EU-DIGEST

I t's been less than a week since a leak of highly classified military documents on the Ukraine war surfaced, sending the Pentagon into full-speed damage control to assure allies and assess the scope of the information revealed.

The information on scores of slides has publicized potential vulnerabilities in Ukraine's air defence capabilities and exposed private assessments by allies on an array of intelligence matters, raising questions about whether the leak will erode allies' trust in sharing information with the U.S. or impact Ukraine's plans to intensify the fight against Russia this spring.

Read more at: https://www.cbc.com

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is calling foreign interference activities by the Chinese government the "greatest strategic threat to national security."

In a statement provided in French to CBC/Radio-Canada on Friday, a CSIS spokesperson said that this threat comes not from the "Chinese population" but from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which9 is deploying a strategy aimed at "geopolitical gains" on economic, technological, political and military fronts.

"To do so, it uses all the state powers at its disposal to carry out activities that directly threaten the national security and sovereignty of the country," said the unnamed spokesperson.

Read more at: https://www.cbc.com

The endurance of a political order cannot be permanently measured in the absence of any instrument, neither can it be substantially responded to at any given point and time. Similarly, the collapse of a system does not require any clear or prolonged warning. The world has experienced a relatively stable bi-polar system for several decades in the post-Cold War era, gradually replaced by the US dominated neoliberal post-Cold War era which is now being succeeded by a multi-polar world. This is accompanied with shifting alignments.

In the same vein, the debates at the 2020 Munich Security Conference (MSC) provided new insights into the shifts currently underway within the EU.In the most expansive sense of that term: ‘Westlessness’ reigned throughout the MSC despite the fact that it had played a vital role in world affairs after World War II. Earlier, marking the seventy fifth anniversary of the end of the World War II,

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany, warned that the erosion of international cooperation was evident in the US’s growing interest in Asia at the expense of its transatlantic relations. Will Europe come up more integrated in this shifted paradigm? How would a more sovereign Europe become a better partner to a more socially equal United States on global problems?  The technological giants have also disrupted major economies, societies, and political systems.

Historically, Germany as a core EU country has been the largest and most successful economy with a gdp of almost $4 trillion under Angela Merkel, since 2005. Germany sends the most members to the European Parliament. It has efficaciously maintained stability during the euro crisis,  the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014 and her open-door policy of 2015, in which over 1 million refugees were given shelter in Germany, was built on those premises. Germany provided an example of how to deal with a difficult past.

However, using the legacy of the Holocaust, Germany has craftily absolved itself from the responsibility of security, defense, and leadership precisely. Will it continue to be the same in the post-Brexit paradigm? Steinmeier warned that, “if the European project fails, the lessons of German history will be called into question.”

Within Germany, the ever-growing popularity of the far-right, anti-immigration, and anti-Semitic Alternative for Germany (AfD) has remained increasingly cumbersome for Angela Merkel. It is creating a leadership crisis for Germany.  On February 10, 2020, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, as Merkel’s designated successor has also resigned as a leader of the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. This leadership crisis has emerged at xenophobic times of nationalism and populism espoused with the state of anomie, in Europe. The strains in the transatlantic relations and the rise in China’s global role have afflicted this specter further afield.

Speaking pronouncedly, the French President Emmanuel Macron also talks about the need for a more integrated Europe by exercising responsibility for Europe’s future. “This united Europe will only survive if we regard it as the most concrete repository for German responsibility . . . of all the dangers I sense facing Germany, I see none greater than that our German narrative of the future dispenses with the united Europe, whether as a result of a lack of insight, because of indifference, or in some people’s eyes even through intent.”

The panacea lies in strengthening European security and defense policy as suggested by Steinmeier. He however, distinctively speculated that it would be opposed by the Central and Eastern Europeans. Besides, the fear is that Europe is no longer relevant for the US in great power competition. “Only a Europe that can and wants to protect itself credibly will be able to keep the U.S. in the alliance,” was a major concern of Steinmeier.

Already, the “Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy” presented by HR/VP Mogherini in June 2016, had laid down the foundations for a comprehensive package of measures in the areas of security and defence. It consists of three major pillars:

a) New political goals and ambitions for Europeans to take more responsibility for their own security and defence.

B) New financial tools to help Member States and the European defence industry to develop defence capabilities (“European Defence Action Plan”).

C) Set of concrete actions as a follow up to the EU-NATO Joint Declaration while identifying areas of cooperation.
 
