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Iran reacts to E3 sanctions 'snapback,' Serbia arrests 11 over Paris mosque incidents and Raiffeisen can't offload Russia assets

Iran reacts to E3 sanctions 'snapback,' Serbia arrests 11 over Paris mosque incidents and Raiffeisen can't offload Russia assets

This week, I spent a few days at the Warsaw Security Forum getting the reminder that there are small nations that punch mightily above their weight when it comes to understanding the threats to the liberal democratic order posed by Russia and other authoritarian states – and others that still simply do not quite get the old ways will not work any more.

In conversation after, I likened the small mind syndrome one finds sometimes among small states to an alcoholic. The drink is still in the system but the music is over and the lights are on. It is the moment where some peel away to go to bed and get rest for the days and weeks and months and years ahead, while others retreat to the bar, to continue on the same way for another day. Only one of these figures could end up dead from bad habits.

When it comes to Switzerland, perhaps no confrontation was more interesting than when the Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze told Swiss State Secretary Markus Mäder from the stage that she looks forward to the day when Swiss F35s are engaged in Latvian air space. Doubtful many in Switzerland share that sentiment. 

Otherwise, another powerful moment came when Ukrainian lawyer and Nobel Peace laureante Olexandra Matviichuk reminded everyone of the power of ordinary people. Finally, the interview conference organizer Katarzyna Pisarska conducted with US Special Envoy for Ukraine (ret.) Gen. Keith Kellogg from the main stage is well worth a listen.

Welcome to the new Alpine Security Monitor. Currently in its pilot stage, 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).

TEHRAN, IRAN – Iran recalls ambassadors to France, Germany and the UK

  • Al Jazeera English reports Tehran has recalled its ambassadors to Paris, Berlin and London for "consultations" as sanctions against Iran over the country's nuclear program were reimposed Sunday.
  • The three countries, known as the E3, triggered the "snapback" mechanism allowing sanctions to be reimposed on Iran one month ago.
  • Russia and China "failed to delay" reviving international sanctions during a meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council last Friday, as the measure received the support of just four countries.

 

BELGRADE, SERBIA – Serbia arrests 11 for putting pigs heads outside Paris mosques

  • Reuters reports Serbian Interior Ministry officials announced Monday that they had arrested 11 people for involvement in the recent placing of pigs heads outside mosques in Paris "on the orders of a foreign intelligence service."
  • The pigs heads were placed around nine mosques. Additionally, the 11 stand accused of others acts including putting green paint on the Holocaust Museum, several synagogues and a Jewish-owned restaurant in Paris as well as the placement of concrete skeletons at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
  • Serbia's Interior Minister said the suspects were all Serbian nationals who were trained in the country. One more suspect who is alleged to have trained the 11 is currently a fugitive. Authorities left out which country's intelligence service, however one can surmise an educated guess based on all these context clues.

 

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Austria's Raiffeisen again fails to sell assets, exit Russia

  • The Moscow Times reports Wednesday that Raiffeisen Bank, "the largest Western lender still operating in Russia," has once again failed to sell off its assets in Russia and exit the country.
  • Raiffeisen had located a Russian buyer but authorities blocked the sale "out of fears that transferring ownership to local investors could trigger sanctions against RBI," which is "a crucial financial channel for Moscow".
  • Bottom line: the Kremlin wants to preserve what economic ties remain with Europe, "which still buys billions of euros worth of Russian oil and gas each year," contributing to the country's war chest.

 

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – Swiss object to lifting ban on Russia, Belarus in paralympic games

  • Swissinfo reports Switzerland was among the countries objecting to the International Paralympic Committee's decision to lift the partial ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes participating in the International Paralympic Games last Saturday during the group's General Assembly in Seoul, South Korea.
  • The two national committees were readmitted as full members following the partial ban imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which was carried out with the use of access to Belarusian territory in February 2022 thanks to the country's long-time dictator Aleksander Lukashenko.
  • Switzerland was in the minority that opposed lifting sanctions; the vote in favor of Russia and Belarus "paves the way" for paralympians from both nations "to compete under their respective flags again at the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in March 2026." However, whether they compete remains to be seen as "The final decision on admission rests with the respective world governing bodies responsible for the respective sports, which had previously maintained the sanctions."

