July 16: E-Stories
InUkraine CombatSitRep BehindLines Russia-China InEurope InOtherNews
Catching up…For a general view of news from various geopolitical threatres, Scott’s EA Worldview is always superb.
Let’s get going…
Stories we’re following…Russian drones strike Sumy, Kharkiv oblasts killing 1 person, injuring at least 21. Russian troops launched drone attacks on Kharkiv and Sumy oblasts on July 14, killing one person and injuring at least 21, local authorities reported.
On Monday night, a powerful explosion was reported in Kryvyi Rih—local media say the city was hit by a ballistic missile, following warnings of launches from occupied Crimea. Kharkiv is also under a massive drone attack: at least 7 explosions have been heard across the city so far.
Zelensky confirms that prime minister Shmyhal will be appointed defense minister amid government reshuffle. "Denys Shmyhal's extensive experience will definitely be valuable in the position of Ukraine’s defense minister," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Zelensky announces next prime minister, launches government reshuffle. "I have proposed that Yuliia Svyrydenko lead the Government of Ukraine and significantly renew its work," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
'He wants to take all of it' — Putin reportedly told Trump he'll intensify eastern Ukraine offensive over next 2 months. Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump that Moscow intended to continue offensive operations until it secured the full administrative borders of occupied Ukrainian regions.
Andrii Sybiha: With 323 votes in favour, the EU parliament has just ratified by a constitutional majority the Agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.
This will be the first such tribunal with concrete jurisdiction over the crime of aggression since the Second World War. It also builds on the experience of the Nuremberg, Tokyo, and former Yugoslavia tribunals. The Special Tribunal will work in The Hague, the city of justice. This is highly symbolic. Accountability is an integral part of a just and lasting peace.
Combat SituationISW: Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Lyman and Novopavlivka and in western Zaporizhia Oblast. Russian forces recently advanced in Sumy and Zaporizhia oblasts and near Toretsk, Pokrovsk, and Hulyaipole.
Russian forces' ability to advance deep enough into Ukraine's defenses to establish these salients indicates that the Russian military command has improved its ability to seize on opportunities to advance, but the rate of Russian advances has not increased beyond foot pace.
Russian forces recently advanced in eastern Zaporizhia Oblast near Hulyaipole – the first tactically significant activity in this area of the frontline since the Summer 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The Russian military command likely intends to seize on recent advances in western Donetsk Oblast in order to advance westward into Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia oblasts. Russian forces may leverage advances in western Donetsk Oblast to launch an offensive operation toward Pokrovske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, in pursuit of Russia's long-standing desire to seize Zaporizhzhia City.
Ukrainian forces are counterattacking in key areas of the front to slow Russian advances and are inflicting significant costs on the Russian military. Ukrainian forces conducted a series of limited counterattacks into advancing Russian forces in the Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk directions in February and March 2025, which forced Russian units to regroup and slowed Russian advances in these areas.
ISW: Wider implications of data and information from the battlefield
Trump stated that the Russian economy is doing "very poorly" and that Russia is using its assets for war, not trade. Trump stated that Russia is wasting money and people on its war. Rutte stated that Russian forces have suffered 100,000 deaths since January 1, 2025.
ISW continues to assess that Russia's battlefield losses are the key driver of Russia's economic woes as Russia suffers from the consequences of increased and unsustainable war spending, growing inflation, significant labor shortages, and reductions in Russia's sovereign wealth fund. Increased pressure on Russian forces on the battlefield would risk Putin's efforts to balance butter and guns and could force Putin to face hard choices sooner than he would like.
Forcing Putin either to make unpopular decisions or to face a scenario in which Russia cannot continue the war at the current tempo could bring Putin to the negotiating table, ready to offer concessions to end the war on terms acceptable to Ukraine and the United States.
Russian Mi-8 helicopter goes missing in Far East with 5 aboard. The aircraft had three crew members and two technicians on board, Russian pro-government media outlet Kommersant reported.
Another strike is reported on the "Energiya" military plant in Yelets, Russia. This plant was subject to Ukrainian drone strikes in recent weeks already. It is known for producing batteries for missile guidance and correction systems.
Ukraine will receive 6,000 LMM missiles and RapidRanger launchers from British company Thales UK under a new contract, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced. The delivery, aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses, will take place over the next five years.
