Europe

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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Grumpygeek@lemm.ee to c/europe@feddit.org
 
 

Just go the vote, and make sure your family and friends go to give their votes.

I'm not local, I cannot vote over here, but had seen multiple times in modern times voter suppression has been a big deal, it's easier to make you not to bother to vote than change your mind who to vote.

I had worked brexit UK, where people voted it due they weren't happy about the PM. As it was good time to vote against him. Without thinking what brexit actually was. So use your voice by voting. What do you wish the future of country will be in this new era.

I know German has issues, as every Europe union contries. If the problems are easy to solve they would have been solved already, don't belive one tag line promises.

I'm just wanna say, as a fellow user. Just go to vote.

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Weidel admitted meeting Wu but said she met him once in months. As for their discussions, Weidel said that she sought an understanding of China’s position on Germany.

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The damning findings come days ahead of German parliamentary elections in which AfD has rattled mainstream politicians. As per latest opinion polls, the party stands second in popularity and way ahead of incumbent SPD. While AfD’s links to the neo-Nazi movement have led to widespread concerns and contributed to its ostracisation by German parties, the links to China have led to fresh concerns whether a top contender for German chancellorship has been groomed by China.

The findings are all the more damning as European far-right has long been supported by Russia and China is Russia’s principal ally. The AfD is so extremist that even French far-right party, National Rally (RN), broke ties with it in the European Union (EU) elections last year. Moreover, AfD has previously been charged with spying for China and such allegations contributed to the RN-AfD split.

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AfD leader Alice Weidel’s long relationship to China

In light of revealation of Weidel’s secret meetings with the top Chinese diplomat in Germany, fresh attention has come on her long relationship with China that goes back to decades. It is bound to be explored whether she has been groomed by China to do the Communist Party’s bidding in Germany and Europe.

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As an economist, Weidel worked for the state-owned Bank of China and lived in China for six years. It has been reported that she was on scholarship during those years. Her doctoral thesis was also written on Chinese pension system.

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In China, Weidel worked at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

While Weidel today leads a party linked to neo-Nazis, her grandparents were members of the Nazi Party. Her grandfather, Hans Weidel, was a prominent Nazi judge who persecuted political opponents of the Nazi regime. He was appointed by Adolf Hitler himself.

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Estonia's large Russian-speaking minority used to be taught in Russian. The government has responded to Russia's invasion with a reform to end this. Now, lessons will only be taught in Estonian.

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Three years into the full scale invasion of Ukraine, we ask what life is like in areas under Russian control. We look at “ripe for russification” Crimea, which was annexed 11 years ago, Moscow’s subsequent efforts to assert itself in the separatist East, and the Kremlin’s challenges in subjugating parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

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A new framework aimed at increasing the competitiveness of European industry is targeting lower energy costs and stronger purchase incentives for local and sustainable products, according to a leaked early draft of the measures.

[...]

EUROPE FOCUS “European preference criteria” are set to become a prominent factor in public and private procurement, according to the draft text, as well as new labelling for industrial products to more clearly delineate greener products from fossil-based ones.

The new measures could set out “minimum local content” requirements along with more robust sustainability criteria for public procurement, as well as exploring options for embedding similar “non-cost criteria” into product legislation.

CIRCULARITY, HYDROGEN The Commission could be set to limit the export of waste raw materials deemed critical for circular production, and is expected to ease restrictions on movement of raw materials across the region in the Circular Economy Act, expected next year.

Policymakers are also looking to clarify rules on low-carbon hydrogen production, and are set to launch a third call for projects through the Hydrogen Bank, the auction house set up to incentivise projects and investment, in the third quarter 2025.

CBAM REFORMS, DECARBONISATION TARGETS With a targeted package for the chemicals sector, which the draft text refers to as the “industry of industries”, expected towards the end of the year, the Commissions’ review of the proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) continues.

Intended to levy fees on the CO2 emissions of energy-intensive goods imports such as steel and fertilizers, the Commission is proposing to simplify the framework ahead of its roll-out next year, and reduce the administrative burden on businesses.

[...]

