https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083616505481 On 19 August 2025, the Arena Saracena in Cirò Marina is preparing to welcome one of the best-loved voices on the Italian urban scene: Rocco Hunt. The Neapolitan rapper arrives in Calabria with his eagerly awaited Ragazzo di giù Tour 2025, an official stage of the KrimiSound Festival, for an evening that promises to be unforgettable. Street viewInterestedMultiple eventsArmonie D'Arte FestivalAug 2, 2024 Point of interestCirò Marina Point of interestCirò Marina MuseumCirò Marina Last update: May 4, 2025 6:01 AMContent owned by the Calabria Region | Tourism and Commerce Department issued under CC-BY License Download OFFICIAL TOURIST INFORMATION SITE © 2022 Calabria Region Tourism and Commerce Department The European Commission is set to unveil on Tuesday (6 May) the RePower EU Roadmap which is a strategy to phase out all Russian fossil-fuel imports.  Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU has cut its Russian gas imports from 45 percent of total supply to 18 percent in 2024. This drop has been helped by a 20-percent fall in gas consumption since 2021.  EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen in April credited this reduction to the RepowerEU plan which committed the bloc to fully ending all Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027. But this is only partially true as phasing out cheap Russian imports has proved difficult.Unlike crude oil and coal Russian gas has not been sanctioned because of resistance from some governments particularly those more dependent on Russian gas the EU still imports large quantities of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) which made up 19 percent of overseas gas supplies last year the EU imported 17.9 bcm of Russian LNG; in 2024 The plan to be presented on Tuesday aims to cut off these remaining Russian imports and proposes a variety of measures to exit Russian gas.  These include a ban on short-term spot market exchanges starting in June — a channel that accounts for around a third of imports — with full implementation expected by the end of the year.  A ban on new long-term gas contracts will also be proposed but would only take effect in 2027 if agreed by member states The commission will also propose allowing companies to invoke ‘force majeure’ to exit existing long-term contracts without penalties the commission is considering support measures for countries that want to move away from Russian nuclear fuels Binding legislation will follow in the coming months giving member states time to weigh their preferred options for reducing gas imports fear that Europe is heading towards a situation of oversupply as gas demand is expected to decline structurally over the coming years while alternative energy sources (mostly renewables) come online Energy think tank Ember’s recently found that EU gas supply is on track to exceed demand by 26 percent (or 131 bcm) by 2030.  And there are concerns that current EU plans could simply swap one dependency for another “Europe’s plan to free itself from Russian gas reliance should be celebrated that the continent swaps its dependency on one volatile supplier for another,” said professor Robert Howarth of Cornell University One idea floated in the EU Action Plan for Affordable Energy — part of the bloc’s broader push to reduce Russian gas imports — is to follow the “Japanese model,” which encourages European companies to directly invest in overseas LNG projects But experts warn this could lock in years of unnecessary gas imports and risk undermining the EU’s climate goals EU LNG terminals were already operating at less than 40 percent capacity last year.“The billions of euros wasted every year on gas imports are better spent in ways that lower gas needs: boosting electrification insulating houses and addressing energy poverty,” said Linda Kalcher executive director of Strategic Perspectives Twenty-seven civil society groups from nine Asian countries recently sent a letter to EU leaders at the IEA Summit which they say “will expose the EU to increased dependence on imports from unstable regimes This year, we turn 25 and are looking for 2,500 new supporting members to take their stake in EU democracy. A functioning EU relies on a well-informed public – you Since our little online newspaper was founded in Brussels in 2000 we have covered the EU through its ups and downs our small but dedicated team of reporters have strived to provide straight reporting and always through the lens of fundamental values which unite the countries of our beleaguered bloc we’ve focused both on the most important developments and the issues that others ignore we’ve seen other EU affairs publications come and go and others develop varying ways to serve certain needs or audiences we’ve maintained an absolute stance on who has a say about our coverage; nobody EUobserver has never positioned itself as a broker between different stakeholder groups and thus has never had to compromise on investigating anyone or anything Even when attacked by numerous lawsuits seeking to expunge damning coverage we’ve fought back and relied on our \"high deontological standards\" as the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom put it our belief in journalism as a tool for protecting democracy but in simple terms it means that we firmly hold to the fact that a well-informed public is the best way to ensure functioning and representative institutions that benefit us all And that third point brings us to where we would like to change but in the way we aim to serve and reach a growing audience of diverse citizens we see the way people consume information changing around us In some ways it has never been easier to reach people with journalism but in others it has never been harder to keep doing so Fragmentation of the information environment — we’re now not only competing with other news media games and anything else people can choose to spend time on — means that it’s more important than ever to have a direct connection with the people who want to spend time with us Additionally, according a report released by Reporters Without Borders on Friday 2 May the funding situation for independent media has never been more dire “The global state of press freedom is now classified as a “difficult situation” for the first time in the history of the Index,” it reads So to celebrate this — honestly quite amazing — anniversary we’re looking to introduce more ways to interact with and serve you And at the same time we’re kicking off a campaign to find 2,500 new supporting members who believe that EU democracy needs independent watchdogs — not to punish wrongdoing but to provide citizens with better information to make decisions the number of people reached by our articles is determined for a large part by algorithms those algorithms are informed by choices of individuals we’d like to ask you to take your stake in EU democracy and help spread our goal our mission and our journalism far and wide sign up for a supporting membership to ensure that EU citizens can get the information they need to make decisions that affect policy that has consequences for all of us you're already an active participant in EU democracy Join us The US’ retreat from its global role has renewed intense conversations about a more “geopolitical” Europe They have focused on where Europe stands in relation to the world’s great powers — sometimes at the expense of the places where EU foreign policy has a more immediate when the European Commission will unveil a new strategy for the Mediterranean neighbourhood It’s a chance to reverse a short-term strategy which has made both Europe and her neighbours more — not less — unstable.  It marks a decade since the summit that gave rise to the EU Trust Fund for Africa which helped shape European regional policy into something more short-term and counterproductive — with mistakes repeated rather than learned from.  Nowhere have the shortcomings of Europe’s approach been clearer than in Libya which earlier this year expelled international aid agencies which has involved a surge of violence.  The EU has sought cooperation from Libya on oil access with evidence mounting daily of EU funding being funnelled toward organised crime in an environment where the line between official state institutions and militias remains thin.  Numerous state and non-state actors are involved in the exploitation of migrants and trafficking in persons as confirmed by migrant testimonies and reports from humanitarian organisations Large-scale human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law are prevalent often linked to organised criminal groups.  High-level individuals in the Libyan state are implicated in these violations Their business model involves organising migrant departures while simultaneously receiving international funds with re-trafficking being a common occurrence.  The fragmentation and diversity of actors in Libya make it difficult to create a clear picture of the situation Migrants and refugees are frequently passed between multiple intermediaries including the Department for Combating Irregular Migration (DCIM) centres often moving northward towards the Mediterranean Sea even if Europe was not their intended destination Meanwhile, the Libyan Coast Guard plays a significant role in intercepting and returning migrants to Libya increasing the risk of re-trafficking.  Funding provided to Libyan authorities for border and migration management lacks oversight leading to misuse and further exploitation The EU has inadvertently made itself vulnerable to blackmail and further destabilised Libya The reputational damage done to the EU in the Global South through its links to torture and death in Libya is not easily recoverable the Libyan story is not a one-off experience but reflected in a wider foreign policy approach.  became a key transit hub for migrants from West Africa heading to Libya and Europe The EU pressured the Nigerian government to criminalise migrant smuggling in 2015. This led to the implementation of Law 2015-36 which effectively disrupted the migration economy in Agadez The law primarily targeted low-level migration facilitators rather than influential businessmen involved in larger smuggling networks.  This led to the professionalisation and consolidation of organised smuggling whilst ordinary people providing commercial services were found criminalised This shift contributed to the development of a conflict economy with local armed actors exerting increasing control over economic activity.  the UN Human Rights Committee reported that Niger’s EU-backed landmark anti-smuggling law had “forc[ed] migrants to go underground and face conditions that expose them to many forms of abuse and human rights violations.”  circuitous paths through the desert to avoid detection The crackdown also resulted in a loss of income for many in Agadez pushing former smugglers and those involved in the migration economy to turn to gold mining and other illicit activities.  Criminalisation exacerbated longstanding tensions with local people perceiving the government's actions as prioritising European interests over their own This led to strained relationships between local and national authorities and increased dissatisfaction with the international community.  This backlash was far from the only factor which brought to power a new government in a 2023 coup which was more hostile to EU interests generally But it is striking that repealing the unpopular law was one of the new government’s first actions — and already it appears that doing so may have made movement safer.  transactional European diplomacy appears to have caused harm and risked increasing the perception of the EU in Africa as a neocolonial force at a time when Brussels urgently needs to build bridges in the Global South.  the EU has deprioritised its human rights and democratic values in order to achieve short-term aims in its deal-making.  This loss of moral credibility is dangerous for the EU and risks backfiring even in the short term as discontent linked to European policy can produce a sudden and powerful backlash potentially including cooperation with Europe’s rivals The current approach also burns bridges with civil society and potential allies whilst placing European strategic interests in the hands of unreliable actors who can and do misuse their leverage.  If the EU continues to make short-term goals like migration control and resource access the centre of its Mediterranean policy And it will also mean lost opportunities to help create a stable and thriving region more broadly.  The Mediterranean Pact a new framework for European dealmaking in the region This dangerous global moment urgently demands leaders with the courage to stand by human rights and universal values Europe can begin doing so in its own neighbourhood.  We need a strategy that stops trying to fix single problems and instead looks at connections between systemic risks and tries to address them in the interests of all.  A complex mix of climate and ecological insecurity and crisis on both sides of the Mediterranean.  commitment to human rights and the rule of law mutually beneficial international partnerships that include communities and civil society and a serious attempt to improve quality of life Europe can make a positive difference toward achieving genuine safety and security for all This year, we turn 25 and are looking for 2500 new supporting members to take their stake in EU democracy. A functioning EU relies on a well-informed public – you the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) repeated its demands to clamp down on irregular migration \"We must drastically decrease the number of irregular migrants arriving in our countries,\" Friedrich Merz \"And if those numbers remain high we have to discuss additional measures His speech received a round of applause in an audience that included European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament president Roberta Metsola But Merz's wish-list on changing asylum and migration laws is already a reality The European Commission started tweaking them over the past several months despite adopting a pact on asylum and migration only last year In March, it opened up the legal possibility to house failed asylum seekers abroad for deportation back to their home countries Described euphemistically as \"return hubs\" the proposal was embedded in a regulation on deporting people with no rights to remain in Europe it introduced a list of \"safe countries of origin\" — spanning Kosovo as well as EU candidate countries like Turkey The concept seeks to speed up asylum claims from countries that are deemed relatively safe for their own nationals that an Egyptian applying for protection in Europe would be rapidly shuffled through an asylum application process and most likely deported back to Egypt The commission says the countries are safe based on their low asylum-recognition rates in Europe It also drew on analysis reports from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) as well as from information gathered elsewhere like the UN refugee agency \"Nationals from safe countries of origin will see the applications processed faster with a maximum duration of three months,\" a European Commission spokesperson told reporters on 16 April now have to assess the list and come to an agreement the applications would be processed under new rules embedded in the pact on asylum and migration And while the pact won't officially launch until June of next year the European Commission said member states can already start expediting asylum claims for nationals whose recognition rates for international protection are 20 percent or lower may end up in a detention centre somewhere in the EU before being hastily shipped back to Egypt The motives behind the commission's April proposals are driven by Italian premier Giorgia Meloni's disastrous deal with Albania from 2023 Italy had created detention centres in Albania in the hopes of deporting people rescued from international waters in the Mediterranean An Italian-list of safe countries of origin would almost certainly guarantee their swift removal back home But the first-instance Court of Rome threw a spanner in the works of Meloni's plans after it essentially forced authorities to suspend the fast-tracking of all asylum claims throughout the entire country The Court of Rome based its decision on a separate ruling by the European Court of Justice in October which said member states cannot designate some parts of an origin country as safe the Italian court ordered a group of 43 migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh detained at the centres in Albania to be transferred to Italy who is now vilifying the courts and judges as politically-driven pawns But one possible workaround for Meloni's conundrum was to get the European Commission to tweak the safe country of origin concept rules The commission appears to have obliged by allowing member states to carve out territorial safe zones who chairs the Brussels-based European Council on Refugees and Exiles said the commission's amendment allows Italy to carry out its deal with Albania \"To deliberately introduce measures that seem designed specifically to allow Italy to implement this arrangement and to do all of this at a time when the courts are under attack that seems very problematic in itself,\" she said The safe country of origin is not the only concept likely to be tweaked to appease some member states The European Commission is also currently working on the safe third country concept While both concepts are already part of EU law and defined in the asylum procedures regulation Turkey is considered a safe country of origin it means a Turkish national can be returned to Turkey but only after his asylum claim has been heard within three months Turkey is also deemed a safe third country it means a Syrian who transits through Turkey to reach the EU can be returned to Turkey without having his asylum claim heard The safe third country concept allows member states to flat out reject an application for international protection It doesn't matter if the person has a valid case or not she would have her claim heard abroad and in a country she doesn't come from it allows EU states to dismiss a person's asylum request and send them abroad so long as the hosting country can offer them \"effective protection\" Germany and its conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) explicitly endorses safe third country concepts in its programme The nuance was also not lost at the EPP congress in Valencia the EPP declared that all \"illegal migrants from non-European countries should as a rule have their asylum claims be processed in a safe third country But safeguards in the asylum procedures regulation currently makes that onerous because the person must have a meaningful connection to that country The EPP now wants those connection criteria abolished, leading to potential future Rwanda-like deals similar to those attempted by the UK Such connections are not mandatory under international law the European Commission is currently reviewing the safe third country concept and is expected to deliver a verdict sometime in June is that the Brussels-executive will either weaken the connection criteria or do away with them altogether Von der Leyen's political party is drumming up support for its demands as a means to neutralise the far-right when it comes to migration the far-right will continue to draw on broad support This year, we turn 25 and are looking for 2500 new supporting members to take their stake in EU democracy. A functioning EU relies on a well-informed public – you The EU is rolling out punitive tariffs against Russian fertiliser using a trade bill which bypasses Hungary's foreign policy veto MEPs in the EU parliament's agriculture committee will vote on a non-binding opinion on the tariffs in Strasbourg on Monday (5 May) in a project aimed at asphyxiating €2.2bn a year of income to Russia.  