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Pistorius (and Rutte) take Washington, Germany and the UK are friends (don't mention the war) and a 15 year old boy goes on trial over aborted Taylor Swift terror attack

Pistorius (and Rutte) take Washington, Germany and the UK are friends (don't mention the war) and a 15 year old boy goes on trial over aborted Taylor Swift terror attack

Welcome to the new Alpine Security Monitor. This project is only in its pilot stage at present. However, you can sign up and subscribe 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).

Currently, three tiers of subscriptions are offered: the free version (sign up below), member and warrior, available already for those who might stumble onto this site as we test what works and what does not.

First the heavy Alpine news comes out of Anglo capitals this week, some Middle East conflict detritus almost everywhere you look, but read on for not one but two (!) prison breaks and a truly OMG gross kicker!

WASHINGTON, DC – German Defense Minister Pistorius meets with US counterpart

  • The Financial Times reports German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius traveled to Washington Monday to meet with his US counterpart, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The two defense chiefs met at the same time as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss Europe purchasing American weapons for Ukraine worth "billions of dollars," Politico reports.
  • Defense News adds Germany hopes to buy Lockheed Martin's Typhon missile launcher system with a range of 2,000 km (1,243 miles), honoring commitments made by the Biden administration in July 2024 on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington regarding "long-range fires capabilities," including SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles, and said to include "developmental hypersonic missiles" by 2026. However, Pistorius told reporters Monday that plans for the US to station missiles in Germany were "still iffy" as the US defense establishment reassesses its "military footprint in Europe."
  • Ukraine also on the agenda: Germany has given half of its supply of a dozen Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine and Poland and hopes to buy two more from the US for Ukraine. Pistorius told FT ahead of the trip that Germany would not be delivering long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine and rejected joint borrowing or Eurobonds to assist indebted France and Germany bolster defense spending.

 

LONDON, UK – Germany and UK sign historic defense pact known as 'Kensington Treaty'

  • The New York Times reports German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signed a historic defense pact known as the "Kensington Treaty" with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer while on a visit to the UK Thursday.
  • In substance, the Kensington Treaty is a mutual defense pact that promises the two nations vow to "assist one another, including by military means, in case of an armed attack on the other." The language echoes language the UK and France agreed to last week with regards to coordinating their nuclear arsenals in response to a threat against European allies. Germany does not have nuclear weapons of its own but it is the third largest supplier of materiel to Ukraine after the US and the UK.
  • The Kensington Treaty also covers energy, economic cooperation and migration. Breaking Defense adds the two countries set a timeline for developing a precision strike weapon capable of striking targets at a range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) within "the next decade" as well.

 

BERLIN, GERMANY – Trial of Syrian boy involved in plot against Taylor Swift concert begins

  • The Guardian reports the trial of a 15 year old Syrian boy, identified only as Mohammad A. in accordance with German privacy laws, over the foiled ISIS plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last August has begun in Berlin.
  • Among other charges, the defendant is accused of preparing a "severe subversive act of violence" and supporting a foreign terrorist organization. He is also alleged to have translated a bomb making video from Arabic before sending it to 19 year old Beran A., the lead defendant in the case in Austria, as well as making contact with an ISIS operative. Austrian prosecutors allege Beran A. planned to detonate a suicide bomb at one of Swift's concerts in Vienna.
  • The court agreed to a request from defense attorneys to conduct the trial behind closed doors given the fact that the defendant is a minor and "the already significant stigma against the teenager" who was a 14 year old high school student in the eastern German city of Frankfurt an der Oder at the time of his arrest. While Mohammad A. is not in custody, he is not permitted to attend normal high school. The trial is expected to run until late August.

 

KARLSRUHE, GERMANY – Court rejects German complicity in US drone strikes in Yemen

  • The AP and Reuters reports Germany's Federal Constitutional Court has rejected a case brought by Yemeni plaintiffs against the German government for failing to protect relatives, one an imam who preached against Al Qaeda and the other a police officer, who were killed in a US drone strike in Yemen in 2012 that plaintiffs claim was controlled in part from a US base in Germany.
  • In a case that has been winding its way through Germany's legal system for more than a decade, the high court found that in certain instances the German state has a concrete reason to protect foreign citizens abroad. However, such logic only applies when there is a "sufficient connection" to the German government's authority.
  • The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights argued on behalf of the plaintiffs that the Ramstein base in southwestern Germany was effectively a hub of flight control data for use in drone strikes during the global war on terror and a satellite station set up there was done with full approval of the German government. In 2019, a lower court said Germany had "partial responsibility" to ensure drone strikes were carried out in compliance with international law but did not order a ban on such strikes from Ramstein as activists wanted.

