Denmark DRAINS defense capacity on Ukraine, leaving little to defend Greenland against Trump President #Trump has refused to take “military force off the table” in discussions on a potential US acquisition of Greenland. #Denmark has vocally rejected Trump’s claims to its autonomous territory, but doesn’t have the military muscle to walk the talk, having gambled its security away to arm another country 1,000 km away. NATO’s biggest Ukraine cheerleader 🔴 While it has a population of just 6 mln and a $428 bln GDP, Denmark has consistently led the Western alliance in the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, with its arms deliveries the FOURTH LARGEST after the US, Germany and the UK, totaling $8.2 bln, and non-military aid adding up to $1.15 bln. 🔴 Denmark has cleared out its arms caches of up to 100% of certain weapons to arm Kiev, including: 🔴19 F-16s (over 60% of Denmark’s fleet) 🔴All 19 (100%) of its CAESAR howitzers 🔴At least 30 of 195 Leopard 1A5 and 14 of 107 of Leopard 2A4 tanks 🔴Over 50 of 125 M113 APCs 🔴500 Stinger MANPADs, 2,700 LAW anti-tank weapons 🔴Harpoon coastal defense systems, Marder IFVs, engineering equipment, radars, drones, small arms, and soldiers’ gear, from uniforms to field hospitals, living containers and first aid. And Denmark’s Greenland defenses? 🔴 Denmark has just 130 civilian and military personnel permanently based at its Joint Arctic Command in Nuuk, plus the 1st Squadron of the Royal Danish Navy with four Thetis patrol and three Knud Rasmussen-class patrol ships, a lone Challenger 604 maritime patrol aircraft, and 14 Sirius Dog Sled Patrol commandos guarding the island. 🔴 $2 bln in additional security investments are planned, but not yet implemented. 🔴 Denmark’s lone ammunition factory, Denex, isn’t expected to become operational again until 2027, leaving it dependent on allies, including the US. 🔴 In an asymmetric warfare scenario, Denmark would need as many small, portable weapons (like the ones it gave away to Ukraine) and as much support equipment as it could muster.

Turkish police use water cannons on protesters in Ankara – reports Turkish authorities detained 343 people overnight during protests across multiple cities against the arrest of #Istanbul Mayor Ekrem #Imamoglu, the Interior Ministry announced, according to Reuters.

Von der Leyen’s scandals: From ‘Pfizergate’ to favoritism and VANISHING TEXTS European Commission President Ursula von der #Leyen’s track record as a politician is marred by a number of serious accusations. 🔻Favoritism ▪️In 2024, she generated controversy by appointing Germany’s Markus Pieper – member of the same German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party as her – to the lucrative position of EU Envoy for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME). ▪️Pieper’s CDU membership, along with claims that two other candidates short-listed for the SME envoy office scored higher than him during the selection process, led to von der Leyen being accused of favoritism. ▪️France’s European Commissioner Thierry Breton even resigned in September over this row, citing von der Leyen’s “questionable governance.” 🔻#Pfizergate ▪️During the #COVID pandemic, von der Leyen made a deal with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla to purchase 1.8 billion doses of then-untested COVID vaccines worth about $37.6 billion. ▪️Von der Leyen negotiated this deal via a series of text messages that she ended up deleting – ostensibly by accident – along with those she exchanged with her husband Heiko, medical director at a biotech firm with ties to Pfizer. ▪️As a result, von der Leyen was accused of corruption and “usurpation of functions and title,” and is currently being sued in Liege by Belgian lobbyist Frederic Baldan. 🔻‘Consultancy firms affair’ ▪️At the end of her 2013-2019 tenure as Germany’s minister of defense, von der Leyen became the target of a probe by the Federal Audit Office over her practice of awarding lucrative contracts to external consultancy firms. ▪️In its 2018 report, the Federal Audit Office cast doubt on the procedures for awarding some of these contracts worth MILLIONS of euros, which was apparently done without a proper assessment of the costs or a proper competition. 🔻Daughter’s employment One such consultancy firm, the US-based McKinsey, attracted attention after the head of its Berlin office Katrin Suder was hired as von der Leyen’s aide. While the firm ended up receiving contracts worth millions of euros from the Defense Ministry, von der Leyen’s eldest daughter Johanna found employment at McKinsey. Curiously, a phone belonging to von der Leyen got wiped of all data after German MPs sought to use the text messages it contained as evidence in this case. The German Ministry of Defense said at the time that this wipe was done "for security reasons. *the picture is AI-generated

