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Baltic Sea sabotage: A defender’s dilemma

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

Elisabeth Braw is a senior associate fellow at the European Leadership Network, an adviser at Gallos Technologies and a regular columnist for POLITICO.Swedish, Finnish and Estonian authorities have identified a prime suspect in the damage done to two undersea cables and a gas pipeline on the night of October 7 this year. As it turns out, the Chinese-owned, Hong Kong-flagged container ship Newnew Polar Bear was present on all three occasions, and it also has strong links to Russia.But what should the three countries do now?This kind of aggression, which isn’t quite war but certainly isn’t peace either, is known as gray-zone aggression. And so far, no Western country has figured out exactly how to punish such aggression involving no soldiers and no military weaponry.A criminal investigation would hardly deter more sabotage, and retaliating against China and Russia for the actions of a supposedly purely commercial vessel would be perilous. If these countries don’t punish the belligeren...

How Hitler’s homeland became Israel’s European BFF 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

VIENNA — It was the kind of foxhole moment the Israelis believed would reveal who their true friends are.As voting got underway at the United Nations on October 27 on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, it was clear that Israel, which opposed the measure, faced an uphill battle. Shortly before the tally, countries Israel counted among its closest allies, including Germany and Canada, jumped ship, fearing a backlash if they rejected the resolution.So it came as a big surprise for many in Israel to find Austria, a country with which they have enjoyed what might charitably be called a stormy relationship over the years, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jewish state. This was, after all, not just the land of Hitler and Adolf Eichmann, but its politics in recent years have often been dominated by the far-right Freedom Party, which was founded by SS veterans in the 1950s.“I applaud Austria for standing for what Austria believes and voting against that resolution,...

Sorry, Biden: Ireland’s Sinn Féin embraces Palestinians and shuns Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

DUBLIN — Sinn Féin, the nationalist party on course to top the polls in Ireland’s next election, is embracing Palestinians and condemning Israel as it builds populist appeal in a land where Jews are a tiny minority. This didn’t always look inevitable — despite Sinn Féin’s decades-old alliance with the Palestine Liberation Organization. Until recently, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald had been pushing a more nuanced line on Gaza, reflecting Sinn Féin’s ambitions of gaining power in the Republic of Ireland for the first time ever as it continues to grow from its Northern Ireland base.Keen to keep punching above their weight on the world stage, Sinn Féin leaders have been reluctant to alienate Israel’s key backers in U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration and on Capitol Hill. Those links with Washington have been carefully cultivated since the 1990s, when U.S. support helped Sinn Féin escape its status as a political pariah bogged down by Irish Republican Army (IRA) bl...

Viktor Orbán brings culture war to Brussels

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

BRUSSELS — Viktor Orbán is turning into the Rupert Murdoch of Brussels, bringing his own version of “fair and balanced” journalism into the bubble.Known for attacking civil society and suppressing the media in Hungary, Orbán is backing journalists and think tankers to spread his message in the EU capital. Ahead of the Hungarian Council presidency next year, and with a heavy assist from Brexit campaign alumni, they’re waging the war against wokism, highlighting malfeasance, and bringing an unabashedly conservative, often Euroskeptic take to the Brussels gab circuit.Much like Fox News sought to counter the mainstream media in the United States, Orbán’s allies aim to create an alternative echo chamber.“Very often you only hear one reading of things, one analysis, and the mainstream likes to hear itself,” said Balázs Hidvéghi, Orbán’s top lieutenant in the Fidesz party in the European Parliament.Following last year’s launch of a Brussels satellite of the Budapest think tank MCC, Or...

Judgment day for Rishi Sunak as Supreme Court rules on Rwanda deportation plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

LONDON — The stakes couldn’t be higher for Rishi Sunak on Wednesday as the Supreme Court rules on whether the British government’s controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda can go ahead.The judgment, which will be handed down at around 10:30 a.m. U.K. time, will have major ramifications for a prime minister who has promised to use the policy to get tough on migration as an election looms. It assumes even greater significance in a week when critics to the right of Sunak’s own governing Conservative Party have accused him of being a soft touch.Tuesday’s ruling comes after fiery debate, a lengthy legal battle involving the European Court of Human Rights, and now months of deliberation by the U.K.’s final court of appeal. Here’s POLITICO’s guide to the fight.What is the UK government trying to do?There’s a slogan for that: “Stop the boats.” Reducing migration is one of Rishi Sunak’s five flagship pledges on which he...

