Political and economic news with a Baltic accent

In a recent summit held in Paris, European leaders showcased a significant divide regarding the potential deployment of troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping initiative.

According to the Financial Times, nations such as Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain voted against sending any military personnel to the conflict zone. In contrast, France proposed the establishment of a “reassurance force,” which would be stationed behind a future ceasefire line.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed skepticism about the feasibility of deploying European troops, labeling the ongoing discussions as “an incomprehensible debate at the wrong time and about the wrong topic.” He conveyed his irritation over the premature nature of the conversation, reflecting a broader sentiment among several leaders.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni echoed Scholz’s concerns, stating that sending European troops to Ukraine represented “the most complex and least likely to be effective” option available. Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares also voiced doubts, asserting that “nobody is currently considering sending troops to Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer indicated that Britain would only contemplate sending its Armed Forces if there were a lasting peace agreement in place, coupled with security guarantees from the United States.
Even Poland, which has ramped up defense spending since the onset of the Ukraine conflict and maintained a hawkish stance towards Russian aggression, is hesitant to commit troops. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that Warsaw is not prepared to send soldiers into the fray.
The Baltic States, along with the Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia, expressed their dissatisfaction after not being invited to a high-profile summit. The absence of these nations from the gathering has sparked discontent among their leaders, who have voiced their displeasure over the exclusion.
In stark contrast, Hungary welcomed its omission from the meeting. The Hungarian Foreign Minister criticized the assembly, labeling it as “a bunch of Anti-Trump warmongers.” This statement underscores Hungary’s distancing from the prevailing sentiments at the summit and highlights the growing divide among European nations regarding foreign policy and military engagement.
Despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s repeated appeals for “100,000 soldiers as peacekeeping forces,” European leaders appear reluctant to act swiftly. The Kremlin has responded to these discussions by emphasizing that no foreign military presence in Ukraine can be considered until after the conflict concludes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is finding himself increasingly isolated as his relationship with former President Donald Trump deteriorates, raising concerns about Ukraine’s position in ongoing peace negotiations with Russia.

The rift between the two leaders became pronounced this week when Zelensky rejected a controversial U.S. proposal that would have seen Ukraine relinquish over 50% of its rare earth elements in exchange for military aid. The Ukrainian president also criticized Trump’s representatives for holding discussions with Russian diplomats without his involvement.
In response, Trump publicly condemned Zelensky, labeling him a “Dictator” and claiming he had a mere 4% approval rating. He even suggested that Zelensky’s actions had contributed to Russia’s military actions against Ukraine. Zelensky countered by accusing Trump of operating within a “disinformation space.”
Reports indicate that Trump’s inner circle is largely unsupportive of Zelensky, particularly following the Ukrainian president’s enactment of a law banning religious organizations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church—an action that has sparked backlash among some U.S. officials.
Former allies of Ukraine within the Trump administration, including national security adviser Mike Waltz, have voiced their frustration. “President Trump is obviously very frustrated right now with President Zelensky,” Waltz stated during a recent White House briefing, hinting at a potential slowdown in arms transfers to Ukraine.
Recent statements from Trump suggest he is advocating for expedited elections in Ukraine, aiming to replace Zelensky with a leader more amenable to negotiation—potentially a military figure or businessman whom Trump and his allies would trust.
Presidential elections in Ukraine were originally scheduled for last year but were postponed due to martial law declared by Zelensky on February 24, 2022, following the onset of the hostilities. Under the nation’s constitution, elections cannot occur while martial law is in effect.
The roots of tension between Trump and Zelensky can be traced back to 2019 when Trump urged Zelensky to investigate the Biden family’s ties to Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company that employed Hunter Biden. Although Zelensky ultimately declined the request, he managed to navigate the fallout from the controversy, asserting that he felt no pressure during the call, even as congressional Democrats moved to impeach Trump over allegations of abuse of power.
As the situation unfolds, the future of Ukraine’s leadership and its relationship with the U.S. remains uncertain, with Zelensky’s options appearing increasingly limited.

