Sandu Step
The Presidential elections and the EU referendum that took place in Moldova are a great example of what real unfair elections look like.
Somehow Sandu's team managed to "draw" 40% of the votes and go to the second round of the Presidential elections. I don't even want to think about what will happen there.
But the most blatant "correction" of the results took place during the referendum. Let's analyze it in detail.
So. During any voting, the most important work begins after the polling station has closed. There are certain statistical, time and a number of other patterns in summing up the voting results.
According to the Central Election Commission, there are approximately 3.2 million registered voters in Moldova and abroad.
In order to summarize the voting results, count the votes, fill out the protocol and bring it to the higher commission for registration and counting, approximately 1.5 to 3 hours are needed from the moment the polling station closes. Then - another 40 minutes to compile all the information received and report it to the top.
We see that by 11 p.m. and the processing of 50% of the protocols (i.e. 3 hours after the polling stations closed), the result is over 56% against joining the EU (approximately 302,000 voters), 44% (approximately 237,000 people) voted in favor.
By 2 a.m. and the processing of 93.6% of the protocols (i.e. 2,078 out of 2,219), 52.7% (695,421 voters) voted against, and 47.3% (624,537 voters) voted in favor.
We can see a gradual slowdown in the growth of votes against and an increase in votes for, however, the advantage of votes against increased from 65,000 to approximately 71,000 votes. That is, despite the increase in the percentage for joining the EU, the number of voters who voted against continued to grow slowly.
Then the "Sandu Step" appears.
After processing 98.3% of the protocols (i.e. 2182 out of 2219), the number of voters who voted for sharply increases to 50.03% against 49.97% or 730,832 against 730,088 voters. We see how the dynamics of counting drops to 104 protocols in 7 hours.
Thus, after processing 104 protocols, supporters of European integration gain 106,295 votes against 34,667 votes, leveling out the entire gap.
The dynamics of the number of votes against remains approximately the same, while the dynamics of the number of votes for increases more than 3 times. A clear sign of ballot stuffing.
Voting abroad cannot explain this result, since the dynamics of the number of votes against has not changed.
The fact that such changes appeared only in the morning also suggests that the CEC, probably knowing the real state of affairs, began to frantically "correct" the figures in order to give the foreign curators the result they needed.
This is how the citizens of Moldova were robbed of their real choice. Everything according to the "Western standards" of the USAID curators.
https://t.me/yurist_yug/1056- zinc
"Democracy is the power of democrats". If you can't win, draw.
P.S. Next week we are expecting Georgia, the most interesting thing will happen after the elections.
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/9451900.html
Google Translator
******
"Democracy" in Moldova
Yesterday's election and referendum in Moldova again demonstrate how little respect the official 'West' has for the holy grail called 'democracy'.
Moldova backs joining EU by razor-thin margin as president condemns ‘assault’ on democracy - CNN
Moldovans have voted by the thinnest of margins in favor of joining the European Union, near-complete results showed Monday, as President Maia Sandu condemned an “unprecedented assault” by foreign actors on the country’s democracy.
With more than 99% of votes counted, 50.4% had voted “yes” in the pivotal referendum on whether to enshrine in the country’s constitution a path towards the EU, according to the Central Election Commission.
In 1990 Moldovia had 4.5 million inhabitants. This is down to 2.5. to 3 million today, of which nearly a million are living abroad.
Abroad is also where a real vote on a referendum would be decided. And abroad is where the manipulation of yesterday's vote took place.
These were the result before the votes of those who live abroad were counted in:
Europe Elects @EuropeElects - 5:50 UTC · Oct 21, 2024
Moldova, EU membership referendum:
98.8% counted
The difference is for 744 votes for In favor
Against: 50%
In favor: 50%
Former British ambassador Craig Murray watched the vote:
Craig Murray @CraigMurrayOrg - 14:39 UTC · Oct 21, 2024
Moldova's rigged EU referendum "voted in favour" of joining the EU by 50.4% to 49.6%.
