0x815

According to a report by the Financial Times (paywalled link), members of the Bucharest Nine (B9) group are considering excluding Hungary from their talks in the future.

The B9 group was founded in 2015 by all NATO and EU member states that were part of the Soviet bloc prior to 1991, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary.

Although the organization does not have a formal institutional structure, it functions as an important forum where members' government officials coordinate their security policy ideas. This has becone increasingly important after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In recent B9 meetings, Hungary has consistently vetoed decisions about supporting Ukraine and speeding up the process of its potential accession to NATO. In addition, the Orbán government has regularly been blocking and obstructing support for Ukraine's war effort in the EU as well. At the B9 meeting in Riga, which started on Tuesday, the Hungarian side again vetoed a draft resolution, which incidentally has the support of the other eight member states.

A source told the FT that discussions within the group have been “tough,” and noted concerns over the feasibility of future meetings if Hungary continues to lack cooperative behaviour. A diplomat speaking to the Financial Times was quoted as saying that “We are likely meeting in this formation for the last time.”

However, no decision has been made public. The Lithuanian president's office told the paper that "it's important to keep Hungary in, for the unity of NATO and the EU".

[Edit typo.]

Lord Sumption’s comments on Monday came as a third senior foreign judge in the past week resigned from the Court of Final Appeal.

"The problem in Hong Kong has been building up over the last four years and I think all the judges on the court feel concerned about this," Lord Sumption told the BBC's Today programme.

"I have reached the point eventually where I don’t think that my continuing presence on the court is serving any useful purpose."

On Monday he wrote in a newspaper op-ed that the city's rule of law has been "profoundly compromised".**

Hong Kong’s government said it "strongly disapproves" of Lord Sumption's opinions, calling them a "betrayal against Hong Kong's judges".

It highlighted remarks from the other leaving judges who said they still believed in the independence of the courts.

Canadian judge Beverley McLachlin, who resigned on Monday citing her wish to spend more time with family said: "I continue to have confidence in the members of the Court, their independence, and their determination to uphold the rule of law.”

But her departure as well as that of Lords Sumption and Lawrence Collins - another former UK Supreme Court justice- last week means at least six senior foreign judges have stepped down from sitting in Hong Kong since a major national security law (NSL) was imposed by China in 2020.

Lord Sumption has been much more overtly critical than his peers- arguing that the laws, which have been widely criticised as being draconian, have overridden the independent functioning of courts and heaped pressure on the judiciary.

“Intimidated or convinced by the darkening political mood, many judges have lost sight of their traditional role as defenders of the liberty of the subject, even when the law allows it,” he wrote in the Financial Times. An 'oppressive' situation in Hong Kong

Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Lord Sumption said it had become increasingly clear that Hong Kong’s supercharged security laws were being used to "crush peaceful political dissent, not just riots."

Legal experts have for some time now warned about the city’s degraded rule of law in the wake of laws enacted by Beijing.

China and Hong Kong have defended the NSL laws as crucial to maintaining law and order in the city after major pro-democracy protests and unrest in 2019 and 2020.

But rights groups and Western governments say the law has been used to criminalise acts of free speech and assembly, leading to a near complete silencing of dissent in the global financial hub,.

More recently, the EU and the US heavily criticised as “politically motivated” the conviction of 14 democracy activists on 30 May for “subversion” . The defendants in the landmark Hong Kong 47 case face a minimum of 10 years in prison and could even be jailed for life.

That case "was the last straw", Lord Sumption said, referencing the court's assessment that organising a political primary was tantamount to a national security crime.

"The judgement... was a major indication of the lengths to which some judges are prepared to go to ensure that Beijing's campaign against those who have supported democracy succeeds."

He also emphasised the other major problem: "If China doesn't like the court's decisions it can reverse them."

Such a precedent was set in 2023, when in the high-profile prosecution of Hong Kong billionaire Jimmy Lai, Beijing overturned the Court of Final Appeal’s ruling to allow the democracy activist his choice of lawyer.

He also spoke of further pressures on judges, describing in his op-ed an “oppressive” environment. He wrote of the government’s “continued calls for judicial ‘patriotism’” and the outrage sparked in the rare instances when a judge acquits or grants bail to an NSL defendant.

“It requires unusual courage for local judges to swim against such a strong political tide. Unlike the overseas judges, they have nowhere else to go," he wrote.

Why are there foreign judges serving in Hong Kong?

It is a holdover from Hong Kong’s past as a British colony.

After the UK handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, the agreement between the countries stipulated that the special territory would continue to operate with its freedoms and systems for 50 years- including its common law legal system which operates in several other jurisdictions worldwide.

Currently there seven foreign judges remaining on the court– three British and four from Australia. Typically they are very experienced senior judges who have retired from their countries’ senior courts.

They operate as overseas non-permanent appointees; a typical appeal bench of five judges at the Court of Final Appeal will see a foreign judge hearing the case along with three other local judges.

Their presence was long seen as a sort of bulwark protection to help uphold the British-style common law legal system which has been key to Hong Kong’s stature as a global financial hub.

As recently as March this year, Hong Kong’s leader praised the foreign judges saying their appointments "help maintain a high degree of confidence in (Hong Kong's) judicial system". According to recent media reports, they are paid £40,000 per case.

Lord Sumption had said most of Hong Kong’s judges are “honourable people with all the liberal instincts of the common law.”

“But they have to operate in an impossible political environment created by China.”

Controversial presence

Since Hong Kong’s security laws kicked in, rights groups, critics and even the UK government had questioned the foreign judges’ continued presence on the court.

In 2020, a senior Australian judge was the first to step down from the court. James Spigelman directly cited the impact of the wide-sweeping National Security Law which hadn’t kicked into operation yet.

Two years later, UK Supreme Court justices Robert Reed and Patrick Hodge also stepped down following concerns raised by the British government.

Lord Reed, the chief justice of the top UK court, said he agreed with the government that serving Supreme Court justices could not continue to serve in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse a government that had “departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression”.

The remaining judges on the court at the time – which included Lords Collins and Sumption – issued a statement shortly after defending their position.

