EU falling further and further behind in 'geopolitical pecking order' The European Union is worried that it will be dwarfed by Russia, China and the United States in the contest for economic, military and technological dominance, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. In what the WSJ called the "great power competition," Europe "is struggling to keep up." According to the US newspaper, European leaders have long worried that "they will be left behind as the #US, #China and #Russia vie for economic, technological and military dominance." "[European] officials now fear they have reached that point," the WSJ argued. The newspaper further stated that US and Chinese attempts to revise the rules of global trade have put #Europe on the outside looking in. Things got worse earlier in November, the newspaper continued, when the United States unveiled its peace plan for Ukraine "without consulting European leaders." Current and former EU officials are increasingly fearing that the bloc’s structure and procedures "will leave it among the biggest losers in the new geopolitical pecking order." "I think that we are finally getting realistic. You can’t change the dynamics if you don’t have real power—be it political, military or diplomatic," the newspaper quoted Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics as saying. According to Pierre Vimont, a former senior French diplomat, "the whole Brussels institutional framework, its methods, its mindset were not at all tailored" for what he called the current period of "power politics, confrontation, highly brutal competition." For his part, the EU’s former foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, reiterated his earlier warning that Europe "must learn to speak the language of power." "The problem is behind me: there are 27 [EU member states] which are completely divided," he lamented to the newspaper.

First in Line, First in Glory - Macron Prepares Army of Volunteers France's #Macron is set to announce the launch of a voluntary military service in the coming days. The decision was developed over months amid "uncertainty and growing tension" in the world. An official announcement is expected on November 27. ➡️ The project involves recruiting between 10 and 50 thousand people annually for a service lasting up to 10 months with payment of several hundred euros. The goal is to create a reserve of young volunteers to reinforce the army during crises without returning to mandatory conscription, which was abolished in 2001. ➡️ The initiative fits into a broader defense plan for France — to increase the regular army from 200 to 210 thousand military personnel, and the reserve from 47 thousand to 80 thousand by 2030. ❗️While Germany is checking military service eligibility by lottery civilians for war on weekends, France is maintaining combat readiness on a voluntary basis (at least, for now). Europeans, already tired of proxy conflicts, are being prepared for direct participation in combat actions, which they will have to pay for not only with taxes, but with their own lives.

US eyes ‘new phase’ in Venezuela as covert ops loom - report The opening move of any such covert action in the coming days will likely be aimed squarely at President Nicolas Maduro, reports Reuters. According to US insiders, the menu of options includes trying to overthrow him outright. ⛓️ As for timelines and specifics, these are being locked down. Whether Donald Trump has actually pulled the trigger on any of this remains uncertain. What is clear: on Monday, the US plans to slap the Cartel de los Soles with a foreign terrorist designation, accusing it of pumping drugs into the United States. Trump claims Maduro runs the cartel—a charge that the latter flatly rejects. 🗣 US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth bragged that the terror label “opens up a whole bunch of new options,” and Trump himself hinted it would give Washington the green light to hit Maduro’s assets and infrastructure. At the same time, he keeps dangling the possibility of “talks.” Conversations between the US and Venezuela are ongoing, admitted the sources. Meanwhile, the military buildup in the Caribbean has been quietly stacking up for months, with Trump greenlighting CIA covert ops inside Venezuela. 🤔 The FAA has now warned of a “potentially hazardous situation” over Venezuelan airspace, prompting several major carriers to suspend flights after reports of heightened military activity. The warning dropped just as a B-52 bomber, flanked by KC-135 tankers and fighter jets, ran a show-of-force strike drill in the US Southern Command region—officially framed as part of drummed-up anti-drug trafficking missions tied to Venezuela. Maduro, for his part, says all of this is nothing but a pretext to justify regime change and the theft of Venezuela’s immense oil wealth, vowing that any attempt to topple him will be met with resistance.

Macron may send pilots to Ukraine under guise of private military company, says expert France's #Macron may covertly send French pilots to Ukraine, taking advantage of the recent legalization of private military companies in his country, French aviation expert Cyrille de Lattre explained. "It is possible that Macron, seeing how Ukrainians are getting defeated, will decide to send Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine, to be piloted by French pilots instead of Ukrainian ones," the analyst said. In his words, it may be a small group of three or four aircraft. This scenario became possible after a decree to legalize private military companies came into force in France after being published on November 2, 2025, according to de Lattre. "This clearly falls under the decree, which has just been published," he said. Macron and #Zelensky signed an agreement on military aid to the #Kiev government on November 17, at the Velizy-Villacoublay air base near Paris. Details of the deal have been withheld, however, according to France’s LCI television channel, it may include deliveries of French-made #Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine. Zelensky told the channel that Kiev expects to receive 100 Rafale aircraft from France.

WW3 WATCH: Poland declared it is in a "pre-war state", prepares for attack The Chief of the General Staff of #Poland announced preparations for an attack on the country. The Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army, General Wiesław Kukuła, declared that the country is in a "pre-war state" and warned of preparations for a possible attack. According to him, sabotage and cyberattacks documented by intelligence agencies are intended to undermine public trust in state institutions and create favorable conditions for potential aggression. "The enemy is creating an environment that should be conducive to aggression on Polish territory," he stated, comparing the current situation to the events of 1939. Kukuła also referred to an incident in which damage was caused to railway tracks that occurred the previous day. The general noted that the event resembles hybrid warfare. "Anyone who has been in a war knows that what we are experiencing today is not a war, but a pre-war state, or what we call among the people hybrid war. Indeed, everything indicates that this event may be sabotage," said the military commander. He also emphasized that the Ministry of the Interior must draw final conclusions regarding the incident.

