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France and Italy want ReArm Europe loans, Russia's 'most powerful woman' in Geneva and aid cuts drive migration to Europe

France and Italy want ReArm Europe loans, Russia's 'most powerful woman' in Geneva and aid cuts drive migration to Europe

Welcome to the new Alpine Security Monitor. Currently in its pilot stage, you can still sign up and 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).

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And before we get to this week's wider Alpine region security news, happy Swiss National Day! The US has decided to celebrate by imposing 39% tariffs on Swiss goods on the eve of. What could be more festive? Or, how's that for economic security? The EU only will have 15% tariffs imposed on its goods.

 

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – France and Italy among nations asking for ReArm Europe loans

  • Politico reports 18 countries including France and Italy have requested a total of €127 billion ($145 billion) in low cost European Commission loans by Tuesday's deadline to boost defense and acquire arms for Ukraine.
  • The European Commission hopes to boost defense across the continent as Europe faces a long planned drawdown of US troops. At the same time, Russia is probing to find weak links and begin the process of normalization after more than a decade of war on Ukraine (more on that in the next item).
  • In requesting loans through the ReArm Europe plan, countries set the minimum and maximum perameters of the amounts they will formally request to borrow from the Commission later this year.

 

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Russia's 'most powerful woman' in Geneva despite sanctions

  • Swissinfo reports Valentina Matviyenko, described as "Russia's most powerful woman" and a "Putin confidant" landed in Geneva Sunday for an assembly of parliamentary speakers as Chair of the Russian Federation Council despite her presence on the sanctions list due to Russia's war against Ukraine.
  • In Russia, pictures of Matviyenko being greeted with flowers on the tarmac aired on TV. Also with her were two fellow sanctioned Kremlin elite travellers, Leonid Slutsky and Pyotr Tolstoy. AFP reports 200 "Kremlin critics and former political prisoners" including Vladimir Kara-Murza, Oleg Orlov and Ilya Yashin signed an open letter in opposition to "the highest-profile visit to Europe by Russian parliamentarians" since February 24, 2024 and Russia's attempt at a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Despite Matviyenko's ardent support for Russia's war on Ukraine, she disingenuously cited the example of two world wars in a call for "peace" that guarantees "security of all nations" in an effort to flip the narrative of victim and aggressor.
  • Of note: this is Russia's second probe for "normalization," in the words of Leonid Volkov on X, a former top aide to Alexey Navalny, after a scheduled concert by pro-Putin maestro Valery Gergiev near Naples was cancelled amid public outcry. To get to Geneva, though, the three sanctioned Russian parliamentarians flew over the entire Italian peninsula, suggesting probes of Europe's weakest links is advancing.

 

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – UNHCR chief says aid cuts are pushing more migrants to Europe

  • The Financial Times reports Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees told the paper that "catastrophic" budget cuts are causing more people to try and migrate to Europe and urged European nations to fund existing programs.
  • Grandi said ignoring conflicts in places like Sudan and how they concern the flow of migration is "a big strategic mistake" as the US as well as France, Germany and Italy have all cut funds, resulting in one-third of his agency's employees being laid off and a deficit of more than $1.5 billion (€12.9 million).
  • Grandi argued it would be better to invest funds in countries where refugees have been willing to stay such as Chad, Iran and Kenya than to build up new systems like the UK scheme to send rejected asylum seekers to Rwanda.

 

NEW YORK CITY, US – France leads 'New York call' for recognition of Palestinian state

  • France 24 reports France and Saudi Arabia issued a "New York call" Tuesday from the United Nations in New York with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot urging nations around the world to recognize a Palestinian state.
  • Additional nations signing on to join the "New York call" reaffirming an "unwavering commitment to the vision of a two-state solution" include Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia and Spain; nine of the signatories have not recognized a Palestinian state. Seventeen countries including the EU and the Arab League called for Hamas to disarm and leave power in Gaza.
  • While France hopes to build mometum around recognizing the state of Palestine, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his country would do so if there is no agreement on a cease fire from the Israeli side by September, when the UN General Assembly takes place.