They said they believed their “continued participation” would be “in the interest of the people of Hong Kong”.

But on Monday, Lord Sumption said he no longer believed this.

He told the BBC he had chosen to stay on the first few years "to see how things develop and to hope that one can make a positive contribution." He had written he hoped "the presence of overseas judges would help sustain the rule of law."

"It's taken a long time to conclude that that is not realistic."

His sharp criticism and the resignations of the other judges will further fuel concerns about Hong Kong’s status as an international city, particular as the latest resignations come just weeks after the city implemented a second, even more wide-scoping security law known as Article 23.

Legal scholar Eric Lai, told the BBC the two British judges had been “well known” for their support of Hong Kong’s legal system in the past and their commitment to the court in critical cases.

“Their change of mind to resign signals the worsening legal environment in HK,” he said.

But the city's authorities defend the integrity of their legal system.

The chief justice of the Court of Final Appeal said last week the court would continue to function regardless of the resignations.

Andrew Cheung stressed the court's independence: "All judges and judicial officers will continue to... administer justice in full accordance with the law, without fear or favour, self-interest or deceit".

Lord Sumption’s comments on Monday came as a third senior foreign judge in the past week resigned from the Court of Final Appeal.

"The problem in Hong Kong has been building up over the last four years and I think all the judges on the court feel concerned about this," Lord Sumption told the BBC's Today programme.

"I have reached the point eventually where I don’t think that my continuing presence on the court is serving any useful purpose."

On Monday he wrote in a newspaper op-ed that the city's rule of law has been "profoundly compromised".**

Hong Kong’s government said it "strongly disapproves" of Lord Sumption's opinions, calling them a "betrayal against Hong Kong's judges".

It highlighted remarks from the other leaving judges who said they still believed in the independence of the courts.

Canadian judge Beverley McLachlin, who resigned on Monday citing her wish to spend more time with family said: "I continue to have confidence in the members of the Court, their independence, and their determination to uphold the rule of law.”

But her departure as well as that of Lords Sumption and Lawrence Collins - another former UK Supreme Court justice- last week means at least six senior foreign judges have stepped down from sitting in Hong Kong since a major national security law (NSL) was imposed by China in 2020.

Lord Sumption has been much more overtly critical than his peers- arguing that the laws, which have been widely criticised as being draconian, have overridden the independent functioning of courts and heaped pressure on the judiciary.

“Intimidated or convinced by the darkening political mood, many judges have lost sight of their traditional role as defenders of the liberty of the subject, even when the law allows it,” he wrote in the Financial Times. An 'oppressive' situation in Hong Kong

Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Lord Sumption said it had become increasingly clear that Hong Kong’s supercharged security laws were being used to "crush peaceful political dissent, not just riots."

Legal experts have for some time now warned about the city’s degraded rule of law in the wake of laws enacted by Beijing.

China and Hong Kong have defended the NSL laws as crucial to maintaining law and order in the city after major pro-democracy protests and unrest in 2019 and 2020.

But rights groups and Western governments say the law has been used to criminalise acts of free speech and assembly, leading to a near complete silencing of dissent in the global financial hub,.

More recently, the EU and the US heavily criticised as “politically motivated” the conviction of 14 democracy activists on 30 May for “subversion” . The defendants in the landmark Hong Kong 47 case face a minimum of 10 years in prison and could even be jailed for life.

That case "was the last straw", Lord Sumption said, referencing the court's assessment that organising a political primary was tantamount to a national security crime.

"The judgement... was a major indication of the lengths to which some judges are prepared to go to ensure that Beijing's campaign against those who have supported democracy succeeds."

He also emphasised the other major problem: "If China doesn't like the court's decisions it can reverse them."

Such a precedent was set in 2023, when in the high-profile prosecution of Hong Kong billionaire Jimmy Lai, Beijing overturned the Court of Final Appeal’s ruling to allow the democracy activist his choice of lawyer.

He also spoke of further pressures on judges, describing in his op-ed an “oppressive” environment. He wrote of the government’s “continued calls for judicial ‘patriotism’” and the outrage sparked in the rare instances when a judge acquits or grants bail to an NSL defendant.

“It requires unusual courage for local judges to swim against such a strong political tide. Unlike the overseas judges, they have nowhere else to go," he wrote.

Why are there foreign judges serving in Hong Kong?

It is a holdover from Hong Kong’s past as a British colony.

After the UK handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, the agreement between the countries stipulated that the special territory would continue to operate with its freedoms and systems for 50 years- including its common law legal system which operates in several other jurisdictions worldwide.

Currently there seven foreign judges remaining on the court– three British and four from Australia. Typically they are very experienced senior judges who have retired from their countries’ senior courts.

They operate as overseas non-permanent appointees; a typical appeal bench of five judges at the Court of Final Appeal will see a foreign judge hearing the case along with three other local judges.

Their presence was long seen as a sort of bulwark protection to help uphold the British-style common law legal system which has been key to Hong Kong’s stature as a global financial hub.

As recently as March this year, Hong Kong’s leader praised the foreign judges saying their appointments "help maintain a high degree of confidence in (Hong Kong's) judicial system". According to recent media reports, they are paid £40,000 per case.

Lord Sumption had said most of Hong Kong’s judges are “honourable people with all the liberal instincts of the common law.”

“But they have to operate in an impossible political environment created by China.”

Controversial presence

Since Hong Kong’s security laws kicked in, rights groups, critics and even the UK government had questioned the foreign judges’ continued presence on the court.

In 2020, a senior Australian judge was the first to step down from the court. James Spigelman directly cited the impact of the wide-sweeping National Security Law which hadn’t kicked into operation yet.

Two years later, UK Supreme Court justices Robert Reed and Patrick Hodge also stepped down following concerns raised by the British government.

Lord Reed, the chief justice of the top UK court, said he agreed with the government that serving Supreme Court justices could not continue to serve in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse a government that had “departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression”.

The remaining judges on the court at the time – which included Lords Collins and Sumption – issued a statement shortly after defending their position.