Note EU-Digest: The EU membership states who are calling for a more populist and nationalistic approach must stop kidding themselves  that leaving the EU  can provide them even with the slightest hope of independent survival, in the world of political and economic Power Blocs. They will be eaten alive and forced to swallow the worst possible demands, as they negotiate trade agreements with power blocs like the US or China. 

 Read the complete report at: ‘Westlessness’: Shaping Anew the EU’s Power - Modern Diplomacy

Flying EU and Nato VIPs on jets from a part-Chinese firm could be a security risk, a Belgian aviation company has said.

Its warning was lambasted as a "James Bond" fantasy, by reference to the fictional British spy.

But if there is a risk, then top EU officials have already been exposed on other "air-taxis".

And the Belgian aviation company which raised the China alarm has its own security questions to answer on Russia.
 
Read more at: Spy-air? EU warned on VIP jet leasing

“International travel markets posted disparate performance in 2018 including several notable surprises on the downside,” states the report from Tourism Economics.

“After registering average annual growth of 23 percent over the previous decade, Chinese travel to the US stopped in its tracks last year—perhaps in connection to trade tensions. Similarly, South Korea fell 3 percent after averaging 11 percent growth over the prior ten years. Japan also contracted; this continues the narrative of an ever important but languishing market. And Germany surprised with a steep decline in 2018, perhaps evidence of a reaction to unpopular U.S. diplomacy and policies.”

Among some of the major reasons foreign tourists are giving for not choosing the US as their tourist destination  are: inadequate Public Transportation Systens, personal safety, as a result of gun violence and poor infrastructure.

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For additional information, including advertising rates - e-mail:Freeplanet@protonmail.com  

President Trump on Wednesday seemed to suggest the deadly shooting at a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France, is evidence that the United States needs stronger border security.

“Another very bad terror attack in France,” Trump tweeted. “We are going to strengthen our borders even more. Chuck and Nancy must give us the votes to get additional Border Security!”

Witnesses said the gunman, identified by police as 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt, yelled out “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire, killing at least two people and wounding seven others. Police believe Chekatt, a Strasbourg native, may have become radicalized while in jail.

Trump’s tweet came a day after he clashed with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi over funding for border security measures — including the president’s long-promised wall along the U.S. southern border — during a contentious Oval Office meeting.

The president said he is willing to shut down the government if Democrats don’t appropriate funding for his proposal to provide $5 billion for a wall along the Mexico border next year.

At one point during their exchange, the president suggested — without evidence — that “10 terrorists” were recently apprehended trying to enter the United States.

Records show this another of Trump's many untruths - because records show no terrorists have come through the US  Southern border.

Read more: Trump uses terror attack in France to push U.S. border wall - AOL News

US Embassy, Ankara, Turkey

Shots were fired at a security booth outside the U.S. Embassy in Turkey’s capital early Monday, but U.S. officials said no one was hurt.

Private Ihlas news agency said four to five rounds were fired from a moving white car and targeted the booth outside Gate 6 at the embassy in Ankara. Police were searching for the car.

U.S. Embassy spokesman David Gainer thanked police for their “rapid response” and said no injuries had been reported.
 
U.S. Embassy Ankara, 110 Atatürk Blvd.Kavaklıdere, 06100 Ankara - Turkey, Phone: (90-312) 455-5555, Fax: (90-312) 467-0019

Read more: Shots fired at gate of US Embassy in Turkey, but no one hurt

Facebook’s headquarters for most of its non-US markets is in Dublin. The Irish High Court ruled that US surveillance programs permit the “mass indiscriminate” processing of the private data of European citizens and noted the lack of effective legal remedies against that kind of surveillance, given that the US government does not typically notify people who are being subjected to spying.

The Irish court has ordered the referral of the case to the ECJ in order to determine whether methods used for data transfers are legal. If the ECJ agrees with the decision of the Irish court, that could mean trouble ahead for thousands of tech firms, which transfer huge amounts of data from the EU to the US every day.

Read more: Facebook seeks to block US spying lawsuit from top EU court — RT World News

Have you ever wondered  what happens to your e-mail data on servers owned by popular e-mail servers like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook Earthlink, or other non-European based communication companies.

But here is the good news. It is called the European mode, and you don't have to be a European to benefit from the far stricter European personal privacy laws, and other regulations imposed on how companies make use of your personal data.

Here are two companies you might want to look intom if you want a secure European based e-mail account.