The industry committee will then decide the EU parliament's position in a vote on 14 May and EU diplomats agree a final \"regulation\" in talks called \"trilogues\" in Brussels jargon The Polish EU Council presidency expects it to be adopted with its fangs intact phasing in 50 percent tariffs on Russian and Belarusian fertiliser over the next three years.  an industry committee coordinator for the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) group \"We need to … halt further Russian imports of agricultural products and fertilisers as soon as possible,\" he told EUobserver.  \"The EPP stands for steadfast support for Ukraine. We fully support this file which will reduce dependency from Russia and consequently minimise Russian export revenues and warfare ability,\" he said.  The bill itself says it would protect the EU food industry and \"would be consistent with the [European] Union's interests .. in the context of the Russian Federation's unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine\" The Green group backs hawkish anti-Russia tariffs but is worried that small print might let EU polluters discharge more animal excrement into rivers.  And the EU fertiliser industry backs the move who boosted EU exports 33 percent last year were \"dumping\" cheap product in Europe.  But even though Monday's agriculture vote is non-binding it will still expose the force of opposition to the initiative whose Vox party sits in the pro-Russian Patriots for Europe (PfE) parliament group.  She has tabled amendments designed to delay and dilute the tariffs an EP source said (the PfE didn't reply to EUobserver).  her role as rapporteur was \"surprising and highly problematic\" which has a track record of rowdy tractor protests in the EU capital also hates the anti-Russia fertiliser tariffs claiming that price hikes will cause mass-scale bankruptcies in farms.  And parliament logs showed the intensity of lobbying going on as lead MEPs met with pro-tariff fertiliser groups six times and anti-tariff farmers' groups The tariff regulation is moving ahead at the same time as EU capitals begin to discuss the 17th round of anti-Russia sanctions.  EU sanctions are decided by consensus and the pro-Russian government in Hungary has in the past vetoed moves against Russian fertiliser The increasingly defiant Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has also threatened to veto the rollover of existing Russia trade sanctions And the potential foreign policy crisis has seen EU institutions explore workarounds in case worse comes to worst.  An extreme option would be to try to strip Hungary of its voting rights in the EU Council while a softer one would be to replicate EU sanctions at the level of 26 national jurisdictions The fertiliser tariffs showed another avenue of approach seeing as the regulation was being decided by \"ordinary legislative procedure\" which meant votes in the EU Council and parliament where pro-Russian opponents could be democratically sidelined.  But if that seemed like a win-win for the EU's Russia hawks according to attorneys dealing with sanctions law \"Using them [tariffs] as non-trade sanctions might be [legally] challengeable as an improper purpose and an illegitimate evasion of requirement for unanimity … I wonder if Russia's lawyers will challenge that [in the EU courts in Luxembourg],\" said one British barrister.  A German attorney indicated that if the accusation of Russian fertiliser trade \"dumping\" had a solid basis then the Ukraine-war parts of the bill could stand \"The circumvention of unanimity argument I don't see you can use tariffs as long as you have a trade angle,\" he said \"Then the problem is still whether such tariffs are in conformity with the WTO [World Trade Organisation],\" he added This year, we turn 25 and are looking for 2500 new supporting members to take their stake in EU democracy. A functioning EU relies on a well-informed public – you The European Commission is poised to present a revised trade proposal to the Trump administration this week aiming to resolve the escalating tariff dispute between Washington and Brussels The updated package closely resembles earlier offers calling for zero tariffs on industrial goods and joint efforts to tackle China’s overcapacity in steel and aluminium It also includes increased purchases of US products and pledges for greater investment In concrete terms, the EU appears ready to boost imports of American goods by €50bn, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) With Washington showing no enthusiasm and the July deadline for the temporary suspension of US tariffs approaching the EU is looking to improve its relations with economies of the Asia Pacific The EU has signed trade deals with South Korea is expected this week in Tokyo for high-level economic talks “Geopolitical shifts make it clear: boosting economic security through trusted partnerships is vital,” he said on social media last week EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen is set to travel to Paris to meet with French president Emmanuel Macron she will meet Ireland’s taoiseach Micheál Martin on Friday (9 May).  two-and-a-half months after the elections of February 2025 conservative leader Friedrich Merz will assume the chancellorship from Olaf Scholz on Tuesday (6 May) — amid a big domestic fiscal bang and trade tensions with the US and China this week also marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II — although the Russian war in Ukraine is set to cast a long shadow over commemorations EU foreign affairs ministers will gather for an informal meeting in Warsaw.  The so-called Gymnich will focus on EU-UK discussions (in preparation for a summit on 19 May) There will also be a working session with candidate countries (Albania Ukraine and Kosovo) focused on security and defence cooperation Vladimir Putin will use the country’s traditional annual military parade on Moscow's Red Square to rally domestic support and frame his invasion of Ukraine as part of Russia's historical role Last month, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas warned EU candidate countries and member states against attending the parade. But despite the EU warning, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić and Slovak prime minister Robert Fico are expected there alongside Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko Chinese president Xi Jinping or Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán won't attend.  MEPs will gather for their monthly plenary session the EU’s response to Trump’s trade policy and the new long-term budget high on the agenda.  In the report adopted in April by the parliament's budget committee MEPs set out their priorities for the next EU budget post-2027 arguing that the current spending ceiling of one percent of the EU-27’s gross national income (GNI) is not sufficient to address the needs of Europe MEPs have also said no to the commission’s idea to replicate national plans used for spending in the recovery funds They also argue that the repayments of the Covid recovery funds borrowing costs should not come at the expense of other programs or priorities.  the European Parliament will vote on the budget report on Wednesday MEPs will vote on the renewal of the suspension of trade barriers for certain imports from Ukraine,  such as iron and steel In the wake of the blackout that affected Spain lawmakers will also debate on Wednesday evening how to ensure that Europe's electricity grid is sufficiently resilient.  Turkey's EU membership progress and relations with Ankara will be the subject of discussions with EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas on Tuesday MEPs will vote on a proposal that would make compliance with vehicle CO2 emissions targets from 2025-2027 more flexible various events will be held on Friday to mark Europe Day celebrating the historic Schuman Declaration the Trump administration has taken targeted action against press freedom in the USA Reporters critical of Trump have been barred from the White House media outlets have been put under pressure and prison sentences have been threatened against freelance journalists State-run foreign broadcasters such as Voice of America which provide democratic information in crisis regions around the world But autocratic tendencies in media policy and press freedom are also becoming increasingly noticeable in Europe Despite all the criticism of Trump's actions the European Union would do well to put its own house in order and step up its efforts to protect fundamental European values An OSCE report released in July 2024 highlights the indispensable role of media freedom in preserving democracy. The report also reinforced studies showing that democracies don’t go to war with one another linking the freedom of the press to peace and security media freedom organisations have been ringing alarm bells about far-right European governments threatening democratic institutions and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni are well-known for their anti-liberal policies restricting the freedom of the press But there’s a new aspiring autocrat in Europe who appears to be using the same textbook as Orbán and Meloni to crack down on media freedom — except this time Spanish prime minister Pedro Sànchez claims to be protecting Spanish democracy from misinformation and far-right political actors he is using a very real threat to our information landscape to tighten his own grip on power and silence his critics Sànchez’ crackdown on media freedom began with a July 2024 law claiming to counter \"pseudo-media\" and restore \"truth\" to Spain’s media landscape The law claims to enforce the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) but has effectively allowed the government to police journalism Sànchez’ government then pushed through a restructuring of the board of Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) to install PSOE (Sànchez’ Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party) loyalists on the board A similar move at Telefónica in early 2025 installed Sànchez’ ‘political fixer’ as the head of Spain’s largest telecoms group suggesting a concerted effort by Sànchez to assert political control over Spain’s airwaves Sànchez now has his sights set on PRISA Group owner of Spain’s most influential newspaper through close allies with shares in the company he is attempting to oust the company chairman The move to remove Oughourlian comes in response to his refusal last year to launch a pro-government left-leaning TV station under the group a government loyalist is installed in Oughourlian’s place Sànchez will have gained control of the national broadcaster the company’s largest telecoms business and media buyer and its most important print and online publication Such control of the audiovisual landscape is unprecedented in one of Europe’s core member states.  When it comes to the issue of media freedom We rail against Donald Trump’s handling of the media and against the US’s oligarchic media landscape, perhaps most notably Jeff Bezos’ assertion of control over the Washington Post’s opinion section earlier this year we too have failed to enforce the freedom of the press as we can see from the situations in Spain Germany is not exempt from criticism either when it comes to media pluralism is criticized for one-sided reporting and the crowding out of private media companies in the digital markets of the future while extreme parties are influencing a growing audience with targeted disinformation on social media Our public media offering is largely one-sided and underfunded leaving a gap filled by extreme voices on social media Sànchez’ attempts to shackle the free press should alarm us because they don’t just threaten Spanish journalists — they threaten Spanish democracy and European security Sànchez threatens the fragile peace that unity has maintained since the Second World War His attack on the core democratic institution of the free press compounds his weak support for European defence which remains vital to European security.  Sànchez's attempts to restrict Spanish press freedom should concern us in Europe but also Spanish democracy and thus the security and stability of Europe which is already under attack from targeted disinformation campaigns Europe will not succeed in defending our liberal values against growing global authoritarianism if more and more member states take an increasingly anti-democratic course Media freedom campaigners from the Balkans, a region that is all too familiar with the stifling effects of government control over the free press have called on Spain to lead by example in order to support those in the region protesting against autocracy and aspiring for EU membership For the sake of European security and the future of the values upon which the European Union was founded EU leaders must do more to protect democracy and lead by example the world will mark International Press Freedom Day The EU would do well to use this global commemoration of media freedom to strongly rebuke Europe’s aspiring autocrats and call on all member states to redouble their efforts to preserve European values — at the core of which is the freedom of the press The EU and India have doubled down on their self-imposed December deadline to conclude talks on a trade deal following the latest round of discussions in Brussels.  India’s commerce and industry ministry confirmed that the next round of negotiations will be held in New Delhi between 12 and 16 May Indian officials have said that the EU deal would be among the most ambitious the country has ever brokered.  India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal concluded talks with EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic Sefcovic told reporters that the two sides were committed to a “commercially meaningful” agreement that would involve “opening up markets for both goods and services”.  Negotiators are focusing on rules of origin customs facilitation and regulatory harmonisation before dealing with the trickiest political parts of the trade deal.  Goyal said that the partnership was “essential to boosting our economic resilience” a nod to the turbulence in world trade caused by Donald Trump’s new tariffs.  EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen set the December deadline in February before US president Trump threatened import tariffs on most of the world the commission’s record as a trade negotiator and the slow pace of ratifying trade deals by the EU institutions makes the December deadline look particularly optimistic.  trade talks between the Commission and successive Indian governments had stopped and re-started repeatedly over the past 20 years with manufacturing and agriculture two of the main stumbling blocks.  This time India’s main demands include a preferential visa regime to increase mobility of their workforce and students and an exemption from the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) an EU tax on imports such as steel and aluminium which are linked to high carbon emissions.  Last year, India took the EU to the World Trade Organisation to complain about CBAM indicated in March that it wants to expand the scope of CBAM to cover all parts of production supply chains.  The EU executive says that part of its response to Trump will be to ‘diversify’ the bloc’s trade partnerships as it seeks to reduce its reliance on transatlantic trade.   India has been threatened with a 27-percent tariff on its goods exported to the United States it currently faces a 10-percent duty as part of president Trump’s so-called ‘liberation day’ tariffs.  which is also close to finalising a trade pact with the UK is also believed to be one of the priorities for Trump who says that the three month suspension of his tariffs must be used to agree new trade terms.  Trump’s top trade advisor Peter Navarro said that the White House was moving “as fast as possible” towards a trade agreement with India and that the two sides were “making solid headway towards a balanced It has been 18 years since Romania became a full member of the European Union the country has undergone a fundamental positive transformation — one that is both visible and widely-felt by its citizens Beyond the opportunities and freedoms offered by EU citizenship including the right to live and work across the Union real improvements in quality of life driven by EU membership Romanians can afford nearly four times more than they could 25 years ago Romania is now significantly closer to the standard of living of Western European countries than to that of neighbouring states that have not yet joined the EU More time has passed since Romania became an EU member than the entire period between the 1989 anti-communist revolution and the moment of accession That’s why they remain overwhelmingly pro-European: 78 percent support EU membership and 87 percent support Nato we have to ask: why are anti-European extremist politicians performing well in the polls ahead of the Romanian presidential elections Beyond a natural and understandable fatigue with mainstream parties — and a growing attraction toward so-called anti-system alternatives — this surge in support for extremist politicians in Romania has a clear cause: manipulation and disinformation The pro-Russian extremists from our country are exploiting social media — sometimes using illegal micro-targeting — to manipulate public opinion with oversimplified messages and disinformation These extremist campaigns are not all organic; they are often supported by external actors like Russia They may not always overtly criticize the EU or praise Russia but they spread narratives akin to Russian disinformation — false patriotism and anti-globalist messages that appeal to emotion rather than reason swaying voters who would otherwise support the EU we have seen the pro-Russian extremist candidates such as George Simion deliberately avoiding public debates with the pro-European candidates and serious confrontations with well-prepared journalists They know they lack real solutions to people’s needs and are aware that their manipulative tactics would be exposed It is a mistake to believe that Russian influence stops at Ukraine’s borders Romania was targeted in last year’s elections These are coordinated efforts aimed at destabilising democratic processes across the region We must therefore be prepared for new and innovative tactics that Russia may use to undermine democracy both in Romania and throughout the EU in elections in the near future must remain united in supporting pro-European candidates with the largest chances to win against pro-Russian candidates We have to confront the false platforms extremists are building — platforms based solely on fear national and EU institutions must strengthen their investigations and ensure that national and European laws are respected and that illegal attempts to undermine democracy are sanctioned Russian spies are still active in the EU capital and have \"a higher risk appetite\" than before the Ukraine war — despite Belgium's efforts to push back against their conspiracies École Nationale d'Administration (ENA) alumnus was briefly a \"counsellor\" in Russia's bilateral embassy to Belgium in 2023 He had previously served as deputy-head of mission in Bosnia for the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) a peace-building institute based in Vienna He'd also been photographed with Russian president Vladimir Putin and (now) president Aleksandar Vučić in Putin's summer residence in Sochi But there was no red-flag anti-Western content in his public views the top French postgraduate school in Paris And his 2002 thesis on diplomacy at the Higher Attestation Commission quoted Napoleonic-era French ambassador Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord in a touch of Parisian finesse.    