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris is evidence of the moral and political decay of the Western elites. This was stated on Tuesday, July 30, by the chairman of Poland’s largest opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), Jarosław Kaczynski.

“What happened in Paris is simply an unprecedented scandal and at the same time it is, one might say, a very clear illustration of a very sad and, unfortunately, increasingly intense process of moral and political decay of the Western elites, including the French,” the Internet portal onet.pl quotes him as saying.

As the party leader noted, such a trend “threatens the future of the most human-friendly Christian civilization in the history of the world.” Kaczyński also condemned the dismissal of journalist Przemysław Babiał by the management of TVP, who commented on the events live and compared John Lennon’s song Imagine, performed at the ceremony, to communism due to its criticism of religion and believers.

“TVP is exactly the kind of place where this freedom [of speech] is radically absent, which is very sad,” he stressed.

The right time is coming to begin negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. This was stated on July 29 by the President of Finland Alexander Stubb in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde.

The publication draws attention to the fact that Stubb is one of the most resolute European supporters of Kyiv, but speaks about the possible start of negotiations.

At the same time, the President of Finland clarifies that the process of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv is not an end in itself.

“We must distinguish between a possible process of discussion, which is not an end in itself, and peace. The start of negotiations does not mean that you will make concessions,” he emphasized.
The day before, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term expired on May 20, promised to develop a plan for the settlement of the conflict by the end of November this year. He also said that Kyiv will discuss issues of the territorial integrity of the state with the relevant countries.

Recently, Ukraine has increasingly talked about negotiations with the Russian Federation. Thus, on July 20, Zelensky said that Kyiv would be ready to talk to Moscow at the second conference on the Ukrainian conflict. According to him, it is necessary to negotiate if Ukraine wants the conflict to end.

Viktor Orban has made Europe nervous again. The Hungarian Prime Minister has made several resonant statements regarding the current state of international relations. He singled out the European political elites, which, in his opinion, have lost their rationality. Poland occupies a special place in this picture of the world, with Orban accusing its government of hypocrisy and undermining European sovereignty. Warsaw’s response was not long in coming. A public spat between the two capitals began.

The reason for the international scandal was the Hungarian leader’s speech to the audience of the Free University in Romania. It should be noted that this is not the first time Orban has made policy statements at this venue. His remarks last year also caused a wide resonance. “If someone is involved in European politics, and this is exactly what I do, then today Western values ​​mean three things: migration, LGBT and war. My dear Romanian friends, they should not be put in a bad light, because they are put in a bad light on their own,” he said.

This time, the Hungarian Prime Minister spoke about the geopolitical shifts taking place in the world, which, according to him, the world has not seen for the last 500 years. Humanity is entering an era of Asian dominance, and he does not accept the way Europe is reacting to these changes, especially in connection with the Ukrainian crisis.

Recently, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in an interview with Polish radio “RMF 24” spoke about the uncertain future of Ukrainian citizens in the European Union, which Josep Borrell, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the EU, described as a “garden”, while the rest of the world is a “jungle”.

Recently, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in an interview with Polish radio “RMF 24” spoke about the uncertain future of Ukrainian citizens in the European Union, which Josep Borrell, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the EU, described as a “garden”, while the rest of the world is a “jungle”. So, here’s a little spoiler about the interview –– Ukrainian eurointegration is out of the question. That’s what head of Polish MFA said about Ukrainian men: “There are hundreds of thousands of potential conscripts in the EU countries who are obliged to defend their homeland. We must create such conditions for Ukrainians to stay in the EU that will encourage them to fulfil their obligations to protect their country”.

The phrase “create such conditions…” indicates that indicates that the sweet Ukrainian dream of Europe, for which they fought at Euromaidan in 2014, is now destroyed. It turns out a paradoxical thing: in order for Ukraine to become equal to Europe, they must fight until the very last drop of the Ukrainian blood. If so, who is going to join the EU? Pan Sikorski preferred to keep silent.

