Europe

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/31963572

The European Union’s top official, Ursula von der Leyen, has declared rearmament the bloc’s emergency priority. While military spending soars to new heights, working people face a fresh era of austerity.

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.06.26-160510/https://www.ft.com/content/05f4864d-34a6-4c77-a161-9df213f72b4a

The HC Opal, operated by Danish company Ocean 7 Projects and managed by Germany’s Marlow Navigation Co. Ltd., offloaded at least 10 tonnes of Hexachloroethane at Haifa port on 4 June. Hexachloroethane is a military chemical, which the Israel Military Industries (IMI) uses to produce its M150 155 mm artillery gun projectile.

Hexachloroethane was consigned to IMI Systems, a fully owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. The offloaded substance is a key component in the M150 155mm artillery shell, crucial weapon in the genocide in Gaza and very commonly used by the Israeli military in other ground invasions, such as in Lebanon.

On 29 May, Antigua and Barbuda had issued an official maritime directive explicitly prohibiting vessels flying its flag from transporting arms or military equipment to conflict zones. The HC Opal subsequently went dark. Its Automatic Identification System (AIS) was disabled on the very same day.

Evidence of the cargo’s unloading in Israel, indicates that the vessel re-emerged on radar only on 5 June, by which time the military cargo had already been discharged. Further evidence of cargo unloading is shown by the vessel’s decreased draught—1.6 meters less than when it was last visible—indicating a significant reduction in onboard weight consistent with unloading large quantities of cargo.

“Going dark’ is in violation of the obligations under international maritime conventions, including obligations under the jurisdiction of Antigua and Barbuda” said No Harbour for Genocide initiative, a campaign that brings together various civil society groups, human rights organisations, and legal experts. “While these actions might mask public scrutiny on the vessel’s movement, they strengthen the case for holding the captain, operators, insurer and owners of the HC Opal accountable in the transport of military illegal material.”

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3293924

Archived link

A coordinated raid by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Athens (Greece), Madrid (Spain), Paris (France) and Sofia (Bulgaria) has dealt a significant blow to criminal networks flooding the EU market with goods fraudulently imported from China, while evading custom duties and VAT. The criminal scheme, which involved the massive importation of textile, shoes, e-scoters, e-bikes and other goods, is believed to have caused an estimated damage of approximately €700 million.

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At issue are several criminal networks, mainly controlled by Chinese nationals, that handle the full circuit of the goods imported from China into the EU market, including distribution to different Member States and sales to end customers, as well as money laundering and sending the profits back to China, while defrauding the payment of customs duties and committing large-scale VAT fraud.

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The fraudulent scheme starts with the introduction of the goods from China into the EU, mainly through the port of Piraeus (Greece), with a substantial undervaluation or misclassification of the goods, in order to evade custom duties – using false documents to conceal the true value and nature of the merchandise. A network of professional enablers operating at the customs entry point, such as customs brokers, service providers and accounting firms, facilitate the initial clearance, and the apparent purchase and transport of the merchandise by companies mainly registered in Bulgaria, but operating in Greece with a Greek VAT registration number.

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Through a chain of buffer and shell companies, the goods are apparently sold to companies in specific Member States, where they are supposed to be sold on the market. These fraudulently declared destinations include Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. However, these fake ultimate acquirers of the goods never receive the merchandise, and operate as a missing trader, thus not paying VAT. In some cases, the criminal organisations used identity documents from legitimate companies, fraudulently hijacking their VAT numbers to conceal the true destination of the goods.

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[Edit: Insert archived link.]

Responding to questions at a press conference, Vucic said that Serbia was the only country in Europe which had been exporting arms to Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7. But he said that after Israel’s attack last week on Iran – codenamed Operation Rising Lion – the country has stopped.

“One thing is what we were exporting after October 7, and another is the situation today. We have now halted everything and are sending it to our own army,” Vucic said.

He added that Serbia exported ammunition, not weapons, and that around 24,000 people made their living from these exports.

