New Evidence of Mass Execution of Gazans by Israeli Forces
IMEMC | JANUARY 20, 2024
A new report has revealed details about one of the numerous incidents of Israeli soldiers carrying out a mass execution of Palestinian civilians – this one in the ‘Anan’ residential building in Gaza City on December 19, 2023.
Photos and eyewitness testimonies documented this incident, in which 15 men were forced to lay down on their stomachs, then shot and killed. A three-year old girl, Nada, was killed in the Israeli shelling that followed the executions.
According to eyewitness testimony from a woman, Heba, her daughter Rula and son, Uday, the Israeli soldiers separated the men from the women before shooting them, and their father, Ayman (44 years old), was among the victims.
Heba told Al Jazeera reporters, “They separated us from the men first, then they pushed the women and kids from one room to another, brutally beating us as they moved us.”
She continues in her narration, “There were about 15 men in the building. They stripped them of their clothes and tortured them in front of us. They broke my husband’s jaw with rifle butts, and broke his arms severely, while he was groaning in severe pain. Then they shot all the men mercilessly while they were lying on their stomachs.”
Shortly after the executions, the Palestinian woman added, Israeli tank shells and Israeli quadcopter fire began raining down on women and children.
The Israeli tank shells hit Heba’s daughter, Nada (3 years old), who died in her older sister’s arms.
The older sister, Rula, said that she tried to protect her little sister, but she was not able to, since her injuries were too severe. She said that other women and children were also injured.
Her younger brother, Uday, confirms her account of the incident, and tells how the men were executed in front of him, including his father.
Their mother, Heba Salem, who lost her husband in the summary execution, told Al Jazeera “This was a day we will never, ever forget.”
Exclusive photos and videos obtained by Al Jazeera show the residential building where the mass execution took place, and document the first pictures of Nada’s body shortly after her death.
Other scenes also show the bodies of men lying face down with deep wounds on their bodies and traces of bullets in various parts of them, indicating execution-style killings.
Other internal shots of the building show the effects of continuous tank shelling on it. The camera also monitors the scene of the crime committed by the Israeli occupation soldiers, showing bloodstains on the walls and floors, and many empty bullet casings.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said regarding the incident that “field killings and executions are one of the types of horrific violations practiced by Israeli forces in areas of incursion, which include looting, intimidation, arbitrary arrest, torture, and widespread destruction without any necessity or proportionality.”
The Observatory called for an urgent international investigation to be opened into the horrific crimes committed by the Israeli army in areas of its incursion into the Gaza Strip, including field executions, torture, threats to rape women, stripping of men, women and children, beatings and torture of Palestinian civilians, according to testimonies collected from released civilians. … Video report (disturbing)
UK to Spend $510Mln on Sea Viper Missile System Upgrade Following Houthi Attacks in Red Sea
Sputnik – 21.01.2024
The United Kingdom plans to spend $514 million to modernize the Sea Viper anti-aircraft missile system that UK forces previously used to shoot down drones in the Red Sea amid a deteriorating situation in the Middle East region, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said.
On January 10, Shapps said that a UK destroyer operating in the Red Sea alongside US warships managed to repel “the largest attack” staged in the region by Yemen’s Houthi.
The contract was reportedly signed with the UK division of the MBDA missile maker, the report said. The Sea Viper missile system will receive new missiles and software to counter ballistic missile threats.
The Houthis vowed in November 2023 to attack any ships associated with Israel until it halts the invasion of Gaza.
In January, the US and UK began airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen to degrade their fighting capabilities. Russia condemned both the Houthi actions in the Red Sea and the Western aggression against Yemen, dubbing the latter “another example of the Anglo-Saxons’ distortion of UN Security Council resolutions and complete disregard for international law”.
Why Are Almost 40 Percent of US Nuclear Attack Subs Out of Service?
By Oleg Burunov – Sputnik – 21.01.2024
Eighteen fast attack submarines are being temporarily decommissioned for repairs, a move that is fraught with far-reaching consequences for the US, experts told Sputnik.
On January 21, 1954, the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, was launched at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut.
SIxty-nine years later, a congressional report has revealed that something has gone wrong with the US Navy’s nuclear-powered fast submarine fleet. Of the 49 multi-purpose attack submarines (SSNs) in the navy, 18 are currently out of service for repairs, per the report.
