EU passes 19th sanctions package against Russia, Polish court blocks extradition of Nord Stream2 suspect to Germany and Sarkozy goes to jail

Last week ended, before another highly charged Oval Office meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the question of whether the US would supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. By the time that contentious sitdown was over, it looked like another bait and switch, a scam in which an enticing dangle is offered before a form of humiliation is served.

Even before the two leaders sat down in Washington, Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his bets and picked up the phone. Once that call was over, Trump and Putin seemed headed for yet another meeting in Budapest. But at the start of this week, to Budapest or not to Budapest was no longer the question. In conversations with his counterpart, US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio saw little opportunity to progress towards peace in Ukraine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Even as a microcosm of the bigger times we are living in, this week was schizophrenic. But more importantly, peace in our time on Europe's eastern flank – for now – is but a distant glimmer on an event horizon where the most distant point is contoured by the belief that nothing lasts forever. Perhaps we should call this eternity point the East Wing of the White House which was unceremoniously demolished this week to make way for a multi-million dollar ballroom that advances the Mar-a-Lago-ification of Washington and the White House in particular.

But to pretend that the current trajectory is pure tragedy is also to betray reality with simplicity. In fact, the EU passed its 19th sanctions package against Russia. Not to be outdone, the US sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil along with many ships belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers just before the EU sanctions went into effect. And last weekend saw millions of Americans protest in a largely peaceful, street carnival-like environment in towns big and small under the umbrella of "no kings".

Complexity theory teaches us that interdependencies result in adaptive systems. The behaviors that govern human survival are also characteristic of the structures we make. We are shaped by a world that in turn molds in our image. To call this current climate dynamic is an understatement. To emphasize the power of regular people is too puerile – but not irrelevant in this moment. Years ago, before a film screening in my hometown of Chicago, the Lithuanian Consul General said something that stayed with me ever after: every nation is nothing more and nothing less than the sum of its people.

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BRUSSELS BELGIUM – EU passes 19th sanctions package against Russia

Reuters reports EU nations approved the 19th round of sanctions against Russia "that includes a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports".
The Kyiv Independent reports last Saturday that Austria dropped its objections to the EU's 19th sanctions package against Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. EU foreign ministers still had to contend with objections from Slovakia, the final hurdle, which came at last on Wednesday, Politico reports.
While the sanctions package was initially supposed to pass Monday, on Wednesday just before it finally did, the EU's Chief Diplomat Kaja Kallas said in a statement "that after the 19th package, we should work on the next package."

WARSAW, POLAND – Polish court blocks German extradition of Nord Stream suspect

Deutsche Welle reports a Polish court in Warsaw blocked the German extradition request of a man identified only as Volodymyr Z., according to strict German privacy laws, over alleged involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, citing a lack of evidence.
The man, a trained diver who was arrested in his Warsaw apartment in September, was to be released immediately according to a decision by the Warsaw District Court, though it may be possible to appeal the decision. Prime Minister Donald Tusk "hailed the decision," in a post on X saying the case was "rightly" closed.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was damaged by "A series of underwater explosions" in September of 2022 after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.

PARIS, FRANCE – Former President Sarkozy enters prison over Qaddafi campaign funds

The Financial Times reports former French President Nicolas Sarkozy began a five-year prison sentence Tuesday following his criminal conspiracy conviction after two of his aides took funding from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi for his 2007 presidential campaign.
Sarkozy is "the first former French president to serve time in jail" and, Le Monde reports, "also the first French leader to be incarcerated since Phillippe Pétain, the Nazi collaborationist head of state who was jailed after World War II," as well as "the first former head of a European Union state to be jailed."
He will serve at the historic La Santé prison in Paris where other famous former inmates include late Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, rogue Société Général trader Jérôme Kerviel and briefly, poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Sarkozy will also have to pay a €100,000 ($116,000) fine though he will keep "his pre-existing security detail" which will be "maintained in detention."

PARIS, FRANCE – Jewel thieves steal Napoleonic jewels from Louvre in minutes-long heist

The AP and France 24 report thieves who remain at large looted the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre in Paris and stole eight "priceless" Napoleonic era jewels in a "broad daylight" heist that lasted only minutes.
The heist occurred at the "world's most-visited museum" thirty minutes after opening at around 9:30 am Sunday, just 250 meters (270 yards) from where the museum's most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, is displayed. The thieves used a basket lift "against the Seine-facing façade" as their entry route and cutting equipment to slash the display case. The lift was later removed by authorities but revealed a major security vulnerability in "that such machinery could be brought to a palace museum unchecked." The imperial crown of Empress Eugenie, Napoleon III's wife, contained 1,300 diamonds was later recovered broken inside the museum.
Staff had "complained that crowding and thin staff are straining security" and French Culture Minister Rachida Dati called the heist a "professional four-minute operation."