No led until the last minute when 180,000 votes from Moldovans living in the EU were added in at a claimed 90% Yes.
While allegedly only 5% of the 300,000 Moldovans living in Russia voted!
Why didn't more of those Moldovans who are living in Russia go to vote? The Russian Ambassador in Vienna explains:
Mikhail Ulyanov @Amb_Ulyanov - 14:00 UTC · Oct 21, 2024
Moldovan authorities opened only two polling stations in Moscow for 400,000 Moldovan citizens living in Russia (instead of 17 in the past). And someone calls the current Moldovan authorities “democratic”? Gross manipulation of elections and referendum on #EU membership.
No 'Western' media will inform the public about this manipulation which l might well lead to an outcome that the majority of Moldovans oppose.
Posted by b on October 21, 2024 at 15:37 UTC | Permalink
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2024/10/d ... l#comments
******
Who is afraid of Trieste?
Lorenzo Maria Pacini
October 21, 2024
A heartfelt appeal to the still-conscious people of Trieste: it will not be the government in Rome or the government in Brussels that will rescue you.
Apparently, the previous article regarding Trieste, its port and the Free Territory, caused quite a stir. So much so that it will be fun to talk about it again.
So it was all true
You know, the straw tail, as we say in Italy, is typical of those who have to hide something. After I revealed the shenanigans that took place in the merry meeting between Freemasonry, the Armed and Law Enforcement Forces, American and Hungarian think tanks, and the Trieste (occupation) government, there was general panic. First, articles and TV programs came out giving prominence to the news, which was treated as a real scandal; then there was the crusade of accusations to try to discredit the author, but without touching the content on the merits, at most touching on it with some funny rhetorical ploy, crying “Russian propaganda” that works a bit like parsley and looks good on everything; after which, when the news was now all too believable and plausible, as well as confirmed by concrete evidence such as NATO military vehicles in transit and some strange movement at the Port, here came the confirmation from those same power groups, news outlets and “reliable sources” who had to confirm the incident, sweetening it with some fairy tale and trying to pass it off as the “lesser evil” anyway not avoidable. The circus of the Italian and American intelligence press had to expend itself briskly. Even in some articles names and surnames of people involved in the events recounted appeared, showing that a few heads were blown off and that they could not continue for long.
There was also a Demonstration on September 15 in opposition to the militarization of Trieste and its international free port, which brought together many groups and acronyms to make the voice of citizens heard to those who reside (illegally) in the palaces of power in Trieste, an event that the Police Headquarters tried to hijack.
So, in the end, it was all true. This was confirmed by the very delinquents of the news that came out. It is true that Trieste is a strategic port within the doctrine of the Trimarium yesterday, Three Seas Initiative; it is true that the Cotton Road passes through Trieste and, as it happens, passes there with a route run by the genocidal state Israel; it is true that Trieste is a Free Territory that is under military occupation by the Italian Republic, in violation of international treaties; it is true that there is collusion between Freemasonry, the state and foreign powers.
Any attempt to deny the evidence of these facts has turned out to be ridiculous.
But since it is not enough to tell about the facts, let us now try to go even further into them.
Understanding Trieste and its port better
Let us start from afar. In 1947 the Treaty of Paris was signed, by which peace was established and divisions of influence between the victorious and defeated countries were assigned. With the 16th resolution, the Free Territory of Trieste (FTT) was established. In 1954 the London Memorandum entrusted the provisional civil administration of Zone A to Italy and Zone B to Yugoslavia. In 1975, however, with the Treaty of Osimo, Italy and Yugoslavia established a border between territories not owned by them, violating the autonomy of the FTT and the Treaty of Paris. With the collapse of Yugoslavia and the subsequent division of the territory into several states, the FTT found itself divided between three countries-Italy, Slovenia and Croatia-which illegally occupied it, violating previous treaties and triggering disputes, political and judicial struggles, scandals and protests that continue to this day.
