Alpine nations call for Albanese to resign, France opens a consulate in Greenland and Germany pushes allies for more air defense for Ukraine

As I write this, we are less than one hour from the start of this year's Munich Security Conference, the largest such confab in the world, this week we look forward and examine the moment for what it is, one in which transatlantic ties must be repaired "like a bicycle in a repair shop," as conference Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger told Politico's Global Security newsletter. 

The agenda dropped a few hours ago and this year, US National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, USAID Administrator, National Archivist, e.g. a veritable Minister of All Things Substantial, Marco Rubio leads the U.S. delegation, Reuters reports. So no Europeans think Trump's America is a monolith, far left Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will also be on hand and on stage. The full agenda for the ultimate "nerd prom" (sorry not sorry White House Correspondence Association dinner) is now available online, having dropped a few hours ago, and the report came out earlier this week. Spoiler alert: Trump is a major focus of geopolitical instability and is making US allies in Europe nervous on numerous fronts.

So with T-2 hours to go until livestreams from the big annual security conference air, let's take stock of the most perilous moment in transatlantic relations in god knows how long. As French President Emmanuel Macron pointed out in an interview to The Financial Times earlier this week, "when there is some relief after a crisis peaks, you shouldn't let your guard down thinking it's over for good. That isn't true because there is permanent instability now." This is a direct echo of Nixon in his 1962 tome Six Crises: 

"The easiest period in a crisis situation is the actual battle itself. The most difficult is the period of indecision – whether to fight or run away. And the most dangerous period is the aftermath. It is then, with all his resources spent and guard down, that an individual must watch out for dulled reactions and faulty judgment."

Let's say we must sharpen our senses as soon as possible and with great urgency and recall, my dear Swiss and European friends, all the times you have acted against your own best interests for reasons. Right now, Switzerland is contemplating capping its population at 10 million, "a move that could threaten crucial agreements with the EU and limit companies' access to skilled foreign workers," as The Financial Times notes. Let's not even talk about the F-35 "fixed price" brouhaha. These are but recent episodes in the parade of hits in acting against one's own best interests from this side of the Atlantic. Let's go back in history to the late 1960s and perhaps the most damaging moment of all when France's former President Charles De Gaulle evicted NATO from its former headquarters in Paris, hobbling the influence France could have had on the continent's military affairs for generations. Oopsie.

Nationalism is a drug and from time to time people binge and occasionally nations get hooked for a time. It often does not end well (ask Germany), but it is more often a consequence of avarice, something surely the wealthy Alpine nations know a thing or two about. 

Last week, I concluded with gratitude to the Danish veterans and their supporters who protested outside the US Embassy in Copenhagen. They held the line with profound dignity in reaction to the gravest insults from US President Donald Trump. This was an exceptional and powerful response. Bad behavior can beget bad behavior. But it can also beget warriors who deliver at the highest level in the face of heavy incoming.

Achtung! When your countries are facing down a threat from Russia and the official US government is on a nationalism sabbatical, European nations and regular citizens must continue to hold the line, champion dialogue and transatlanticism. Further, Europe needs American weapons to protect itself, whether air defense or fighter jets, there is no chance of "strategic autonomy" at this stage, as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte correctly points out.

To this end, the Bern Security Dialogue has its first event in Washington on the campus of Georgetown University next week. Two retired generals, one American, one German will speak in a conversation moderated by Neue Zürcher Zeitung security politics correspondent, Swiss Army Colonel and the love of my life, Georg Häsler. He and I both know the power of the transatlantic alliance and how threatened adversarial interests are by it as we are forced to defend it constantly, often in the most parochial of contexts. If ever there was a country that did not want to be a member of any club that would likely have it as a member but we do not bend, we do not waiver and we do not surrender because we both know the simple truth: united we stand, divided we all fall. Together. Russia, if you're listening… 

Welcome to the new Alpine Security Monitor! You can subscribe (and become a paid subscriber!) for weekly updates on security and geopolitics as it concerns the Alpine region, namely Austria, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland (ok, little Liechtenstein and Monaco too when merited). If this was forwarded to you, welcome! Questions, complaints, musings, lucrative offers, misguided rants and related ephemera can all be addressed to the management, amanda.rivkin@securitydialogue.org. Now let's get to the week's news from around the Alpine region.