BERLIN, GERMANY – Germany to acquire 15 more F35 fighter jets

Reuters reports Monday that German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius "intends to order" 15 more F35 fighter jets manufactured by US defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
The additional aircraft will cost €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) per confidential parliamentary documents prepared for the Bundestag's budget committee. German news magazine Der Spiegel was first to report the acquisition.
Germany has already agreed to purchase 35 of the jets and retire its 85 Tornado aircraft. In July, Berlin denied it planned to acquire more F35s but an expanded defense budget has led to a change of plans.

KAISERSLAUTHERN, GERMANY – Germany to pay local salaries for workers on US bases

Stars and Stripes, the US military's newspaper, reports Germany will "front the salaries" of nearly 12,000 German employees who work on US bases "if the federal government shutdown" in the US "delays October paychecks", officials in the state of Rheinfeld-Pfalz said Wednesday.
The largest US bases in Germany, including Ramstein Air Force Base and the US Army Garrison in Rheinfeld-Pfalz, are located in the state. More than half of all German national employees on US bases in the country are employed in Rheinfeld-Pfalz.
German news outlet Tagesschau reported Wednesday that the German Ministry of Finance is preparing "approximately $50 million in emergency funding" while the US federal government remains shut down with no end in sight.

BERLIN, GERMANY – Germany recalls ambassador to Georgia for consultations

Politico reports Germany's ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, was recalled "for consultations" Sunday after he was made "the target of attacks from the pro-Russian government".
Writing on X, the German Foreign Ministry said "the Georgian leadership" had spent months "agitating" against the EU, Germany in particular and Ambassador Fischer personally.
Georgia halted the EU accession process following the contested victory of President Mikheil Kavelashvili, "a far-right firebrand and former footballer," last December. The decision to recall Ambassador Fischer "comes after a prolongued escalation between Georgia's Russian-oriented head of government Irakli Kobakhidze and Fischer." Last month, Fischer was summoned by the Georgian Foreign Ministry and warned not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Caucasus nation. A statement suggested Fischer was promoting a "radical agenda within the country". Der Spiegel reports Fischer attended the court hearings of members of the opposition and rented a house from an opposition politician.

ERDING, GERMANY – Police officer mistakenly shoots soldier during training exercise

Deutsche Welle reports a German police officer in the Bavarian town of Erding near the Munich Airport shot at a soldier by mistake Wednesday during a Bundeswehr exercise, Marshal Power, which involves drills being "conducted in public spaces" in order "to rehearse an attack on a NATO member state".
The soldier was briefly hopsitalized and released after "he was treated for minor injuries". Bavarian police were "responding to reports of a man carrying a weapon and deployed multiple units" and a helicopter southeast of Erding. The incident occurred after the Bundeswehr "fired practice ammunition" believing the arriving poilce were part of the exercise. Bavarian police called the incident "a misinterpretation at the scene".
An investigation of the incident is under way. The drills are being conducted "in dozens of towns and cities to the north of Munich".

POMEZIA, ITALY – Bomb explodes outside home of top journalist investigating the mafia

The AP reports a car that belonged to Sigfrido Ranucci, the lead anchor on Italian state-run RAI3 's Report investigative series, "exploded outside his home" last Thursday, "prompting an investigation by Italy's anti-Mafia authorities," an act that was condemned last Friday by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
According to RAI3's Report, "the explosion was so powerful that it could have killed anyone passing by." Ranucci had just arrived home and his daughter had walked by the site of the explosion only a half hour earlier. The bomb destroyed the car and damaged another car belonging to the family as well as the front gate of his home. In a video he recorded, he showed "the mangled remains of the cars and gate." Ranucci "has been under police protection since 2021 because of his hard-hitting investigations".
Meloni "expressed her solidarity" and condemned "the serious act of intimidation".