The Russian foreign ministry's dress code says male diplomats are to look \"conservative — a dark blue or grey suit with combinations of different jackets and trousers\" \"Pockets are purely decorative and not to be used for hands Perfume must be used in moderation; hands and nails must be well groomed No visible tattoos or piercings are allowed\" he was in fact a spy from Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) had warned the Belgian foreign ministry in 2023.  but its list of Russian spies was authenticated by three Western intelligence services.  expelled some 750 Russian diplomats on espionage accusations since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 according to VSSE director Francisca Bostyn's previous media remarks It was the biggest counter-intelligence crackdown since the Cold War But even though Belgium has ejected 68 Russian diplomats and three Belarusian ones so far Russian spies continue to pose a threat in the EU and Nato HQs' host state.  \"The start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was the occasion to empty our drawer\" \"[But] some of the expelled Russians have been replaced by others and we notice many attempts to let new SVR or GRU officers take their place,\" they said GRU and GU are acronyms for the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation a senior Nato official dealing with \"hybrid\" warfare a diminishment for a little while [after the 750 expulsions] in their [Russia's] ability to conduct malign intelligence operations in our countries Russians were recruiting agents, including online, to carry out \"sabotage, sometimes on politicians' properties, or arson attacks, [train] derailments\" in Europe, Appathurai said, speaking at the Nato HQ Russians also had a \"higher risk appetite\" than pre-2022 and had even plotted to kill the German CEO of arms firm Rheinmetall in 2024 (Armin Papperger) The Belgian CEO of financial firm Euroclear, Valérie Urbain, who holds the key to €183bn of frozen Russian central bank assets, also hired bodyguards from French security firm Amarante in late 2024 due to Russia spy fears according to three sources who asked to remain anonymous because they weren't authorised to speak to media Euroclear hired Amarante to protect all seven other of its executive board members as well And staff were further alarmed when an unidentified drone buzzed their HQ in Brussels city centre in mid-December last year when Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky was in town for an EU summit \"We remain very vigilant and take all necessary measures to protect our staff and offices These measures are continuously evaluated,\" Euroclear said A Belgian security agency called the Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (OCAD) determines the national threat level while Belgium's National Crisis Centre (NCCN) decides whether to assign people such as Urbain state-level protection OCAD spokesman Steve Charlier said: \"In the case of possible Russian threats You suspect the Russian regime is behind certain actions but usually the regime works with intermediaries And there is always the possibility of denying Russia's involvement\" Speaking generally of what the NCCN can do spokeswoman Laura Demullier said that if the VSSE and OCAD deemed a \"threat [to a CEO we can have a person shadowed by a bodyguard 24 hours a day Looking closer at Belgium's 2023 wave of Russian expulsions Russia voluntarily \"retracted\" Iordanidi but Belgium made the 19 others persona non grata (PNG).  The expulsions are normally done quietly to minimise Russian reprisals against EU diplomats in Moscow but being PNG-ed still leaves a burn mark on a diplomat's record and makes them harder to repost to another location.  Iordanidi left Brussels after the VSSE had given Russia an ultimatum: either you retract him or we PNG him The group of 20 contained 11 alleged SVR officers The SVR is a civilian service: It recruits people with higher education degrees and focuses on political It has one small special forces cell called Zaslon which does diplomatic protection in war zones It is divided into the rank-and-file \"agentura\" (who do espionage) and the \"spetznas\" such as units 92154 and 21955 (who do sabotage).  And GRU special forces get extensive martial arts The FSB is Russian president Vladimir Putin's biggest intelligence service but the FSB's 5th Service also does foreign espionage including counter-intelligence and surveillance on the Russian diaspora a British writer on Russian security affairs said the SVR were \"primarily doing human intelligence gathering\" \"The GRU's role is much more to break things and kill people\" But \"given that the Russian state is pretty much on a wartime footing they're [the SVR] also involved in this campaign of sabotage and destabilisation operations [in Europe]\" who is also a fellow at British defence think-tank the Royal United Services Institute.  Galeotti said his \"counsellor\" role in Brussels would have given him a pretext to seek meetings with executives of strategic Belgian firms or other VIPs in the Belgian establishment \"A counsellor is a senior figure within the embassy so he would be in a position to present himself as someone looking for opportunities for economic cooperation ... So you have reason to invite people to a reception Maybe you identify the wife of the CEO [of a strategic EU firm] is patron of a particular theatre so you try to go along to her concert parties,\" said Galeotti you do it in a cold way: If you see that someone tends to drink in a particular bar And Iordanidi was also active on dating apps Zoosk and Badoo according to leaked Russian databases seen by EUobserver in another avenue of approach to potential targets.  a former Russian SVR officer posted to Paris in the 1990s \"The idea was to find people who wanted to work with us due to their [communist-friendly] ideology there were people who wanted to do it for money And this was also interesting,\" Zhirnov said.  \"It's an old myth that we looked for 'kompromat' .. People who work due to kompromat do the absolute minimum,\" he said where Zhirnov also studied in 1991 to 1992 The ENA's alumni include four French presidents (Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Macron overhauled it in 2021 and renamed it the Institut National du Service Public (INSP).  Three of Iordanidi's ENA year-of-1999 classmates were Laurent Wauquiez (who became a senior French politician) Philippe Gustin (who became French ambassador to Romania) and Antoine Godbert (who ended up in charge of France's Erasmus+ student exchange programme) And Zhirnov showed why Iordanidi's ENA credentials were still valuable despite the passage of some 25 years since he was there \"The goal of my [ENA] mission was to establish contacts with the students and teachers and to maintain those contacts and afterwards to exploit them,\" Zhirnov said.  \"People who studied at the ENA are also brought together in L'Association des Anciens Élèves de l'ENA [l'AAEENA] .. I still receive an annual directory of former students I receive their private contact details,\" he said \"So this association is a formidable asset for espionage,\" said Zhirnov The L'AAEENA directory covers 9,000 ENA alumni \"We do not comment on students or former students\" head of cabinet and spokesperson of the INSP (ex-ENA) when asked if Iordanidi was still eligible to get his yearly copy of the contact book the Russian foreign ministry is now trying to recycle Iordanidi into a high-ranking OSCE post He is a candidate to be head of the OSCE's mission to Serbia, head of an OSCE \"programme office\" in Kazakhstan, or a programme office in Kyrgyzstan, according to leaked OSCE documents.  The recruitment process for the three posts was \"impartial\" and \"ongoing,\" said OSCE spokeswoman Alexandra Taylor.  \"We follow a rigorous recruitment process for all of our positions at the OSCE\" Iordanidi was not the only alleged SVR spy expelled from Belgium to have a cultured CV A second PNG-ed Russian diplomat and alleged SVR officer was 46-year-old Igor Goriachev who had been Russia's \"deputy trade representative\" in Belgium He had previously worked for Russian arms firm Rostec in 2021 and as \"second secretary\" at Russia's mission to Unesco in Paris an UN branch which looks after cultural patrimony Russia's main \"trade representative\" to Belgium was just 30 years old when he came to Brussels in what may have been his first foreign posting and in the Russian finance ministry before he came to the EU capital The remaining eight expelled SVR officers were typically married middle-aged men with respectable CVs They were: 40-year-old Aleksandr Chernikov (\"technical staff\") 42-year-old Nikolay Egorov (\"counsellor\") 41-year-old Sergey Gudilin (\"technical staff\") 64-year-old Sergei Tkachenko (\"1st secretary\") 38-year-old Aleksandr Vyskrebentsev (\"attaché\") and 39-year-old Anton Zaichko (\"attaché\") Chernikov used to work at the Agency for Strategic Initiatives appears to have previously worked in Russia's embassy in Laos according to his old email address (laosemb@gmail.com).  Gudilin had studied at the Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology and an alleged GRU spy sent to the EU capital.  The 61-year-old had previously worked for Russian arms firm Rosoboronexport where he was paid a small fortune by Russian standards back in 2005.  And he is now a lecturer in foreign languages at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and a storied recruitment centre for Russian spies.  Petrikov was listed as \"technical staff\" at Russia's embassy to Belgium but whatever he did there he was no ordinary janitor.  Galeotti said: \"If someone's role is 'technical staff' you can still meet someone in a bar [to cultivate human intelligence contacts] but it's more likely you are in effect a support team or you're actually coordinating things instead of being out in the field\".  Petrikov might have been organising \"dead drops\" of information to Russian agents in the city One old spy trick to approach targets was a fake mugging \"If you see a female executive in a particular [target] company you hire some people who basically try to mug her one evening in a dark car park and then you happen to come along at the right moment to scare them off,\" Galeotti said \"He'd [Petrikov] know how to organise things like muggings,\" the British expert said.  The other six GRU men expelled by Belgium were: 42-year-old Sergei Cherepanov (\"second secretary\") 35-year-old Aleksandr Degtiarev (\"attaché\") 51-year-old Aleksandr Kovalchuk (\"counsellor\") 37-year-old Aleksei Sapozhnikov (\"technical staff\") 38-year-old Maksim Sokolov (\"technical staff\") and 35-year-old Dmitri Zamogilnykh (\"technical staff\") Zamogilnykh stood out because he once registered a car at Solnechnogorsk 2 in Moscow which was linked to the Novichok poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK in 2018 is located in the same part of the city.  But most of the other GRU men expelled by Belgium appeared to come from the service's rank and file had the background of a signals specialist.  He previously worked at the Strategic Missile Forces Academy in Moscow and was registered at an address tied to Russian military unit 46179 which specialised in seismic and infrasound surveillance using satellites Kovalchuk's registered home was Narodnogo Opolcheniya 50 in Moscow, the same address as the Russian defence ministry's Military Academy, popularly known as the \"GRU Conservatoire\" He also flew on a seven-day trip from Moscow to Papua New Guinea in September 2014 leaked flight records said — in what looked more like a work assignment than a holiday The other GRU names were mostly invisible online.  Looking in more detail at the differences between the SVR and GRU Galeotti said: \"The [SVR's] culture is imbued with that of the diplomatic corps much more aware of the potential diplomatic blowback\".  You're much more likely to be promoted if you take a sensible risk \"GRU officers are often ambitious kids from the [Russian] provinces They haven't got the polish and family connections that SVR officers have but they're smart and this is their real shot into making into the [Russian] elite,\" added Galeotti Zhirnov called it a \"special service which .. but they \"weren't stupid,\" Zhirnov also said used to receive the same kind of training as Russia's GRU in the 1990s also gave a hint of the GUR/GRU's dangerous skills and chutzpah in two anecdotes and I was so jealous I stole some explosives from the academy and rigged her oven to explode the next time she turned it on,\" he said.  \"But when I was going downstairs I had a moment of clarity and ran back to defuse it,\" he added The ex-GUR officer also recalled going on a boozy night out with a GRU contact in Berlin a few years before Russia's 2022 invasion we were crossing a bridge in the city centre when he [the GRU contact] stopped to urinate against a lamp post and to sing a song These were the only lyrics,\" the ex-GUR officer said And all that left the two Russian diplomats kicked out of Belgium in 2023 on grounds of being FSB spies the 45-year-old Dmitry Subochev was a \"1st secretary\" in Brussels and had previously worked for the World Customs Organisation (WCO) in Geneva His WCO cover saw him travel to Azerbaijan according to online photos (the WCO did not reply to questions) Subochev also gave a Covid-era Zoom talk on 11 March 2021 about \"the Russian state system for tracking cargo transportation using electronic navigation seals based on GLONASS [a satellite system]\" for \"high-value goods\" for the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Russia (CCBLR).  The Moscow-based CCBLR was created in 1974 to build trade ties with Benelux countries Subochev's alleged FSB colleague in Brussels 50-year-old Igor Echin (\"technical staff\") used to work for a Russian private-security firm called Legion Groups in 2001 and 2008 their work was \"opportunistic\" and overlapped The SVR's Gudilin, for instance, used to cycle around Brussels, according to publicly available data on his account with fitness app Strava.  Gudilin posted a pic on Strava of the Bertem radar station which is part of Belgium's air-traffic control network and which provides data to the Belgian military in an object of typically GRU interest.  The FSB's Subochev was based at Russia's embassy to Belgium like the other 19 alleged spies on the VSSE list But he also appeared in a photo at Russia's embassy to the EU with Russia's former EU ambassador Vladimir Chizhov on 8 September 2022 showing how Putin's men intermingled in Brussels.  if Iordanidi and Petrikov still had bright OSCE or MGIMO careers ahead of them then other names from the VSSE's list-of-20 also landed well.  Subochev was last seen working with the internal directorate of Russia's Federal Customs Service in 2024 The SVR's Kuznetsov went to Russia's embassy in Malaysia after leaving Belgium, while the SVR's Vyskrebentsev went to its embassy in Thailand \"Russia might need Thailand's vote in the UN and at that point it's going to be useful to know what the Thai foreign minister likes to drink,\" he said But Thailand could also be of special interest to a formerly EU-based Russian spy \"Thailand is a centre of Russian foreign espionage because it's such a popular holiday destination for Europeans Russian handlers could meet EU or Nato contacts there without arousing suspicion via their travel patterns\" Russian spies were glamourised in the Cold War-era James Bond films and novels And Iordanidi's ENA past conjured memories of the Cambridge Five a 1950s spy ring rooted in the UK's prestigious Cambridge University The SVR's young Tsarkov also posted flashy pics of himself and his girlfriends on the VK social-media site had been embedded in a high-paying job at Russia's T-Bank in 2021 But the leaked Russian databases debunked that mystique.  Russian foreign ministry incomes were relatively low by European standards The older spies used to own Soviet-era jalopies before buying second-hand German models — Audi Most of the 20 men were registered in tiny (40-70 square metre) flats in ageing tower blocks in Moscow suburbs Iordanidi was registered in a flat on the fourth floor of a concrete tower on Khabarovskaya street The SVR's Egorov was registered in a 'Brezhnevka' — poor quality tower blocks from the era of Soviet president Leonid Brezhnev in the 1970s Two of the expelled men (Kuznetsov and Cherepanov) had taken out bank loans and defaulted on payments Cherepanov had borrowed 500,000 roubles (€5,182) in 2012 in a sum that would cover a car loan (for instance for his Skoda Octavia) or the renovation of his flat \"When you go abroad that's when you make your money You have your accommodation provided and all sorts of other allowances … if you own property back home And in a tiny figment of a grim personality leaked data showed that one of the Russian spies registered a macabre username on his dating app profile in 2017 - \"adipocera\" which refers to a soapy tissue produced in the putrefaction of corpses Back in the EU heartland, Russia used to have 220 diplomats in three embassies (to Belgium and Nato) and two consulates in Brussels and in the city of Antwerp prior to the 2022 invasion.  Belgium is also home to some 30,000 people of Russian origin, who maintain close ties with diplomats via structures such as Russian House Brussels and some of whom could be pressured to act as agents And Brussels hosts about 43,000 EU staff and 4,000 Nato personnel and their families in its international 'bubble', as well as Belgian VIPs, such as the Euroclear CEO, and hundreds of foreign dissidents, some of whom have faced intense surveillance I started it 25 years ago and there were Russian guys on that team and they're still on that team but these are guys I've known for a long time\" it wouldn't be going up on the back of my neck around these guys,\" he said \"But we do get training and know what to look for and we're also watched by our own intelligence services to make sure we're safe,\" he added Russia closed its embassy to Nato in protest in October 2021 after Belgium first PNG-ed eight Russian diplomats there on espionage grounds.  