Let us therefore try to explore among the various sources to put ideas in order.
On the international level, one cannot fail to mention one of the most influential speeches on the FTT, delivered by Lawyer Prof. Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, the first Independent Expert for the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order of the United Nations, High Commissioner for Human Rights, an activity he held until 2018.
On Sept. 15, 2017, in Geneva, de Zayas delivered a speech whose words have remained etched in the memory of the people of Trieste and UN officials: “Among the Treaties that must be respected is the 1947 Peace Treaty. And it is peculiar how certain treaties are put in the drawer: the drawer is closed, locked, and nobody talks about it anymore. I have raised it and I intend to continue to raise it, because it is an open issue and I think you have the right to discuss it publicly. […] the problem is more complex, because nobody knows anything about your situation! The media more or less systematically ignore the issue of Trieste. […]”.
Also prof. De Zayas again spoke publicly about the FTT, at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, on the sidelines of the 37th session of the Human Rights Council, reiterating the violation of the Treaties with regard to Trieste, an occasion on which unresolved issues of the goods abandoned by Zone B citizens and their capital still frozen in European banks were discussed, and, moreover, on the problem of the disbursement of U.S. funds for the Free Territory of Trieste that are still being paid into Italian bank accounts and managed by Rome (ERP Plans / Marshall – Agreement on the Use of Counterpart Funds of U.S. Economic Aid to Trieste of February 11, 1955), in violation of the Right to Development of the citizens of Trieste, first and foremost (UN Resolution A/RES/41/128 – December 4, 1986); and again, the continued failure to apply the Citizenship of the Free Territory of Trieste to those entitled to it, as proclaimed by the Peace Treaty, a failure that has been notified to the OHCHR Registry Office.
Seems de Zayas’ words continue to be true and Trieste is not to be spoken of.
If we do not trust an experienced official, there is a 2015 UN Security Council letter, dated Oct. 23, a full 32 pages, signed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, where on page 10 it reminds us that the Free Territory of Trieste is a free zone, established by the United Nations in 1947 (Security Council resolution 16 of 1947; 1947 Peace Treaty with Italy, Arts. 4, 21 and 22, Annexes VI to VIII) and which, the text says, “terminated Italy’s sovereignty over Trieste,” and “the Security Council, however, never fulfilled its responsibilities under the Treaty with respect to the Territory because of its failure to appoint a Governor for the Territory. Instead, under the 1954 Memorandum of Understanding on the Free Territory of Trieste, Italy and Yugoslavia respectively established a civil administration in the two areas of the Territory previously administered by the United Kingdom and the United States on the one hand and by the Yugoslav Army on the other,” reiterating in the next lines the structure of the Permanent Statute of the Free Territory of Trieste, which in Article 9 defines the structure of the Government. In addition, it states that the Security Council has “the ultimate responsibility to ensure the integrity and independence of the Territory by ensuring compliance with the Permanent Statute and the maintenance of public order and security in the Territory.” Curious, isn’t it? So at the United Nations, the Free Territory is not a fantasy.
Let us cite four other significant documents.
The first is an expertise, titled Autonomy and Self-determination, by Prof. Peter Hilpold, where in Chapter 10bis Prof. Thomas D. Grant of the University of Cambridge discusses the Free Territory of Trieste and its free port. In the publication, the author analyzes in detail all the legislation pertaining to the port and its jurisdiction. We point out some interesting excerpts:
“it is difficult to see how the administrative apparatus of the Free Port can be made operational today without radically reconfiguring the administrative scheme-that is, a fully-fledged Free Port apparatus would require the separation of the Free Port from the Free Territory provisions of the Peace Treaty.” p. 28;
“It could also be argued that while the rights and obligations associated with the Free Port have never been abrogated or suspended, the only organs that could have given concrete expression to those rights and obligations do not exist and, their enabling treaty being outdated, cannot be c established.” p. 30;
“ As noted above, the Italian Port Authority seems to understand that Trieste is a port subject to a special legal regime. 68 The recent decisions of the Italian courts have already been mentioned. This practice (administrative and judicial) would seem to indicate Italy’s acceptance of the continued existence of obligations originally derived from the Peace Treaty. Acknowledgment of the existence of an obligation is not equivalent to fulfillment of the same. obligation. The existence of a breach of the Peace Treaty provisions on the port depends on how Italy currently treats the port. depends on how Italy currently treats the port, a fact that activists for self-determination in Trieste have tried to question. How Italy receives complaints about the issue, and indeed about Trieste in general, leads to a final point: the right of the people of Trieste to make their case about the status of Trieste, the territory and its Port.” p. 31
The paper contains a masterful explanation of the anomaly of the FTT situation. I advance the suggestion of a full reading to all candidate delinquents of this paper.