 

SYRACUSE, ITALY – Fresh flotilla sets sail for Gaza with pretense of breaking the blockade

  • The Times of Israel reports a fresh flotilla, this time named the Handala, left the port of Syracuse in Sicily, southern Italy Sunday with the intention of breaking the naval blockade against Gaza, however unlikely after a similar effort ferrying Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and others was disrupted by Israeli forces last month.
  • The Handala departed with 15 activists on board. Several dozen people waving Palestinian flags and sporting keffiyahs gathered at the port to cheer on the effort with cries of "free Palestine!" The boat reportedly is carrying food, children's supplies, medical equipment and medicine.
  • Before attempting to reach Gaza, the first port of call was Gallipoli where two members of the far-left French political party La France Insoumise, Gabrulle Cathala and Emma Fourreau, boarded the Handala, Mediapart reports.

 

LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA – Two far-right Israeli ministers banned over 'genocidal statements'

  • Agence France Presse reports Slovenia's Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon has declared Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir as persona non grata (PNG) because the two have incited "extreme violence and serious violations of the human rights of Palestinians" with their "genocidal statements," a first for an EU nation.
  • In June, non-EU nations Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed similar sanctions on the two ministers who are key coalition partners in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
  • Last year, Slovenia along with Ireland, Norway and Spain said they recognized a Palestinian state. Nearly 150 countries recognize Palestine as a state.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Asylum court rules Gazans can receive refugee status in France

  • The Jerusalem Post reports France's National Court of Asylum ruled last Friday that Palestinians from the Gaza Strip not protected by the UN are eligible for refugee status due to "the risk of persecution by the Israeli armed forces". The ruling came after a petition to the court from a Gazan woman and her son who were not legally protected by the UN; it marks the first time a resident of Gaza has received refugee status from the court.
  • The ruling follows on an earlier ruling from September 13, 2024 that all Gazans are eligible for refugee status regardless of UN protections due to the fact that such status no longer ensured their safety.
  • The decision cited the 1951 Geneva Convention and "the methods of warfare used by Israeli forces" since the cease fire broke down earlier this year.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Macron addresses defense spending hike as France marks Bastille Day

  • The New York Times reports France marked its national Bastille Day Monday with a traditional military parade that included French President Emmanuel Macron on a military vehicle.
  • On Sunday, the evening before the country's national day, Macron addressed the armed forces announcing a sharp increase in military spending over the next two years worth €6.5 billion ($7.6 billion) due to American disengagement which left Europe with no alternative but to be prepared to defend itself. "You have to be feared in this world and to be feared you have to be strong," Macron said.

 

PARIS, FRANCE – Prosecutors announce criminal investigation into X's algorithm

  • Politico reports French prosecutors announced last Friday they had opened a criminal investigation earlier in the week into whether algorithmic manipulation on Elon Musk's platform X broke French law and was used for "foreign interference".
  • The investigation follows an inquiry which began in January based on the complaints of a lawmaker and senior civil servant that the site was responsible for the spread of "an enormous amount of hateful, racist, anti-LGBT+ and homophobic political content" that sought to skew and polarize France's domestic debates.
  • It also comes a day after two French MPs referred the site to Arcom, France's digital regulator, after X's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok spewed racist and antisemitic hate in response to users' inquiries.

 

DAKAR, SENEGAL – France hands over key of its last major military facility to Senegalese

  • Reuters and Al Jazeera English report a ceremony was held in the Senegalese capital Dakar attended by the commander of the French forces in Africa, Gen. Pascal Ianni, and the Senegalese Chief of the General Staff Mbaye Cisse where the key to the last French military base in the country was handed over to the Senegalese.
  • The last remaining 350 French troops in Senegal are departing in a process that began already in March. During the ceremony, the Senegalese flag was raised at the site as a military band played the country's national anthem.
  • The handover marks a milestone in the French drawdown of the former colonial power's forces in West Africa.