War Translated: Ukrainian media report that the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine carried out a cyberattack on the Russian company “Gaskar Integration,” one of the largest drone suppliers for the Russian army. As a result of the attack, specialists gained access to over 47 terabytes of technical data related to the production of Russian drones. This information — including 10 terabytes of backup files — was destroyed.
Patriot systems, missiles may arrive in Ukraine 'within days,' Trump says. When asked when certain weapons, including missiles to Patriot air defense systems, were expected to arrive in Ukraine, Trump responded by saying "a full complement with the batteries... We're going to have some come very soon, within days."
German Defense Minister Pistorius told Reuters that a decision on two Patriot systems for Ukraine will come in days or weeks, but actual delivery could take months. Meanwhile, Friedrich Merz confirmed: “If Europe funds it, the U.S. will supply the weapons. I assured Trump Germany will play a key role.”
Francis Farrell: Beneath the problematic surface, the New York Times’ Kursk reporting reveals a deeper moral rot.
I never thought that I would now be the one needing to speak up about a colorful, well-written, and beautifully photographed piece of war journalism. But yet here we are.
Here we are because on July 12, The New York Times released a field report from Russian territory in Kursk Oblast, after it had been retaken from Ukrainian forces in March this year. The piece ran — and still stands there on the Times website — with the following headline: “A Landscape of Death: What's Left Where Ukraine Invaded Russia.”
In these fraught times, the New York Times has made a seemingly deliberate and very self-aware choice to paint a picture of this war without the understanding of who is in the right and who is in the wrong.
On the surface, the article by the German-Russian Magnum photographer Nanna Heitmann is very well put together. There's just one small problem. You could take this text, these images, flip it and make it about a Ukrainian settlement after liberation from Russian forces, and it would read the exact same way.
This shouldn’t need to be spelled out — this piece proactively creates a narrative of moral equivalence in a war where the moral landscape could hardly be more black and white.
Let’s talk a little bit about access. There are three reasons why soldiers are ready to bring journalists to the front line: either they’ve received an order from higher up to do so, they see a direct personal benefit in bringing these journalists along, or there’s simply a great deal of personal trust — or perhaps even friendship — with the journalist. Sometimes it’s a combination of those factors.
In this case, Heitmann, the photographer and reporter, was embedded with units of the Akhmat Chechen Special Forces Unit — better known as the Kadyrovites.
This unit forms the core of the personal military of the brutal Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, and these soldiers, having taken part in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since the very beginning, have been implicated in numerous war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war in Ukraine as part of the aggressor’s army.
This isn’t the first time that Heitmann has worked with Akhmat either. Her work previously sparked outrage in Ukraine when an image of a wounded soldier at one of Akhmat’s field hospitals near occupied Bakhmut was placed alongside the image of a Ukrainian child — in a diptych presented by World Press Photo in an attempt to show the duality of war — or something ridiculous along those lines.
Here, we have one of the most notoriously brutal military units of this war, the elite guard of a fascist regime within a larger fascist aggressor state — giving this Western reporter repeated, exclusive access to the front line.
Once again: three reasons. An order from the top, perception of personal benefit, or simply high levels of trust and/or friendship. Feel free to make your own conclusions.
Behind the LinesHungary plans to propose EU sanctions against Ukraine tomorrow, Telex reports, citing the Hungarian Foreign Ministry. Budapest will raise the issue at the next EU meeting, following the alleged fatal beating of an ethnic Hungarian at a Territorial Recruitment Center in Zakarpattia Oblast.
ICYMI: Trump said today that European NATO allies will buy “billions of dollars” of weapons made in the U.S. to give to Ukraine. Trump announced the move today in a White House meeting with NATO Secretary General Rutte, who described the move as “really big.” The NATO leader added that alliance members will swiftly send some arms from their own stockpiles to Ukraine and replace them with the new U.S. weapons.
Der Spiegel casts doubt on the impact of Trump’s tariffs on Russia, noting that Russian exports to the U.S. totaled under $5 billion in 2023 and dropped further in 2024—hardly enough to shake Moscow’s economy. That likely explains the muted reaction from Russia’s markets. (Mo: more on the Russian economy in Madi Kapparov’s up-coming economic analysis.)