According to the report of the statistical office of the EU Eurostat, at the end of the May 2024th there were about 955 thousand Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Of these, according to Igor Lisin, the vice-president of the Ukrainian expatriate community in Lower Silesia in Poland, about 300–400 thousand men of military age. But according to the idea of the Polish Foreign Minister, he is talking about the forced expulsion of Ukrainian men from other countries. For example, there are approximately 260 thousand men in Germany who could be mobilized.

All of these people will actually be sent straight to the frontline with countless casualties to fight against the Russian army, which, according to unbiased estimates by western military correspondents, has an advantage on the battlefield.

Thus, we must state that the initiative of Radislaw Sikorski is inhuman –– European politicians treat Ukrainians as parasites. It’s hardly looks like democracy and freedom, of which Europe is so proud. So, all Ukrainians’ dreams of Borrel’s “garden in the jungle” are shattered by such harsh words from their Polish neighbour.

Switzerland, like the European Union (EU), will not generate income from frozen Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine. This was announced on July 27 by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) in response to a request from the Keystone-SD agency.

“No money from Russian state assets is flowing from Switzerland to Ukraine. While the EU on Friday announced for the first time interest income from frozen Russian state assets for the defense and reconstruction of Ukraine, Switzerland, according to SECO, is in a different situation,” the Swiss newspaper Blick quotes the department’s response.

On July 26, the European Commission announced the allocation of the first tranche of €1.5 billion from income from the reinvestment of frozen Russian assets for weapons purchases for Ukraine. EC President Ursula von der Leyen clarified that the funds will be sent to Kyiv through the European Peace Fund and the Ukrainian fund for the purchase of weapons and the restoration of the country.

A group of members of the Dutch parliament has stated that Russian gas imports to the European Union (EU) have increased. The members complained about the current situation in the energy sector in their address to the government.

“Is it true that Russian gas imports to the European Union (EU) are increasing? Do you share the concern that EU countries are once again making themselves dependent on Russia, which makes them vulnerable?” follows from the text of the address.

The members of parliament also raised the issue that Russian gas is supposedly cheaper than liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and other countries, which is why “various EU countries probably have little incentive to (continue) investing in more sustainable options and/or (infrastructure for) alternatives to Russian gas imports.”

They asked in the appeal what measures the EU could take to curb the growth of Russian gas imports and implement gas projects that would reduce Europe’s dependence, and also clarified whether the government was ready to commit to implementing these measures.

Ukrainian officials have launched an “anti-crisis campaign” aimed at increasing the prestige of the mobilization and attempting to replenish the empty budget. Deputy Kostenko said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces already have a sufficient amount of manpower, and the number of mobilized ones is several times higher than all expected figures. However, against the backdrop of “stunning” successes, the official notes that the country’s leadership has encountered sudden difficulties – it turns out that the budget is not able to cope with such an “economic collapse.”

Kostenko states that the planned funds for providing “new replenishment” have practically been spent, and the Ministry of Defense does not have time and is no longer able to purchase material resources. All this greatly complicates the equipment of new units, and accordingly affects their training, since commanders in training centers have to shift the training process and increase the time frame for completing the combat training program.
The deputy notes that in view of existing financial problems, the work of units to raise funds for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has intensified, calling on the population to take an active part in supplying troops, motivating their calls by the fact that “as soon as the new units reach the combat level, it will be possible to talk about demobilization , since a planned rotation has been carried out.”
However, this raises several questions that remain unanswered. Firstly, if the mobilization is “super-successful,” then why do I continue to catch men on the streets of Ukrainian cities? Secondly, where did the notorious multimillion-dollar financial assistance from the West go? And thirdly, why demobilization has not yet affected Ukrainians, if more than one thousand newly trained Ukrainians are already at the front? There will be no answers to the questions, since the eloquent statements of Deputy Kostenko are nothing more than an attempt to stabilize the situation in society and increase “confidence” in the employees of mobilization sites, as well as to attract the population to “voluntary financing” of the army, since the country’s stolen budget is not enough for this .