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France halts Gaza evacuations over student's hate posts, experiences worst wildfire since 1949 and Germany will be first to receive Patriots for Ukraine donations

France halts Gaza evacuations over student's hate posts, experiences worst wildfire since 1949 and Germany will be first to receive Patriots for Ukraine donations

Greetings from the land of 39% tariffs! The big news in Bern this week is Trump's tariff announced last week and in effect for nearly 36 hours now. As a country more than a bit unself-aware of its famed reputation abroad for "Nazi gold" (the Swiss just see themselves as "neutral," whatever that means in the moment), the headlines about gold bars and national humiliation are coming 80 years after the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and August 9, 1945), the anniversary of which is also this week. As I write, I have one financial newspaper alert and one former European leader's text about the matter blowing up my phone.

While Switzerland has not experienced actual war in well over a century and a half, a perplexing wind of don't-call-it-change-anything-but-change is in the air. And the culprit for all of it, the media is pointing to? Gold bars refined in the country. While it has not prompted much self-reflection for the wounds are still too raw, it's the rare problem money might have caused and not be able to solve – yet. As the wealthy country's young Marxist-Leninists (yes really, West European problems) might ask – if only they read books – what is to be done? The Alpine nation prides itself on its independence and self-reliance, no allies, maybe not even friends it turns out. It's a harsh lesson: the Swiss don't need Washington… until of course they do.

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).

Currently, three tiers of subscriptions are offered: the free version (sign up below), member and warrior.

LILLE, FRANCE – France suspends Gaza evacuations over Gazan student's antisemitic posts

  • CNN, The BBC and Israel's i24 report that France has suspended its program for Palestinians fleeing Gaza after a Gazan student, Nour Atallah, who was admitted to Sciences Po in Lille and was residing at the home of the university's director was found to have posted messages supportive of Adolf Hitler, killing Jewish people and other zeitgeisty antisemitic content on social media, sparking "a political firestorm, dominating French news coverage". Le Monde reports she left France last Sunday for Qatar.
  • The 25 year old student had received a scholarship and arrived in France last month, later the university withdrew her scholarship and expelled and deregistered her from fall classes. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he requested legal action be taken and her social account be removed, writing on X that, "Hamas propagandists have no place in our country," and that Palestinians already in France will be "subject to a new check" after the "failures that brought this young woman here".
  • France has helped facilitate the exit of 500 Palestinians from Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

 

RIBAUTE, FRANCE – Wildfires scorche 'an area larger than Paris' in the south of France

  • The BBC reports "a huge, deadly wildfire" in the south of France has "scorched an area larger than Paris," according to the country's Interior Minister François Bayrou Wednesday, resulting in the death of an elderly woman with another individual reported missing.
  • The fire began in the village of Ribaute Tuesday before spreading to the wider Aude region. It is now reportedly the largest wildfire the country has seen since 1949.
  • Currently more than 2,000 firefighters are at work to contain the blaze which has claimed more than 15,000 hectares (58 square miles) and resulted in at least 13 injuries.

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Germany first to receive Patriots, will deliver two to Ukraine

  • Reuters reports Berlin said last Friday that in exchange for delivering two Patriot systems to Ukraine, the country will be first to receive the newest systems from the US.
  • The German army, the Bundeswehr, said it would deliver the Patriots to Ukraine soon after the announcement, with more components to be delivered in the coming months in exchange for receiving the newest systems "at an accelerated pace" from the US.
  • Germany said its deliveries to Ukraine will not affect its contributions to NATO.

 

MUNICH, GERMANY – Three members of the banned Reichsbürger movement arrested

  • Deutsche Welle reports three members of the ultra-nationalist far-right Reichsbürger movement were arrested Thursday following 6:00am raids targeting six suspects, according to the Bavarian state federal police.
  • While three men were taken into custody, the raids targeted six suspects, five men and one woman between the ages of 40 and 61 in three German states: Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia. Three hundred investigators were involved in the search of four properties, with three of the properties believed to be linked to past activities including weapons training and clandestine meetings.
  • Funny beliefs: the Reichsbürger movement rejects the legitimacy of the modern German state opting instead to believe the German Reich still exists and that the postwar German constitution is illegitimate as modern Germany is effectively a corporation that remains under Allied occupation. If this sounds like a cocktail of proto-nazism, that is largely because it is. In December 2022, Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, a Frankfurt area realtor, was arrested and charged with being the figurehead and self-proclaimed king of the Reichsbürgers' vision of the German state. Oy gevalt.

