In a “national consultation”, the Hungarian government asked Hungarians about the sanctions against Russia. Some 97 percent of the participants voted against the sanctions. The government regards the result as “indicative”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is one of the harshest critics of sanctions against Russia. He saw this confirmed by the most recent survey in Hungary.
The results of the survey are “pointing the way”, said government spokeswoman Alexandra Szentkirályi on Facebook. It should also be heard in Brussels. The embassy is clearly in favor of a reassessment of the sanctions.
The Hungarian government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán repeatedly holds “national consultations” in which votes can be mailed or sent online. However, the surveys have no legally binding consequences.
Questions about sanctions with regard to energy sources, raw materials, tourism, inflation
This time, Hungarians were asked if they agree with EU sanctions against Russia on energy, raw materials and nuclear fuel rods. The referendum also dealt with the consequences of the sanctions policy for tourism and the rise in food prices due to the sanctions.
Orbán’s opponents have long considered the questions suggestive, manipulative and misleading. They claim that in practice, only answers in favor of the government were allowed. Eight million people are entitled to vote in Hungary and 1,4 million citizens took part in the vote.
Critics also pointed out that Hungary had actually agreed to all EU sanctions packages against Russia so far.
Last year, in October, the government launched a campaign against the EU’s policy: “Sanctions from Brussels are destroying us!” they warned in reference to multiple rounds of measures targeting Russia.
Orbán justified the appointment of the consultation at the end of September 2022 with sharp criticism of the sanctions: “The sanctions were not decided in a democratic manner, but Brussels bureaucrats and European elites decided on them.”
Hungary alone not strong enough to take on Brussels
In an interview with Radio Kossuth, Orbán explained: “Hungary’s strength is not enough for that, and so mine is by definition. One thing I can do is to try to stop the damage, to say that this is going to be a problem, where we feel that the Hungarian national interest is being fundamentally harmed, we veto there, we stand up for Hungary there, we don’t allow it, but we don’t know how to change, to set the sanctions policy on a different track.”
He said this would simply require a political decision to be made in Brussels. The courage to counter Brussels also exists, he added. “Here we are, for example, or me personally, only this is of no importance, because in order for this to change, for this brave opinion to have consequences, it would have to be a German or a French person who are strong enough to be able to change the position of the entire union.”
Orbán underscored that if the sanctions were to be lifted, “the price of energy would drop in no time and the general price level, i.e. inflation, would immediately be halved with it – so the rate of inflation would be reduced by at least half, but maybe even more”.
He said that unfortunately, the sanctions policy would continue in Brussels: “We will introduce sanctions, which will turn out not to work. Behind this, there is another culture shock that affects us Hungarians. It’s about the Germans. I grew up always being told at home that the German is right! The German is precise, the engineer, he calculates, he doesn’t rush, he knows what he’s doing.
“Now I’m looking at what they’re doing, the Brussels committee has a German president, these sanctions are being imposed, and they’re not fully calculated from a professional point of view. So, our belief in the crisis management ability of the Germans, stemming from German engineering precision, has decreased significantly in the past period.”
None of the gloomy forecasts the West made about Russia’s fate in 2022 have come to pass, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the government on Wednesday as he commented on the West’s failure to disrupt the national economy.
“Nothing that our adversaries predicted has happened to us,” Putin said as he thanked the government for its effective work throughout 2022, which helped Russia withstand international pressure amid unprecedented sanctions imposed by the US and its allies. “In no small way, that was the result of the government’s work,” he added.
The president then said that there’s still much that needs to be done to secure Russia’s “absolutely … sovereign independent development despite all the external pressure and threats.” He highlighted the fact that more efforts should be aimed at supplying the Russian forces involved in the conflict in Ukraine. Russia should also expand the technological capacities of its economy and encourage the creation of new industries and workplaces, he said, while strengthening the financial sector, the agriculture industry and some other economic fields.
Following the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in late February, the US and its allies in Europe and beyond imposed unprecedented sanctions against Moscow, targeting entire sectors of its economy, including finances and banking as well as aviation and space industries. In December, the EU, along with the G7 countries and Australia, introduced a price cap on Russian seaborne oil, set at $60 per barrel.
Last spring, many Western officials and media outlets predicted that the Russian economy would collapse under the pressure of sanctions and military expenditures, only to admit that Moscow managed to defy all of those predictions. In May, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic admitted that the Western sanctions were not working, as The Economist reported that the Russian economy proved to be “surprisingly resilient” amid high oil and gas revenues.
In August, Bloomberg and the Washington Post reported that the sanctions failed to bring about the economic collapse that Western leaders had hoped for. In December, Putin said that Russia was outperforming many of the G20 nations despite sanctions. Earlier the same month, the Russian Finance Ministry said that oil and gas budget revenues exceeded the full-year target in the first 11 months, bringing an additional $9 billion to Russia’s coffers.