The second document is a letter from the Director of the United Nations Security Council, dated May 20, 1983, protocol PO 201 PI, addressed to Giovanni Marchesich, in which the official stated that the Permanent Representation of Italy and the Permanent Representation of Yugoslavia to the United Nations had requested that the issue of the “Government of the Free Territory of Trieste” be removed from the Security Council agenda. So these politicians had a vested interest in countering the truth of the FTT. What’s more, the letter put in black and white that the issue of the appointment of the Governor (and thus the full creation of the Free Territory of Trieste) would be put back on the Security Council agenda should any UN state request it. A fateful phrase that in times like these, leaves well meaning, few words.
Fortunately, it took Ban Ki-moon a few decades later to clarify that the UN does not have a short memory.
A third interesting text is a paper written by Marina Coloni and Peter Clegg, of the University of West England. It is a paper published in 2022, with peer reviewed carried out of course, in which the affairs of the Free Territory of Trieste are addressed.
Annex VIII states verbatim, “There shall be established in the Free Territory a free port which shall be administered on the basis of the provisions of an international instrument prepared by the Council of Ministers, approved by the Security Council and annexed to this Treaty (Annex VIII). The Government of the Free Territory shall enact all necessary legislation and take all necessary measures to give effect to the provisions of that instrument.” This “authority” is, moreover, also acknowledged on the Port’s official website, where it states that “the primary normative referent of the legal regime of the Free Port of Trieste is Annex VIII to the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty.”
The conclusion is rationally motivated: there can be no Free Territory of Trieste without its Free Port and there can be no Free Port without the Free Territory of Trieste. The two were established together and intimately connected, as also recognized, despite repeated violations, by subsequent legislation.
One final document encapsulates more than one would expect. As I learned from a letter received from a source, forwarded by the Area Director of Land and Property of the Municipality of Trieste, with protocol corr. No. 7° 1/8/5-01, dated January 29, 2001, it appears to be signed by Dr. Engineer Paolo Pocecco. Up to here, nothing interesting. Yeah…too bad that Paolo Pocecco was a GLADIO agent in NATO’s Operation Stay Behind in Italy, at the time under the direction of the 7th division of SISMI, the Italian military intelligence services. Pocecco is well known in Trieste, since years ago, as part of a book presentation devoted to the subject of NATO and the Soviet Union, he came out along with former comrade-in-arms Giuseppe Pappalardo, also mentioning the names of Remigio Lampronti and the already well-known Marino Valle. The curiosity, again, is that a former (?) Italian intelligence agent who worked for the Americans in operations aimed at the total subjugation of Italy to the United States of America, ended up as an executive in the city’s public offices. A fluke? Well, there are beginning to be a few too many such coincidences.
The second aspect jumps out at you in the above-mentioned document, but also in the other official documents of the Italian public administration in the land of Trieste.
In Law, particularly from Admiralty Law onward, there is a distinction between the natural person and the legal entity. The natural person for the Italian legal system is an artificial representation of the human being. It is for all intents and purposes a legal artifact, a mask (in Latin, persona means “mask”). From nothing (in lat. ex nihilo) through a legal transaction, the legal subject is created, which is a trust, and which is represented by first and last name, which are written in capitals. With such a legal transaction, institutions clandestinely arrogate to themselves the ownership of the legal subject trust, like any movable property, forming part of a trade.