 

DRESDEN, GERMANY – Former AfD aide goes on trial over Chinese espionage charges

  • Politico reports the trial of a former aide to far-right AfD politician Maximilian Krah on charges related to espionage on behalf of the Chinese government began on Tuesday in the eastern German city of Dresden.
  • Prosecutors allege the aide, identified only as Jian G. in accordance with German privacy law, was employed by Chinese intelligence since 2002 and was tasked with collecting information about the European Parliament, personal information on AfD's leadership and spying on Chinese dissidents while Krah was a member of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2024.  Jaqi X., an alleged accomplice, who was employed at a logistics firm at the Leipzig airport, has also been charged in the case. Both have been in pretrial detention since April and September of last year.
  • Krah is also under investigation for accepting payments from China and Russia during his time in the European Parliament, though he now represents AfD in the German Bundestag.

 

DRESDEN, GERMANY – 17,000 people evacuated after World War II era bomb discovered

  • CBS News reports a significant portion of the old city of the eastern German city of Dresden was evacuated Wednesday after an unexploded World War II era bomb was discovered when a collapsed bridge was being cleared, affecting 17,000 people.
  • The Carola Bridge over the Elbe River collapsed one night last September and the entire structure is due to be demolished by October of this year.
  • The bomb located in Dresden was a 250 kilo (551 pound) British-made bomb and was defused by experts.

 

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY – Left-wing group responsible for two arson attacks on rail line

  • Deutsche Welle reports a left-wing group calling itself "Angry Birds Commando" claimed responsibility for one arson attacks carried out after a second incendiary device was detected on a major rail line in the western German city of Düsseldorf late last week affecting a key railway line and service to the Düsseldorf Airport and the nearby city of Duisburg.
  • The two devices found on the line were left 1.8 km (1.1 miles) apart, with one device left near the town of Angermund, resulting in delays over two days.
  • Herbert Reul, the Interior Minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia said the "left-wing extremists" responsible "are trying to bomb us back to pre-industrial times" and said the Angry Birds Commando group, which was previously known to authorities, "has carried out several acts of sabotage in the Dusseldorf area in recent years".

 

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – Ukrainian Naftogaz secures compensation for Crimea losses in court

  • The Insider, citing Der Standard, reports Ukraine's Naftogaz "secured compensation for losses" in Austrian court after Russia annexed Crimea and as a result 20 Russian properties "worth approximately €120 million" ($139 million) in Vienna will be auctioned, with the proceeds going to the Ukrainian state gas company.
  • The sale is part of the enforcement of arbitration won against Russia totaling more than €5 billion ($5.8 billion) after a 2023 ruling in The Hague ordered Russia to pay for the losses incurred by Naftogaz as a result of the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. The 1958 New York Convention grants Ukraine "the right to initiate the process of compulsory enforcement" wherever it can turn up Russian state assets if Russia "refuses to comply voluntarily".
  • However, the ruling is not final and Russia can appeal.

 

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – 'Zyklon B heiress' among latest Gaza flotilla participants

  • Israel's Ynet (among many other outlets) reports that Marlene Engelhorn, dubbed the "Zyklon B heiress" by the Israeli press has announced her intention to participate in a new "Peace flotilla" to "break the siege on Gaza". Zyklon B is the gas that was used to carry out the mass extermination, or "master plan," of Europe's Jewish population in Nazi-era death camps in the 1940s.
  • Engelhorn's "multi-billion dollar inheritance came by way of family fortune" as the "fourth-generation of a German industrialist dynasty" behind the firm Boehringer Mannheim that was sold to a Swiss pharmaceutical conglommerate for $11 billion (€9.45 billion) in 1997. She is "the great-granddaughter of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of BASF," which was part of the IG Farben conglommerate during World War II, the company behind the notorious Zyklon B. IG Farben was seized by the Allies after the war and the company was dismantled with 12 of its executives imprisoned for crimes that included murder.
  • With this baggage, Engelhorn has elected to participate in the latest flotilla to Gaza effort, declaring herself "against genocide, apartheid, illegal occupation and for a free Palestine."

 

KLAGENFURT, AUSTRIA – Fresh language row on the pitch involving Slovene minority

  • STA reports that the Slovene minority in Austria stopped a local football (soccer) match between SAK Klagenfurt and Atus Ferlach in protest last Saturday after a referree requested that the SAK Klagenfurt coach speak German not Slovene with football players "even if the rules allow communication in any language."
  • SAK Klagenfurt assistant goal keeper coach Janko Smrečnik, an ethnic Slovene, spoke Slovene to a player from Atus Ferlach, telling him to get up and there was no foul play when the referree's assistant demanded that SAK Klagenfurt coaches switch to German, "prompting strong reactions" as SAK Klagenfurt players "refused to continue the match".
  • Private Austrian broadcaster POP said the Austrian Association of Referrees later apologized and promised to open disciplinary proceedings against the referees implicated in the incident. The dust up comes six days after a police raid on an anti-fascist Slovene minority youth camp in the same region.

