G7 eases fuel supplies, Merz visits Kyiv and Schröder wishes Putin a happy birthday

Until this week, the conversation in German security circles centered around intelligence reform. To be brief and blunt, it is unclear now where such conversations will go given this week's arrest of August Hanning, a former chief of the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence service.

It's no secret Germany lives under the heavy ghosts of its past. Gestapo and Stasi are terms like Leninism or Maoism or Stalinism which are thrown out callously to attack adversaries in Western political discourse. But in Germany, some of these things have or had meaning, or at least more than they do most anywhere else not Israel. Holocaust distortion remains a crime in Germany, as do various symbols associated with the national socialist past of the Nazi Party. 

However, as anyone who has a cynical eye when visiting a Holocaust memorial or museum will acknowledge, "memory culture" is a double-edged cudgel, simultaneously condemning Europe's past turn to hard racism and death factories. However, at the same time it serves a dual purpose: it reminds a demoralized German nation what they are capable of. On the one side memory of attrocity and on the other side, a competing story of glorious strength, six million lives plus be damned. 

Weak people do not think of their victims. They cannot be bothered because their own complex of victimhood is total. However, reality will not bend to their will without force and control of the courts and a monopoly on violence, but that alone does not mean certain self-professed victims of history will contain themselves to the past. We are our own front line against failure. It is encumbent on us not to enforce virtue signals and police language but rather to signal virtue and be kind to our languages, and hopefully, with a bit of grace, each other. 

A new generation is in fact rising, one that thinks "free Palestine" is an in-group signaller divorced from the tragedies of the population it claims to champion. Similarly, pro-Israel has offered moral cover for the European far-right in condemning the attrocities of the past, as if in a vacuum. Neither European camp, pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian, is much a friend beyond superficial political necessity of those in power to the actual people that politicians and activists across the continent claim to champion.

Rather, it is a conflict mapped onto contemporary political realities of each European country where such activism and political posturing takes hold. As an American with a media that follows Israeli elections almost as closely as American elections, one need not listen to much more than CNN and their Jerusalem bureau chief Oren Liebermann to know that Israelis view the left as weak – and for cause. If a different party were in power in Israel, things might be different – or not. After all, ancient hatreds are labeled such for a reason and Muslim and Jew both suffer differently but suffer nonetheless in modern Europe.

So not unlike Israel, Europe has a real security dilemma on its hands. The threat may be greater but so is Europe and Russia. But unlike Israel, there is a bit more handwringing about what to do about it. It is not because Europeans are special and humane and delicate sensitive creatures. Far, far from it. All the trappings of modernity cannot dress up the continent's most primitive prejudicial instincts. Look at the European past and recall the Shoah was not that long ago; the death factories only stopped 81 years ago. 

August Hanning's arrest and the rise of the AfD (both stories covered this week) does not mean Nazism is to come roaring back. But it does mean that the past is not even past and the cynical opportunism of one money-driven corrupt ex-official is not without consequence. Good people still remain in control of the German state – for now. But that does not mean the center is holding, nor does it mean that intelligence reform in the country will be an uncomplicated topic now, quite the opposite.

Fear, my dear Europeans, is what you make of it. But so is human decency. The balance is more precarious than we know. Be careful, you never know what fear and jealousy can do to a person and you will never learn what people are truly capable of until you do.

Welcome to the Alpine Security Monitor. 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). Tell your friends and colleagues too!

WASHINGTON, DC – US backs down from fuel export ban threat as G7 releases supplies

• The Financial Times reports last Friday that "The US has backed down on a threat to stop exporting fuel to the world as part of a deal in which European countries agreed to release more diesel from their strategic reserves".
• Following a video conference meeting Friday, G7 leaders said "they would release 100mn barrels of crude and diesel" to address "ongoing market pressures". The G7 nations are expected to release fuel from their strategic reserves "over a four-month period", said to begin "immediately". A "substantial" release from G7 nations' strategic reserves will take place "within the first 20 days."
• Diesel prices have soared on the back of the US and Israeli-led war against Iran, with "American industry and farmers" hurting "ahead of November's midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress."