Spain’s Sánchez poised to remain in power — but at what cost?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

MADRID — Pedro Sánchez has achieved what many thought impossible.When he called a snap election after suffering heavy losses in May’s regional and local votes, nearly everyone wrote the Spanish prime minister off as a political cadaver.But on Wednesday, Sánchez will propose that Spain’s parliament let him form a new government, a bid that a majority of lawmakers is expected to support.While the Socialist leader’s electoral gamble seems about to pay off, it comes at a heavy price. To have his government confirmed by the fractured parliament, Sánchez needed to secure the support of the Catalan separatist Junts group. In exchange for the group’s backing, his Socialist Party this week filed a controversial bill to grant amnesty to those involved in the Catalan separatist movement over the past decade.“Amnesties in Spain have historically been applied after episodes of great violence or when there is a regime change, as happened when the last one was passed in 1977,” sa...

EXCLUSIVE: 7NEWS/Emerson College poll shows Nikki Haley emerge as challenger to Trump in NH Republican primary

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

Republican primary voters in the Granite State are shaking things up. Our exclusive 7NEWS/Emerson College poll shows 49% of Republican voters in New Hampshire still favor former President Donald Trump. But former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has surged to second with 18%. She is followed by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with 9%. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dropped to 7% and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is polling at 5%. Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson got less than 1%. “For the last year, we’ve been looking at a Ron DeSantis – Donald Trump race and now it looks like Nikki Haley is the alternative instead of Ron DeSantis at this point,” said 7NEWS/Emerson College pollster Spencer Kimball.“About a year ago, Ron DeSantis was about 17%,” Kimball said. Now he’s down to 7%. And when we look at a candidate like Nikki Haley, since August she’s gone from 4% up to 18%.”New Hampshire voters, in general, als...

Cassidy Moriarty (2 goals, assist) fuels Natick to state semifinal victory

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

Even if you’re eventually one of the lucky few to reach a state final at some point, you are always looking to get back in short order.Natick’s girls soccer program fits that mold. The Redhawks entered this week looking to punch their first ticket to a Div. 1 final since 2021, and they were able to follow through on those dreams.Junior Cassidy Moriarty paced the team (two goals, assist), as top-ranked Natick earned a trip back to the title game with a 5-2 victory over No. 5 Brookline on Tuesday.“We have 11 faces in the crowd that were on the sidelines during that (state final),” said Natick coach David Wainwright. “Some played different roles. For them, this is their own ownership of getting to this point. I’m excited for them. Right now, it hasn’t set in yet. As you can still see, the celebrations have only just begun.”Natick (20-1-1) certainly played the role of the top-seeded team in the state early on. Abby McCauley buried a shot in the fourth minute, before Moriarty sniped a go...

Report: Andrew Bailey choosing Red Sox over Yankees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

The Red Sox are “close to hiring” Andrew Bailey to be their new pitching coach, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal reported late Tuesday night.Bailey, who pitched for the Red Sox from 2012-13, has been the San Francisco Giants’ pitching coach for the last four years. He’s close friends with Boston’s new chief baseball officer Craig Breslow; they were teammates for five years in Oakland and Boston and already work together on Breslow’s Strike 3 Foundation.Several teams sought Bailey’s services, including the Baltimore Orioles. The New York Yankees interviewed him on Monday for their bench coach opening, which would’ve been a vertical move, a step closer to managing.Regardless of his relationship with Breslow, the Red Sox landing Bailey is a strong way to start the offseason. It not only shows how serious they are about transforming their pitching; it signals that they’re prepared to be aggressive again in the pursuit of winning.It may even...

Ravens’ John Harbaugh on Jim Harbaugh’s suspension at Michigan: ‘They don’t have anything of substance’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:14 GMT

Ravens coach John Harbaugh on Tuesday provided an impassioned defense of his brother, Jim Harbaugh, amid Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal.When asked for his opinion on Jim Harbaugh’s suspension by the Big Ten Conference, John Harbaugh said four times he was “proud” of his brother for how he’s “handled himself through all this.”Jim Harbaugh was suspended three games Friday — the rest of the No. 2-ranked Wolverines’ regular season — for a sign-stealing scheme that is also under investigation by the NCAA. In his ninth season at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh has denied any knowledge of illegal scouting within his program.John Harbaugh, 15 months Jim Harbaugh’s senior, said his brother has “come through this thing with flying colors” and that the Big Ten and NCAA “don’t have anything of substance.”“I’m proud as heck of him,” John Harbaugh said. “I’m really impressed with...