Zerohedge

Update (0825ET): Romania’s prime minister will resign on Monday after a conservative opposition leader who aligned himself with Donald Trump scored a resounding first-round victory in the Black Sea nation’s presidential election.

Bloomberg reports, that Marcel Ciolacu informed coalition partners of the decision to submit his resignation in a meeting Monday in Bucharest, according to people familiar with the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity. The government will be led by an interim premier until coalition parties choose Ciolacu’s successor. There are no current plans for an early election.

The prime minister’s decision was a response to the electoral defeat of the coalition’s preferred candidate in Sunday’s first-round contest, in which George Simion of the ultranationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians secured more than 40%.

He’ll face off against Nicusor Dan, the centrist mayor of Bucharest.

As Goldman notes, as a result of his outperformance relative to opinion polls in the first round, the probability of Simion winning the second round has risen sharply in betting markets, from 30% probability prior to the vote to 69%, with Dan at 31%.

As a reminder, the contest was the second attempt to choose a president after the shock victory of another far-right fringe candidate last year prompted accusations of Kremlin interference and the top court’s cancellation of the ballot. The unexpected first-round victory in November of Calin Georgescu, who has been banned from running in Sunday’s race, triggered Romania’s biggest political crisis since the fall of communism.

*  *  *

In the latest chapter in the country’s months-long political drama that has seen an election thrown out and the winner charged with political crimes, 38-year-old conservative nationalist George Simion decisively won the first round of balloting in Romania’s “do-over” presidential election, sending him to a May 18 runoff where he’ll face centrist Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan. 

Simion has likened his political philosophy to Donald Trump’s, saying his Alliance for the Union of Romanians party is “a Trumpist party,” and promising to “Make Romania Great Again.” The win is a buzzkill for Western leftists who’ve been enjoying the afterglow of comeback victories in Canada and Australia. 

 

Though his first-round win was expected, Simion far outperformed the polling, taking 41% of the vote, versus the 30% projected by a recent poll of polls. Dan took 21%, edging Crin Antonescu, a candidate from the current governing coalition, who took 20%. Simion clearly has the inside track for the runoff, as observers say he’s likely to gain quite a few votes from members of other parties whose beliefs align more closely with Simion than Dan. “Simion has a bigger pool of votes than Dan at the moment,” political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu told Reuters.

Simion called the election a “victory for Romanian dignity…Despite the obstacles, despite the manipulation, despite a press paid to demean us day after day, Romanians have stood up.” The election has been closely watched by Western powers, as it could reshape Romania’s relationships with the European Union and NATO. 

However, while he’s criticized both entities, don’t expect Simion to usher Romania out of either of them. In various comments leading up to the election, he discounted the idea of Romania exiting NATO or the EU, sounded alarms over the supposed Russian menace, advocated continued sanctions against Moscow, and embraced increased European military spending.  Consider these Simion quotes from an interview with the Financial Times: 

Simion has promised, if elected, to help secure a position in Romanian government for Calin Georgescu — perhaps as prime minister. In a huge, poll-defying upset in November, nationalist Georgescu won the first round of balloting in Romania’s first go at this presidential election. Then, just two days before the runoff, the country’s Constitutional Court threw out the election and ordered it to be started anew — based on shaky allegations that his victory was the result of Russian interference. 

Georgescu was barred from running again. In February, Georgescu was arrested and questioned as he faced Orwellian allegations of disseminating “false information” and “incitement to actions against the constitutional order.” Upon his release from custody, he was forbidden from appearing on mass media or creating social media accounts. Huge protests followed each move by the government to banish Georgescu from politics and discourse. In addition to charges of illegal campaign tactics, he’s also been charged with helping to establish an organization “with a fascist, racist or xenophobic character.”

Campaigning last fall, Georgescu pledged to restore Romanian sovereignty and put an end to what he characterizes as subservience to NATO and the EU. He took a hard line against the presence of NATO’s missile defense system that’s based in Deveselu, southern Romania, calling it a “shame of diplomacy” that is more confrontational than peace-promoting. He has also pushed for Romania to pursue a non-interventionist policy in the Ukraine war, and said US arms-makers were manipulating the conflict.

Whatever his degree of nationalism, Simion is poised to become the third nationalist leading an eastern European country, alongside Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Robert Fico — that is, unless the leftists once again find a way to bar a popular right-wing candidate from victory.  

