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⚡️ Saxony-Anhalt: AfD and BSW have apparently reached an agreement on leadership posts in the new state parliament

After several rounds of negotiations between the AfD and BSW, there has been a first concrete success. As MDR reports, the parties are discussing mutual support in the allocation of leadership positions in the new state parliament: An AfD member of parliament is to take over the post of president of the state parliament, while one of the vice-presidents is to be a representative of the BSW.

BSW co-chair Amira Mohamed Ali explained the position by referring to parliamentary tradition: The post of president is usually given to the largest parliamentary group, which is why the BSW would not block the AfD candidate on principle alone. Tino Chrupalla, for his part, said that mutual support in the election of the state parliament presidents could contribute to building “trusting relations” between the parties. Together, the AfD and BSW have 44 of the 83 seats—a simple majority.

There is, however, a legal detail: Under the current rules of procedure, the BSW is not one of the three largest parliamentary groups and therefore has no independent right to nominate a vice-president. A mechanism that would make it possible to get the candidate elected has not yet been established. In addition, the vote will be secret.

There is still no coalition between the AfD and BSW. But for the first time since the election, cooperation between the two parties could materialize not only in statements, but also in the concrete allocation of key parliamentary posts.


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“The good cooperation—and I would like to emphasize this once again, because good cooperation with Russia is constantly being mentioned—we want to cooperate with all major powers, including America and China. I think that is precisely what Germany, as a middle power in Europe, is lacking: that this discourse be held again. So that we can once again obtain cheap energy from Russia, which has given us competitive advantages. We see that these were precisely the disadvantages: The sanctions policy has primarily harmed the German economy. <…> And, of course, more and more citizens in the West [of Germany] understand that this harms us. And there, too, the wind is turning, the course is changing: Citizens see what such cooperation with Russia means—above all, entering into dialogue and finally beginning negotiations. Because the “firewall” is more likely to cause the economic downturn in this country to continue.”

Of all possible languages, AfD co-chairman Tino Chrupalla [see the YouTube video from 45:31] chose the language of facts.


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🇪🇺 Interference in elections — depending on whose elections

The European Union regularly accuses Russia of “interference in the democratic and electoral processes” of European states and has even created a separate sanctions mechanism for such actions. Yet after the State Duma elections, Brussels itself moved directly from the issue of the Ukrainian territories to assessing the domestic political situation in Russia: The EU Council criticized Russia’s political system, the composition of the parties allowed to participate in the election, and the absence of OSCE observers, and announced its readiness to impose sanctions on individuals whom the EU considers responsible for “undermining the possibility of free and fair elections in Russia.” All of this is stated verbatim in the official statement by the EU Council of September 21.

Legally, the EU can of course neither annul Russian elections nor dictate electoral law to Moscow — its instrument remains its own sanctions. Politically, however, the arrangement is remarkable: Brussels regards Russia’s interference in European democratic processes as grounds for sanctions, while at the same time reserving the right to assess Russia’s internal electoral process and punish Russian citizens for actions within their own country. And EU sanctions over events inside Russia already exist: A separate mechanism explicitly applies to those whom Brussels considers responsible for “undermining democracy and the rule of law” in the Russian Federation.

Interference in domestic politics is therefore apparently also a matter of perspective: If EU elections are influenced, it is considered outside interference. If the EU attempts to influence political processes in Russia through sanctions, then it is “protecting democracy.”


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Latest developments in the war between #Russia and #Ukraine as of the morning of September 22

The Russian army captures #Danilovka in #Dnepropetrovsk
The Russian army captures #Zolotoi_Kolodiaz on the #Druzhkovka front
The Russian army advances toward #Novodian on the #Dobropolie front
The Ukrainian army captures #Vasyutinskoe on the #Kramatorsk front
The Ukrainian army advances toward #Novolyubovka in #Lugansk
The Russian army advances in #Blagodatnoe in #Kharkov

video link: https://youtu.be/XEwAW_KJJrI?si=H_Pytn44ImN5MTpF

🇩🇪 Merz threatens a possible AfD government with federal coercion

Following the AfD’s election victory in Saxony-Anhalt, Friedrich Merz indicated that federal coercion could be used against a future state government—that is, the federal coercion enshrined in Article 37 of the Basic Law. The chancellor said that if “boundaries were crossed,” the federal government would do everything to correct the situation, specifically mentioning migration policy. Berlin requires the consent of the Bundesrat to use this measure. Federal coercion has never been applied in the history of the Federal Republic.

