Israel aviation authority advises airlines still flying in its airspace to carry extra fuel as delays are to be expected.
Leading international airlines have suspended or reduced flights to Israel’s capital Tel Aviv amid the conflict with Hamas and escalating attacks on Gaza.
About half of all scheduled flights at the airport did not operate on Sunday and a third were cancelled as of Monday evening.
American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, Delta Air Lines, Egypt Air, Emirates, Finland’s Finnair, Dutch carrier KLM, Germany’s Lufthansa, Norwegian Air, Portugal’s TAP, Polish carrier LOT, Ryanair and United Airlines were among those suspending or reducing flight to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.
Russia banned night flights to Israel and regulators including the US Federal Aviation Authority, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and Israel’s aviation authority urged airlines to use caution in Israeli airspace but stopped short of suspending flights.
Russia said it had restricted flights from going to Israel before 09:00 GMT due to what it called an “unstable political and military situation” and advised airlines to continue to monitor risks during daylight hours.
Israel’s civil aviation authority said airlines should “review current security and threat information” and had changed some air traffic routes. The authority noted that delays should be expected and advised airlines flying to Israel to carry extra fuel as a precaution.
British Airways said it was planning to continue operating flights to Israel “over the coming days with adjusted departure times”.
Virgin Atlantic said it would continue to run some flights but that customers could rebook or request a refund on their tickets.
The United Kingdom’s easyJet halted flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday, and Hungarian budget carrier Wizz Air cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice. Other airlines suspending flights included Aegean, Swiss and Austrian Airlines.
Airlines flying from China, Hong Kong and South Korea also cancelled flights to Tel Aviv.
Hong Kong’s main carrier, Cathay Pacific Airways, said that “in view of the latest situation in Israel”, it was cancelling its Tel Aviv flights scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday.
“The safety of our passengers and crew are our top priority. We will continue to monitor the situation very closely,” the airline said on its website, adding it would provide updates on the site.
Israel’s national carrier El Al said that it was maintaining its Tel Aviv flights for now, “in accordance with the instructions of the Israeli security forces”, with all flights now departing only from Terminal Three at Ben Gurion airport.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sought to justify his reluctance to supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles on Thursday by naming constitutional constraints and the risk of an “escalation of the war.”
However, Scholz did announce additional military support for Kyiv in the form of another “Patriot” air defense system “for the winter months” and argued that “this is what is most needed now.”
The chancellor has come under increased pressure from allies like the United Kingdom — but also from within his own ruling coalition — to hand over the German long-distance, high-precision Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, especially as the U.K. and France have already supplied Kyiv with their “Storm Shadow” and “Scalp” cruise missiles.
Yet Scholz continues to rule out delivery of the Taurus “for now,” a German official told POLITICO on Wednesday, confirming a report by Bild. And when asked by reporters on Thursday why he does not want to send the cruise missiles, the chancellor argued that such a decision could only be made after “careful consideration.”
“After all, when a war lasts so long, these considerations can’t stop at once,” Scholz said during a press conference on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Granada, Spain, adding that his government “must always take into account what the constitution requires of us and what our options for action are.”
He added: “This includes in particular the fact that we must of course ensure that there is no escalation of the war and that Germany does not become part of the conflict. It is also my task as chancellor to ensure that.”
Scholz did not elaborate on what potential constitutional constraints he had in mind, but Bild reported that the chancellor was concerned that for Ukraine to use the Taurus missiles, Berlin would have to deliver geo-data of Russian targets and thereby take a more active role in the war. Scholz is also reportedly worried that Ukraine might use the missiles to hit the Kerch bridge connecting occupied Crimea with Russia.
Yet Christian Mölling, the deputy director of the German Council on Foreign Relations and a renowned security expert, argued on X, formerly Twitter, that Germany would not take an active role in the war once it hands the cruise missiles over to Ukraine, and denounced Scholz’s concerns as “smoke grenades.”
Among the harshest critics of Scholz’s decision is Andreas Schwarz, a defense policy lawmaker from the chancellor’s Social Democratic Party: “History books will find their verdict on our politics today,” Schwarz wrote Wednesday evening on X, adding: “My opinion is and remains clear: Deliver Taurus — immediately!”
Seemingly trying to calm down the growing criticism, Scholz repeatedly emphasized during his press conference on Thursday how “very far-reaching” but also “very effective” was his decision to supply Ukraine with another Patriot air defense system.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the delivery of the Patriot system on X, and wrote: “I’m grateful for Germany’s support in defending our freedom and people.”
The U.K., France, Germany, Spain and Italy have moved to bolster police protection of Jewish communities following the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel and the ensuing escalating conflict.
Governments across Europe fear an increase in antisemitic acts as the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza unfolds, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring it a “war.”
In London, Palestinian supporters were spotted celebrating on Saturday, prompting the police to create “reassurance patrols.”
London’s Metropolitan Police added that the conflict might lead to protests over the coming days. “We will ensure that an appropriate policing plan is in place in order to balance the right to protest against any disruption to Londoners,” they wrote in a statement.
Tensions between Israel and the Arab world are running high, as Netanyahu vowed to take “mighty vengeance” on Saturday, after over 350 Israelis were killed by the Hamas attacks on Israel. Netanyahu already started launching retaliatory air strikes on targets in Gaza early Saturday, killing around 200 Palestinians.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Saturday that he asked prefects across France to boost security for the Jewish community and that there were “no threats” so far, according to the Huffington Post, but that he’ll call a meeting to assess the situation.
This comes as French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called the French far-left La France Insoumise party harbored “a form of antisemitism” after it published a press release calling for “the end of [Israeli] colonization.”
Berlin’s police said they’ve “increased protective measures at Jewish and Israeli institutions” following the Hamas attacks, according to the Tagesspiegel.
The Central Council of Jews in Germany wrote that they’re “in intensive contact” with the authorities. “The following also applies: No violence, no riots and no hatred on German streets,” it said.
Jewish NGO the Anti-Defamation League wrote that “our data show extremists appear to be emboldened by the Hamas attack, and have increased their violent rhetoric, posting hate-filled messages and calls for further aggression against Israel and its supporters,” hinting at a potential rise in antisemitic violence.
Similar protective measures for the Jewish community were adopted in Spain and Italy.
PARIS (AP) — They creep, they crawl, they feast on your blood as you sleep.
They may travel in your clothes or backpacks to find another person worth dining on — on the subway, or at the cinema. Bedbugs go where you go, and they have become a nightmare haunting France for weeks.
The government has been forced to step in to calm an increasingly anxious nation that will host the Olympic Games in just over nine months — a prime venue for infestations of the crowd-loving insects.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called a meeting of ministers for Friday to tackle the bedbug crisis. The country’s transport minister, Clement Beaune, met this week with transportation companies to draw up a plan for monitoring and disinfecting — and to try to ease what some have called a national psychosis inflamed by the media.
