China came out in support of U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to strike a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, at a G20 meeting in South Africa on Thursday, while U.S. allies rallied around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has upended U.S. policy on the war, scrapping a campaign to isolate Moscow with a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin and talks between senior U.S. and Russian officials that have sidelined Ukraine.

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**The EU is seeking improved screening of greenfield projects and a bigger say on which investments member states approve on national security grounds, as it expands its efforts to protect critical assets and know-how amid rising geopolitical tensions involving countries such as China. **

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“What comes out throughout [the reforms] is the Commission trying to give itself a … greater role in foreign investment screening,” says Christoph Barth, a partner in law firm Linklaters’s antitrust and foreign investment practice.

Among the proposed changes to the inbound screening regulation, which must be approved by European parliament and council to take effect, is obliging member states to give ‘utmost consideration’ to the Commission’s input when assessing a transaction’s national security risks and an explanation when their views diverge. “The question is whether the Commission now makes its opinions more directive in the sense of achieving a particular outcome for a particular case,” says Mr Barth, adding that this could “result in a potential clash between the Commission and member states”.

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“The push toward a FDI screening of greenfield investments is likely to build another hurdle for investments in the energy, battery or e-car sector … sectors where foreign competitors of EU companies have been gaining significant market share,” said Udo Herbert Olgemöller, partner at Allen & Overy. “Such screenings are time-consuming and create a certain level of legal uncertainty as their outcome may be affected by political considerations that are hardly predictable.”

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The Commission has also progressed plans to screen outbound investments into critical technologies in countries such as China, where it fears sensitive technologies and know-how could be used to undermine national security. It is seeking industry feedback via a three-month public consultation, which will be followed by a year of monitoring outbound deals and a final decision on an outbound mechanism by August 2025.

One of the early questions is whether the challenging task of obtaining the buy-in of each member state, which is necessary to introduce an outbound mechanism, can be achieved. On January 17, the European parliament passed a resolution calling for the expansion of legislative initiatives to tackle risks emanating from Chinese investment in the bloc. But neither industrial policies nor views on China are fully aligned across EU countries.

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Fourteen people have been arrested in Spain and Portugal in a series of raids targeting a €1tn (£828bn) criminal, money-laundering network working with gangs across Europe.

Most of the suspects, detained last month, are Russian nationals, according to EU law enforcement agency Europol.

The ring mainly laundered money originating from illegal drug trafficking and charged 2-3% commission per transfer as part of "a genuine multinational money laundering company", according to Spain's National Police.

Nine properties were raided in cities across Spain, as well as the Portuguese capital Lisbon, and more than €1m in cash and cryptocurrencies were seized.

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British Foreign Minister David Lammy said on Thursday he saw no appetite from Russia for peace with Ukraine after listening to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov talk at a closed-door meeting of the top G20 diplomats in South Africa.

Lammy was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers from the world's biggest economies, which has been overshadowed by dispute between members over the Ukraine war, among other disagreements.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25864762

Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine’s largest city, is resolutely entering its fourth year of war, with residents stoically coping with emergency laws, night curfews and incessant air alerts. Underground schools have been built, and the city still offers a few leisure activities to ward off fear and help overcome personal tragedies.

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The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), its member organisation Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), and Global Witness lodged a complaint with the European Commission’s trade department, stating that Hanoi’s ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders working on sustainable development violates the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

In a complaint filed [...] to the European Commission’s Single Entry Point, FIDH, VCHR, CSW, and Global Witness outlined how the Vietnamese government’s systematic suppression of individuals and organisations working on sustainable development violates EVFTA, which came into force in August 2020.

"The government of Vietnam is imprisoning individuals who express legitimate concerns on environmental protection, labour and land rights violations, and the socio-economic impacts of infrastructure and investment projects. This crackdown is unacceptable and also undermines effective monitoring of the EVFTA’s sustainable development clauses", said Gaëlle Dusepulchre, Deputy Director of FIDH’s Business, Human Rights & Environment Desk.

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A feature of modern EU trade agreements, trade and sustainable development chapters require partners to ratify and implement fundamental international labour rights and environmental conventions, and to commit to upholding civil society participation, freedom of association, and access to information.

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"The EU needs to be firmer in insisting that states uphold the commitments and obligations they have made in their trade arrangements with the EU – in the case of Vietnam, this includes those listed in the EVFTA’s Trade and Sustainable Development chapter. Pursuing adherence to these terms is in line with both the interests and the values of the EU, including human rights – at a time when these are gravely under threat", said Jonathan de Leyser, CSW’s Senior EU Advocate.

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The Canada-EU Leaders’ meeting took place on February 12, 2025. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa met to discuss ways for EU and Canada to work more closely to promote global economic security and stability amidst rising geoeconomic tensions.

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With President Donald Trump confirming a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports—alongside a separate, still-pending tariff specifically targeting Canada and Mexico, which would be stacked to a whopping 50%—Trudeau arrived in Europe seeking to reinforce economic alliances and push back against US protectionism.