ECLIPSO

PROTON MAIL

In this context  FREENET  and  TOR , are also recommended networks, specially if you live in, or visiting a country where there is censorship, interception of electronic communications, and control over what you are allowed to see or not over the Internet.

It certainly is worth to look into, and best of all, they come for free, if you don't require their "premium" services.

EU-Digest 

Read more: It's official: Russia is targeting critical American infrastructure with 'malicious cyberattacks'

Officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter.

Among those nations discussing ways to influence Kushner to their advantage were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico, the current and former officials said.

It is unclear if any of those countries acted on the discussions, but Kushner’s contacts with certain foreign government officials have raised concerns inside the White House and are a reason he has been unable to obtain a permanent security clearance, the officials said.

Kushner’s interim security clearance was downgraded last week from the top-secret to the secret level, which should restrict the regular access he has had to highly classified information, according to administration officials.

Read more: Kushner’s overseas contacts raise concerns as foreign officials seek leverage - The Washington Post

EU leaders agreed on Friday (23 February) to spend more on defence, security and "stemming illegal migration" in the next long-term budget, European Council chief Donald Tusk said.

After leaders held their preliminary discussion of the first post-Brexit budget, Tusk told reporters that many European heads of government were ready to contribute more money to the next budget cycle, that runs 2021-27.

"All the leaders approached [the budget] with open minds, rather than red lines," he stated.

Tusk however said that the EU Commission's ambitious deadline for reaching an agreement by the end of this year seemed "really difficult".

The EU executive wants to conclude talks by the next European elections in May 2019, however, haggling over the budget usually takes more than two years.

Germany's Angela Merkel said the debate was "constructive", and said leaders will decide how fast to move with agreeing to the EU budget after the commission's proposal will be published in May.

The German chancellor also warned cuts will have to be made to "bureaucratic" policies, like agriculture.

One of the countries that does not want to pay more after the UK leaves the EU, the Netherlands' PM Mark Rutte, said the bloc needs to modernise and reform existing programs to finds more money.

"We, in any case, do not want our contribution to rise," he said.

EU leaders also discussed the possibility of linking EU funds to migration and respecting the rule of law.

Donald Tusk told reporters the discussion was less toxic than many had speculated in the run up to the summit.

Member states that benefit from cohesion funds earlier warned against using EU money aimed for reducing economic differences across the EU for integrating migrants or for punishing countries that breach EU rules.

After the discussions Tusk said that he had only heard "positive reactions", and that the concept was not questioned by any leader who spoke.

Tusk said that Poland's premier Mateusz Morawiecki also said he was ready to support conditionality, adding that it should be built a very objective criteria.

"The possible conditionality was less controversial than expected," Tusk said - adding that the debate at this point was very general.

France's president Emmanuel Macron had a strong warning to those who infringe EU values, something Poland had been accused of by the commission.

"It would be matter of good sense to halt the payment of some [EU] funds where is there is a breach of our values," Macron said.

Read more: EU agrees budget to focus on defence, security and migration

The European Commission is demanding that US-based social media giants Facebook and Twitter fully respect European consumer protection laws.

The demand is part of a list of consumer complaints filed last March against the two, including Google+, for broadly failing to meet EU rules when it comes to tackling online scams, removing content, and allowing people to delete accounts.

Chief EU commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters in Brussels on Thursday (15 February) that Facebook and Twitter "have only partially met [EU's] requests". Only Google+ appears to have complied with the demands.

In a statement, EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova said it was "unacceptable" that Facebook and Twitter are yet to make their platforms safer for people.

"EU consumer rules should be respected and if companies don't comply, they should face sanctions," she said. Only national authorities can impose sanctions such as fines.

Many of the complaints stem from people in Europe who have been victims of fraud, unwanted subscriptions and other online scams.

National consumer protection authorities want to make it easier to report and request the removal of such scams, but Facebook and Twitter have only provided them with an email address.

The commission says the standards need to be met to protect certain rights, like being able to withdraw from an online purchase, or lodge complaints in Europe rather than in the United States where the firms are based.

The pressure comes amid other plans to get the firms to be more proactive in removing illegal content.

In April, the commission is set to unveil a so-called 'New Deal for Consumers.'

The move is a follow up to a proposal floated last September, and aims to get companies to remove xenophobic and racist speech or anything deemed to incite terrorism.

Read more:  - byFacebook and Twitter weak on protecting users, says EU