So how did this happen? Sputnik explores.
What’s in the Report?
As of 2023, at least 37% of the entire fleet of SSNs have been temporarily decommissioned for repairs, according to previously undisclosed navy data published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
The report cited 18 SSNs that are either in depot maintenance or awaiting maintenance, known as idle. The number is significantly higher than the navy’s target of having a maximum of 20% of all fast attack subs undergoing maintenance at any one time and zero submarines sitting idle and waiting to begin repairs.
The maintenance backlog has “substantially reduced” the number of the SSNs operational at any given moment, reducing the “force’s capacity for meeting day-to-day mission demands and potentially putting increased operational pressure” on fast attack submarines that are in service, CRS naval analyst Ronald O’Rourke said in the report.
The Naval Sea Systems Command responded by blaming “planning, material availability, and shipyard execution.” The service has launched several initiatives to address these “primary maintenance delay” factors, the command added.
Which Subs Need Maintenance?
The inactive SSNs are not the nuclear ballistic missile Ohio-class submarines, “but fast attack boats, including the Seawolf-class, that can fire torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missile at vessels and land targets, and perform stealth missions such as surveillance,” Bloomberg earlier reported.
As for SSNs, it is the US Navy’s hull classification symbol for a nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarine.
‘Severe Blow to US Admirals’ Pride’
Taking almost 40 percent of US fast attack submarines out of service is “quite a big blow to the pride of American admirals and sailors,” Vasily Dandykin, a Russian veteran military analyst and retired Russian Navy captain 1st rank, told Sputnik.
The reasons why the 18 SSNs have been temporarily decommissioned should be discussed in light of the US’ self-declared victory in the Cold War, Dandykin insisted.
“After announcing this win, Americans turned a blind eye to maintenance-related issues,” the analyst said, adding that “the delayed repairs shorten the lifespan of a submarine.”
When asked about the condition of the SSNs in service, the analyst pointed to a spate of problems with the maintenance and qualifications of crews, which he said resulted earlier in various navigational incidents.
Connecticut Sub Crash
One of the major incidents happened to the USS Connecticut in the South China Sea in October 2021.
A subsequent navy investigation into the crash of the Seawolf-class submarine into an underwater ridge in the sea found that the incident was “preventable” and that it followed navigation planning and risk management mistakes, as well as other errors.
The failures “fell far below US Navy standards,” and the incident left the fast attack submarine unable to operate “for an extended period of time” because of the damage, the probe pointed out. The Connecticut reportedly won’t be back in service until early 2026 at the soonest.
Another incident dates back to January 9, 2005, when one crewman died after the US nuclear submarine San Francisco ran aground off Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Twenty-three crewmen were injured in the incident.
In February 2001, the USS Greeneville’s rudder tore through the Japanese fishing boat Ehime Maru’s lower deck during a fast surface maneuver, sinking the vessel within minutes. Nine people aboard died, including students and instructors in commercial fishing.
Repercussions
Operational pressure on the SSNs that are still in service is almost sure to increase, which means that their life span may be reduced and the construction of more such submarines will be needed, Dandykin meanwhile went on to say. This will, in turn, lead to spending hefty sums from the US’ defense budget, he added.
He was echoed by Earl Rasmussen, a retired lieutenant colonel with over 20 years in the US Army, who told Sputnik that the fact that 18 SSNs are now out of service means that the US Navy will have to limit its operations in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and the South China Sea.
“Almost 40% of the SSNs being decommissioned will impact our capability to deploy our reach and to deploy the defensive capability,” Rasmussen pointed out. The US Navy is “below its optimal or even projected readiness capability,” the US expert concluded.
‘Barbaric attack using Western arms’ – Moscow decries Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk
A market destroyed in the Ukrainian shelling of the Russian city of Donetsk. © Sputnik / Viktoria Velenskaya
RT | January 21, 2024
The shelling of the Russian city of Donetsk, which has claimed the lives of at least 25 civilians and wounded 20 others, is “a barbaric terrorist act” carried out by Ukraine with the support of the West, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said.