DOHA, QATAR – Alpine nations call for UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine to resign

• The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel report Wednesday and Thursday that several European countries including Alpine nations Austria, France, Germany and Italy are calling for UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese to resign over "antisemitic remarks at Saturday's Al Jazeera Forum" in Doha "where she spoke alongside a representative of Hamas", Khaled Meshaal, "and a representative of the Iranian government", Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, "while the repression continues."
• In addition to appearing on the same stage as Meshaal and Araghchi at the Al Jazeera Forum, Albanese branded Israel "an enemy of humanity". Her full quote also dabbles in old tropes about Jewish people controlling money and the world: "We who do not control large amounts of financial capitals, algorithms and weapons, we now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy," according to Le Monde.
• On X, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Albanese's remarks do not reflect the official position of the government of Italy. Albanese also faced criticism from French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot during a parliamentary meeting and said he plans to call for her resignation at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on February 23.

NUUK, GREENLAND – France opens consulate in Greenland

• CNN reports last Friday that France and Canada opened consulates in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland "in a show of support for their NATO ally Denmark amid renewed demands from US President Donald Trump to acquire the arctic territory."
• France named Jean-Noel Poirier as Consul General. For his part, he said his appointment was not a "signal" to the US, "but rather a message of friendship to Greenland and Denmark." He said, "It's not against, it's with." France's ambassador to Denmark, Christophe Parisot, said the consulate was "something very concrete" and more than a mere symbol.
• Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand and Governor General Mary Simon were both in Nuuk last Friday for the flag raising ceremony at their counry's new consulate on the Danish territory.

RAMSTEIN AIR FORCE BASE, GERMANY – Germany makes push for more air defense

• Reuters reports Thursday that following a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group that Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said his country "will deliver five additional PAC-3," or Patriot Adanced Capability-3 "missile interceptors to Ukraine if other countries donate a total of 30".
• Pistorius said, "We all know this is about saving lives," adding, "It's a matter of days and not a matter of weeks or months".
• Pistorius said that while the move "has not been approved by national governments yet, " he is "very optimistic" the push to get more air defense in place for Ukraine would succeed.

BERLIN, GERMANY – Bundeswehr announces plan to acquire €536 million worth of drones

• Reuters reports Tuesday that Germany announced "plans to order strike drones worth 536 million euros ($638 million) from German startups Helsing and Stark Defense" as part of a larger "rearmament push".
• The loitering munitions contract is "part of a larger framework deal worth 4.3 billion euros" or $5.1 billion. The lower house of the Bundestag's budget committee is expected to rubber stamp the proposal for seven-year contracts with the first attack drones delivered in 2027.
• The intent of the drones is "to support Germany's 45th Tank Brigade, which is deployed in Lithuania."

WESSLING, GERMANY – Germany aims for 'Europe's first sovereign hypersonic' missile

• Defense News reports Tuesday that "German startus Hypersonica claimed a 'significant' step toward delivering Europe's"—or Germany's—"first sovereign hypersonic strike capability by 2029".
• Hypersonica's "first hypersonic test flight in Norway pushed its missile prototype to more than Mach 6 and a range of more than 300 kilometers."
• In a statement Tuesday, the startup based near Munich said it "plans further test flights" and noted "it's the first privately funded European defense company to achieve hypersonic flight".

BERLIN, GERMANY – Aerospace, defense union leaders call for Berlin to make its own jet

• Euractiv reports Monday that the heads of the IG Metall union, Jürgen Kerner, and the German Aerospace Industries Association, Marie-Christine von Hahn, "said Germany should make its own jet."
• Their push comes "after French President Emmanuel Macron urged progress on a troubled joint European warplane project", the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which "was originally planned as a joint project between equal partners and operated as such for a long time," Kener and von Hahn wrote in the Handelsblatt newspaper.
• FCAS was "Launched in 2017 to replace France's Rafale jet as well as the Eurofighter planes used by Germany and Spain," but "the project has stalled amid disagreements between Dassault and Airbus".