To give an example, when we obtain the ability to drive, the public administration issues the license in the name of the legal entity (NAME and SURNAME) owned by it. With that document it is not stating that we are able to drive but is entering into a contract with us. Just as he issues it, he can withdraw it, precisely as a function of the fact that the SUBJECT in whose name the document is registered is his. When the document expires, in order to renew it, they subject the holder, that is, the individual in whose name the title is registered, to tests of fitness to drive, and if he passes the tests, the document is renewed, once again, to the legal entity. In reality, the renewal is not a verification of the presence of the conditions of ability, as these are not lost with time, but remain for life (in other countries the document has no expiration date), rather the renewal of a multi-year contract of temporary administration of the legal entity NAME SURNAME, whose responsibility is accepted.
This legal artifice, in technical jargon called deminutio capitis, indicates the loss of one of the legal qualities of the individual. For the ancient Romans, deminutio capitis involved a prioritis status permuratio, that is, a change in the person’s previous status.
This stratagem is most evident in official communications from government institutions. The names of public administrations, for example, are almost always written all in capitals. In the municipality of Trieste, however, no: the writing is entirely in lower case, “comune di trieste.” This indicates, Law in hand, that Trieste is not subject to Italian corporate control. Further confirmation of the illegitimacy of territorial occupation by the Italian Republic. You know…The devil is hidden in the details!
Step by step, the plan proceeds
Because, let’s be honest: in violation of Treaties and agreements, the Italian Republic and its master, aka USA, continue to do what they want in Trieste. The 3SI and the Cotton Road are proceeding expeditiously.
Some recent examples are the mess with Mediterranean Shipping Company and Wartsila. MSC, the world’s first company in seaborne cargo handling, was founded by billionaire shipowner Gianluigi Ponte, married to Zionist billionaire Rafaela Diamant, with CEO their son Diego Aponte since 2014, signed a trade agreement with Finnish multinational Warstila…enforcing Annex VIII of the 1947 Treaty of Paris, so as to enjoy international free port. A nice ploy to pay less and earn more. But how, does the FTT then exist? Or, rather, it exists, but it is enforced only when it suits the international capital, certainly not for the good of the citizens. A few days later, in the local press the fact was justified by saying the agreement was signed under Italian Law 3054/1952 and the other treaties related to the…Free Territory of Trieste! Then again, to satisfy Israel’s business in the Cotton Road, they chose a Zionist-led company so there would be no hindrances. Another coincidence to add to the list.
Curious, too, how the City of Trieste’s spatial planning put an Italian Army Selected Reserve Officer, Major Architect Beatrice Micovilovich, with experience gained in foreign missions in conflict zones. It may be a coincidence, it’s likely, but with the winds of war continually being called by European politicians and the mass media, it really comes across as not very credible.
Now, however, let us return to the topics of the previous article, because in the meantime things are moving forward. An article by Paolo Deganutti published in the Limes Club of Trieste comes to our aid, some interesting excerpts of which we will quote below. We thank Deganutti for the information provided.
Let’s go step by step…
Paolo Messa, founder of the Base per altezza group , which edits the Italian “intelligence” magazine Formiche (which we thank for the publicity through the sympathetic articles that attempted to dismantle the Trieste scandal), which echoes The National Interest and Atlantic Council, has quit the management of his group to become, until December 2023, the executive vice president of Leonardo – the Italian arms firm par excellence – as well as responsible for geo-strategic relations with the US. Now Messa is vice president at the National Italian American Foundation in Washington and serves as a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Also at Leonardo, the formerly well-known Defense Minister Guido Crosetto worked as an advisor from 2018 to 2021, also working on Orizzonti Sistemi Navali, a joint venture between Leonardo and Fincantieri.