It has been established that Sunday’s bombardment of a busy market in the capital of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic was inflicted with weapons supplied to Kiev by the US and its allies, the ministry said in a statement.
“This again confirms [the West’s] direct involvement in the conflict and makes it complicit in the criminal acts of the Zelensky regime, which has once again displayed its inhumanity and hatred towards innocent people,” it said.
“The West’s unrestrained desire to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia through the hands of their Ukrainian puppets, whom it is eager to support mindlessly and without limit, is pushing the Kiev regime to increasingly reckless steps, including acts of terrorism, massive violations of international humanitarian law, and war crimes,” the ministry added.
Russia is calling on governments and international bodies to condemn this “treacherous attack on the civilian population,” it stated. Failure to do so would be a sign of “silent approval of the murders of civilians” that would only encourage Kiev “to commit even more bloody atrocities,” it also pointed out.
All those involved in the shelling of Donetsk and in other “terrorist attacks” on Russia will face “an inevitable punishment,” the ministry warned.
The desperate strikes clearly demonstrate the lack of political will on the part of the Ukrainian authorities to search for peace and a settlement of the conflict with Russia through diplomatic means, the statement continued.
“The need to achieve all of the goals and objectives of Russia’s military operation is obvious. Security threats and acts of terrorism shouldn’t be committed from the territory of Ukraine,” it said.
Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, wrote on Telegram that the attack on Donetsk, which he described as “another heinous crime” by Ukraine, will “undoubtedly” become one of the main topics of discussion during the UN Security Council meeting on Monday. Russia had requested the UNSC meeting several days ago, to discuss deliveries of Western weapons to the Kiev government.
Russia responds to IAEA nuclear plant ‘mines’ claim
RT | January 21, 2024
Senior Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov has argued that there is nothing “sensational” or new about the presence of landmines in the buffer zone on the periphery of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which was highlighted by the International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this week.
The Zaporozhye NPP, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, was under Russian control since the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine two years ago, and has hosted the UN nuclear watchdog’s monitoring mission since September 2022. On Friday, the IAEA noted in a statement that “mines along the perimeter of the ZNPP… are now back in place.”
“The mines are located between the outer and inner fences of the station. This is a closed ‘buffer’ zone. Mines pose a threat only to rats, crows and potential saboteurs,” Ulyanov, who represents Moscow at several Vienna-based international organizations, wrote in a Telegram post on Saturday.
The UN watchdog repeatedly declined to assess who was responsible for sporadic drone attacks, shellings and other security incidents involving the facility. Ukraine and its backers kept accusing Russia of undermining nuclear safety, even as Kiev’s top military spy Kirill Budanov admitted to at least three botched Ukrainian assaults to retake ZNPP.
None of Kiev’s commando operations managed to establish a Ukrainian foothold in the nuclear city of Energodar, located in the Zaporozhye region, which joined Russia following a referendum in 2022. However, Ukrainian officials claimed the expeditions gave them valuable experience and contributed to a larger goal of preventing Russia from using the plant to provide electricity to the region. The Zaporozhye station is in a state of partial shutdown, with a single reactor providing power for its own consumption.
Ulyanov noted that according to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) it was up to the national authorities to determine and introduce “other appropriate measures necessary for the physical protection of nuclear facilities.” Even the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi himself admitted last June that “while the presence of any explosive device is not in line with safety standards, the main safety functions of the facility would not be significantly affected.”
The IAEA was fully aware about the mines and its removal last November, Ulyanov said, arguing that if now they have “reappeared” it only means that the Russian authorities deemed it a “necessary” security measure.
Not Ready for the Big Leagues
Patriot Missile Launcher
By William Schryver | imetatronink | January 20, 2024
According to the best information I can gather on short notice, I have been able to ascertain that current US production of the PAC-3 missiles typically used in the Patriot air defense systems is about ~500 per annum, at a cost of 4 – 6 million dollars each.
There are aspirations of increasing that rate to 650 per annum within the next year.
As for current US stocks of PAC-3 missiles, for the sake of argument, let’s allow for the possibility there are 5000 units (there aren’t near that many).
The consensus seems to be that the US can currently field ~500 operational launchers.
A single Patriot battalion typically consists of 6 batteries with 6 launchers each. Each of the 36 launchers can hold up to 16 PAC-3 missiles. So up to 576 PAC-3 missiles in a single-load of a Patriot battalion.