 

SAINT-NAZAIRE, FRANCE – Military boards Russian 'shadow fleet' tanker, arrests two

  • The Guardian and Agence France Presse report the French military intercepted and boarded a tanker, the Boracay, Sunday that is suspected of being part of Russia's "shadow fleet" and the launch pad for a drone swarm that shut the Copenhagen airport last week, diverting it to Saint-Nazaire in western France and arresting two.
  • The Boracay "has used numerous identities and was one of four Russia-linked vessels in the seas near Denmark at the time of the drone sightings" between September 22-25. The French public prosecutor in Brest put the tanker under investigation earlier Sunday "following a report from the navy", which Macron labeled "a good thing" while stopping short "of confirming a connection to the Denmark drone flights." Meanwhile, the Kremlin was mum "when asked." At the time the French military boarded the vessel, the Boracay was carrying 750,000 barrels of crude oil and sailing from Primorsk near Saint Petersburg to Vadinar, India.
  • The crew would not discuss the nationality of the ship and refused to cooperate. The Benin-flagged ship was built in 2007 and "had just changed its name from Pushpa" but has also been known as the Kiwala, the name it was blacklisted under in February. On Thursday, the AP reports the captain would stand trial in February.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – South African ambassador found dead outside hotel

  • The AP reports South African ambassador Emmanuel Nkosinathi Mthethwa, known as Nathi Mthethwa, 58, was found dead in an inner courtyard of the Hyatt Hotel in western Paris Tuesday.
  • He was reported missing Monday by his wife who said she "received a worrying message" where he "apologized and expressed his intention to take his own life," according to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau in a statement.
  • A security guard discovered the body Tuesday after Mthethwa had booked a room for the night before on the hotels 22nd floor. The safety mechanism on his window had been forced open and a medical examiner "found no signs of a struggle, nor traces of medication or illegal drugs."

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Telegram's Durov accuses French of interfering in Moldovan elections

  • Reuters reports Telegram CEO Pavel Durov who at last check was still holed up at the glitzy Hotel de Crillon – like a real Russian fake dissident exile – accused French intelligence Sunday "of having asked him through an intermediary to censor some Moldovan voices in return for help with his court case in France."
  • Giving away the game: in a lengthy post on X, Durov said such interference "was unacceptable on several levels" but not because of interference in judicial processes. He likens such moves to interventions on behalf of democracy and against far-right and pro-Russian actors, something that offends him and his cohort of social media barons that champion such causes, including X owner Elon Musk who subtweeted Durov with a one word riposte: "Wow".
  • Reminder: Moldovans went to vote in parliamentary elections Sunday and decisively voted in support of President Maia Sandu's party and candidates that will have a positive impact on the country's bid for EU membership.

 

YERRES, FRANCE – Elderly Jewish man insulted and beaten after ritual bath

  • The Jerusalem Post reports a 67-year-old Jewish man, Gilles Cohen, was assaulted in the southeastern Paris suburb of Yerres last Saturday morning according to local media reports.
  • The attacker is alleged to have shouted "Dirty Jew!" before beating Cohen in order to "find money and the keys to the synagogue."
  • A passerby "intervened and rescued Cohen."

 

MUNICH, GERMANY – Drones shut Munich Airport, halting flights

  • The New York Times reports "drones were spotted nearby" the Munich Airport late Thursday.
  • The "drone activity was "first spotted at 10:17 p.m.," causing 17 flights to be delayed and 15 flights were rerouted on approach. Three thousand travelers were affected.
  • The incident is the latest in a series of drone-related incidents over Polish airspace, the Copenhagen Airport and elsewhere.

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Military to shoot down drones that pose critical infrastructure threat

  • Before Friday's incident, the week began with The Telegraph reporting that Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has asked that the military be prepared to shoot down drones that pose a threat to critical infrastructure, with legislation being planned to allow the Bundeswehr to shoot down the unmanned aircraft.
  • Swarms of drones were reported over Schleswig-Holstein late Friday which prompted a police investigation.

