[Automated and paraphrased translation.]

Norway's domestic security service (PST) reports increased intelligence activity from Russia and China targeting Norwegian coastal and maritime areas, urging public vigilance.

The focus is on mapping ports, communication cables, and undersea oil and gas pipelines, potentially preparing for sabotage.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration confirms a marked rise in reported incidents, mainly digital, alongside covert maritime intelligence operations. It has proposed stricter port security practices to the Ministry, emphasizing the need for rapid action to address infrastructure weaknesses.

Norwegian ports are vital for supply chains and NATO reinforcements, especially after Sweden and Finland joined the alliance. PST asks the public to report suspicious activity, while Hurtigruten requests clearer inclusion in national preparedness planning and training.

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In Tallinn, the defense industry associations of Estonia and South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding. The document provides for expanding contacts between companies, seeking joint projects and technological cooperation. The agreement was concluded by the Korea Defense Industry Association and the Estonian Defense and Aerospace Industry Association during the first Korea-Estonia Defense Industry Forum, Korea Herald reports.

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Estonian and South Korean companies also discuss opportunities to combine Estonian technologies with South Korean defense platforms and manufacturing capabilities. Promising areas included situational awareness, early warning, satellite imagery analysis and combining data from multiple sensors.

Following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, an aggressor state, Estonia increased defense spending and is strengthening its military capabilities. At the forum, the Estonian side also presented plans to expand local defense production and attract foreign companies. South Korean manufacturers were invited to consider Estonia as a possible platform for entering the broader European defense market.

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Here is the study: The Russian FIMI Playbook in Moldova (pdf)

Moldova underwent the most intensive FIMI (foreign information manipulation and interference) Europe has ever seen, and its defences held.

The core lesson: FIMI is a governance challenge, not a media challenge; Russian operations amplify governance deficits that already exist.

Five priorities follow, for Chișinău and Brussels alike:

• treat FIMI as a good-governance problem;
• prioritize resilience over censorship;
• follow the money — banks, cards, crypto;
• learn faster than the adversary; and treat democratic oversight as an asset, not an obstacle;
• ultimately, Russia is competing less for control over information than for control over citizens‘ trust.

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Democratic resilience depends not only on a pro-European political orientation but equally on the continued strengthening of checks and balances, judicial independence, parliamentary oversight, and institutional accountability – in short, on good governance.

At the European level: treat Moldova as a front-line source of FIMI lessons and systematize their transfer across the enlargement space; make joint monitoring of the G7 RRM type permanent rather than election-bound and extend it to other exposed partners, backed by common analytical cells and a shared TTP database; take action at the EU level on platform accountability — above all Telegram and TikTok — and on crypto-based FIMI financing; and integrate FIMI-resilience and governance-quality benchmarks into the enlargement methodology itself.

Rather than treating FIMI as one instrument among many, European policy should understand it as the connective tissue that links and amplifies all other hybrid instruments.

Russia seeks to weaken democracy not only through disinformation, but also by eroding the institutions that generate public trust; the most sustainable response is therefore not stronger censorship, but stronger democratic governance.

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[Edit typo.]

A cancer researcher in Osaka can now lead a European consortium and draw on EU funding just like a colleague in Vienna. As of August, Japan is formally part of Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship research programme. It is by far the largest of the programme’s 23 associated countries, bringing 123 million people into Europe’s scientific network.

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With a budget of €93.5 billion for the 2021–2027 period, Horizon Europe is EU's flagship research and innovation programme. It supports cutting-edge research and innovation to address global challenges, accelerate the clean and digital transitions, contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and strengthen Europe's competitiveness and growth.

Japan [is] joining the other 22 countries already associated - either through the European Economic Area membership, the enlargement process, the European Neighbourhood Policy, or as other third countries and territories that meet the programme's eligibility criteria.

Japan's association builds on a long-standing and increasingly strategic research and innovation partnership with the EU initiated in 2011 with the Science and Technology cooperation agreement. A recent example of the close collaboration between the EU and Japan is the recommendation made by an EU-Japan expert panel which was done under the enhanced dialogue on advanced materials. This recommendation explores complementarities and synergies in the areas of electronics, mobility, construction, energy and data-driven science which can be both beneficial for EU and Japan citizens.

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Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has accused former foreign minister Péter Szijjártó of moving directly from public office to a Chinese company that received extensive state support while Viktor Orbán’s government was in power.