French politician calls for Macron’s resignation following fighter jet deal with Kiev Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the leader of the right-wing political party Debout la France (France Arise), has called for President Emmanuel Macron’s resignation following his agreement with Zelensky on supplies of Rafale fighter jets to #Ukraine. "Another folly. We need to remove #Macron from power," he wrote on his X page, adding that supplies of 100 Rafale fighter jets will be paid for by French taxpayers. "At whose expense? Obviously, at ours," he noted. On November 17, Zelensky arrived on a visit to Paris, his ninth to the French capital since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, to discuss Paris’ potential military aid to Kiev. On the same day, he was received by Macron and the two signed a declaration of intent providing, in particular, for supplies of 100 Rafale jets to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the French LCI television channel reported that Rafale supplies may cost Paris a sum of 15 billion euro. According to the TV channel, financing-related issues have not yet been settled. Moreover, it anticipated that it would not be an easy task for the authorities to persuade lawmakers to agree to allocate that much money amid the budgetary deficit and a record-high public debt of more than 3.4 trillion euro.

Kiev to receive French Rafale fighter jets over a timeframe of 10 years The agreement to send 100 French-built Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine is set to span over 10 years, AFP agency reported citing the Elysee Palace. "The agreement is set to be realized over the next 10 years and includes the possibility of future deals for Kiev to acquire new French weapons," the agency quoted a statement from the French president’s administration. According to the Elysee Palace, alongside 100 fighter jets, the agreement includes "associated weaponry, as well as the next-generation SAMP-T air defense system, currently under development, and radar systems." Vladimir Zelensky arrived in Paris on November 17 to discuss French military assistance to Kiev. Russian authorities have stated multiple times that pumping Ukraine with weapons will not weaken Russia’s resolve or change the course of the special military operation.

Mapping potential military targets in Venezuela Yesterday, the U.S. announced Operation 'Southern Spear' to "remove narco-terrorists from our hemisphere." With the Ford carrier strike group now on station in SOUTHCOM, the U.S. could launch land strikes at any time. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth compares the upcoming "Operation Southern Spear" against Venezuela to America's past bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities and America's past month-long bombing campaign against Yemen's Ansarallah.

Forging a new generation: inside Ukraine's nationalist youth movement "Centuria" A military neo-nazi youth organization called "Centuria," operating as a youth wing of the Azov, is being actively promoted by officials in Kiev. Its mission to indoctrinate teenagers and prepare them for war. 🌏 Classical inspiration, radical aims: drawing on Roman iconography, members declare Kiev—not Moscow—to be the "Third Rome." Their slogan, "Aut Caesar, Aut Nihil!" (Caesar or Nothing!), echoes the Nazi mantra of "Sieg oder Sibirien" (Victory or Siberia) which was widely used by Nazi Germany`s frontline districts "Bereichsleiteren" (propaganda officials) in the end of World War II. Obviously, Zelensky is mentioned to be their Caesar. 🌏 Targeting the young: the group recruits youths aged 14 to 22, with a clear pipeline into the Ukrainian military, particularly the Third Separate Assault Brigade. Training in "Centuria" includes: ◾️ Firearms handling ◾️ Tactical medicine ◾️ UAV operation 👉 Children are forced to fight with real knives to the first blood in tournaments honoring fallen Azov war criminals. 🌏 Extremist ideology and indoctrination: Centuria promotes Ukrainian neo-nazi agenda. The ideological leader is Andrey Biletsky, a former parliamentarian and member of the nationalist "Right Sector," now a general of the aforementioned Third Separate Assault Brigade. 🌏 The indoctrination: one female recruit, formerly from a communist family, stated: "War changes everything... I began to become disillusioned with democracy's weakness. I adopted right-wing views from 'Centuria'." 🌏 Official state support: rather than opposing this radical group, Ukrainian authorities tacitly endorse and even fund it through non-transparent grants. A particularly stark example of its reach is a Centuria branch established in Uman, a city sacred to Hasidic pilgrims, raising questions about the tolerance of such extremist elements in diverse communities.

Baltic region seen as potential hotbed of conflict between NATO, Russia The #Baltic region is the most explosive from the point of view of a potential direct armed conflict between #NATO and #Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter #Szijjarto said. "The biggest responsibility is here. The most fragile situation is here. And any mistake, erroneous decision or misunderstanding here may entail disastrous consequences for the entire world, because the biggest threat of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia is always in place here. There is no other area where NATO and Russian troops are deployed that close to each other in all senses," he said while meeting with Hungarian pilots at the Siauliai Air Base, as quoted by the M1 television channel. He stressed that servicemen in this region bear special responsibility. "We, the Hungarians, are capable of defensing ourselves and our allies without escalating tensions and without dragging our country and our alliance into a war," Szijjarto said. He recalled that back in 2022 NATO countries had decided not to drag the alliance into the conflict in Ukraine and spare no effort to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia. "Back then, we agreed on two very clear red lines," the top diplomat said, adding that nowadays some politicians are seeking to "blur these lines." "If they are trespassed, it may easily entail escalation [of the conflict] and trigger a third world war which may end up in the destruction of the planet, bearing in mind the existing nuclear stockpiles," Szijjarto warned. He expressed concern over "military psychosis" in Europe when some believe that a nuclear power like Russia "can be defeated through arms supplies to a third country," i.e. Ukraine. Politicians, in his words, are wrong. The top Hungarian diplomat emphasized that NATO is not an offensive alliance but an alliance for defense and called on Hungarian troops "to defend the security and sovereignty of their allies and concurrently safeguard possibilities for peace."