To prosecute war against Russia, China, or Iran, protection of the major forward bases of the United States Air Force would be the prerequisite upon which success would be predicated.
To adequately cover even one of these large airbases against missile strikes of just 100-200 units of high-performance drones, cruise-missiles, ballistic missiles, and hypersonic missiles — plus numerous decoys — would easily require an entire Patriot battalion.
Even with a 100% interception rate, a pair of 100-missile strike packages over the course of a day would still compel a PAC-3 burn rate of at least 300 missiles, given that, as a general rule, two PAC-3 missiles are launched at every incoming target.
But of course, the interception rate would be considerably lower than 100%. And given that the Patriot command, radar, and launcher units — along with missile storage sites — would be primary targets, there would be a substantial attrition rate of the highly immobile Patriot systems themselves. (The Russians have already clearly demonstrated the vulnerability of the Patriot systems to counter-battery missile strikes. At least three Patriot batteries have been destroyed in Ukraine.)
In an attempt to cover just three large airbases against a series of salvos of 100+ missiles of various types, the entire US stockpile of PAC-3 interceptors could very conceivably be exhausted in little more than a week or two.
Current annual production could easily be consumed in little more than a day or two.
This is the reality of 21st century high-intensity conflict against an adversary with the capability to shoot back — a kind of war for which the United States military is woefully ill-prepared, both materially and doctrinally.
Israelis opposing war receiving ‘death threats,’ says Knesset member Ofer Cassif
Lawmaker from the Arab-majority Hadas-Ta’al party and a Knesset member, Ofer Cassif in his office in West Jerusalem on January 12, 2024. [Arif Kayacan – Anadolu Agency]
MEMO | January 20, 2024
Firebrand Israeli lawmaker Ofer Cassif, who has been criticized for backing South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, says “there is an assault going on” against those who are opposing Tel Aviv’s military campaign in Gaza.
The vocal politician from the left-wing, Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party, was suspended from the Knesset for 45 days for criticizing the war that began after the Oct. 7 cross-border offensive by Hamas.
The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s more than 100-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip has crossed 24,000 people, most of them women and children.
The initial Hamas attack is said to have killed 1,200 people, and around 240 hostages were taken, some of whom were released during a week-long truce in November.
In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Anadolu, Cassif said rejection of Israel’s military response has led to “an assault on freedom of speech,” including death threats.
“People are arrested for tweets and posts, not in support of Hamas, of course, but in supporting ending the war, or before even cease-fire. Students are suspended from the universities and colleges. People are fired from their workplaces. The police are brutally violent towards the demonstrators,” Cassif said.
“There is an assault on freedom of speech of those who raise voice against the war … there are death threats. Because it’s not only violence from above, from the government from the prime minister, legitimization of the violence against the protesters, of course by [Itamar] Ben Gvir (national security minister) and the police, which unfortunately mostly became a kind of a private militia of Ben Gvir. But it also penetrates the society as a whole. And you can see that within the society, a growing a part of the public supports, literally and explicitly, violence against those who oppose the war, including death threats.”
‘Region will explode’ if Netanyahu doesn’t go
Cassif said everyone will pay a “huge price” and the entire “region is going to explode” if Israel does not get rid of the “terrible government” headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to him, the only way to stop the catastrophe from happening is by stopping the war, exchange of prisoners and release of all hostages, withdrawal of Israeli military from Gaza, and the beginning of serious peace process.
“This government should go home, if not to prison” as it has caused a lot of damage to both Israelis and Palestinians, he said. “The only way to live, to have a future, to prosper, is this. No war.”
Israeli contradictions
He also highlighted the contradiction in statements of Israeli authorities over the assault on the blockaded enclave, who on one hand say they never intentionally target civilians, but at the same argue there are no innocents in Gaza.
“A minister said ‘… dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza is an option.’ Another member of the Knesset, although a backbencher, said Gaza be eliminated. He used this term eliminated. Netanyahu himself, the prime minister, said Gaza is like Amalek. Amalek is like a codename, a biblical codename, of a group that deserves extermination.
