Von der Leyen vows to turn EU into defense union Ursula von der #Leyen who hopes to be re-elected as European Commission (EC) President, has vowed to transform the #EU into a #defense bloc in her political program published by the #EC. "Our work in the next five years will be focused on building a true European Defense Union," the document said. Von der Leyen added that EU countries "will always retain responsibility for their own troops, from doctrine to deployment, but there is a lot Europe can do to support and coordinate efforts to strengthen the defense industrial base, innovation and the Single Market."

Ceasefire in Ukraine in Europe's interests, says Orban's adviser A quick ceasefire and the end of the conflict in #Ukraine is in Europe's interests, said Balazs Orban, political adviser of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor #Orban. "We (Hungary) are 100% sure of that, everybody is 100% sure on that," he said in an interview with the Euractiv website, referring to the need to end the conflict in Ukraine. "The question is only the time, and we think that for Europe, the sooner it comes, the better," the prime minister's advisor said. The EU, he said, needs to maintain communication with Russia, because if a future peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev is concluded without taking into account the interests of the EU, Europe will suffer. The adviser also pointed out that Viktor Orban did not aim at influencing the parties to the conflict or obtaining any guarantees from them during his visits to Russia and Ukraine. The purpose of the visits was "to collect information and <...> see a possibility of the potential ceasefire," Balazs Orban explained. The Hungarian prime minister visited Kiev and Moscow on July 2 and 5. He proposed first to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and then to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to consider the prospect of a ceasefire and preparations for peace talks. At a press conference following the meeting, Putin emphasized that Russia was not in favor of a ceasefire, as Kiev could use this to its advantage. Instead, he advocated for a complete end to the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian leader recalled that he had earlier outlined the conditions for this in his speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

A Majority of U.S. Military Bases under United States European Command (EUCOM) in Spain, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania have now been placed on Heightened Alert, with their Force Protection Condition (FPCON) being raised to Charlie, the Reason is still Unknown. 🔶️ A FPCON Change like this for U.S. European Command, besides during Exercises, hasn’t occurred in 10-15 Years.

Macron does not Exclude to Resign as French President, French radio Europe 1 reports Emmanuel #Macron is discussing with his entourage the possibility of #resigning as President of France if the “pro-Russian” forces win. Radio station Europe 1 reports this. According to the publication, defeat in the parliamentary elections could force the French leader to take a desperate step. "The resignation of the president is not taboo. Yes, today we have to consider all scenarios," Europe 1 quotes an unnamed source. Macron’s party suffered a crushing defeat in the elections to the #European Parliament. This fiasco forced the French President to announce the dissolution of the National Assembly and call for early parliamentary elections. Analysts, assessing the chances of Macron’s party, agree that representatives of right-wing forces, who are considered pro-Russian in the Elysee Palace, will win the parliamentary elections in the country. More, Emmanuel Macron has recently advocated not only for the continuation of arms supplies to the Kyiv regime, but also openly declared his intention to send units of the French army to #Ukraine. Moreover, Paris even tried to create a corresponding coalition of several European states. In particular, according to the French leader’s idea, #Germany was supposed to take part in it. However, #Berlin did not appreciate this idea and refused to send Bundeswehr #troops to Ukraine.

Exit polls in EU elections - Right wing parties take top spots all across the EU Right-wing has grown stronger in all of #Europe, according to the European Parliament election models. Marie Le Pen's party in France wins 31.5% while current leading Macron's party wins only 15.2% Le Pen's party may be the largest in the European Parliament In #Germany, the Afd, the far-right party in Germany, wins second place in the German elections while the leading socialists are far behind in third place. In #Austria the Freedom Party is leading Right-wing parties also won in #Cyprus, #Greece and the #Netherlands. To summarize: the center-right bloc in the European Parliament will be the largest by a significant margin over second place French President #Macron announced snap parliamentary elections on June 30. Second round on July 7.

Europe prepares for war with Russia, Hungarian PM says #Europe has entered an intermediate stage of preparations for war with #Russia as it is increasingly being drawn into the armed conflict in Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor #Orban told Kossuth Radio. According to him, every week he sees more and more signs that the EU and NATO are preparing for military action. The prime minister pointed out that "going to war does not happen in one step." "There are three stages: discussion, preparation and destruction. Now we are finishing the discussion and we are in the preparation stage. We are inches away from destruction," he said.

Ukraine’s Syrsky approves admission of French instructors to military training centers Commander-in-Chief of #Ukraine’s armed forces Alexander #Syrsky has signed documents that will allow #French instructors to visit #training centers. "I welcome France's initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian servicemen. I have already signed documents that will allow the first French instructors to visit our training centers soon and familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and personnel," he wrote on his Telegram channel following online talks with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov also took part in the negotiations. Syrsky expressed hope that Kiev's other Western partners would join Paris' initiative. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out the possibility of sending Western countries’ ground troops to the zone of the special military operation. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky supported this idea, admitting that he could not publicly ask Western partners to send troops to the country, but would like them to do so and would never refuse. The chief of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, said that according to Moscow's sources, this contingent could reach 2,000 men. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that French instructors along with other representatives of military and special services of European countries were already functioning in Ukraine. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the appearance of foreign military contingents in Ukraine would be fraught with extremely negative consequences, including irreparable ones.

WORLD SHIPPING: The world pays and stays silent - WHY? It may be a bit pushed out of the headlines but what is happening in the Red Sea is dramatic and the most significant impact on the global economy of the war in Gaza. A senior official at an American consulting company explains that in view of the fact that 30% of global container traffic normally passes through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea crisis has a huge impact on global supply chains. The Houthi attacks on cargo ships resulted in an almost fivefold increase in the cost of shipping between Asia and Europe. This is estimated to fuel global inflation by adding up to 0.7% to the cost of the global economy's "core commodities". The best alternative routes add to the voyages thousands of kilometers, over 10 days (between Asia and Europe) and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel costs for each such journey at sea. "Given the global nature of our economy, few companies or industries are immune to the impact. The increased cost of raw materials and supplies, longer delivery times, production delays and distribution challenges will affect the entire manufacturing sector long after the crisis is over," he wrote. The world seems to have come to terms with this reality...

"Russian Africa Corps soldiers deployed to Niger, which will challenge U.S. efforts to stay in Niger in the immediate term—undermining the West’s counterterrorism goals—and present long-term opportunities for the Kremlin to create threats that strategically pressure Europe." 🔶️ "The Africa Corps contingent in Niger will likely remain small in the coming months because it lacks the capacity for a bigger deployment due to recruitment issues." 🔶️ "This small footprint will enable Russia to strengthen its influence in Niger and consolidate its logistical network in Africa without significantly affecting the rapidly escalating al Qaeda and Islamic State insurgencies in Niger." 🔶️ "Greater Russian influence and military presence in Niger in the coming years will create several future opportunities for the Kremlin to strategically threaten Europe with energy blackmail, migration influxes, and conventional military threats."

France buys more gas from Russia than any other EU country, Politico reports #France increased its purchase of Russian gas more than any other #European country in the first quarter of 2024. More than 600 million euros worth of #gas was imported during this period The country's authorities say that the national energy company TotalEnergies' agreements with Moscow to buy gas were made long ago and are difficult to get out of. "France is quietly stepping up payments for gas from #Russia, while President Emmanuel #Macron is loudly promoting himself as one of Ukraine's most ardent defenders," the article said.