Pest control technician Lucas Pradalier looks for bedbugs in a Paris apartment.
“There is no resurgence of cases,” Beaune said, telling reporters that 37 cases reported in the bus and Metro system and a dozen others on trains proved unfounded — as did viral videos on social media of tiny creatures supposedly burrowing in the seat of a fast train.
Still, bedbugs have plagued France and other countries for decades. The insects the size of an apple seed that neither jump nor fly get around as easily as people travel from city to city and nation to nation, and they have become increasingly resistant to insecticides. If that’s not enough to make you itchy: Bedbugs can stay alive for a year without a meal.
Without any blood, “they can slow their metabolism and just wait for us,” said Jean-Michel Berenger, an entomologist who raises bedbugs in his lab in the infectious diseases section of the Mediterranee University Hospital in Marseille. The carbon dioxide that all humans give off “will reactivate them … and they’ll come back to bite you.”
For now, Berenger said, this much is certain: “Bedbugs have infested the media.”
Bedbugs have plagued France and other countries for decades.
Yet bad dreams are most often fed by a touch of reality.
More than one household in 10 in France was infested with bedbugs between 2017 and 2022, according to a report by the National Agency for Health and Food Safety. The agency relied on a poll by Ipsos to query people on a topic that many prefer to avoid discussing because they fear going public with a bedbug problem will stigmatize them.
But silence is a mistake, experts say. No social category is immune to finding bedbugs in their clothing, blankets or mattresses.
“It’s not at all a hygiene problem. The only thing that interests (bedbugs) is your blood,” said Berenger, the entomologist. “Whether you live in a dump or a palace, it’s the same thing to them.”
Business is booming for companies that eradicate the little brown insects, a process that often starts with detection by dogs trained to sniff out the special odor that bedbugs give off. If an infestation is confirmed, technicians move in to zap the area with super hot steam. Heat and cold are enemies of bedbugs. One French government recommendation for victims is to put well-wrapped clothes in the freezer.
Kevin Le Mestre, director of Lutte Antinuisible, said his company is getting “dozens and dozens” of calls. In the past, he said, people often didn’t react, even to bites.
“Now, as soon as they spot a bite, they don’t ask themselves whether it really comes from bedbugs or not. They call us straight away,” said a pest control technician for the company, Lucas Pradalier, as he disinfected a Paris apartment. A sniffer dog detected bedbugs in a baseboard and between floorboards.
The French public began moving into panic mode about a month ago after reports of bedbugs at a Paris movie theater. Videos began popping up on social networks, showing little insects on trains and buses.
Now, both Socialists and centrists of President Emmanuel Macron’s party want to propose bills to fight bedbugs. Far-left lawmaker Mathilde Panot recently brought a vial of bedbugs to the Parliament to chastise the government for, in her view, letting the creatures run rampant.
Bedbugs, an age-old curse on humans, seemingly disappeared with treatment by harsh, now-banned insecticides. They made a reappearance in the 1950s, especially in densely populated cities like New York. And they travel the world thanks to commerce and tourism.
That adds up to a bedbug challenge for the Paris Olympics starting in July.
“All human population movements are profitable for bedbugs because they go with us, to hotels, in transport,” said Berenger.
Beaune, the transport minister, is hopeful that steps can be taken to ease the public’s fear. But, he conceded, “It’s hell, these bedbugs.”
Associated Press journalist Alex Turnbull in Paris contributed to this report.
Manchester United’s woes continue as they lose at home to Galatasaray, while Arsenal lose in France to RC Lens.
Manchester United have crashed to a second successive UEFA Champions League defeat, losing to Galatasaray 2-3 at Old Trafford, while Lens stunned Arsenal and Jude Bellingham once again inspired Real Madrid on a thrilling night of European football.
Galatasaray’s Argentinian striker Mauro Icardi made amends for a missed penalty by scoring the winner for the Turkish giants on Tuesday as they twice came from behind to pile more misery onto a deeply troubled United side.
United have lost their first two games of a Champions League group for the first time, leaving Erik ten Hag’s men in danger of an early exit.
“The mental errors we make, you cannot allow them at this level. You get punished. This is difficult to control,” ten Hag told TNT Sports.
“We are all in this together. We were twice up and in control of the game. We expect more together.”
Rasmus Hojlund was one of the rare bright spots for United, scoring two well-taken goals, but Galatasaray responded both times as Wilfried Zaha netted against his old side before Kerem Akturkoglu struck.
Icardi dragged a penalty wide after Casemiro was sent off for a desperate lunge following a dreadful ball out from goalkeeper Andre Onana, but the Argentinian had the last laugh when he chipped home on 81 minutes.
United are bottom of Group A, six points adrift of Bayern Munich who came from behind to beat FC Copenhagen 2-1 in Denmark.
Lukas Lerager fired the Danes ahead early in the second half, but Jamal Musiala bagged a superb individual goal to haul Bayern level before teenage substitute Mathys Tel lashed in a fine strike late on.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has faced criticism over the club’s start to the season [Jason Cairnduff/Reuters]
Arsenal lose Saka
Arsenal slumped to a first defeat of the season as Lens hit back to win 2-1 in northern France.
Gabriel Jesus gave Mikel Arteta’s side an ideal start when he opened the scoring in the 14th minute to silence a raucous Stade Bollaert.
Adrien Thomasson soon brought last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up level and the visitors saw Bukayo Saka limp off before half-time.
Wahi, the 20-year-old striker who became Lens’s club-record signing when he joined at the start of the campaign, then fired home in the 69th minute and his side held on for a famous victory.
“It was a big night for us. We weren’t able to take the result we wanted but we were able to learn,” said Arteta.
Lens climbed to the top of Group B with four points, one above Arsenal.
PSV Eindhoven snatched a 2-2 draw at home against Sevilla in the other game in the group courtesy of Jordan Teze’s stoppage-time equaliser after a late flurry of goals in the Netherlands.
RC Lens’s Jonathan Gradit and Facundo Medina celebrate after their win over Arsenal [Christian Hartmann/Reuters]
England star Bellingham continued his sensational start to his Madrid career with a goal and an assist as Carlo Ancelotti’s side beat Napoli 3-2 in Group C.
“What’s so amazing about Bellingham is that he’s only 20. He has great quality, a strong personality and character,” Ancelotti told Sky Sport.
“He’s a young man of 20 who’s showing everyone what extraordinary talent he has.”
Leo Ostigard headed Napoli in front but Bellingham set up Vinicius Junior to level before the England midfielder’s brilliant run and finish put the Spaniards on top.