 

CORBAS, FRANCE – Inmate escapes prison in released cellmate's laundry bag

  • CNN reports an inmate at the Corbas prison near Lyon escaped Sunday in a laundry bag belonging to his cellmate who had completed his sentence and was being released.
  • The escaped convict was serving several sentences and under investigation in an organized crime case. He was recaptured Monday morning around 6:00am in Sathonay-Camp, a city on the outskirts of Lyon.
  • The director of the French prison administration Sébastien Cauwel said officials noticed Sunday morning that a prisoner was missing but attributed the situation to an "accumulation of errors," including overcrowding with "an occupancy rate of about 170%" at the facility in Corbas.

 

SION, SWITZERLAND – Three inmates attempt prison escape

  • Swissinfo reports three inmates attempted to escape from the Sion prison on Sunday morning at 8:20 am by climbing onto the roof of the corrections facility.
  • Thirty five police officers as well as police negotiators and dogs were involved in foiling the attempt that injured two of three who attempted escape.
  • The Public Prosecutors Office has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the escape plot.

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Patriot missiles Swiss ordered diverted to aid Ukraine

  • Defense News reports Swiss authorities announced Thursday they had received notification Wednesday from the US that Patriot missiles Switzerland ordered which are currently in the production will instead be diverted to Ukraine.
  • Switzerland ordered the Patriot systems, produced by US defense company Raytheon, in 2022 and delivery was set to begin in 2026 and continue through 2028.
  • The announcement underscores "the hasty mechanics" of "Washington's newfound emphasis on helping Ukraine" since US President Donald Trump belatedly awoke to the dangers of trusting Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks.

 

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Civil case aims to halt drone deal with Israeli manufacturer Elbit

  • Swissinfo reports a civil case filed in the cantonal court in Bern, the Swiss capital, is attempting to block a deal between the Federal Armaments Office (armasuisse) and the Israel drone manufacturer Elbit.
  • The case was filed jointly by jointly by a couple that fled Gaza in 2024, the Group for a Switzerland without Armed Forces, the Geneva branch of the Swiss Human Rights League and the Swiss Association of Lawyers for Palestine.
  • The deal to acquire six reconnaissance drones was initially signed in 2015 and was worth 250 million Swiss francs ($311.5 million or €269 million) but the price has since risen by 20%, with delivery postponed until the end of 2026 due to the conflict in Gaza. The six reconnaissance drones were initially to be delivered by late 2019.

 

PRAGUE, CZECHIA – Arrest over school bomb threat calls leads to tensions with Slovakia

  • Radio Prague International reports authorities in Czechia and Slovakia announced a Ukrainian man suspected of links and funding from Russia was arrested in Dnipro over bomb threats made to  hundreds of schools by email in both countries last September. Raids were also carried out at various locations in Dnipro.
  • Euractiv reports the Czech Security Information Service said the suspect was likely funded by Russia, a detail the Slovak police omitted from their statement, leading to tensions between the two countries that once formed a state. Czech newspaper Deník N reported that Czech prosecutors asked the Slovaks to delay the announcement of the arrest until they could agree to present a complete account, including a connection to Russia, but Slovak authorities jumped the gun "deliberately, to make it look like Ukrainians were behind it," according to the paper's source.
  • The Czech police spokesman Ondřej Moravčík told CNN Prima News in audio that was left out of the broadcast, "It's not that we were cooperating – we were the key players, they just tagged along," but that audio quickly spread online. Slovakia's Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok defended his country's police forces but did not disclose why a connection to Russia was left out. The opposition in Slovakia then pounced, calling for Eštok's resignation.

 

And finally…

 

COLOGNE, GERMANY – Customs officer confiscate 1,500 tarantualas in spongecake boxes

  • The AP reports customs officials at the Cologne Bonn Airport reported they had seized 1,500 tarantulas on Monday hidden in spongecake boxes that had been shipped from Vietnam. The discovery occurred three weeks ago though the public and press were only notified Monday.
  • Cologne customs office spokesman Jens Ahland said his colleagues "are regularly surprised by the contents of prohibited packages from all over the world," however, "this package left even the most experienced among them speechless".
  • Many of the tarantulas "did not survive" the journey, a probable violation of German animal welfare regulations, but those that did were "given to the care of an expert handler". Criminal proceedings are in place against the intended recipient, a resident of Sauerland to the east of the airport, for failure to make proper customs declarations and pay import duties.

Stay safe and smuggle your tarantulas with great care!

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