They said they believed their “continued participation” would be “in the interest of the people of Hong Kong”.

But on Monday, Lord Sumption said he no longer believed this.

He told the BBC he had chosen to stay on the first few years "to see how things develop and to hope that one can make a positive contribution." He had written he hoped "the presence of overseas judges would help sustain the rule of law."

"It's taken a long time to conclude that that is not realistic."

His sharp criticism and the resignations of the other judges will further fuel concerns about Hong Kong’s status as an international city, particular as the latest resignations come just weeks after the city implemented a second, even more wide-scoping security law known as Article 23.

Legal scholar Eric Lai, told the BBC the two British judges had been “well known” for their support of Hong Kong’s legal system in the past and their commitment to the court in critical cases.

“Their change of mind to resign signals the worsening legal environment in HK,” he said.

But the city's authorities defend the integrity of their legal system.

The chief justice of the Court of Final Appeal said last week the court would continue to function regardless of the resignations.

Andrew Cheung stressed the court's independence: "All judges and judicial officers will continue to... administer justice in full accordance with the law, without fear or favour, self-interest or deceit".

An Italian subsidiary of French luxury giant LVMH that makes Dior-branded handbags was placed under court administration on Monday, after a probe alleged it had sub-contracted work to Chinese-owned firms that mistreated workers.

This is the third such decision this year by the Milan court in charge of pre-emptive measures, which in April named a commissioner to run a company owned by Giorgio Armani due to accusations the fashion group was "culpably failing" to adequately oversee its suppliers. Armani Group said at the time it had always sought to "minimise abuses in the supply chain."

The court said in a copy of Monday's decision which was seen by Reuters that prosecutors alleged that the violation of rules was not a one-off among fashion companies with manufacturing capacity in Italy, but systematic due to the need to pursue higher profits.

"It's not something sporadic that concerns single production lots, but a generalised and consolidated manufacturing method," the document said.

The luxury industry's supply chain has come under increased scrutiny by consumers and investors in recent years. To reduce reputation risks fashion labels have curbed the number of sub-contractors and internalised production, in a blow to Italy's leather goods industry, which is mostly based in Tuscany and comprises many firms founded by Chinese immigrants.

Italy is home to thousands of small manufacturers that cover 50% to 55% of the global luxury goods production, consultancy Bain calculated.

The Milan court ordered Manufactures Dior SRL, fully owned by Christian Dior Italia SRL, be placed under judicial administration for one year, the document seen by Reuters showed.

The company will continue to operate during the period.

The Dior investigation focused on four suppliers employing 32 staff who worked in the surroundings of Milan, two of whom were immigrants in the country illegally while another seven worked without the required documentation.

Between March and April, Italian police carried out inspections at the suppliers, named Pelletteria Elisabetta Yang SRL, New Leather Italy SRLS, AZ Operations SRLS, Albertario Milano SRL, the document said.

Pelletteria Elisabetta Yang and Albertario Milano were direct suppliers of Manufactures Dior SRL, the document said.

The staff lived and worked "in hygiene and health conditions that are below the minimum required by an ethical approach," it added.

Representatives for LVMH had no immediate comment. Shares in LVMH extended earlier losses on news of the court's decision to hit a session low. They closed down 2.2%.

Delphine Arnault, whose family controls a 42% stake in LVMH, is chair and CEO of Dior, LVMH's second largest fashion label. She is the eldest child of Bernard Arnault, who runs the LVMH empire and is among the world's wealthiest people.

'24 HOURS A DAY'

In the 34-page ruling, the judges said the workers were made to sleep in the workplace in order to have "manpower available 24 hours a day".

Data mapping electricity consumption showed "seamless day-night production cycles, including during the holidays."

In addition, safety devices had been removed from the machinery to allow them to operate faster, according to the document.

This allowed contractors to rein in costs and charge Dior as little as 53 euros to supply a handbag, the document said, citing as an example a Dior model coded PO312YKY, which the fashion house then retailed in shops at 2,600 euros.

The Dior unit did not adopt "appropriate measures to check the actual working conditions or the technical capabilities of the contracting companies," failing to carry out periodic audits of its suppliers over the years, it added.

The owners of the contracting and subcontracting companies are under investigation by Milan prosecutors for exploiting workers and employing people off the books, while Dior itself faces no criminal probe.

The Armani investigation also unveiled that suppliers of the Italian brand included Chinese-owned manufacturers in Italy that violated worker protection laws.

An Italian subsidiary of French luxury giant LVMH that makes Dior-branded handbags was placed under court administration on Monday, after a probe alleged it had sub-contracted work to Chinese-owned firms that mistreated workers.

This is the third such decision this year by the Milan court in charge of pre-emptive measures, which in April named a commissioner to run a company owned by Giorgio Armani due to accusations the fashion group was "culpably failing" to adequately oversee its suppliers. Armani Group said at the time it had always sought to "minimise abuses in the supply chain."

The court said in a copy of Monday's decision which was seen by Reuters that prosecutors alleged that the violation of rules was not a one-off among fashion companies with manufacturing capacity in Italy, but systematic due to the need to pursue higher profits.

"It's not something sporadic that concerns single production lots, but a generalised and consolidated manufacturing method," the document said.

The luxury industry's supply chain has come under increased scrutiny by consumers and investors in recent years. To reduce reputation risks fashion labels have curbed the number of sub-contractors and internalised production, in a blow to Italy's leather goods industry, which is mostly based in Tuscany and comprises many firms founded by Chinese immigrants.

Italy is home to thousands of small manufacturers that cover 50% to 55% of the global luxury goods production, consultancy Bain calculated.

The Milan court ordered Manufactures Dior SRL, fully owned by Christian Dior Italia SRL, be placed under judicial administration for one year, the document seen by Reuters showed.

The company will continue to operate during the period.

The Dior investigation focused on four suppliers employing 32 staff who worked in the surroundings of Milan, two of whom were immigrants in the country illegally while another seven worked without the required documentation.