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Hungary’s political realignment has gathered pace after Péter Szijjártó resigned his parliamentary mandate to take a senior international position with Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer BYD.

Szijjártó, who served as foreign minister for almost 12 years under former prime minister Viktor Orbán [announced] his departure from parliament and appointment by BYD on Wednesday.

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar responded by claiming that the “complete disintegration” of the formerly governing Fidesz party was continuing at an accelerating rate.

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Magyar accused Szijjártó of having represented foreign interests while serving in government and of helping BYD obtain substantial Hungarian state subsidies.

“Péter Szijjártó, the former foreign minister, who previously represented foreign interests, officially announced today that he is leaving politics and will become an executive at the Chinese company for which he had previously secured enormous Hungarian state subsidies,” Magyar wrote.

“The difference compared with the previous situation will be that from now on, Péter Szijjártó will be paid for the same ‘work’ not by the Hungarian people, but by his actual employer.”

Magyar’s description of Szijjártó as having represented foreign interests is a political allegation. However, the former minister played a central role in attracting Chinese investment to Hungary and publicly promoted BYD’s expansion in the country.

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BYD announced in December 2023 that it had selected Szeged, in southern Hungary, as the location for its first European passenger-car manufacturing plant. The project became one of the flagship investments secured under Orbán’s policy of strengthening economic relations with China.

Szijjártó’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was directly involved in the negotiations. The ministry also controlled Hungary’s investment-promotion system and announced the incentives offered to foreign companies.

In 2025, Szijjártó confirmed that the government would provide 20 billion forints, then worth about $64 million, to support BYD’s new European business and development centre in Budapest. The wider project was valued at approximately 100 billion forints and was expected to create around 2,000 jobs.

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The company’s Hungarian expansion attracted attention in Brussels. The European Commission opened an examination of subsidies connected to BYD’s European operations under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which is intended to identify state support from non-EU countries that may distort competition within the single market.

Szijjártó’s decision to join the company has consequently prompted questions over the movement of senior politicians into businesses that benefited from policies or public funding for which they had responsibility.

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Szijjártó’s move is also likely to maintain scrutiny of the relationship between the former government and Chinese investors. His new position places one of the principal architects of Hungary’s China policy inside one of the largest companies to have benefited from that policy.

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This is the introductory text of a petition from Germany calling on the President of the European Commission to enforce existing law rather than granting exemptions to U.S. tech giants on her own initiative, without consulting the public:

Google is violating Europe’s digital rules. The European Commission had therefore already planned to impose a fine of billions of euros. However, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is said to have blocked the decision at the last minute—apparently out of concern over political pressure from the U.S. This sends a dangerous signal: Europe’s laws must apply even when powerful corporations and governments challenge them. We call on Ursula von der Leyen and the European Commission: Enforce the Digital Markets Act consistently against Google. Defend our democratic rules against the power of the big tech companies.

Introduction to a Petition by Campact (German organization) with more than 70,000 signatures after one week

Please post links to similar petitions from other EU countries in the comments. It is unacceptable for our politicians to unilaterally suspend existing laws in order to sell us out to US corporations. Fight back!

The rules-based order was always partly a legitimation device for American hegemony, but it was a device that required European buy-in — and that buy-in gave Europe real leverage. Trump has abandoned the legitimation mechanism entirely. He does not need Europe’s moral endorsement because he has dispensed with the need for legitimacy altogether. Power is its own justification. That is precisely what makes the European establishment’s eager compliance so self-defeating.

Sánchez is dragging Europe’s centre-left toward articulating a foreign policy grounded in international law, genuine multilateralism, and the understanding that the international order is rebuilt through principles consistently applied, not selectively invoked. What makes the S&D shift notable is that arguments long dismissed as too radical — when made by voices like Yanis Varoufakis — are now coming from governing parties.

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Russian state-run media outlet RIA Novosti on July 30 published a column titled "There is no other option: no one should be left alive in Ukraine."

In the piece, columnist Kirill Strelnikov describes Ukrainians as "happy with their fate" and claims they are "ready to die" for what he derisively calls "the best army in the world."

The article refers to Ukrainian soldiers as "laboratory rats," denies their humanity, and includes a grotesque comment about "no need for lacy underwear for the dead."

Strelnikov repeats Kremlin propaganda lines, including the claim that Ukraine is a "military training ground" for the West and that Ukrainians are mere pawns of the U.S. and Europe.