Leonardo is being sold off to the giant BlackRock through the invitation of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as we recently illustrated. Into all this comes David Patraeus, former commander of the United States Central Command, with strategic responsibility over the Middle Orinte, who later became the 23rd director of the CIA. Patraeus is on the board of KKR, a large U.S. fund that is in control of the Telecom Italia network and supports SACE, a government-controlled insurance group specializing in business support.
As Deganutti writes, Patreus has been proposed in interlocutory meetings in Trieste and Washinghton as a possible U.S. patron of the ‘operation studied in the U.S. that would like to make the port of Trieste simultaneously the apex of the Cotton Road Mumbay-Dubay-Trieste triangle , signed by Prime Minister Meloni in September 2023 during the G20 in Delhi, and of the Trieste-Gdansk-Constance securitarian triangle (NATO’s Trimarium), illustrated by Kaush Arha, Paolo Messa and other influential authors, including former Monti government Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant’ Agata, who, another truly inexplicable coincidence, was Ambassador to Israel, the United States and the United Nations. The perfect resume. We are honored to have gotten into his good graces, so much so that we have devoted articles to him in Atlantic Council, The National Interest, Ants and two full pages in Il Piccolo of Trieste.
So, the project of this new iron curtain is proceeding apace, with the whole of Europe being thrown into a hopeless war in which it is the few masters of capital who gain and whole peoples who lose out.
So, the question is, who is afraid of Trieste?
A heartfelt appeal to the still-conscious people of Trieste: it will not be the government in Rome or the government in Brussels that will rescue you. The freedom of Trieste and its Territory is your battle. But know that in the multipolar world that is emerging, there are many supporting you.
https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/ ... f-trieste/
"Fremasonry"? Really?
******
EU countries greenlight €35 billion loan for Ukraine using Russia's frozen assets
The deal by member states on the €35 billion loan still needs to be ratified by the European Parliament.
Copyright European Union, 2023.
By Jorge Liboreiro
Published on 09/10/2024 - 18:14 GMT+2•Updated 18:50
Under the G7 plan, the windfall profits earned by Russia's frozen assets will be used to gradually repay a multi-billion loan for Ukraine.
European Union countries have given their green light to an unprecedented plan to issue a €35 billion loan to support Ukraine's war-battered economy using the immobilised assets of Russia's Central Bank as collateral.
The deal is part of a broader initiative by G7 allies to provide €45 billion ($50 billion) to Kyiv as soon as possible. The country is struggling to contain a renewed Russian offensive that has badly damaged its power system and depleted its military stocks.
The €35 billion will be "undesignated" and "untargeted," according to EU officials, meaning the Ukrainian government will have maximum flexibility to spend the assistance. Brussels hopes to start doling out the money early next year.
The agreement, reached on Wednesday evening by ambassadors, comes a day after Hungary confirmed it would block a key change in the EU sanctions regime until after the United States elects its next president on 5 November.
The proposed amendment will see member states renewing the restrictions on the frozen assets, worth about €210 billion across the bloc, every 36 months rather than every six months, as the current practice dictates. (Changing the sanctions law requires unanimity while the loan went through by a qualified majority.)
"We believe that this issue should be decided – the prolongation of the Russian sanctions – after the US elections. That was the Hungarian position," Mihály Varga, Hungary's finance minister, said on Tuesday after a ministerial meeting in Luxembourg.
The longer renewal period is meant to make the ground-breaking project more predictable and reassure the misgivings expressed by G7 allies. The US, in particular, worries that one single EU country could, at any given time, block the renewal of sanctions, unfreeze the assets and throw the entire project into disarray.
The fears mostly relate to Hungary, the most Russian-friendly member state, which has acquired a reputation for blocking sanctions until it secures controversial concessions.
Under the G7 plan, the windfall profits earned by the assets will be leveraged to gradually repay the amount of money that each ally will lend to Ukraine. If these profits are no longer available, the West will have to foot the bill.