 

ISTANBUL, TURKEY – E3 negotiators meet with Iranian counterpart at Istanbul Consulate

  • The AP reports negotiators from France, Germany and the UK, known as the E3 nations, met with Iranian nuclear negotiator Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi at the Iranian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey last Friday.
  • While it is unclear who represented the European nations at the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program and sanctions, the talks lasted four hours "with the sides agreeing to meet again".
  • European leaders will reimpose sanctions on Iran, known as the "snapback mechanism," if no progress is made in containing Iran's nuclear program.

 

RIEDLINGEN, GERMANY – Train derailment due to sewage overflow leaves three dead

  • The New York Times and the BBC report a train derailment caused by heavy rains resulting sewage overflows caused a regional train derailment that resulted in three deaths near the town of Riedlingen in Baden Württemberg, roughly 48 km (30 miles) north of Lake Constance in southwestern Germany last Friday.
  • The train driver, a crew member and a passenger were among the dead and 41 people, mostly passengers, were injured.
  • German TV broadcast scenes of the derailment with trains off the tracks on their side bunched up by the rail with only the final car left standing off the tracks.

 

WIENER NEUSTADT, AUSTRIA – Man convicted of terror tied to Taylor Swift bomb plot

  • The AP reports the state court in Wiener Neustadt in eastern Austria convicted an 18 year old defendant, Luca K., on Friday of terrorism charges unrelated to his role in the foiled plot to bomb a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year and handed him a two-year sentence.
  • He was convicted of involvement with a terrorist organization and a criminal organization after he admitted to accusations that included sharing ISIS propaganda and glorifying a sympathizer of the group responsible for four deaths in Vienna in 2020. Time spent in custody will be reduced from his sentence and the verdict can be appealed.
  • Luca K. had converted to Islam in 2022 and was arrested just prior to the scheduled Taylor Swift concerts in the Austrian capital last August. He said he was grateful he was arrested and now sees the mistake of his terrorist sympathizing days, saying that having a daughter has led him to "see life more seriously".

 

EISENKAPPEL, AUSTRIA – Slovenes want explanation for police raid on youth camp

  • STA reports Slovenia has requested an explanation from counterparts in Austria after Austrian police raided a Slovenian antifascist youth camp at the Peršman Museum in Eisenkappel in the Austrian state of Carinthia "where Nazis killed two ethnic Slovenian families in WWII."
  • The Minister for Slovenes Abroad Matej Arčon called the incident "deeply disturbing" and added that the expectation was that both Chancellor Christian Stocker and the governor of Carinthia should "publicly take a stance on it," according to a statement circulated by the Government Communications Office.
  • According to STA, 30 armed police officers with dogs, a helicopter and drones were involved in the raid, which Austrian authorities claimed was due to "alleged violations of camping and nature conservation," bringing into question "the proportionality of the police response".

 

MILAN, ITALY – Jewish father and son attacked by mob at gas station

  • The Guardian and the AP report a 52 year old French father and his six year old son were targeted at a gas station 20 km (12 miles) north of Milan after the man left a basement restroom and a cashier noticed they were both wearing a kippah, the Jewish headcovering for men, before shouting "free Palestine," and being joined by others who eventually knocked the man to the floor and pummeled him.
  • The incident, captured on cell phone video by the father, features several individuals directing abuse at the father and son with taunts encouraging them to "Go back to your country, murderers," and other zeitgeisty antisemitic slogans.
  • Milan city councillor Daniele Nahum denounced the attack Monday and said, "The antisemitic situation is becoming unmanageable." Reported antisemitic incidents in Italy nearly doubled last year to 877 from 454 in 2023 according to the Milan-based Antisemitism Observatory.

 

And finally…

 

NOVARA EST, ITALY – Barbie designers killed in crash by elderly driver going wrong way

  • The New York Post reports two "leading designers" of Barbie dolls, Mario Paglino, 52, and Gianni Grossi, 48, were killed in a highway accident on the border of the Lombardy and Piemonte regions Sunday after an elderly driver who was going the wrong direction on the highway plowed into them.
  • Barbie's official Instagram account praised the two as "treasured creators" responsible for "joy and artistry" within "the world of Barbie".
  • The 82 year old driver responsible for the crash made a U-turn after missing a toll booth and was driving the wrong way at 80 miles per hour (130 km per hour) for more than four miles (6.5 km), almost killing several others in the process. He was also killed in the crash.

 

Stay safe and take care on the roads, especially in Italy, this Swiss holiday weekend!

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