group of member states, especially Hungary, refuse to supply weapons to Ukraine so special safeguards had to be included in the deal to allow for some 10% of the funds to be considered general aid.

EU member states still need to officially endorse the ambassadors’ agreement.

In recent exchanges with the relevant authorities, RBI has been "unable to obtain the required comfort in order to proceed with the proposed transaction", the bank says on its website.

Therefore, "in an abundance of caution", the bank has decided to walk away from the deal, it says.

RBI planned to buy a 27.78% stake in Strabag, an Austrian construction company, for 1.51 billion euros in cash from Russia-based Rasperia Trading, a holding company controlled by Oleg Deripaska, through the bank's Russian subsidiary AO Raiffeisenbank, and then transfer it to the wider RBI group by issuing a dividend in kind.

However, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU, US, and UK sanctioned Deripaska, imposing an asset freeze. The European regulator and the US recently urged RBI to cancel its plan.

Raiffeisen entered the Russian market in the 1990s. Unlike other businesses and banks, it didn't exit Russia after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. Today RBI is the largest Western bank in Russia.

A trove of data examined by experts indicates the operation is highly organised, technically savvy – and ongoing.

Operating on an industrial scale, programmers have created tens of thousands of fake web shops offering discounted goods from Dior, Nike, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Versace and Prada, as well as many other premium brands.

Published in multiple languages from English to German, French, Spanish, Swedish and Italian, the websites appear to have been set up to lure shoppers into parting with money and sensitive personal data.

However, the sites have no connection to the brands they claim to sell and in most cases consumers who spoke about their experience said they received no items.

Experts say the recent increase in arrests and investigations reflects a changing mood in Europe towards Chinese threats.

“A lot of this activity has been around a while,” said Martin Thorley, a senior analyst at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime. “Countries have now been forced confront it, despite the unpalatable nature of dealing with this at the same time as having market dependencies, supply-chain links etc in China. This has been present for a while and has been left too long.”

Roderich Kiesewetter, a German MP and former army officer, said the German secret services had been warning for “several years” about the threat from China but “the warning was … on purpose not heard”.

He noted that the recent arrests in Germany would have sent a “stronger signal” if they had been announced before the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, went to Beijing in April. Instead, they were made public days after Scholz’s return to Germany.

The open letter calls on Von der Leyen to “reject any normalisation, cooperation or alliance with the far right and radical parties” and denounces a physical assault on German centre-left politician Matthias Ecke. Ecke was “seriously injured” after allegedly being attacked by four young men while putting up campaign posters.

The letter has been signed by five of the main political parties in the European parliament including the Socialists & Democrats, Renew representing the liberals, the Greens and The Left.

But the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest group in the parliament, representing conservative-leaning parties throughout Europe, declined.

French MEP Valérie Hayer, head of Renew, said her group, which is backed by Emmanuel Macron, regretted that the EPP had not signed. “This puts their commitment to the common fight against destructive, far right forces into question. We urge the EPP to reconsider and to join this pro-European commitment,” she said.

The German government and establishment are stepping up the repression of pro-Palestine Jews including Israelis, but it's all about anti-Arab/Muslim racism by proxy, says Udi Raz, a Jewish activist who spoke to The New Arab in Berlin.

“Germany is very much engaged in an attempt to self-define itself through the exclusion of other minorities. In the 30s and 40s, it was the Jews, and now it is Muslims,” explained Raz, adding that Germany is eager to protect Jews but only to the extent that those Jews are also “willing to produce anti-Muslim racism.”

Calling the last seven months a culmination of a decades-long oppression of Palestinians in Germany, Raz believes that this marginalisation of Palestinians also targets the entire Muslim population living in the country. [...]

The musician was seen wearing a keffiyeh on his arm, a symbol commonly used to show support for Palestine.

In reponse, a representative of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement: “All performers are made aware of the rules of the contest, and we regret that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event.”

Despite facing criticism for its decision not to exclude Israel and worldwide protests condemning the organizers' choice, the competition maintained its stance.

“Politics does influence the event from time to time,” said Paul Jordan, a contest enthusiast and researcher who was part of its communications team from 2015 to 2018, in an interview with CNN.

However, he noted, “the presence of Israel has become such a big issue (that) I think it’s going to overshadow the event.”

The news comes during Israel’s seizure and closure of the Rafah crossing in Gaza, which has raised concerns that already-scarce food and medical supplies will be further depleted and lead to a “catastrophic” humanitarian disaster.

Italy’s president told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can’t be solved by rewarding its aggression and peace can only come when Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored.

Sergio Mattarella said Italy, which now heads the G7 meetings, and many international partners have come to Ukraine’s defense to support the principle that solidarity must be given to nations attacked by acts that violate international law and the U.N. Charter.

“No state, no matter how powerful or how equipped it is with a menacing nuclear arsenal can think of violating principles, including the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of another country without facing sanctions,” he said.