Software, movies and music from ‘unfriendly countries’ can now be used in Belarus without the permission of the copyright holder
The new law, set to come into force next week, allows the use of software, films, music, television programs and other “audiovisual works” in the country without consent if the copyright holders hail from countries that have placed sanctions on Belarus.
Belarus has temporarily legalized the use of digital content from ‘unfriendly countries’ without the consent of copyright holders, according to a decree signed by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and published on the country’s official portal of legal information.
The new law, set to come into force next week, allows the use of software, films, music, television programs and other “audiovisual works” in the country without consent if the copyright holders hail from countries that have placed sanctions on Belarus.
The provision specifies that royalties must still be paid for the use of the content to copyright holders, but the funds are to be credited to the account of the Belarusian patent authority, where they can be claimed by copyright owners within three years.
The document also legalizes parallel imports, sometimes called “gray” imports, a practice in which non-counterfeit products are imported without the permission of the intellectual property owners via alternative supply channels. The measure covers imports from any country, not only those that are deemed “unfriendly.” According to the new law, the import of goods without the rights owner’s permission will be considered legal if these goods are included in the list of products “essential” for the domestic market.
The law “will give an opportunity to import original goods not only to copyright holders of the object of intellectual property or their official distributors but to any importers. This temporary measure is aimed at preventing a shortage of imported goods and saturating the consumer market,” the Belarusian government explained on its official Telegram channel.
Parallel imports will not be allowed if the copyright holders of the goods continue to cooperate with residents of Belarus, and there is no critical shortage of such goods on the domestic market.
The new legislation will be in force until December 31, 2024.
The EU’s sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict have been a complete failure, Belgian member of the European Parliament Guy Verhofstadt said on Monday. He added that the EU was only “rewarding” Russia by increasing imports from the country.
Writing on Twitter, Verhofstadt, who served as Belgian prime minister from 1999 to 2008 and has been an MEP since 2009, claimed that the effect of the EU’s nine packages of sanctions on Moscow “is less than 0.”
The former PM said that in the bloc’s attempts to punish Russia, it has achieved the opposite result. “We are rewarding Russia for its war against us!”
Verhofstadt also posted a chart titled ‘Still Filling Putin’s Coffers’, showing Russia-EU trade from February to August 2022. The graphic, which cites Eurostat data, shows that most EU member states, including Germany, France, Italy, and Poland, significantly increased imports from Russia. In total, only seven EU members were buying less from the country.
Following the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the EU imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow, targeting entire sectors of the economy. In December, the bloc, along with the G7 countries and Australia, introduced a price cap on Russian seaborne oil, setting it at $60 per barrel. In response, last week, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning the supply of oil and petroleum products from Russia to countries which apply these restrictions.
The sanctions on Russia have exacerbated the bloc’s energy crisis, causing fuel prices and the cost of living to soar. This has prompted protests against the sanctions policy in several EU countries. In December, a demonstration organized by the right-wing Patriots party took place in Paris against the government’s stance on Russia and France’s membership in NATO.
In his New Year’s address, Putin said that the West’s “full-blown sanctions war” against Moscow has largely failed to undermine the economy.
Putin has signed a decree banning the supply of oil and petroleum products from Russia to countries which apply a price cap in contracts. Russia will no longer do ‘business as usual’, sorry not sorry.
China has condemned the US government following reports that it plans to place dozens of Chinese technology firms on a trade blacklist that would bar them from buying certain American parts and components, dubbing the move “blatant economic coercion.”
Asked about Washington’s scheme to penalize some 36 tech companies, first reported earlier this week by Bloomberg and the Financial Times, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the decision would severely undermine trade relations between the two countries.
“The US has been stretching the concept of national security, abusing export control measures, engaging in discriminatory and unfair treatment against enterprises of other countries, and politicizing and weaponizing economic and sci-tech issues,” Wang told reporters on Wednesday, adding: “This is blatant economic coercion and bullying in the field of technology.”
Under the US plan which, according to Bloomberg, could take effect as early as this week, the Commerce Department would place the Chinese firms on the so-called ‘Entity List,’ prohibiting them from purchasing some US-made goods unless they obtain a special export license. China’s leading chip-maker, Yangtze Memory Technologies, is set to be included on the list
According to the Financial Times, the move is part of a broader effort by Washington to “target Chinese technology companies that it believes threaten its security,” having already imposed strong export controls earlier this year which made it far more difficult for Chinese firms to obtain semiconductors and equipment used to manufacture computer chips.
Wang was also asked to comment on a new bill introduced in the US Congress this week that aims to cut off Chinese tech firms from American banks, saying that Washington is abusing its powers to “wantonly hobble Chinese companies” while vowing to protect the rights of local businesses.
“Undermining international rules will eventually backfire on the US itself,” Wang added.
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has pursued many of the same hostile policies toward China as his predecessor, Donald Trump. In addition to continuing a low-level trade war largely targeting technology companies, Biden has sent American warships through contested waters off China’s coast on a near-monthly basis, while also ignoring repeated warnings by Beijing to cease all direct diplomatic contacts with Taiwan, which China considers to be part of its sovereign territory.