“The president of Israel, who is supposed to be objective and beyond politics, signed a bomb, before it was sent to Gaza. And he also said that there aren’t any innocent people in Gaza. This is only the tip of the iceberg. So how can you say that you do not target civilians, innocent civilians, and at the same time, you say they aren’t innocent civilians. This contradiction shows exactly how this government behaves, what is the policy of this government, and I emphasize this is against Israel too.”
‘What’s going on in Gaza must be investigated by impartial body’
Cassif said he did not want to claim that the Israeli government is pursuing a genocidal policy in the Gaza Strip, arguing: “The legal definition of genocide is one that I leave experts to analyze.”
But, he added, there are two main reasons for him supporting the genocide case in The Hague: conducting an impartial investigation on Gaza bombing, and to save lives.
“What’s going on in Gaza must be investigated by an impartial body. I do not trust the government of Israel or any branch or proxy of the Israeli government to investigate itself … It’s like asking a thief to investigate oneself whether he or she stole something. It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
“This terrible assault on Gaza is costing the lives of thousands of thousands of Palestinians, and hundreds of Israeli soldiers and Israeli hostages. They (Israeli hostages) are held in terrible conditions by Hamas in Gaza. I want the lives to be saved.”
But that cannot be done just through protests in Israel, he added.
“We cannot demonstrate, we cannot raise our voice. We are limited. There is a dictatorship now here, practically. What’s left is to look for a refuge in international organizations. So that’s the main reason why I think we should have supported the appeal of South Africa.”
Interests of Palestinians and Israelis ‘not contradictory’
“The interests of Israel, and the interests of Palestinians, as far as I see, are not contradictory. I think it’s in common interest of both the Palestinians and the Israelis to seek peace and to end the war,” Cassif said.
The Israeli government, he said, “totally neglected” the hostages. “The government doesn’t do anything to save the hostages. And everybody knows the only way to save the hostages, who are dying there, is by ending the war.”
The parliamentarian claimed 47% of the Israeli public, according to polls, supports ending the war in order to rescue the captives. “I agree with this specific point. I do hope the ICJ will ensure a decision that will end the war.”
Israeli press ‘betrayed’ profession
Asked why the Israeli army does not allow journalists to enter Gaza, Cassif said: “Perhaps they have something to hide … Normally when you don’t allow someone to get into somewhere. It’s because you don’t want someone to see something.”
About press freedom in Israel, Cassif said there have been situations where authorities “mobilize,” or force the media to “publish something and not to publish something else,” but now a vast majority of journalists are “voluntarily” supporting the policy of the government.
“You can say, there are not many limitations on freedom of the press, but the press itself, most of them, choose not to act freely … this is disgraceful, it’s unprofessional, and it will be remembered once this terrible era is ended and finished. It will be remembered that they betrayed the profession.”
‘They want to silence us’
Commenting over a lawmaker’s efforts to get him expelled from the 120-member Knesset, Cassif said “they want to silence” and “don’t want our voice to be heard … the voices against the war. This is the part of the persecution and silencing of the people who support peace and go against violence and war.”
The opposition lawmaker said he believed the efforts against him will succeed, but he will approach the Supreme Court to get relief as “there is no legal basis.”
“According to the law, a member of Knesset can be expelled only if one supports racism, terrorism, or armed struggle against Israel. Neither of those is relevant to me. I’m against racism, I’m against terrorism. I am against armed struggle against Israel.”
He said the claim is based on political reasons. “The world should understand that the assault on Gaza, and the silencing of peace lovers and the democrats in Israel are two sides of the same coin. They continue with a coup they began before Oct. 7 by other means.”
Israeli forces desecrated at least 16 cemeteries in Gaza during their aggression: Report
Press TV – January 20, 2024
A new investigation has found that Israeli forces have desecrated at least 16 cemeteries in the Gaza Strip during the regime’s ongoing war against the besieged terrirtoy.
CNN, based on satellite imagery and social media footage, published an investigation on Saturday, saying Israeli troops have left tombstones torn down and even bodies unearthed as they destroyed the cemeteries.
It went on to say that the regime forces have destroyed an entire cemetery in the southern city of Khan Yunis, removing bodies buried there.
The Israeli military has defined the move as part of a search for the remains of captives taken by the Palestinian resistance during the operation al-Aqsa Strom in early October, the US-based broadcaster added.