The article dismisses Western military analyses recognizing Ukraine's battlefield gains, naming institutions like the Atlantic Council and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and derides U.S. and U.K. generals for praising Ukraine's military.

The piece marks an escalation in Russia's dehumanizing war propaganda.

Claims that Ukrainians are "ready to die" contradict the lived reality of a population resisting an unprovoked invasion, which Moscow started back in 2014, to defend their homes and sovereignty.

This rhetoric reflects a long-standing Kremlin narrative designed to strip Ukraine of agency and portray its people as expendable.

Russia's war effort has increasingly relied on genocidal framing, echoing prior statements by state officials and propagandists that deny Ukraine's right to exist as a nation.

RIA Novosti is one of Russia's central state media arms and has consistently served as a platform for war propaganda, disinformation, and anti-Western messaging.

Strelnikov, the article's author, is a co-founder of the nationalist media project Politrussia and a frequent contributor to other Kremlin-aligned outlets. His previous articles have spread falsehoods about the war, many of which have been debunked by independent media.

This is something we need to be aware of, and stop if we can.

• Iran has sold nearly $3 billion worth of missiles to Russia to aid President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, according to a Western security official.
• The purchases have included hundreds of Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles, nearly 500 other short-range ballistic missiles and approximately 200 surface-to-air missiles.
• Russia has spent more than the equivalent of $4 billion on Iranian military equipment since late 2021.

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Contracts with Moscow starting from October 2021 — before the war began — for ballistic and surface-to-air missiles amount to roughly $2.7 billion, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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Moscow and Tehran have drawn closer since Putin’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The conflict has triggered sweeping sanctions against Moscow and the Kremlin’s most serious confrontation with the West since the Cold War, while Iran’s provision of weapons to Russia has further deepened the two countries’ partnership.

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Iran has delivered millions of rounds of ammunition and shells, according to the assessment, which doesn’t represent the entirety of what Moscow has purchased from Tehran as more equipment is expected to be supplied.

Tehran has also supplied Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drones and shared technology that has enabled Russia to manufacture them domestically under the name “Geran-2” as part of a $1.75 billion contract signed at the beginning of 2023.

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Iran, whose government is crushing ongoing violent protests, sought to deepen its ties with Russia starting in the 2010s, smarting from the West’s ability to isolate it over the country’s nuclear program.

While Iran signed a strategic partnership with Russia in January 2025, it doesn’t contain a mutual-defense pact and Moscow didn’t offer any tangible assistance to Tehran during Israeli and US strikes on Iran last year. Russia is building a trade route with Tehran connecting to India to try to weaken the impact of sanctions, and officials have discussed boosting financial and banking cooperation.

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Polina Azarnykh, a 40-year-old former teacher, uses a Telegram channel to lure young men, often from poor countries, into joining Russia's military.

The former teacher's smiling video messages and upbeat posts offer "one-year contracts" for "military service".

The BBC World Service has identified nearly 500 cases where she has provided documents, referred to as invitations, which allow the recipient to enter Russia to join the military. These have been for men - mainly from Syria, Egypt and Yemen - who appear to have sent her their passport details in order to enlist.

But recruits and their relatives have told the BBC that she misled men into believing they would avoid combat, failed to make clear they could not leave after a year and threatened those who challenged her. When contacted by the BBC, she rejected the allegations.

Twelve families told us of young men they say were recruited by her who are now dead or missing.

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Azarnykh's Telegram channel has 21,000 subscribers. Her posts have often told readers wanting to apply to join the Russian military to send her a scan of their passport. She has then posted invitation documents, sometimes with a list of names of the men they are for.

The BBC has identified more than 490 such invitations that she has sent over the past year to men from countries including Yemen, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

Her posts have mentioned recruitment for an "elite international battalion" and made it clear that people in Russia illegally - including those whose visas have expired - are eligible.

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Many felt Azarnykh had misled or exploited recruits. They told us the men knew they were joining the military, but did not expect to serve on the front line. Several, like Omar, felt they had inadequate training or thought they would be able to leave after a year.

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Azarnykh became "one of the most important recruiters" for Russia's army, says Habib, another Syrian who has served in Russia's military. He was willing to be filmed but spoke under a pseudonym for fear of repercussions.