Beijing is planning to further boost imports of LNG and piped natural gas from Russia, China’s ambassador to Moscow says
Natural gas supplies from Russia to China increased 173% in the first ten months of this year compared to the same period of 2021, according to the Chinese ambassador to Moscow.
Natural gas supplies from Russia to China increased 173% in the first ten months of this year compared to the same period of 2021, according to the Chinese ambassador to Moscow.
Zhang Hanhui said Beijing is ready to work with Moscow to ensure gas pumped via the eastern section of the Power of Siberia pipeline will reach its projected capacity as soon as possible.
He added that China also wants to see a more rapid implementation of the Russia-Mongolia-China gas pipeline project.
“Amid the current situation a new Russian-Chinese cooperation horizon is being demonstrated,” the diplomat said in his speech at the ‘Russian Gas 2022 – Turn to the East’ forum. “We are ready to strengthen integrated cooperation with the Russian side in the field of pipeline and liquefied gas.”
According to the envoy, China has already become the world’s biggest natural gas consumer and has vast potential to further increase imports of the fuel. He noted that natural gas consumption in China reached 372 billion cubic meters in 2021, marking a 12.7% annual surge.
“The East welcomes Russian gas. There is a sufficient market in the East to place Russian gas,” he said, stressing that Beijing would never allow outside forces to interfere in energy cooperation between China and Russia.
Last week, Russia’s state-run energy giant Gazprom reported that daily supplies via the Power of Siberia pipeline had reached a record high, while the company’s contractual obligations were exceeded by 16.4%.
The Chinese ambassador stressed that Beijing condemns the acts of sabotage in September against the two Nord Stream pipelines, linking Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea, as inadmissible.
“China opposes the bullying policy pursued by some countries in the energy sector,” Zhang said.
While Joe Biden is destroying the US and the gardeners are working overtime to collapse the EU, Iran is moving closer to joining its allies Russia and China in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). pic.twitter.com/rTL0mILH4C
Intelligence services worry about American economic warfare more than terrorism or the prospect of confrontation with Russia or China
It was clearly not for nothing that veteran US grand strategist and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once remarked, “to be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”
New research published by France’s Ecole de Guerre Economique has revealed some extraordinary findings about who and what the French intelligence services fear most when it comes to threats to the country’s economy.
The findings are based on extensive research and interviews with French intelligence experts, including representatives of spy agencies, and so reflect the positions and thinking of specialists in the under-researched field of economic warfare. Their collective view is very clear – 97 percent consider the US to be the foreign power that “most threatens” the “economic interests” of Paris.
Who is your true enemy?
The research was conducted to answer the question, “what will become of France in an increasingly exacerbated context of economic war?”. This query has become increasingly urgent for the EU as Western sanctions on Moscow’s exports, in particular energy, have had a catastrophic effect on European countries, but have not had the predicted effect Russia. Nor have they hurt the US, the country pushing most aggressively for these measures.
Yet, the question is not being asked in other EU capitals. It is precisely the continent-wide failure, or unwillingness at least, to consider the “negative repercussions on the daily lives” of European citizens that inspired the Ecole de Guerre Economique report.
As the report’s lead author Christian Harbulot explains, ever since the end of World War II, France has “lived in a state of the unspoken,” as have other European countries.
At the conclusion of that conflict, “manifest fear” among French elites of the Communist Party taking power in France “strongly incited a part of the political class to place our security in the hands of the US, in particular by calling for the establishment of permanent military bases in France.”
“It goes without saying that everything has its price. The compensation for this aid from across the Atlantic was to make us enter into a state of global dependence – monetary, financial, technological – with regard to the US,” Harbulot says. And aside from 1958 – 1965 when General Charles de Gaulle attempted to increase the autonomy of Paris from Washington and NATO, French leaders have “fallen into line.”
This acceptance means aside from rare public scandals such as the sale of French assets to US companies, or Australia cancelling its purchase of French-made submarines in favor of a controversial deal with the US and UK (AUKUS), there is little recognition – let alone discussion – in the mainstream as to how Washington exerts a significant degree of control over France’s economy, and therefore politics.
As a result, politicians and the public alike struggle to identify “who their enemy” truly is. “In spheres of power” across Europe, Harbulot says, “it is customary to keep this kind of problem silent,” and economic warfare remains an “underground confrontation which precedes, accompanies and then takes over from classic military conflicts.”
This in turn means any debate about “hostility or harmfulness” in Europe’s relations with Washington misses the underlying point that “the US seeks to ensure its supremacy over the world, without displaying itself as a traditional empire.”
The EU might have a trade surplus of 150 billion euros with the US, but the latter would never willingly allow this economic advantage to translate to “strategic autonomy” from it. And this gain is achieved against the constant backdrop of – and more than offset by – “strong geopolitical and military pressure” from the US at all times.