BERLIN, GERMANY – Germany indicts third suspect over package bomb plot tied to Russia

• Reuters reports Monday that German prosecutors announced they had indicted a third suspect, a Ukrainian national identified only as Yevhen B. according to strict German privacy laws, for his involvement in "a plot linked to Russian intelligence to detonate parcel packages in Europe".
• Yevhen B. was arrested in Switzerland last May and extradicted to Germany in December.
• Last March, Yevhen B. and two others identified as Daniil B. and Vladyslav T. "sent two packages with GPS trackers from the western German city of Cologne to Ukraine on the orders of Russian intelligence intermediaries in Mariupol" with the intent of investigating logistics routes "in order to later send packages with incendiary devices that would ignite in Germany or elsewhere to parts of Ukraine not occupied by Russia".

BETWEEN BOLOGNA AND VENICE, ITALY – Rail network hit by sabotage during Olympics

• The BBC reports Saturday that "Suspected attacks on northern Italy's rail network have led to severe train disruption in the region," in an attack that coincided with the first day of the Winter Olympics. On Monday, "anarchists" claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to Reuters, triggering a response from Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
• There were three separate incidents police "believe are connected to the Games." Infrastructure between Bologna and Venice was set on fire, while "severed cables and an explosive device" were found in nearby locations.
• The Ministry of Transport said the incidents looked like "serious sabotage" and drew analogies to similar attacks that took place during the Paris Olympics in 2024.

MILAN, ITALY – Anti-ICE protesters met with teargas near Olympics venue

• The AP and the BBC report Saturday six people were arrested following clashes where protesters threw fireworks and were met with tear gas and a water cannon as they "tried to access a highway near a Winter Olympics venue".
• "The brief confrontation" followed a largely peaceful march "against the environmental impact of the Games and the presence of U.S. agents in Italy."
• Earlier, masked protesters set off smoke bombs and shot fireworks on a bridge some 800 meters (half a mile) from the Olympic Village where the athletes are staying during the Games.

LECCE-BRINDISI HIGHWAY, ITALY – Armed gang blows up armored vehicle on highway

• People reports Monday on a brazen robbery which took place on the Brindisi-Lecce highway in souther Italy in which an armed gang stopped traffic to blow up an armored vehicle, operating principally on the theory that is where the money is, calling it "The Real-Life Italian Job!" in their headline.
• At least eight individuals are believed to have been involved in the incident which took place on the 613 highway connecting the southern Italian cities of Brindisi and Lecce. After the armored vehicles doors were blown off, "the suspects emerged from nearby parked cars to unload items from the van before speeding away from police."
• A security system known as Spumablock, which is activated by remote control, blocked the money from being offloaded. No civilians or police were injured during the incident. Two of the suspects, aged 38 and 61, both from Foggia were arrested and an Alfa Romeo used in the incident was found abandoned in a field a little while later.

PARIS, FRANCE – Former minister resigns from culture institute over Epstein ties

• The Guardian reports Sunday former French Culture Minister Jack Lang resigned as head of the Arab World Institute in Paris "after revelations of his past contacts with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein" and the decision of French prosecutors to launch an investigation into his taxes.
• The 86-year-old former minister resigned Saturday evening "before he was due to attend an urgent meeting called by the French foreign ministry to discuss his links with Epstein." Lang was culture minister in the 1980s and 90s under Socialist President François Mitterand. Lang corresponded with Epstein "intermittently" from 2012 until 2019, the year Epstein died in a New York jail. Lang was mentioned more than 600 times in the Epstein files.
• Also on Saturday, French tax authorities opened an investigation into Lang and his daughter, film producer Caroline Lang, for suspicion of "aggravated tax fraud laundering" after both were referenced in the Epstein files with both denying wrongdoing. Caroline was also mentioned as a beneficiary in Epstein's will of €5 million ($5.9 million), something she said she was unaware of and had not received money from. Deutsche Welle reports Saturday she resigned a week ago last Monday as head of the Independent Production Union.

