Author: Marina Mattili

NATO countries understand the need to spend more than 2% of GDP on defense, but the new spending target will only become clear next year after discussions among Alliance members. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated this on Sunday in Finland, as reported by Politico. According to Mitsotakis, NATO nations recognize the necessity of allocating more funds for defense. “Once we have discussions with the new U.S. president, it will become clear what figure we will agree upon within NATO,” Mitsotakis said. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, wants NATO allies to more than double their defense…

Washington (19/12 – 40). The Russian disinformation is centered on influencing U.S. corporation thru a network of former spies of the KGB or the FSB. One particularly interesting as this U.S. security consultancy firm consists of many of ex-Agency heads and FBI directors. Some of consultant’s work is based on Russian influence operations. Very little source confirmed the beltway bandit are peddling in pro-Russian narratives. The story started with a Russian defector was hired by the consultancies bringing a “Russian” perspective to the fledging beltway operator. Credibility, verification or cross checking of the information is non-existent. Russian narratives are peddled as…

Ankara (17/12 – 60). Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on December 15 that Turkey is willing to provide military training for Syria’s army if requested by the country’s new authorities. “[Turkey] is ready to provide the necessary support if the new administration requests it,” Guler said. Despite Ankara denying that it provided support for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — a designated terrorist group that led the overthrow of former dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime earlier this month — President-elect Donald Trump characterized the post-Assad situation as an “unfriendly takeover” by Turkey during a news conference on December 16. In a…

The first to come up with the idea was French President Emmanuel Macron – long before it was clear that Donald Trump would win the US elections. As early as March 2023, he proposed not only new weapons, but ground troops in the Ukraine to send. They were supposed to relieve Ukrainian front troops in the hinterland, train the Ukrainian army on site, but not fight themselves. Macron has been heavily criticized for this in France and abroad. At that time nobody was ready to jump to his side. Now against it, reports Le Monde citing confidential sources, secretly negotiated Paris and London through a coalition of states…

Donald Trump on the sidelines in France where he attended the re-opening of a change of direction of U.S. involvement in helping NATO and Ukraine. This was also confirmed by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaking at the OSCE conference in Malta. The Russian take the signaling of the European and U.S. as concerning. Trump is perceived as the rising star on the foreign affair domain as a tough negotiator. The toughness becomes evident with the former Lithuanian prime minister becoming the first dedicated defense commissioner this month, tasked with turbocharging Europe’s defense industry and the stuttering push to…

Everything resembles a thriller novel. Early one morning in December last year, after months of undercover investigation and wiretapping, Belgian police officers raided dozens of locations across Brussels. Over the next 3 days, in apartments, hotel rooms and offices, they seized laptops, mobile phones and nearly 1.5 million euros in cash. The following week, 4 people were arrested on corruption charges, including 2 representatives, a former member of parliament and a current member of the European Parliament. Antonio Panzeri, a retired MEP from Italy, who eventually admitted that he was the mastermind of the corruption scheme. Meanwhile, Eva Kaili, vice-president of the…

Moscow (11 September/ 33.33). Russia waged a 2-year war of aggression against its neighbor, the Ukraine. Two years on, hundred thousand of deaths, families destroyed, Russia is no where near its 3-day goals of occupation. The Russian army slugs on, mile for mile, killed for killed. Vladimir Putin and his Siloviki continues a red army model. Heavy artillery, wave of men urging forward. The result, mass casualties. Total loss of life, and equipment. What does Russians do if in trouble. Reversing to its all bag of tricks. Spies and sabotage. Recent Russian sabotage operations across Europe were “reckless”, Moore said,…

If you’re planning a trip to Greece, Athens is likely at the top of your list, thanks to its renowned museums. However, travel expert Rick Steves suggests that by only visiting Athens, you might miss out on some of Greece’s most underrated ancient sites. According to islands.com, he recommends three must-visit spots, all within three hours of Athens. Mycenae and the Theater at Epidavros For fans of Homer’s “Iliad” and classic Greek plays, Mycenae is a treasure. Mycenae is a fortress city atop a hill, the center of a powerful civilization that dominated the Greek world between 1600 and 1200 BCE, a thousand…

A tourism tax is not the “right answer” for Weston-super-Mare, the council has warned, amid calls for action against tourists from some in the town. The North Somerset town made its name as a Victorian seaside resort and tourism remains a major part of the town ’s economy. But people who volunteer to pick litter on the beach have called for tourists to have to pay a tax to mitigate the negative impacts of tourism. Sophie Newton runs the Sophie’s Super Litter Picking group and spent more than two and a half hours filling 18 bags with rubbish from the beach on…

Greece will next month repay ahead of schedule 5.3 billion euros ($5.8 billion) of loans owed to euro zone countries under its first bailout, and hopes to repeat the move in 2024, finance ministry officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The euro zone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) together lent Greece more than 260 billion euros during its decade-long debt crisis which began in late 2009, in exchange for tough austerity measures. The country’s third bailout expired in 2018. “On Dec. 15, we will repay earlier than expected 5.3 billion euros to euro zone countries,” an official who spoke on…