I spy with my Five Eyes
Harbulot believes the “state of the unspoken” to be even more pronounced in Germany, as Berlin “seeks to establish a new form of supremacy within Europe” based on its dependency on the US.
As France “is not in a phase of power building but rather in a search to preserve its power” – a “very different” state of affairs – this should mean the French can more easily recognize and admit to toxic dependency on Washington and see it as a problem that must be resolved.
It is certainly hard to imagine such an illuminating and honest report being produced by a Berlin-based academic institute, despite the country being the most badly affected by anti-Russian sanctions. Some analysts have spoken of a possible deindustrialization of Germany, as its inability to power energy-intensive economic sectors has destroyed its 30-year-long trade surplus – maybe forever.
But aside from France’s “dependency” on Washington being different to that of Germany, Paris has other reasons for cultivating a “culture of economic combat,” and keeping very close track of the “foreign interests” that are harming the country’s economy and companies.
A US National Security Agency spying order sent to other members of the Five Eyes global spying network – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK – released by WikiLeaks, shows that since at least 2002 Washington has issued its English-speaking allies annual “information need” requests, seeking any and all information they can dig up on the economic activities of French companies, the economic and trade policies of France’s government, and the views of Paris on the yearly G8 and G20 summits.
Whatever is unearthed is shared with key US economic decision-makers and departments, including the Federal Reserve and Treasury, as well as intelligence agencies, such as the CIA. Another classified WikiLeaks release shows that the latter – between November 2011 and July 2012 – employed spies from across the Five Eyes (OREA) to infiltrate and monitor the campaigns of parties and candidates in France’s presidential election.
Washington was particularly worried about a Socialist Party victory, and so sought information on a variety of topics, “to prepare key US policymakers for the post-election French political landscape and the potential impact on US-France relations.” Of particular interest was “the presidential candidates’ views on the French economy, what current economic policies…they see as not working, and what policies…they promote to help boost France’s economic growth prospects[.]”
The CIA was also very interested in the “views and characterization” of the US on the part of presidential candidates, and any efforts by them and the parties they represented to “reach out to leaders of other countries,” including some of the states that form the Five Eyes network itself.
Naturally, those members would be unaware that their friends in Washington, and other Five Eyes capitals, would be spying on them while they spied on France.
It was clearly not for nothing that veteran US grand strategist and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once remarked, “to be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”
Do you remember in early 2020 when they told us that the shortages that we were experiencing would just be temporary? Of course, some of them were, but then more shortages just kept on erupting. That wasn’t supposed to happen, and now it appears that our supply chain problems could potentially get a whole lot worse. In just a few short months, we will be three years away from the beginning of the pandemic in the United States. But instead of a “return to normal”, more shortages are on the way. And in some cases, they could even be life-threatening.
Let me give you an example. We need Amoxicillin to treat some of the most common infections that our children experience. Unfortunately, the FDA is warning us that we are now facing a very serious shortage of Amoxicillin…
Ear infections and strep throat.
Both are common childhood illnesses, for which the go-to prescription is in short supply, according to a recent nationwide alert from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The warning specifically involves the powder, which pharmacists use to mix liquid Amoxicillin for childhood infections.
This is a really big deal.
According to one recent survey, close to two-thirds of all pharmacies in the nation are having difficulty getting Amoxicillin right now, and the national shortage of Adderall is even worse…
Nearly 66% of pharmacies are having challenges obtaining amoxicillin, according to a new National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) survey of 8000 pharmacy owners and managers, whereas 89% are realizing a shortage of Adderall.
Of course, we are dealing with lots of other drug shortages at this moment as well.
In fact, according to the official FDA drug shortage list there are nationwide shortages of a whopping 183 different drugs in the United States right now.
The Canadian healthcare system is experiencing an acute shortage of basic painkillers, particularly acetaminophen and ibuprofen, which are commonly used to relieve pain and fever in children during flu season.
Canada’s Association of Medical Assistance in Dying Assessors and Providers (CAMAP) chose this perhaps awkward moment to roll out a webinar for healthcare professionals that advised them to offer assisted suicide to their suffering patients.
So why don’t the Canadians have enough Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen right now?
CBC News quoted health officials who blamed “a lack of raw ingredients to make the drugs,” “an uptick in respiratory viruses fueled by the relaxed [Chinese coronavirus] measures,” and “panic buying” for the shortage of painkillers for children.
As I have covered in previous articles, most of the basic ingredients that go into our pharmaceutical drugs come from China.
So if you think that things are bad now, just wait until war with China erupts.
Once that happens, our pharmacies will get really empty and our entire healthcare system will experience a historic meltdown.
Switching gears, with Thanksgiving coming up I wanted to talk about the fact that we are now facing a nationwide shortage of turkeys…
As CNBC reports, the price of turkey is up 73% from last year, a pretty astonishing figure. Experts attribute it to the bird flu, which has devastated turkey stocks this year. Apparently, the disease normally doesn’t flourish during the summer as farmers get their holiday flocks together. But, you know, the 2020s haven’t been easy so naturally, the flu hit hard right in the middle of the year when it could do the most damage.
