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Germany charges two men in Russia-linked postal bomb plot and France and Germany deploy troops to Greenland

Germany charges two men in Russia-linked postal bomb plot and France and Germany deploy troops to Greenland

To turn a phrase of Lenin's, this year has already been one where a decade happens—and the fever has yet to break. For now, the Alpine nations remain peripheral actors in a geopolitical circus of horrors with the world on fire. Rather than deploy to the eastern front though where Russia has pummeled Ukraine into the cold and darkness like something out of another century, instead we are forced to contend with the fact that a very small number of French and German troops are being shipped off to Greenland, a Danish territory, to protect one NATO ally from another NATO ally. Beijing, trailed by Moscow, must be doing backflips of joy while maneuvering towards the main, center ring of the stage about now.

Normally, in such times of crisis, we would expect the EU and European leaders in the important capitals of Brussels, Berlin and Paris, even Rome to put forth a statement that goes roughly something like this: there is some level of concern corresponding to the seriousness of the situtation, with gravely being the most elevated level of concern, and we are monitoring the situation. Like many of you, I too have been mulling what the appropriate concern level meets the astonishingly horrible moment.

Instead, the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas blew passed all the normative levels of concern we have come to expect from such figures this week. Kallas reportedly offered up the suggestion that now is a good time to start drinking, according to Politico. You do not have to be an alcohol enthsuiast to know that she is quite right. You can even be one for mocktails. Welcome to the real world, where the EU stops being nice with its statements of concern and starts getting real.

The one place, however reliably, that things are not yet so real on par with the world around is deep in the Alps. And you know what, people like it that way. Geopolitical irrelevance and personally profitting from the troubles and travails of the world around are practically the core raison d'état and this does not seem to be changing any time soon. And no matter how bitter the betrayal of friends, colleagues or neighbors, at least be polite less you bump into each other on the street in the village later. For now, the deep and abiding illusion of security, nestled in the comfort of one's personal hubristic feelings and a generous social welfare state is sufficient—and you can even have an apéro too!

So dear readers, as the east and the Arctic chill moves closer despite precious feelings, I would like to propose a toast. Grab a glass, pour whatever you like and let's enjoy "A Song on the End of the World" written in Warsaw in 1944 by the Polish poet Czesław Miłosz:

And those who expected lightning and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangels' trumps
Do not believe it is happening now,
As long as the sun and the moon are above,
As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,
As long as rosy infants are born
No one believes it is happening now. 
Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet he's not a prophet, he's much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:
There will be no other end of the world,
There will be no other end of the world. 

And yet, here we are, many more decades of life later. Santé!

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! Questions, complaints, musings, lucrative offers, misguided rants and related ephemera can all be addressed to the management, amanda.rivkin@securitydialogue.org. It is there and only there that you can channel your inner Karen or behave in a manner befitting towards a guru. Now let's get to the week's news from around the Alpine region.

BERLIN, GERMANY – Two men charged in Russia-linked postal bomb plot

  • The Financial Times reports Tuesday that "German prosecutors have charged two Ukrainian men," identified only as Daniil B. and Vladyslav T. in accordance with strict German privacy laws, "with espionage for their role in an alleged Russian plot to blow up postal depots last year."
  • The parcels contained GPS trackers when they were posted in an effort to trace the routes and logistics in eastern Europe and Germany "on their way to Ukraine". Prosecutors allege "the cell intended to follow up with packages containing explosives". A third suspect, Yevhen B., was arrested in Switzerland and extradited to Germany "last month and is expected to face charges in the coming weeks." All three are considered "low-level operatives" by the authorities "who were being exploited by a Russian intelligence agency."
  • Prosecutors allege Yevhen B. received orders from an agent in Moscow via an intermediary in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol. In September, Lithuania charged 15 individuals with involvement in a similar plot.

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Bundeswehr to deploy 13 soldiers to Greenland amid Trump turmoil

  • Reuters reports Wednesday that Germany deployed 13 soldiers Thursday to Greenland "as part of a reconnaissance mission" alongside other European nations "following demands by President Donald Trump for Washington to have control of the island."
  • For now, the mission will be brief: three days "to explore possible military contributions to bolster the security of the region," a statement from the German Ministry of Defense said, adding maritime surveillance was one possibility.
  • Sweden and Norway made similar announcements earlier Wednesday, as did Canada and the Netherlands, Mediaite reports.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – France to open consulate, send troops to Greenland

  • Politico reports Wednesday French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a radio interview that France will open a consulate in Nuuk, Greenland as a "political signal" to Washington on February 6 and on Thursday, Politico reports French President Emmanuel Macron promised "land, air and sea assets" in an address to "top military brass during his new year address to the armed forces."
  • US President Donald Trump's threats to seize the Danish territory of Greenland by force has rattled Europe, with several countries now announcing military deployments to the large and geostrategically significant Arctic island. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron "criticized Washington for having designs on Greenland in a major foreign policy speech."
  • The new Nuuk consulate will cost French taxpayers €500,000 ($580,000). The US and Iceland already have consulates in Nuuk; "Denmark would assist in the process" of opening a French consulate, while Canada announced similar plans to open a consulate in Nuuk "in the coming weeks."

