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Europeans denying US base access and overflights for the war against Iran and Paris police foil Iran-backed attack on Bank of America building

Europeans denying US base access and overflights for the war against Iran and Paris police foil Iran-backed attack on Bank of America building

Who is in control? Does anyone have any good answers? Anyone who imagines they do is probably out to lunch because when they come back, they might not be so certain.

Iran is exerting its will over the Strait of Hormuz while the US is failing to cajole old colleagues in NATO into the fight, rather quite the opposite. Perhaps the fine print of the North Atlantic Treaty has something to do with it. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was dancing across the Gulf region offering counter drone technologies. A flurry of agreements appear to be on the offer. Though a word of caution must be extended: until anyone gets a glimpse of the fine print, this could be anything. Trust, but verify afterall.

Insecurity does seem to dominate, whether that is Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev taking "full control" of the Nakhchivan region where an Iranian shahed struck the airport or the EU's stunning lack of an Iran war strategy, as Brookings' Constanze Stelzenmüller writes in The Financial Times. Even those who are capable of protecting us, namely "Ukrainian housewives" crafting drones out of Lego's, had to suffer the indignity of Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger disparaging their efforts in The Atlantic. All the while, hardline nationalist parties, increasingly of the far-right variety, are climbing in the polls in Europe.

This week, we reflect on the merging of the two fronts now that both wars are underway in earnest. It is becoming harder to imagine where people or whole nation states imagine their runway runs out—or worse, if they are not even entertaining the possibility. Geography matters as much as the will to move forward. It is going to become harder for these comfortable countries in Europe to find their foreign policy bandwidth ends with a statement reflecting some level of concern. Adversaries seek opportunities and fundamentally do not care who is neutral, who is indifferent and who is excited, only who blocks them.

So we have to ask when we look at the news this week: who is identifying who as an adversary and on what grounds?

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NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, ITALY – Italy refuses base access for Iran war effort

  • The Guardian reports Tuesday that the Italian Ministry of Defense refused the US request to use the Naval Air Station Sigonella on the island of Sicily for the joint US-Israel Iran war effort.
  • The ostensible excuse is a technicality, namely the "Defence ministry says US failed to request authorisation in time for parliament to give approval as required by international treaty". The treaties governing the base were set up in the 1950s in the immediate postwar period and only permit use "for logistical and training purposes but not as transit hubs for aircraft used to transport weapons for war unless in an emergency situation."
  • Trump has become a liability for the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni even as "Meloni has criticised the US-Israeli military strikes" last month but balanced this in the same breath by warning of the dangers of a nuclear Iran. Nathalie Tocci, the director of Rome's Institute for International Affairs delivered the money quote to The Washington Post, "In the spectrum that ranges from Rutte to Sánchez, the core is definitely shifting towards the latter. From Daddy to Baddie".

 

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – Austrians cite neutrality in refusing US overflights for Iran War effort

  • Euronews reports Thursday that "Austria has rejected US requests for military overflights" citing the country's "police of neutrality".
  • Vienna is home to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as a significant Iranian diaspora.
  • Switzerland, Spain, Italy and now Austria have all publicly refused access to airspace and/or bases for use in the US and Israel war against Iran.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Police foil bomb plot at Bank of America branch

  • France24 reports last Saturday that Paris police foiled "an apparent bomb attack outside a bank of America branch in Paris" which is now being investigated as a "terrorist criminal conspiracy" by France's counter-terrorism prosecutor's office.
  • On Wedneday, Reuters reports "France suspects a pro-Iranian group known as HAYI to be behind a foiled attack on Bank of America's Paris offices". HAYI "stands for Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, or Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand of Islam". 
  • The incident involving a man who planted a device "made of five litres of liquid believed to be fuel and an ignition system" took place mid-afternoon at 3:30pm local time in front of a Bank of America building in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, a few blocks from the Champs-Élysées. French media outlet Le Parisien reported that "a second individual who was present fled the scene and remains at large". A police source said that the suspect, a minor, said he had been recruited via Snapchat "to carry out the bombing in exchange for €600 ($692)." On Sunday, Reuters reports the prosecutor's office announced two more suspects had been detained.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – €70 million for fuel subsidies for farmers, fisherman and logistics firms

  • Politico reports last Friday that "The French government will spend €70 million to subsidize the price of fuel for farmes, logistics companies and fishermen from April 1 until the end of the month."
  • Soaring fuel costs resulting from the US and Israel campaign against Iran have rocked markets around the world as Iranian attacks against the Strait of Hormuz, a major transnational shipping choke point, are causing massive disruptions.
  • France is also suspending "all excise taxes on non-road diesel for farmers" at a cost of around €14 million. Further, €50 million will be spent to subsidize the price of fuel by "€0.20 per liter for trucks operated by small logistics companies".