 

DRESDEN, GERMANY – Aide to far-right politician jailed for spying for China

  • Agence France Presse reports Jian Guo, a former aide to Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) politician Maximilian Krah who currently serves in the European Parliament, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for spying on behalf of the Chinese government.
  • The Dresden court found Guo "guilty of acting as an agent for a Chinese intelligence service" while working as an aide to Krah, an anti-immgration hard-right politician. A female accomplice identified only as Yaqi X., according to strict German privacy laws, was given a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.
  • A German national, Guo began working with Chinese intellgence in 2007 and worked for Krah "as a Brussels-based staffer" to Krah between 2019 and 2024. While working for Krah, he passed "hundreds of documents and collected information about leading AfD politicians, including party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla."

 

MUNICH, GERMANY – Bomb threat briefly shuts Oktoberfest after explosion in Munich

  • CBS News reports Oktoberfest shut much of Wednesday "following an explosion and fire in a residential building in the north of the city" of Munich.
  • Residents in the Lerchenau districted reportedly heard "loud bangs" and saw flames befor the hour of 5 am Wednesday morning. Investigators belive arson followed a family dispute. Inside the residence, police found numerous improvised explosive devices ready to detonate. Two were injured including "the suspect's daughter and elderly mother." A nearby middle school was also closed as a result of the incident.
  • The Mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter, said there was a "verified bomb threat" against Oktoberfest and authorities searched the grounds but did not find anything.

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Police arrest three suspected members of Hamas hoarding weapons

  • CNN reports German prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday that police had arrested "three suspected Hamas members" and charged them with "membership in a foreign terrorist organization and preparing acts of violence endangering the state."
  • All three, two German nationals and a Lebanese, were arrested in Berlin. Since last summer, the three had been working to procure firearms and ammunition.
  • German police have arrested suspected members of Hamas before. In December 2023, German and Dutch police arrested four individuals who were accused of plotting attacks against "Jewish institutions in Europe."

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – 100,000 rally in support of Gaza in significant show of support

  • Al Jazeera English reports "More than 100,000 people rallied in Berlin" last Saturday, marching "from Berlin's City Hall to the Grosser Stern".
  • The march was called by "a broad coalition of some 50 groups, including pro-Palestinian organizations," as well as the opposition Left Party (Die Linke) who called for "an end to German complicity" as well as "an end to all military cooperation with Israel."
  • A survey released last week Tuesday showed "62 percent of German voters believe Israeli actions in Gaza constitute genocide".

 

ROME, ITALY – Italy ends naval support for Gaza flotilla before Israel halts it

  • Reuters reports the Italian navy called back a frigate protecting the latest flotilla to attempt to break the blockade on Gaza "Once the convoy got within 150 nautical miles (278 km) of Gaza's shoreline" Wednesday, hours before the Israeli Navy boarded and diverted the ships to an Israeli port.
  • Italy urged those on board the flotilla seeking to deliver humanitarian aid "to accept a compromise proposal to drop aid in a Cyprus port and avoid a confrontation with Israeli forces," something flotilla representatives refused. Last week, Spain and Italy deployed naval assets to assist "after it was hit by drones armed with stun grenades and irritants in international waters off Greece" without engaging militarily. Italy's Defense Minister Guido Crosetto "said he expects flotilla boats to be intercepted in the open sea and activsits to face arrest," and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the effort risked undermining the peace process "based on US President Donald Trump's 20-point proposal."
  • Politico reports when the flotilla was intercepted as predicted by Crosetto, protests broke out in Rome where "activists gathered outside Termini station" and in Naples central station "tracks were blocked by protesters for an hour." Additionally, the biggest trade union in Italy called for another general strike this Friday. Elsewhere, in Switzerland, Keystone SDA and Reuters report demonstrators blocked the tracks at the main rail station in Bern Thursday night while in Geneva police used water canons and tear gas. A smaller crowd gathered in Zürich.