Parts of Oregon are experiencing pollution levels deemed “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” according to an AirNow map from agencies including the EPA and NOAA.

Affected areas include Baker City and the Wood River Valley, northeast of Medford, according to Newsweek.

The Newsweek report says cites health officials who say that children, seniors, and people with respiratory conditions face increased risks.

A South Coast AQMD spokesperson previously told Newsweek that exposure to particle pollution “can cause premature death in people with heart or lung disease, cause heart attacks, aggravate asthma, decrease lung function, and cause respiratory symptoms like coughing and difficulty breathing.”

The Air Quality Index (AQI) categorizes pollution on a 0–500 scale. Levels from 101–150 (orange) indicate air that is “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”

Scores from 0–50 (green) indicate good air quality, while 51–100 (yellow) is moderate, with possible risks for sensitive people. Levels of 101–150 (orange) are unhealthy for sensitive groups like children and those with heart or lung conditions. Readings from 151–200 (red) are unhealthy for everyone, 201–300 (purple) are very unhealthy with emergency health warnings, and 301–500 (maroon) are hazardous, posing serious risks to the entire population.

Jonathan Grigg, professor of pediatric respiratory and environmental medicine, noted: “There are vulnerable groups and classically they are children because they’ve got an extra issue to do with their lungs developing.” He added, “There are also very clear links between inhaling particles and earlier death from both respiratory and cardiovascular diseases,” and that air pollution worsens conditions like asthma.

Air quality levels remain under close watch and are subject to change with the weather.

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Pennsylvania-based Aurora Innovation, Inc. has launched commercial self-driving trucking service in the state of Texas, conducting customer deliveries between Dallas and Houston starting this week, the company said in a May 1 statement.

The driverless trucking service will use Aurora’s flagship product “Aurora Driver,” a self-driving system that can “see over 450 meters ahead,” according to the company. Aurora says the truck is capable of spotting and reacting to pedestrians “up to 11 seconds sooner than human drivers at highway speeds at night.”

“To date, the Aurora Driver has completed over 1,200 miles without a driver,” said the statement. “The milestone makes Aurora the first company to operate a commercial self-driving service with heavy-duty trucks on public roads.”

“Aurora plans to expand its driverless service to El Paso, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona, by the end of 2025.”

Aurora’s launch customers are logistics companies Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines, both of which have had “long-standing supervised commercial pilots with Aurora.”

Aurora Driver is reportedly an SAE L4 self-driving system that is being deployed for long-haul trucking for the first time.

SAE L4 refers to Level 4 of the nonprofit SAE International’s measure of driving automation that runs from Level 0 to 5.

At the L4 level, the features of the driverless system can “drive the vehicle under limited conditions and will not operate unless all required conditions are met,” according to the SAE website.

Pedals and steering wheels may or may not be installed in SAE L4 vehicles. The automated features of the system won’t require a person sitting inside the vehicle to take over driving.

“We founded Aurora to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly,” said Chris Urmson, CEO and co-founder of Aurora. “Riding in the back seat for our inaugural trip was an honor of a lifetime—the Aurora Driver performed perfectly.”

Meanwhile, autonomous trucks pose a critical employment issue for truck drivers.

In an April 8 statement, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the largest labor unions in the United States, said they testified at the Nevada state capitol, asking lawmakers to support Senate Bill 395.

The bill requires that all commercial vehicles weighing over 26,000 pounds have a trained human safety operator behind the wheel.

“For Big Tech companies to think they can come into any state and replace the jobs of hardworking union members with this dangerous and inferior technology is an insult to professional drivers everywhere,” said Peter Finn, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7.

“SB 395 is critical to protecting the middle class. That is why we are demanding that Nevada lawmakers vote in favor of this legislation.”

The bill passed the Nevada Senate on April 16 and is currently under consideration in the Assembly, where it was recently referred to the Committee on Growth and Infrastructure.

Aurora Safety, DOT Relaxes Rules

Aurora said its flagship truck is fitted with a powerful computer and sensors that enable it to operate safely on highways.

“In over four years of supervised pilot hauls, the Aurora Driver has delivered over 10,000 customer loads across three million autonomous miles,” the company said.

“It has also demonstrated extraordinary capabilities, including predicting red light runners, avoiding collisions, and detecting pedestrians in the dark hundreds of meters away.”