The Belgian foreign ministry declined to say how many Russian diplomats were still accredited in the country today But when asked if the shuttering of Russia's Nato embassy had adversely affected international diplomacy and I was deputy political advisor for about 10 years so I was probably one of the principal interlocutors with the Russians\".  \"The bottom line is this: Russian diplomats became utterly restricted in what they could or could not convey,\" he said \"There was no negotiation any more as Russian hostility grew [in 2021] it became not a useful channel of actual negotiation,\" he added \"Their [Russia's] diplomatic staff here was no longer performing diplomatic duties,\" he said \"We are perfectly able to communicate with the Russians and we have military-to-military channels that allow for that the chairman of the military committee and the supreme allied commander can both talk to the Russians,\" he also said.  When asked if there should be more PNGs of bogus Russian diplomats Appathurai said: \"These are really complex questions that go beyond just the issue of sabotage operations It relates to all kind of diplomatic relations and also the extent to which allies wish to exert pressure on Russia\" but there's a general toughening up on our side,\" he said The US is currently welcoming back large numbers of Russian diplomats to Washington under president Donald Trump's peace plan for Ukraine but for its part Belgium echoed Appathurai's views \"A large contingent of [Russian] diplomats [in Brussels] is not necessary\" said Belgian foreign ministry spokesman Pierre Steverlynck.  \"In the context of the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine .. diplomatic contacts are kept to an absolute minimum and focus on operational issues,\" he added.  \"Belgium wishes to maintain normal diplomatic relations with Russia but cannot allow these relations to be abused for espionage\" The US and Russia have agreed to start negotiations “immediately\" to end the war in Ukraine sidelining Europe and Ukraine itself from the equation — and seemingly putting Russian president Vladimir Putin in the driving seat But experts repeatedly warn of the moral and strategic consequences of a bad deal — especially for Europe So far there is no date for a face-to-face meeting between US president Donald Trump and Putin and the immediate next steps remain unclear A rather weak statement from Poland and EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas demanded a seat for Europe and Ukraine at the negotiation table — an optimistic hope that ultimately seems unlikely to become reality The news about Moscow’s readiness for negotiations came after a secret phone call between Trump and Putin late on Wednesday (12 January) which was followed by another conversation between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky together with Ukraine and all our partners is enough to push Russia to peace,” said Zelensky whose strategy reflects a need to prevent any accusations against Kyiv of an unwillingness to cooperate But critics warn that the US approach not only undermines Ukraine but also weakens Europe's geopolitical standing — reinforcing the notion that major powers dictate terms while sidelining those directly affected “Europe has to be at the table to defend its interests and not allow the US to negotiate with Putin behind its back and present it with a half-baked fait accompli,” Jamie Shea “Ukraine is much more important for Europe than for the US and a Russian victory in Ukraine would undermine the security of the EU and of all the frontline Nato states in central and eastern Europe,” he added as on the ground battlefield developments shape Russia’s efforts to strengthen its negotiating position while Ukraine struggles to prevent further deterioration of its frontline “The West is frankly in a weaker position when it comes to imposing conditions on Russia as Russia is not the party that is talking about stopping the war,” Shea pointed out Earlier this week, US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth stated that it was “unrealistic” for Ukraine to restore its pre-2014 borders or gain Nato membership — words that play right into Moscow’s imperialistic ambitions But Nato membership is seen by many in Ukraine as the only real guarantee to preserve a long and lasting peace in the country after the war This also explains why Zeslenky has repeatedly emphasised that only with the US can Ukraine secure long-term security and stability — a harsh reality Europe also has to swallow “Anything else [other than joining Nato] is a commitment, not a guarantee,” said Mykola Beleskov, an analyst from the Come Back Alive Foundation Even if the US suddenly decides to cut aid Beleskov argues that Ukraine has enough military power to keep fighting for another six months he said that there is a problem of political will and timing.  “Money does’t translate automatically into military capability,” he said Trump has realised that bringing peace to a country entering its fourth year of war and where people have been resisting Russian occupation since 2014 is neither easy nor quick.  While Zelensky remains open to negotiations Ukrainians will not accept a weak deal that would make their sacrifices feel meaningless \"If Zelensky brings a bad deal, the society will not take it,” warned the director of the Kyiv-based Frontier Institute Yevhen Hlibovytsky He argues that Washington or Brussels struggle to understand that even under a ceasefire people in occupied territories would still “live in hell” comparing the future of his country to what happened in Pakistan after it split from India but with ongoing border tensions between the two Ukraine could face the risk of decades of militarisation And Kyiv may also be forced to reconsider nuclear capabilities which would be detrimental to international commitments to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and global power dynamics An underestimated risk arises if Russia does not respect the potential agreement resulting from peace talks — as past events have shown Between 2014 and 2022, Ukraine held about 200 rounds of negotiations with Russia signing 20 ceasefires that were quickly breached by Russia Reflecting on the idea that the US will not put boots on the ground to implement any potential deal and more so given Trump’s intention to involve Chinese diplomacy to put pressure on Moscow need be able to shape the deal that it will have to implement” But there are many unanswered questions for Europe including those about European peacekeeping forces a weak deal could also prompt both an anti-European and anti-American sentiment in the country which could translate into populism gaining ground in the coming years \"We may end up here as Hungary on steroids,” said Hlibovytsky “Be prepared for this threat of people feeling betrayed,” Beleskov warned Many in eastern Europe believe that Trump views potential negotiations through a colonialist lens but they hope he will eventually hit a wall with Russia “Reality will be the biggest accountability measure civilians and the military in Ukraine have no trust in any peace deal with Russia arguing that smoke and mirrors in the media doesn’t translate into what’s happening on the battlefield \"The war is not over\" is what the military friends of Maryna Baturynets She told EUobserver that Ukrainians have been hearing about peace talks for over a decade and that \"Russians only understand weapons and power\" the co-founder of Honey cafe and Zavertailo bakery in the capital of Ukraine thinks a weak deal will not stop Russia’s imperialistic appetite “I don’t believe Mr Trump… when he says he will stop the war this year,” he said The anti-corruption \"rebellion\" in Serbia will go on despite the regime's spin or violence a 22-year-old PR and marketing student at the Faculty of Philosophy a university in the Serbian city of Novi Sad.  Over 200,000 people gathered in the rural town of Niš on Saturday (1 March) to keep pressing for transparency and accountability over the collapse of a railway station roof in Novi Sad on 1 November Some groups of students had walked 130km in freezing weather to be in Niš backed by gifts of food and shelter by local communities along the way The protesters stood in a 15-minute silence in memory of victims at 11.52AM (the time of the roof tragedy) It was just the latest in a series of rolling, student-led protests that began four months ago and which include an ongoing blockade of all of Serbia's university campuses.  one of the students who helped to begin the anti-establishment pushback Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić’s handling of events so far was missing the point.  The roof collapse was \"the drop that ran over the glass\" for the whole of Serbian society \"That [roof] canopy collapsing was a direct consequence of the deep-rooted corruption in Serbia — that’s the bottom line and that’s what everyone is aware of,\" she told EUobserver in an interview The tragedy was \"something we just couldn’t swallow but they [the Serbian state] wanted us to do exactly that\" as I think everyone has a right to know what happened and how would it be handled,\" she added.  \"It’s a big movement that just came from people’s desire for answers who just want this to be a better country one day and for the institutions to work as they should,\" she said.  The movement's logo became the image of a red hand which you can see \"everywhere round here\" on walls in Novi Sad \"It means 'the blood is on your hands' and since then the red hand has become the symbol of this rebellion if that’s what I should call it,\" she said.  The government reaction so far has been to charge 13 people with the Novi Sad disaster and for Serbia’s prime minister to step down in an effort to appease discontent.  But that falls far short of the root-and-branch reform of public institutions that people have been calling for as a result.  \"We have five requirements [for accountability and reform] and then every university has its own Vučić has also accused activists of being managed by Western intelligence services to destabilise his Kremlin-friendly administration.  \"There will be no colour revolution [in Serbia],\" Vučić said on Saturday referring to the wave of non-violent protests which toppled corrupt and authoritarian regimes in Georgia as well as independent journalists who try to cover events have faced dozens of minor acts of violence by police and by pro-Vučić hardliners a driver hospitalised a 20-year-old student at a rally by ramming her with his car.  \"He [the driver] hit this girl really hard - she ended up on the roof of his vehicle and then slid down onto the road — and he didn't even stop,\" said Mudrić.  \"She had severe trauma and was in emergency care in Belgrade hospital she's not in a life-threatening condition,\" Mudrić added.  Many other students who speak to media prefer to be identified only by their first names for fear of reprisals such as interrogations by Serbia’s security services.  But Mudrić said she was happy for EUobserver to publish her name and photo because of the level of solidarity among her fellow students and in wider Serbian society.  \"It took a lot of nerves and bravery to start something,\" she said speaking of the first student rallies four months ago.  \"Some people got really scared by that [the car-ramming incident] we have each other and we know if anything happens to any of us we will be there for each other,\" she added \"Our strength comes from our honesty and our transparency,\" Mudrić said.  And the level of support among the broader Serbian public indicates that she might just be correct about the pull-factor of their simple values speaking of her Novi Sad university campus \"They are there for us for mental health check-ups People are here for us from different professions — attorneys everyone is involved in the story that has started and we are hoping for the best,\" she added.  \"I am grateful to anyone who gives support, because in these hard times people should stick together,\" she added, when asked if she hoped that EU institutions and leaders would voice solidarity with their cause.  And Vučić's talk about colour revolutions was missing the point because the protesters weren't looking for geopolitical regime change so much as for basic decency in public life \"We’ve only reached out to institutions to do their job as if it was a personal attack against him is just spinning the narrative around,\" she said.  \"It is something very new,\" also said Vesna Pešić an 84-year-old Serbian ex-politician and academic who want Serbian institutions to answer who is guilty and what kind of corruption stands behind the railway-roof collapse,\" she said.  Pešić herself took part in the so-called Bulldozer Revolution 25 years ago which peacefully toppled the late Serbian dictator Slobodan Milošević.  She has also continued to speak out against Serbia’s anti-democratic backsliding and corruption in the past two and a half decades alongside the country’s new generation.  And amid Vučić’s widely-documented and growing authoritarianism Pešić paid tribute to young activists such as Mudrić and her colleagues for showing wider Serbia a more positive political model.  \"It's a conflict between the state and all of society .. a society represented by decentralised students who blockaded their faculties and decide everything democratically,\" Pešić also said Speaking of how students were organising themselves at Novi Sad university Mudrić said: \"It’s literal democracy in real time And all that meant the blockaded campuses had now become a \"scared space\" for fundamental European values in Serbia When men go to pee in a public toilet they spend a minute gazing at the wall in front of them in what many advertisers have seized upon as an opportunity to display posters of their products above the stinking urinals you'd better ask yourself: Is this really what I want my brand to be associated with You might well think twice if you were selling ice cream or toothpaste so what if your poster was Ursula von der Leyen's face selling EU values Because that's the kind of environment in which the European Commission president and national EU leaders are posting their images and comments every day when they use X to communicate with press and the EU public There was already lots of toxic crap on X before the summer of 2024 Racist, antisemitic, and homophobic content had \"surged\", according to a study in January by US academics X had more Russian propaganda than any other big social media, an EU report warned in 2023 Porn was 13 percent of X in late 2022, according to internal documents seen by Reuters with the failed assassination of Donald Trump in the US and the UK race riots X's CEO Elon Musk turbocharged his platform into an overflowing sewer of bigotry As I tried to follow the UK riots from Brussels using X time and again I saw von der Leyen's carefully coiffed Christian-Democrat torso issuing some polite EU statement while sandwiched on my laptop screen between video-clips getting off on anti-migrant violence Musk's algorithms pushed pro-riot content so hard down users' throats it prompted a UK government rebuke and talk of legal sanctions got over 430 million views for his X posts got 15 million views for one X post inciting rioters And the biggest turd in the cesspit - Musk's own avatar - also kept appearing next to von der Leyen and other EU leaders on my screen, as the US tech baron ranted about \"civil war\" in the UK, peddled pro-Trump conspiracy theories, or told EU commissioner Thierry Breton to \"literally fuck your own face\" Musk's summer coincided with France's arrest of a Russian tech CEO in August on suspicion he condoned the sale of child pornography and drugs on his Telegram platform The European Commission also started legal proceedings against X in July over misleading and illegal content in a process that could see Musk fined hundreds of millions of euros But aside from the grand issues of how to regulate social media without stymieing free speech or privacy EU leaders could do something a lot simpler and closer to home for the sake of public mental health - just switch to any other less sleazy platform instead You could do it tomorrow with one email to your tech staff and for all the stupid material on Instagram at least your face won't keep flashing up next to jubilant pogroms and naked tits on your constituents' screens French president Emmanuel Macron has 9.8 million while Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk have 1.9 million each not all journalists or the general public are that dumb yet most of us will find you and follow you anyway because politics is genuinely important And we will thank you for giving us one more reason to get off X ourselves because so long as you use it as your main outlet for news updates you are dragging us along with you My analogy about ads in a public toilet was meant to show the importance of semiotics in political PR - it matters where you speak It also holds good for those who worry that if normal leaders and media abandoned toxic platforms then extremism would grow in its own exclusive online world It's just good public hygiene to bury our sewage pipes instead of letting people empty their buckets out of the window onto our heads But if you prefer to hold your nose and stay on X consider also that you are not only damaging your own brand but causing financial and political harm in real life because if you help make people reliant on X for news then greater use of Musk's platform makes people like him and Tate ever richer via X's monetisation schemes for viral content and Robinson by continuously appearing alongside them in X's hyper-curated online space And so if you should worry that urinals below your face might put people off then the situation is actually worse than that Your presence on X is also helping to pay for the muck to flow and the toilet owner is using you to sell it to the world Heated debates took place in the German parliament as the Weimar Republic took its last breaths Being active in politics or trade unions had become a life-threatening engagement But that did not stop the Social Democratic member of the German parliament he concluded that Nazi agitation was a constant appeal to the \"inner pig\" (den inneren Schweinehund) Schumacher argued that Nazis had successfully manage to mobilise \"human stupidity\".  