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Strained France-Germany ties slow EU decision-making.

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It will be visually striking this week in Hamburg to see French President Emmanuel Macron and his government sipping beers on a boat alongside their German colleagues.

However, the informal team-building activity, known as “Klausur” by the German government, conceals a fight for dominance between the two most powerful nations in the EU and its effects on several EU initiatives.

Paris and Berlin conflict on various subjects, from cooperative defense initiatives to nuclear energy or ties with China.

Macron voiced his annoyance in an August address, referring to Germany’s nuclear energy policy as “a historic mistake.”

With its fleet of reactors, France produces over 70% of its electricity, making it one of the most nuclear-powered nations in the world.

The growing tension between the capitals, which goes beyond a quarrel over technical issues, reveals a breakdown in confidence between two governments competing for significant economic interests and divergent views on the future of the EU.

Detlef Seif, a key German Christian Democratic Union politician on EU matters, said: “I have the impression that the governments do not speak with one another about important topics and then, when they do, only through the media and sometimes through indiscretions.”

A French official said Berlin suggested a less formal meeting this week due to the communication breakdown.

AVOIDING NUCLEAR WAR

The fight for EU power reform is the most contentious. Because of France’s affordable power, which could give them an advantage as Germany struggles with high gas prices, French officials are furious about what they perceive as a German effort to undermine the nuclear industry’s ability to compete.

Marc-Antoine Eyl-Mazzega, director of the energy center at the IFRI think tank in Paris, stated that Germany’s anti-nuclear stance, which goes beyond its boundaries, is the origin of all these problems.

After the Fukushima tragedy in Japan in 2011, Germany decided to phase out nuclear energy, shutting down its last reactors in April.

However, due to the invasion of Ukraine, Germany’s supply of inexpensive Russian gas was cut off, leaving its industry battling with skyrocketing electrical bills. German industrial leader BASF is reducing European employment and increasing investment in China.

“They shot themselves in the foot, and now they want to shoot in ours to get even,” a French official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

Germany and several other EU countries are pushing stricter regulations on state-backed support of electricity prices. Berlin authorities are concerned that Paris may award fixed-price nuclear power contracts supported by the state to its national energy champion, EDF, and use the money raised to assist French industry.

According to a firm executive with knowledge of the Franco-German talks, Germany also has anxiety that France may entice businesses with cheaper electricity over the Rhine.

Analysts are skeptical that France and Germany will be able to agree in Hamburg before a vital EU energy conference on October 17.

According to Wolfgang Munchau’s article in the Euro Intelligence newsletter, France “does not appear to be in the mood for compromise any longer.”

Other European officials haven’t overlooked that.

One EU diplomat told Reuters that it would be more difficult for the EU to get a consensus on other major choices, such as the future form of support for Ukraine.

Vision and chemistry

There is more to the hostility between the French president and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz than just a lack of chemistry. It also results from two opposing worldviews.

The “strategic autonomy” advocated by Macron, which calls for Europe to not rely on foreign powers in areas that may provide them with political clout, is at odds with Germany’s traditional reliance on the American military’s protection.

Paris canceled a combined Franco-German summit last year due to Berlin’s decision to deploy the “European Sky Shield” air-defense system with American and Israeli weaponry rather than Franco-Italian.

Germany has also long promoted the idea of “Wandel durch Handel” (translation: “Change through Trade”), the idea that trade between nations may not only assist in averting conflict but also encourage democracy in formerly authoritarian governments.

German leaders believe trading relations with a nation like China might avoid conflict, despite criticism that the idea failed with Russia. France prefers a stronger stance.

According to sources, that became clear when Brussels opened an investigation into Chinese electric vehicles, which the French supported but which Germany is said to have qualms about.

According to Noah Barkin, an analyst at GMF Asia, “where the Germans are risk-averse due to their extensive investments in China, the French are willing to live in a world where retaliation from Beijing is becoming a growing possibility.”

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Riots erupt in Dublin after children stabbed

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Three small children were among the five persons hurt in a knife assault in Dublin on Thursday. The incident, which triggered rioting in the city center and for which the police have not yet ruled out any reason, including the possibility that it was tied to terrorism, injured a total of five people.

After conflicts between riot police and anti-immigrant protestors, who arrived at the scene of the attack next to the main thoroughfare of O’Connell Street, public transportation was halted, and patients were urged not to travel to a nearby maternity hospital unless it was essential. The incident took place alongside the main thoroughfare of O’Connell Street.

In front of the statue of Daniel O’Connell at the top of the street, a double-decker bus was torched to the ground, and windows of a nearby Holiday Inn hotel and McDonald’s restaurant were damaged. A Footlocker store was broken into and pillaged.

“These are shameful events that have taken place. After sending 400 police to restore public order, Police Commissioner Drew Harris told reporters, “We have a complete lunatic, hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology engaged in serious violence.”

In addition, a police car was destroyed by the fire.

The city of Dublin has nearly never seen violence on this scale. Although no far-right groups or MPs are elected to parliament, there has been a steady increase in the size of anti-immigrant demonstrations over the last year. Following a recent demonstration that forced members to take shelter inside, the administration is reevaluating the security around parliament.

