World
The Nord Stream natural gas pipelines have been in the news for the past week as they have sparked a "ping pong" of sabotage accusations between Russia and the West that culminated yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin directly blaming the United States and its allies for blowing up natural gas pipelines. The E.U. and NATO had already spoken – directly or indirectly – of pipeline sabotage (without naming Moscow as responsible). We remind you that the damage to the pipelines that resulted in leaks in the international waters of the Baltic Sea have caused intense concern in the European Union and worldwide the states through which pipelines pass or have pipeline facilities are rushing to upgrade security measures. Following Russia's request, the UN Security Council convened yesterday to discuss the issue of leaks. Earlier on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said a deliberate attack on allied infrastructure would be met with a decisive response. It should be mentioned that last Monday US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the United States will respond decisively to any Russian use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine with his remarks constituting the latest US warning following Vladimir Putin's threat last Wednesday of the possible use of nuclear weapons. Finally, the Pentagon announced the disengagement $1.1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, in the form of military defense equipment.
In the context of her turmoil energy crisis which escalated after Nord Stream, the Taliban signed a temporary agreement with Russia for the supply of gasoline, diesel, natural gas and wheat to Afghanistan, as the Afghan Minister of Trade and Industry, Haji Nooruddin Azizi, told Reuters, while the Germany will take out loans and finance an "economic defense shield" of up to 200 billion euros to deal with rising energy prices, Chancellor Olaf Solz said.
The European Commission rejected it proposal of the 15 EU countries, drawn up on the initiative of Greece, for ceiling on the wholesale price of natural gas ahead of the extraordinary Energy Council, which took place on Friday. The EU insists on the cap on natural gas of Russian origin transported by pipeline and on LNG, while proposing to negotiate with the Union's reliable supply partners to achieve lower import prices and to establish at EU level. a cap on the price of natural gas used to generate electricity.
At the same time, last week the "referendums" at four o 'clock occupied territories of Ukraine, with the results not recognized by Kyiv and the West. The result was expected, with Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson "deciding" their union with Russia with rates averaging 97%. The total area to become a de facto part of Russia amounts to about 15% of Ukraine and includes about 4 million people. Already the US and the EU have warned that possible annexation would lead to new sanctions against Russia, while Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called an emergency conference of his staff and, as a government spokesman said, "Ukraine will respond very hard". The United Nations Secretary-General has warned that if Russia goes ahead with its plans to annex four Ukrainian regions, it will mark a "dangerous escalation" that will jeopardize prospects for peace in the region.
Continuing the review concerning the war with Ukraine and the collateral losses we report that the hovering threat that the Russia to close borders to conscript men has made the queue of cars at the border with the Agriculture to be seen from Space, while already over 260,000 Russians of military age have crossed the border in order to avoid the conscription declared by Putin.
At the same time, the Turkish President and his Russian counterpart had a telephone conversation on the issue of Ukraine on Thursday evening, during which the Erdogan asked Putin to extend the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, which expires at the end of November, while declaring Ankara's opposition to Moscow's plans to annex the 4 regions where referendums were held. After her candidacy for NATO membership, Sweden re-authorized arms and war material exports to Turkey, the Swedish authority responsible for military exports announced today. The lifting of these restrictions was one of the conditions set by Ankara for the Nordic country's entry into the Western military alliance – a move which would necessarily require Turkey's approval.
On another level, time is running out for him formation of a government in Italy - however, it may take weeks to complete them, at a critical time for Italy and the rest of Europe - after the electoral victory of the right-wing coalition under Georgia Meloni as the polls had predicted, with a percentage of 44% which is not sufficient to initiate the changes to the country's Constitution that Meloni wanted. US President Joe Biden expressed strong concern about the result of the Italian election, but later a White House spokesman, in a statement to the Italian news agency Ansa, wanted to reiterate that Washington respects the result of the democratically expressed will of the Italian people.
Another event that monopolized the press is the devastating hurricane Ian that swept through Florida -had started from Cuba- leaving behind more than 12 dead, while 2.3 million households and shops were left without electricity, while it is impressive that even sharks were found swimming in the streets, which have turned into lagoons. Because of the hurricane, NASA was forced to withdraw the SLS rocket from the launch pad.
Also, the whole week that passed us protests continued in Iran and the toll of victims of police brutality is constantly increasing. According to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), the death toll has exceeded 57. Authorities continue to deny any responsibility for the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was from the Iranian province Kurdistan. Characteristically, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on Iran to exercise "maximum restraint" amid the protests.
The Israel and Lebanon which have been at war since 1948, are close to an agreement on their maritime borders, which could result in increased gas production. French President Emmanuel Macron called Armenia and Azerbaijan to start without delay the negotiations to achieve a sustainable peace, welcoming the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to the Elysee. At least 23 people died and 27 were injured yesterday by the kamikaze attack held against an educational organization in Kabul at the time students arrived there. It is also worth mentioning another event that has to do with the noticeable increase in North Korea's missile tests, which launched two more short-range ballistic missiles into the sea a few hours after the departure of US Vice President Kamala Harris from South Korea.