The good news, if you want to call it that, is that you will still probably be able to get a turkey if you are willing to pay enough.
The bad news is that supplies of turkey just keep getting tighter and tighter.
One business owner in San Francisco recently stated that it is “like pulling teeth trying to get turkeys from the companies” at this stage…
But it’s not just the Thanksgiving bird that’s at risk — it’s your lunchtime turkey sandwich, too. San Francisco delis and butchers are already feeling the effects of the shortage.
“It’s like pulling teeth trying to get turkeys from the companies,” said Sal Qaqundah, owner of Arguello Market, a San Francisco cult favorite for its “world famous” turkey sandwich.
Unfortunately, we are also facing a shortage of butter in the weeks ahead.
The USDA is urging consumers not to “panic buy” butter so that there will be enough to go around for everyone…
Butter is another area where the war and cost of dairy products has affected supply, as the price of the condiment and baking ingredient has gone up a dollar per pound since January of this year, per Eater. Fearing a full-blown butter shortage, the USDA has asked consumers not to rush or panic buy, but simply secure what they need at a given time, per Best Life.
Did you ever imagine that we would be talking about a butter shortage in late 2022?
Things just keep getting crazier and crazier.
And if the diesel fuel shortages eventually get as bad as some are projecting, we could soon be facing severe shortages of countless products.
Our ships, our trains, and our trucks run on diesel fuel.
So if there is not enough diesel fuel, we are going to have a real problem trying to fill up our stores with enough stuff for everybody.
Even now, supplies of diesel fuel are so tight that one big player in the industry just issued a major alert…
A major fuel supply and logistics company is raising a red flag on upcoming diesel fuel shortages.
Mansfield Energy issued the alert Friday stating there was a developing diesel fuel shortage in the southeastern region of the United States. The company speculated that the shortage could be generated from “poor pipeline shipping economies” and a historically low supply of diesel reserves.
“Poor pipeline shipping economics and historically low diesel inventories are combining to cause shortages in various markets throughout the Southeast,” the company said. “These have been occurring sporadically, with areas like Tennessee seeing particularly acute challenges.”
There are a number of reasons why supplies of diesel fuel have gotten so tight.
But the primary reason is the cutoff of Russian imports. Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. was importing nearly 700,000 barrels per day (BPD) of petroleum and petroleum products. Most of those imports were finished products and refinery inputs that boosted distillate supplies in the U.S.
The loss of those Russian imports have caused problems for refineries as they struggle to fill holes in their product slates. Refineries do have a small amount of flexibility in shifting gasoline production to diesel production. But it’s a relatively small amount (e.g., ~5% in a refinery I once worked in). That also means that if refiners do shift production, that also potentially creates shortages in the gasoline market.
So why don’t we just produce more ourselves?
Well, thanks to our politicians, the number of refineries in the United States has actually been declining in recent years even as our population has grown.
At this point, we simply do not have enough refineries, and this is a problem that is not going away any time soon.
In the months ahead, we aren’t going to completely run out of diesel fuel as some people out there are suggesting.
But supplies may get so tight that it could potentially create widespread supply chain nightmares that are quite severe.
Let us hope that such a scenario does not materialize.
Because the American people are already angry enough about the economy. In fact, a brand new survey has found that it is the number one issue for U.S. voters at this moment…
The Washington Post and ABC gave Americans eight top issues they will be considering when making their decision in a poll that showed likely voters split between the Democrats and Republicans.
The economy was cited by 26 percent of likely voters as one of the most important factors, followed by abortion with 22 percent and inflation and threats to democracy each by 21 percent.
For decades, we have been able to rely on our supply chains to continuously fill our stores with mountains of cheap goods.
I know that many of you have been patiently waiting for a long time for life to “return to normal”.
Sadly, that isn’t going to happen. The incredibly bad decisions that our leaders have been making are now catching up with us in a major way, and a great deal of pain is ahead.
The Ministry for Climate and Energy, which falls under Economic Affairs, issued 25 waivers for Dutch organizations to still get energy from former Gazprom companies. The waivers help 150 companies and organizations, including municipalities, schools, and water boards, the Ministry said to the broadcaster.
The government has issued dozens of waivers from sanctions against Russia. via RTLNieuws
Wow! Holland has said enough is enough!
They become the first European country to withdraw sanctions against Russia, without permission from EU.
This is the first example we see of a European country acting in the best interest of their own country.
Now, who is next?
The Dutch government has issued 91 waivers from sanctions against Russia since the country invaded Ukraine late in February, RTL Nieuws reports after talking to the Ministries. The ministries shielded the names of the companies involved, the value of transactions that were exempted, and the business sectors concerned.
The information was “company-sensitive,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economic Affairs, Finance, Infrastructure, and Education are allowed to grant exemptions to sanctions to “allow a degree of flexibility in specific cases,” the spokesperson affirmed.
