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France in turmoil ahead of confidence vote, blockading everything may be an info op and arrest warrants issued for Assad, his henchmen

France in turmoil ahead of confidence vote, blockading everything may be an info op and arrest warrants issued for Assad, his henchmen

This week saw the continued deterioration of security conditions in Europe, though not yet with a bang – that will come next week with the anticipated collapse of the French government – but the slow whimpers of the old world dying. However, with the ordering of something we cannot quite call new yet as the old is still dismantling, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz began to say the quiet part aloud, namely the truth about Russia and the failure of expectations that surrounded US President Donald Trump's return to the White House for some.

Another deadline Trump set for Russia to do something, even the bare minimum to show it might end the war in Ukraine came and went and nothing. Merz is not wrong that there will be no talks between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky nor an end to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. But the truth does not make politicians more popular, nor does it set them free.

Further, the US announced a drawdown of security assistance to frontline states late Thursday. Keep in mind, should the frontline states fall, the frontline only moves closer. At the same time, though, we can say Russia's much touted summer offensive in Ukraine did not yield major territorial victories. Europe has formed "a coalition of the willing," but Ukrainians are reasonably wondering just how willing?

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PARIS, FRANCE – Far-right National Rally endorses snap elections

  • Reuters reports France's far-right National Rally endorsed snap elections Tuesday after French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou called for a vote of confidence last week.
  • National Rally and other opposition parties including the Socialists – for full horseshoe effect – hope to bring down the government and dissolve the parliament when the vote of confidence occurs on September 8. If Bayrou loses that vote, Macron can appoint a new prime minister, ask him to stay on in a caretaker capacity or call snap parliamentary elections, though it is expected Bayrou will resign.
  • The tumult in politics is wreaking havoc on the markets as France's 30-year government bond yields were pushed to their highest level in over 16 years. Further, National Rally currently tops the polls, even with Marine Le Pen unable to run due to a ban due to an embezzlement conviction, Politico reports.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Questions over shadowy 'let's blockade everything' protest movement

  • Euronews reports Monday questions have arisen over a protest movement calling "for a nationwide shutdown" on September 10 that began with "fringe online groups" but "gained the backing of mainstream political parties."
  • While the "engineers of the campaign" calling itself "Bloquons tout" ("Let's blockade everything" might "claim to be apolitical," Euronews "traced its surge on online platforms" to a post on Telegram on May 21 by "a relatively new self-proclaimed citizen group" calling itself Les Essentials France "that spreads anti-government messages." Euronews notes, "Some observers and French media describe the group as close to the far-right and conspiracist circles," adding, "A brief look at its TikTok channel suggests that the collective endorses France's exit from the European Union" and opposes military support for Ukraine. That does that smell like Russia, so much so that "one video relaying warnings from the vice-president of the Russian State Duma that France's involvement in Ukraine peacekeeping could drag the country into a 'third world war'." Another hint? Pro-Russian far-left stalwart Jean-Luc Mélenchon is supportive.
  • The campaign appears to have been "artificially amplified using a technique called astroturfing," where fake accounts and bots amplify the content. On Elon Musk-owned X, surprise surprise "many of these bots are disguised as young French females" and were "created on the same date". The things these bots also have in common? They share "pro-Kremlin, anti-Ukraine views."

 

PARIS, FRANCE – France issues arrest warrants for ousted Syrian leader, six other officials

  • France 24 reports French judicial authorities issued arrest warrants Tuesday for ousted Syrian president Bashar al Assad along with six officials responsible for the 2012 Homs bombing that killed two journalists including British reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Rémi Ochlik.
  • The pair were killed in a bombing targeting the rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr on February 22, 2012, an incident which is currently under investigation as a war crime and potential crime against humanity. Three other journalists, British photographer Paul Conroy who was working with Colvin as well as French reporter Edith Bouvier and Syrian translator Wael Omar were also wounded in the attack against "the informal press center".
  • Assad and his family fled to Russia last December when the Syrian capital Damascus fell. The other arrest warrants target his brother Maher who led the Fourth Armored Division of the Syrian army as well as intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk and the army chief of staff at the time of the attack on Homs, Ali Ayoub.