Piotr Zielinski converted a penalty to level for Napoli at the start of the second half but an unfortunate own goal from home goalkeeper Alex Meret handed Madrid victory.
Federico Valverde’s thunderous drive from distance crashed back off the bar and hit Meret before bouncing back into the goal.
Braga ruined Union Berlin’s home debut in the competition as Andre Castro struck a stoppage-time winner in a 3-2 victory.
Union were two goals ahead after Sheraldo Becker’s brace but Sikou Niakate pulled one back before Bruma curled in a brilliant equaliser from 25 metres.
Castro broke Union hearts with a low strike from outside the area to give Braga their first points in their first Champions League appearance since 2012.
Marcus Thuram struck the only goal as Inter Milan won 1-0 at home to Benfica in Group D. Inter are level on four points with Real Sociedad, who beat Salzburg 2-0 earlier in the day in Austria.
Paris — Just 10 months before the opening of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, the French capital is battling an invasion of bedbugs.
The tiny pests were first reported in hotels and vacation rental apartments across the city during the summer. Then there were sightings in movie theaters and, in recent days, there have even been reports of bedbugs crawling around on seats in both national high-speed trains and the Paris Metro system.
One metro train driver was dismayed to find some of the unwelcome guests in his driver’s cabin.
A suspected bedbug is seen crawling on the armrest of a train travelling between Paris and Lille, France, in a photo posted online by X user “LaTogolaise.”
Reuters/TWITTER/@_LaTogolaise
Horrified train passengers have shared videos of the insects on social media, prompting many travelers to pay extra attention before they sit down or drop fabric bags or coats on the floor at their feet. One person told followers that passengers were “panicking” when they realized there were bedbugs in the train carriage, and they couldn’t get off until the next station.
Paris companies specializing in treating insect infestations say they’ve been overwhelmed in recent weeks. Parisians shell out an average of $500 to have their homes treated if they discover the tiny bugs.
A bedbug is seen crawling on the frame of a sofa in a home in L’Hay-les-Roses, just outside Paris, France, Sept. 29, 2023.
REUTERS
Paris City Hall is particularly worried about the potential risk for visitors to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer.
“Bedbugs are a public health issue and should be declared as such,” Deputy Mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire wrote to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. He called on the government to put together an action plan to address the problem at a national level.
Transport Minister Clément Beaune has already announced a meeting this week with various public transport operators, with a view to “reassuring and protecting” travelers.
How to protect yourself from bedbugs
Bedbugs are tiny, but they are visible to the naked eye. They can spread easily and love to hide in mattresses and other soft furnishings like curtains, but also between floorboards, in electrical sockets and even behind wallpaper. They come out at night to feed on human blood.
In a busy city like Paris, tourists can unwittingly pick up the pesky passengers in their suitcases from an infected hotel, then travel by metro or other public means and deposit the hitchhikers in the seats.
Exterminators say it’s vital to act quickly if you spot bedbugs. All clothes and bedlinens that could be infected should be placed in garbage bags and closed tight, and then it should all be laundered on a high temperature setting.
Experts stress that hygiene has nothing to do with the spread of bedbugs — rather their high fertility rate means that once they find somewhere to eat and reproduce, they spread rapidly.
A report published over the summer by France’s national food, environment and work hygiene organization, Anses, noted that there were two main culprits behind the recent proliferation of bedbugs in France – an increase in tourism, and greater resistance to insecticides.
The prosecutor’s office confirmed Friday that a preliminary investigation had been underway since 2022 and that a report from France’s Tracfin financial intelligence unit relating to an Alpine real estate purchase by Sarkisov and “likely to characterize acts of money laundering” had been brought to its attention.
Spokespeople for both Arnault, the CEO and chairman of the world’s largest luxury goods company and Europe’s richest man, and Sarkisov, a senior executive at Russian insurance company RESO-Garantia, have vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
A preliminary investigation does not suggest a crime has been committed. In a statement, Arnault’s attorney, Jacqueline Laffont, said the allegations were “absurd and unfounded.”
“The transaction that allowed for the expansion of the Hotel Cheval Blanc in Courchevel is perfectly known and was conducted in accordance with the law and with legal support. The investigation, seemingly under way, will demonstrate these facts,” she said in an emailed statement over the weekend.
“Furthermore, who could seriously imagine that Bernard Arnault, who has developed over the past 40 years the leading French and European company, would pursue money laundering to expand a hotel? I believe the senseless nature of these allegations will be recognized by all.”
French newspaper Le Monde reported Thursday, citing Tracfin, that Sarkisov acquired property in the French ski resort of Courchevel using a loan from one of Arnault’s companies.
RESO-Garantia Deputy CEO Igor Ivanov told CNBC on Friday that neither the company, nor Nikolai Sarkisov personally, had been involved in the transaction, and that Sarkisov and Arnault had never met.
“The transaction was managed by a small investment unit which invests professionally in European real estate. It consisted of acquiring flats in an old building in Courchevel from various private owners, with the view to sell them later to a developer once the entire building was bought out,” Ivanov said in an email.
“All transactions were carried out by French companies, through French notaries by French lawyers on all sides. This was a usual real estate deal.”
Correction: Jacqueline Laffont is Arnault’s attorney. An earlier version misspelled her name.
The French government has vowed action to “reassure and protect” the public as its capital Paris reports a “widespread” rise in bedbugs.
French Transport Minister Clement Beaune said Friday he would “bring together transport operators next week” to “undertake further action” to “reassure and protect” the public from the reported surge in the numbers of the blood-sucking insect.
The announcement comes as calls for government action from Paris officials and trade unions mount after several videos of bedbugs spotted in public transport and other locations such as cinemas have surfaced on social media.
Speaking to French TV station LCI on Friday, deputy mayor of Paris Emmanuel Gregoire called the phenomenon “widespread.”
“You have to understand that in reality no one is safe, obviously there are risk factors but in reality, you can catch bedbugs anywhere and bring them home,” he said.
Three years ago, the French government launched an anti-bedbug campaign, which includes a dedicated website and an information hotline, as numbers of the insect surged.
But Gregoire said that despite that plan, “there are 3.6 million people who come into Paris every day, and bedbugs do not stop on the outskirts of the city.”
An expert from France’s national health and sanitary body, Anses, said the problem was “an emerging phenomenon in France and almost everywhere in the world.”
“It’s mainly due to the movement of people, populations traveling, the fact that people stay in short-term accommodation and bring back bedbugs in their suitcases or luggage,” Johanna Fite from the Anses department of risk assessment told CNN.
She added there was an “escalation” in numbers because bedbugs were increasingly resistant to insecticides.
“We are observing more and more bedbug populations which are resistant, so there is no miracle treatment to get rid of them,” Fite said.