In April, the European Union banned ships sailing under the Russian flag from European ports. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management issued waivers so 34 ships could access Dutch ports, for example, because they carried important cargo like aluminum and food.
“Diplomatic relations” was stated as the reason why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted one exemption, the broadcaster reported. In the isolated case, transactions that involved Russian banks majority held by the State were permitted to occur.
The Ministry of Finance granted 13 additional waivers related to frozen assets or goods that fall under the sanctions regime.
The Ministry for Climate and Energy, which falls under Economic Affairs, issued 25 waivers for Dutch organizations to still get energy from former Gazprom companies. The waivers help 150 companies and organizations, including municipalities, schools, and water boards, the Ministry said to the broadcaster.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, which falls under Foreign Affairs, issued 18 waivers to 13 organizations on “humanitarian grounds” for cooperation between the EU and Russia on “purely civilian matters.” Foreign Affairs issued one waiver so a company could receive another payment from Russia. [RTLNieuws, NLTimes]
The UN just voted 185 to 2 to condemn the illegal, 60-year US blockade of Cuba
An internal govt memo admits the US goal is to "deny money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government"
Moscow will consider any use of the frozen assets without its consent as “brazen theft”, which would seriously affect the stability of the global financial system”
MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. Moscow is in the process of hammering out appropriate measures to retaliate against the US-led West’s freezing of Russian assets, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday.
“As far as a reaction goes, yes, appropriate measures are being considered. I won’t dwell on them now, but I can certainly say that work here is in progress,” Zakharova assured.
The freezing of Russia’s gold and currency reserves by Western states is an “illegitimate measure breaching all norms of international law and business relations” and can be characterized as an “infringement against sovereign property,” the diplomat insisted.
Moscow will consider any use of the frozen assets without its consent as “brazen theft”, which would seriously affect the stability of the global financial system,” she cautioned.
Western sanctions against Russia have been considered a powerful foreign policy tool by the US and the EU to paralyze Moscow back to the ‘stone age.’ Though sanctions against Moscow have entirely backfired, sparking the worst cost-of-living crisis for Europeans in a generation.
In early September, we first noticed a wave of discontent sweeping across Europe as tens of thousands of people took to the city streets to protest soaring electricity bills and the worst inflation in decades. Some countries delivered relief packages to citizens to tame the anger, while other countries did not have the financial capacity to hand out checks.
Tens of thousands of people have marched across metro areas in France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Germany — many of them are fed up with sanctions on Russia that have sparked economic ruins for many households and businesses — but also very surprising, support for NATO’s involvement in Ukraine is waning.
There has been increasing awareness and dissent among Europeans about their countries’ leaders prioritizing NATO’s ambitions in Ukraine over their own citizens. The prioritization has been in the form of sanctions against Moscow, sparking energy hyperinflation and supplying weapons to Ukraine, which has made Moscow displeased with any country that does so. Some Europeans are now demanding NATO negotiate with Moscow to end the war so that economic turmoil can abate.
Here are the latest protests across Europe of tens of thousands of people (if not more) frustrated with high inflation and crying out anti-NATO slogans.
The world is fed up with the US/UK/EU lies, sanctions, and bullshit.
Thousands of Germans in Dresden to end sanctions on Russia, they want to remain neutral. Europeans don't want to starve and freeze for Zelensky and Ursula von der Leyen. EU media censor these demonstrations, they want war. pic.twitter.com/Lio07Yx8NG
Tens of thousands of people in Prague today to end the sanctions on Russia. Europeans don't want to starve and freeze for Zelensky and Ursula von der Leyen. pic.twitter.com/Hr0CigljBh
In Moldova if you are hungry and cold and you dare to protest Maia Sandu, Zelensky and Ursula von der Leyen, you are beaten and arrested. pic.twitter.com/K4KOzeh2FN
Protesters in Chisinau clash with police. Protesters demand the resumption of trade with Russia and the resignation of the pro EU President Maia Sandu. Moldovans don't want to starve and freeze for Zelensky and Ursula von der Leyen. pic.twitter.com/j8CTID8IPn
French en masse warn Ursula von der Leyen: "Ursula shut up!" Europeans don't want to starve and freeze for Zelensky. The EU must be dissolved. pic.twitter.com/YSvuGhiB2Q
Eurasia is about to get a whole lot larger as countries line up to join the Chinese and Russian-led BRICS and SCO, to the detriment of the west
The record shows that the US weaponizes Ukraine to the hilt against Russia. The Empire is a de facto war combatant via an array of “consultants,” advisers, trainers, mercenaries, heavy weapons, munitions, satellite intel, and electronic warfare. And yet imperial functionaries swear they are not part of the war. They are, once again, lying.
Let’s start with what is in fact a tale of Global South trade between two members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). At its heart is the already notorious Shahed-136 drone – or Geranium-2, in its Russian denomination: the AK-47 of postmodern aerial warfare.