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Far-left European Parliamentarian Rima Hassan arrested over X post

  • Reuters reports Thursday that far-left French Member of the European Parliament and outspoken pro-Palestine advocate Rima Hassan was detained over a post on Elon Musk-owned social media site X over a comment posted "last month about an attack on an Israeli airport in the 1970s".
  • France Unbowed and far-left icon Jean-Luc Melenchon wrote on X, "The politics police has once again put Rima Hassan in custody" and labeled the situation "Unbearable".
  • Le Parisien and other French outlets said the reason she was under arrest was that her statement "could be construed as showing support for terrorism", something roughly equivalent to "material support" charges in the US.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Murder trial with Freemasons, French spies opens

  • France24 reports Monday in what can best be described as a sublime headline, "Murder trial involving Freemasons, French secret agents opens in Paris court".
  • Twenty-two people went on trial "accused of murder and other serious crimes on behalf of a mafia network inside the Althanor Masonic Lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux." Among them, "four military personnel from France's foreign intelligence service (DGSE), two police officers, a retired domestic intelligence officer, a security guard and two business executives" who are "accused of running hit squads."  The case "was triggered by a botched contract killing in July 2020." Thirteen face life imprisonment. Combined among them, they stand "accused of the murder of a racing driver, the attempted murders of a business coach and a trade unionist, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy".
  • The accused range in age from 30 to 73 and "have no previous criminal records." Five are in custody while the remaining "16 are under judicial supervision". One woman is appearing in court as "a free person."

 

BUCHENWALD, GERMANY – Protest against Israel's "genocide" at Nazi camp banned

  • The Times of Israel reports today that "German authorities have shut down a planned anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian vigil at the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial after a fierce outcry."
  • The city of Weimar said Monday it would ban the planned protest action "slated for April 12, marking the 81st anniversary of Buchenwald's liberation by US troops." Weimar offered an alternative location, a downtown square.
  • The group behind the campaign, calling itself Kufiyas in Buchenwald, "announced it was challenging the ban in court."

 

MAMIANO, ITALY – Priceless works of art stolen in three-minute heist

  • CNN reports Monday that works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse were stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation "in a brazen heist that took just three minutes" over the night of March 22 or the early morning hours of March 23.
  • The museum opted "to keep the audacious heist a secret," according to police, who pointed to surveillance footage that showed "the thieves making off with the paintings across the lush gardens of the villa, with the museum's alarm system sounding in the background."
  • A lawyer for the Magnani Rocca Foundation said the heist was "structured and organized" and "clearly planned". The theft though "was not completely successful" due in part "to the foundation's internal protective system".

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Foreign Ministry must reconsider repatriating Swiss ISIS fighter

  • Swissinfo reports Thursday that the Federal Aministrative Court in Bern ruled that "The Swiss foreign ministry must reconsider the repatriation request of an Islamic State fighter who is believed to be detained in Iraq".
  • The French-speaking man is said to have traveled to Syria in 2015 where it is believed he joined the so-called Islamic State. By mid-2019, he had been arrested and detained by the Kurdish militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Last September, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected his extradition request.
  • While "The court noted that in principal, there is no right to consular protection in such a case", however "This is possible" when "the interests of certain persons are at risk." In other words, consular assistance can be refused "if the person acted negligently" however the guard rail there is "this does not apply in cases where a person's physical integrity and life are at risk."

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Police publish unpixelated pictures of antisemitic rioters

  • Keystone-SDA reports Monday that Bern cantonal police published the unpixelated images of antisemitic rioters from an incident last October that resulted in hundreds of thousands of francs worth of damages.
  • The latest caché of images has led police to identify one more person involved in the riot. Overall, "More than 101 suspects have already been identified through investigations and video evaluations," but "32 others are still unknown".
  • The remaining images published in unpixelated form are being revealed as "no leads have been received" by police. Those who have been identified "will be contacted in the coming weeks" and, given the highly permissive environment of Bern, will at least receive a stern talking to.

 

And finally…

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss finance minister sues over Grok-created AI 'obscene' post

  • Reuters reports Wednesday that Karin Keller-Sutter, the Swiss Finance Minister, "filed a criminal complaint for defamation and insult after an X user published an obscene post about her created by Elon Musk's chatbot Grok".
  • On March 10, the user on X used "vulgar language about the minister, who led Switzerland under its rotating presidency last year."
  • The Grok-generated post "used expletives about ​the minister and her work, then asked whether the user wanted ⁠something more extreme, or to target someone else." By March 12, the user had deleted their post pushing this far into potential Streisand Effect territory.

 

Stay safe and have a nice Easter (and Passover) weekend!

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