However, the Paris deputy mayor warned against “hysteria” over the issue, noting there had been an “increase in Parisians who are referring to the town hall’s information services for information on bedbugs”.
“Professional companies which intervene in residential areas are telling us that currently the proportion of interventions for bedbugs is atypical compared to normal and is increasing rapidly,” he said.
The news comes as Paris gets ready to host the 2024 Olympics Games, but officials say they are not worried.
“There is no threat to the Olympic Games,” Gregoire said.
“Bedbugs existed before and they will exist afterward,” he added, saying the games were an “opportunity” for everybody to work together on the issue.
Selena Gomez has recently wowed netizens and fans alike with the range of fashion she showcased during her trip to Paris. The singer flaunted several interesting and unique looks as she stepped out in the City of Love to party, hang out with friends, and attend fashion events. She wasn't the only star present in France as the Paris Fashion Week saw a hoard of celebrities attending shows in the city including Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner.
The pop star donned every look from corset tops and mini dresses to shirt dresses and maxi outfits in her fashion lookbook and managed to impress everyone. Gomez also posted selfies and behind-the-scenes in a photo dump on her Instagram. Here's what she posted.
ALSO READ:Selena Gomez stuns in white polka-dot minidress during day, glittery black one at night amidst much-talked-about Paris trip
Selena Gomez shares Paris photo dump on Instagram
Gomez took to her profile and posted several images from the trip, captioning it, "Paris was fun." The 31-year-old started off with a selfie of herself wearing her viral black corset suit look. The lighting of the image kept the focus on the Only Murders in the Building star's face and her interesting choice to go for a blue eye makeup look with the outfit. The next was a mirror selfie of her in the leopard print bodycon dress she wore during the early days of the trip.
The third slide featured another selfie this time with Gomez's best friend Nicola Peltz. The two pouted in the image with their cheeks pressing together. The actress and the model have hung out more than twice during their Paris stay. From dinner and attending a soccer game to partying at night, the two have enjoyed some quality time during this fun getaway. The next image featured the thigh-high black boots that Gomez wore with her white shirt dress.
Selena Gomez posts selfies and behind-the-scenes from France trip
Sliding further, the next photo was a selfie of her with Peltz and her husband Brooklyn Beckham, as well as people from her team. Gomez is wearing a black mask, glasses, and headphones as she snaps the shot. The last picture is a selfie of herself in the shirt dress and the backdrop seems to be of the restaurant she had dinner in with Peltz as well as Beckham. Gomez pouts in the image with several buttons of her white shirt visibly open.
ALSO READ:Selena Gomez goes back to trusted corset tops, looks fresh as a daisy as she steps out in Paris while fans mob her for pictures
PARIS — French and German defense companies are setting up local shops in Ukraine for arms maintenance — a first step toward manufacturing weapons in the country.
This week, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office gave the green light to a proposed joint venture between Rheinmetall, a German arms maker, and the Ukrainian Defense Industry, a Ukrainian state-owned defense group.
France’s Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu traveled to Kyiv this week with about 20 French defense contractors — reportedly including Thales, MBDA, Nexter and Arquus — to facilitate partnerships with Ukrainian officials.
On Friday, the Ukrainian capital hosted the Defense Industries Forum, an arms fair attended by 165 defense companies from 26 countries.
At the event, Ukrainian officials metdirectly with defense companies to sign contracts without going through Western governments, explore joint production opportunities and provide specific input about their needs on the ground in the fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
The goal is to “boost co-production and cooperation to strengthen Ukraine and our partners,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said earlier this week.
The arms fair is taking place as Western armies, especially in Europe, are reaching the limit of what they can give to Ukraine from their own stocks. For the past few months, Ukraine has sought to ramp up its own arms industry, in part because U.S. elections in 2024 could mean a return of Donald Trump as president. The former leader has hinted at not providing much support to Kyiv if he wins a second term.
As Kyiv prepares for a long war, capitals such as Paris are seeking to shift from donations to contracts and cooperation with the private sector.
French pivot
In the past week, French officials have started to hammer home a new message: France can no longersustaingiving weapons to Ukraine and will insteadplug Ukrainian officials into the country’s defense industry.
According to a government report, France delivered €640.5 million worth of weapons to Ukraine in 2022, including 704 missile launchers and portable anti-tank rocket launchers, 562 12.7mm machine guns, 118 missiles and missile launchers, and 60 armored fighting vehicles for free.
“We can’t continue to take resources from our armed forces indefinitely, otherwise we’ll be damaging our own defense capabilities and the training levels of our troops,” Lecornu told French TV Sunday.
Ukrainian servicemen ride on a T-64 tank during a military training exercise in Kyiv region | Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images
Creating bridges between Ukrainian officials and French companies will “create long-term solidity, a more contractual relationship for ammunition and maintenance,” he told lawmakers two days later.
In Kyiv this week, French defense contractors did ink deals with Ukraine for artillery, armored vehicles, drones and mine clearance — including for cooperation in the war-torn country.
According to Le Figaro, French firm Arquus signed a letter of intent Thursday to ensure the maintenance of armored personnel carriers on the ground, and could install a production facility in the future. Nexter CEO Nicolas Chamussy — the manufacturer of the Caesar self-propelled howitzer — also told the French outlet it was looking for a local partner to create a joint venture for maintenance.
French startup Vistory will build two 3D-printing factories to make spare parts, according to La Croix.
Germany, Sweden and UK
France’s shift comes on the heels of similar plans with British arms manufacturer BAE Systems and the Swedish government.
In August, Kyiv and Stockholm signed a statement of intent to deepen cooperation “in production, operation, training, and servicing” of the Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) platform, manufactured by a Swedish branch of BAE Systems. A few days later, BAE Systems announced it would set up a local entity to ramp up production of 105mm light artillery guns.
The German competition authority’s decision this week to green-light Rheinmetall’s joint venture with the Ukrainian Defense Industry — which will be based in Kyiv and operate exclusively in Ukraine — paves the way for a partnership designed to maintain and service military vehicles. It will also include “assembly, production and development of military vehicles.”
Both parties also hope to eventually develop military systems jointly, “including for subsequent export from Ukraine.”
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger expressed a desire to manufacture the company’s next generation Panther tank in Ukraine — up to 400 per year. Although still a prototype, the new tank would be the successor of the company’s Leopard 2 main battle tank.
Laura Kayali reported from Paris. Caleb Larson reported from Berlin.
In the early morning of the last day of August, Parisians experienced for the first time a practice normally confined to tropical regions — authorities fumigating the city against the tiger mosquito. The event was a tangible confirmation of what public health stats already showed: Dengue, the deadly mosquito-borne disease, had well and truly arrived in Europe.