Between March and April, Italian police carried out inspections at the suppliers, named Pelletteria Elisabetta Yang SRL, New Leather Italy SRLS, AZ Operations SRLS, Albertario Milano SRL, the document said.

Pelletteria Elisabetta Yang and Albertario Milano were direct suppliers of Manufactures Dior SRL, the document said.

The staff lived and worked "in hygiene and health conditions that are below the minimum required by an ethical approach," it added.

Representatives for LVMH had no immediate comment. Shares in LVMH extended earlier losses on news of the court's decision to hit a session low. They closed down 2.2%.

Delphine Arnault, whose family controls a 42% stake in LVMH, is chair and CEO of Dior, LVMH's second largest fashion label. She is the eldest child of Bernard Arnault, who runs the LVMH empire and is among the world's wealthiest people.

'24 HOURS A DAY'

In the 34-page ruling, the judges said the workers were made to sleep in the workplace in order to have "manpower available 24 hours a day".

Data mapping electricity consumption showed "seamless day-night production cycles, including during the holidays."

In addition, safety devices had been removed from the machinery to allow them to operate faster, according to the document.

This allowed contractors to rein in costs and charge Dior as little as 53 euros to supply a handbag, the document said, citing as an example a Dior model coded PO312YKY, which the fashion house then retailed in shops at 2,600 euros.

The Dior unit did not adopt "appropriate measures to check the actual working conditions or the technical capabilities of the contracting companies," failing to carry out periodic audits of its suppliers over the years, it added.

The owners of the contracting and subcontracting companies are under investigation by Milan prosecutors for exploiting workers and employing people off the books, while Dior itself faces no criminal probe.

The Armani investigation also unveiled that suppliers of the Italian brand included Chinese-owned manufacturers in Italy that violated worker protection laws.

An Italian subsidiary of French luxury giant LVMH that makes Dior-branded handbags was placed under court administration on Monday, after a probe alleged it had sub-contracted work to Chinese-owned firms that mistreated workers.

This is the third such decision this year by the Milan court in charge of pre-emptive measures, which in April named a commissioner to run a company owned by Giorgio Armani due to accusations the fashion group was "culpably failing" to adequately oversee its suppliers. Armani Group said at the time it had always sought to "minimise abuses in the supply chain."

The court said in a copy of Monday's decision which was seen by Reuters that prosecutors alleged that the violation of rules was not a one-off among fashion companies with manufacturing capacity in Italy, but systematic due to the need to pursue higher profits.

"It's not something sporadic that concerns single production lots, but a generalised and consolidated manufacturing method," the document said.

The luxury industry's supply chain has come under increased scrutiny by consumers and investors in recent years. To reduce reputation risks fashion labels have curbed the number of sub-contractors and internalised production, in a blow to Italy's leather goods industry, which is mostly based in Tuscany and comprises many firms founded by Chinese immigrants.

Italy is home to thousands of small manufacturers that cover 50% to 55% of the global luxury goods production, consultancy Bain calculated.

The Milan court ordered Manufactures Dior SRL, fully owned by Christian Dior Italia SRL, be placed under judicial administration for one year, the document seen by Reuters showed.

The company will continue to operate during the period.

The Dior investigation focused on four suppliers employing 32 staff who worked in the surroundings of Milan, two of whom were immigrants in the country illegally while another seven worked without the required documentation.

Between March and April, Italian police carried out inspections at the suppliers, named Pelletteria Elisabetta Yang SRL, New Leather Italy SRLS, AZ Operations SRLS, Albertario Milano SRL, the document said.

Pelletteria Elisabetta Yang and Albertario Milano were direct suppliers of Manufactures Dior SRL, the document said.

The staff lived and worked "in hygiene and health conditions that are below the minimum required by an ethical approach," it added.

Representatives for LVMH had no immediate comment. Shares in LVMH extended earlier losses on news of the court's decision to hit a session low. They closed down 2.2%.

Delphine Arnault, whose family controls a 42% stake in LVMH, is chair and CEO of Dior, LVMH's second largest fashion label. She is the eldest child of Bernard Arnault, who runs the LVMH empire and is among the world's wealthiest people.

'24 HOURS A DAY'

In the 34-page ruling, the judges said the workers were made to sleep in the workplace in order to have "manpower available 24 hours a day".

Data mapping electricity consumption showed "seamless day-night production cycles, including during the holidays."

In addition, safety devices had been removed from the machinery to allow them to operate faster, according to the document.

This allowed contractors to rein in costs and charge Dior as little as 53 euros to supply a handbag, the document said, citing as an example a Dior model coded PO312YKY, which the fashion house then retailed in shops at 2,600 euros.

The Dior unit did not adopt "appropriate measures to check the actual working conditions or the technical capabilities of the contracting companies," failing to carry out periodic audits of its suppliers over the years, it added.

The owners of the contracting and subcontracting companies are under investigation by Milan prosecutors for exploiting workers and employing people off the books, while Dior itself faces no criminal probe.

The Armani investigation also unveiled that suppliers of the Italian brand included Chinese-owned manufacturers in Italy that violated worker protection laws.

Finland said that a Russian military aircraft violated its airspace on Monday in the first such move since the Nordic country joined the NATO alliance last year.

The plane flew in Finland’s airspace for about 2 minutes on Monday morning, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The incident happened in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, with the aircraft reaching as deep as 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) into Finland’s territory.

“We take the suspected territorial violation seriously and have immediately launched an investigation,” Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said. NATO Fortified

NATO controls much of the Baltic Sea after northern enlargement

The latest such incident happened in August 2022, when two Russian fighter jets flew into Finnish airspace. The Nordic nation joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in April 2023, just over a year after its neighbor Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine.

Finland guards more than 1,300 kilometers of border against Russia — a stretch that now makes up about a half of NATO’s Eastern flank.

Finland said that a Russian military aircraft violated its airspace on Monday in the first such move since the Nordic country joined the NATO alliance last year.

The plane flew in Finland’s airspace for about 2 minutes on Monday morning, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The incident happened in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, with the aircraft reaching as deep as 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) into Finland’s territory.