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has said secondary sanctions could hit countries like China, Brazil and India if Russia is not serious about peace talks to end its war on Ukraine. Speaking on the final day of his visit to Washington DC, Rutte also said Europe would “find the money” for Ukraine to continue defending itself from Russian aggression ahead of any peace talks.
Financial Times: Donald Trump has privately encouraged Ukraine to step up deep strikes on Russian territory, even asking Volodymyr Zelenskyy whether he could strike Moscow if the US provided long-range weapons, according to people briefed on the discussions.
The conversation, which took place during the July 4 call between the US and Ukrainian leaders, marks a sharp departure from Trump’s previous stance on Russia’s war and his campaign promise to end US involvement in foreign conflicts.
Heads Up—President Trump tells reporters the US has no plans to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles and doesn't think they should try to target Moscow, following a report that he asked Zelensky if he could hit the Russian capital during a call.
On July 14, Ukrainian commanders Syrskyi, Hnatov, and Budanov briefed Gen. Keith Kellogg on the operational situation, Russian plans, and Russia’s preparations for war against NATO, Defense Minister Umerov said. Ukraine outlined urgent military needs and emphasized readiness for a prolonged ceasefire—while focusing on scaling domestic defense production, including joint air defense projects with Europe.
Quad Call—On July 14, “Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom about fostering stability in the Middle East and ensuring Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon. On the Russia-Ukraine war, the Secretary underscored that it remains a priority of President Trump to bring the war to an end through a durable negotiated settlement.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene has criticized Donald Trump over his new pledge to send “billions of dollars” worth of weapons to Ukraine, accusing him of breaking a campaign promise by continuing the very aid that Republicans spent years blocking under Joe Biden. “MAGA did not vote for more weapons to Ukraine,” the Georgia congresswoman, one of Trump’s most staunch allies in Washington, wrote on X on Tuesday, referring to the “Make America great again” moniker adopted by Trump’s base of supporters. “MAGA voted for no more US involvement in foreign wars.”
Meanwhile in Russia & China…Russia vows to 'firmly defend' interests in Baltic after Estonia HIMARS test. "The Baltic region is tense due to the aggressive policies of European coastal states," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Yle: It is now prohibited for Russian citizens to make property purchases in Finland. New law banning Russian property purchases is intended to strengthen Finland's security. In the future, real estate purchases will not be permitted to be made by persons whose citizenship violates the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of another nation, and whose citizenship poses a threat to Finland's national security.
Kommersant: More than 50 coal mines have been closed or are on the verge of closing in Russia
The situation in the Russian coal industry continues to deteriorate, said Deputy Minister of Energy Dmitry Islamov. According to him, 51 enterprises are currently closed or on the verge of closing.
The deputy minister said that by the end of 2024, losses had reached 112.6 billion rubles. "In the so-called red zone, these are enterprises that have been stopped or are on the verge of stopping, there are currently 51 enterprises, that is, mines and open-pit mines," Mr. Islamov said (quoted by RIA Novosti).
In the first five months of 2025, coal production in the Russian Federation decreased by 1 million tons in annual terms. The Ministry of Energy predicts a loss of 300-350 billion rubles for coal companies per year. Dmitry Islamov said that due to the crisis in the coal industry, Russian investments in this sector will fall below last year's mark of 248 billion rubles by the end of the year.
American Daniel Martindale has received Russian citizenship. He had been spying for Russia for two years while located in the non-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast. The recruited agent was passing coordinates of Ukrainian military targets to Russia. He was later extracted by Russian intelligence services.
The Azeri Times: U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye, Tom Barrack, on the Zangezur Corridor: “Türkiye, Armenia & Azerbaijan are arguing over 32 km of road. Then the U.S. says: ‘Lease it to us for 100 years and you can share it.”
Mo: this is significant because it indicates that the US is paying attention to Russian and, above all, Chinese advances in the what the Chinese call ‘the Middle Corridor’. Having a presence in this little slip of territory is fundamental to the connectivity between the Caspian and Black Seas. The EU has also been courting the South Caucasus and western areas of Central Asia in order to establish an access point for EU enterprises.
G.Captain: Chinese Container Ships Receive Permission to Sail Russia’s Arctic Northern Sea Route.
The same day Yemen’s Houthi militants resumed attacks against multiple vessels in the Red Sea after months of calm, several Chinese container ships received permits to transit the Arctic Ocean this summer.