In 2022, Europe saw more cases of locally acquired dengue than in the whole of the previous decade. The rise marks both a public health threat and a corresponding market opportunity for dengue vaccines and treatments; news that should spur the pharma industry to boost investment into the neglected disease.
On the face of it, this shift would appear to benefit not only countries like France but also nations like Bangladesh and the Philippines that have long battled dengue.
But that assumption could be fatally flawed, experts told POLITICO.
People working in the field say the rise of dengue in the West could, in fact, make it harder to get lifesaving drugs to those who need them most, because pharma companies develop tools that are less effective in countries where the dengue burden is the highest or because wealthy nations end up hoarding these medicines and vaccines.
“It might look like a good thing — and it is a good thing — that we’re getting more products developed, but does it then create a two-tier system where high-income populations get access to it and then we still have the access gap for low- and middle- income countries?” asked Lindsay Keir, director of the science and policy advisory team at think tank Policy Cures Research.
Killer invading mosquitoes
Climate change and migration mean the mosquitoes that transmit dengue, as well as other diseases such as chikungunya and Zika, are setting up shop in Europe. The most recent annual data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control shows that, in 2022, Europe saw 71 cases of locally acquired dengue: 65 in France and six in Spain.
While dengue usually results in mild or no symptoms, it can also lead to high fever, severe headache and vomiting. Severe dengue can cause bleeding from the gums, abdominal pain and, in some cases, death.
So far, the mosquito has mostly been confined to Southern Europe but it’s a worry across the Continent. In Belgium, the national public health research institute Sciensano has even launched an app where members of the public can submit photos of any Asian tiger mosquitos they spot.
The diseases spread by these mosquitoes have traditionally fallen under the umbrella of neglected tropical diseases, a group of infections that affect mainly low-income countries and struggle to attract research and development investment. But this is changing.
Policy Cures Research, which publishes an annual report on R&D investment into neglected diseases, removed dengue vaccines from their assessment in 2013. Dengue was no longer seen as an area where there was market failure, due to the emergence of a market that the private sector could tap into.
The organization is still tracking dengue drugs and biologics and their 2022 analysis showed a 33 percent increase in funding for research into non-vaccine products compared to the previous year, with industry investment reaching a record high of $28 million.
Climate change and migration mean the mosquitoes that transmit dengue, as well as other diseases such as chikungunya and Zika, are setting up shop in Europe | Lukas Schulze/Getty Images
Sibilia Quilici, executive director of the vaccine maker lobby group Vaccines Europe, said the most recent pipeline review of members found that roughly 10 percent were targeting neglected diseases. There is more R&D happening in this area, said Quilici.
Across the major drugmakers, J&J is working on a dengue antiviral treatment and MSD has a dengue vaccine in their pipeline, while Sanofi has a second yellow fever jab in development. Two dengue vaccines are already approved in the EU — one from Sanofi and another from Takeda. Moderna recently told POLITICO that it is looking closely at a dengue vaccine candidate and it already has a Zika candidate in the works.
For the few, not the many
But just because there might soon be larger markets for Big Pharma doesn’t mean the products will be suitable for the populations that have been waiting years for these tools.
Rachael Crockett, senior policy advocacy manager at the non-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), said increased pharma investment in a particular disease won’t necessarily lead to products developed that are globally relevant. “Industry will — and governments are also more likely to — focus on prevention,” she said.
That means tools such as vaccines will be prioritized; but in countries where dengue is endemic, the rainy season completely overburdens their health systems and what they desperately need are treatments, said Crockett.
She also said a massive increase in investment without a structure to ensure access to resulting products means “we have absolutely no guarantee that there isn’t going to be hoarding, [that] there isn’t going to be high prices.” Case in point: The U.S. national stockpile of Ebola vaccines, which exists despite there never having been an Ebola outbreak in the country.
But just because there might soon be larger markets for Big Pharma doesn’t mean the products will be suitable for the populations that have been waiting years for these tools | Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images
Underlying many of these fears are the mistakes of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw countries with less cash and political heft at the back of the queue when it came to vaccines.
Lisa Goerlitz, head of German charity Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW)’s Brussels office, warned if drug development picks up because of a growing market in high-income countries, then accessibility, affordability and other criteria that make it suitable for low resource settings might not be prioritized.
Vaccines Europe’s Quilici sought to allay these concerns, pointing to the pharma industry’s Berlin Declaration, a proposal to reserve an allocation of real-time production of vaccines in a health crisis. Quilici said this was a “really strong commitment …which comes right from the lessons learnt from COVID-19 and which could definitely overcome the challenges we had during the pandemic, if it is taken seriously.”
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Lisa Goerlitz.
French Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau wants the public to stay calm over bedbugs in Paris.
In an interview with France Inter on Tuesday, Rousseau reassured citizens that there is “no reason for a general panic” and that France has not been “invaded by bedbugs.”
The tiny insects have been spotted on public transport in the French capital over the past few weeks, raising alarm among residents and public officials.
Last week, Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire asked the government to take action to fight the “scourge” of bedbugs ahead of the 2024 Olympics, set to take place in the city next summer and bring a huge influx of tourists.
Despite inviting the public to relax, Rousseau did add Tuesday that “when you have bedbugs, it’s hell.”
In recent weeks, videos of bedbugs in trains and on the Paris metro have circulated on the internet. According to French news, bedbugs disappeared from France around 1950 before making a comeback in the 1990s due to increased international travel.
France might not be the only country set for a bedbug battle: Belgian pest-control companies have reported a spike in calls about infestations in recent months.
BERLIN — The political maneuver shaking Germany’s postwar democratic order involves a piece of legislation that is about as mundane as it gets.
Center-right legislators in the eastern German state of Thuringia wanted to cut a local property tax by a small amount — and did so with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD.
The move broke with years of tradition in which mainstream parties have vowed to maintain a Brandmauer, or firewall, between themselves and the AfD, a party many in a country alert to the legacy of Nazism see as a dire threat to democracy. Even accepting the party’s support, the thinking goes, would legitimize far-right forces or make them salonfähig — socially acceptable.
And so, when parliamentarians from the conservative Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, passed the tax reduction on a late afternoon in September with AfD votes, it sent tremors across the country’s political landscape that still are reverberating.
“For me, a taboo has been broken,” Katrin Göring-Eckardt, a leader of the Greens who hails from Thuringia, said after the vote. “It shows me not only that the firewall is gone, but that there is open collaboration.”
For mainstream parties, and the CDU in particular, the question of how to handle the growing presence of far-right radicals in governing bodies from federal and state parliaments to local councils is likely to grow only more vexing.
That especially is the case in the states of the former East Germany, where the AfD now leads in polls at around 28 percent. Next year, the eastern states of Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg will all hold parliamentary elections. Polls show the party leading in all three states.