RIETI, ITALY – Basketball team's bus driver dies after being hit with stone by team's rivals

The BBC reports the bus driver for Pistoia Basket was hit in the head and killed while the bus was at rest in the town of Rieti, Italy Sunday night after fans from a rival team attacked the coach the team was riding in with stones.
Fans from SRS Sebastiani Rieti threw objects including stones at the bus of the Tuscan basketball team as it travelled through Rieti which is 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Rome. One large stone smashed the windshield and knocked out one of two team drivers, Raffaele Marianella, 65, who was "sitting at the front but not driving". He died later from the blow he sustained.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the incident an "insane act of violence" and the Italian sports minister called it "shocking".

BARI, ITALY – Swiss man wanted on a 1999 US warrant for financial crimes arrested

Swissinfo reports an unnamed 60-year-old Swiss national wanted on a 1999 US arrest warrant "for a fraud" in New York "involing more than $20 million" (CHF 15.9 million) was arrested on a catamaran by customs police off the coast of Bari according to a report by Italian state news agency Ansa Monday.
After 26 years, the Swiss national was taken into custody on charges of "criminal conspiracy to commit fraud involving financial securities and of laundering illicitly acquired income". The arrest came during a normal inspection when "customs officers checked the identities of the people on board" the catamaran and realized "the man was wanted".
Following his arrest, he appeared before a judge in Bari before he was taken into custody while the US initiated extradition proceedings.

LAMPEDUSA, ITALY – Body of pregnant migrant recovered after ship capsizes

Reuters reports Sunday that a boat carrying approximately 35 people capsized in the central Mediterranean, with authorities recovering the body of a pregnant woman.
The Italian Coast Guard was able to save 11 migrants, including four children who were travelling alone.
The UNICEF country coordinator for Italy said two dozen remain missing.

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss to buy partially mobile short-range radar to secure airspace

Swissinfo reports Switzerland will procure a Tactical Multimission Radar (TMMR) from Italian defense manufacturer Leonardo "as part of the 2028 Armed Forces Dispatch" to have short-range radar to secure the country's airspace, the Swiss Federal Armaments Office, Armasuisse, said Monday.
Armasuisse said the TMMR system was essential "to better maintain air sovereignty in lower airspace", closing a current "capability gap".
In the statement, Armasuisse was clear: "The Air Force does not currently have a partially mobile radar system that is capable of covering lower airspace".

BETWEEN INTERLAKEN & SPIEZ, SWITZERLAND – Ukrainian family threatened on train

Polish state-run TVP reports Saturday that a Russian-speaking Riga, Latvia native was detained in Switzerland on October 13 after making threats against a Ukrainian family in an incident that went viral on pro-Ukrainian channels.
Ukrainian national Olena Dudnyk was aboard a train from Interlaken to Spiez talking with her Swiss husband who speaks Ukrainian when "A man sitting on the other side of the aisle with a travelling companion and consuming alcohol" overheard them. He "directed a series of aggressive, xenophobic, and threatening remarks towards the family" as she recorded him. He was "later identified as Aleksanders Vabiks, a native of Riga and a citizen of Latvia haling from the country's considerable Russian-speaking minority." Several times Vabiks said "he was Russian and that Russians are killing Ukrainians." He also "demanded the family move from their seats, even threatening to beat up the couple's child." He also "knocked the phone from her hand" when he realized he was being filmed.
Others on board "reported the man to police, who met the train at the next station." Vabiks "attempted to hide in another section of the train before being detained." While the incident is being investigated by Bern cantonal police, "Dudnyk expressed frustration that Swiss authorities appeared reluctant to act." Separately, Latvian authorities have also opened a case against Vabiks "for inciting ethnic hatred against Ukrainians, involving violence and threats."

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – Austria deports convicted Afghan for first time since Taliban takeover

Politico reports Tuesday that for the first time since the Taliban retook the Afghan capital Kabul in 2021, Austria deported an Afghan national who was convicted of a crime in the country.
Austrian public broadcaster ORF reports the individual was a convicted sex offender who had perpetrated a "severe assault, and spent four years in an Austrian prison." Euractiv reports he came to Austria as an unaccompanied minor and notes neighboring Germany has deported 100 Afghans since last year.
Writing on X, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker posted, "Anyone who doesn't follow the rules will have to leave" and said the deported Afghan national had "forfeited" his right of residence.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – Convicted property tycoon René Benko appeals conviction

Reuters reports property tycoon René Benko who was convicted of "insolvency-related fraud" last week in Vienna has appealed his conviction and the two-year prison sentence he received on Monday.
The case against Benko stems from "a sweeping investigation" into Signa, the real estate group he controlled, which collapsed in 2023.
The collapse of Signa is the biggest bankruptcy in Austria since the Second World War.

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