Habib says he and Azarnykh "worked together for around three years on visa invitations to Russia". He gave no further details and we have not been able to confirm his role in the process. An image from social media in 2024 shows him alongside her.

Azarnykh, who is from Russia's south-western Voronezh region, ran a Facebook group helping Arab students come to Moscow to study, before starting her Telegram channel in 2024.

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Azarnykh's posts from mid-2024 begin to note that recruits will be "participating in hostilities" and mention foreign fighters who have died in combat.

"You all understood well that you were going to war," she says in one video in October 2024. "You thought that you could get a Russian passport, do nothing and live in a five-star hotel?... Nothing happens for free."

In another case, in 2024, the BBC has heard a voice message sent by Azarnykh to a mother whose son was serving in the military. Azarnykh says the woman has "published something horrible about the Russian army". Using expletives, she threatens the son's life and warns the woman: "I'll find you and all your children."

The BBC made multiple attempts to contact Azarnykh. Initially she said she would do an interview with us if we travelled to Russia, but the BBC declined for safety reasons. Later, when asked in a voice call about claims that recruits were promised non-combat roles, she hung up. In voice notes sent afterwards, she said our work was "not professional" and warned of potential defamation proceedings. She also said: "Our respected Arabs can stick their accusations up their arses."

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Chinese officials are using a ‘highly specific’ interpretation of EU rules to suggest Taiwanese figures should not be granted visas, EU officials say.

Archived version

Chinese officials have been pushing “legal advice” on European countries, saying their own border laws require them to ban entry to Taiwanese politicians, according to more than half a dozen diplomats and officials familiar with the matter.

The officials made demarches to European embassies in Beijing, or through local embassies directly to European governments in their capital cities, warning the European countries not to “trample on China’s red lines”, according to the European diplomats and ministries who spoke to the Guardian.

The manner of the approaches varied – some to individual countries and some as groups, some by written note verbale (a semiformal diplomatic communication) and others in person. They occurred in November and December, and were at least partly in response to recent European trips by Taiwanese officials including its current vice-president and foreign minister, and a former president.

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Beijing said it “respects the sovereignty of the European side in introducing and implementing visa policy”, but an “institutional loophole” had allowed frequent visits by Taiwan politicians.

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The officials’ suggestion, the Guardian understands, was that allowing Taiwanese officials to enter a European country would threaten that country’s international relations with China.

In some cases they also referred to the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, or suggested the European countries follow the UN’s example and bar all Taiwanese people from government buildings, the Guardian was told.

“Beijing’s application and interpretation of this regulation is bold,” said Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, assistant professor at Taiwan’s National Dong Hwa University, when told about the moves. “It is Beijing’s interpretation that EU-Taiwan ties threaten EU-China ties. This is not at all the perception or reality in Europe.”

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The [Chinese] note verbale said European countries should reject any “so-called diplomatic passports” issued by Taiwan, and “prohibit Taiwanese personnel from entering Europe to seek official contact and exchanges and trample on China’s red line”.

“China hopes the EU institutions and European countries will, out of the larger interests of China-EU relations and bilateral relations, make the political decision of refusing the entry of Taiwan’s so-called president or vice president (former ones included),” it said, also listing other officials.

The note cited visits by the officials to Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Australia, Germany, Lithuania, Denmark, Estonia and Ireland, saying they “seriously undermine China-EU relations”.

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“The European side … even indulged [vice-president] Hsiao Bi-khim to speak at the building of the European parliament and promote ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist claims,” it said, referring to a speech given by Hsiao to the annual summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) in Brussels.

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A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said: “Permission to enter the UK is determined solely by our own laws and immigration rules, which apply equally to those travelling from Taiwan.”

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said officials’ visits to Europe were “entirely unrelated to China, and China has no right to interfere”.

“On the contrary, China’s use of various coercive measures against other countries and its threats of force against Taiwan, which undermine global and Indo-Pacific peace and stability and threaten the direct interests of the EU, is the real force damaging European international relations,” the spokesperson told the Guardian.

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“I see this as another way to generate unease among member states that their relations with the [People’s Republic of China] might be at risk … and Beijing knows well that some EU member states are very keen to attract Chinese investment at present,” said Ferenczy.

The EU does not take a position on Taiwan’s status, and while it has formal relations with Beijing it also maintains “solid” unofficial relations with Taipei through parliamentary diplomacy and trade. Several European countries and the EU have trade offices that act as unofficial embassies in Taipei.