The US, in yet another trademark hysteria fit rife with irony, accused Tehran of weaponizing the Russian Armed Forces. For both Tehran and Moscow, the superstar, value-for-money, and terribly efficient drone let loose in the Ukrainian battlefield is a state secret: its deployment prompted a flurry of denials from both sides. Whether these are made in Iran drones, or the design was bought and manufacturing takes place in Russia (the realistic option), is immaterial.
The record shows that the US weaponizes Ukraine to the hilt against Russia. The Empire is a de facto war combatant via an array of “consultants,” advisers, trainers, mercenaries, heavy weapons, munitions, satellite intel, and electronic warfare. And yet imperial functionaries swear they are not part of the war. They are, once again, lying.
Welcome to yet another graphic instance of the “rules-based international order” at work. The Hegemon always decides which rules apply, and when. Anyone opposing it is an enemy of “freedom,” “democracy,” or whatever platitude du jour, and should be – what else – punished by arbitrary sanctions.
In the case of sanctioned-to-oblivion Iran, for decades now, the result has been predictably another round of sanctions. That’s irrelevant. What matters is that, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), no less than 22 nations – and counting – are joining the queue because they also want to get into the Shahed groove.
Even the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gleefully joined the fray, commenting on how the Shahed-136 is no photoshop.
The race towards BRICS+
What the new sanctions package against Iran really “accomplished” is to deliver an additional blow to the increasingly problematic signing of the revived nuclear deal in Vienna. More Iranian oil on the market would actually relieve Washington’s predicament after the recent epic snub by OPEC+.
A categorical imperative though remains. Iranophobia – just like Russophobia – always prevails for the Straussians/neo-con war advocates in charge of US foreign policy and their European vassals.
So here we have yet another hostile escalation in both Iran-US and Iran-EU relations, as the unelected junta in Brussels also sanctioned manufacturer Shahed Aviation Industries and three Iranian generals.
Now compare this with the fate of the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone – which unlike the “flowers in the sky” (Russia’s Geraniums) has performed miserably in the battlefield.
Kiev tried to convince the Turks to use a Motor Sich weapons factory in Ukraine or come up with a new company in Transcarpathia/Lviv to build Bayraktars. Motor Sich’s oligarch President Vyacheslav Boguslayev, aged 84, has been charged with treason because of his links to Russia and may be exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners of war.
In the end, the deal fizzled out because of Ankara’s exceptional enthusiasm in working to establish a new gas hub in Turkey – a personal suggestion from Russian President Vladimir Putin to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
And that bring us to the advancing interconnection between BRICS and the 9-member SCO – to which this Russia-Iran instance of military trade is inextricably linked.
The SCO, led by China and Russia, is a pan-Eurasian institution originally focused on counter-terrorism but now increasingly geared towards geoeconomic – and geopolitical – cooperation. BRICS, led by the triad of Russia, India, and China overlaps with the SCO agenda geoeconomically and geopoliticallly, expanding it to Africa, Latin America, and beyond: that’s the concept of BRICS+, analyzed in detail in a recent Valdai Club report, and fully embraced by the Russia-China strategic partnership.
The report weighs the pros and cons of three scenarios involving possible, upcoming BRICS+ candidates:
First, nations that were invited by Beijing to be part of the 2017 BRICS summit (Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Thailand, Tajikistan).
Second, nations that were part of the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in May this year (Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand).
Third, key G20 economies (Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye).
And then there’s Iran, which has already shown interest in joining BRICS.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has recently confirmed that “several countries” are absolutely dying to join BRICS. Among them, is a crucial West Asia player: Saudi Arabia.
What makes it even more astonishing is that only three years ago, under former US President Donald Trump’s administration, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MbS) – the kingdom’s de facto ruler – was dead set on joining a sort of Arab NATO as a privileged imperial ally.
Diplomatic sources confirm that the day after the US pulled out of Afghanistan, MbS’s envoys started seriously negotiating with both Moscow and Beijing.
Assuming BRICS approves Riyadh’s candidacy in 2023 by the necessary consensus, one can barely imagine its earth-shattering consequences for the petrodollar. At the same time, it is important not to underestimate the capacity of US foreign policy controllers to wreak havoc.
The only reason Washington tolerates Riyadh’s regime is the petrodollar. The Saudis cannot be allowed to pursue an independent, truly sovereign foreign policy. If that happens, the geopolitical realignment will concern not only Saudi Arabia but the entire Persian Gulf.
Yet that’s increasingly likely after OPEC+ de facto chose the BRICS/SCO path led by Russia-China – in what can be interpreted as a “soft” preamble for the end of the petrodollar.
The Riyadh-Tehran-Ankara triad
Iran made known its interest to join BRICS even before Saudi Arabia. According to Persian Gulf diplomatic sources, they are already engaged in a somewhat secret channel via Iraq trying to get their act together. Turkey will soon follow – certainly on BRICS and possibly the SCO, where Ankara currently carries the status of an extremely interested observer.