“We take the suspected territorial violation seriously and have immediately launched an investigation,” Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said. NATO Fortified

NATO controls much of the Baltic Sea after northern enlargement

The latest such incident happened in August 2022, when two Russian fighter jets flew into Finnish airspace. The Nordic nation joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in April 2023, just over a year after its neighbor Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine.

Finland guards more than 1,300 kilometers of border against Russia — a stretch that now makes up about a half of NATO’s Eastern flank.

Finland said that a Russian military aircraft violated its airspace on Monday in the first such move since the Nordic country joined the NATO alliance last year.

The plane flew in Finland’s airspace for about 2 minutes on Monday morning, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The incident happened in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, with the aircraft reaching as deep as 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) into Finland’s territory.

“We take the suspected territorial violation seriously and have immediately launched an investigation,” Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said. NATO Fortified

NATO controls much of the Baltic Sea after northern enlargement

The latest such incident happened in August 2022, when two Russian fighter jets flew into Finnish airspace. The Nordic nation joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in April 2023, just over a year after its neighbor Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine.

Finland guards more than 1,300 kilometers of border against Russia — a stretch that now makes up about a half of NATO’s Eastern flank.

Archived link

As anti-lockdown protests flared across China’s cities in November 2022, hundreds of thousands around the world were glued to an unlikely source: a mysterious X account, fronted by a cartoon cat.

Protest footage, details about police movements, news of arrests - Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher posted a torrent of real-time updates sourced from ordinary citizens.

Little of it could be found on China’s tightly-controlled state media or internet. All of it was curated by one person, sitting in a bedroom in Italy – an art school student named Li Ying.

Mr Li has since become a vital chronicler of information deemed politically sensitive by Beijing. His X account is a window into Xi Jinping’s China where authorities’ vice-like grip on information keeps tightening. From major protests to small acts of dissent, corruption to crime, it is zealously scrubbed off the Chinese internet, only to turn up on Mr Li’s account.

He says this has earned him the wrath of the authorities and, in an interview with the BBC, he painted a clear picture of how Beijing pressures dissidents overseas. He alleged the Chinese government is not only harassing him but also his friends, family and X followers in a coordinated campaign of intimidation.

The Chinese government has not responded to our questions and we are unable to independently verify all of Mr Li’s claims. But the tactics he detailed have been documented by activists, rights groups and other governments.

His activism was an accident, he told the BBC over the phone.

“It is the Chinese authorities’ unrelenting constriction of freedom of speech and media freedoms that has led me to slowly change from an ordinary person to who I am today."

Li’s online existence began with writing and posting love stories on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform. “I was someone who had made love my main creative theme, I had nothing to do with politics,” the son of two art teachers explained. Even the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which Beijing stamped out, hardly made an impact on him: “I was just like many ordinary people, I didn’t think that the protests had anything to do with me.”

Then the pandemic struck. As China sealed itself off, Mr Li - by now studying at a prestigious art school in Italy - became desperate to find out what was going on back home. Scouring social media, he was shocked to read about the crushing lockdowns: “There were people starving, even jumping off buildings… the feeling at the time was of a lot of suffering and pressure.”

He started discussing these stories on Weibo. Some followers privately sent him their stories asking him to publish on their behalf, which he did. Censors took notice, and blocked his account.

Undeterred, he began a cat-and-mouse game, setting up a new Weibo account each time they shut one down. Fifty-three accounts later, he had enough: “I said okay, I’m going on Twitter.”

On X, unfettered by China’s censors, yet accessible through virtual private networks, Mr Li’s following grew. But it only really exploded, to more than a million, in late 2022 during the White Paper protests against China’s punishing zero-Covid measures.

His account became an important clearing house for protest information; at one point, he was deluged with messages every second. Mr Li hardly slept, fact-checking and posting submissions that racked up hundreds of millions of views.

Online death threats from anonymous accounts soon followed. He said the authorities arrived at his parents’ home in China to question them. Even then, he was sure life would return to normal once the protests died down.

“After I finished reporting on the White Paper movement, I thought that the most important thing I could ever do in this life was finished,” he said. “I didn’t think about continuing to operate this account. But just as I was thinking about what I should do next, suddenly all my bank accounts in China were frozen.

“That’s when I realised - I couldn’t go back anymore.”

Fears about Chinese espionage have been steadily growing in the West as ties with China sour. What worries them are reports that Beijing is surveilling and pressuring its citizens who live in foreign jurisdictions. China has dismissed these allegations as “groundless and malicious defamation”, and said it is committed to protecting the rights and safety of its people abroad.

But the accusations are mounting. Last year US authorities alleged that a Chinese police taskforce was using social media including X to harass Chinese targets online, and charged dozens for “interstate threats”.

Australia is reportedly investigating a Chinese espionage operation targeting residents and a former spy has told Australian media how he targeted a political cartoonist in Cambodia and an activist in Thailand. Rights group Amnesty International found that Chinese studying overseas who took part in anti-government protests were being surveilled.

Analysts trace China’s so-called transnational repression back to the decade-old Operation Foxhunt to catch fugitive criminals. They believe those tactics are now used to target anyone overseas that Beijing deems a threat.

Mr Li believes there are enough signs suggesting he is now one of these people. He said the police showed up at a company in China from which he had ordered art supplies in the past, demanding his Italian shipping information. He received calls from someone claiming to represent an European delivery service and asking for his current address, though he had never placed the order.

Details of his former address and phone number were published on the messaging platform WeChat. A stranger turned up at his former home, asking to meet him as he wanted to discuss a “business proposal”.

It is not clear whether Chinese authorities were directly behind these incidents. But this kind of ambiguity can be intentional as it stokes “an ever-present fear of persecution and distrust” in targets, said Laura Harth, campaign director for rights group Safeguard Defenders which recently highlighted Mr Li’s situation.

Beijing is accused of working with middlemen, such as Chinese businessmen based abroad, so the government can later deny direct involvement. Safeguard Defenders alleges the person who showed up at Mr Li’s former home is a businessman linked to one of China’s controversial overseas police stations.