By Evi Botsaropoulou
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Hellas
The Turkish side maintains tense rhetoric for another week, publishing on Sunday drone images that - according to Ankara - show that Greece is violating international law by militarizing Lesvos and Samos. Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a clear message to Ankara, in the wake of the news from Tayyip Erdogan, speaking on Tuesday morning at the cabinet meeting. "Whatever Greece had to say, it said clearly to the UN, both about its red lines and its friendly attitude towards the Turkish people. The other bank can monotonously repeat its lies and threats, but in this merry-go-round it has been left alone," the Prime Minister emphasized. At the same time, the revisionist attitude of Turkey was highlighted by Nikos Androulakis at the meeting of the group of Socialists and Democrats on Wednesday in Brussels with the NATO Secretary General invited, and at the same time he condemned the policy of equal distances adopted by Mr. Stoltenberg in the face of the Turkish provocations, while Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a new message to Ankara on Thursday from the naming ceremony of the new Navy missile boat "Lieutenant Vlahakos", pointing out that "our borders are blue and not grey".
Among the most important topics that occupied society this week were the shootings which occurred on Tuesday morning at Polytechnioupoli in Zografou after an operation by the Athens Security Sub-Directorate for drugs in the old residences. A 30-year-old man of Albanian origin who was involved in weapons and drugs cases and during the operation moved against a police officer with a screwdriver, was injured and taken to the hospital by the shootings, who defended himself by shooting and injuring him. It should be mentioned that a probationary police officer is included among the 32 arrested in the operation in Polytechnic University. The Minister of Citizen Protection, Takis Theodorikakos, commented on the incident, saying that "Universities and their residences are for students and not for marked criminals", referring also to the 23-year-old police officer who allegedly cooperated with the other arrested persons, who were all released free on a court order Thursday morning.
In this climate, the President of the Republic announced on Wednesday the opening of the 10th annual international conference of "Athens Democracy Forum 2022", which is under her auspices and organized in collaboration with the New York Times. In her speech, she emphasized that "we must shield the Republic against regressive and reactionary voices".
At the courthouse, her work was completed on Friday investigation committee in the surveillance case with yesterday's testimony of Mr. Nikos Androulakis. The president of PASOK-KINAL, at the beginning of his testimony to the Investigative Committee on the surveillance, according to information from his party's sources, is said to have emphasized that "the wiretapping case is not a personal matter. It is a question of democracy. It demonstrates the institutional crisis and the undermining of control mechanisms." At the same time, it was suspended for October 7 trial of the Golden Dawn in the absence of microphones during the examination of Magda Fyssa, while shortly before the accused MEP Yiannis Lagos had developed his views, who characterized the trial as political and declared himself an "unrepentant nationalist". Finally, Justice will check itself, for the scandalous acquittal of its 20 accused Siemens, which shook the Panhellenic nation. In particular, the acquittal decision, which came almost 17 years after the beginning of the black funds scandal, caused the intervention of the Supreme Court Prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos, who ordered an investigation, regarding the statute of limitations for the offenses.
On another level, the Vice-President of the Commission, responsible for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova, was met by Alexis Tsipras on Thursday in Brussels. The focus was on malicious software, the case of surveillance in Greece and issues of freedom of the press. He said in an interview on Friday that "Today, four years after the country's exit from the memorandums, we are again facing great difficulties and if we had not managed to settle the debt and leave a fiscal reserve, today the country would be the head in the water", while referring to the "big problems of Greek society", the accuracy, the inflation jump, the "unique" in Europe energy inflation of 62%, the "problematic production model" and blamed the government for the "way" he deals with them.
In the energy sector, the Ministry of Environment and Energy opened the debate on changes to the Procurement Code and specifically to two critical articles concerning the change of supplier with overdue debts to the old provider and the Catholic Service. Free switching of provider, and indeed month-to-month introduced with the new pricing model after the scrapping of the adjustment clause, is a burning issue for providers as arrears have soared during the energy crisis and they fear further worsening. However, an important agreement that frees the Greek gas market from the fear of even the complete cessation of Russian exports was secured by DEPA, signing with the French TotalEnergies the supply of 10 cargoes of LNG for the crucial five months of November 2022-March 2023.
On a financial level, investments of more than 5 billion euros have already been launched by high-tech companies in the last three years in Greece, giving a clear indication that "they are here to stay", to create a strong base for the development of stable and well-paid jobs, as well as for the return Greek scientists working abroad. In this context, the prime minister referred to the new investment Google cloud which, as he pointed out, will bring over 2 billion euros to Greece and create 20,000 new jobs.
In addition, a one-year extension in the finalization of its details land register, in the 313 regions where it expired at the end of 2022, the Ministry of Digital Governance is going to give.
Finally, on Friday morning, the heinous crime of the murder of a woman and her one-year-old child by her estranged husband was revealed. The man, after killing them with a hunting rifle, also ended his own life.
By Fanis Dourdoura