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We went inside one of Europe’s biggest abandoned buildings, the one of a kind ICC Berlin. Find out more about the ICC Berlin, and the opportunity to redesign this world-famous landmark.

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Archived

The Government is coming under renewed pressure over Chinese involvement in a major North Sea wind project.

The Green Volt North Sea farm, due to be Europe’s largest floating offshore wind farm, is a joint venture between a Japanese and an Italian-Norwegian company.

The Treasury has reportedly selected Chinese firm Mingyang Smart Energy to supply wind turbines.

The wind farm will be about 46 miles off the coast of Aberdeenshire and will generate up to 560MW of electricity. The firm says it is aiming for the plant to be operational in 2029.

There are concerns that the Chinese state could switch off the power once the wind farm is operational, or that the platforms could be used as spy sensors.

Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West Christine Jardine said the Government needed to ensure the software could not be accessed remotely or be at risk of being switched off by others.

She said the Government must follow “rigorous processes”, adding: “That must include an assessment of any opportunities for remote access to the turbines, as the software will normally remain in control of the manufacturers, even once commissioned, which would leave them vulnerable to being switched off. We need local control."

Energy minister Kerry McCarthy said the department had processes in place to ensure any risk in the project was minimised.

Ms McCarthy said: “We have discussions with a wide range, variety, of international investors, but we do absolutely recognise this needs to be balanced against national security implications, and that is something that we work on constantly across Government.”

[...]

[UK] Chancellor Rachel Reeves flew to the country in January to meet the country’s leaders, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy will meet his Chinese counterpart this week.

This is despite concerns about China’s human rights record, and potential for them to use backdoors in Britain’s energy infrastructure to blackmail a future government.

[...]

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Big oil, governments and one of Europe’s largest polluters are among the developers of planned projects off our coast

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Archived

Whilst the threat to Europe’s economic autonomy from a reliance on Chinese technologies has been evident for some time, many are now fearing that this dependence has created significant vulnerability in terms of national security [...]

Security services are fearful that sensors embedded within the hardware [of green energy technology] could collect data, control assets or even be used to monitor shipping and submarine activity if attached to wind turbines, for instance. As Chinese businesses dominate renewable supply chains in the green energy sector, there are limited options to source equipment from Western suppliers [...]

There are also wider concerns about the ownership of European terminals by Chinese companies, such as in Hamburg and Piraeus in Greece. One research paper commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Policies suggested that not only should Chinese investment in critical infrastructures be reviewed (and potentially blocked) at a European level, but that ports using Chinese software should be identified as well as the data being transmitted. It was also suggested that all EU members should put in place laws, ‘…to retake control of ports/terminals and other maritime infrastructures ownership and/or considered contingency plans in case that is required in a scenario of conflict (kinetic or otherwise) with China, in co-ordination with EU and other Member States.’

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NATO is planning to build a pipeline system from Germany to Poland and the Czech Republic to ensure a rapid supply of jet fuel for fighter aircraft in the event of a war with Russia, weekly German magazine Der Spiegel reported.

The existing Cold War-era pipeline system of the military alliance currently ends in western Germany.

Der Spiegel cited an internal memo from the Bundeswehr - Germany's armed forces - as stating that there are "significant problems in the sustainable fuel supply for forces that would need to be deployed to the eastern border in case of emergency".

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German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, on Friday said Europe needed to ramp up pressure on Washington to stand by NATO allies and not impose an unfair peace on Ukraine.

Her comments came after US President Donald Trump spoke to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin last week to discuss ending the war and before Trump declared he doesn't consider it essential for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be present at talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

"I don't think he's very important to be in meetings," Trump said in an audio interview with Fox News, adding that Zelenskyy has been negotiating "with no cards, and you get sick of it."

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Baerbock's statements were similar to those of other European leaders discussing how to approach likely changes to transatlantic relations during Trump's second term.

"We are increasing the pressure on the Americans so that they have as much to lose as possible if they no longer stand by the side of the liberal democracies of Europe," Baerbock told a campaign event in Potsdam.

The foreign minister referred to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's declaration of a "turning point" when it came to increasing Berlin's military strength in light of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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