The vessels include the 264 meter-long NewNew Panda 1. With a capacity of 4,363 TEU it would rank among the largest container ships to transit the Arctic. It does not have an ice classification highlighting how even regular vessels can now routinely make the voyage across the Arctic Ocean during certain times of the year.
The vessel is operated by Yangpu Newnew Shipping Co.,Ltd. The company began offering Arctic service connecting ports in Asia to destinations in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea in 2023 with seven voyages.
One of the company’s vessels, NewNew Polar Bear, was involved in an international incident when it was suspected of damaging the Balticconnector pipeline by dragging its anchor across the sea floor. That vessel’s captain appeared before Hong Kong’s Eastern magistrates’ court last week.Last year NewNew Shipping completed 13 voyages carrying around 20,000 TEU. It expects to further expand service this year. In September 2024 two Panamax container ships crossed paths in the Arctic for the first time, just 750 nautical miles from the North Pole.
Prianka Srinivasan: Caught in the contest between China and the west, the Cook Islands asks where its future lies
The Cook Islands struck major deals with China earlier this year for economic and other kinds of cooperation, sparking a diplomatic row with Wellington over a lack of consultation. Some welcome more Chinese investment but others raise questions over what it will bring. The Cook Islands prime minister, Mark Brown, and his government declined requests for an interview. But others, such as the opposition leader, Tina Browne, were vocal in their criticism of Beijing building its influence in the Cook Islands.
Many here share Browne’s concerns over China, particularly as it begins to put pressure on the country’s longstanding ties with New Zealand. This relationship is overwhelmingly popular – its citizens hold New Zealand citizenship. Cook Islanders have access to healthcare and employment opportunities in New Zealand.
“Our government decided to sign a contract with China,” Ngatan says. “So it’s limiting our resources over here.” He says he “feels robbed” by China “taking everything from us. If we cut ties with New Zealand, it also cuts ties with all the tourists that are coming from overseas,” he says. “That will be a big problem for us, because that’s how we survive.”
The deal signed in February between the Cook Islands and China encompasses a series of cooperation agreements designed to support the domestic economy. They include more cooperation in trade, tourism, infrastructure, climate resilience and seabed minerals development. They also signalled closer diplomatic cooperation, with pledges to consult and support one another in multilateral forums, including the UN and the Pacific Islands Forum. The documents did not include references to security or military cooperation.
The controversial practice of seabed mining is a key part of China’s deals with the Cook Islands. The Pacific nation is one of the first countries in the world to grant exploration licences for deep-sea mineral exploration, a practice that has drawn criticism from others in the region.
Cook Islands is one example of a story playing out across the Pacific, where China has been steadily deepening its influence. In recent years Beijing has signed security and development deals with Solomon Islands, Kiribati and most recently Nauru, reshaping traditional alliances. For New Zealand and its allies, the fear is that China’s growing presence in the region could eventually translate into military access or control over critical infrastructure.
In Europe…Politico: The European Union is looking at targeting €72 billion in U.S. goods in a second round of trade countermeasures, including aircraft, cars and car parts, according to a list seen by POLITICO on Monday.
The bulk of those exports targeted are industrial goods, totaling €65.7 billion, while €6.4 billion in agricultural products would also be hit if EU countries back the new retaliatory tariffs. The list includes bourbon whiskey, despite intense lobbying from France and Ireland to shield the drinks sector from U.S. President Donald Trump’s reprisals. The biggest line item in the 200-page list is aircraft and aircraft parts, with tariffs set to target almost €11 billion of U.S. exports — potentially dealing a heavy blow to plane maker Boeing.
Canadian PM Mark Carney: “Spoke with President von der Leyen this morning to discuss the New EU-Canada Strategic Partnership of the Future and next steps to deepen cooperation on industrial policy, critical raw materials, digital trade, and clean technologies. In the face of a shifting global landscape, Canada and the EU will become even stronger and more competitive through an ever-closer partnership.”
The Port of Antwerp-Bruges has been turned into a giant car park with thousands of cars, vans, trucks and tractors bound for the US sitting idle as manufacturers try to avert the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Figures released by the port show a 15.9% drop in the transport of new passenger cars and vans to the US in the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with a sharp decline emerging in May – one month after the US president announced his “liberation day” tariffs.