Legal experts told CNN that Israel’s acts could amount to war crimes, stressing that the intentional destruction of religious sites, such as cemeteries, violates international law.
Confirming the desecration of the cemeteries by the regime forces, an Israeli military spokesman also told the broadcaster that the military sometimes has “no other choice” but to target cemeteries it claimed Hamas uses for military purposes.
The report further noted that in other cases, however, Israeli forces appear to have used cemeteries as military outposts.
Satellite imagery and videos showed that Israeli bulldozers turned multiple cemeteries into staging grounds, leveling large swaths and erecting fortifications.
Satellite imagery also showed a fixed presence of Israeli military forces in the central part of the Shajaiya cemetery since December 10.
At the Bani Suheila cemetery, east of Khan Yunis, satellite imagery revealed the graveyard’s deliberate and progressive bulldozing and the creation of defensive fortifications over the course of at least two weeks in late December and early January.
Destroyed tombstones and heavy tread marks also pointed to heavily armored vehicles or tanks driving over graves in Al Falouja cemetery in the Jabalia neighborhood as well as the Tuffah cemetery, east of Gaza City.
Israeli forces also severely damaged the cemetery in Khan Yunis, as they moved in on the area surrounding the Nasser Hospital and a Jordanian field hospital, according to satellite imagery and videos reviewed by CNN.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed more than 24,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
Israel says 253 people were taken captive during the Hamas surprise operation and believes 132 hostages are still in Gaza – 105 of them alive and 27 dead.
France’s and Germany’s Lack of Independence Forces Them to Continue Bankrolling Ukraine
Sputnik – 20.01.2024
While Western powers’ lavish financial and military contributions to Kiev’s war effort have so far failed to produce any meaningful results, many leaders seem eager to keep bankrolling Ukraine until it runs out of manpower.
The EU may be looking to amend the mechanism used to provide military support to Ukraine by creating a new fund in addition to the European Peace Facility (EPF) that has so far been used by Europe to funnel arms to Kiev.
According to Bloomberg, the new fund may have an annual budget of €5 billion but EU member states are yet to come to a consensus on how this initiative is going to work out.
Commenting on this development, Gabor Stier, senior foreign policy analyst at the conservative Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, told Sputnik that whatever shape and form this new fund is going to take, it will ultimately harm European states.
According to him, the EU leadership is essentially trying to come up with a plan to bankroll Ukraine regardless of what Hungary might think about it, with Stier referring to attempts by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to come up with a plan to provide aid to Ukraine without harming the EU budget in the process.
Orban’s proposals – that involve dividing the aid to Kiev into smaller tranches and keeping track of exactly how this money would be spent – are very much disliked by Brussels, Stier said. The EU leadership is reportedly concerned that the Hungarian prime minister might veto options he does not like (as decisions to allocate funds under the auspices of EPF require unanimous agreement).
“There will be a new fund but with what money?” Stier inquired. “The first option would be a new fund where money from the EU budget would go into. This does not solve the issue with the Hungarian veto. The second option would involve creating a fund outside the EU budget. The problem with this option is that it would take too long as each (EU) country and its respective parliament would have to vote on it separately. There will be arguments and it will all drag on. While this would go on, Ukraine would already suffer a defeat.”
Thus, Stier suggests, the new fund will likely be filled with money from the EU budget.
“It is already clear that this fund will be designed through discussions within the EU, which is clear in light of the new strikes in Germany or in France. It seems that everyone is either not too keen to trust Ukrainian politicians or have reconsidered their approach to the allocation of funds,” he mused.
Stier also noted that some European states use Orban as “cover” by making it look like he is the lone obstacle on the way to agreeing on the Ukrainian aid issue.
“There are internal frictions, this much is clear. Earlier in Budapest, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico voiced his agreement with Orban on everything related to Ukraine,”
he said. “Austria is also on the same wavelength as Orban. But when it comes to voting in Brussels, no one besides Orban says that they are against (the funding of Ukraine).”
According to Stier, even France and Germany essentially use Orban to “force Ukraine, who is brazenly spending all resources of the Western powers, to slow down somewhat.”