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Marine Le Pen in court to appeal embezzling conviction

  • The BBC reports Tuesday failed former far-right French presidential candidate with the National Rally party was in court to appeal "her conviction for embezzling EU funds" which led to a ban on her running in next year's presidential election.
  • Last year, Le Pen was found guilty for using EU funds to pay people in her political party rather than for the European Parliament. She received a four-year sentence, with two years suspended and two years of electronic monitoring, in addition to a €100,000 ($116,500) fine and a ban on running for public office. Twenty others in her party were also found guilty. The National Rally party was ordered to pay a €2 million ($2.3 million) fine.
  • The case at the Paris Court of Appeals is expected to run until February 12 but a decision on whether the conviction and ban will be upheld is not expected until summer.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – France begins recruitment for new voluntary military force

  • Reuters reports Monday France launched "a campaign to recruit thousands of young people for a new 10-month voluntary national military service, with its first participants starting their service in September."
  • The new voluntary force is aimed at French citizens ages 18 to 25 who wish to do their "part in the nation's capacity to resist in an uncertain environment," General Fabien Mandon, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, said at a press conference.
  • Target recruitment goals are 3,000 by this September, 4,000 in 2027 and 10,000 annually by 2030. Participants in the new volunteer force will receive €800 ($935) per month in addition to acquiring new skills.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – France shifts G7 summit for White House UFC event on Trump's birthday

  • The Guardian reports last Friday that France has opted to move the G7 summit to June 15-17 to avoid a schedule conflict on June 14 with "an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight planned at the White House" for that day, which "coincides with US Flag Day and US President Donald Trump's 80th birthday."
  • Last week, the president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Dana White said "planning for the event is complete and that it is expected to draw up to 5,000 spectators on the White House South Lawn." White has previously "publicly praised Trump's loyalty and has appeared alongside him at political events including the last three Republican national conventions."
  • French President Emmanuel Macron's office "declined to confirm" whether the rescheduling of the G7 summit "was linked to the UFC event".

 

SION, SWITZERLAND – Owner of bar where New Year's fire killed 40 remanded to custody

  • CBS News reports last Friday that Jacques Moretti, the husband of the couple that owned Le Constellation bar in the Alpine resort town of Crans Montana, where a tragic fire caused the death of 40 young people, was taken into custody following an interview with prosecutors in Sion, Switzerland.
  • Beatrice Pilloud, the chief prosecutor in the Swiss canton of Valais, said Moretti's detention was necessary as he presented a flight risk. Together with his wife Jessica, they co-owned Le Constellation. The couple face several charges including manslaughter by negiligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.
  • In other deadly New Year's Eve fire in Crans-Montana related news: Italy wants to be "a civil party in the proceedings" with the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani calling the death of six young Italians "a wound inflicted on the whole country". And before she came to Crans-Montana, Jessica Moretti took part in the promotion of the Sacha Baron Cohen film "The Dictator" by posing as one of the comedian's female bodyguards on the Croisette in Cannes in 2012, according to Watson.

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Police deploy teargas at protest outside Iranian Embassy

  • Swissinfo reports Wednesday that police used teargas outside the Iranian Embassy in Bern Tuesday afternoon during a protest against the regime of the Islamic Republic, a demonstration cantonal police described as "tense" in a statement.
  • The protest in Bern was unauthorized in contrast to a similar demonstration in Zürich at Europaplatz outside the main train station organized by Free Iran Switzerland which had been approved by authorities.
  • In Bern, participants refused to clear the road and three individuals entered the property of the embassy compound, with one individual placed under arrest and two more remaining at large.

  

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Bern police for October 'Gaza demo' more than a million francs

  • Swissinfo reports Thursday a report from the city government of Bern said the costs of policing the unauthorized "Gaza demo" in October were over one million Swiss francs (€1.07 million or $1.25 million).
  • The protest came days after a cease fire was signed between Israel and Hamas and "Both police officers and demonstrators were injured in the hours-long excess of violence" which "also led to massive property damage."
  • The city nonetheless "believes that it was the right decision to allow the unauthorised demonstration to go ahead." Read the Alpine Security Monitor's incident report.

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Olympic Committee approves two more Russian athletes

  • The AP reports Tuesday the International Olympic Committee has permitted two more Russian athletes, short-track speed skaters Ivan Posashkov and Alena Krylova, to compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Games next month under a "neutral status".
  • The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has now approved a total of five athletes from Russia and one from Belarus for competition. According to the "neutral status" rules, "They will not have their national identity of team colors, flag or anthem and cannot take part in the opening ceremony". More Russian and Belarusian athletes are expected to take part in the Winter Games.
  • According to the IOC's rules, "Neutral status can be given to athletes in individual events judged to have not actively supported their country's full military invasion of Ukraine, and who are not contracted to the military or state security agencies."

And finally…

 

MILAN, ITALY – Influencer Chiara Ferragni cleared of fraud in 'Pandorogate'

  • The Guardian reports Wednesday social media fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni, the person many credit with inventing the genre, was cleared of fraud over a scandal involving Christmastime sales of marked up pandoro cakes and a similar scheme around Easter with empty promises of sales-based charitable contributions to a children's hospital.
  • More concretely, Ferragni "had been on trial in Milan accused of duping consumers in two separate fundraisers – one a Christmas campaign in 2022 promoting pandoro cake, an alternative to the more famous pannetone, and the other selling chocolate eggs during Easter campaigns in 2021 and 2022."  The company she partnered with made a single €50,000 ($58,000) donation to a children's hospital in Turin that was not tied to the sales of the inflated costs of the pandoro on sale. The Easter egg scandal "emerged during the investigation" and Ferragni paid about €1.2 million ($1.4 million) to the charity to resolve that dispute. In the decade before the fraud allegations surfaced, Ferragni made approximately €40 million ($46.4 million) on brand promotions and other opportunities.
  • Ferragni had faced the possibility of up to one year and eight months in jail as prosecutors demanded if convicted of aggravated fraud. Prosecutors opened their investigation in early 2024 "after Italy's anti-trust authority fined her" €1 million ($1.16 million) over the pandoro promotion.

 

Stay safe and time to start drinking!

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