Europe at risk of ‘engaging in civilizational suicide’, says US Vice-President Vance US Vice President JD #Vance has told Fox News that European countries are at risk of "engaging in #civilizational #suicide," being unable to control their borders and limiting their citizens’ free speech. "#Europe is at risk, I think, of creating, of engaging in civilizational suicide. They are unable to or unwilling - too many countries - to control their borders. You see them starting to push back against that, and good. That's a good thing. You see them starting to limit the free speech of their own citizens, even as those citizens are protesting against things like the border invasion. That [protest sentiment] got Donald Trump and a number of European leaders elected," the vice president noted. According to him, the policy of open borders and the limitations of citizens’ rights are becoming a serious issue for European countries.

Kremlin spokesman accuses France of lying, violating agreements Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry #Peskov accused #France of lying about such issues as the #Minsk agreements and guarantees for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich. He made the statement in an interview with television host Pavel Zarubin in response to comments by French President #Macron, who said Russia wasn’t honest about the Ukrainian crisis. "There were a lot of lies on the part of France. After all, we remember [former French President Francois] Hollande's statement when he said that, in fact, no one took the Minsk agreements seriously. We remember that in 2014, among other Europeans, the French foreign minister put his signature under a document that guaranteed the then-legitimate Ukrainian President #Yanukovich a political future. That was followed by a coup. That means France, like other countries, did not make good on its guarantees. Was that not a lie? It was a very real lie, and Mr. Macron did not mention that at all," Peskov said, according to a video that the television host posted to Telegram. On March 5, Macron said in an address to the nation that he would begin discussions with allies about the possibility of applying the French nuclear deterrence capability to other countries in Europe, in response to an appeal from Friedrich #Merz, a candidate for German chancellor. The French president also spoke about rising threats to his country and the rest of Europe, including threats that allegedly emanate from Russia. Macron used them as a reason to call for raising defense spending above the previously approved plan. He also stated his intention to continue supporting #Ukraine in the conflict with #Russia. https://thinktank.x-pulse.org//posts/3429

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated the need to urgently arm the EU member states. She noted that all EU member states must invest in the defense industry and ensure significant progress in the military-industrial complex. Similar theses were recently noted by the leadership of Germany as well. 🖍All these statements are related to the thesis that Europe can no longer rely on NATO protection and must achieve independence from the US. 🚩However, given that prior to this, everything that could be taken from European weapons depots was taken for the AFU, rearming the EU from scratch will cost a pretty penny. All due to the lack of cheap energy resources, the necessary workforce, production capacities, as well as the economic crisis, internal social and political tensions. ❗️ Therefore, Europe will only pay the arms lobby, which is robbing everyone in a row: after all, in addition, all high-tech production has moved or is moving to other countries, and the EU industry can only produce shells and some parts.