 

VALENCE, FRANCE – Seven in custody and crypto-linked Swiss freed after abduction

  • Swissinfo reports Thursday seven French people are in custody following the abduction of a Swiss national who is believed to be connected to the world of cryptocurrencies.
  • The Swiss national was "freed on Sunday in Valence during a police operation" with the suspects due to appear in regional court in Lyon on Thursday. It took 150 officers to free the 20 year old man from his kidnappers who had tied him up in a house near the Valence train station.
  • France has experienced a spate of sensational kidnappings tied to the cryptocurrency industry this year, with video footage of the attempted abduction of one woman with her child off a street in Paris early in the summer gaining widespread attention online.

 

DRESDEN, GERMANY – AfD European parliamentarian testifies in Chinese agent spy case

  • Deutsche Welle reports Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Maximilian Krah testified Wednesday against his former assistant, identified only as Jian G. according to strict German privacy laws, at trial in the eastern German city of Dresden where he stands accused of spying for China.
  • Prior to entering the German Bundestag this year, Krah was an MEP from 2019 and Jian G. "was an accredited assistant to Krah". Prosecutors believe Jian G. had been working for Chinese intelligence since 2002. As Krah's assistant he saved some 500 European Parliament documents, some sensitive, on USB sticks and laptops which he took to China. His accreditation also permitted free movement and access within the corridors of the European Parliament. At trial, Krah testified his entrie team had access to his email accounts and documents "as he had delegated all administrative issues around access."
  • Jian G. and a female co-defendant named only as Xiao are alleged to have gathered information about AfD, Chinese opposition active in Europe, the transport of German military equipment, troops and fighter drones through the Leipzig airport. Krah is also under investigation at the state level over bribery charges in an adjacent matter involving Jian G.'s import-export company.

 

DUSSELDORF, GERMANY – Six far-right candidates die ahead of vote fueling conspiracies

  • The BBC reports Tuesday that the death of six regional far-right Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) candidates for office in Germany's most populous state, North Rhein Westphalia (NRW), have passed away in recent weeks ahead of local elections, fueling conspiracy theories.
  • While police "have made clear there is no evidence of foul play," facts are not interrupting the manufacture of fiction and "raised questions on social media," in the form of conspiracy theories, with party leader Alice Weidel making "no effort to quash the speculation".
  • Weidel shared "a claim" made by a retired economist, Stefan Homburg, that called the number of candidate deaths "statistically almost impossible". Kay Gottschalk, the party's number two in NRW however said that she does not have information to "back up these suspicions".

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Germany warns against the foreign agent gig economy model

  • The AP reports Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office as well as the Federal Intelligence Service are warning the public against becoming "disposable agents" hired like gig economy workers by hostile foreign powers to carry out acts of subversion including spying and sabotage.
  • Western officials caution Russia in particular has used the model to hire unwitting proxies following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. German officials are concerned about increased risk as "low-level agents" are being recruited "directly or via intermediaries" to carry out acts of espionage and sabotage.
  • Individuals with no training and often no knowledge of who is commissioning misdeeds are being hired "for only a little money" while risking five years in prison for "anti-constitutional sabotage" or 10 years for espionage. Already authorities are investigating cases involving arson, drone overflights, property damage and reconnaissance in the form of suspicious filming or photography.

 

FRIEDLAND, GERMANY – Iraqi migrant arrested for pushing Ukrainian girl onto train tracks

  • Israel Hayom reports that a 31-year-old Iraqi immigrant, identified only as Muhammad A. in accordance with strict German privacy laws, was arrested last weekend for allegedly pushing Liana K., 16, a Ukrainian refugee from Mariupol onto the train tracks in Lower Saxony's Friedland station, resulting in her death.
  • Authorities said they found traces of the man's DNA on the girl's shoulder after her death on August 11. Liana K. was on the phone with her grandfather at the time of the assault and heard her screams. Police were called to the station about a "rampaging man" and found the suspect intoxicated, which led to the girl's body. Locals told German tabloid Bild the man was "a terrible person, completely insane."
  • The suspect, Muhammad A., entered the EU via Lithuania. Authorities sought to deport him in 2022 but he appealed and that appeal was rejected in February of this year. Authorities sought to deport him last July but the court rejected the request arguing it was "so flawed that it couldn't even be examined." He is now in a "closed psychiatric facility" after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Currently assessments are being made as to whether he is competent enough to stand trial.