A BIRN investigation earlier this year showed how Serbia exported 42.3 million euros of arms and ammunition to Israel in 2024 – a 30-fold increase since 2023.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3288762

The Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin) [opens pdf] reports that 32.1% of migrants from non-EU countries had a university degree or equivalent qualification in 2024 — up from 30.9% in 2023.

The study, released Monday, describes this as a "record level" and part of a continued upward trend over the past decade.

In Germany, the share of highly educated non-EU migrants rose from 29.4% to 31.1% over the same period. For migrants from other EU member states, the percentage holding a tertiary qualification climbed from 33.8% to 35.2% EU-wide, and from 28.6% to 30.1% in Germany.

"This continuous rise in education levels highlights the potential migrants bring to EU labor markets," said Tommaso Frattini, co-director of the Center for Research and Analysis of Migration at RFBerlin and professor at the University of Milan. He said that if migrants' skills are fully utilized, "they can be a key driver of economic growth across the EU."

More and more immigrants are coming to Germany to work. In 2024, the proportion of foreign employees was just over 16%. It has more than doubled since 2010. Employment in medical professions is disproportionately high. More than one in six doctors is a foreign citizen.

So it was an issue of concern last week when the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) at the Federal Employment Agency said it had found that other countries are more attractive to economically successful foreigners and one in four say they are considering leaving Germany. Many of them are quoting discrimination as a reason.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3276177

Archived version

Lithuania has signed a memorandum with American defense firm Northrop Grumman and Norwegian Nammo to secure the production of ammunition amid Russia's war against Ukraine, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry announced on June 24.

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Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has sparked concern in Europe that Russia could attack NATO's eastern flank, including Poland, the Baltic countries, and Finland.

Ukrainian intelligence has evidence that Russia is preparing new military operations in Europe, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 22.

The partnership will be implemented at the state-owned Giraite Armament Factory, the announcement said, adding that the factory is set to be integrated into Northrop Grumman’s international supply chains.

Northrop Grumman will supply ammunition produced in the Lithuanian defense factory to the international market.

Nammo, as a subcontractor, will provide Northrop Grumman with the 35 mm ammunition production technology.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3275858

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Billed as the first stablecoin pegged to the Russian rouble, the A7A5 token was officially launched in Kyrgyzstan in February and aims to facilitate large-scale financial flows into and out of Russia, which have been severely complicated by western restrictions ...

An analysis of wallets linked to Grinex, a crypto exchange also founded very recently in Kyrgyzstan and trading only in A7A5, roubles, and a dollar-pegged stablecoin, shows a total of $9.3bn worth of A7A5 being moved to and from wallets linked to that exchange ...

The stablecoin says it is backed by rouble deposits in Moscow’s Promsvyazbank, a defence sector bank subject to US, UK and EU sanctions over Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The coin’s rapid growth is clear: it now has 12bn tokens in circulation, equivalent to $156mn, and is used intensively by a relatively small group of users, whose daily transfers routinely amount to several times that volume ...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3275746

Archived version

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The country hopes to raise €1bn by issuing debt with a ten year maturity in early July 2025. It comes with a a final maturity bond coupon adjustment of +50bps if Slovenia misses a 2030 target on emissions of -35% vs a 2005 baseline, and a further adjustment of -50bps if it decarbonises more than -45%, providing the country with an incentive to ramp up the pace of its decarbonisation beyond current targets.

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• In 2023, EU authorities recorded nearly 5,200 wildlife trafficking seizures, mostly involving endangered European eels, timber, and medicinal plants, reinforcing the bloc’s status as a key global trade hub, a new report notes.
• More than 1 million CITES-listed specimens — including more than 600,000 live animals and 10,000 live plants — were intercepted across EU countries, according to the TRAFFIC report.
• Authorities documented 88 species seized for the first time, including poison frogs and tarantula look-alikes, while 28% of fauna seizures were linked to the exotic pet trade.
• The EU’s response includes updated legislation and participation in globally coordinated enforcement actions such as Operation Thunder.

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