 

LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA – Defense Ministry to acquire two more IRIS-T air defense systems

  • Airforce Technology reports Slovenia's Ministry of Defense inked a deal Monday with Diehl Defense and the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support to acquire two more IRIS-T medium-range ground-based air defense systems.
  • Initially Slovenia acquired the systems at the start of last year but the newest procurement contract includes "essential components" such as radar, a tactical operations center, missile launchers, guided missiles and logistics support, in addition to mobile workshops, spare parts and reloading vehicles.
  • It is the first repeat order within the European Sky Shield Initiative and under the Bundeswehr's matériel office framework.

 

LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA – First European country to impose arms embargo on Israel

  • Politico reports Slovenia became the first European country to block all weapons deals with Israel last Friday and "prohibited the transit of weapons to or from Israel through Slovenia" over the conflict with Gaza.
  • A Slovenian government statement said the country opted to act independently of the EU "due to internal disagreements and disunity" while "humanitarian aid is being systematically blocked" into Gaza.
  • However, the prohibition on arms deals with Israel is "largely symbolic" given that Slovenia "has not issued any military export permits to Israel since October 2023." Al Jazeera English recalls Slovenia's partliament recognized Palestinian statehood in June 2024.


LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA – Slovenia announces ban on import of Israeli settlement goods

  • The Times of Israel reports Slovenia followed on its arms embargo to Israel with the announcement that it was banning "imports of goods produced in Israeli settlements" on Wednesday.
  • Citing Reuters, The Times reports "the volume of goods affected is extremely low" at just under €2,000 ($2,330) in 2023.

 

MURSKA SOBOTA, SLOVENIA – French citizen of Yugoslav origin arrested for 1991 crimes

  • Le Monde reports Wednesday that Djordje Radukovic, 55, a naturalized French citizen of Yugoslav origin, was arrested on May 10 of this year in Slovenia in front of his family for alleged crimes committed in Croatia in 1991 during the start of the war there.
  • Radukovic was arrested on "a European arrest warrant issued by Croatia"  for crimes "which he claims to have known nothing about." He was previously convicted in absentia in Croatia and sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of three Croatian police officers in August 1991, two months after Croatia unilaterally declared its independence from Yugoslavia, triggering the disintegration and fragmentation of that country and the start of the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
  • Radukovic became a naturalized French citizen in 2010 and his family fears reprisals in Croatia should he be extradicted.

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Representative submits motion for House to review F35 contract

  • Swissinfo reports Representative Hans-Peter Portmann submitted a motion to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee to review the procurement of the F-35 fighter jet from US defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
  • Controversy over the cost has erupted again in Switzerland this summer as the price has increased since the initial contract was inked, with members of the Swiss political establishment and certain voices in media and public life in Switzerland crying foul over the notion that the prices were not fixed.
  • The timing could not be less opportune as on the eve of the country's national day last Friday August 1, US President Donald Trump announced 39% tariffs on Switzerland. Last Saturday, Portmann gave an interview to the tabloid Blick regarding the motion, declaring, "Either we accept a loss and break off the contract – or we only purchase what we have already paid for".

 

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND – Man sentenced to six months for attacks on Jewish tourists

  • Swissinfo reports a 24 year old Algerian asylum seeker was sentenced to six months in prison Thursday at a trial where he was not present for punching a 19 year old Jewish tourist in the face on the promenade in Davos last August.
  • In addition to the prison time, the man must also pay a fine of 765 Swiss francs ($948) and 3,000 Swiss francs ($3,714) for his public defender. He has ten days to appeal the ruling in the Graubünden High Court.
  • Following the incident, the man was deported to Belgium last September and his current whereabouts are unknown.

 

ROME, ITALY – Raids conducted against Chinese mafia groups lead to 13 arrests

  • Reuters reports Italy's anti-organized crime police official Andrea Olivadese announced a series of raids conducted against Chinese mafia groups in 25 provinces across Italy including Rome, Milan, Florence, Prato and Catania on Monday, leading to 13 arrests.

 

LATINA, ITALY – West Nile virus claims 10 lives in northern Italy since start of the year

  • Euronews reports the tenth death in Italy since the start of the year from West Nile virus, a disease mainly hosted by wild birds that is transmitted to humans mainly through mosquito bites resulting in rashes and a fever, with 43 cases, the highest number, recorded in Latina province.
  • In the last week of July, 57 cases in humans were reported in Italy including eight deaths.
  • The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control confirming cases in various European countries including Alpine nations France and Italy as well as Bulgaria, Greece and Romania.

Stay safe and keep cool!

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