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France arrests Latvian over passenger ferry malware, cancels New Year's Champs Élysées concert over terrorism risk and farmers go hog wild over cow culling

France arrests Latvian over passenger ferry malware, cancels New Year's Champs Élysées concert over terrorism risk and farmers go hog wild over cow culling

Overnight at around three a.m., the EU agreed on a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine after a plan to use frozen Russian assets as reparations for Ukraine failed, according to The Financial Times. In addition to Belgium, two Alpine nations, namely France and Italy, blinked. Russia's top negotiator, Kirill Dimitriev wasted little time in taking to X to call it a "Major BLOW to EU warmongers". You know, the same ones who have spent the better part of the last two years trying to avoid any direct military confrontation with Russia because life is short, money would rather be spent on social welfare and education and a major ground or air war on the European continent would cut into copious amounts of vacation time.

The first lesson in dealing with Russia is the only lesson, namely Russia only respects strength. Jake Sullivan's escalation ladder failed and Trump's Alaska summit failed. While the two approaches, one cautious and the other callous to all but a genuine warmonger, were fundamentally divergent, they failed for the same reason. Russia only respects strength. The sooner Europe gets tough and stands up to Russia for real, not the piecemeal Sullivan-esque approach, the sooner Russia will get the only message it knows how to receive. Russia only respects strength.

It is that time of year where people reflect on the year past and year to come, along with the stress and joy and family associated with the holiday season. This year was a rollercoaster, a time of genuine monsters and also a chance to do something genuinely significant again (more on that in the new year).

Europe is perhaps closer than ever to an open conflict than at any point since 1945 and no, mountains will not protect anyone in an era of AI, the internet and disinformation, great power competition and threats to the liberal democratic order. To hermetically seal one off from the world is also not possible, unless you are North Korea and in that case, the enemy wins from self-defeat. The world will not be as we wish it but rather as we make it in response to forces beyond our control, paradoxical as that may sound.

If I read one book this year that speaks to the moment that I can recommend above all others which reflects and reveals some of the current nonsense in the antecedents of an earlier era, it is Benn Steil's masterful biography of former US Vice-President Henry Wallace, The World That Wasn't. While Wallace might not be a household name for many certainly on this side of the Atlantic, Russia's attempt to seduce Wallace in the 1930s and 40s in the form of a so-called "enlightened master" named Nicholas Roerich led him to Siberian misadventures, a deep misread of Stalin and Soviet intent and ultimately the presidency of Harry Truman after a frail and aging Franklin Roosevelt dropped Wallace from the ticket due to his Russia-infused delusions about peace. My friend Dave Troy's podcast interview with Steil earlier this year is why I picked up the book and for many months, I could not put it down. In the end, Wallace learns all the peaceniks around him were Soviet-backed communists and "Nothing, it seems, so sears the soul like belief betrayed."

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!

PARIS, FRANCE – Latvian national arrested over malware placed on a passenger ferry

  • Le Monde reports French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced Wednesday that "a Latvian national was arrested and charged over the discovery on a passenger ferry of malware capable of allowing the vessel's operating system to be controlled remotely" as part of a probe into "possible foreign interference".
  • Late Tuesday, the Paris prosecutor's office announced an investigatin had been opened into "an organized group to attack an automated data-processing system, with the aim of serving the interests of a foreign power", Russia. The investigation is being handled by France's domestic intelligence agency, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI). Authorities in Latvia also carried out searches in connection with the case.
  • The ferry belonging to Italian shipping company GNV has a capacity of over 2,000 and was parked in the French Mediterranean port of Sete at the time of the alleged incident. Italian authorities "signalled to France" that two crew members, a Latvian and Bulgarian national, might be engaged in the operation to place the malware aboard the ferry. Both were detained last week, with only the Bulgarian released from custody.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Paris cancels New Year's Eve Champs Élysées concert over security risk

  • The New York Post reports officials in the French capital Paris have called off a midnight concert on the Champs Élysées "that drew a jubilant crowd of a million people last year" in favor of "a pre-recorded video to be viewed in the safety and comfort of French living rooms" over terrorism concerns.
  • Fireworks "will still illuminate the Arc de Triomphe" at midnight but officials are urging the French to stay and watch from home rather than attend in person.
  • The police urged the mayor to scrap the festivities citing "unpredictable crowd movements" with critics using the occasion to slam immigration policies and immigrants in particular. France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a "very high terror threat" with Christmas markets in particular viewed as potential targets in need of additional security as well.