Originally, the EU and the US were supposed to contribute to the loan in equal parts with €18 billion ($20 billion) each, but the lack of specifics on Washington's side led Brussels to drastically ramp up its share up to €35 billion.
The bloc's contribution could be reduced if the US, Canada, the UK and Japan end up making bigger pledges. Australia, which is not in the G7, could also chip in.
Wednesday's agreement, which still needs to be ratified by the European Parliament, paves the way for the EU to raise its multi-billion share before the end of the year and begin disbursements in early 2025.
However, Hungary's refusal to amend the sanctions regime could slow down the final decision at the G7 level.
The US is expected to put more cash on the table if the renewal period is extended to 36 months. The proposal already falls short of Washington's ideal goal (an indefinite renewal), so Budapest's hold-up is unlikely to help negotiations.
In reaction to the deal, a diplomat noted that "one piece is still missing."
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024 ... nsNltCmp=1
******
Orban Criticizes EU Pressure and Defends Hungary’s Sovereignty
Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Oct. 23, 2024. X/ @zoltanspox
October 23, 2024 Hour: 9:06 am
He criticized Europe’s role in the ongoing Ukraine conflict and warning of the potential dangers of further escalation.
On Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivered a defiant speech in Budapest, marking the 68th anniversary of the 1956 revolution by emphasizing Hungary’s determination to defend its national sovereignty against growing pressure from the European Union (EU).
Addressing thousands of supporters, Orban likened the current struggle against EU interference to Hungary’s historic fight for freedom, while also criticizing Europe’s role in the ongoing Ukraine conflict and warning of the potential dangers of further escalation.
“Brussels’s pressure on our country and government grows stronger day by day,” Orban warned, highlighting what he described as increasing efforts by the EU to undermine Hungary’s national government.
Addressing the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine, Orban expressed concern over Europe’s role in a “protracted and costly” conflict. He criticized his political opponents for supporting intervention, portraying their stance as a misguided extension of the struggle for freedom.
Budapest Braces for the Anniversary of the 1956 Revolution – writes @lilirutai in our latest newsletter https://t.co/p0z4Bmnyfw pic.twitter.com/fTZUgGrLOm
— Hungarian Observer (@HunObserver) October 23, 2024
Orban painted a grim picture of the geopolitical landscape, suggesting that Europe has not been this close to a world war in the past 70 years. He criticized European leaders for their handling of the Ukraine conflict, accusing them of dragging the West into a futile and dangerous confrontation.
The Hungarian leader voiced strong opposition to any escalation of the conflict, particularly moves to bring Ukraine into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and expand the frontlines onto Russian soil. Such actions, he warned, could result in foreign troops being stationed in Hungary once again.
Orban concluded by reaffirming Hungary’s commitment to its independence and peaceful existence in the Carpathian Basin. “We do not want to participate in any imperial rivalry, nor do we want to get involved in others’ hostilities,” he said.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/orban-cr ... vereignty/
******
Meloni administration scrambles to save controversial migration deal
After a Rome court ruled that migrants sent to Albania must return to Italy, Giorgia Meloni’s government is struggling to salvage its controversial migration plan
October 22, 2024 by Ana Vračar
Giorgia Meloni with other EU leaders during a meeting on migration. Source: Giorgia Meloni/X
The Meloni government finds itself in a tight spot after a Rome court ruled that 12 migrants, offshored to Albania last week, must be returned to Italy. Attempting to salvage its migration deal with the Balkan country, the government rushed in a decree and altered the list of “safe countries,” hoping this would force magistrates to repatriate more migrants in the future and essentially prevent them from using their right to asylum.
The extreme anti-immigration policy is central to Meloni’s political platform, and her government is ready to spend millions of euros running detention centers in Albania. The initial offshoring of 16 migrants alone cost well over 200,000 euros. However, court decisions like the one from last week could turn the plan into a major flop—something many human rights groups had already predicted.
