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Germany moves two ships for Strait of Hormuz engagement, Italy reopens Tehran embassy and EU Parliament lifts immunity of Italian MEP over Huawei scandal

Germany moves two ships for Strait of Hormuz engagement, Italy reopens Tehran embassy and EU Parliament lifts immunity of Italian MEP over Huawei scandal

This week, the G7 brought the Alpine region into focus, though once again as the backdrop of its own destiny. Something about mountains and far away conflicts makes it a suitable green screen of sorts for the world's disorder.

However, the center of European security can hardly be the Panglossian takes from the Trump administration about whatever it is they are willing to call a "deal" with Iran at this point. In fact, the real show never came to Bürgenstock, the same Swiss resort that hosted a Ukrainian peace conference without the aggressor Russia in 2024. Instead, the detour to Versailles gave Trump all the gold and gravitas with none of the sense of history the moment and location required.

While the chest thumping and Rohrschach tests continue in Europe's center, the periphery is where we can observe the changes that will structure the future rather than the remnants of those clinging to a past that becomes ever less likely to guide the future. For one, Moscow was burning and Ukraine made that possible. It was the one thing that the Biden administration spent years squandering precious time to prevent, and yet here we are. Moscow was burning. And yet, we are still all here. No nukes went off. 

Further prohibitions on nuclear thinking were also lifted this week as Finland lifts its nuclear weapons ban, The New York Times and Politico report. In crisis, the normative cautions that lead one to believe the same acts that could be a provocation in peace go out the window. While Finland will not become a nuclear state, it will be possible to position nuclear weapons in Finland as part of a broader defensive posture in the NATO alliance it now finds itself in.

Where does the ground shift next before the center is struck? Europe's center currently holds to the ephemera of its role in yesterday's peace. Even those warning things might not hold cannot quite comprehend a horizon that isn't a straight line from the past and the postwar peace. The alternatives perhaps do not yet have the form to take on a structure we can comprehend beyond the sensation of a fragmenting present. 

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DJIBOUTI, DJIBOUTI – Two German ships moved for summer Strait of Hormuz engagement

  • Defense News reports Thursday that the German Navy moved two ships to the Red Sea port of Djibouti "in preparation for a possible mine-clearing mission in the Strait of Hormuz".
  • Prior to meeting NATO defense chiefs in Brussels, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told the press that "the mine-clearing ship Fulda and the supply ship Mosel had passed the Suez Canal."
  • One hundred forty German soldiers are deployed as part of the mission which is currently "operating under the EU operation Aspides".

 

TEHRAN, IRAN – Italy reopens embassy

  • Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reports Wednesday that Italy is to reopen its embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran today, Friday.
  • Put mildly, the "Reopening follows months of closure amid regional tensions".
  • Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced the reopening of the embassy during "Question Time in parliament", the Italian state-run news agency ANSA reported.

 

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – EU Parliament lifts immunity of Italian MEP tied to Huawei scandal

  • Politico reports Tuesday that the European Parliament "voted in favor of lifting the immunity of Italian center-right lawmaker Fulvio Martusciello" which allows "Belgian authorities to investigate bribery allegations involving Chinese tech firm Huawei."
  • Martusciello lobbied his fellow Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) with a document "denouncing what he said was the 'carelessness' and 'superficiality' of the prosecutor's allegations." The bank transfers that "allegedly came from Huawei" were rather "repayments of a loan he had made to a friend."
  • The allegations date back to Marc 2025 when the Belgian Prosecutor's Office began investigating "active corruption, forgery of documents, money laundering" with "alleged bribery" said to "have benefited Huawei", accusations which the tech firm denies.

 

VERSAILLES, FRANCE – Trump signs agreement with Iran while leaving dinner

  • The Associated Press reports Thursday that "At a glitzy dinner in Versailles hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Donald Trump seized the opportunity to sign an initial deal with Iran."
  • Guests at the dinner Wednesday night were "gobsmacked" in part because "White House officials considered a formal signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland instead."
  • One critical party apparently not present: Iran.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – France shuts down nine 'clandestine' Chinese police stations this year

  • Le Monde reports Thursday that "Since early 2026, French counterintelligence services have dismantled nine clandestine structures in France operating under the direction of China's Ministry of Public Security" which "were notably used to track down dissidents."
  • After "a year-long investigation," France's "counterintelligence services shut down nine 'police stations' in early 2026" with the three "heads" of the "shadow police stations, all Chinese nationals" facing "expulsion measures." The trio "were tasked with monitoring the Chinese diaspora" as well as "tracking down regime opponents to forcibly return them to China", with two already expelled.
  • On June 9, "France's highest administrative court" in fact "recommended that the third expulsion be confirmed."