“Often there are nationalists and patriotic people who work with the government in a tandem, symbiotic relationship,” said Yaqiu Wang, China research director at Freedom House. The thinking, she said, is “if I do this for the authorities then it’s good for my business”.

The pressure has ramped up in recent months, Mr Li said.

Authorities began surveilling and questioning his parents more – at one point the visits happened every day, he said. Even officials from the school they used to work for asked them to persuade Mr Li to stop.

“They are interrogating everyone in China who is linked to me, even WeChat contacts, trying to understand my life habits, understand what kind of restaurants I like to go to,” he said. One person was allegedly even pressured to confess he was Mr Li.

Followers on X have been telling Mr Li they have been asked to "drink tea" - a euphemism for police interrogations - since the end of last year.

He estimated a few hundred people have been questioned and told to unfollow him. Some people have been shown long lists of names purportedly of his followers, with one list running up to 10,000 names, according to Mr Li. He believes authorities did this to show the scale of their interrogations and intimidate him and his followers.

“Of course I feel very guilty. They only wanted to understand what is going on in China, and then they ended up being asked to ‘drink tea’,” he said. In February, he made these reports public with a warning on X – overnight, more than 200,000 people unfollowed him.

It’s unclear how the authorities tracked down X users in China, where the app is blocked. While some could have been identified through their tweets, many would have tried to conceal their identities.

It is plausible the Chinese government asked for user details, said Ms Wang. If so, X “should be transparent” about whether it agreed to any such requests. X has yet to respond to the BBC’s queries.

Shortly after Mr Li posted about the interrogations, anonymous accounts began flooding his inbox and X comment threads with spam. They sent crude cartoons of his parents and pornographic content; in recent weeks, he has received gruesome images from horror films, and photos and videos of cats being tortured - he said it’s because they know he loves cats. The BBC has seen screenshots of this.

These messages have hit a fever pitch in recent days, with one showing up in his inbox every few minutes. This coincided with Mr Li’s posts related to the Tiananmen massacre in 1989 ahead of its anniversary on 4 June, a taboo topic for the Chinese Communist Party.

Personal information about him and his parents, including their pictures, have been posted on a website promoted by anonymous X accounts. The website also alleges he is working for the Chinese government, in a seeming attempt to sow distrust among his followers.

A check on the website’s domain found it was set up in April and its registrant listed their location as China and Tasmania. Its IP address is hosted by a Hong Kong company.

It is not clear who is behind all of this, but Mr Li said it is a “psychological attack” aimed at wearing down his nerves.

China is not alone in going after overseas dissidents, said political scientist Ho-fung Hung of Johns Hopkins University, pointing to similar allegations against India and Turkey. “As more overseas communities become more active and social media connects them to people back home, authoritarian governments increasingly feel diaspora communities can pose a threat to them,” he said.

But in China’s case, he added, they are stepping up their tactics because of “the growing paranoia of the Chinese government” besieged by an economic slowdown and outward flows of money and talent.

Observers say this paranoia appears to be fuelling a uniquely intense repression of Mr Li. Ms Wang said what was happening to him had the signs of a “national, really high-level plan”.

“He has become the aggregator which people send information to, and that is very scary to the authorities… he has a kind of power that nobody else has had in the past.”

Wryly, Mr Li said he could be dubbed China’s “most dangerous cat” – a reference to his X profile picture, which he drew.

His government targets him because he stymies their vast efforts to censor negative news, and also because he represents a new generation of internet savvy, politically conscious Chinese youth, he said. “What this White Paper protest generation represents is exactly the kind of ideology they do not want everyone to see.”

His work has come at an enormous personal cost. He moves frequently within Italy, staying only a few months in each location, and hardly leaves the house. He hasn’t found steady work, and survives on online donations and earnings from YouTube and X.

He lives alone with his two cats, Guolai and Diandian. In previous interviews he had mentioned a girlfriend, but they have since parted ways. “I’m all by myself now,” he said matter-of-factly. “There was too much pressure. But I don’t feel lonely because I interact with a lot of people on social media.”

He admitted, though, that he is feeling the mental strain of his situation and the long hours he spends online. “I feel lately my ability to express myself has dropped, and I’m very unfocused.”

Though he recently renewed his passport, he believes Chinese authorities allowed this to keep tabs on him. It is a bitter gift from his government – once an avid traveller, he now feels trapped.

“I often mourn [the life I could have],” he added. “On the other hand, I don’t regret this.”

“I don’t see myself as a hero, I was only doing what I thought was the right thing at the time. What I’ve demonstrated is that an ordinary person can also do these things.” He believes that if his account shuts down, “naturally a new Teacher Li will appear”.

The thought of getting arrested scares him, but giving up is not an option. “I feel I am a person with no future… until they find me and pull me back to China, or even kidnap me, I will continue doing what I’m doing.”

By going public with his allegations, he hopes to expose the Chinese government’s tactics. But it’s also because he believes they crossed a line by escalating their repression, and wants to fight back. “I post something you don’t like, so you crush me, that is the process of a mutual fight. But doing all these things to my parents, I really don’t understand it.”

Now, he is making defiant plans to expand his operations, perhaps recruiting others to join his mission, or posting in English to widen his influence. The Chinese government “is really afraid of outsiders knowing what China is really like… [Posting in English] is something they are even more afraid of.

“They may feel they have a lot of tactics, but I actually have a lot of cards I can play.”

Archived link

As anti-lockdown protests flared across China’s cities in November 2022, hundreds of thousands around the world were glued to an unlikely source: a mysterious X account, fronted by a cartoon cat.

Protest footage, details about police movements, news of arrests - Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher posted a torrent of real-time updates sourced from ordinary citizens.

Little of it could be found on China’s tightly-controlled state media or internet. All of it was curated by one person, sitting in a bedroom in Italy – an art school student named Li Ying.

Mr Li has since become a vital chronicler of information deemed politically sensitive by Beijing. His X account is a window into Xi Jinping’s China where authorities’ vice-like grip on information keeps tightening. From major protests to small acts of dissent, corruption to crime, it is zealously scrubbed off the Chinese internet, only to turn up on Mr Li’s account.

