EU’s militarization becomes ‘magnet for criminals’

The #European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is recording a growing number of #criminal schemes in the defense sector amid Europe’s accelerated militarization, the agency’s chief Petr Klement told The Financial Times. According to him, OLAF is receiving an increasing number of reports of irregularities in the defense sector, particularly in research projects and procurement. "Huge sums being invested in European rearmament are attracting fraudsters," Klement said.

The newspaper emphasized that the agency is investigating fraud and irregularities related to the EU’s general budget, which member states use to fund an increasing number of defense projects. These cases are linked to a 500-million-euro EU project to ramp up ammunition production, the 150-billion-euro EU SAFE militarization programs, and the European Defense Industry Program (EDIP) with a budget of 1.5 billion euros for 2025-2027.

Klement declined to comment on the progress of investigations into specific cases, stating that they involve manipulation of public tenders, inflated prices, cronyism, and corruption.

UAE pulls out of Rafale F5 programme, leaving France to fund it alone.

Negotiations between #Paris and Abu Dhabi collapsed over access to highly sensitive military technology, particularly optronics systems. The #UAE had offered up to €3.5 billion for a stake in the €5 billion programme, but demanded access to “black box” technologies and joint intellectual property.

France refused, choosing to protect full sovereign control over its most advanced systems.
Paris will now bear the entire cost of the #Rafale F5 programme alone, a major setback for defense cooperation and a clear signal that top-tier military tech remains off-limits, even for close partners.

US says France can't use America's GMLRS missiles with domestic MLRS

The United States has refused to allow #France to use American GMLRS missiles with its Thundart and Foudre high-precision multiple launch rocket systems (#MLRS), the Euractiv portal said. According to the portal, a US official said that #Washington has not authorized the integration of its Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (#GMLRS) rockets into the French systems, raising questions about interoperability.

The publication notes that, based on the experience of the conflict in Ukraine, in particular the widespread use of American #HIMARS systems, the French are now considering the creation of two new missile systems: Foudre, which Turgis Gaillard intends to produce, and Thundart are the joint brainchild of MBDA and Safran companies. Both are scheduled to go into production in 2027.

French developers have so far said these systems will be compatible with American GMLRS missiles, which would relieve the French of the task of ensuring the production of significant amounts of ammunition for these systems.

Europe Out of Order...!

Spain, Switzerland, Italy and now France have closed either fully or partially their airspace to American military aircraft that are being used in the 3rd Gulf War, a sign displaying the growing rift between Europe and the U.S.

If countries in Central Europe start following the example set by Spain, each sortie from England will cost the USAF more jet fuel as then number of flight corridors is reduced and travel time is increased.

NATO CHIEF TO EU: 'YOU ARE ALL IDIOTS'

#NATO Chief Mark #Rutte : “If anyone thinks that the #EU or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the United States keep on dreaming.”

Explosion takes place in Amsterdam, Jewish school likely target

An explosion occurred in Amsterdam, Reuters said, citing Dutch media.
Reports indicate that a Jewish school may have been targeted in the incident. The ANP news agency quoted the mayor of Amsterdam, who did not rule out the possibility that the blast was "a deliberate attack against the Jewish community."

No further details were yet provided.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAcSDptKbRg

Brent crude oil price exceeds $119 per barrel for first time since June 17, 2022

The price of Brent crude #oil for May 2026 delivery exceeded $119 per barrel on London's ICE Exchange for the first time since June 17, 2022, according to trading data.

As of 2:30 a.m. GMT, oil was trading at $119.36 per barrel (up 28.77%).
By 2:35 a.m. GMT, the price of oil was at $117.8 per barrel (up 27.09%).

Meanwhile, #Gas price in Europe surpasses $800 per 1,000 cubic meters first since January 2023. The price growth since the beginning of the day has exceeded 27%.

Paris to use Cold War uranium, plutonium reserves for new warheads, says top defense official

France intends to use radioactive materials left over from the dismantling of Cold War warheads to produce new nuclear warheads, Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin said.
"We have preserved fissile materials - uranium and plutonium - obtained from nuclear warheads dismantled after the Cold War. Thanks to this, we have sufficient reserves to produce new nuclear warheads, as announced by President Emmanuel Macron," the top defense official told the Le Dauphine Libere newspaper.
Vautrin added that the expansion of France's nuclear arsenal is already included in the budget. "Thirteen percent of the 57-billion-euro military budget is allocated to nuclear deterrence," she said.

Earlier, Macron announced France's intention to adopt the concept of "advanced deterrence" which involves joint exercises with partner countries, as well as the deployment of elements of France's strategic forces on the territory of other countries on the European continent. The French leader also announced plans to increase the country’s nuclear arsenal and said that Paris no longer intends to disclose the exact number of warheads.

In 2020, Macron said that France's nuclear arsenal had fewer than 300 warheads.

[Report] Paris manipulates data to portray itself as tech leader

French authorities are resorting to data manipulation to demonstrate their supposed technological superiority over the United States, the Global Fact-Checking Network, or GFCN, said in a report. "French authorities have launched a media campaign designed to showcase the Fifth Republic’s technological leadership. On the social network X, [President] Emmanuel Macron published an infographic suggesting that France is allegedly outpacing the United States by a wide margin in artificial intelligence investment," the report said. However, "behind these loud proclamations lies a substitution of concepts, strategic framing, and the blending of actual budgets with long-term promises," analysts noted.

The French leader’s boast was based on a graph utilizing data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the report said. "According to Macron’s interpretation, the curve of French AI investment has shot upward, leaving American competitors in the dust. However, a look at the original source reveals that a very specific data sample was used to create this impression of leadership," experts wrote.
"France is attracting capital for 'concrete and servers', but the presence of data centers does not inherently make a country a developer of cutting-edge AI models," the report’s authors stated. "Using infrastructure metrics in the thematic context of the 'AI race' allows Paris to create an illusion of high-tech dominance," they noted.

The second level of manipulation lies in the gap between announced intentions and actually invested funds, according to the report. "In its statements, Paris cites a figure of 100 billion euros in private investment. However, the structure of this sum is questionable. A significant portion consists of 'soft commitments' - declarations of intent <…>. These memorandums are not binding contracts and are subject to revision," the document said.
"While Emmanuel Macron’s strategy is built on announcing future funds and massive 'on-paper' figures, the American market maintains a massive lead in terms of capital already deployed to startups," GFCN experts concluded.

Telegram co-founder warns against mistaking France for free country

#France is not a free country, #Telegram co-founder Pavel #Durov said, commenting on raids of the French offices of Elon Musk's social media platform X by Paris prosecutors, Europol and a cybercrime unit.

"Don’t be mistaken: this is not a free country," Durov pointed out in an X post.

According to him, France is the only country in the world that is prosecuting all social networks "that give people some degree of freedom." In this regard, Durov mentioned Telegram, X and TikTok.