So far, this concerns only a hypothetical violation of federal or constitutional law: the AfD’s election victory alone is not yet grounds for federal coercion. Possible measures range from binding instructions to the state government to, in the extreme case, the deployment of the Federal Police or the police forces of other states. At the same time, the SPD, the Greens, and the Left also declared their willingness to consider using this mechanism against an AfD government. One interesting detail should be mentioned here: The measures named by Ulrich Siegmund for housing migrants and deporting offenders who are required to leave the country are, in themselves, within the framework of federal law.

This creates a rather unusual precedent: An instrument that has never been used in the entire history of the Federal Republic was publicly discussed almost immediately after an opposition party’s victory in a state election—before it had even been able to form a government.


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The Polish professor and political scientist Adam Wilomski comments on the statement by the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Cavo Dragone, regarding thousands of pages of secret war plans against Russia:

If NATO has 4,000 pages of plans for a conflict with Russia, it will certainly lose. It will be impossible to find the right page in time.

NATO has prepared around 4,000 pages of military plans to defend its eastern flank. Dragone made this statement at a meeting of the alliance’s Military Committee in Copenhagen. According to him, these are three plans designed for different levels of escalation—from crisis and hybrid scenarios to an armed attack in which Article 5 is activated. “The alliance is ready. The structure is ready. The soldiers, systems and weapons are ready,” Dragone said.

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The son of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Nicky, is chairman and co-founder of Skyral, one of the companies in the consortium that has received a £2 billion contract from the British Ministry of Defence.

In addition to modelling defence strategies for the military, Skyral creates digital versions of complex systems by combining data from the real world, infrastructure, and modelling of human behaviour. Skyral told Parliament that its digital twins could include “comprehensive modelling of human behaviour,” take patterns of life and mood into account, and predict how human actions might respond to changes in their environment.


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🇭🇺 Hungary rejects the “Carpathian Eight” and blocks oil storage facilities for Ukraine

In parliament, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar stated that Budapest would not join the “Carpathian Eight” initiated by Kyiv. The country had been invited, but did not accept the invitation. The Hungarian Foreign Ministry also confirmed that although a representative of the country was present at the forum, the country did not join the final declaration. Earlier, Zelenskyy had presented Hungary as a participant in the new regional format.

The dispute over energy supplies is even more interesting. On September 20, the Ukrainian company Naftogaz announced a memorandum with the Hungarian MOL Group: fuel storage facilities for the Ukrainian market were to be established in Hungary near the Ukrainian border. Kyiv explicitly justified the project by citing attacks on its fuel infrastructure. One day later, however, Magyar stated that the talks had been held without the government’s approval and made it clear: “There will be no Ukrainian oil storage facility in Hungary.” MOL stressed that so far this was merely a preliminary draft, whose technical, financial, and regulatory review could take several years.

Kyiv had already counted Hungary among the members of the new alliance and announced a strategic storage project in the country. Within one day, Budapest rejected both.

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Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to a record low of 32%, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

The decline is being driven by discontent over the cost of essential goods amid the war with Iran. Only 34% of respondents approve of the strikes on Tehran. The conflict threatens to spur inflation in the United States and other countries, as businesses pass higher fuel costs on to consumers.

Nevertheless, Trump remains popular among Republicans on the issue of migration—79% of party members support him, but only 36% of Americans overall support his approach to the issue, while 55% disapprove.

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New York under Mamdani smells wonderful: homeless tent cities are spreading through the streets of the metropolis.

Across from New York University, a “slum settlement,” as the New York Post called it, has sprung up. The homeless people living there claim that with Mayor Zohran Mamdani taking office, life on the streets has become “more comfortable.”