He says this has earned him the wrath of the authorities and, in an interview with the BBC, he painted a clear picture of how Beijing pressures dissidents overseas. He alleged the Chinese government is not only harassing him but also his friends, family and X followers in a coordinated campaign of intimidation.

The Chinese government has not responded to our questions and we are unable to independently verify all of Mr Li’s claims. But the tactics he detailed have been documented by activists, rights groups and other governments.

His activism was an accident, he told the BBC over the phone.

“It is the Chinese authorities’ unrelenting constriction of freedom of speech and media freedoms that has led me to slowly change from an ordinary person to who I am today."

Li’s online existence began with writing and posting love stories on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform. “I was someone who had made love my main creative theme, I had nothing to do with politics,” the son of two art teachers explained. Even the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which Beijing stamped out, hardly made an impact on him: “I was just like many ordinary people, I didn’t think that the protests had anything to do with me.”

Then the pandemic struck. As China sealed itself off, Mr Li - by now studying at a prestigious art school in Italy - became desperate to find out what was going on back home. Scouring social media, he was shocked to read about the crushing lockdowns: “There were people starving, even jumping off buildings… the feeling at the time was of a lot of suffering and pressure.”

He started discussing these stories on Weibo. Some followers privately sent him their stories asking him to publish on their behalf, which he did. Censors took notice, and blocked his account.

Undeterred, he began a cat-and-mouse game, setting up a new Weibo account each time they shut one down. Fifty-three accounts later, he had enough: “I said okay, I’m going on Twitter.”

On X, unfettered by China’s censors, yet accessible through virtual private networks, Mr Li’s following grew. But it only really exploded, to more than a million, in late 2022 during the White Paper protests against China’s punishing zero-Covid measures.

His account became an important clearing house for protest information; at one point, he was deluged with messages every second. Mr Li hardly slept, fact-checking and posting submissions that racked up hundreds of millions of views.

Online death threats from anonymous accounts soon followed. He said the authorities arrived at his parents’ home in China to question them. Even then, he was sure life would return to normal once the protests died down.

“After I finished reporting on the White Paper movement, I thought that the most important thing I could ever do in this life was finished,” he said. “I didn’t think about continuing to operate this account. But just as I was thinking about what I should do next, suddenly all my bank accounts in China were frozen.

“That’s when I realised - I couldn’t go back anymore.”

Fears about Chinese espionage have been steadily growing in the West as ties with China sour. What worries them are reports that Beijing is surveilling and pressuring its citizens who live in foreign jurisdictions. China has dismissed these allegations as “groundless and malicious defamation”, and said it is committed to protecting the rights and safety of its people abroad.

But the accusations are mounting. Last year US authorities alleged that a Chinese police taskforce was using social media including X to harass Chinese targets online, and charged dozens for “interstate threats”.

Australia is reportedly investigating a Chinese espionage operation targeting residents and a former spy has told Australian media how he targeted a political cartoonist in Cambodia and an activist in Thailand. Rights group Amnesty International found that Chinese studying overseas who took part in anti-government protests were being surveilled.

Analysts trace China’s so-called transnational repression back to the decade-old Operation Foxhunt to catch fugitive criminals. They believe those tactics are now used to target anyone overseas that Beijing deems a threat.

Mr Li believes there are enough signs suggesting he is now one of these people. He said the police showed up at a company in China from which he had ordered art supplies in the past, demanding his Italian shipping information. He received calls from someone claiming to represent an European delivery service and asking for his current address, though he had never placed the order.

Details of his former address and phone number were published on the messaging platform WeChat. A stranger turned up at his former home, asking to meet him as he wanted to discuss a “business proposal”.

It is not clear whether Chinese authorities were directly behind these incidents. But this kind of ambiguity can be intentional as it stokes “an ever-present fear of persecution and distrust” in targets, said Laura Harth, campaign director for rights group Safeguard Defenders which recently highlighted Mr Li’s situation.

Beijing is accused of working with middlemen, such as Chinese businessmen based abroad, so the government can later deny direct involvement. Safeguard Defenders alleges the person who showed up at Mr Li’s former home is a businessman linked to one of China’s controversial overseas police stations.

“Often there are nationalists and patriotic people who work with the government in a tandem, symbiotic relationship,” said Yaqiu Wang, China research director at Freedom House. The thinking, she said, is “if I do this for the authorities then it’s good for my business”.

The pressure has ramped up in recent months, Mr Li said.

Authorities began surveilling and questioning his parents more – at one point the visits happened every day, he said. Even officials from the school they used to work for asked them to persuade Mr Li to stop.

“They are interrogating everyone in China who is linked to me, even WeChat contacts, trying to understand my life habits, understand what kind of restaurants I like to go to,” he said. One person was allegedly even pressured to confess he was Mr Li.

Followers on X have been telling Mr Li they have been asked to "drink tea" - a euphemism for police interrogations - since the end of last year.

He estimated a few hundred people have been questioned and told to unfollow him. Some people have been shown long lists of names purportedly of his followers, with one list running up to 10,000 names, according to Mr Li. He believes authorities did this to show the scale of their interrogations and intimidate him and his followers.

“Of course I feel very guilty. They only wanted to understand what is going on in China, and then they ended up being asked to ‘drink tea’,” he said. In February, he made these reports public with a warning on X – overnight, more than 200,000 people unfollowed him.

It’s unclear how the authorities tracked down X users in China, where the app is blocked. While some could have been identified through their tweets, many would have tried to conceal their identities.

It is plausible the Chinese government asked for user details, said Ms Wang. If so, X “should be transparent” about whether it agreed to any such requests. X has yet to respond to the BBC’s queries.

Shortly after Mr Li posted about the interrogations, anonymous accounts began flooding his inbox and X comment threads with spam. They sent crude cartoons of his parents and pornographic content; in recent weeks, he has received gruesome images from horror films, and photos and videos of cats being tortured - he said it’s because they know he loves cats. The BBC has seen screenshots of this.