Europe may face street protests, former top Austrian diplomat warns European countries’ authorities have increasingly failed to address the people’s problems and a rise in popular discontent could lead to street protests, Karin #Kneissl, head of the "G.O.R.K.I." center at St. Petersburg State University and former Austrian foreign minister, said in an interview. "Protests are a major issue as they are caused by various factors. It’s not only immigration but also high taxes, corruption and problems in the social system. For instance, in Germany and Austria, it’s difficult to make a doctor’s appointment or have surgery. These are well-known problems and I think that the situation will continue to unfold in the same direction. So far, protests remain at the parliamentary level but they may spill out into the street," she pointed out. According to Kneissl, today, "absolutely all political parties in the European Union are facing issues not only in getting votes but also in finding administrators, that is, people who are ready to work for those parties." "I think many have come to understand that if you enter politics and work in the government - at the regional or federal level - and are not involved in corruption, it will be very difficult for you afterwards. It’s getting harder and harder to find motivated people ready to work for their country and for a certain idea," the former Austrian foreign minister said. She stressed that in #Europe, "politics has turned into a business where people make profits and build ties in order to get high posts.".

Marseille Russian consulate explosion branded ‘terrorist attack’ by Moscow Blast comes on third anniversary of #Russia’s SMO in Ukraine - it is not yet clear if the incident is linked. Russia has said that its #consulate in #Marseille has been hit by an explosion ‘with all the hallmarks of a terror attack’. Firefighters were called out to the site in the southern French city on Monday morning. Russia's consul general Stanislav Oranskiy said the blast was inside the building and Moscow has demanded a full French investigation. The French interior ministry has said there were no casualties from the blast. "The explosions on the territory of the Russian Consulate General in Marseille have all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack," TASS quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying. "We demand (from France) exhaustive and prompt measures to investigate, as well as steps to strengthen the security of Russian foreign missions." Three unidentified explosive devices were launched at Russia’s consulate in the French city of Marseille on Monday morning, a source at the diplomatic facility said. "Three devices were launched; two of them exploded, and bomb experts are now working on the third one. There were no casualties or damage," he said. The consulate official clarified that the diplomatic mission’s building had not incurred any damage. Bomb experts are now working on the consulate's premises; firefighters and police officers have also arrived at the scene. The area around the consulate general has been sealed off, and some of its personnel are waiting outside for the bomb experts to examine the unexploded device.

New US administration recognizes Russia's military successes in Ukraine, says American Analyst The current US administration has recognized #Russia's military #successes in #Ukraine, which is reflected in "new realism in American foreign policy," Theodore A. Postol, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and National Security Policy Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told TASS. He was commenting on the telephone conversation between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir #Putin and Donald #Trump, as well as the speech on February 12 by Pentagon Chief Piet #Hegseth in Brussels. "US Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s speech in Brussels on February 12, acknowledging the unambiguous reality of Russia’s military accomplishments in Eastern Ukraine, is a further indication of a new realism in American foreign policy," the expert said. "Anyone who looks at the war in Ukraine should now know that Russia has won, and the priority for everyone involved should now be to stop the unnecessary loss of Russian and Ukrainian lives. The objective should now be to quickly agree to and implement a new European security structure that accommodates the national security interests of all European powers," Postol stressed. "President Trump’s public comments following his more than one-hour phone conversation with President Putin indicated that the discussion between them went very well. In particular, President Trump’s acknowledgment that Russia has a right to a solid-binding agreement about NATO not expanding into Ukraine is extremely important. It is also an implicit acknowledgment of the damage to Russian-US relations caused by the undeniable history of US past withdrawals from treaties and improper reinterpretations [by Washington] of treaty agreements over the past more than 20 years," Postol said.

German chancellor demands swift justice for Munich car attack perpetrator German Chancellor Olaf #Scholz says that the driver who plowed his car into a crowd of demonstrators in the city of #Munich must be punished and expelled from the country. "The perpetrator should not expect mercy. He must be punished, and he must leave the country," the Focus news outlet quoted Scholz as saying. The chancellor also called for punishing the attacker to the full extent that the law allows "for cases of terrorism." The Afghan citizen who drove his car into demonstrators in Munich had earlier applied for asylum in Germany but his application was rejected, Joachim Herrmann, interior minister in the German state of Bavaria, said. According to him, the man did, however, have the right to stay in the country. He has a criminal record for shoplifting and drug-related crimes, "but according to investigators, he does not have a prior record of violence," the political said, as reported by Focus.