Now imagine this triad – Riyadh, Tehran, Ankara – closely joined with Russia, India, China (the actual core of the BRICS), and eventually in the SCO, where Iran is as yet the only West Asian nation to be inducted as a full member.
The strategic blow to the Empire will go off the charts. The discussions leading to BRICS+ are focusing on the challenging path towards a commodity-backed global currency capable of bypassing US dollar primacy.
Several interconnected steps point towards increasing symbiosis between BRICS+ and SCO. The latter’s member states have already agreed on a road map for gradually increasing trade in national currencies in mutual settlements.
The State Bank of India – the nation’s top lender – is opening special rupee accounts for Russia-related trade.
Russian natural gas to Turkey will be paid 25 percent in rubles and Turkish lira, complete with a 25 percent discount Erdogan personally asked of Putin.
Russian bank VTB has launched money transfers to China in yuan, bypassing SWIFT, while Sberbank has started lending out money in yuan. Russian energy behemoth Gazprom agreed with China that gas supply payments should shift to rubles and yuan, split evenly.
Iran and Russia are unifying their banking systems for trade in rubles/rial.
Egypt’s Central Bank is moving to establish an index for the pound – through a group of currencies plus gold – to move the national currency away from the US dollar.
And then there’s the TurkStream saga.
That gas hub gift
Ankara for years has been trying to position itself as a privileged East-West gas hub. After the sabotage of the Nord Streams, Putin has handed it on a plate by offering Turkey the possibility to increase Russian gas supplies to the EU via such a hub. The Turkish Energy Ministry stated that Ankara and Moscow have already reached an agreement in principle.
This will mean in practice Turkey controlling the gas flow to Europe not only from Russia but also Azerbaijan and a great deal of West Asia, perhaps even including Iran, as well as Libya in northeast Africa. LNG terminals in Egypt, Greece and Turkiye itself may complete the network.
Russian gas travels via the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines. The total capacity of Russian pipelines is 39 billion cubic meters a year.
TurkStream was initially projected as a four-strand pipeline, with a nominal capacity of 63 million cubic meters a year. As it stands, only two strands – with a total capacity of 31,5 billion cubic meters – have been built.
So an extension in theory is more than feasible – with all the equipment made in Russia. The problem, once again, is laying the pipes. The necessary vessels belong to the Swiss Allseas Group – and Switzerland is part of the sanctions craze. In the Baltic Sea, Russian vessels were used to finish building Nord Stream 2. But for a TurkStream extension, they would need to operate much deeper in the ocean.
TurkStream would not be able to completely replace Nord Stream; it carries much smaller volumes. The upside for Russia is not being canceled from the EU market. Evidently, Gazprom would only tackle the substantial investment on an extension if there are ironclad guarantees about its security. And there’s the additional drawback that the extension would also carry gas from Russia’s competitors.
Whatever happens, the fact remains that the US-UK combo still exerts a lot of influence in Turkey – and BP, Exxon Mobil, and Shell, for instance, are actors in virtually every oil extraction project across West Asia. So they would certainly interfere on the way the Turkish gas hub functions, as well as determining the gas price. Moscow has to weigh all these variables before committing to such a project.
NATO, of course, will be livid. But never underestimate hedging bet specialist Sultan Erdogan. His love story with both the BRICS and the SCO is just beginning.
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Pepe Escobar,born in Brazil, is a correspondent and editor-at-large at Asia Times and columnist for Consortium News and Strategic Culture. Since the mid-1980s he’s lived and worked as a foreign correspondent in London, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, Singapore, Bangkok. He has extensively covered Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia to China, Iran, Iraq and the wider Middle East. Pepe is the author of Globalistan – How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War; Red Zone Blues: A Snapshot of Baghdad during the Surge. He was contributing editor to The Empire and The Crescent and Tutto in Vendita in Italy. His last two books are Empire of Chaos and 2030. Pepe is also associated with the Paris-based European Academy of Geopolitics. When not on the road he lives between Paris and Bangkok.
He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
Featured image is from The Cradle
The original source of this article is Global Research
The US Govt killed 20+ million people in 37 victim nations since WW2, funded gain of function research (Covid-19) causing millions of deaths, spies on everyone, started a proxy war with Russia risking nuclear war, created global inflation with endless reserve currency printing, commits global terrorism with drone strikes and pipeline sabotage, sends Europe into an economic slaughterhouse and floods it with refugees from US war zones, spends billions to manipulate the media with fake news and propaganda, persecutes truth-tellers and whistleblowers, ran illegal torture prisons and holds prisoners indefinitely without trial, bullies nations and UN delegates to obey a “rules-based order” made of US rules that it ignores at will. The US failed the world with arrogant and criminal foreign policies. Time for a multipolar order.
“Our citizens should know the urgent facts…but they don’t because our media serves imperial, not popular interests. They lie, deceive, connive and suppress what everyone needs to know, substituting managed news misinformation and rubbish for hard truths…”—Oliver Stone
Tales from the Conspiratum 