Of the 16 migrants transferred to Albania, four were immediately returned to Italy: two turned out to be underage, and two fell into the category of “vulnerable population.” This was an early sign that Meloni’s system was not functioning as she had announced, and the court decision has created new problems for the premier. Unsurprisingly, Meloni and other government officials claimed the courts were overly politicized and attempted to undermine their authority.
However, the magistrates in the case were guided by EU legal advice, which questions the legality of Meloni’s offshoring plan and could erode its support among EU leaders, which has been, disturbingly, on the rise. Whether Meloni can push through legal hurdles standing in her way of preventing people from exercising basic human rights remains to be seen, but her efforts to block migrants from entering Italy continue to threaten both their lives and health.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/10/22/ ... tion-deal/
Naples protests G7 “lords of war”
Over 2,000 people took to the streets of Naples against soaring military spending in Europe and increased repression of dissent as G7 defense ministers convened for high-level talks
October 21, 2024 by Ana Vračar
Source: Ex OPG occupato - Je so' pazzo/Facebook
Thousands of people took to the streets of Naples on October 19, demonstrating against the G7 military agenda and Italy’s proposed reforms that would limit the freedom to dissent. Protesters, representing a host of organizations including student associations, trade unions, and community centers, rallied against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government’s policies, demanding a shift in priorities toward social needs instead of military spending. Side by side with the protest in Naples, demonstrations were held in dozens of cities across Italy, as reported by the left political party, Power to the People (Potere al Popolo).
Protesters carrying a banner reading “Cut the weapons, raise the wages!”. Source: Ex OPG occupato – Je so’ pazzo/Facebook
The protest was organized to counter a G7 defense ministers’ meeting that took place in Naples from October 18 to 20, with a focus on global military goals. The meeting was seen by protesters as yet another example of Western countries deepening their involvement in wars, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the war in Ukraine, instead of pursuing agendas of social justice and peace. In the lead-up to the meeting, local activists voiced their opposition, stating that “lords of war” were not welcome in their city.
“Never has so much been spent on war, and as a result, war is rampant everywhere,” the associations organizing the march asserted during the preparations. “We refuse to host a meeting in our city that supports the war economy our government has chosen to follow.”
Two central issues dominated the protest in Naples: the West’s support for Israel as it continues to exterminate the people of Gaza and the increasing repression of dissent at home, embodied in Meloni’s proposed security bill. Many protesters pointed out the link between military aggression abroad and domestic policies that seek to criminalize dissent. European countries continue to actively repress solidarity with Palestine and others, like Italy, are doing so while attempting to silence voices against their policies.
The new security bill seeks to impose severe restrictions on protests, including strikes and environmental activism. Progressive associations argue that this is a blatant attempt to stifle opposition and consolidate power, and some of them saw Saturday’s protest as a test run for the government’s strategy of suppressing future mobilizations. Days before the protest, authorities tried to restrict the march route, forcing organizers to end the demonstration a kilometer away from the G7 meeting site.
Despite these attempts, protesters refused to be stopped. They briefly broke through the set course of the rally, marching in areas originally declared off-limits by the authorities. In response, police deployed tear gas and used other forms of violence against them. Naples’ historic center has systematically been blocked off to popular protests, and things are set to get worse if the new bill is passed, protesters said. Because of that, community groups including Ex OPG – Je so’ pazzo called upon people to continue resisting.
“We believe this repressive project must be stopped, and more importantly, we see it as a reflection of the Meloni government’s fear of what might still be burning beneath the surface of the seeming calm in the country,” they said.
Saturday’s protest marked an important moment of resistance against the shrinking of democratic space in Italy, as well as to the strengthening of the armament agenda in Europe. Demonstrators announced they were ready to continue fighting against the security bill and expressed determination to challenge Meloni’s government over announced cuts to social support.
“Today, this square is sending a loud message: if the government thinks it can ignore social needs, public healthcare, workers’ rights, and housing in favor of pouring billions into military spending, it’s headed in the wrong direction,” said Chiara Capretti from Power to the People.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/10/21/ ... ds-of-war/
