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French Foreign Legion soldier kidnapped in Colombia, gun stash uncovered in the woods near Berlin and two Frankfurt Airport workers die of malaria

French Foreign Legion soldier kidnapped in Colombia, gun stash uncovered in the woods near Berlin and two Frankfurt Airport workers die of malaria

The summer and its silly season are coming to an end, alas. Next week we can expect Europe to slowly, slowly return to business after its long summer months of holidays. And a week from this comiing Sunday, German regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt which the far-right Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) is tipped to win. Ergo, the fall of discontent and winter, with all its promise of darkness, are just around the corner. This will likely be the last "lite" week of news. And alas while a few days remain in the month, August has come and gone so far without the famous "August curse" altering the course of history on Europe's eastern border.  

Before we get to the stories of the past week, we have a very important event on September 21 entitled, "The War on Peace: Foreign Subversion of Western Peace Movements" coming up which we announced earlier in the week. We urge you to register and buy tickets early as tickets are going and interest is generally very high. Our speakers, former Latvian member of parliament Alex Grigorievs, Swiss asylum lawyer Gabriel Püntener, former Swiss intelligence chief Peter Regli and myself, will be joined by moderator Georg Häsler, the security policy corresondent for Switzerland's paper of record, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 

Why now? Well, anyone who lives, works and plays in Switzerland has surely come across a profoundly odd sight while navigating public transportation and the country's extensive, well organized and almost always on time rail network. Nearly everywhere you look, there are posters for "No War" with peace doves. The idea here is to tie neutrality to peace and tie the government's hand in the event of a national security emergency. How convenient for those who wish ill on the nation and its sovereignty.

After three significant days at a conference discussing security topics with police and criminal justice leaders from Switzerland and Germany this week just over the Swiss border near Lake Constance, one thing that stands out is the esteem and regard for civil society in preserving trust between the authorities and the community. Civil society is too valuable to fall prey to foreign influence operations, which often take the form of infiltration and subversion. Look no farther than the discipline it took on the streets of Minneapolis to fundamentally alter the national conversation in the US around ICE raids or the Baltic Way, which celebrated its 27th anniversary this week and has inspired movements the world over, to understand how important civil society is for societal progress.

Switzerland is not a unique target for these operations, but less is known about them among the general public. As an organization, our goal is not to opine on the politics of the day but rather to inform and elevate the discourse. We offer this event to strengthen civil society so that it can be fortifed against hostile attacks and spared the fate of infiltrated and doomed movements like the Women's March or Code Pink, both of which I personally will discuss a bit more in depth and discuss how that happened on September 21. Join us!

Welcome to the Alpine Security Monitor, an official publication of the Bern Security Dialogue. We urge you to 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 you have enjoyed what you have been reading for free, consider upgrading now to become a member or a warrior to support the critical work we do to elevate security policy in this critical region at the heart of Europe. Our work and success very much depends on our network. If this was forwarded to you, welcome!

You can address any comments about our editorial or event to amanda.rivkin@securitydialogue.org and the news items below to esteemed co-author Philipp Wolf at philipp.wolf@securitydialogue.org.  

 

NARIÑO DEPARTMENT, COLOMBIA – French Foreign Legion soldier kidnapped

  • Le Monde reports Friday that "The Colombian army announced Thursday that a soldier in the French Foreign Legion" has been kidnapped "while traveling in the department of Nariño, an area of southwestern Colombia dominated by guerillas."
  • The French-Colombian soldier, José Olger Melo Charry, "was taken hostage August 6". It is believed that a group called Estado Mayor Central (EMC), considered "the main breakaway faction of the now-defunct rebel army FARC", is responsible for the abduction. The FARC "laid down arms in a historic 2016 peace deal."
  • Ivan Mordisco commands the EMC. He is "Colombia's most wanted guerrilla."

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Authorities uncover gun stash, see link to Russian intelligence

  • Reuters reports last Friday that "German security authorities discovered handguns stashed in a forest near Berlin last ​year and believe the weapons were to ‌be used to carry out assassinations on behalf of Russian intelligence".
  • According to Süddeutsche Zeitung and German public broadcasters NDR and WDR, unspecified sources said that ​"one suspect had been arrested in Romania and may have been responsible for setting up the weapons ​storage". The case is being investigated by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office "on suspicion of planning of a serious ‌act ⁠of violence posing a threat to the state".
  • According to Der Spiegel investigators suspect that the man they arrested is "part of a ‌Russian-controlled agent network". Germany's domestic intelligence service "has been warning ​of a ​heightened risk of ⁠Russian sabotage or assassination attempts". Potential targets "include defence industry executives, exiled opposition figures and supporters of Ukraine".

 

FRANKFURT, GERMANY – Two airport workers die of malaria

  • CNN reports Thursday that two Frankfurt Airport workers "died after contracting malaria believed to have been spread by a mosquito brought into the country via aircraft."
  • In total, "six employees became infected with what is known as airport malaria," according to Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport. Germany's public health organization the Robert Koch Institute "noted that there had been an outbreak of malaria cases among employees at the airport, with multiple individuals falling ill between July 4 and July 6."
  • German news magazine Der Spiegel reports that "The four other employees have since recovered". The incident remains under investigation.