Donald Trump said he is set to meet the British PM, Keir Starmer, during his upcoming trip to Scotland and refine the trade framework agreed upon by the two leaders. “We are going to have a meeting with him, probably in Aberdeen. And we’re going to do a lot of different things, also refine the trade deal that we’ve made,” Trump said.
Follow up: Slovakia delays adoption of new sanctions package against Russia, EU foreign policy chief Kallas confirms
“I’m really sad that we didn’t reach this agreement today. I must say that we were really close to reassuring Slovakia. The commission has delivered what they asked for.
Now, the ball is in Slovakia’s court, and we must get this deal done. It has been already two months.
Sanctions are necessary to starve Russia of the means to wage this war, and the European Union will keep rising the cost, so stopping its aggression becomes the only path forward to Moscow.”
She adds that she welcomes Trump’s announcements last night, but says the EU “would like to see the US to share the burden”.
“America and Europe are working together, and if we are working together, this can put the pressure on Putin to negotiate seriously. The only way to get Putin to end this war is to force his hand,” she said.
EU foreign ministers will discuss Russian frozen assets during an informal meeting at the end of August, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday after a meeting with the ministers in Brussels. “It’s important that everybody hears everybody’s arguments, and then we can also come up with compromises to address these sensitivities”, Kallas said.
According to France's National Strategic Review 2025, European countries must prepare for a war "in the heart" of Europe within the next five years the conflict will take place outside French territory (Moldova, the Baltics, or NATO countries) but Paris may be involved.
Russia in particular poses the most direct threat today and for years to come to the interests of France, those of its partners and allies, and the very stability of the European continent and the Euro-Atlantic area. In Ukraine, Moscow is waging an unrestrained war of aggression that has left nearly a million people dead and wounded, bombing the population and civilian infrastructure, sending North Korean troops to the front lines to fight directly on the European continent, relying on the Islamic Republic of Iran for part of its military equipment, while employing an irresponsible and uninhibited strategy of nuclear intimidation. The strengthening of its armed forces is continuing at an accelerated pace to replace the large amount of equipment destroyed in Ukraine, but also to develop new capabilities and strengthen its arsenal by 2030.
Furthermore, Russia is using all means at its disposal to undermine support for Ukraine and challenge the international order for its own benefit. To this end, Moscow is carrying out hostile and subversive actions in Europe. Russia organises or serves as a sanctuary for cyber attacks, for example against our hospitals and some of our energy facilities, targets and assassinates opponents in exile, manipulates or attempts to manipulate certain elections, and attempts to influence opinions in order to destabilise our societies.
Finally, and more broadly, it is the European model of liberal democracy and humanism that is now under attack and being challenged in a global ideological offensive. Within the European Union itself, this offensive is undermining our capacity for collective action.
Beyond that, Iran's destabilising actions have created the conditions for widespread war in the Middle East. China has also hardened its stance with a view to becoming the world's leading power by 2050, leading to major changes in the global geopolitical and technological environment.
FACE PALM…Literally.
OCCRP: Apparent Affiliate of Danish Company Helps Russians Export Grain From Occupied Ukraine.
“The Sea of Azov has become an internal sea of the Russian Federation,” said Vladimir Putin in a 2022 videoconference, barely suppressing a smile. “That’s a serious thing. Peter the Great fought to gain access to the Sea of Azov.”
Among the benefits of this conquest was access to two commercial Ukrainian ports — one in the shattered city of Mariupol, and another in smaller Berdiansk. Now under occupation, both have been repurposed to export Ukrainian grain and other commodities for Russia’s benefit.
However, an investigation led by OCCRP’s Ukrainian member center, Slidstvo.Info, has found evidence suggesting that some of these grain exports may be taking place with Western participation. What appears to be the Russian branch of a company headquartered in Denmark has inspected and certified at least 170,000 tons of grain exported through the port of Berdiansk over the last one and a half years.
The Danish company, Baltic Control, is a global player in the business of inspecting shipped cargo. Founded in 1980 and initially focused on Scandinavia’s agricultural trade with the Soviet Union and East Germany, it now operates out of dozens of offices on six continents. In 2023 it was acquired by the Apave Group, a French multinational.
Russian corporate records do not show Baltic Control having any ownership stake in the Russian company inspecting the Berdiansk grain, which operates under the Baltic Control brand as “Baltic Control Novorossiysk.”