can generate political power and influence fascists and Nazis they all appeal to fear jealousy — anything that brings out the worst in us A feeling of having lost something (perceived to be yours) or a bruised ego It is an idea of political influence that thrives on fragmentation and conflict one can conclude that the mobilisers of our ”inner Schweinehund” have been successful Rightwing populists continue to gain ground across Europe The EU elections in May moved the European Parliament further to the conservative right Now 14 out of 27 EU governments are based upon direct or indirect support from rightwing populists and/or far-right parties These significant changes in the political landscape are reflected in the incoming EU Commission When Europe entered a similarly dark valley in 1933 there was light coming from the United States declaring that “the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself” None of that can be expected from Donald Trump in January His appointments have so far been a massive 'fuck you' to all progressive and moderate voters The world is braced for a very rocky ride starting in January The advances of the far-right must be stopped But the world has not yet fully entered a dark valley The results from the UK parliamentary elections was a solid progressive victory hopefully ending a destructive era of populism spinning out of control following the Brexit referendum Social democrats won the elections in Lithuania progressives and left wing parties were strengthened thanks to a strong trade union mobilisation So there is no natural force dictating that rightwing populism and far-right parties shall continue to grow inexorably.The New Year can be a time for renewal when we chase away the darkness of winter and see the shoots of something better begin to emerge And the evidence shows that the fightback must start in our workplaces A German survey found workers who were dissatisfied with their pay and conditions were more likely to have negative attitudes towards democracy and to be more vulnerable to rightwing narratives It’s no wonder then that the far-right Patriots group fought so hard to prevent recent progress on the European Works Councils directive which is crucial to giving workers a voice in multinational companies A recent study in France also found atypical working hours and physical hardship are associated with far-right voters Conversely, workers who were given the opportunity to have a say over their work were more likely to support centre or leftwing candidates.Whereas the far right seeks to centralise and monopolise power through social dialogue and collective bargaining empower workers at all levels—from the shop floor to the hallways of European institutions.We also saw this trend in the US election where Kamala Harris won among trade union members Strengthening trade unionism and social dialogue is thus highly effective in protecting and strengthening democracy’s immune system This year’s Nobel prize winners Acemoglu and Johnson confirms this view Strengthening social dialogue as our first line of defence for democracy and our welfare models must be the focus of European Union action for the incoming mandate. The idea that the future is open — not closed — has to be reclaimed One does not have to be blithely optimistic but we can choose to be drawn towards the light and progressive politicians must put hope first The world is not coming to an end: we can jointly shape the future and the world-to-come as we want it to be Politics can also be about appealing to our better selves sensitivity and curiosity where our best selves can be expressed This is the very opposite of the politics of “the inneren Schweinhund” The battle against the far-right and rightwing populism can be won with secure jobs equality and strong workers’ rights based on collective bargaining Democracy has to respond better to the demands of working people and ensure these are met so they cannot be seduced by the populists’ siren songs Progressives simply must come back with more attractive ideas Everywhere where people meet to discuss how to make our workplaces better debate how to improve our lives and change our societies and participate in demonstrations - there we find hope Practising democracy is how we defend it best Kurt Schumacher was imprisoned by the Nazis in July 1933 Schumacher was tortured and sent to a concentration camp He was imprisoned until the end of World War II He was liberated in April 1945 by British forces from the Neuengamme concentration camp Despite his failing health Schumacher was elected party leader of the Social Democrats in a free Germany but he fully understood the link between quality jobs and democracy His contribution to the democratisation of Germany was significant children in Gaza are paying “a high price” in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas it seems to be worse because of the conditions … they can go nowhere,” Gough said in an interview in Brussels About 14,000 children have reportedly been killed in Gaza according to the Palestinian health ministry.  \"In Gaza, the most frequent age of the casualties is five years old - this is a war against the children,\" former EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said last month There are more than one million children in Gaza many of whom are living in dire conditions having lost family members and been displaced at least five times a UN branch which specialised in child protection.  Reflecting on the implications for the next generations and a future shaped by the scars of continuous bombardment “Vey few populations in history have been under this level of stress day in over 500,000 children in the Gaza Strip were already in need of mental health support UNICEF estimates that nearly all children in Gaza require such assistance The UN body also estimates that about 17,000 minors are unaccompanied or separated from their families UNICEF has reunited 44 children with their parents including a one-year-old born at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza who rejoined their mother after having been relocated for medical treatment who served as the UNICEF representative for Palestine also from 2009 to 2013 has observed a shift in Israel's military operations which require a different humanitarian response — because there is no predictability when it comes to supplies entering Gaza She also acknowledged that UN staff have been facing growing bureaucratic obstacles to working in Gaza such as long visa approvals and waiting times at checkpoints there are concerns about sexual abuse and exploitation to which children are particularly vulnerable - but this was a taboo for many families and it was almost impossible for UNICEF to monitor such issues the number of children in orphanages has been growing “Children [can] fall into the wrong hands and we need to protect them Education is a protection,” the UN humanitarian official said UNICEF has been working with partners to set up 100 temporary learning spaces across the Gaza Strip “But it’s not easy because we had to start from scratch,” Gough explained adding that Palestinians valued education because “schools give hope for a better future.” It is estimated that 85 percent of schools have been destroyed or used as shelters “The level of destruction is such that almost all schools need to be rebuilt,” Gough said “The day after [a ceasefire] is not coming and children cannot wait,” she added.  Given the unprecedented restrictions on aid entering Gaza experts have also raised the alarm over famine in Gaza Child malnutrition was not a problem in Gaza before the war but today it is a major concern for UNICEF the World Food Programme (WFP) said that all bakeries in central Gaza have shut down due to severe supply shortages.  health screenings showed that one in three children under two years of age were acutely malnourished in the north of Gaza The UN organisation has been working to improve local resources and advocate for the opening of commercial routes to bring in fruit and vegetables adding that there were almost no eggs or vegetables entering Gaza and that the agricultural sector had all but disappeared the health sector is grappling with shortages of medicines and water - making it difficult for children to get treatment.  Earlier this year, the Global Nutrition Cluster found that at least 90 percent of children under five had been affected by one or more infectious diseases While hunger and disease threaten everyone in Gaza And healthcare workers have identified the lack of sufficient food and water as a key factor behind the rise in malnutrition In a new report Amnesty International has collected experiences from hundreds of civilians in the Gaza Strip “To be a displaced mother in Gaza in this war is to live every day not knowing if your children will be killed by a missile or by a disease,” a 35-year-old displaced woman from Gaza City told the human rights organisation a paediatrician at Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia also told Amnesty International that since late May he had seen more cases of respiratory infections and hepatitis A.  I see at least three with hepatitis A symptoms related to severe malnutrition and water that is unfit for drinking,” the doctor said For his part, a medical worker at Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, which recently suffered another attack, allegedly killing four doctors also talked about the “radical change” he observed since 7 October.  [severe] malnutrition cases were so rare in northern Gaza we barely even mentioned them … We are [now] receiving cases of children who can’t move or cry because of the severity of the weakness from malnutrition and dehydration,” the worker told the human rights organisation in April the EU provided €550m to UNICEF for development programmes and humanitarian emergency response In September, the European Commission announced a €5.4m grant to UNICEF to support over 100,000 evacuated patients from Gaza and vulnerable children in North Sinai in Egypt The drainpipe in Brussels by which a far-right Hungarian MEP fled an illegal gay orgy during the Covid lockdown still attracts tourists who take pics to remember what Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán really represents had co-founded Orbán's homophobic Fidesz party and had been his right-hand man for 30 years.  Szájer had even authored an anti-LGBTI constitutional amendment in Hungary in 2010 So to see Belgian police catch him trying to escape a gay sex-party on 27 October 2020 (with an ecstasy pill in his pocket), exposed the cynicism of Orbán's identity politics so beautifully that it made international headlines at the time.  “In my experience of organising sex-parties for over 10 years the more conservative persons [sic] are in public the more perverted they are behind closed doors,\" he told EUobserver in an interview as well as guests from the Polish rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party it was like one-third of the party,\" he claimed Manzheley spoke at Monroe Bar Primus on 108 Boulevard Anspach in Brussels city-centre on Sunday (22 September) where four passers-by paused to photograph the famous drainpipe in the space of an hour It displayed a fresh sticker of Orbán’s face.  a cartoon of a backward-turned cat said: “Have you seen my asshole lately?”.  then the bad news for him was even worse.  The legend of Szájer's escapade on Brussels’ hardcore gay scene appeared to be helping Manzheley to attract more guests than ever I see a certain buzz around my parties,” Manzheley said.  His upcoming Halloween event in Brussels had pulled in over 1,200 hopeful applicants already from which more than 200 would be invited to a large venue he said of Szájer: \"When you know someone's face from the media [at first] I was surprised to see him all dressed in leather”.  Shortly after 9PM on the fateful night of 27 October 2020 Belgian police raided Manzheley’s event at a first-floor apartment on Boulevard Anspach because it had over 25 guests in violation of a Covid-era lockdown.  “One couple recognised one of the policemen [who had attended pre-Covid parties in an off-duty capacity] and they said to him ‘Hey what are you doing here?’ and started to undress him,” Manzheley said He also gave an insight into what his parties were like.  Manzheley invited a mix of 'Daddies' and 'Twinks' and looked for a ratio of 25 percent Tops Guests were greeted at the door by drag queens who scanned their QR-coded invitations.  They got undressed or changed into fetish attire in a cloakroom area The playlist was up-tempo and there was no policy on using drugs or condoms so they take their own responsibility and their own risk,” Manzheley said.  were always invited in case of emergencies.  And there were privacy rules: “There’s no phones or devices allowed between 10PM and 6AM - that’s the time for sex,” Manzheley said Manzheley doesn’t like to confirm his own personal details for security reasons but said he was a dual Polish-Israeli national and an “entrepreneur” He said he was happy to give media interviews about Szájer because he had nothing to do with breaking the original story and because it highlighted the \"hypocrisy\" of parties such as Fidesz and PiS on LGBTI lifestyles “That’s why I left Poland and that’s why I refuse to even speak Polish to this day,” Manzheley told EUobserver.  Meanwhile, Szájer's closet homosexuality had been an open secret in Fidesz prior to 2020, which Orbán must have known, according to Hungarian media reports from the time And the drainpipe fiasco was not an isolated incident in the party's history.  Roman Catholic priest Bese Gergő, who had been a Fidesz-media darling and an anti-LGBTI attack dog, fell from grace on 6 September 2024, when it came out that he had also gone to gay orgies in Hungary and posted content online And Orbán's conservative mores looked fake in 2019, when a prominent Fidesz mayor, Zsolt Borkai, was filmed at an orgy with drugs on a yacht in the Adriatic Sea Hungary has avoided LGBTI issues in its six-month EU presidency programme But Orbán has continued to attack gay people at home, while also drifting further to the fringe of Western politics in other areas, such as Russia relations and illiberal rule in Hungary The European Parliament and 15 EU states are suing Hungary in the EU Court of Justice over a 2023 law banning LGBTI “propaganda”.  complained this summer when Hungarian state media insinuated that he was a paedophile as it filmed him at a Pride march in Budapest which included families with children.  “These attacks — whether legal, rhetorical, or reputational — erode the liberties of the Hungarian people, of the Hungarian soul,” said Pressman in a speech on 23 June.  Orbán has also ganged up with self-avowed homophobes in his Patriots for Europe political family in the EU Parliament.  His group’s other members — Czech party ANO, Portugal's Chega, the Dansk Folkeparti, Austria's FPÖ, Italy's Lega, Dutch party PVV, France's Rassemblement National, and Belgium's Vlaams Belang — were more anti-migrant than anti-LGBTI, said Anton Shekhovtsov The FPÖ had its own Szajer moment in 2008 when its late leader But “homophobic sentiments are naturally stronger in [rightwing] parties from central and eastern Europe than those from western Europe” “The [Dutch] PVV is almost pro-LGBTI,” he said The EU election in June saw a surge in the number of far-right MEPs in Brussels.  But if Manzheley thought that might be another reason for the “buzz” around his Halloween party then Shekhovtsov poured cold water on the generalisation that “the more conservative persons are in public the more perverted they are behind closed doors\" there's no scientific backing to that claim — it's a stereotype which might originate from observations of some Catholic priests' lives,\" Shekhovtsov said referring to Roman Catholic church child-abuse scandals in Europe and the US in recent decades.  Szájer didn’t reply when EUobserver tried to reach him via the Fidesz party on Tuesday.  he said: “The misstep [gay orgy] is strictly personal I am the only [one] who owes responsibility for it I ask everyone not to extend it to my homeland The now 63-year old has stayed out of the public eye and is said to live in the Hungarian countryside It remains to be seen if Orbán lets him make a political comeback one day nearly did so in June when he came third in local elections in the city of Győr despite his past told media he felt betrayed that Fidesz threw him under the bus when his scandal broke But if Orbán didn't stand by his old friends then the Brussels gay scene would greet its Hungarian star with open arms if he ever made a comeback there instead “I have his [Szájer's] number and I’ve been in touch,” said Manzheley saying: ‘You’re welcome to come back [to my parties]’,” he said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is just one in a long line of EU leaders who've embraced Rwandan president Paul Kagame She last did so amid EU overtures to access Rwanda's minerals knowing full well he stood credibly accused of war crimes But did she know he is also terrorising Rwandan dissidents much closer to home — on the streets of Brussels Fear of being poisoned by Kagame's agents is widespread in the Rwandan diaspora in Belgium.    such as Paul Rusesabagina and Denis Mukwege aren't safe when they visit the home of the EU institutions Some Rwanda-associated poisons can be administered via a handshake or soaked into an item of clothing The last time von der Leyen shook Kagame's hand was on 18 December 2023 on a visit to Kigali.  she did not have a chance to enjoy the local cuisine she did have the chance to try Rwanda's excellent coffee,\" her spokesperson said No one is seriously suggesting the Rwandan leader would dare to poison a high-level EU politician But even though EU leaders themselves are physically safe they still ought to worry about their moral hygiene — because every time they meet Kagame they embolden him to commit further crimes by giving him a sense of impunity And that means their handshakes are putting Rwandan dissidents who live in Europe Rusesabagina is the real-life hero of the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda about the 1994 genocide who is hated by Kagame and who now lives in the US.  And when Rusesabagina came to Brussels for a family wedding in August 2024 he was urged to take special care by his Belgian and US security advisers They warned him not to travel or stay anywhere alone not to meet strangers or accept gifts from them Part of their advice was designed to evade Rwandan electronic surveillance since Kagame's agents had already once kidnapped Rusesabagina But another part was because Kagame has a track record of transnational assassinations There's one toxin that can be administered via a handshake: The assassin smears it onto the palm of their hand then walks away and takes an antidote to save themselves,\" said a Belgian security source told EUobserver: \"My family was really worried about my father coming to Belgium because it's like a playground for them [Kagame's intelligence service] Kanimba was orphaned in the genocide while she was an infant and is now a human-rights activist living in the UK.  The family marriage in Brussels (her cousin's) was followed by Kanimba's own wedding the family notified Belgian and Italian intelligence services and vetted catering staff and equipment to make sure their food was safe.  but everyone in the family was conscious of the risk,\" Kanimba said but it's not — there have been a lot of people who dropped dead because of poisoning by the regime,\" she said.  issued in person to relatives and on social media.  \"One of Kagame’s top aides said on X that I deserved a 'golden machete' because my parents were probably killed with a machete [in the genocide],\" she said.  