 

CAEN, FRANCE – Two dead and ten injured after car rams into crowd

  • The BBC reports Thursday that "two people have been killed and ten others injured after a car crashed into a group of people near a train station in Caen in northern France".
  • Local prefect David Clavière told reporters that a car had deliberately  deliberated "rammed into pedestrians opposite the station". Later, "a man was arrested after authorities launched a major emergency response in the wider Normandy region".
  • Police opened "an investigation into the incident, which will be led by detectives from Caen's Specialised Crime Division". At present, "we are not dealing with a terrorist motive, but the investigation is only just beginning," said Bruno Coutanceau, a top security official for Caen.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – More than 100 former French, UK diplomats urge sanctioning Israel

  • Al Jazeera English reports Saturday that "a coalition of 102 former French and British diplomats is calling on their countries to jointly sanction Israel, warning in an open letter that Israeli policy in occupied Palestinian territory threatens to permanently erase the possibility of a Palestinian state".
  • The letter was published in Le Monde and urged the two countries "to act together to uphold international law in Palestine", and demanded "equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians". Among the ex-diplomats that signed the letter are "the former British ambassadors to the United Nations, Jeremy Greenstock and Emyr Jones Parry, and former French Middle East directors, Yves Aubin de la Messuzière and Denis Bauchard," all of whom draw collectively  "on decades of diplomatic postings across the region".
  • According to Nicholas Hopton, a former UK ambassador to Iran, Qatar and Yemen, who signed the letter, one of the reasons he did so "was Israel's renewed push to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank". The letter states that "Palestinian house demolitions and rampant settler violence – with the connivance of the Israeli army and police – amount to ethnic cleansing".

 

ROME, ITALY – Italy requests €8 billion in EU defense loans

  • Defense News reports Wednesday that Italy "has requested €8 billion ($9.3) in cheap loans from the European Union's SAFE defense funding program after delaying a decision for months amid opposition to the plan from within the Italian government".
  • Initially, Italy wanted to request €14.9 billion. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni "hesitated over the low-cost loans, which are being offered by the EU to help member states beef up military readiness in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and President Trump's demands that NATO members spend more on defense". She faced opposition from the League Party which forms part of her ruling coalition. The League Party argued that "public spending should be prioritized over defense spending", a position "shared by opposition parties as well as a sizable number of Italian voters ahead of national elections next year".
  • Italy has slowly increased defense spending of late and at the NATO summit in July, Meloni claimed the spending had risen to 2.8 percent of GDP. However, "the rise" in so-called defense spending "is mainly accounted for by spending on domestic security".

 

ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss citizenship revoked due to terrorist attack plans

  • Swissinfo reports Tuesday that "the Federal Administrative Court has upheld the revocation of Swiss citizenship" for a supporter of the so-called Islamic State.
  • The 36 year old Bosnian man "became a Swiss citizen in 2000" and "had professed allegiance to Islamic State (IS) and planned attacks in France, notably in Nice". In January 2021, he was "sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment" by the Assize Court in Paris. The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration decided in May of the same year to revoke his "Swiss citizenship on the grounds of the serious crimes he had committed in the context of terrorist activities" as "he had harmed Switzerland’s interests and damaged its reputation".
  • On Monday, the "Federal Administrative Court upheld this decision," however, "the case may be appealed to the Federal Court".

 

AARAU, SWITZERLAND – Canton votes to ban headscarves for girls under 16

  • Swissinfo reports Wednesday that the cantonal parliament of Aargau has tasked "the cantonal government with drawing up legislation to ban headscarves for schoolgirls aged 16 and under in schools".
  • The motion was "submitted by lawmakers from the Radical-Liberal Party, the Federal Democratic Union, the Centre Party and Swiss People’s Party" and approved by the cantonal parliament by 78 to 54 votes. Adrian Schoop, the Radical-Liberal who initiated the motion, said, "people had fought for women’s equality for decades, but were now prepared to 'import cultures that restricted it'". Cantonal Education Minister and member of the Swiss People’s Party Martina Bircher added that "the cantonal government recognised that the headscarf could be a symbol of oppression".
  • However, Switzerland's "Federal Court had made clear in a landmark 2015 ruling that public interests such as state neutrality, the role of schools in promoting integration and gender equality were not sufficient grounds for such a ban". It is unclear how long it will take the cantonal government to draw up the legislation or when it will go into effect, should the new law hold.

 

And finally…

 

AZORES, PORTUGAL – Swiss Air flight from Chicago diverts over smell

  • Moonie-owned The Washington Times reports Tuesday that a Swiss International Airlines "flight out of Chicago diverted over the Atlantic Ocean to Portugal's Azores after a smell sickened six on board". The flight's diversion
  • The flight "left Chicago's O'Hare International Airport at about 7:35pm". According to the airline, a "pungent odor" developed in economy class when the plane was halfway over the Atlantic. As a precaution, "the flight diverted to Lajes Airport on Terceira Island, 1,000 miles west of Lisbon, and landed at 6:30am local time Tuesday".
  • After having landed safely, "five passengers and one crew member who suffered from nausea, headaches and eye irritation received medical examinations before being released". In total, the "plane had 222 passengers and 16 crew on board, including two pilots". The source of the smell remains unknown.

 

Stay safe and be civil!

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