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Ireland has 'deep concern' after activist punched at Palestine protest

  • Al Jazeera English reports Tuesday Irish Prime Minister or Taoiseach Micheal Martin  said he was "deeply concerned" after Irish activist Kitty O'Brien, 25, who resides in Germany, was punched in the face by a German police officer at a pro-Palestine protest in Berlin in footage that was widely circulated on social media.
  • Irish media reported her injury required surgery and Irish protest group Irish Bloc Berlin said her arm was broken in the incident.
  • Ireland's ambassador to Germany Maeve Collins also expressed "concern" to the local authorities over the incident which took place last Sunday. Police said O'Brien is under investigation "for insulting and resisting officers".

 

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – Wirecard-linked former Austrian intelligence officer indicted

  • The AP reports Egisto Ott, a former Austrian intelligence officer linked to the Wirecard scandal, was indicted in Vienna state court last Friday "on charges that include supporting a Russian intelligence officer in the country's biggest spying scandal in decades."
  • He stands accused of "espionage to the detriment of Austria and abuse of office," after he was arrested last March, detained for three months and then released after a court said it did not see him as at risk of further offenses.
  • From 2017-2021, Ott allegedly collected sensitive personal and professional data for Jan Marsalek, the fugitive former chief operating officer of Wirecard, from police databases. Marsalek, a fellow Austrian is wanted on fraud charges following the 2020 collapse of Wirecard, is believed to be in Russia after fleeing through Belarus. Recommended reading: Money Men by Dan McCrum, the Financial Times reporter who broke the story.

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Five charged with sex trafficking 146 victims from China

  • Swissinfo reports Monday that the Bern cantonal public prosecutor's office has charged five individuals with sex trafficking 146 known victims mostly from China at the conclusion of a three-year human trafficking investigation.
  • The case is "likely" one of the largest uncovered in Switzerland, with both politicians and the judiciary pushing for legal changes to permit greater information sharing as "Investigators in such complex cases repeatedly come up against barriers," according to Phillippe Müller, Bern's Director of Security. Müller said data protection regulations make it easier to exchange information with foreign authorities than across cantonal boundaries.
  • The investigation began in 2022 with five people, three men and two women, and only six victims identified initially. Subsequent investigations revealed a network involving at least 146 women, mostly Chinese nationals. They were recruited in Chinese online chats for sex work based on their "ideal appearance". Once they entered Switzerland, they were given accommodation and forged documents and pimped out for profit.

 

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Four more police officers suspended over hateful group chats

  • Swissinfo reports Monday the city of Lausanne suspended four more police officers "with immediate effect" in addition to the four who were already suspended last week for partaking in hateful group chats targeting all manner of minority communities.
  • The newest suspensions come days after the city quelled two nights of rioting after the death of a black teen during a police chase.

 

And finally…

 

RAMSAU AM DACHSTEIN, AUSTRIA – Elderly hiker dies after being trampled by cows

  • CBS News reports an 85-year-old man was killed after he was trampled by a herd of cows that charged at him and his 82-year-old wife while out for a walk in the Austrian Alps en route to a mountain hut in Ramsau am Dachstein, according to local police Monday.
  • Nine cows, including three calves, are responsible for trampling the couple and severely injuring them both. While hiking accidents that lead to death are not unusual in the Alps, being trampled to death by cows remains a rare occurrence.
  • Hikers in the area and those running "the refuge hut" witnessed the unfortunate incident before administering first aid and alerting emergency services. The couple was taken to a hospital in Salzburg but the man succumbed to his injuries before he could undergo surgery.

 

Stay safe and beware of the bovine!

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