Mattarella said the end of two world wars and the collapse of the Soviet Union had brought new hope to Europe, and that “Russia has taken on the great historic responsibility of having brought war back to the heart of the European continent.”

The Italian president stressed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t merely a regional conflict since Moscow wants to exercise global influence. Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, which is charged with ensuring international peace and security.

Germany sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its military presence in the region amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea.

Those tensions were putting pressure on the freedom of navigation and free passage on trade routes, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the northern German navy base in Wilhelmshaven.

Some 40% of Europe's foreign trade flows through the South China Sea. "Looking the other way, showing no presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of the international rules-based order, that's not an option for Germany," he told reporters before the vessels departed. "Presence matters."

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, despite an international tribunal ruling that Beijing has no legal basis for these claims. China also claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the latter's strong objections.

The supply ship Frankfurt am Main set sail from Wilhelmshaven, while the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg left from the Spanish harbour of Rota. The vessels will meet at sea, then sail to Halifax in Canada and onwards to the Indo-Pacific.

The ships will pass through the South China Sea but it was not clear whether they will also sail through the Taiwan Strait as the United States has done, a move certain to irk Germany's top trade partner, China.

"Since several allied navy vessels have passed (the Taiwan Strait), this obviously is an option. But no decision has been taken yet," said Pistorius.

In 2021, a German warship sailed into the South China Sea for the first time in almost 20 years, joining other Western nations in expanding military presence in the region amid alarm over China's territorial ambitions.

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It has long been rumored that Russia is executing its own soldiers; deserters and those disobeying orders.

A young soldier, who identifies himself with full name, military number tag, and location at the frontline, now tells the barbaric story from the trench on the battlefield.

“…the situation is difficult. My own people want to nullify me, to shoot me,” he tells.

The 5 minutes long video-recording aimed for his girlfriend was first posted on Telegram and later spread across social media this weekend. The Barents Observer is not identifying the soldier or his fellow colleague now fighting in the front line of Russia’s battlefield in occupied Ukraine.

AMSTERDAM/BRUSSELS — Students in the Netherlands and Belgium occupied parts of the universities of Amsterdam and Ghent on Monday to protest against Israel’s war against Hamas, joining international student protests inspired by those on US campuses.

At a campus of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in downtown Amsterdam, hundreds of students set up camp, pitching dozens of tents, playing in drum circles, and barricading access with wooden pallets.

The students want UvA and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) to stop their partnerships with Israel.

In neighboring Belgium, some 100 students also occupied a part of Ghent’s university, UGent.

Footage shared on social media shows students surrounded by tents chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has to go” in one of UGent’s buildings.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Monday urged China to limit the delivery of dual use goods to Russia which end up being used in its war against Ukraine.

"More effort is needed to curtail delivery of dual use goods to Russia that find their way to the battlefield," she said after talks in Paris with President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron, warning that "this does affect EU-China relations".

Around 90% of the revenues generated from Russian frozen assets should be spent on arms purchases for Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday, supporting an earlier EU proposal to use Russian assets' interest payments to boost Ukraine defence.

"It is important that we also agree that this money can be used for arms purchases not only in the EU, but for purchases worldwide," Scholz told journalists after a meeting with members of the three Baltic countries governments in Riga. In March, the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell proposed taking take 90% of revenues from Russian assets frozen in Europe and transfer them to an EU-run fund that finances weapons for Ukraine.

Some 70% of all Russian assets immobilised in the West are held in the central securities depository Euroclear in Belgium, which has the equivalent of 190 billion euros ($204.67 billion) worth of Russian central bank securities and cash.

The European Commission chief said she was “convinced that if the competition is fair” from China, then Europe “will have thriving durable economies”. But she said the “imbalances” caused by state support for Chinese industry leading to cut-cost products threatened jobs in Europe, and that was “a matter of great concern”. “Europe will not waver from making tough decisions needed to protect its economy and security,” she said.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will spend the bulk of his five-day tour in Europe this week in two small countries at the continent’s eastern half, a region that Beijing has used as a foothold for its expanding economic ambitions in Europe.

Following a stop in Paris on Monday to kick off his first European trip in five years, Xi will then travel to Hungary and Serbia, two nations with autocratic leaders that are seen as China-friendly and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As mainstream European leaders have pursued more protectionist policies to limit Beijing and Moscow’s reach on the continent, the governments of nationalist conservative leaders Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia have vigorously courted economic ties with China, inviting major investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and technology.

As the first European Union country to participate in Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative, Hungary has straddled a middle ground between its membership in the EU and NATO, and an unusual openness to diplomatic and trade relationships with eastern autocracies.

Tamás Matura, a China expert and associate professor at Corvinus University in Budapest, said that Hungary’s hosting of major Chinese investments and production sites — and its agnosticism on doing business with countries with spotty democratic and human rights records — has opened a crucial door to China within the EU trading bloc.