Only Poland, the Baltic states and the Scandinavian states wholeheartedly support Ukraine, he argued, along with the “Benelux and the Netherlands,” though the latter two have some “internal problems.”
He did note, however, that even though Germany, France and Italy may not be thrilled by the prospects of continuously financing Ukraine, they simply cannot stop doing so.
“This is how their dependence on the United States manifests,” Stier explained. “Europe is going to bear the financial burden in the future, that much is obvious.”
The analyst also claimed that this year is going to be “critical” for Ukraine in terms of financing, and that “more justifications are required to amass so much money everywhere” to support Kiev.
Featured Video
Liberty Cannot Exist Inside a Panopticon
or go to
Aletho News Archives – Video-Images
From the Archives
Left-leaning despisers of 9/11 Truth movement: Do you really believe in miracles?
David Ray Griffin | Global Research | 06 Jul 2010
An Open Letter to Terry Allen, Noam Chomsky, Alexander Cockburn, David Corn, Chris Hayes, George Monbiot, Matthew Rothschild, and Matt Taibbi.
[1]According to several left-leaning critics of the 9/11 Truth Movement, some of its central claims, especially about the destruction of the World Trade Center, show its members to be scientifically challenged. In the opinion of some of these critics, moreover, claims made by members of this movement are sometimes unscientific in the strongest possible sense, implying an acceptance of magic and miracles. … Full article
Blog Roll
Aletho News- White House envoy declares kinetic action against Yemen ‘fruitless’
- Ukraine deployed thousands of microdrones in Iraqi Kurdistan: Tasnim
- Iran calls for emergency UNSC meeting over Trump’s ‘brazen’ bomb talk, Israeli threats
- Iranian sources reveal details of Russia-China Hormuz proposal
- Plan for more US-Israel integration puts our military tech at risk
- Another Round Against Iran Will Break What Is Left of the Gulf
- SVR Report on Ukraine’s Mexican Drug Gang Links Could Pressure Zelensky, Won’t Change US Policy
- British Government Employees Were Fact-Checking the News at the BBC. Nobody Told You.
- Albania on fire: who’s behind the riots?
- Egypt’s Civil Democratic Movement rejects involvement in regional war
- If Americans Knew
- Mysterious bot accounts reportedly spread fake ‘man on the street’ videos for Michigan Senate candidate
- Israeli Defense Minister Katz Says Over 60 Lebanon Villages Have Been Destroyed
- Why Is Israel Running TV Ads in Iowa Ahead of the Midterms?
- Hind Rajab’s Alleged Killer Is in the United States. HRF Demands His Arrest.
- US Officials Face Fresh Pressure After Another American ‘Brutalized’ by Israeli Settlers in West Bank
- Israel-Backed Palestinian Militias Terrorize Displaced Families in Gaza
- FBI subpoenas pro-Palestine activists over Israeli weapons plant disruption
- Fourth winter arrives in wartorn Gaza, too early – Daily Update
- More on how Bari Weiss is using CBS on behalf of Israel
- What the UK Is Doing to Pro-Palestine Novelist Sally Rooney Is an Act of Orwellian Villainy
- No Tricks Zone
- Predictions Made By Renowned Climate Proifessor Over Past Decades Have Been Proven To Be Poor
- New Study Suggests Large Regions Of The Pacific Ocean Have Been Cooling For The Last 80 Years
- Germany’s Green Energy Debacle: High Energy Costs Force Kahla Porzellan to Close After 182 Years!
- New Study: 50 Years Of The Most Aggressive ‘Net Zero’ Policies Can Only Affect The Global Climate By 0.03°C
- US September “Heat” Was No Record…Many Records Set Decades Ago
- Latest European Green Energy Debacle; Portugal’s Largest Flagship Solar Park Insolvent!
- Green Energy Debacle: German Expert Professor Fritz Vahrenholt Warns Of Severe Economic And Social Consequences
- Two More Paleo Reconstructions Affirm Meters-Higher Sea Levels Across Ireland, Brazil 7000-6000 Years Ago
- New Study: Earth And Venus Surface Warmth Largely Explained By Convection And Lapse Rate, Not CO2 Or Radiation
- 2025 Nature Paper Claiming Worsening Global Drought Gets RETRACTED …Heavily Flawed