The AfD is likely to expand its presence in the parliaments of Bavaria and Hesse when those states vote on Sunday. In Hesse, the AfD is coming close to overtaking German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party, according to the latest polls.
The dilemma facing mainstream parties is clear. To work with the AfD means to normalize a party that many believe seeks to subvert the republic from within. But to ostracize the party only alienates its many voters.
The firewall also serves as an unintended political gift, allowing the AfD to depict itself — at a time of high dissatisfaction with mainstream parties — as the clear choice for those who want to send a burn-it-down message to the country’s political establishment.
At the same time, the controversy over the latest vote in Thuringia seems to have played into the AfD’s hands, allowing the party to depict itself as seeking to uphold rather than undermine democracy.
The “‘firewall’ is history — and Thuringia is just the beginning,” AfD party leader Alice Weidel posted on X, formerly Twitter, after the vote. “It’s time to respond to the democratic will of citizens everywhere in Germany.”
Historic fears
Germany’s political leaders are all too aware that the Nazi seizure of power began with democratic electoral success. In fact, it was in Thuringia where, in 1930, the Nazi party first took real governing power in coalition with conservative parties.
The “‘firewall’ is history — and Thuringia is just the beginning,” AfD party leader Alice Weidel posted on X, formerly Twitter, after the vote. “It’s time to respond to the democratic will of citizens everywhere in Germany” | Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images
That fact was not lost on the CDU’s opponents.
“German conservatism has already been a stirrup holder of fascism,” Janine Wissler, a head of the Left party, told the German Press Agency after the vote. “Back then, too, it started in Thuringia,” she added. “Instead of having learned from that, the CDU is going down a path that’s as dangerous as fire.”
CDU leaders in Thuringia deny the vote on the tax reduction means the firewall is crumbling. They say there was no cooperation with the AfD ahead of the vote (though AfD members say there were discussions between lawmakers).
“I cannot make good, important decisions for the state that provide relief for families and the economy dependent on the fact that the wrong people might agree,” Mario Voigt, the head of the CDU in Thuringia said after the vote.
Friedrich Merz, the national leader of the CDU, has sent mixed signals on the firewall — or at least on what exactly the firewall means. Merz says the CDU will not form coalitions with the AfD but he’s been less clear on whether the CDU will work with the party in other ways.
In a television interview over the summer, he seemed to suggest working with the AfD on the local level was all but inevitable.
Friedrich Merz, the national leader of the CDU, has sent mixed signals on the firewall | Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images
“We are of course obliged to accept democratic elections,” he said. “And if a district administrator, a mayor is elected there who belongs to the AfD, it’s natural that you look for ways to then continue to work in this city.”
After an uproar ensued, Merz walked back the comment. “There will be no cooperation between the CDU and the AfD at the municipal level either,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
After the vote in Thuringia, Merz stood by the CDU leadership of the state. “We don’t go by who agrees, we go by what we think is right in the matter,” he said on German television.
Even some within his own party do not see things that way. Daniel Günther, the CDU premier of the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, sharply criticized his party colleagues in Thuringia. “As a conservative, I must be able to say plainly and simply the sentence, ‘I do not form majorities with extremists,’” Günther said.
‘Cordon sanitaire’
It’s not the first time Thuringia has been at the center of a controversy over the firewall. In 2020, a little-known politician in the pro-business Free Democratic Party, Thomas Kemmerich, was elected state premier with the support of the CDU and AfD. Then-Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in to call the vote “unforgivable.”
In the furor that followed, Kemmerich resigned as did the then-head of the CDU faction in the state. But given the AfD’s large presence in the local parliament, the issue was bound to resurface.
It’s not the first time Thuringia has been at the center of a controversy over the firewall | Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images
The problem is far from Germany’s alone. Mainstream parties are under growing pressure due to the rise of the radical right across Europe.
In France, parties from across the political spectrum have formed a cordon sanitaire, or sanitary cordon, to keep Marine Le Pen, a leader of the far-right National Rally, out of the presidency. But with Le Pen’s party now the biggest opposition group in the National Assembly, the cordon is getting harder to maintain.
In the European Parliament, where a similar cordon has been erected, the center-right European People’s Party has been openly courting the European Conservatives and Reformists, home to Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice party and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party.
In Thuringia, the stakes are even higher as the local branch of the AfD contains some of the party’s most extreme members. State-level intelligence authorities tasked with surveilling anti-constitutional groups have characterized the party’s local branch as extremist.
The leader of the AfD in Thuringia is Björn Höcke, who is set to face trial for using banned Nazi rhetoric. (In 2021, he closed a speech with the phrase “Alles für Deutschland!” or “Everything for Germany!” — a slogan used by Nazi stormtroopers.)
Höcke railed against Holocaust remembrance in Germany and warned of “Volkstod,” the death of the Volk, through “population replacement.” For such views, German courts have ruled that Höcke could justifiably be referred to as a fascist or Nazi.
GERMANY NATIONAL PARLIAMENT ELECTION POLL OF POLLS
On Friday, King Charles III and Queen Camilla finished their three-day tour of France with a trip to Bordeaux, the hub of the famous French wine region, where the king took part in a time honored royal tour tradition: planting a tree. After arriving by plane, the pair took public transportation to the Bordeaux City Hall where they met with emergency workers who were affected by a forest fire in the region last year. But before the meeting, the king picked up a shovel to plant a loquat leaf oak tree, a species known for its resilience in the face of a changing climate.
Though last week’s tour gave the king a few different opportunities to talk about his passion for the environment, from a toast during a Wednesday state banquet at Versailles to his Thursday speech in front of the French senate, his day in Bordeaux was focused on the threats the region faces from climate change. After the trip to city hall, their majesties visited a local festival where local business owners with British origins showed off some of their products, and the king was able to try a whiskey made with barley from his Highgrove country estate.
Finally, the day ended with a trip to Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte winery, where in addition to a tasting session, they spoke with owners Florence and Daniel Cathiard about sustainable practices in the winemaking industry. According to the AP, severe drought in the region caused 2022’s harvest to be the earliest on record, and changing climate has pushed winemakers to change their water usage.
In his Thursday speech, Charles emphasized the importance of cooperation between France and the UK for addressing the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis. “Just as we stand together against military aggression, so must we strive together to protect the world from our most existential challenge of all: that of global warming, climate change and the catastrophic destruction of nature,” he said in French. “Together, our potential is limitless.”
Workers at Apple stores across France have gone on strike, demanding more pay. The nationwide strike by some 2,100 workers was timed to coincide with the Friday store release of Apple’s latest phone, the iPhone 15, in France. Eager customers had to cross picket lines outside stores to be among the first to buy the new phone.
At the company’s flagship store in central Paris, around 40 shoppers braved the strikes and heavy rain to line up to buy the iPhone15. About the same number of Apple workers were outside, too, holding placards demanding bigger pay checks.