KYIV, UKRAINE – German Chancellor on visit to Kyiv

• The Guardian reports Sunday that Russia "struck another major bridge in Kyiv", the northern bridge over the Dnipro, as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was arriving "in a show of support for Ukraine."
• Merz's "unannounced visit" was "intended to underline Germany's backing of Ukraine" which is now "Ukraine's biggest provider of military aid since Merz entered office in May 2025". During his visit, "Merz announced that Germany would fund the joint production of drones designed to intercept Russia's jet-powered drones".
• During the visit, "Air-raid sirens sounded repeatedly" including during a visit to "the badly damaged National Academy of Sciences" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Ex-German Chancellor Schröder attends Putin's birthday in Moscow

• Deutsche Welle reports Friday that "Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder attended Russian President Vladimir Putin's birthday party" per a Kremlin announcement.
• While Putin's birthday was Wednesday October 7, he celebrated Thursday alongside Schröder. Putin allegedly "learned that Schröder was on a business trip in the Russian capital via Russian media reports." Schröder was in town visiting "one of the branches of the new Hyperglobus supermarket chain" by sheer coincidence. Right.
• Video posted online by German outlet Welt shows Schröder and his Korean wife arriving at the airport to a crowd of well wishers, likely government employees forced to be there or other Muscovites infected with the customary brain worms that brings one out for such an occasion.

MAGDEBURG, GERMANY – Saxony-Anhalt elects far-right leader of regional parliament

• Politico reports on Tuesday that the "Far-right lawmaker Tobias Rausch won the presidency of Saxony-Anhalt's state parliament" with support from the hard-left Sahra Wagenknecht.
• With 48 votes, Rausch more than secured the 42 required to win the speakership, marking "the first time an Alternative for Germany politician will lead a German state parliament."
• What firewall in German politics against the far-right? Rausch vowed, "the era of political firewalls should be a thing of the past." Germany's domestic intelligence agency has classified the Saxony-Anhalt branch of the party "confirmed extremist."

STEINFURT, GERMANY – Former German spy chief arrested on treason charges

• The Financial Times reports Tuesday that the former head of the BND (Bundesnachritendienst), Germany's foreign intelligence agency, "August Hanning has been arrested on suspicion of treason."
• Hanning allegedly "sold secrets to a foreign power" and "was taken into custody by German police at his home in Steinfurt county near the Dutch border on Tuesday morning, on orders from the German federal prosecutor." In addition to Hanning, "A serving senior BND official named by police as 'Manfred D' was also taken into custody from his home in Bavaria on suspicion of aiding in treason." Reportedly, "Manfred D as Hanning's chief of staff during his tenure". He later "continued to serve as chief of staff for the BND's chiefs from 2012 to 2026, making him one of the most experienced and powerful officials at the agency." Manfred D is alleged to have transmitted "valuable intelligence" to Hanning since 2010 "in exchange for renumeration," according to the federal prosecutor's statement.
• On Thursday, The Financial Times had more details: Hanning "had contact with two foreign intelligence services" but add "there was no Russian dimension in the case." Rather, "He was a member of the German-Azerbaijan forum" and "other clients included businesses, wealthy individuals and politically exposed people in Ukraine, Israel, Austria and Germany," including Christina Block, "the German heiress of a steakhouse restauranteur who allegedly sent a team to Denmark to kidnap her children from their father." Blue News also adds bits about his connection to private intelligence firms in Lucerne.

BERLIN, GERMANY – Lawmakers approve eight ship fleet of frigates for submarine hunting

• Defense News reports Thursday that German lawmakers have approved "the acquisition of four additional MEKO A-200 DEU frigates from shipbuilder TKMS".
• Previously, "The Bundestag budget committee had approved the first four vessels July 8, alongside an option for four more." Germany's Defense Ministry said it had "exercised that option" to "give the German Navy a single, eight-ship class intended chiefly for anti-submarine warfare."
• The date set for the delivery of the first vessel in 2029. The ships are intended to "support NATO missions in the Baltic and North seas, the Atlantic and the High North".