 

LES-BORDES-SUR-ARIZE, FRANCE – Farmers protest bovine cull, blocking roads

  • Le Monde reports last Saturday French farmers blocked roads to protest the culling of cows due to lumpy skin disease, formally known as nodular dermatitis.
  • Veterinarians slaughtered 200 cows in Les-Bordes-sur-Arize near the Spanish border after finding a single case last Friday. The police were forced "to disperse angry farmers to escort in a team to carry out the culling." Unions said such tactics are "ineffective" and responded with calls for "blockades across France to put an end to this madness." Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said there were plans to vaccinate one million cattle in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Occitanie regions.
  • On Saturday, "dozens of tractors blocked traffic" and "Nearly 150 kilometers of the A64 motorway between Bayonne and Tarbes were closed to traffic" a s a result. In the town of Briscous, the "hard-line farmers' union Coordination Rurale (CR)" protested "with more than a dozen farmers and around 40 tractors." In the eastern town of Pontarlier, "Around 70 farmers sounded their horns and set off firecrackers and smoke bombs in front of the agriculture minister's former parliamentary office" and "hung a dead calf from a tree with a sign" that read, "Our Animals, Our Life."

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Bundestag approves €52 billion military expenditure package

  • Deutsche Welle reports Wednesday that the Bundestag's budget committee approved a €52 billion ($61 billion) military expenditure package.
  • The budget committee is responsible for "all large-scale arms purchases" and further parliamentary approval is not required. Further, defense spending is now "exempted from rules restricting public debt for the next few years" as the German Army, the Bundeswehr, works to return "to complete combat readiness".
  • More than 5,000 helmets: the enhanced military expenditure package includes funding for "clothing and protective equipment" and "200 Puma infantry fighting vehicles" as well as "Rockets for the missile shield system Arrow 3" (see next item) and "a satellite-based reconnaissance system" from Rheinmetall. Procurement officials "said they are prioritising filling Nato's capability gaps," The Financial Times notes.

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Bundestag approves $3.5 billion for Arrow 3 air defense system

  • The Times of Israel reports the German Bundestag approved a $3.5 billion (€3 billion) expansion to the Israeli Arrow 3 long-range missile defense system on Wednesday and on Thursday, Israeli and German defense officials signed the contract.
  • Earlier this month, "Israel delivered the first Arrow 3 battery to Germany" in a €4 billion ($4.6 billion) deal that was inked in 2023. In total, the $8 billion (€6.8 billion) deal is "the largest-ever Israeli defense export deal."
  • The deployment of the Arrow 3 system in Germany earlier this month is the first time the Arrow 3 is "deployed beyond the borders of Israel and the United States". Interceptor missiles for the Arrow 3 air defense system are included in the newest package.

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Russian ambassador summoned over sabotage and cyberattacks

  • The Associated Press and Deutsche Welle report last Friday that Germany's Foreign Ministry summoned Sergey Nechayev, the Russian Ambassador to Berlin, "following accusations of sabotage, cyberattacks and interference in German elections".
  • Germany accuses Russia of disinformation campaigns.
  • Within Germany, Russia has backed parties on the far-left and far-right of the political spectrum in a classic red-brown play to smash the center and drive political polarization and push society to extremes.

 

DINGOLFING-LANDAU, GERMANY – Five arrested over Christmas market attack plot

  • Euronews reports Monday German special operations forces arrested five people last Friday on suspicion "of planning a vehicle attack on a Christmas market in the Dingolfing-Landau area of Lower Bavaria", including "a 56-year-old Egyptian, three Moroccans aged 30, 28 and 22 and a 37-year old Syrian."
  • Security authorities became aware of the attack plot 48 hours before the arrests. The Egyptian national, "described as an Islamic preacher," had urged followers to carry out attacks "during gatherings at a mosque in the Dingolfing-Landau area."
  • The three Moroccans are believed to have agreed to carry out an attack and the Syrian national was supportive of the plot. Authorities believe they prevented the attack in the early plannig stage, though according to Fox News, "Investigators said the suspects were inspired by global jihadist movements and had progressed to advanced planning stages."

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – AfD parliamentarian charged with making Nazi salute

  • Agence France Presse reports Matthias Moosdorf, an AfD member of parliament from Zwickau in the eastern German state of Saxony was charged Monday "with making a Nazi salute in the parliament."
  • The charge stems from an incident in June 2023 when Moosdorf "greeted a party colleague" in the Reichstag "with a heel click and a Hitler salute". Punishment for such a salute, which is illegal in Germany, "is punishable by up to three years in prison."
  • Following the allegations in October, Moosdorf had his parliamentary immunity removed. In a post on X Monday after prosecutors announced the charges, Moosdorf denied "having made the gesture." Until May of this year, he was "the foreign policy spokesperson for the party's parliamentary group" but was removed from this role "after his friendliness towards Russia caused friction within the party."