French labor unions say they want a 7% pay hike for Apple store employees, across the board, to compensate for rising inflation. Union leaders said Apple offered an average 4.5% increase for employees in the country, which they rejected.
Striking Apple store workers hold a picket line in front of the flagship Apple Store in central Paris, Sept. 22, 2023, as customers wait behind them to get into the store on the release day for the new iPhone 15.
Chesnot/Getty
The U.S. tech giant’s offer is below the current rate of inflation in France, which is 4.9%.
The strikers also want an end to a months-long hiring freeze within the company.
The main union for Apple employees in France, Cidre-CFTC, issued a statement saying:
“Apple has often been exemplary, and the vast majority of its employees are proud to work there. However, for the past several months, dialogue has been at a standstill. Obligatory annual negotiations have been swept aside without any real discussion during two meetings.”
The strike is just the latest headache for the tech company’s French operations.
Is the iPhone 12 banned in France?
Apple was forced to stop selling its iPhone 12 model in France earlier this month after it was found to have radiation levels above the European Union safety threshold. France’s government minister for digital technology said the company had agreed to implement changes so that the iPhone 12 complies with the EU regulations going forward.
Apple always maintained that the iPhone 12, which debuted in 2020, is safe. The company said the test results in France were “related to a specific testing protocol.”
The French unions representing Apple store workers have also said they believe the company’s employees should get a greater share of the company’s huge profits.
In June, Apple made Wall Street history as the first company with a market value over $3 trillion. That’s slightly higher than the GDP of France, which the World Bank put at $2.78 trillion in 2022.
Customs agents at France’s largest airport have spent months stockpiling a shocking discovery – the trafficked skulls and other remains of more than 700 animals headed for the U.S.
The skulls were found at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, the largest international airport in the country. Customs officers tweeted about the incident on Thursday, saying they found the skulls in “several seizures” across the airport.
Nous avons le plaisir de remettre aujourd’hui près de 400 crânes de primates issus de trafics !
— Direction générale des douanes et droits indirects (@douane_france) September 21, 2023
Remains of the animals were found from May through December last year, officials said, with 392 packages housing primate skulls, including macaques, baboons, mandrills and chimpanzees. Those packages were mostly from Cameroon and were meant to go to people in the U.S. More than 300 other packages contained the remains of other species – and none of the seized remains were legally authorized for sale.
According to Al Jazeera, whole animals and arms and hands were also discovered in some packages.
“Trafficking in protected species is one of the most lucrative trades, after drugs, weapons and people trafficking,” airport customs chief Gilbert Beltran said, adding that it generates between $8.5 billion and $21 billion every year.
According to Fabrice Gayet, a customs expert in animal trafficking, primates are generally hunted for their meat.
“The sale of the skulls,” he said, “is a follow-on business.”
Hundreds of skulls and other animal remains have been found over the course of several months at France’s largest airport.
French Customs/Douane Francaise via Storyful
Photos of the remains show well-preserved skulls of various species. Customs officials said they have since been given to the Natural History Museum in Aix-en-Provence.
Sabrina Krief, a primatologist at the museum, posted on social media that the “staggering” discovery revealed an attempt to traffic the remains “to collectors and hunting associations” in the U.S.
“I am stunned to think that our closest relatives, apes and great apes, are being decimated and rainforests robbed of their endangered biodiversity for a business that is as stupid as it is outrageous,” Krief also said, according to Al Jazeera.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday that French troops would be withdrawn from Niger in the next couple of months, in the wake of a coup d’état in the Western African country this summer.
The military withdrawal from Niger comes after French troops were ousted from neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, amid growing anti-French sentiment across the continent and military failures in containing jihadist terrorism in the Sahel region.
Macron also said France would imminently withdraw its ambassador, who had been living under effective house arrest in the French embassy in the capital Niamey, according to French authorities.
“France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours, our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France,” Macron said during an interview with French TV channels.
Macron also said the military cooperation between France and Niger was “over” and that French troops would return before the end of the year. “In the weeks and months to come, we will consult with the putschists, because we want this to be done peacefully,” he added.
The military junta, which came to power in July, had set France an ultimatum to withdraw its troops that were involved in anti-terrorist operations in North Africa. France at the time pledged not to withdraw troops unless requested by the deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum.
1,500 French troops are stationed in several bases across Niger.
In the weeks after the coup, France also said it would consider supporting a possible military intervention launched by the African regional body ECOWAS against the putschists in Niamey. With the decision to withdraw, that prospect appears more and more unlikely.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are in France for a three-day state visit that was originally planned for March, but was postponed due to nationwide protests over France’s pension reforms. BBC News correspondent Hugh Schofield has more on what the meeting represents.
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Fierce firefights and heavy shelling echo once again around the mountains of Nagorno-Karabakh, an isolated region at the very edge of Europe that has seen several major wars since the fall of the Soviet Union.
On Tuesday, the South Caucasus nation of Azerbaijan announced its armed forces launched “local anti-terrorist activities” in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is inside Azerbaijan’s borders but is controlled as a breakaway state by its ethnic Armenian population.
Now, with fighting raging and allegations of an impending “genocide” reaching fever pitch, all eyes are on the decades-old conflict that threatens to draw in some of the world’s leading military powers.
What is happening?
For weeks, Armenia and international observers have warned that Azerbaijan was massing its armed forces along the heavily fortified line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh, preparing to stage an offensive against local ethnic Armenian troops. Clips shared online showed Azerbaijani vehicles daubed with an upside-down ‘A’-symbol, reminiscent of the ‘Z’ sign painted onto Russian vehicles ahead of the invasion of Ukraine last year.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Karabakh Armenian officials reported a major offensive by Azerbaijan was underway, with air raid sirens sounding in Stepankert, the de facto capital. The region’s estimated 100,000 residents have been told by Azerbaijan to “evacuate” via “humanitarian corridors” leading to Armenia. However, Azerbaijani forces control all of the entry and exit points and many locals fear they will not be allowed to pass safely.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s top foreign policy advisor, Hikmet Hajiyev, insisted to POLITICO the “goal is to neutralize military infrastructure” and denied civilians were being targeted. However, unverified photographs posted online appear to show damaged apartment buildings, and the Karabakh Armenian human rights ombudsman, Gegham Stepanyan, reported several children have been injured in the attacks.
Concern is growing over the fate of the civilians effectively trapped in the crossfire, as well as the risk of yet another full-blown war in the former Soviet Union.
How did we get here?
During the Soviet era, Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous region inside the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, home to both ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis, but the absence of internal borders made its status largely unimportant. That all changed when Moscow lost control of its peripheral republics, and Nagorno-Karabakh was formally left inside Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory.