But as recently as October 2022 — months after the Russian invasion — Baltic Control still listed an office in Novorossiysk, a Russian port city, on its website. (That entry has since disappeared.) Baltic Control’s 2021/2022 annual report also listed “Baltic Control Novorossiysk” as a related company. And in a conversation with a reporter posing as a grain exporter, a Baltic Control employee said that its Novorossiysk office was open and still functioning.
Rikard Jozwiak for RFE/RL: EU foreign ministers on July 15 are expected to rubber stamp an agreement to impose sanctions on people and entities the bloc deems guilty of “actions destabilizing" Moldova, where Russia still wields massive influence and maintains more than 1,000 troops in the separatist Transdniester region.
The sanctions regime was first adopted in 2023 in an attempt to protect Chisinau from Moscow-backed attempts to wrestle back political control over the country.
So far, 16 people and two organizations are blacklisted, most notably the fugitive oligarchs Vlad Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor, both of whom fled Moldova. The proposed new batch of listings, seen by RFE/RL, consists of seven individuals and three entities -- all in one way or another linked to Shor.Shor a key figure in bank fraud scandal a decade ago in which close to $1 billion was transferred out of Moldovan banks for loans that remained unpaid. Shor’s political party SOR was outlawed in 2023, but a year later he launched a new political bloc from Moscow called Victory/Pobeda, which is one of the three entities proposed for sanctioning by the EU.
In Georgia...Rikard Jozwiak for RFE/RL: As EU foreign ministers gather in Brussels on July 15 for their last official meeting before the summer break, Georgia is once again high on the agenda due to the deteriorating political situation in the South Caucasus republic with the recent arrests of several opposition politicians.
The bloc has so far enacted some symbolic measures against Tbilisi. According to several EU officials familiar with the discussions, more than 10 EU member states -- including France, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Sweden and the Baltic trio of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- have been pushing for sanctions to be adopted by EU foreign ministers.
Despite the obvious opposition from Hungary, Slovenia and Greece, many diplomats RFE/RL has spoken to on condition of anonymity believe that there still is a chance of finding a consensus to blacklist at least a couple of Georgian judges, whom the EU deems responsible for the arrest of Georgian oppositionists. It’s believed that sanctions-skeptic countries may accept this instead of targeting high-profile politicians.
One option being discussed is the suspension of visa liberalization for Georgian citizens, but it’s running into opposition from Slovenia. It’s never been done before and would affect ordinary Georgian citizens.
Another option would be to suspend Georgia’s EU candidate status, but the bloc has never reversed such a process.
Lastly, there is an option that could likely be achieved this week: a large group of countries, led by the Baltic trio, plans to ask the European External Action Service and the European Commission to conduct a thorough assessment of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement from 2016. Certain parts of the agreement could be suspended, such as the free trade provisions, but this would require a qualified majority.
Follow up: Kallas also spoke briefly about Georgia – worrying that “the assault on democracy by the Georgian Dream is growing more severe” and saying that “Georgia’s democratic backsliding will come at cost” – and Moldova, stressing that the country is “a prime target of Moscow’s hybrid war” and warning that anyone attempting to destabilise the country will face EU sanctions. She later returns to Georgia, saying that suspending EU visa-free regime for Georgia could be on the table as the Georgian government needs to “ensure and uphold the protection of fundamental rights of all Georgian citizens.”
July 11—Gov.UK: Joint statement of 11 July 2025 by the Foreign Ministers of Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the High Representative of the European Union on recent developments in Georgia:
We, the Foreign Ministers of European democracies, are disturbed and deeply concerned at the deteriorating situation in Georgia.
We strongly condemn the recent, politically motivated, imprisonment and detention of the leaders of Georgian opposition, clearly designed to stifle political opposition in Georgia, a few months ahead of the local elections. Their detention, as well as arbitrary arrests and increasing repression of other Georgian authorities` critics, representatives of civil society, peaceful protesters and independent journalists, contribute to dismantling of democracy in Georgia and rapid transformation towards an authoritarian system, in contradiction to European norms and values. Recent legislative changes aim at stifling independent civil society and legitimate protest.
The course of political repression carried out by the Georgian authorities has led, in reaction, to a considerable downgrading of our relationship, including reduction of assistance and cooperation with Georgian authorities. Today, the authoritarian and anti-European course of the Georgian authorities further threatens Georgia’s democratic achievements and relations with our countries.