Kanimba's phone was also hacked with Israeli-made Pegasus spyware in 2021 which is sold to states' intelligence services the more that we talk publicly about such threats \"But the the fact I'm having this conversation with you today so many people have been killed for the kind of conversation we're having [about Kagame],\" Kanimba said Mukwege is a Congolese gynaecologist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for helping rape victims and who has spoken out against use of rape by Rwandan soldiers and Rwanda-linked rebel groups in Africa Mukwege also won the European Parliament's Sakharov award in 2014.  But when he came to Brussels on a trip in May 2015, he was put under close surveillance by Rwanda's embassy.  Mukwege had received a courtesy car from the EU parliament but when he arrived at the offices of Belgian newspaper Le Soir for a welcome reception journalists recognised his driver as being a member of the Rwandan embassy's security staff and advised Mukwege to insist on a different chauffeur.  Mukwege told Belgian friends at the time how the bogus driver who had infiltrated the parliament's car-pool He had begged Mukwege to hold his mobile phone and speak to his friends because he was so famous who is based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), declined to speak with EUobserver.  But the same bogus driver also offered him a suspicious tie on the same pretext according to a contact in his Panzi Foundation in DRC according to two Belgian security sources who asked not to be named one of the Belgian sources told EUobserver: \"He [Mukwege] got into a car with a driver who he didn't know It would make me and my family so proud if you were to put it on'.\" Less well-known people are all the more vulnerable.  Rwanda was a Belgian colony until 1962 and Belgium is home to some 20,000 to 30,000 people of Rwandan origin - its largest diaspora community in the world Most of them live scattered in small towns in the Flanders region Those of them who are genocide refugees still feel traumatised and divided.  But Rwandans also come together at church and music events, with 2,000 to 3,000 guests expected to visit the Inyange folk-dance festival in Brussels on 23 November Rwandan human-rights activist Natacha Abingeneye believes Kagame's agents murdered her father in Brussels in 2005.  He was a former government minister in Rwanda was giving evidence to the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda when he went missing and his mutilated body was later found in a canal in the EU capital.  Abingeneye herself became a target when her civil society group tried to organise a debate on Rwanda in the Belgian parliament in 2018.  Her name was smeared in dozens of articles in Kagame-linked media that she had funded Rwandan death squads in 1993 even though she would have been seven years old at the time \"There was also suspicious behaviour at my home but not enough to press charges [with Belgian police],\" she told EUobserver.  I'd see a car had been following me all the way from Brussels to the roundabout near where I live and I'd just continue driving because I was scared to stop Speaking of the fear caused specifically by regime poisoners It's a method that they have used so much in Rwanda that it even has a name in Rwandese: 'utuzi twa Munyuza' which means 'droplets of Munyuza's waters'.\" The phrase refers to Dan Munyuza, who is now Kagame's ambassador to Egypt, even though he was exposed in a conversation leaked on YouTube to have plotted poisonings of Rwandan dissidents abroad \"Everyone knows that if they want to eliminate you and no one knows what happened,\" Abingeneye told EUobserver went away, picked it up again and everybody was like: 'Are you crazy?',\" she said \"It [poisoning] is as quick as a wave of someone's hand over your glass,\" she added Her father's 2005 death is not the only one which has caused suspicion in the Rwandan community Rodolphe Shimwe Twagiramungu, for example, was a 34-year-old Rwandan musician who went to a nightclub on Avenue Louise in Brussels on 17 April 2022 and who was found dead in a nearby street the next morning from unknown causes Twagiramungu's father had been a former Rwandan prime minister and another Kagame enemy if you are a white Western national it doesn't necessarily mean you are untouchable.  Many Congolese people in Belgium even believe Kagame once poisoned the then-Belgian foreign minister Michel visited Kigali while calling out Kagame for fuelling conflict in DRC, but fell gravely sick when he returned to Europe and collapsed at a Nato summit in Reykjavík who is the father of outgoing EU Council president Charles Michel But one Belgian contact who knew him said: \"After this incident one thing is sure: Louis Michel never criticised Rwanda again\" The Michel-poison theory is seen as an urban legend by Belgian security services because the potential cost of a major diplomatic incident if it got out far exceeded the benefit of silencing him and he would do a cost/benefit analysis on every case It’s much more likely Michel was infected by a bacteria or virus which happens easily enough in Africa,\" a Belgian security source said.  But when Canadian writer Judi Rever, who wrote a Kagame-critical book, visited Belgium in 2014, Belgium gave her two bodyguards after receiving intelligence the Rwandan embassy in Brussels planned to hurt her Some Belgian journalists living in Brussels who spoke to EUobserver asked not to be quoted in this article because of personal security fears.  a former journalist and now politician living near the Belgian town of Leuven still requires special protection nine years later my wife and I are under a specific protection system by Belgian security services we can just call and a rapid response [police] unit arrives in minutes wherever we might be,\" he told EUobserver.  Verlinden has received death threats on his phone and on social media and Belgian intelligence services found Pegasus on his mobile.  \"I think the aim of the [Rwandan] regime in Europe is to cause fear I only eat from the public buffet and I always serve my own plate [for fear of poison] I wouldn't use a Rwandan taxi driver whom I didn't know,\" he said.  The use of sophisticated poisons in targeted assassinations in Europe is more readily associated with Russia.  But even if Rwanda's spy services were tiny compared to Russia's that didn’t mean they couldn't acquire frightening capabilities if they wanted to said Belgian forensic toxicologist Jan Tytgat.  \"Novichok is absolutely available on the dark web and we should be concerned about its potential use around the world,\" he said referring to a Russian-made nerve toxin.  \"There are pages where you can ask AI: 'Please design me the newest generation of organophosphates to kill people' - it's crazy,\" he added Tytgat has worked with Belgian police on more run-of-the-mill cases.  He is also professor of pharmacology at KU Leuven university in Belgium and has done research into new medicines in the field in Africa.  A handshake poison could be made from 'designer drugs' \"People have designed synthetic molecules that are 10,000 times more potent than morphine You put a few crystals in the palm of your hand a couple of those crystals will humidify on the sweat and skin of your victim and this is really sufficient to put them in a comatose state,\" Tytgat said.  The assassin could protect themselves by taking an antidote A necktie poison could be made from African plant extracts as well as Novichok-type synthetic compounds It requires plants that are rich in atropine but these are commonplace in central Africa Symptoms of atropine poisoning were \"hallucinations then you have neurological problems from which you can die,\" Tytgat said.  He was not aware of any exotic poisoning cases in Belgium.  Belgian authorities had access to equipment that could decipher a poisoner's hidden signature \"With high-resolution mass spectrometers we can do isotope mapping [of poison molecules] and knowing the isotope load in a molecule you can devise where it was made and when it was made,\" he told EUobserver atropine-type poisoning by an obscure Rwandan plant extract could be overlooked \"If you go to a full forensic toxicologist initially we might also get a negative result but we'd continue,\" Tytgat said.    I fear they might overlook uncommon plant- or animal venom-based intoxications because of the protocols they follow in Belgium or in any other typical EU country,\" he said.  Another poison more native to central Africa is black mamba venom It can kill people in \"five minutes,\" Tytgat said But snake-venom proteins were too large to enter through a victim's skin pores and would have to be injected which would be obvious to \"any good pathologist,\" he said Rwanda's embassy to Belgium is located in the green Woluwe Saint Pierre district in Brussels some 15 minutes down the road from von der Leyen's HQ When EUobserver took a photo of the building on 22 October for this article a Rwandan man in a bright blue shirt jogged over to ask questions and surreptitiously filmed the reporter on his phone.    The Belgian foreign ministry declined to confirm how many Rwandan diplomats the embassy contained.  Belgian sources estimated it has some seven to 15 diplomats \"About half of them [Rwandan diplomats] are probably intelligence officers under diplomatic cover The Rwandan embassy told EUobserver in an emailed statement: \"Rwanda has a handful of diplomats accredited to the embassy and .. their identities and roles are known to Belgian authorities\" One of them is first secretary Gustave Ntwaramuheto who was also accredited at the EU institutions until 2023 Ntwaramuheto declined to speak to EUobserver.  But, according to an investigation by Jambo in 2019 he is in charge of a task-force which carries out surveillance and violence against Kagame's adversaries in Belgium \"There are groups of thugs linked to the embassy. They call it the 'Intervention Team' and they are highly organised national-level chain of command,\" Jambo's Abingeneye said Rwandan intelligence also spies on people's comings and goings at Belgium's Zaventem airport Rwanda told EUobserver: \"The Rwandan embassy in Belgium operates in accordance with international diplomatic standards and within Belgian law Allegations made by politically-motivated actors [Jambo] known for their conspiracy theories .. But the actions of Belgian authorities suggest otherwise Belgian intelligence services took the Rusesabagina family-wedding threat in August 2024 \"seriously\" And Belgium took an unprecedented step in April 2024 when it made Kagame's new ambassador to Brussels Karega had previously been expelled from DRC for backing rebels and had represented Kagame in South Africa in 2014 when a Rwandan exile was murdered there.  \"No new [ambassador] candidate has been proposed by the Rwandan authorities,\" the Belgian foreign ministry told EUobserver on 25 October said: \"What has been lacking in Belgium until now has been political courage this seems to be a first sign that things are improving\" Its VSSE homeland intelligence service has slashed its Africa section over the past 10 years recalling Kanimba's fear that Belgium was Kagame's \"playground\".  The VSSE's Africa department used to have some 25 posts in its heyday but now had just one full-time and one part-time intelligence officer covering African threats Normal bilateral relations despite the Karega row also mean that Belgian judicial authorities still cooperate with Kigali.  Belgian prosecutors raided Rusesabagina's home in the Kraainem district in Brussels in 2020 and gave his private documents to Rwanda in the run-up to his Dubai kidnapping on the basis of a Rwandan extradition request.  \"The 2020 search request was channelled officially by diplomatic means\" and \"carried out in strict compliance with Belgian law,\" the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's office told EUobserver on 20 October.  but judicial cooperation between Belgium and Rwanda [still] occurs regularly,\" they said.  however: \"If the extradition request has a political character no extradition has been accepted,\" they said.  Rwanda is rich in tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the EU on its mining sector in February The minerals deal would help \"fight against illegal trafficking of minerals and .. while opening up Rwanda to EU mining firms EU leaders at their summit in Brussels on 16 October also called for the creation of overseas return hubs for rejected asylum seekers But when asked by EUobserver if this might involve Rwanda the commission said it \"does not speculate on hypothetical scenarios\" France relies on Rwandan troops to help protect French energy firms in nearby Mozambique from an Islamist insurgency French president Emmanuel Macron also gave Kagame and his wife a welcoming hug at a summit in France on 4 October.  And to add insult to injury for dissidents Rwanda will host the UCI Road World Championships cycling race in September next year.  The international embrace of Kagame comes despite storied warnings that this emboldens him to do further violence the EU commission said: \"We call on Rwanda to conduct prompt and effective investigations into all allegations of torture ... Perpetrators of any such acts should be brought to justice\" von der Leyen herself has lived in Belgium for over five years amid regular Belgian media reports on Kagame's harassment of Rwandans who also live there And the Belgian foreign ministry told EUobserver the \"timing of the signing of this agreement [the EU's minerals MoU] was unfortunate\" \"You can't say you didn't know - today there's enough proof and documentation,\" said Abingeneye.  so I understand the cyclist community viewing my country as a good place for this but it's covering a lot of darkness and pain \"It's sportswashing at its core,\" she added.  But top EU politicians who meet with Kagame do even more damage \"They're going on like it's business as usual with a known murderer\" Abingeneye said: \"If a European president stands in front of their people and shakes the hands of a killer then they’re whitewashing his actions and they become partly liable for them\" It made Kagame feel free to keep hurting people \"because you showed him there are no consequences\" but I'm so disappointed when I see this,\" she said.  This story was amended to correct the spelling of Paul Rusesabagina's name and the date of his kidnapping in Dubai As the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes on Thursday (21 November) the EU now faces a critical dilemma: balancing its commitment to international law with its longstanding political and economic ties to Israel Thursday’s legal action means the ICC's 124 member states — including all EU countries but not Israel or the US — would have to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they enter their territory It also means that no EU leaders or officials should meet with Netanyahu or Gallant While the ICC has no powers of warrant enforcement and lacks its own police force this marks the first time the court sought the arrest of a democratically-elected leader The EU has long promoted the ICC as a cornerstone of international law, but Thursday’s decision puts the bloc between the hammer and the anvil given the ongoing trade ties the bloc has with Israel ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan filed applications for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and three leaders of the terrorist group Hamas the ICC also issued arrest warrants for Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif as the other two leaders had already been killed Deif himself is also now presumed to be dead The court confirmed that it has found “reasonable grounds” to argue that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare” and “the crimes against humanity of murder and other inhumane acts” as well as “the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population” It also noted that decisions on humanitarian aid were often made due to pressure from the international community or the US rather than to fulfil Israel's legal obligations or ensure that people in Gaza had access to essential goods The ICC decision follows Israeli military operations in Gaza which has also expanded its operations into Lebanon in recent months says it is responding to Hamas's 7 October attacks that left 1,206 people dead and around 100 others still held hostage The government of Netanyahu has deemed the ICC warrant “antisemitic” and “absurd” — while the US, Israel's biggest ally, has also criticised the court’s decision, Reuters reported.  \"We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision,\" a White House National Security Council spokesperson said who has been appointed by US-elected president Donald Trump as his future national security adviser said the court had “no credibility”.  “You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and UN come January,” he said on X (formerly Twitter) Other world leaders such as Argentina's far-right president Javier Milei have also rejected the decision EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said he had taken note of the court’s decision highlighting that these are “binding” for all EU member states.  But Israel-friendly Hungary was the first EU country to slam the ICC’s move with Hungarian foreign affairs minister Peter Szijjártó describing it as “shameful and absurd” In a social media post Szijjártó said he spoke on the phone with Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar and assured him that “Hungary refuses to make any institution of the international judicial system a political instrument” This decision is a disgrace to the international judicial system Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungary \"The ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary,\" he said there was no comment directly on the ICC warrant from the EU Commission itself The Gaza war prompted Ireland and Spain, in February, to call on the European Commission for an “urgent review” of its trade-deal agreement with Israel has failed so far to respond to this letter Article 2 of the trade association agreement between the EU and Israel foresees the suspension in case of violations of human rights “no one can doubt that Israel is violating its human rights commitments” after the ICC decision “Now it is up to the EU to decide whether to respect international law and whether to respect their own laws,” Baoumi said adding that the EU has constantly failed to hold trade partners accountable for their human rights violations “Now it is clearer than it was before,” he said During this week’s foreign affairs ministers' meeting, Borrell proposed mini anti-Israel sanctions, such as halting high-level EU-Israel political dialogue and banning goods made by Israeli settlers But he admitted that most EU member states have supported maintaining their trade deal with Israel as a means of preserving political and diplomatic relations.  EU foreign affairs policy is based on unanimity have previously blocked any meaningful action Borrell earlier accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war and disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force against Palestinians — contrary to other more Israeli-friendly voices in Brussels However, with the new commission taking place on 1 December, there are widespread concerns that his successor, former Estonian PM Kaja Kallas, will not be as vocal when it comes to the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.  