Amid the collapse of the USSR from 1988 to 1994, Armenian and Azerbaijani forces fought a grueling series of battles over the region, with the Armenians taking control of swathes of land and forcing the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Azerbaijanis, razing several cities to the ground. Since then, citing a 1991 referendum — boycotted by Azerbaijanis — the Karabakh-Armenians have unilaterally declared independence and maintained a de facto independent state.
For nearly three decades that situation remained stable, with the two sides locked in a stalemate that was maintained by a line of bunkers, landmines and anti-tank defenses, frequently given as an example of one of the world’s few “frozen conflicts.”
However, that all changed in 2020, when Azerbaijan launched a 44-day war to regain territory, conquering hundreds of square kilometers around all sides of Nagorno-Karabakh. That left the ethnic Armenian exclave connected to Armenia proper by a single road, the Lachin Corridor — supposedly under the protection of Russian peacekeepers as part of a Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreement.
What is the blockade?
With Russia’s ability to maintain the status quo rapidly dwindling in the face of its increasingly catastrophic war in Ukraine, Azerbaijan has moved to take control of all access to the region. In December, as part of a dispute supposedly over illegal gold mining, self-declared “eco-activists” — operating with the support of the country’s authoritarian government — staged a sit-in on the road, stopping civilian traffic and forcing the local population to rely on Russian peacekeepers and the Red Cross for supplies.
That situation has worsened in the past two months, with an Azerbaijani checkpoint newly erected on the Lachin Corridor refusing to allow the passage of any humanitarian aid, save for the occasional one-off delivery. In August, amid warnings of empty shelves, malnourishment and a worsening humanitarian crisis, Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, published a report calling the situation “an ongoing genocide.”
Azerbaijan denies it is blockading Nagorno-Karabakh, with Hajiyev telling POLITICO the country was prepared to reopen the Lachin Corridor if the Karabakh-Armenians accepted transport routes from inside Azerbaijani-held territory. Aliyev has repeatedly called on Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh to stand down, local politicians to resign and those living there to accept being ruled as part of Azerbaijan.
Why have things escalated now?
Over the past few months, the U.S., EU and Russia have urged Azerbaijan to keep faith during diplomatic talks designed to end the conflict once and for all, rather than seeking a military solution to assert control over the entire region.
As part of the talks in Washington, Brussels and Moscow, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a series of unprecedented concessions, going as far as recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijani territory. However, his government maintains it cannot sign a peace deal that does not include internationally guaranteed rights and securities for the Karabakh-Armenians.
The situation has worsened in the past two months, with an Azerbaijani checkpoint newly erected on the Lachin Corridor refusing to allow the passage of any humanitarian aid | Tofik babayev/AFP via Getty Images
Aliyev has rejected any such arrangement outright, insisting there should be no foreign presence on Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory. He insists that as citizens of Azerbaijan, those living there will have the same rights as any other citizen — but has continued fierce anti-Armenian rhetoric including describing the separatists as “dogs,” while the government issued a postage stamp following the 2020 war featuring a worker in a hazmat suit “decontaminating” Nagorno-Karabakh.
Unwilling to accept the compromise, Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of stalling the peace process. According to former Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, a military escalation is needed to force an agreement. “It can be a short-term clash, or it can be a war,” he added.
Facing growing domestic pressure amid dwindling supplies, former Karabakh-Armenian President Arayik Harutyunyan stood down and called elections, lambasted as a provocation by Azerbaijan and condemned by the EU, Ukraine and others.
Azerbaijan also alleged Armenian saboteurs were behind landmine blasts it says killed six military personnel in the region, while presenting no evidence to support the claim.
What’s Russia doing?
Armenia is formally an ally of Russia, and a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military bloc. However, Russian peacekeepers deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh have proven entirely unwilling or unable to keep Azerbaijani advances in check, while Moscow declined to offer Pashinyan the support he demanded after strategic high ground inside Armenia’s borders were captured in an Azerbaijani offensive last September.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko previously said Azerbaijan has better relations with the CSTO than Armenia, despite not being a member, and described Aliyev as “our guy.”
Since then, Armenia — the most democratic country in the region — has sought to distance itself from the Kremlin, inviting in an EU civilian observer mission to the border. That strategy has picked up pace in recent days, with Pashinyan telling POLITICO in an interview that the country can no longer rely on Russia for its security. Instead, the South Caucasus nation has dispatched humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Pashinyan’s wife visited Kyiv to show her support, while hosting U.S. troops for exercises.
Moscow, which has a close economic and political relationship with Azerbaijan, reacted furiously, summoning the Armenian ambassador.
In a message posted on Telegram on Tuesday, Dmitry Medvedev, former president of Russia and secretary of its security council, said Pashinyan “decided to blame Russia for his botched defeat. He gave up part of his country’s territory. He decided to flirt with NATO, and his wife took biscuits to our enemies. Guess what fate awaits him…”
Who supports whom?
The South Caucasus is a tangled web of shifting alliances.
Russia aside, Armenia has built close relations with neighboring Iran, which has vowed to protect it, as well as India and France. French President Emmanuel Macron has previously joined negotiations in support of Pashinyan and the country is home to a large and historic Armenian diaspora.
Azerbaijan, meanwhile, operates on a “one nation, two states” basis with Turkey, with which it has deep cultural, linguistic and historical ties. It also receives large shipments of weaponry and military hardware from Israel, while providing the Middle Eastern nation with gas.
The EU has turned to Azerbaijan to help replace Russia as a provider of energy. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made an official visit to the capital, Baku, last summer in a bid to secure increased exports of natural gas, describing the country as a “reliable, trustworthy partner.”
PARIS — Britain’s King Charles III urged France and the U.K. to revitalize ties Wednesday, as both countries seek to improve relations after several acrimonious years marked by Brexit negotiations.
On the first day of a three-day state visit to France, the king said it was “incumbent upon us all to reinvigorate our friendship to ensure it is fit for the challenge of this, the 21st century.” Speaking at a banquet dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles, the king said he looked forward to a renewal of the Entente Cordiale between France and the U.K, an alliance which marks its 120th anniversary next year.
The British monarch did not mention Brexit directly but hinted at relations between the two countries that had not “always been entirely straightforward.”
The banquet dinner was held in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, a venue long associated in France with privilege, absolute monarchy and the French Revolution. The banquet gathered together stars, business leaders and politicians from both sides of the Channel, including rock star Mick Jagger, former football manager Arsène Wenger and the world’s second richest man, Bernard Arnault.
During his toast, Macron said France and the U.K. would meet the future challenges of the modern world together despite the tensions created by Brexit.
“Despite Brexit … I’m sure, your majesty, that we will continue to write part of the future of our continent together,” the French president said.