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However in recent years the bloc has come under increasing pressure from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as a province of China, and intends to annex it – by force if necessary. Among its strategies to coerce Taiwan into accepting unification without conflict, Beijing puts intense diplomatic pressure on the international community to isolate Taipei from multilateral engagement.

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Authorities in the Landes region of south-west France said three people died and 15 were injured in road accidents on Tuesday, while two more were killed in accidents in the Paris area. One driver died in hospital on Monday night after veering into the Marne River and another was killed after a collision with a heavy goods vehicle in the east of the French capital.

In the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, a woman died on Monday after a snow-covered tree branch fell on her head.

Many flights will be cancelled from Paris’s two main airports, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly, early on Wednesday to allow ground crews to clear snow from runways and de-ice planes. About 40% of flights at Charles de Gaulle were expected to be scrapped and 25% at Orly.

In the Netherlands, hundreds of flights were cancelled at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport as staff worked to clear runways and de-ice planes. Rail travellers in the country faced chaos after domestic services were suspended early on Tuesday due to an IT outage, compounding the disruption caused by the weather.

Freezing temperatures have gripped much of Europe, with the thermometer plunging well below -10C (14F) in south and east Germany early on Tuesday. German meteorologists have forecast a storm in the country on Friday, with heavy snowfall expected in the north and east.

In Britain, temperatures fell to -12.5C overnight, with snow disrupting rail, road and air travel and forcing the closure of hundreds of schools across northern regions.

Temperatures in lowland areas of northern Italy have fallen below freezing, with snow expected in the medium- to low-altitude areas of Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Tuscany on Tuesday.

Heavy snow and heavy rain have swept through Balkan countries, swelling rivers and causing traffic problems and disrupting power and water supplies.

In Serbia, some local authorities in the country’s west introduced emergency measures due to the severe weather while warning drivers to take care as many set off toward skiing resorts or elsewhere for Orthodox Christmas on Wednesday and the upcoming weekend.

On 10 November 2023, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó travelled to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. His visit came 31 years after the last time a Hungarian foreign affairs delegation had visited the country. Szijjártó justified the visit with “the changed international context”. He met with president Nicolás Maduro, Minister of Oil Pedro Rafael Tellechea and Foreign Minister Yván Gil. Gil and Szijjártó even signed an agreement between the two countries.

Based on the communiqué about the visit and Szijjártó’s posts from the time, the Foreign Minister had high hopes concerning Venezuela. For example, he posted a photo of himself and Maduro, commenting that they agreed that “amidst the current changes in global politics, the main responsibility of elected officials is to defend their country’s sovereignty and to resist external attempts at interference. According to another one of his posts, “Venezuela is opening up to the world, and the Western world is also opening to Venezuela. Whoever is here first will reap the benefits”.

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The ... Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published at the time ... wrote about Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and its gas extraction, which is why the representatives of MOL and MVM (Hungary’s two energy giants) also accompanied Szijjártó. According to the statement, they started negotiations about the possibility of importing natural gas from Venezuela, while Szijjártó argued for the easing of the sanctions which were in place against the country.

This could easily make one believe that Venezuela is an important ally of Hungary and the Hungarian government ... Although many have now recalled that in 2024, Hungary vetoed a joint EU statement on the disputed results of the Venezuelan elections, the truth is that it joined the initiative with a delay. But following Maduro’s kidnapping by US forces on 3 January this year, only 26 of the EU’s 27 member states called “for calm and restraint by all actors, to avoid escalation and to ensure a peaceful solution to the crisis". There was one country which did not support this: Hungary.

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It would therefore seem logical to think that Hungary stood up for its partner with whom it had sought an intensive economic relationship, but the comments coming from the government are telling an entirely different story. Balázs Orbán, the Prime Minister’s Political Director [not a relative to the PM], for example wrote that “the hundreds of Hungarians evacuated from Venezuela have told us about the oppressive dictatorship that had been established there”. And pro-government Mandiner’s journalist, Mátyás Kohán was quick to present the insignificant data relating to the trade between the two countries. He wrote: “Here, you can see proof of the friendly relationship and the huge deals between Péter Szijjártó and his “buddy”. This, as you see, equals zero. There has never been any strategic agreement, gigantic deal about energy resources.”

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The events of the past few years therefore show that the Orbán government has long approached Venezuela without any moral compass or sense of values: when the need arose, they rescued people from there; when there was an opportunity to do so, they sought to do business there; and now they are calling the country a narco-state, even though a little more than two years ago, Szijjártó was full of smiles in Caracas. It is telling that the otherwise hyperactive Szijjártó did not post anything about Venezuela until Monday evening – except to write about Hungarians affected by the situation – and said nothing about what will now become of the secret agreement signed between the two countries in 2023.

At his press conference on Monday, Viktor Orbán actually admitted that the Hungarian position is that they do not want to take a moral stance on the US intervention: in his view, international law no longer matters, what matters is what the great powers want to do. "It happened, it is what it is, and what we are concerned with is whether it is good or bad for Hungary. And it is good for Hungary." Apparently then, two and a half years ago, Maduro was good for Hungary, but now, it is his downfall that is deemed beneficial.

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An investigation by the Institute of International and European Affairs urges the Irish government to speedily publish a National Security Strategy.

The report, co-produced by Deloitte Ireland, drew on interviews and discussions with public and private sector leaders that took place last September. In its interviews, business groups called on the Department of Justice to expedite high-level security clearances for staff applying for sensitive posts in critical infrastructure and services, because of “elevated” attempts by foreign intelligence agencies to infiltrate their businesses.

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Kieran O’Neill, a defence and security partner with Deloitte, said companies have real concerns over attempts by agencies in China and Russia to plant operatives.

“Ireland is a target,” he said. “Many organisations here are directly involved in countering Russian cyber threats in Ukraine, implementing sanctions on Russian officials, and involved in countering disinformation. “We don’t have the security architecture in place to expedite that security clearance process for people working in government and the private sector,” he added, saying more needed to be done to either “prevent that threat of espionage, or to detect it very quickly”.

The report tries to separate Ireland’s neutrality from the issue of protecting the country’s assets at a time when the security environment is at its most “challenging” and “dangerous” in recent history.

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“Of greatest concern is that the possibility of an armed attack on an EU member state — and its consequences for Ireland — are no longer outside the bounds of possibility,” the report warned.

Among the recommendations are that the Government should follow Sweden’s example and issue fact-based pamphlets to citizens on the risks in times of crisis.

Mr O’Neill said the Russian attack on Ukraine was the “pivot point” for European security, and events since then have elevated instability and tension.

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The report also urges the Government to develop a strategy to allow Ireland’s technology sector engage with the EU’s defence programme, which has allocated €150bn to boost investment in Europe’s defence industry.

“Ireland has a strong technology sector with dual-use potential, and with the increased focus on security and defence spending across Europe, there is a significant economic opportunity for Ireland that can also support efforts to lift our own security and resilience posture,” Mr O’Neill said.

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The threats have been acknowledged by Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, who said last year that “hostile state actors” posed a threat to national security.

Irish exposure to security risks was highlighted last month by the five unidentified drones that appeared during the visit of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. The drones hovered over an Irish naval vessel that was guarding the flight path of Zelensky’s plane, before disappearing. They were later tracked to an unidentified ship.

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However, years after a National Security Strategy was promised, it is still being finalised. Work on developing a new National Security Authority to oversee high-level security clearances has only just begun.

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[Chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee John] Lahart said he supports Irish neutrality, but believes “neutrality is nothing if you cannot protect it and ensure it continues”. He said Ireland needed to cooperate with others in order to protect Irish assets.

“That is not about joining Nato. But it is about ensuring that whatever we do on the security front is inter-operative at a very basic level,” he said.

The changing global climate has driven much of the debate about Ireland’s neutrality, with one issue being the Government’s plans to change the “triple lock”, which means the large-scale deployment of Irish troops abroad can only happen with Irish Government, Dáil and UN Security Council approval.

The Government wants to change the triple lock, arguing it gives Russia and China a veto over Irish peacekeeping missions.

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Meanwhile, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern believes Ireland needs to work with other countries to protect Irish undersea assets amid the growing geopolitical turbulence.

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Mr Ahern said he was doubtful that Trump would stage a military takeover of Greenland, as to do so would “wreck Nato” ... “I don’t think he’d try and take it over by military force,” said Mr Ahern. “I really don’t. If he did try to do that, it would wreck Nato and destroy confidence between the European Union and America.

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“If I was on the other side of the negotiation table, I would say to Trump: ‘Well, what are you looking for here? Are you looking for rare earths? Are you looking for oil? Are you looking for US security?’ And if it’s US security that he really wants, then let’s talk about putting back some military bases there.

“But if he wants it for rare minerals, then I think we’re all into a very difficult position, because if he were to pursue that, I cannot see how you could get an agreement. I can’t see Denmark or Europe agreeing to that position.

“If he really wants it, what he should be doing is compromising with Denmark and Greenland and with Europe to put back in his military bases.

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US and EU policymakers have launched government initiatives ..., including diversifying their supply chains, establishing stockpiles, investing in private companies and expanding domestic processing and recycling capacities. These efforts seek to mitigate the risk of supply chain disruptions and price fluctuations as Beijing restricts critical minerals supplies for geopolitical leverage.

Government involvement is expected to accelerate in 2026 as recent restrictions on Chinese rare earths exports highlight vulnerabilities and drive the US and EU to reshape the global supply landscape, experts told Platts, a part of S&P Global Energy.

"What we're seeing globally is that the composition of mining companies is getting much more complex where you have a combination of government stakeholders, private equity, private investors and even capital from export and import banks," said Julie Klinger, a University of Delaware professor in the geography and spatial sciences program.

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In the US, federal agencies launched $134 million in investment opportunities for rare earths and obtained several equity stakes in private companies, including the formation of a public-private partnership between the US defense department and rare earths company MP Materials, which aims to build a secure, end-to-end domestic rare earths supply chain. The deal involved a $400 million equity investment, a $150 million loan and a 10-year offtake agreement.

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In Europe, the EU ratified the Critical Raw Materials Act in 2024, which aims to enhance the EU's domestic capacities. The law stipulates that no more than 65% of the EU's annual consumption of any strategic raw material should come from a single third country.

The bloc in March 2025 also published a list of 47 strategic and critical minerals projects, accounting for an expected overall capital investment of Eur22.5 billion ($24.35 billion). Other actions include plans to mobilize up to Eur3 billion in funding over the next 12 months to fast-track strategic extraction and processing projects that could reduce EU import dependencies by up to 50% by 2029.

To date, the EU has established 15 critical minerals partnerships with resource-rich countries, such as South Africa, Namibia, Argentina, Chile and Canada, to bolster resilient supply chains. The bloc has also launched negotiations with Brazil, while deepening cooperation with Ukraine and the Western Balkans through the Global Gateway investment initiative.

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Archive link

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Today, the biggest news comes from Northern Europe.

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After months of unexplained damage beneath the Baltic Sea, Finland has moved into action by intercepting a vessel directly linked to the cable cuts. For the first time, a Russian operation that relied on distance and unclear responsibility has been exposed through enforcement rather than inference.

Finland intercepted and exposed a Russian-linked civilian vessel connected to the cutting of underwater cables between Finland and Estonia, marking the first time one of these grey-zone operations has been confronted directly at sea.

Footage released by Finnish authorities shows a controlled interception unfolding step by step in open waters, starting with Finnish patrol vessels pulling alongside and ordering the ship to slow and hold its course.

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This incident fits into a broader Russian campaign targeting underwater infrastructure across the Baltic Sea, where power cables and data lines form the backbone of everyday life. Over recent months, multiple fiber-optic and power cables linking Nordic states have been cut or damaged under suspicious circumstances, often near known shipping lanes.

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While there was broad agreement that these incidents were not random, the lack of direct attribution prevented authorities from acting beyond repairs and diplomatic warnings. The aim has created disruption that creates uncertainty, repair costs, and political hesitation without triggering a direct military response.

The method is simple and hard to counter, because civilian vessels move slowly along established shipping routes, blend into dense maritime traffic, and operate in areas where cables are known to run.

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The breakthrough came when investigators confirmed not only that the vessel was operating along sensitive seabed routes during the cable damage, but also that it was carrying sanctioned steel products.

This turned a pattern of suspicion into a provable violation, allowing Finnish authorities to move immediately from monitoring to action using existing law. Instead of another case of accidental damage in busy waters followed by statements and quiet inquiries, Finland now had clear grounds to act openly and decisively.

By anchoring the response in documented violations rather than intent or attribution debates, Moscow's usual escape route of denial and ambiguity collapsed the moment the cargo was recorded.

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For years, grey-zone operations have thrived because responses stopped at warnings, investigations, or diplomatic pressure. This case establishes a different precedent, as intelligence collection tied to legal preparation and immediate enforcement, allowing states to act publicly without escalating militarily.

Operationally, it lowers the threshold for boarding and inspection, politically it removes the need to argue intent, and legally it shifts the burden onto Russia to explain documented violations rather than deny them.

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This case shows another path, as it shows that intelligence gathering, legal preparation, and enforcement can be combined into a response that exposes the operation without turning it into a military confrontation. Once a ship is boarded and its cargo documented, the shield that protects hybrid warfare disappears.

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As an addition: A recent report exposed how Russia wants to drain Europe's investigative resources with its sabotage campaign, according to officials

Archived version

German prosecutors are investigating a failed attack on a substation near Düsseldorf, in the west of the country, days after a similar incident triggered a power blackout in Berlin.

Police started a probe after a letter accepting responsibility from the radical left-wing group known as Kommando Angry Birds was published on the Indymedia platform on Jan. 5, Attorney General Wolf-Tilman Baumert said.

It remains unclear when the attack took place, he said. Investigators said an incendiary device was deployed, but declined to give details.

Germany is on alert after Berlin suffered its longest power outage in decades, caused by an arson attack on a cable bridge, also claimed by a left-wing extremist group. Electricity was fully restored on Wednesday.

German federal prosecutors on Tuesday said they had launched a terrorism investigation into an arson attack on high-voltage cables that triggered a power blackout affecting about 45,000 households in Berlin.

Prosecutors said they were probing Saturday's attack on suspicion of "membership in a terrorist organization, sabotage, arson and disruption of public services."

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The attack was claimed online by a far-left extremist group calling itself Vulkangruppe, or Volcano Group.

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Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner condemned the attack, saying "suspected left-wing extremists knowingly put lives at risk, especially those of patients in hospitals, as well as the elderly, children and families."

As of Tuesday, about 24,700 households and 1,120 businesses were still without power.

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Berlin emergency services, supported by the army and charity groups, initially scrambled to help those affected to warm accommodation, including care home residents. Hotels, schools and sports centers were also used to supply shelter.

Emergency measures remain in place, with the German military providing logistic help and fueling emergency generators. Public swimming pools have been opened around the clock to allow residents to shower and warm up. About 20 schools remain closed, and public transport buses have been deployed as temporary warming shelters.

The Bundestag's interior committee is set to receive a briefing on the attack later this week, as authorities continue to rule out foreign involvement and focus their investigation on domestic left-wing extremism.

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Archived version

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South Korea, the Philippines, and Japan are all closely monitoring European security. While they share many of the challenges that European countries are grappling with, and the two theaters are growing ever closer together, opportunities for deepening defense ties are opening.

Europe is viewed as an important export market for defense manufacturers, a partner for joint development and exercises, and a valued provider of equipment and capacity-building. For European countries and the EU, this opens up new opportunities to diversify their own defense partnerships. As the Europeans are trying to become less dependent on the US and ramp up production at home, Indo-Pacific countries present themselves as natural cooperation partners.

• Russia is intensifying covert attacks on key infrastructure in Germany as a possible prelude to a wider conflict, according to a military document.
• Germany expects to be targeted by Russia covertly via hybrid attacks on energy and defense infrastructure as it positions itself as NATO's main hub in Europe.
• The defense ministry views Russia as "the greatest and most immediate threat to Germany's security" and says hybrid measures are a tool used by Russia in its security policy and fight against the "collective West".

Archived version

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“The hybrid measures and attacks that have been identified, particularly those carried out in Germany, should be seen as a tool deliberately used by Russia in its security policy and its fight against the ‘collective West.’ At the same time, these measures could also serve as preparation for military conflict,” the German defense ministry said.

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The defense ministry plan ... cited national and foreign intelligence that suggested Russia is seeking to develop capabilities and strategic options to wage and survive a large-scale war against NATO.

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“However, Russia will do everything in its power to prevent or at least hinder the deployment of NATO forces on the eastern flank for the purposes of deterrence and, if necessary, defense,” it said.

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The defense ministry concluded that Russia is deliberately targeting and exploring possible weak links in cooperation between different levels of German government with hybrid measures designed to unsettle citizens.

“The aim is to prevent the early detection of these hybrid measures and their actual extent and impact, and to slow down and paralyze our decision-making and response capabilities of the various responsible parties at federal, state and local level.”

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