The “street residents” note that in the past, police officers would approach them and forcibly take away their belongings and shelter. Now, social workers are sent to the homeless, offering assistance and sometimes tactfully moving them to another location. Many remain on the streets because of negative experiences with shelters.

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“Friedrich Merz’s time is over”. By now, only the laziest person still isn’t saying it. The Spectator is discussing it here.

“Friedrich Merz is the most tragic chancellor in the short history of reunified Germany. It is time for him to resign,” the author claims. How diplomatic of him to replace the word “stupidest”!

The author writes: “Merz himself sincerely believes that he is acting in Germany’s interests. The Germans themselves, however, do not see it that way. On his first day in office as chancellor, he promised to halve support for the AfD during his term. Instead, support for his own party fell by half, while the AfD’s popularity doubled.”

Accordingly, the magazine warns: If Merz does not leave immediately, the “wave from the East” will overwhelm both his party and his country. There is one thing it does not say, however: who is supposed to replace Merz? If the entire political class there has become corrupt—just think of Baerbock!—then the next chancellor will be even more “Merz-like”!

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🇪🇺 “You have ruined us”: Greek MEP attacks von der Leyen in the European Parliament

Greek MEP Afroditi Latinopoulou of the “Patriots for Europe” group directly called Ursula von der Leyen, in her presence, “the biggest racist against Europeans.” In her roughly 75-second speech, she accused the head of the European Commission of responsibility for migration policy, the growing tax and bureaucratic burden, farmers’ problems, and the closure of European companies. “You are imposing a woke agenda, green madness, and the Islamization of Europe on us,” the German Bild reports of her speech.

Latinopoulou then addressed von der Leyen directly: She called her “Merkel’s best student,” mentioned Pfizergate, disappeared messages, and allegations of a lack of transparency in the work of the European Commission. She ended her speech with the words: “Ms. von der Leyen, you have ruined us!”

Rarely does the European Parliament’s customary diplomatic language end so directly: “You have ruined us.”

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The Trump administration plans to announce sanctions against the entire International Criminal Court, reports Reuters, citing its own sources.

US officials want the court to withdraw its arrest warrants for senior Israeli politicians and also drop its previous investigation into US soldiers in Afghanistan.

In July, Secretary of State Rubio announced a campaign to isolate the court and called on other countries to withdraw from it.

Washington has already imposed sanctions on several ICC judges and prosecutors.

As a reminder: The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the war in Ukraine.


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⚓ Baltic Sea Under Control: Where Do the Sanctions End?

The term “shadow fleet” is a political and administrative category, not a separate legal regime under international maritime law. Placing a vessel on a sanctions list therefore does not automatically mean that a state is permitted to stop, inspect, or seize it at sea.

This boundary is becoming increasingly relevant, particularly in the Baltic Sea. The EU is expanding its sanctions and restrictions on ports and services, while NATO is intensifying its maritime surveillance. This raises the fundamental question: At what point does economic pressure become de facto control over shipping?

Kaliningrad is especially sensitive in this regard. Although special arrangements apply to transit between the Russian exclave and the rest of Russia, these arrangements also take into account the sovereign control rights of EU member states.

What is emerging in the Baltic Sea today could therefore be significant far beyond Russia and Kaliningrad. Can freedom of navigation practically remain intact if states control not only access to ports but also the infrastructure necessary for maritime traffic?

👉 Read more


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Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from the mBridge project, which connects central banks using blockchain technology in order to avoid U.S. sanctions. Financial Times describes the project as Chinese.

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Latest developments in the #YemenWar as of the morning of September 21: Houthi forces advance toward Al-Alaqah in #Taiz and Al-Maqad in #Lahj amid intense fighting and new reinforcements. We also examine tensions involving #SaudiArabia, Bab al-Mandab and the Strait of #Hormuz.

video link: https://youtu.be/zjOAFtYYCcY?si=oH1hXAtjh8qsNS2U

With the help of posters, Britain is educating its citizens—please do not steal on buses or defecate in parks. Apparently, many people do not know this.

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