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Trudeau emphasized that partnerships like NATO and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) thrive on trust. “You can always trust Canada,” he told reporters, highlighting how CETA has increased Canada-EU trade by 66% since 2017.

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Yet, as US protectionism escalates, Canada and Europe must look beyond existing agreements. Expanding cooperation in critical sectors like minerals, clean energy, and technology could help both sides reduce dependence on the US market and build a more resilient economic framework. ...

Though the EU and Canada have the CETA trade agreement—which they have touted as important for trade and investment—and a critical minerals partnership, in a hyper-competitive global economy they need to further deepen and strengthen economic ties.

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Canada utilized the meeting to further discussions on enhancing their security and defense cooperation. Since 2021, Canada’s participation in the EU’s Military Mobility project, alongside the United States and Norway, has boosted EU-NATO cooperation and has become yet more relevant since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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Weidel admitted meeting Wu but said she met him once in months. As for their discussions, Weidel said that she sought an understanding of China’s position on Germany.

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The damning findings come days ahead of German parliamentary elections in which AfD has rattled mainstream politicians. As per latest opinion polls, the party stands second in popularity and way ahead of incumbent SPD. While AfD’s links to the neo-Nazi movement have led to widespread concerns and contributed to its ostracisation by German parties, the links to China have led to fresh concerns whether a top contender for German chancellorship has been groomed by China.

The findings are all the more damning as European far-right has long been supported by Russia and China is Russia’s principal ally. The AfD is so extremist that even French far-right party, National Rally (RN), broke ties with it in the European Union (EU) elections last year. Moreover, AfD has previously been charged with spying for China and such allegations contributed to the RN-AfD split.

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AfD leader Alice Weidel’s long relationship to China

In light of revealation of Weidel’s secret meetings with the top Chinese diplomat in Germany, fresh attention has come on her long relationship with China that goes back to decades. It is bound to be explored whether she has been groomed by China to do the Communist Party’s bidding in Germany and Europe.

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As an economist, Weidel worked for the state-owned Bank of China and lived in China for six years. It has been reported that she was on scholarship during those years. Her doctoral thesis was also written on Chinese pension system.

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In China, Weidel worked at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

While Weidel today leads a party linked to neo-Nazis, her grandparents were members of the Nazi Party. Her grandfather, Hans Weidel, was a prominent Nazi judge who persecuted political opponents of the Nazi regime. He was appointed by Adolf Hitler himself.

Ireland’s healthcare quality has been boosted by rising hospital doctor numbers, up 61.3%, and the number of nurses and midwives, up 34.9% in ten years.

European shipyards are providing vital servicing contracts to vessels carrying Russian liquefied natural gas, sustaining a trade that Kyiv says is funding the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine.

So what can Europe do in what former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis describes as "Europe's last chance to seize autonomy from the U.S.?" Many things. Regarding Gaza, Europe could go beyond condemning the Trump takeover and simply organize a large relief operation, bringing food, medical equipment, tents, and other necessities by sea and from Egypt. If the U.S., not just Israel, were to block this aid, the already obvious truth would be even harder to ignore.

In this edition we discover a fruit-themed festival in the south of France. The Fête du Citron, or Lemon Festival, takes place every year in the town of Menton on the Franco-Italian border, attracting hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists. Marine Krenc, director of events at the Menton Tourist Office, tells us everything we need to know about it.

Mette Frederiksen admitted that Denmark and other countries made a mistake by cutting their defence spending as she announced a 50bn Danish kroner (£5.5bn) package, saying: “It must never happen again.”

The Danish prime minister increased defence spending to 3% of GDP in the next two years – up from 2.4% in 2024 – as she said Denmark needed a “massive rearmament” to avoid war.

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“We have had to pay attention to a lot, both here in Denmark and in Greenland, and in general as Europeans,” Frederiksen said. “We are in the most dangerous situation in many, many years.”

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The Danish defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said: “Within two years, Russia could pose a credible threat to one or several Nato countries if Nato does not build up its own military power in the same rate as Russia. This calls for swift political action.”

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/26250059

https://archive.ph/aDKZ4

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Representatives of the North Korean secret services are telling their soldiers in Russia's Kursk Oblast that they are fighting against South Korean troops as well as Ukrainians.

Source: Ri, a 26-year-old North Korean soldier who was captured by the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in an interview with the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

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The European Commission today approved funding under the European Chips Act for the Infineon Technologies AG Smart Power Fab in Dresden. The official funding approval from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), which is responsible for the disbursement of EU Chips Act funding, is still pending and is expected within the next few months.

Additionally, the Smart Power Fab is already receiving support under the European Commission’s IPCEI ME/CT ("Important Project of Common European Interest on Microelectronics and Communication Technologies") innovation program. The total funding for the Dresden site amounts to around one billion euros. Construction began in March 2023 and is progressing successfully. The Fab opening is planned for 2026.

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