ROME, ITALY – New contested electoral law could tip balance in favor of Meloni

• Reuters reports Thursday that "Italy's lower house of parliament gave final approval" for "a fiercely contested electoral reform championed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that provides the framework for a national election due next year."
• While critics on the center-left charge "the goal is to boost her chances of retaining power", Meloni however argues "the new rules are intented to increase the prospect of a stable government". The secret ballot was decisive in favor, with 227 for and 164 against the measures.
• Among the new rules: "each coalition or party running outside a coalition" would be obligated "to name its candidate for prime minister before the election" and "allowing voters to choose their preferred candidates among party lists". Reuters has the full list of key points in the reforms.

LENS, FRANCE – France bans stun grenades after boy's hand blown off during protests

• The BBC reports Wednesday that "France has suspended the use of stun grenades for policing" during a wave of student unrest over poor educational conditions that has swept France "after a 15-year-old's hand was blown off earlier in the week" near the August Béhal high school in Lens near the northern city of Lille.
• After a week of unrest, "Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said he had requested the pause until the facts of Monday's incident in Lens". Authorities allege the teenager "picked up the grenade which then exploded". Last week, a fourteen year old was hit in the face with a tear gas canister in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, north west of Paris. A police officer has been charged in that incident.
• French President Emmanuel Macron held "an emergency meeting late on Tuesday" with "key ministers to find a way out of the crisis" with authorities alleging nearly a quarter of a million students on the street, a number disputed by student unions who place the figure closer to 450,000 students.

PRAGUE, CZECHIA – PM Babiš survives second no confidence vote ahead of key elections

• Politico reports last Friday that Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš survived a second no confidence vote "two weeks before local and senate elections."
• There was "a fierce three-day debate" but in the end, "only 83 opposition lawmakers backed the no-confidence motion, far short of the 101 votes needed to bring down the cabinet."
• As a result, "The opposition tables its no-confidence vote following the government's proposed 2027 budget".

MONACO – Alleged agent behind Monaco bombing attack of Ukrainian millionaire speaks

• The BBC reports Friday that "A former Ukrainian security services officer linked to a bomb attack in Monaco in June", Vitalii Zhykovych, has spoken for the first to the public broadcaster from prison in an interview arranged by his lawyer.
• Zhykovych called himself a "freelancer" and said Anastasia Berezovka who was "caught on camera planting the bomb in Monaco" was his "agent". Her body was later discovered in the woods west of Kyiv with a gunshot wound to the head. The intended target of the bomb was Vadym Yermolayev, who was "badly hurt" alongside his 13 year old son in the incident.
• Zhykovych said he was acting on orders of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.

CRANS-MONTANA, SWITZERLAND – Owner of bar at center of tragic fire texted of fire risk

• Swissinfo reports Thursday Jacques Moretti, the owner of the Constellation Bar, which was the site of a tragic New Year's Eve fire which resulted in the deaths of more than three dozen mostly young people, allegedly "wrote to his employees that sparklers could set the bar on fire" in a message dated November 12, 2019.
• In the message, "Moretti accuses one of his employees of giving a sparkler to a guest". The WhatsApp message "came to the attention of Swiss public television" and "is now part of the criminal investigation file."
• Jessica Moretti, the wife of the owner, followed up one month later with a message that showed more flexibility, writing, "If the guests want sparklers, keep a very close eye on them and stay with them until the sparkler has gone out."

LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND – Footballer faces probation, fine over fake Covid certificate

• Swissinfo reports Thursday that Swiss national football team captain Granit Xhaka faces two years' probation and a fine of 150,000 Swiss francs ($180,000 or €161,000) "after he admitted obtaining a fake vaccination certificate during the COVID-19 pandemic."
• The fine comes after the Lucerne public prosecutor's office slapped Xhaka with "50 daily rates of CHF3,000 ($3,598)".
• Xhaka made the announcement of the sanctions on his personal Instagram account, conceding, "I accept the decision and take responsibility". He also said he made a full legal statement to the public prosecutor's office.

Stay safe and keep the spark going in a non-Leninist Iskra or Crans-Montana New Year's Eve way!

Did you find this useful? If so, please consider making a one-time contribution, or becoming a subscriber.

If the Alpine Security Monitor was forwarded to you and you wish to subscribe, you can do so here.