accounting for almost 30 percent of Israel’s trade Thursday's ICC decision puts particularly Germany in a dilemma given that Berlin is Israel's second-largest arms supplier after the US “You need weapons to be able to do the [war] crimes” Netanyahu or Gallant are accused of illustrating the difficult questions the EU and its member states are facing French president Emmanuel Macron vocally called to halt arms deliveries to Israel The ICC warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant come a day after the US Senate voted against halting arms exports to Israel Hidden in plain sight within the European Parliament's own rules of procedure is a little-known provision that could dramatically alter the Union's ability to defend its democratic values from internal threats.  Legal scholars have dubbed it a \"sleeping beauty\" and “bombshell” — a potent yet practically unused instrument akin to the EU's own Article 7 designed to safeguard the rule of law and the integrity of its institutions The fragility of democracy in Europe is no longer a theoretical concern; it's a palpable reality While the democratic backsliding of Hungary under Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party and Poland under its previous administration has been well-documented similar undercurrents are emerging in Slovakia civil society organisations face increasing pressure These are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a broader malaise affecting the very core of European democracy For member states veering off the democratic path, the EU has a toolkit that includes withholding funds, imposing financial sanctions, and even suspending voting rights — the so-called Article 7 procedure.  the effectiveness of these measures has been repeatedly called into question Not only because enforcement has been delayed and weakened but also because they concern only member states of the EU.  When anti-democratic forces infiltrate the EU's own institutions The Union's mechanisms to counter internal destabilisation are notably limited and this is where Rule 241 could play a transformative role the European Parliament maintained a 'cordon sanitaire' around eurosceptic and far-right parties effectively denying them access to influential positions such as vice-presidents and committee chairs.  This method was decried by Viktor Orbán early on Wednesday morning (9 October), stating in a plenary debate that “you [the European Parliament] want to lecture me about democracy, but yet you keep the Patriots [for Europe] out of committee chairs” His European political party recently lodged an appeal at the European Court of Justice to contest this exclusion This political quarantine was a means to suppress voices that sought to undermine the EU from within the recent parliamentary elections have complicated this landscape While the most extreme groups — like the Patriots for Europe (PfE) and Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) — remain marginalised the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) have been granted significant influence This is despite the fact that two of ECR's largest national party members are Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) and Italy's Brothers of Italy — parties that have been instrumental in democratic backsliding in their respective countries Their actions on a national level stand in stark contrast to the values upon which the EU was founded European political parties wield the superpower of electoral legitimacy having been democratically elected by their constituents But electoral success does not place them above accountability.  The rules governing European political parties include safeguards against egregious misconduct when it comes to more insidious or values-based transgressions — which have become part of the far and radical right’s playbook the onus falls on other European parties or citizens to intervene Rule 241 is a provision that allows the European Parliament or the Council to contest the registration — and by extension the financing — of a European political party or foundation that is in \"manifest and serious breach\" of the EU's foundational values.  These values, enshrined in the Treaty on European Union, include respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights, including the rights of minorities, and are repeated in what’s known as Regulation 1141/2014.  This regulation governs the statute and funding of European political parties and foundations and is enforced by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF).  European political parties (EuPPs) are conglomerates of national parties that form supranational entities within the European Parliament They receive substantial funding from the EU budget — €46m allocated for EuPPs in 2025—making the financial stakes high The most recent elections witnessed a flurry of activity as rightwing parties realigned into new formations: the Patriots for Europe including Hungary's Fidesz and Italy's League comprising Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) and France's Reconquête Hungary under Fidesz has been under Article 7 sanctions since 2018 for violating EU values— the same values that Rule 241 invokes This raises an unsettling question: How can a party implicated in undermining EU values continue to receive EU funding and wield influence within its institutions Activating Rule 241 is a multi-step process: Initiation: At least a quarter of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) representing at least three political groups can request a verification of compliance by the APPF a reasoned request by at least 50 citizens can be submitted to parliament to set the request for verification in motion Consultation: The APPF consults its \"council of eminent persons,\" a six-member panel appointed equally by the Parliament Decision: Based on the council of eminent persons’ opinion the APPF can decide to deregister the party Objection Period: The parliament and the council have the opportunity to object to the APPF's decision – for the council the vote to object happens by qualified majority vote for the parliament by simple majority – and both have to object the APPF stated that it has not received any requests for verification from the Parliament \"This regulation is a kind of sleeping beauty,\" Morijn told EUobserver \"It's more or less the equivalent of Article 7 in the Treaty of the European Union.\"  Morijn writes that the creation of this rule and the accompanying regulation was not without challenges The proposal didn’t make it through on the first try as FPÖ (PfE) in Austria and Northern League (PfE) in Italy felt the issue of adhering to democratic values “was an attack on them they ended up voting against the proposal.” The Danish government at that time relied on the support of Dansk Folkepart (PfE)i The regulation now applied to EuPPs and their foundations but remained untouched and unused until 2012 when the commission proposed an expansion of the scope The revision included the expansion of the scope of the regulation to both the program and activities of a EuPP – and most crucially It also proposed that natural or legal persons could request the parliament to verify a party’s compliance with values.  The changes led to an agreement on setting up the APPF manage and enforce rules applying to EuPPs and their foundations by the time the regulation 1141/2014 made it to its approval two crucial changes were included: the first being that deregistration of a EuPP or foundation needed the approval of both parliament and council and second that it only applied to Europarties as a whole He points out that while Rule 241 has never practically been used neither have there ever been such large eurosceptic groups within the parliament The procedure's complexity and the political will required to activate Rule 241 present significant hurdles the APPF allows for a form of self-certification regarding adherence to EU values when new parties register relying on the assumption of compliance unless evidence to the contrary is presented In 2019, The Good Lobby, an organisation aimed at bolstering civil society's advocacy capacity, attempted to trigger Rule 241.  they requested that the European Parliament and APPF verify the compliance of the European People's Party (EPP) and the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe with EU values citing their affiliations with Fidesz and PiS It argued that “the EPP has deliberately and persistently refused to take any concrete action against one of its member parties notwithstanding its systemic and persistent undermining of Article 2 TEU values as recently evidenced inter alia by the Sargentini report.” And “urge you to undertake a verification – as you are required under Article 10 of the Regulation – of the EPP’s continuing compliance with the values on which the EU is founded.” Their efforts were stymied by procedural technicalities citing invalid signatures because they were not physically signed — a requirement that was not clearly communicated “We did collect signatures, first electronically then on paper, but the EP never declared our request admissible, what stopped the procedure, which never moved to the substance of the matter,” Alberto Allemanno a legal scholar and founder of The Good Lobby said who then took the matter to the European Ombudsman The European Ombudsman upheld the parliament's decision pointing out the lack of signed forms but tacitly acknowledging the inadequacy of guidance provided to citizens wishing to exercise this \"very important democratic right.\" it appears that no one has made any attempt to kick off a new verification procedure Invoking Rule 241 touches upon the concept of \"militant democracy\" — the idea that a democracy might need to employ undemocratic means to protect itself from forces seeking to dismantle it from within This paradox presents a moral and practical dilemma Tom Theuns a senior assistant professor of political theory and European politics at Leiden University articulates the tension: \"A militant democratic action is one that itself undermines fundamental democratic principles.\" He cautions that while such measures exist within the EU's legal framework their use would set a precedent that anti-democratic actors might exploit if they gain power \"One of the core worries of militant democratic measures like party bans is that if you legislate them it becomes easier for anti-democratic politicians to use these means if they come to power,\" Theuns warns taking action against democratically elected parties could feed into populist narratives of an elite suppressing the will of the people — a potent rallying cry for eurosceptic movements MEPs and citizens of the EU thus face a daunting question: Should they awaken Rule 241 to defend its democratic values risking potential backlash and the erosion of its own principles Or should it allow the status quo to persist even as anti-democratic forces gain strength within its institutions The answer may lie in the very values the EU seeks to protect Democracy is not merely a procedural mechanism but a commitment to uphold human dignity inaction may carry greater risks than decisive Invoking Rule 241 would send a clear message that the EU is willing to defend its foundational values It would also serve as a deterrent to parties that might otherwise feel emboldened to continue undermining democratic norms The rise of anti-democratic forces within its own institutions challenges the very fabric of the Union but it offers a mechanism — overlooked by most— that could bolster the EU's defence of its core values perhaps it's time for this sleeping beauty to awaken The activation of Rule 241 would require courage and a reaffirmation of the EU's commitment to its foundational principles such decisive action might be not only justified but necessary requires constant vigilance to maintain its health conceived as a bastion of democratic values and human rights must grapple with the internal contradictions posed by anti-democratic elements within its ranks tool that could help preserve the Union's integrity The question is not merely whether the EU can set off this bombshell but whether it has the collective will to do so The future of European democracy may well depend on the answer NGOs push for UN to take control of aid policy after huge EU and US cutsEU & the WorldMoreAgendaGymnich Competitiveness Council (Internal market and industry) Competitiveness Council (Research and space) Fonzies Absolute Italian Beach Volleyball Championship tour visits Marina di Modica (pictured in the main photo; credits: Mancini Agency / FIPAV) Arnhem hosts a stop on the BetCity Eredivisie Beach national tour of the Netherlands Zvolen welcomes a stop on Slovakia’s Nike Summer Beach Tour Türkiye’s Bioderma Pro Beach Tour holds an event in Antalya The pairing of indoor volleyball star Ivan Zaytsev with beach volleyball star Daniele Lupo produced another gold medal result on the Fonzies Absolute Italian Beach Volleyball Championship tour Zaytsev & Lupo won again in Marina di Modica last week The silver went to top-seeded Carlo Bonifazi & Davide Benzi Second-seeded Mauro Sacripanti & Giacomo Titta took the bronze after a hard-fought 2-1 (19-21 17-15) comeback in the third-place match against Raoul Acerbi & Michael Burgmann Men’s results and standings The women’s podium completely matched the bracket seeding Alice Gradini & Federica Frasca defeated Giada Benazzi & Michela Lantignotti in a tight 2-1 (19-21 and Eleonora Sestini & Erika Ditta grabbed the bronze after a 2-1 (22-20 15-13) victory over Camilla Sanguigni & Sofia Balducci Women’s results and standings A post shared by Federazione Italiana Pallavolo (@federazioneitalianapallavolo) Arnhem hosted a stop on the BetCity Eredivisie Beach national tour of the Netherlands Top-seeded Wies Bekhuis & Brecht Piersma won the women’s gold 21-15) victory over Argentina’s Brenda Ailen Churin & Ana Gallay Nigella Negenman & Tess Spaansen completed the podium 15-12) win over fourth-seeded Mila Konink & Desy Poiesz Women’s results and standings The men’s gold went to top-seeded Dirk Boehle & Mees Sengers 15-11) win over Cain van Hal & Mart van Werkhoven in the final Third-seeded Emiel Boersma & Leon Luini mastered a 2-0 (21-15 21-14) sweep of the bronze medal game against second-seeded Jan-Joost van den Bogert & Alexander Brouwer Men’s results and standings Lubos Nemec & Adrian Petruf mastered a 2-0 (21-10 21-13) sweep of the men’s final of the Zvolen stop on Slovakia’s Nike Summer Beach Tour The top seeds left third-seeded Jakub Vala & Jiri Dostal of Czechia with the silver Miroslav Zilik & Lukas Legutky won the bronze medal game by forfeit after an injury-prompted withdrawal by Tomas Patuc & Peter Michalovic Men’s results and standings The top three seeds in the women’s bracket lined up on the podium in the same order The first place went to Barbora Tokosova & Kristina Harmanova 15-10) victory over Eva Elekova & Andrea Bundzelova in the final Andrea Spevarova & Lesia Slezakova finished third they defeated Zuzana Zamozikova & Viktoria Nemlaha in straight sets Women’s results and standings Türkiye’s Bioderma Pro Beach Tour held an event in Antalya last week Top-seeded Nursel Yaren Sencel & Merve Celebi won the women’s competition 15-11) comeback victory over the Turkish-Dutch pairing of Resmiye Cakmak & Danieke Prins Second-seeded Ayse Dil & Selin Toy settled for the bronze after a 2-1 (17-21 15-7) turnaround against fourth-seeded Naz Akyuz & Esra Demirkiran in the third-place match Women’s results and standings Second-seeded Hasan Huseyin Mermer & Sacit Kurt delivered a 2-1 (17-21 15-13) comeback to upset top-seeded Yusuf Ozdemir & Batuhan Kuru in the men’s final Kemal Sah & Ali Osman Nurettin mastered a 2-0 (21-10 21-16) straight-setter over Ozan Baltaci & Mehmet Civgin Men’s results and standings 2024 Bioderma Pro Beach Tour Antalya Etabı Sona Erdi 🔗 https://t.co/CIxwt7CL5N pic.twitter.com/iFFjdJcARh — Türkiye Voleybol Federasyonu (@TVForgtr) August 5, 2024 The FIVB is the governing body responsible for all forms of Volleyball on a global level Working closely with national federations and private enterprises to develop Volleyball as a popular media and entertainment sport FIVB Fédération Internationale de Volleyball Château Les Tourelles Edouard-Sandoz 2-4 1006 Lausanne Switzerland Phone: +41 213 453 535 Fax: +41 213 453 545 Learn how to describe the purpose of the image (opens in a new tab) Leave empty if the image is purely decorative https://www.facebook.com/gf.entertainement Great music makes a stop in Calabria with an unmissable event: Rkomi arrives at the Arena Saracena in Cirò Marina on 24 August 2025, as part of the Krimisound Festival. After his success at Sanremo with Il ritmo delle cose, the artist will bring to the stage the ‘’Decrescendo Summer Tour 2025‘’, a musical journey through emotions, rhythm and energy. A repertoire that ranges from hits loved by the public to new songs that tell intense and personal stories. Archaeological AreaCirò Marina Last update: May 5, 2025 6:01 AMContent owned by the Calabria Region | Tourism and Commerce Department issued under CC-BY License Get quality reporting directly into your inbox, every week Over 1,000 Carabinieri have taken part in arresting 157 suspects while 13 were arrested by authorities in Germany. “The operation is the largest so far in terms of number of arrested,” said Head Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri on Tuesday morning in Catanzaro, Calabria. “It wasn't born out of chance, but rather out of a project, an idea.” The idea of prosecutors Vincenzo Luberto and Domenico Guarascio, who for years have been working with the Carabinieri’s Anti-Mafia investigators, was to identify the economic structure of one of the most powerful 'Ndrangheta clans, that of Ciro Marina, on the East Coast of Calabria. The Farao is the only clan from the North of Calabria that is part of the seven “locali” of the Crimine - the top of 'Ndrangheta's hierarchy - as well as of the Tribunal of the 'Ndrangheta. Among the arrested are the young promises of the clan - the four sons of two already jailed bosses Giuseppe and Silvio Farao. The two were supposed serve under harsh jail terms but the investigation showed how corruption within the jail allowed Giuseppe Farao to meet with his wife freely and through her send messages and orders to his men in Calabria. The clan was able to impose its power across the country and even infiltrate Germany. According to prosecutor Luberto there was a sort of “empathy” between entrepreneurs and the mafia that allowed the clan to completely control certain economic activities in Italy, including waste management, lodging, running migrants centres, and online gaming. The clan exported wine, cheese and oil to restaurants in Germany and had absolute control over the exports of ingrediens for pizzas, like flower-mix. The presence in Germany passed through key-men who had founded an association of “restaurant owners,” as reported by the Berlin-based Correctiv, whose reporters have been investigating the matter for the past year. “The clan understood violence is counterproductive,” Luberto explained to IRPI. “Acts of violence, which did take place, were done only by people paid for, not members of the clan. The mafiosi had to invest money, to look like clean entrepreneurs.” The Carabinieri seized more than 50 million euros in assets and plan more measures against the clan in the next days. The Farao had also managed to have clan members in the local institutions. An example is the Municipality of Cirò: both the former and current Mayors were among the arrested for mafia-type association. Support from readers like you helps OCCRP expose organized crime and corruption around the world. By donating, you’ll be directly supporting investigative journalism as a public good. You’ll also gain access to exclusive insights and benefits. Mexican Consul Fidel Herrera was on a mission in Spain — but not necessarily for his country. Italian police together with Costa Rican authorities have arrested seven people in Costa Rica, charging them with the... An escalation in violence involving major Turkish gangs has spilled over into European cities, where suspected mafia figures... Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Torrential rain the Italy’s Calabria Region caused severe flooding in the provinces of Crotone and Cosenza The regional government has requested a state of emergency said teams had carried out over 400 interventions for flooding and rescued 200 people The port city of Crotone recorded 343.2 mm of rain in 48 hours to 15:00 on 22 November Cirò Marina in the Province of Crotone recorded 456.8mm of rain in the same period The Esaro river in Crotone and the Neto river in Rocca di Neto both broke their banks Heavy rain also affected neighbouring Sicily where parts of the road network in the province of Palermo were flooded — Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) November 23, 2020 — Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) November 21, 2020 — Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) November 22, 2020 Richard Davies is the founder of floodlist.com and reports on flooding news Cookies | Privacy | Contacts © Copyright 2025 FloodList This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page KC BennettTitle:Volunteer Assistant CoachBioFormer Louisiana Tech standout KC Bennett is in her first season as Oregon State’s volunteer assistant coach is a member of the school’s All-Decade Team She was named Second-Team All-Western Athletic Conference as a senior which ranks second in the school’s record books She also averaged 1.11 blocks per set during her sophomore campaign was named to the WAC’s All-Academic Team in 2009 and was Tech’s co-captain as both a junior and senior After graduating in 2010 with a degree in sociology she played overseas in 2011 for the Farmacia Malena Volleyball Club in Ciro Marina she served as the co-head coach and also played as the team’s middle blocker at Durham University helping the club to a league finalist finish she played for Club Northhumbria bringing home two national championships Bennett’s high school coaching experience began in the fall of 2010 when she returned to Tucson and was an assistant with Rincon-University High School coaching their freshman team to an undefeated season and assisting with the junior varsity and varsity teams She continued her high school coaching experience when she returned to the United States in 2013 serving as the assistant coach for the varsity and junior varsity volleyball teams at Sahuarita High School She is the daughter of the late Nicodemo and Lucia Dima Pinacchio She is also preceded in death by her sister Maria Barca and companion Michael Ciccolella Known by most as “Nani,” Filomena loved spending time with her family and grandchildren Surviving are two sons Rob (Tamy) Yocom of Wintersville and Gordon (Trisha) Yocom of Columbus; one daughter Tammy Yocom Fuscardo (fiance Michael Johnson) of McMurray PA; one brother Gaetano Pinacchio; two sisters Erminia (Settimio) Travaglino and Frances (Joseph) Mazzone; seven grandchildren Alana Today's breaking news and more in your inbox Copyright © 2025 Ogden News Publishing of Ohio | https://www.heraldstaronline.com | 401 Herald Square Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors Notices are posted by 10 am Monday through Saturday Adjust Text Size: A+ A- It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Antonio (Tony) Adamo cousin and friend whose warmth and generosity touched the lives of many He leaves behind a legacy of love through his nieces and nephews: Maddi who will always remember him for his playful spirit and kind heart Tony was predeceased by his father Franceso in 1990.Tony where he became a vibrant part of the community He was well-known for his entertaining videos on Facebook bringing joy and laughter to all who followed him His creativity and sense of humour left a lasting impression and his online presence will be fondly remembered.Tony will be deeply missed by all who knew him.Mass of the Resurrection will be held on Wednesday Reverend Father Michael Savarimuthu presiding followed by Mass at 11:00 a.m.You may view the Mass online at the following link: https://youtube.com/live/s8yedXbx9cU?feature=share Your spirit will live on in our hearts forever As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 12 Share your memories and/or express your condolences below Unfortunately with the need to moderate tributes for inappropriate content your comments may take up to 48 hours to appear Third stop on Estonia’s Rannavolle Suvetuur 2024 held in Poltsamaa Stellar duo of Lupo & Zaytsev top Fonzies Absolute Italian Beach Volleyball Championship tour men’s podium in Ciro Marina DEPO Open Latvian Championships national tour event was held in Liepaja Oradea welcomes a stop on the Romanian national tour Slovakia’s Nike Summer Beach Tour pays a visit to Trencin Ukrainian Beach Volleyball Cup Tour Finals take place in Kyiv The third stop on Estonia’s Rannavolle Suvetuur 2024 was held in Poltsamaa Liisa-Lotta Jurgenson & Eva Liisa Kuivonen topped the women’s podium after an emphatic 2-0 (21-14 21-15) upset of third-seeded Maret Kuuse & Laura Liisa Maiste in the final The bronze went to fourth-seeded Hanna Pajula & Liisa Poldma who surprised top-seeded Gerli Gull & Mari-Liis Loorman with a 2-1 (16-21 Women’s results and standings Both men’s medal matches offered three-set battles Urmas Piik & Rasmus Meius achieved a 2-1 (21-19 15-9) win over Kaur Erik Kais & Jaan Rebel the Estonian-Polish pairing of Aleksei Povjakel & Adam Glowacki came back from a set down to claim a hard-fought 2-1 (22-24 15-13) victory over bracket leaders Karl Jaani & Siim Ennemuist Men’s results and standings A post shared by EST Beach Volleyball (@rannavolle) The pairing of beach volleyball star Daniele Lupo and indoor volleyball star Ivan Zaytsev (pictured in the main photo; credits: Mancini Agency / FIPAV) topped the men’s podium at the Ciro Marina stop on the Fonzies Absolute Italian Beach Volleyball Championship tour 21-15) upset of second-seeded Manuel Alfieri & Tiziano Andreatta top-seeded Gianluca Dal Corso & Marco Viscovich celebrated a convincing 2-0 (21-13 21-14) win over Matteo Camozzi & Federico Geromin Men’s results and standings third-seeded Reka Orsi Toth & Giada Bianchi managed a 2-1 (18-21 15-10) comeback against top-seeded Chiara They & Sara Breidenbach in the final The bronze was also decided in a tie-breaker with Eleonora Annibalini & Anna Pelloia celebrating a 2-1 (21-13 15-9) victory over Eleonora Sestini & Erika Ditta Women’s results and standings A post shared by Federazione Italiana Pallavolo (@federazioneitalianapallavolo) A DEPO Open Latvian Championships national tour event was held in Liepaja Both the women’s and the men’s podiums completely matched the bracket seeding Anete Namike & Anija Ozolina produced a 2-0 (21-18 21-13) victory over Lithuania’s Daniele Kvedaraite & Jekaterina Kovalskaja Gerda Grudzinskaite & Dominyka Nauduzaite 21-11) sweep of the bronze medal game against Varvara Brailko & Marta Vildere Women’s results and standings The pairing of Argentina’s Nicolas Capogrosso and Latvia’s Edgars Tocs delivered a 2-0 (21-18 21-12) victory over Ardis Bedritis & Aleksandrs Samoilovs in the men’s final Ernests Puskundzis & Mihails Samoilovs completed the podium 21-14) sweep of the third-place match against Karlis Jaundzeikars & Matīss Salkovskis Men’s results and standings A post shared by Beach Volley Latvia (@beachvolleylv) Oradea welcomed a stop on the Romanian national tour The men’s trophy went to Lebanon’s Salba Chafic & Joe El Azzi 24-22) victory over Sergiu-Octavian Rodina & Lucian Badiceanu in the final Second-seeded pair from Hungary Matyas Papp & Balazs Ferenc Fazekas squeezed out a nail-biting 2-1 (21-17 17-15) win over top-seeded Moldovans Egor Dobcis & Maxim Korsakov for the bronze Men’s results and standings The Hungarian-Romanian pairing of Eszter Nagy & Beata Vaida 21-15) victory over Moldova’s Ana Nicolaev & Iulia Pavlova in the final Serbia’s Teodora Joldic & Milica Beljanski upset top-seeded Adina Stanciu & Ioana-Alexandra Ordean in straight sets Women’s results and standings A post shared by Oradea Beachvolley (@oradeabeachvolley) Slovakia’s Nike Summer Beach Tour paid a visit to Trencin last week third-seeded Andrea Spevarova & Lesia Slezakova mastered a 2-0 (21-15 21-16) upset of bracket leaders Barbora Tokosova & Kristina Harmanova Ema Durisova & Ema Palkovicova completed the podium after an epic bronze medal match against second-seeded Iveta Miranda & Zuzana Reginova decided in the overtime of the tie-breaker Women’s results and standings Both medal matches in the men’s tournament were decided in tie-breaker sets too second-seeded Michal Trubac & Jindrich Zavadil 17-15) victory over Simon Krajcovic & Patrik Pokopec Kamil Pavlinsky & Patrik Marcok managed a 2-1 (16-21 15-11) comeback against third-seeded Martin Petro & Ivan Povraznik Men’s results and standings The Ukrainian Beach Volleyball Cup Tour Finals took place in Kyiv last week Bottom-seeded qualifiers Oleg Savchuk & Yaroslav Tymchenko triumphed as men’s national cup winners they came back from a set down to achieve a 2-1 (18-21 15-9) upset of third-seeded Oleksii Bublyk & Yaroslav Tymchenko top-seeded Ivan Datsiuk & Ivan Likhatskyi also came back from a set down to claim a 2-1 (19-21 15-12) win over second-seeded Danyil Svyrydenko & Maksym Horobets Men’s results and standings The women’s medal matches also offered three-set battles The national cup trophy went to Valentyna Davidova & Anhelina Khmil 15-8) win in the final showdown against Inna Makhno & Sofiia Rylova Yeva Serdiuk & Daria Romaniuk snatched the bronze after a 2-1 (16-21 15-5) victory over top-seeded Raisa Rylova & Yulia Chernenko Women’s results and standings A post shared by Valentyna Davidova (@valentinadavidova28) Trekking in the mountains or discovering ancient villages But if the holidays are far away or you need a break for adrenalin It takes little to feel on holiday: sun, friends, music and - of course - slides and pools. The Laguna Blu aquapark is located on the Tyrrhenian coast of Cosenza, in Fuscaldo.  The park is close to the main road and therefore easily accessible It is an area dedicated to wellness and fun particularly suitable for families because it is "child-friendly" There is no shortage of attractions for fans of water games who can put themselves to the test with vertiginous slides of varying degrees of slope: the ones suitable for children are less challenging while the steep and adrenaline-filled ones are for adults The entertainment with activities and dances is of the kind that can involve even the less inclined but for the laziest there are swimming pools Colourful slides and a setting designed for children with Disney characters The water park offers the possibility of moving easily from the pool to the beach to alternate moments of fun with relaxing on a sunbed under a beach umbrella On the Ionian coast, the oasis for those who want to enjoy a day of pure fun is called Odissea 2000. Eight thousand square metres on which no less than 4,000 square metres of slides hover in Rossano There are pools and water attractions for all tastes and ages: breathtaking descents for the fearless Only strong stomachs will challenge themselves diving into the void in free fall on Skyron Rocket or launching themselves at high speed on Big Olympus "the longest slide in Italy," reads the park's website families and children will find comfortable spaces and a varied offer for lunch or a snack: bar With its eleven consecutive Blue Flags, Cirò Marina rightfully ranks among the most coveted places on the Calabrian coast If you are lucky enough to spend your holiday here you cannot miss a stop at the Senza limiti water park: an inflatable park in the sea a paradise for the little ones and an opportunity for adults to have fun being children again Moving and jumping between the inflatables is fun but it is also a challenge that helps you stay in shape The inflatable water park is located in the Cervara area and is equipped with areas for refreshments and for the hire of parasols and deckchairs The convenience of having the city at your fingertips, combined with the possibility of feeling as if you were by the sea. Just cross the threshold of the Santa Chiara Aquatic Park in Rende to forget the noise and hustle and bustle of urban life and even the possibility of taking a relaxing ride in the artificial lake in the rowing boats available to visitors groups or individuals looking for a relaxing spot https://calabriastraordinaria.it/en/news/aquaparks-in-calabria-not-to-be-missed You might be interested inWellnessHolidays in Isola Capo Rizzuto: sea, history and good wine2025-02-11 16:24:41 MuseumCorigliano-Rossano MuseumRende MuseumCrotone CastleCrotone MuseumCorigliano-Rossano Last update: Jun 25, 2024 3:47 PMContent owned by the Calabria Region | Tourism and Commerce Department issued under CC-BY License Rosa married Anthony “Nemo” Perito (deceased) and made the painstaking choice to leave behind her family — parents Cristina and Salvatore and eight siblings — Raffaele (d) Giuseppina and Anna — to make a life in America with her husband She likened arriving in America to landing on Mars; nonetheless the first of her three beloved children was born Salvatore Anthony (Tammy Gaudio); followed by Christine Rosa (Michael Williard) and the baby and apple of her eye Rosa was the epitome of a dedicated wife and loving mother but she achieved a new level of love and dedication when her grandchildren Alexandra Smurda She was a highly trained tailor by trade and an excellent cook but it was Rosa’s role as Nana that was her most favorite She embraced every moment and her love knew no bounds for her darling grandchildren where you would find her on Sundays looking like an Italian movie star as she was so frequently told She loved working the “Fish and French Fries” stand for St Anthony Annual Jubilee with her beloved sister-in- law She will always be remembered for her beautiful smile but oh that hair was the talk of the town everywhere she went even in her final days Her family finds peace in knowing that our father has her morning coffee ready as he did for 42 loving years and that her dearest friends Lizzie Tina and Anna have already dealt her in for a game or two of 31 Though she will be greatly missed by her children solace comes to us all knowing we have given a bit of our own light to allow heaven’s light to shine a little brighter Family and friends will received on Sunday WV (304) 527-1717 where funeral will commence on Monday Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m WV 26037 with Father Jude Perera presiding Interment will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery https://www.ticketone.it/eventseries/renga-nek-2023-3344787/?affiliate=ITT After announcing the special concert event at the Arena di Verona to celebrate 40 and 30 years of their artistic career on stage respectively, Francesco Renga and Nek will kick off their summer tour. The tour includes 2 dates in Calabria: Point of interestRoccella Ionica Last update: Jun 22, 2023 6:17 AMContent owned by the Calabria Region | Tourism and Commerce Department issued under CC-BY License Home / News / Article the daughter of imprisoned ‘Ndrangheta mafia boss Vincenzo Rispoli five-month and 10-day sentence for her role in an extortion beating that took place in Malta confirmed Judges also convicted ‘Ndrangheta associates brothers Michele and Giuseppe Di Novara to eight years each to 10 years and eight months incarceration for carrying out a brutal beating of businessman Giovanni D’Alessandro in Marsascala in January 2020 All four were also charged with mafia aggravating circumstances over their involvement in a ‘Ndrangheta mafia clan that operates in Legnano who lived in Malta at least at the time and owns Valmeda Srl a building company that was working at several construction sites in Malta owed some €3,000 to two of the three assailants for off-the-books illegal work they had done between November 2019 and January 2020 The three assailants had travelled to Malta on 25 January 2020 on an Air Malta flight from Linate Airport with tickets booked by the 31-year-old mafia boss’ daughter Francesca Rispoli The savage beating they administered D’Alessandro left him hospitalised with broken ribs and teeth Anti-mafia prosecutors’ phone taps between the assailants and relatives show how they bragged about brutally punching and kicking the victim with Lillo giving Rispoli details of the attack saying that “there was blood everywhere and teeth all over the floor” Lillo also bragged to his wife about having sabotaged D’Alessandro’s heavy machinery According to investigations coordinated by Colonel Antonio Coppola and Lieutenant Colonel Cataldo Pantaleo the three left for Malta at the end of January 2020 with the aim of getting paid by D’Alessandro Giuseppe ‘Zio Pino’ Di Novara told Francesca Rispoli in the phone intercepts “I broke it all…all full of blood… I have the keys and the phone… I have the fanny pack…he doesn’t even have a lira.” I got a strike,” a message Lillo sent to his wife said “I punched him from underneath,” he then told a friend when he returned to Italy I gave him the first punch under the chin and after that he didn’t understand anything.” The details of the beating have been confirmed in a medical report from Mater Dei Hospital where the businessman had himself treated that evening Rispoli is recorded as having encouraged and applauded them “This way he’ll know the ‘Ndrangheta still exists” an investigation was conducted by the Carabinieri and arrests were made in September 2020 The mafia charges come from investigators’ line of reasoning that the perpetrators acted “in order to facilitate the consortium activities of the Legnano-Lonate Pozzolo branch of the ‘Ndrangheta” The branch is believed to be the most powerful in Lombardy It is run by the Rispolis and is linked to the Farao clan in Cirò Marina Join our Corporate Democratic Responsibility Program The Shift is an independent online news platform committed to investigative journalism and the defence of press freedom cultural and social commentary from civil society We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns