24 Aug, 2022 15:10

Macron warns of ‘end of abundance’

France is heading toward a difficult period of “anxiety,” requiring “sacrifices” to be made, the president said

France is headed toward the “end of abundance” and “sacrifices” have to be made during what is a time of great upheaval, President Emmanuel Macron told his cabinet on Wednesday upon returning from summer break.

The country has faced multiple challenges lately, ranging from the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine to the unprecedented drought that has battered the whole European continent this summer. Yet, Macron believes that the crisis is actually of a much bigger scale and that structural changes are imminent.

“Some could see our destiny as being to constantly manage crises or emergencies. I believe that we are living through a tipping point or great upheaval.Firstly, because we are living through… what could seem like the end of abundance,” he said.

The country and its citizens must be ready to make “sacrifices” to meet and overcome the challenges they are facing, he continued. “Our system based on freedom in which we have become used to living, when we need to defend it sometimes that can entail making sacrifices,” Macron added.

This overview that I’m giving − the end of abundance, the end of insouciance, the end of assumptions − it's ultimately a tipping point that we are going through that can lead our citizens to feel a lot of anxiety.

“Faced with this, we have duties, the first of which is to speak frankly and very clearly without doom-mongering,” Macron stressed. The president called upon his cabinet to show unity, be “serious” and “credible” and urged ministers to avoid “demagogy.”

“It’s easy to promise anything and everything, sometimes to say anything and everything. Do not give in to these temptations, it is demagoguery,” the president said, adding that such an approach “flourishes” today “in all democracies in a complex and frightening world.”

(Without doom mongering? WTF? Here we go the great reset is implemented)

https://www.rt.com/news/561466-macron-france-crisis-sacrifices/

24 Aug, 2022 13:44

Biden celebrates Ukraine's independence day with biggest arms package yet

Ukraine will receive artillery, drones, and anti-aircraft weaponry to keep fighting “over the long term”

US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that the US will send an additional $2.98 billion worth of weapons to Kiev. In an announcement coinciding with Ukraine’s Independence Day, Biden said that the US envisions Kiev fighting for some time to come.

According to a White House statement, Ukraine will receive “air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and radars to ensure it can continue to defend itself over the long term.”

On Tuesday, US officials told the Associated Press, Reuters and CBS that the package would include at least three different drone systems, such as the hand-launched Puma drone, the longer-range ScanEagle surveillance vehicle, as well as the UK-made Vampire drone, which has not previously been provided to Kiev.

Referencing Ukraine’s independence day, which celebrates its split from the Soviet Union in 1991, Biden said that “today is not only a celebration of the past, but a resounding affirmation that Ukraine proudly remains – and will remain – a sovereign and independent nation.” Given his vow to support the Ukrainian military “over the long term,” and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s declaration on Tuesday that the alliance would back Kiev “for as long as it takes,” Biden evidently plans for the conflict to be a long one.

However, several US media outlets reportedon Tuesday that thecontents of Wednesday’s arms package may not reach the battlefield for months or even years. Unnamed US officials told the Associated Press that Washington expects Ukrainian forces “to fight for years to come.”

Bankrolling the Ukrainian military has been a costly endeavor for the US. With the American economy wracked by inflation and rising energy costs, the Biden administration has thus far committed more than $54 billion in military and economic aid to Kiev since February.

Meanwhile in Ukraine, Russia continues to advance on Ukrainian positions in the south of the country and on the borders of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, where Kiev has spent the last eight years building a network of bunkers and fortifications. While Ukraine does not publish casualty figures, President Vladimir Zelensky said earlier this summer that 60 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers were being killed in Donbass on a daily basis, with another 500 injured.

(Bidan really wants Ukraine destroyed! Or for Russia to blow up my armaments. Worst resident in the history of the world, besides Carter and Obama)

https://www.rt.com/news/561467-biden-new-aid-package-ukraine/

23 Aug, 2022 09:18

Kirill Teremetsky: Hungary is not Russia’s ally, but it’s a rare rational partner in an increasingly fanatical EU

Budapest has managed to place its own national interests over those promoted by the Eurocrat elites

We are witnessing a clash between Eastern European Realpolitik, the followers of which still remember Hans Morgenthau’s precepts about the primacy of the national interest, and the broader Western ideology and politics of high hopes and illusions. In this, mutually beneficial bilateral ties are sacrificed in favor of political agendas.

On August 21, Hungarian oil and gas giant MOL and Slovakia’s Slovnaft paid for Russian oil transit through Ukraine. Kiev’s UkrTransNafta did not accept payment from Moscow’s Gazprombank allegedly because of sanctions. The stopping of transit through the Druzhba pipeline was another step to pressure Russia, which could not have taken place without the approval of their Western partners.

But why is Hungary itself willing to look for ways to pay for Russian energy resources in an emergency and go against the EU’s sanctions policy? And why did Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto go to Moscow at the end of July for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, about additional gas supplies?

Despite the cooling of Hungarian-Ukrainian relations after 2014 and the lack of official support from Budapest for the Kiev authorities, Hungarian oil and gas company MOL has transferred €300,000 and sent special equipment worth €50,000 to keep the Ukrainian gas transmission system functioning during the Russian military operation.

Hungary is concerned about the continuity of energy supplies from Ukraine, as it is 60% dependent on Russian oil (with another 16% coming from Kazakhstan, which also uses the Druzhba pipeline) and 85% on Russian gas. Thanks to stable and pragmatic bilateral relations between Russia and Budapest, long-term contracts have been concluded,allowing the country to buy energy resources at a price five times lower than the broader European market.

The $10 billion project signed in 2014 between Rosatom and Hungary’s MVM to build two units of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, which despite the political environment has been successfully implemented, allows Hungary to remain an attractive country for big business and foreign investment, thanks to its cheap electricity.

All this helps Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz-CDPP coalition to make and keep promises to voters in the form of relatively low petrol and gas prices and lower electricity tariffs. They are also able to use pre-election populist measures such as thirteenth salaries and extra social payments, and influence public opinion through the media (MOL and energy company MVM Group are sponsors of Hungarian government publications) and student institutions.

MOL will pay its shareholders a dividend of $652 million this year. One of the beneficiaries and shareholders (30.5%) are nominally non-governmental foundations that fund educational institutions such as Corvinus University and Mathias Corvinus Collegium. This helps the ruling party influence the formation of the ‘right’ view among students on political processes taking place in Hungary.

At the same time, Budapest is diversifying its energy sector and trying to gradually reduce its dependence on Russian raw materials. Budapest buys LNG from Croatia, participates in gas projects in the UAE and Oman, and has a strategic partnership agreement with ExxonMobil (although a pipeline project from Romania proved unsuccessful). Hungarian operator FGSZ and Serbia’s Srbijagas completed an interconnector at the border between the countries for supplies through Turkish Stream on July 5, 2021, so the Hungarian government will buy natural gas from Azerbaijan from 2023. Hungary imports oil from Iraq and Iran, and cooperates in this sector with Kuwait and Bahrain, while developing its own fields (in the Baranja region).

Budapest’s stance really irritates the European Commission, which has already accused the Hungarian authorities and Orban personally of undermining the bloc’s unity during the refugee crisis. Eurocrats have criticized the country for high levels of corruption and shutting down ‘free’ media, while repeatedly threatening to cut funding from the EU’s stabilization fund. In addition, Budapest does not support the bloc’s desire to arm Ukraine and does not allow the supply of military equipment through its territory to Transcarpathia.

https://www.rt.com/russia/561303-hungary-russia-eurocrat-elites/

(EU doubles down on stupid, Budapest will be the Capitol of the EU when this over)

24 Aug, 2022 14:01

Sanctions damage to Russian economy 'superficial' – Bloomberg

The nation’s economic slump is far less severe than previously expected

Despite harsh Western sanctions Russia’s economy appears to be holding up better than expected as it benefits from high energy prices, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The damage has turned out to be much more superficial than previously assumed, according to the report. In March, analysts had predicted a 10% GDP decline in the second quarter, whereas the latest data from Rosstat, Russia’s official statistics service, puts the drop for the quarter at 4%.

“Forecasts of Russia’s economic collapse have proved wide of the mark, with gross domestic product falling at a grim, but less than catastrophic rate of 4% in the second quarter, as rising energy prices underpin budget revenue,” Bloomberg stated.

The outlet pointed out that “as recently as May, Russia’s own finance ministry had forecast a 12% contraction this year for an economy weighed by a blizzard of international sanctions.”

Bloomberg stressed that while the US and its allies have imposed sanctions, many countries, notably China, India and Middle Eastern nations, have continued to trade with Moscow.

Last month, theInternational Monetary Fund upgraded Russia’s GDP estimate for this year by a remarkable 2.5 percentage points, projecting the economy to contract by 6%. The IMF noted that despite sanctions, Russia’s “domestic demand is also showing some resilience thanks to containment of the effect of the sanctions.”

https://www.rt.com/business/561450-sanctions-damage-russian-economy-superficial/

24 Aug, 2022 15:20

Russian tourists pose ‘security threat’ – EU nation

A full visa ban would create more pressure on Moscow in the Ukraine conflict, Estonia's PM said

Russian tourists entering the EU are a security risk amid the Ukraine conflict, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has said.

Estonia banned Russian tourists earlier this month and, along with several other EU states, has been pushing for bloc-wide restrictions on Russian travelers as part of sanctions on Moscow for its military operation in Ukraine.

“We are bearing the burden really. The problem is that we are not able to check all the tourists that come. And we see that they pose a security threat,” Kallas told Sky News on Wednesday.

He argued that ordinary Russians “are also responsible for their country’s deeds,” and that “a visa ban could have an effect so that war would end.”

“Only 10% of Russian citizens actually travel abroad. They are from Moscow and St. Petersburg, so these people also have influence on the Kremlin’s decisions,” the prime minister said, adding that Russians affected by the ban “would put pressure on the Kremlin.”

(These people are seriously stupid, like Americans can put pressure on DC?)

Some EU countries, such as Germany and Hungary, meanwhile, oppose a full visa ban. Josep Borrell, the bloc’s top diplomat, said on Monday that the doors should not be shut to Russians who do not support the Kremlin’s position.

https://www.rt.com/news/561471-estonia-russia-visas-threat/

>>17436283

If the police have the phone number can’t they find the swatters?

>>17436259

Seriously got sick looking at that thing

>>17436253 funny a movie crew is at my building, i asked what it was anput, a guy says “Men are all bad”, i kekked heartedly at that

>>17436246

I can handle the truth, its the lies that piss me off

>>17436245

Are we ever going to get out of “The Truman Show”, its a serious question?

>>17436234

Mine was $5000, i left after the second quarter or whatever. The only class that was interesting was psychology because the professor started out with “everyone that goes into psychology field have serious problems and perhaps insanity”. The best quote from college for me

>>17436196

That was seriously funny

>>17436143

Every American citizen is raped everyday by bidan and crew and they are getting away with it

>>17436540

You need to ask them questions not give statements, like “where do you think all the money for Ukraine is going? Because Ukraine keeps are saying they are the poorest country in the world. Do you think they could money laundering all the US and EU aid that comes in? I heard that only 30% pf the arms sent go to the soldiers, where do you think the rest are going?

Asking questions always gets their curiosity up. Start with small thing, their brains havent been used for a lomg time.

They may say, I dont know where the arms money goes, what do you think? I usually say, you really dont want to know what I know! That gets them more curious

Just some thoughts

>>17436526

Thx anon I do work on that all the time, I always push the boundaries whenever I talk to people. And I do it a lot, I’m like an encyclopedia and recite things people never knew. We are waking up people