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland to purchase fewer F35s due to rising costs

  • Swissinfo reports last Friday Switzerland is to purchase fewer than 36 F35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin as was originally planned due to rising costs and drama over a mistaken read of the contract that led the Swiss government to believe the price for the jets was fixed at six billion Swiss francs (€6.4 billion or $7.5 billion).
  • In a press release, Switzerland said it would purchase the "maximum number possible of the F35 fighter jet, ruling out additional funding in order to respect "The will of the people"..
  • At the end of January, Switzerland's Defense Department will present "an internal prioritisation of requirements for the years 2026/2027" and the government "will decide on the possible procurement of additional F-35 jets to achieve the planned number of 36 fighter jets." Of course, "this would then have to be decided again by parliament, and possibly also by the people." Ergo, fans and keen observers of the Rudolf Steiner approach to national security will certainly get their fill of feelings in the years to come.

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Military court sentences mercenary in Ukraine in absentia

  • Swissinfo reports Thursday a military court sentenced a 49-year-old Swiss mercenary in absentia who served in "an international volunteer force" in Ukraine from February 2022 until December 2024 to 18 months in prison with four years probation as "Service in another army is prohibited for Swiss citizens."
  • The 49-year-old man had previously told Swiss public broadcaster SRF that "he was in the service of others" and "The contribution was made of his own free will." Additional evidence included "Instagram pictures, media reports and a Europol list of possible mercenaries."
  • The case presented the first such trial in Switzerland. The accused was not present and is believed to currently be residing in Israel though "His mother testified in court that she had spoken to him on the phone the evening before" though her son would not reveal his location, she said.

 

BASEL, SWITZERLAND – Plot to attack Eurovision earlier this year foiled by police

  • Swissinfo reports last Sunday that a plot to attack Eurovision in Basel earlier this year was foiled when police detained a 25-year-old man who was later deported to France after he made "violent threats against Jewish people."
  • First reported by the "Tagesschau" program on Swiss German-language public TV station SRF, security services "rasied the alarm" after a man from Biel who was previously known to the authorities "said he wanted to travel to Basel, cause trouble and attack Jewish people." The incident "had not been made public until now."
  • The man is "a French national of North African descent" who "suffers from psychological problems that require medication" and who authorities believe "was radicalized as an Islamist". He had "previously come to the attention of the authorities" and was held "in custody for the duration of the event." He "now lives freely in France" but must "take his medication under official supervision."

 

CATANIA, ITALY – 34 'tomb raiders' arrested for antiquities theft

  • Reuters reports Sunday that Italian authorities announced last Friday the arrest of 34 "tomb raiders" responsible for antiquities theft from archeological sites on the island of Sicily and in the neighboring region of Calabria.
  • Nine people were placed in pre-trial detention and 14 were under house arrest. The accused face charges ranging from conspiracy, theft of cultural property, trading in stolen goods and conterfeiting. The Catania prosecutors' office said in a statement that approximately 10,000 "archeological artifacts" were seized, "including 7,000 coins issued by various Greek city-states that existed on Sicily in ancient times". Police noted they had seized "hundreds of clay and terracotta vases, bronze rings, brooches, and arrowheads." The estimated value of the seized goods is approximately €17 million ($20 million). In the town of Catanzaro, prosecutors said the Ndragheta mafia clan had given "implicit consent".
  • Considered "a centuries old problem," Italy's national police, the Carabinieri have "had some success" recovering stolen artifacts in recent years.

 

And finally…

 

BRUSATA, SWITZERLAND – Italian man stopped for trying to smuggle 66 panettones

  • Swissinfo reports Tuesday that a 51-year-old Italian man was stopped near the customs post at Brusata in southern Switzerland "with more than 100kg" or 220 pounds "of undeclared foodstuffs" including 66 panettones he attempted to bring into Switzerland.
  • The Italian national entered Switzerland in a van and was stopped soon after. He "runs a food truck north of Gotthard" and "was fined several hundred francs".
  • In total, the man was carrying 164 litres of oil, five kilos (11 pounds) of fresh meat, 28 kilos (62 pounds) of mozzarella and 10 loaves of focaccia in addition to the 66 panettones.

 

Stay safe and true crime fans may wish to indulge in "Murder in Monaco" over the holidays!

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