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Voters reject anti-immigration population cap referendum

  • Swissinfo reports Sunday that "Swiss citizens have rejected by a 55% majority the right-wing Swiss People's Party proposal to limit the population to ten million," in what was a Swiftian anti-immigration bid, the success of which would have thrown into question a series of agreements with the EU regarding the free movement of people across the Schengen zone.
  • Not so fast: a 54.8% majority rejected the proposal but 45.2% were jelly with the idea of restricting growth in a country where 28% of residents are foreign and there would pretty much be no customer and basic services without foreigners, whether immigrants or day workers. Reuters notes the referendum, which "stipulated that the population must not exceed 10 million before 2050," had been "likened to Britain's 2016 Brexit referendum".
  • The countryside overwhelmingly voted in favor of having fewer people around, per lifestyle expectations whereas "the cities tippled the balance," in the words of Swiss People's Party President Marcel Dettling to the Swiss public broadcaster SRF.

 

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Three arrested for vandalizing US Consulate

  • Swissinfo reports Wednesday that "On Tuesday evening, several people smashed windows at the US Consulate in Zurich."
  • Police in Zurich "temporarily detained three people", two 20 year old Swiss women and one 18 year old man, they suspected of involvement. In addition to "smashing windows," the trio "also sprayed graffiti."
  • The incident was preceded by a demonstration in which a crowd gathered outside the consulate "and were chanting slogans."

 

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Thousands march ahead of G7 meeting in nearby France

  • German news agency dpa reports Monday that at least 20,000 people took part in a demonstration ahead of the G7 meeting early this week in nearby Évian-les-Bains, France.
  • While much of the demonstration was largely peaceful, police did end up kettling several hundred protesters in the end and did confiscate objects "that appeared to have been intended for us in confrontations with officers."
  • Protesters described the G7 as an "illegitimate and outdated institution".

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Journalist who disappeared in Syria returns to Germany

  • Deutsche Welle reports Friday that "German journalist Eva Maria Michelmann, who went missing earlier this year in Syria while reporting on the remnants of more than a decade of civil war, returned to Germany".
  • Her lawyer confirmed her return after she went "missing during an offensive by Syrian government forces against Kurdish fighters" in northeastern Syria at the start of the year.
  • According to the Committee to Project Journalists, Michelmann and a Turkish-Kurdish colleague worked for Etkin News Agency (ETHA), an Istanbul-based socialist outlet, and Ozgur TV.

 

PRATO, ITALY – Illicit bank used by Chinese drug traffickers dismantled

  • Agence France Presse reports Monday that "an underground bank" that was run by a Chinese national in Prato who moved €80-100 million ($91-115 million) annually "through intermediaries" was shut down by authorities.
  • The bank had been operating since 2021 and acting as a "global broker at the service of organised crime, offering secure channels for paying for huge drug consignments without any physical movement of cash and guaranteeing total anonymity of financial flows".
  • Police said the clandestine bank facilitated the flow of capital between Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. In Italy, clients included Albanian trafficking organizations and the Italian mafia.

 

ROME, ITALY – Tens of thousands march for and against 'remigration'

  • The Associated Press reports Saturday that "Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of the Italian capital in anti- and pro- migration demonstrations" following the success of "a far-right citizens' initiative seeking sweeping measures against migrants garnered enough support to be brought to Parliament."
  • The initiative known as Remigration and Reconquest obtained the necessary 50,000 signatures "to trigger parliamentary discussion" though "No date has been scheduled yet for a vote."
  • "Several thousand" supported the anti-migration movement with "the fascist salute, shouting 'Duce! Duce!' a reference to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943." Left-wing groups and trade unions countered with a march in support of migration that was tens of thousands strong.

 

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