"The Hungarian government is the last true friend of China in the whole EU,” Matura said. “It is very important now to the Chinese to settle down in a country that is within the boundaries of the EU ... and is friendly to the Chinese political system.”

One of the major benefits to China of establishing bases within the EU: avoiding costly tariffs. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is mulling raising duties on the import of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) from its current 10% to protect the European auto manufacturing market — a mainstay for Germany, the 27-member EU’s largest economy.

Yet in December, Hungary announced that one of the world’s largest EV manufacturers, China’s BYD, will open its first European EV production factory in the south of the country — an inroad into the EU that could upend the competitiveness of the continent’s auto industry.

That shift is already visible in Budapest, where one car dealership has begun scaling down its supply of European vehicles and instead introducing models produced by BYD.

Márk Schiller, the strategy and marketing director for the family-owned Schiller Auto Group, said he believes that European carmakers are “already behind” China in transitioning to EV production. His company recently stopped selling cars made by German carmaker Opel, and switched to BYD.

“This was a huge shift,” Schiller said.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that during Xi’s visit to Hungary from Wednesday to Friday, he and Orbán will announce another EV manufacturing investment involving China’s Great Wall Motor. Orbán’s office didn’t respond to multiple requests for information on the schedule of the visit.

In Serbia, to Hungary’s south, China runs mines and factories across the Balkan country, while billions more in infrastructure loans have funded roads, bridges and new facilities.

Hungary and Serbia have an agreement with Beijing to modernize the railway between the countries’ capitals of Budapest and Belgrade, part of a Belt and Road plan to connect with the Chinese-controlled port of Piraeus in Greece as an entry point for Chinese goods to Central and Eastern Europe.

The bulk of the project, which after numerous delays is expected to be completed in 2026, is financed through loans from Chinese banks — the kind of capital that Hungary and Serbia have been eager to utilize.

According to the AidData research lab at William & Mary, a public university in Virginia, Chinese lenders have issued loans worth more than $22 billion to nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe between 2000 and 2021.

Of that sum, $9.4 billion has gone to Hungary and $5.7 billion to Serbia, dwarfing the totals of other regional countries.

Vučić has said he is “honored” that Xi — whom he often describes as a “friend” — is visiting on Tuesday. He said before the visit that Serbia would seek further Chinese investment, particularly when it comes to advanced technologies.

But economic analyst Mijat Lakićević said he didn’t expect any major new investment deals, because “everything that Serbia does with China has already been agreed.”

Hungary, too, has created a favorable investment environment for China, providing generous tax breaks, subsidies and infrastructural assistance to Chinese companies, as well as helping them navigate Hungarian bureaucracy.

“They get the red carpets rolled out and they get everything tailor-made by the government. And that is a huge advantage,” said Matura, the China analyst.

Near Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city, construction is underway of a nearly 550-acre (222-hectare), 7.3 billion euro ($7.9 billion) EV battery plant, Hungary’s largest-ever foreign direct investment.

Orbán’s government hopes the factory, run by Chinese battery giant CATL, will make the country a global hub of lithium-ion battery manufacturing in an era where governments are increasingly seeking to limit greenhouse gas emissions by switching to electric cars.

Such investments are coming at a time when Hungary’s sluggish economy has been further hindered by record-setting inflation and the freezing of billions in EU funding that has been withheld over Orbán’s track record on democracy standards and the rule of law.

With EU money at a standstill, Matura said, China has been willing to fill in the gaps in Hungary’s budget.

“EU funds have almost came to full stop flowing into the Hungarian economy, so now there is a desperate need in Hungary to turn towards other alternatives, other sources of financial capital,” he said.

Orbán has been open about why he has prioritized Chinese investment: his belief that Western economies are declining, and that China is on the rise.

During a recent speech at the CPAC Hungary conservative conference, Orbán outlined a vision of a “global economy that will be organized according to the principle of mutual benefit, free of ideology.”

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A year after the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, a total of 44 countries have already expressed support for a special military tribunal to try Russian war criminals.

The new ICC president, Tomoko Akane, has expressed confidence that the Russian president will not escape accountability, and Putin has notably avoided traveling to countries where he could potentially be arrested.

Legal experts affiliated with the ICC and past international tribunals affirmed that the time for a fair trial will come — even if not immediately.

In the meantime, Ukrainian law enforcement officers are hard at work gathering evidence of Russian war crimes, thereby laying the groundwork for charges against specific perpetrators. Putting Putin himself on trial will be a difficult legal and logistical task, but it is one that most experts believe is feasible.

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Along the Latvian border with Russia and Belarus, the military will create a chain of strongholds: defensive fortifications, obstacles and ammunition depots.

It is noted that the country plans to spend 303 million euros on this over five years.

According to the engineering inspector of the National Armed Forces (NAF) of Latvia, Lieutenant Colonel Kaspars Lazdiņš, the first defensive line will be erected at a distance of about a kilometer from the border with Russia, near the border point of Terehovo in the Lauda region. Anti-tank ditches are being dug there.