Europe

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3390551

Archived version

An arson attack on a Ukrainian restaurant in Estonia's capital, Tallinn, was an influence operation ordered by Russian intelligence and carried out by two Moldovan citizens, a court heard on Wednesday.

The incident occurred at the Slava Ukraina restaurant in Tallinn's Telliskivi district on January 31 ... camera footage clearly showed it was a deliberate act. The restaurant owner said:]: "It was arson, they smashed the windows."

The defendants ... were caught by law enforcement agencies in Italy on February 11, [One of the defendants admitted to participating in and supporting intelligence activities directed against Estonia by carrying out two counts of arson.

Under a plea agreement, he told the Prosecutor's Office that he established ties with individuals connected to the GRU – the foreign military intelligence agency of the Russian Armed Forces – in summer 2024 and was tasked with setting fire to a supermarket in Osula village, Võru County.

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https://archive.ph/2025.07.03-032450/https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-rejects-blame-for-EU-economic-woes-Brussels-urges-rare-earth-access

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/43048049

A Spanish member of the European Parliament said Wednesday he wants the European Commission to ban Israeli military companies from accessing EU funds, citing their potential use in the war in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports.

Nacho Sanchez Amor, a socialist MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, said the EU must avoid “double standards” in addressing human rights violations.

“The EU cannot fall under double standards when it comes to HumanRightsViolations & it cannot be accessory to Netanyahu genocidal actions,” Amor wrote on X, referencing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has pursued a war of genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza since late 2023.

archive.today link

An 18-year-old French man who claimed affiliation with the misogynist “incel” movement has been arrested and placed under formal investigation on suspicion of planning attacks targeting women, France’s national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office (PNAT) has said.

The arrest on Wednesday was part of PNAT’s first case linked to the “incel” (involuntary celibate) movement, an online network of men motivated to engage in violence against women whom they believe unjustly reject their sexual or romantic advances.

PNAT confirmed on Tuesday that it had opened a judicial investigation “against a young man, aged 18, claiming to be a member of the incel movement”, adding that he was being investigated for allegedly “associating with terrorist criminals to prepare one or more crimes against people”.

GENEVA – UN experts* today urged the United Kingdom not to ban the “direct action” group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000.

“We are concerned at the unjustified labelling of a political protest movement as ‘terrorist’,” the experts said. “According to international standards, acts of protest that damage property, but are not intended to kill or injure people, should not be treated as terrorism.”

The Government asserts that the group is “terrorist” because some members have allegedly caused criminal damage to property, including at military bases and arms companies, with the aim of progressing its political cause and influencing the Government. Proscription would trigger a range of criminal offences relating to support for the group.

The group also wants to fend off any attempt to repurpose the €142 billion European Social Fund for other priorities, such as defence.

The EU's trade chief is in Washington on Wednesday in a last-ditch bid to avert even higher levies.

The MEP proposing the motion of censure claims he has collected enough signatures to start the process. If officially confirmed, the debate and vote will be held during the July plenary session in Strasbourg.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3374968

Archived version

As the V4 states continue to attract Chinese electric vehicle and battery investments, differences are emerging between the interests of national elites and local communities chosen to host these manufacturing (and recycling) facilities. This can be seen in the case of local opposition in the small Slovak town of Šurany – selected to host a major battery production facility as part of a broader industrial park complex. With the opposition group’s environmental and social concerns echoing patterns seen in similar protests in Hungary, it is important to understand these “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) sentiments, which highlight the complex task of balancing economic growth and the green transition while upholding democratic principles such as public consultations.

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The NIMBY sentiments underscore notable discrepancies between EU and Chinese regulatory standards. These could be further leveraged – especially given the ongoing dilution of the EU’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework – against both national and EU-wide interests. At the same time, it is important to differentiate between various forms of these investments (including the nature and scope of activities involved) and their associated risks.

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While InoBat’s joint venture with Chinese battery producer Gotion High-Tech is seen as a form of Chinese investment that could facilitate (some level of) industrial upgrading, it has also sparked local protests ... battery manufacturing involves unfamiliar and potentially hazardous chemical processes, with the activists in Šurany citing concerns over substances like N-methylpyrrolidone solvents, which can affect fertility and cause vision, respiratory and other health problems, as well as worries about potential water contamination, soil erosion, high energy use, and pollution – all of which raise broader questions about environmental justice.

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The activists in Šurany have also drawn comparisons with other regional battery projects, notably CATL’s €7.3 billion plant in Debrecen, Hungary, which has attracted even larger opposition. These protests, however, were influenced not only by Chinese involvement but also by prior controversies surrounding South Korean battery investments, indicating broader concerns over lax ESG [Environmental, Social and Governance] practices facilitated by a government that prioritizes economic development and profit maximization over local concerns and corporate sustainability – regardless of investor origin.

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With Slovakia having the EU’s third-highest trade exposure to China and the highest final demand exposure among the V4, the country remains deeply exposed to potential Chinese economic coercion in both direct and indirect terms. On top of this, concerns about regulatory arbitrage – where investors exploit laxer national regulations – are rising, particularly around ESG enforcement,

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cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/24142332

archived (Wayback Machine)

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/24142922

archived (Wayback Machine)

Carbon credits have often been based on non-existent contracts with local people, or used for land-grabbing, or reforestation projects in which trees were not maintained and were soon cut down or eaten by cows, or otherwise fraudulent. In any case, letting humans take credit for photosynthesis is flawed emissions accounting, and the price of each credit is much lower than the social and environmental cost of the emissions that it offsets.