These messages have hit a fever pitch in recent days, with one showing up in his inbox every few minutes. This coincided with Mr Li’s posts related to the Tiananmen massacre in 1989 ahead of its anniversary on 4 June, a taboo topic for the Chinese Communist Party.

Personal information about him and his parents, including their pictures, have been posted on a website promoted by anonymous X accounts. The website also alleges he is working for the Chinese government, in a seeming attempt to sow distrust among his followers.

A check on the website’s domain found it was set up in April and its registrant listed their location as China and Tasmania. Its IP address is hosted by a Hong Kong company.

It is not clear who is behind all of this, but Mr Li said it is a “psychological attack” aimed at wearing down his nerves.

China is not alone in going after overseas dissidents, said political scientist Ho-fung Hung of Johns Hopkins University, pointing to similar allegations against India and Turkey. “As more overseas communities become more active and social media connects them to people back home, authoritarian governments increasingly feel diaspora communities can pose a threat to them,” he said.

But in China’s case, he added, they are stepping up their tactics because of “the growing paranoia of the Chinese government” besieged by an economic slowdown and outward flows of money and talent.

Observers say this paranoia appears to be fuelling a uniquely intense repression of Mr Li. Ms Wang said what was happening to him had the signs of a “national, really high-level plan”.

“He has become the aggregator which people send information to, and that is very scary to the authorities… he has a kind of power that nobody else has had in the past.”

Wryly, Mr Li said he could be dubbed China’s “most dangerous cat” – a reference to his X profile picture, which he drew.

His government targets him because he stymies their vast efforts to censor negative news, and also because he represents a new generation of internet savvy, politically conscious Chinese youth, he said. “What this White Paper protest generation represents is exactly the kind of ideology they do not want everyone to see.”

His work has come at an enormous personal cost. He moves frequently within Italy, staying only a few months in each location, and hardly leaves the house. He hasn’t found steady work, and survives on online donations and earnings from YouTube and X.

He lives alone with his two cats, Guolai and Diandian. In previous interviews he had mentioned a girlfriend, but they have since parted ways. “I’m all by myself now,” he said matter-of-factly. “There was too much pressure. But I don’t feel lonely because I interact with a lot of people on social media.”

He admitted, though, that he is feeling the mental strain of his situation and the long hours he spends online. “I feel lately my ability to express myself has dropped, and I’m very unfocused.”

Though he recently renewed his passport, he believes Chinese authorities allowed this to keep tabs on him. It is a bitter gift from his government – once an avid traveller, he now feels trapped.

“I often mourn [the life I could have],” he added. “On the other hand, I don’t regret this.”

“I don’t see myself as a hero, I was only doing what I thought was the right thing at the time. What I’ve demonstrated is that an ordinary person can also do these things.” He believes that if his account shuts down, “naturally a new Teacher Li will appear”.

The thought of getting arrested scares him, but giving up is not an option. “I feel I am a person with no future… until they find me and pull me back to China, or even kidnap me, I will continue doing what I’m doing.”

By going public with his allegations, he hopes to expose the Chinese government’s tactics. But it’s also because he believes they crossed a line by escalating their repression, and wants to fight back. “I post something you don’t like, so you crush me, that is the process of a mutual fight. But doing all these things to my parents, I really don’t understand it.”

Now, he is making defiant plans to expand his operations, perhaps recruiting others to join his mission, or posting in English to widen his influence. The Chinese government “is really afraid of outsiders knowing what China is really like… [Posting in English] is something they are even more afraid of.

“They may feel they have a lot of tactics, but I actually have a lot of cards I can play.”

The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, has said a failed arson attack that took place in Prague last week was "very likely" organised and financed by Russia.

Speaking after a meeting of the Czech National Security Council, Mr Fiala said the failed attack was evidently part of a "hybrid" campaign of sabotage being run by Moscow against European countries.

Police said a foreign citizen was arrested on Saturday in connection with the incident and was being held in custody on terrorism charges.

He was described as "a Spanish-speaking man originally from South America" and had apparently been in the country for five days.

The prime minister said the attempt to set to fire to buses at a depot in Prague was likely connected to a spate of arson attacks in Europe that he said appeared to be orchestrated by Moscow.

These, he said, included May's arson attack in Warsaw, and a similar attack in a branch of Ikea in Lithuania, which authorities believe were carried out by Russian intelligence agents or their proxies.

“The connection [to Russia] is not only possible, but highly probable,” Mr Fiala told reporters. "The attack was probably organised and financed from Russia."

The BBC has approached the Russian foreign ministry for comment on Mr Fiala's allegations.

Police beefed up patrols across the Czech capital last Friday after claims of a heightened risk to security.

They released CCTV footage apparently showing a dark-haired man paying for items in a shop or petrol station. They said the man was possibly dangerous and should not be approached, but gave no further information.

Police president Martin Vondrasek said the man had been apprehended the following day.

“On Friday we asked the public for assistance. On Saturday morning the suspect was arrested. On Sunday afternoon a criminal prosecution was launched, and today [Monday] a court ordered he be remanded in custody,” Mr Vondrasek told journalists at a news briefing.

The man - described as a 26-year-old of South American origin - is accused of trying to set fire to buses at a public transport depot in Prague’s Klicov district in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Local media initially reported that he had spilt petrol over several buses at the depot, but failed to set them on fire.

However, a spokeswoman for Prague's public transport authority was quoted by news outlet Novinky.cz as saying the man had set several buses alight, and the fires were subsequently extinguished by depot workers. The fires caused an estimated 200,000 Czech crowns (£6,864; $8,738) of damage, she said.

He now faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted under terrorism legislation - 30 if given an exemplary sentence.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Czech government has become one of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters, providing military assistance including artillery, tanks and ammunition.

However the mutual antipathy predates the February 2022 invasion.

The government in Prague says Russia’s GRU intelligence service was behind the 2014 explosions at a Czech arms dump that left two people dead.

The Czech Republic was the second country - after the US - to be placed on Russia’s list of "unfriendly nations" after a series of diplomatic expulsions that followed an investigation into the explosions.

Moscow denies any involvement in the incident.