Harris contradicted a senior official who had previously informed reporters that police were convinced the event was not tied to terrorism by saying that all lines of inquiry related to the attack remained open. Harris added that all lines of inquiry related to the attack remained open.

“I am not going to speculate any further about the possible motivations of terrorists. He says, “We have to keep an open mind as to why this happened as long as we don’t know for certain what the motivation is.”

A young girl, aged five, was sent to the hospital for urgent care after suffering life-threatening injuries as a result of the stabbing. Police have stated that they are not seeking any additional suspects after they made an arrest involving a guy in his late 40s who was also being treated for severe injuries.

Shortly after 13:30 local time, the individual is believed to have attacked many persons in Parnell Square in Dublin, according to the police. Several members of the general public stepped in to stop the assault when it was still in its early stages.

A lady in her 30s was also being treated for critical injuries, while the two other children, a boy aged five and a girl aged six, received less severe injuries. The woman in her 30s was also being treated for severe injuries. The medical staff decided to release the youngster from the hospital.

“There was complete and utter pandemonium, women wailing, men screaming and crying,” Anthony Boyle, 31, an IT consultant who lives on the road and was passing by, told Reuters. Boyle lived on the road and was traveling through the area.

DIVIDING THE SOW
A group of perhaps fifty anti-immigrant demonstrators managed to temporarily break over a police barrier while the location was still being cordoned off shortly before 1800 GMT. Some of the protesters yelled, “get them out,” and one of them removed the wing mirror from a police car. One was covered in an Irish flag from head to toe.

As soon as the riot police with their helmets and shields were in place, an enormous mob started hurling things and launching fireworks at them, which caused the unrest to spiral out of hand quickly. At around 2100 GMT, the masses started to disperse.

The police declined to answer when asked about the man’s nationality while in custody.

Ireland’s population of 5.3 million had its second-highest level of net migration since records began being kept in the 12 months leading up to April. Additionally, about 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have come to Ireland since Russia invaded their country, which is among the highest per capita in the EU.

According to Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s statements to the press, “there is a group of people who are using this appalling attack to sow division.” Thugs and criminals are responsible for this attack.

“The Gardai (police) are employing every kind of force to restore order. This behavior will not be permitted in any form.

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Russia’s Shoigu accuses the West of seeking to expand the Ukraine war to the Asia-Pacific.

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According to Russian official media, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the West intends to take the war in Ukraine to the Asia-Pacific area. He made these remarks on Monday at a defense event in Beijing.

According to reports from Russia’s TASS news agency, Shoigu claimed that NATO is concealing a force buildup in the Asia-Pacific region by using an “ostentatious desire for dialogue” at the Xiangshan Forum, China’s most significant military diplomacy event.

According to Shoigu, NATO members are stepping up their military presence in the area and holding larger-scale and more frequent drills, encouraging an arms race.

According to Shoigu, American forces would utilize intelligence sharing on missile launches with Seoul and Tokyo to dissuade China and Russia. Additionally, he charged that Washington was attempting to justify “humanitarian interventions” by using natural catastrophes and climate change.

New security blocs like the Quad and AUKUS, according to Shoigu, are undermining the influence of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and regional efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation.

However, he clarified that Russia was not reducing its bar for the use of nuclear weapons and that its decision to withdraw its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty did not signal the end of the pact.

Shoigu stated, “We are only seeking to restore parity with the United States, who have not ratified this treaty,” according to the Russian news agency RIA. “We are not talking about its destruction.”

Shoigu stated that while Moscow was prepared to negotiate a post-conflict settlement of the Ukraine problem based on continued “co-existence” with the West, Western nations should give up, hoping Russia would lose strategically.

Shoigu stated: “It is also important to ensure equal relations between all the nuclear powers and permanent United Nations Security Council members who carry special responsibility for upholding peace and global stability.” This made it evident that the circumstances for such discussions were not yet in place.

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U.S. says it is ‘concerned’ about Hungary’s relationship with Russia

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On Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Budapest stated that the U.S. worries about Hungary’s ties to Russia and considers Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s choice to meet with Putin “troubling.”

On Tuesday’s margins of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, Orban and Putin had a private meeting. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he is the only head of state from a member of the European Union to attend the event or meet Putin.

According to a statement by the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, “the United States is concerned about Hungary’s relationship with Russia.”

The pressman stated this week on X that “Hungary’s leader chooses to stand with a man whose forces are responsible for crimes against humanity in Ukraine, and alone among our allies.”

Hungary, a NATO member receiving most of its crude oil and gas from Russia, has vetoed many E.U. measures to aid Ukraine in fending off Russian soldiers.

During their discussion in Beijing, Orban informed Putin that Hungary was working to restore bilateral ties and had never intended to oppose Russia.

According to Radio Free Europe, the ambassadors of NATO nations and Sweden in Budapest met after Orban’s meeting to discuss their worries over Hungary’s growing reconciliation with Moscow.

Balazs Orban, Orban’s top political assistant, responded to the U.S. criticism by stating that Hungary was “fed up” with the ambassador’s “hypocrisy” in a post on X earlier this week.

Hungary’s procrastination on the acceptance of Sweden’s NATO membership has strained ties with Washington during the last year.

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