 

GENOA, ITALY – Dockworkers threaten trade blockage against Israel over Gaza

  • Politico reports Sunday that dockworkers in the Italian port of Genoa have threatened to block all trade with Israel "as they vow to support an international flotilla carrying aid to Gaza."
  • The dockworkers in Genoa were "joined by dockworkers from all over Europe" last Friday and Saturday "for talks on blocking arms shipments to Israel." There has been no comment on those discussions from the dockworkers following the gathering.
  • Following drone attacks on the latest flotilla attempting to break the blockade on Gaza carrying Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and members of the European Parliament, known as the Global Sumud Flotilla, the dockworkers "have now designated the flotila as a kind of tripwire for threats of further action".

 

TRIESTE, ITALY – Poll shows 15% of Italians believe physical attacks on Jews are justified

  • Reuters reports Tuesday a poll by firm SWG shows "Around 15% of Italians consider physical attacks on Jewish people" are either "entirely or fairly justifiable".
  • Never again, until next time: a further 18% believe that "antisemitic graffiti on walls and other public spaces is legitimate" and one in five think "it was reasonable to attack professors who expressed pro-Israeli positions or for businesses to reject Israeli customers".
  • The results are based on a survey conducted between September 24-26 from a nationwide sample of 800 adults.

 

PARMA, ITALY – Police seize 21 artworks they believe are falsely attribution to Dalí

  • The Guardian reports police in Parma seized 21 works of art "from a major exhibition in Parma" of work by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí "on suspicion they were falsely attributed" to the artist.
  • The exhibit at Palazo Tarasconi had only been open a few days before the Carabinieri "confiscated" the drawings, tapestries and engravings they believe to be incorrectly attributed to Dalí.
  • The Carabinieri's art squad when the department's Rome unit "carried out a routine check of the exhibition when it was hosted at the Museo Storico della Fanteria" and "something seemed to be amiss," the senior officer and investigative lead on the case, Diego Poglio.

 

SALZBURG, AUSTRIA – Woman repatriated from Syria sentenced over Islamic State ties

  • Agence France Presse reports Maria G., 28, who was repatriated with her two sons from Syria in March after the 2019 collapse of the so-called Islamic State (IS) received a two-year suspended sentence in a Salzburg court Wednesday.
  • Maria G. pleaded guilty to both charges she was facing of being part of a terrorist organization and a criminal organization. Court spokeswoman Christina Bayrhammer said Maria G. "fully confessed".
  • Describing her sentence as "another chance at life," investigators found "no evidence of other crimes" other than joining the so-called Islamic State. Maria G. had left for Syria in 2014 as a teenager, "where she married a now-deceased IS fighter and gave birth to two children."

 

PRAGUE, CZECHIA – Czechs sanction five Georgian officials  over brutal crackdown

  • Radio Prague International reports Czech officials have sanctioned five Georgian officials including a deputy minister, three judges and a prosecutor for their role in the recent brutal crackdown on protesters.
  • The sanctioned individuals are Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darachvelidze, Judges Kobu Chagunava, Nino Galustashvili and Micheil Jindzholia and prosecutor Lasha Kotrikadze .

 

PRAGUE, CZECHIA – Czechs bar Russian diplomats not accredited to the country

  • Meduza reports Tuesday Czechia has barred Russian diplomats not accredited to the country from entering and closed its last visa processing centers in Russia.
  • Russia citizens seeking a visa to Czechia "will need to apply directly through the Czech embassy in Moscow".
  • Geneva (and Bern for that matter), if you're listening: On X, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said, "Sabotage operations are on the riseand we will not risk agents operating under diplomatic cover."

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss voters approve plan for electronic ID by razor thin margin

  • The BBC reports Swiss voters opted in favor of an electronic ID, known as an e-ID, by a razor thin margin of 50.4% in favor in a referendum over the weekend.
  • According to the BBC, "The closeness of the ballot is a surprise,"  as "Opinion polls had suggested up to 60% backed digital IDs," which already had the support of the Swiss government and parliament.
  • While digital safeguards are in place, the result suggests mistrust around government data collection and other conspiracy theories  percolating since the pandemic may still sway a wide swath of the electorate. A far-right political pressure group Mass-Voll has already filed two complaints after the results, Swissinfo reports.

 

Stay safe and happy German reunification day!

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