Before beginning operations, Aurora had completed a “safety case” for its vehicles. A safety case is a documented assurance of the vehicle maintaining safety.

The company said it had briefed several government entities about Aurora Driver’s readiness for driverless operations, including the National Transportation Safety Board, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Texas Department of Transportation.

Aurora’s driverless truck service launch comes as the Department of Transportation (DOT) said on April 4 that it would ease some of the safety regulations involved in the development of self-driving vehicles.

Specifically, the agency will expand the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program to domestically-produced automated vehicles (AVs) as well. The program currently only applies to imported AVs.

“This Administration understands that we’re in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn’t be higher,” said Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy in a April 24 statement. “As part of DOT’s innovation agenda, our new framework will slash red tape and move us closer to a single national standard that spurs innovation and prioritizes safety.”

Advocacy group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety criticized the decision, saying that “troubling incidents” involving automated vehicles have already occurred in multiple cities.

If proper safety regulations, safeguards, transparency, and accountability are not maintained regarding the issue, the deployment of AVs could result in “deadly consequences,” it said.

John Bozzella, CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation, welcomed the DOT move, calling it “Unequivocally good—and overdue—news,” the group said in an April 24 statement.

“Yes, we’ve got to move smartly and safely. But this announcement shows the administration is also proceeding with a sense of urgency, so we don’t cede AV leadership to China and other countries. Time is of the essence,” he added.

In the latest chapter in the country’s months-long political drama that has seen an election thrown out and the winner charged with political crimes, 38-year-old conservative nationalist George Simion decisively won the first round of balloting in Romania’s “do-over” presidential election, sending him to a May 18 runoff where he’ll face centrist Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan. 

Simion has likened his political philosophy to Donald Trump’s, saying his Alliance for the Union of Romanians party is “a Trumpist party,” and promising to “Make Romania Great Again.” The win is a buzzkill for Western leftists who’ve been enjoying the afterglow of comeback victories in Canada and Australia. 

Though his first-round win was expected, Simion far outperformed the polling, taking 41% of the vote, versus the 30% projected by a recent poll of polls. Dan took 21%, edging Crin Antonescu, a candidate from the current governing coalition, who took 20%. Simion clearly has the inside track for the runoff, as observers say he’s likely to gain quite a few votes from members of other parties whose beliefs align more closely with Simion than Dan. “Simion has a bigger pool of votes than Dan at the moment,” political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu told Reuters.

Simion called the election a “victory for Romanian dignity…Despite the obstacles, despite the manipulation, despite a press paid to demean us day after day, Romanians have stood up.” The election has been closely watched by Western powers, as it could reshape Romania’s relationships with the European Union and NATO. 

However, while he’s criticized both entities, don’t expect Simion to usher Romania out of either of them. In various comments leading up to the election, he discounted the idea of Romania exiting NATO or the EU, sounded alarms over the supposed Russian menace, advocated continued sanctions against Moscow, and embraced increased European military spending.  Consider these Simion quotes from an interview with the Financial Times: 

Simion has promised, if elected, to help secure a position in Romanian government for Calin Georgescu — perhaps as prime minister. In a huge, poll-defying upset in November, nationalist Georgescu won the first round of balloting in Romania’s first go at this presidential election. Then, just two days before the runoff, the country’s Constitutional Court threw out the election and ordered it to be started anew — based on shaky allegations that his victory was the result of Russian interference. 

Georgescu was barred from running again. In February, Georgescu was arrested and questioned as he faced Orwellian allegations of disseminating “false information” and “incitement to actions against the constitutional order.” Upon his release from custody, he was forbidden from appearing on mass media or creating social media accounts. Huge protests followed each move by the government to banish Georgescu from politics and discourse. In addition to charges of illegal campaign tactics, he’s also been charged with helping to establish an organization “with a fascist, racist or xenophobic character.”

Campaigning last fall, Georgescu pledged to restore Romanian sovereignty and put an end to what he characterizes as subservience to NATO and the EU. He took a hard line against the presence of NATO’s missile defense system that’s based in Deveselu, southern Romania, calling it a “shame of diplomacy” that is more confrontational than peace-promoting. He has also pushed for Romania to pursue a non-interventionist policy in the Ukraine war, and said US arms-makers were manipulating the conflict.