PARIS, FRANCE – France detects Russian disinformation campaign around Epstein files

• Reuters reports last Friday that "France has uncovered a pro-Russia disinformation campaign falsely connecting President Emmanuel Macron to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein".
• The French state's service for Vigilance and Protection Against Foreign Digital Interference found the operation "used tactics like those of Storm-1516, a pro-Russia group that U.S. authorities suspect spread disinformation during the 2024 U.S. presidential election campaign."
• The content of the disinformation campaign includes screenshots of fake emails similar to the real ones that came out with the Epstein files. The laundering technique used "a website purporting to be French online daily France-Soir." The website was removed after the real France-Soir complained but videos purporting to be a news report remain online still. The initial video was circulated using an account tied to Storm-1516.

GRENOBLE, FRANCE – Police appeal for victims of pedophile teacher to come forward

• The Guardian reports Wednesday that "French police have made a rare international appeal for victims and witnesses in the case of a 79-year-old former teacher", Jacques Leveugle, "accused of raping and sexually assaulting 89 children across five continents from the 1960s until 2022."
• Leveugle is currently in pretrial detention in Grenoble since April 2025. His acts span countries including Germany, Switzerland, Morocco, Niger, Algeria, the Philippines, India, Colombia and French overseas territory New Caledonia. France's gendarmerie "issued an online appeal showing pictures of Leveugle at different ages and stating the countries he had been living in."
• The case centers on his own "memoir" that a nephew found on a USB thumb drive and handed over to police. Leveugle also confessed to suffocating his ill elderly mother and an aunt to death.

BOURG-LÈS-VALENCE, FRANCE – Six arrested over cryptocurrency-related ransom plot

• Agence France Presse reports Sunday that six people were arrested, including a child, accusted of holding a magistrate and her mother captive in a garage in Bourg-lès-Valence for 30 hours last week "in a cryptocurrency ransom plot."
• Four men and one woman were detained between Saturday night and Sunday morning. The child was arrested Sunday afternoon. Two of the suspects tried to board a bus to Spain when they were arrested. The woman is the partner of one of the men in custody. More suspects are believed to be at large still.
• The 35-year-old magistrate and her 67-year-old mother were found injured in a garage in the Drôme department in the southeast of France. A search involving 160 police officers was launched when "the magistrate's partner received a message and a photo of her from the kidnappers demanding a ransom to be paid in cryptocurrency." The kidnappers threatened to mutilate the victims if the money did not arrive quickly. The women managed to alert a neighbor by banging on the garage door who intervened to free them.

GRENOBLE, FRANCE – Explosive device thrown into beauty salon injures six people

• People reports Saturday that "an explosive device" was thrown into a beauty salon in the French town of Grenoble last Friday at 2:45 p.m., injuring six including a five-year-old child.
• None of the injured required hospitalzation but were treated on site, according to the local prefecture.
• No arrests have been made though a video, "seemingly shared by the perpetrators" was uploaded to social media "several hours after the attack."

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Belarusian nuns barred from fundraising in Swiss church

• Belarusian opposition outlet Belsat reports Tuesday that nuns from the Belarusian Orthodox Saint Elisabeth Convent "were recently spotted" as they were "collecting money at the Holy Trinity Church in Bern", something angry parishioners have seen to shut down.
• David Genseler, a Russian language teacher and East European specialist, "as stunned to see the nuns" when he went to mass as "he had read that they support the Russian war." He wrote letters to the parish, the Bern parish newspaper and the Basel Diocese and demanded "in the strongest terms" that the nuns not be permitted at the church.
• Pastor Marie Gübscher said she had "received numerous written assurances" that any funds raised would be for "charitable activities" however to "avoid any unpleasant associations in the future" the church has said it will prohibit the nuns' presence.

And finally…

TICINO, SWITZERLAND – Swiss woman receives suspended sentence over pink water pistol

• Swissinfo reports Sunday that a Swiss woman identified only as Mia received a five-day suspended sentence for importing a pink water pistol to go with her carnival costume.
• The pink water pistol, which cost 2.78 Swiss francs online, was confiscated by Swiss customs. Instead Mia received a visit from "two real police officers".
• Swiss law does not differentiate between real weapons and toys that look like weapons as "Replica firearms have created public order problems in Switzerland."

Stay safe and have a great, restorative nerd prom even with and especially acknowledging the incoming ahead! As a great American once said, we shall overcome!

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