We will continue to call out Georgian authorities’ undemocratic actions and violations of human rights and will not hesitate to make use of the range of unilateral and multilateral tools available to us should Georgian authorities continue to take steps that erode Georgia’s democracy and respect for human rights.
It is not too late to reverse course. We call on the Georgian authorities to immediately release unjustly detained politicians, journalists and activists, to reverse repressive legislation and to engage in a national dialogue with all relevant stakeholders to find a way out of the current situation.
Please note that the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, did not sign the declaration on behalf of the Meloni government and Italy. It’s significant because while PM Meloni continues to support Ukraine concretely, her government is unwilling to show the same resolve in the face of Georgian Dream’s attempt to suppress the democratic system in Georgia.
Massimiliano Coccia reports in Linkiesta that “amidst this widespread alarm, Italy continues to avoid taking a stance.
On July 11, 2025, at the Dubrovnik Forum in Croatia, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani met with Maka Botchorishvili, Georgia's new Foreign Minister and his direct counterpart. A leading figure in the Georgian Dream party, a former parliamentarian and chair of the European Integration Committee, Botchorishvili is now the most authoritative voice in Georgian diplomacy, and the main architect of the narrative that presents the government in Tbilisi as still pro-European, despite its ongoing repressive drift.”
The meeting, widely publicized on Georgian institutional channels, took place in a relaxed and celebratory atmosphere, amid declarations of friendship and mutual recognition. Tajani carefully avoided any reference to the law on foreign agents, the repression of protests, or the government's organic relations with pro-Russian circles. There was no distancing, no reference to the principles of the European Union. Only legitimacy.
But Italy's disalignment with the European stance doesn't stop at Palazzo Chigi. It also plays out on the symbolic stages of municipal relations. Last June, Milan Mayor Beppe Sala welcomed with full honors the Mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze, a former AC Milan footballer and now a key figure in the Georgian power structure, for the inauguration of the new Georgian consulate in the Lombardy capital.
In other news…NYT: Supreme Court Allows Trump to Dismantle the Education Department. In a major victory for the Trump administration, the decision allows thousands of employees to be fired, functionally eliminating the agency.
Propublica: Microsoft has been using engineers in China to help maintain the Department of Defense’s computer systems — with minimal supervision by US personnel — leaving some of the nation’s most sensitive data vulnerable to hacking from China.
The arrangement, which was critical to Microsoft winning the federal government’s cloud computing business a decade ago, relies on US citizens with security clearances to oversee the work and serve as a barrier against espionage and sabotage. But these workers, known as “digital escorts,” often lack the technical expertise to police foreign engineers with far more advanced skills. Some are former military personnel with little coding experience who are paid barely more than minimum wage for the work. “We’re trusting that what they’re doing isn’t malicious, but we really can’t tell.” The system has been in place for nearly a decade, though its existence is being reported publicly here for the first time.
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino returned to work yesterday and was expected at the office today, a federal law enforcement source told NBC News this morning, days after he had threatened to quit over a justice department memo that effectively ended the government’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
A source told NBC last week that the former podcaster was “out-of-control furious” after the memo was made public and had gotten into a heated confrontation with attorney general Pam Bondi over his frustration with how the justice department had handled the case.
On that note, Donald Trump has continued to defend Pam Bondi, who has come under furious fire from the president’s Maga base over the perceived lack of transparency surrounding the justice department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. “The attorney general has handled that very well,” Trump said of Bondi. “She has really done a very good job.”
It’s not just about the Epstein Files: MAGA is fervently isolationist and oppose any American involvement in Ukraine’s defence.
Some conservative members of Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement have reacted angrily to the president's plans to sell weapons to Nato, arguing it is a betrayal of his promise to end US involvement in foreign wars.
Republican Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene, a key Trump ally, and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon are among those who have criticised the decision, with Bannon telling his podcast listeners that Ukraine is a "European war".
In an interview with the New York Times, Greene - an isolationist member of Congress from Georgia who has been one of the most loyal Trump supporters on Capitol Hill - said the move was at odds with what she had promised voters on the campaign trail.
"It's not just Ukraine; it's all foreign wars in general and a lot of foreign aid," she said. "This is what we campaigned on. This is what I promised also to my district. This is what everybody voted for. And I believe we have to maintain the course."
Thank you so much for your information.