Whatever his degree of nationalism, Simion is poised to become the third nationalist leading an eastern European country, alongside Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Robert Fico — that is, unless the leftists once again find a way to bar a popular right-wing candidate from victory.  

Millions of Americans, including those among the lowest income brackets, truly have no idea how good life is for them.  The grass is always greener somewhere else in the world until people actually take the plunge and move to the neighbor’s house only to discover it’s crack den.  

The self hatred that progressives feel over being American and living in the US is a first-world luxury that few others can afford.  Most of humanity doesn’t have time to dwell obsessively on their nation’s global image; they are too busy barely surviving.  The argument often regurgitated by over-privileged activists on Reddit forums and in college classrooms is that American “exceptionalism” is problematic because there’s nothing exceptional about America.

This claim is debunked by the fact that most of the rest of the world wants to come to the US and very few people want to leave.  Those that do leave are usually among the wealthiest, or, they are gullible and think they can find something better overseas.  It usually doesn’t go well for them.

One black leftist recently figured this out after moving to Africa.  She assumed she would fit right in, but now says she actually prefers dealing with American “racism” over the scammers, grifters and of course, the lack of snacks.  Her complaints have gone viral because they expose the common leftist delusion that the US is somehow one of the worst places on Earth.  They simply don’t understand how lucky they are until they step outside of their echo chamber.

People seriously don’t realize how good they have it in America.

Look what this woman has to say after she moved to Africa. 👇 pic.twitter.com/9SYmQs9sLe

— Declaration of Memes (@LibertyCappy) May 4, 2025

A minimal amount of research will drudge up numerous accounts similar to this one – Most black Americans simply cannot assimilate after relocating to Africa and most Americans don’t do well in regions devoid of western culture.  The ultra-rich are fine wherever they go, but middle class expatriats have difficult experiences.  Black comedians and celebrities have been trying to warn their community for decades about this.  The venerable Patrice O’Neil didn’t mince words on the idea of “going back to Africa”.

Comedian Patrice ‘O Neal spitting facts on the kakhole that is Africa pic.twitter.com/53sFaKEcil

— Kgomotso #MaAfrikaBorwaPele (@SA1st_PSAF) May 2, 2023

When confronting the issue of racism in America, it should be noted that most of the world treats Black Americans differently.  Not necessarily because of skin color but because of their cultural habits and behaviors.

Charlestone White explains why no one likes Black Americans 😳

“We are disrespectful, arrogant and loud” pic.twitter.com/r5As8OEkGH

— Charging… (@RedPillSayian) December 12, 2024

Perhaps what black leftists in America interpret as “racism” is actually cultural burnout; a national or even global acknowledgment by other groups that they are tired of dealing with all the baggage that the black American community tends to bring with them?  And if this is the case, then it’s unlikely that there are many other places in the world that will give them the time of day the way American society does. 

Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com,

Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong is back with an avalanche of problems coming to the world starting in 2025.  

Depressions, defaults, debt crises and wars are going to sweep the globe, according to Armstrong and his “Socrates” predictive computer program.  Armstrong has called every big economic turn in the past three decades.  He predicted Trump would win the 2024 Presidential Election in a landslide many months ahead of November.  Armstrong called the huge stock crash of 1987 to the day.  He predicted the dot com boom and bust in 2000.  He was spot on calling for the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009, and now, we are headed for more big turns.  Armstrong says,

“The last one turned on May 7th of last year.  That was the same day Putin had his inauguration, and it was the same day a couple of Ukrainian colonels tried to assassinate Zelensky.  From there, we are turning down into a global recession, which won’t bottom until about 2028.  Central banks started cutting rates right after that, and I think Canada was the first.  It’s going to be more of a depression in Europe, a very sharp recession in China, and it won’t be as bad in the United States. . . . When you create a debt crisis, that’s what causes a depression.  The stock market going down is the least damage to an economy.”

Europe has trillions of dollars of unpayable debt, and Armstrong says, “The leadership knows if they don’t have war, the people will come after them.”

What will be the next big turn?  Spoiler alert, it has to do with war in Ukraine and Russia.  Armstrong says,

“Europe does not want peace.  Look at things the EU has said: that Russia is too big and has to be broken up.  I have very good contacts very high up, and they really do think they can conquer Russia.  It has $75 trillion in natural resource assets.  They will then control that . . . Once they get their hands on that . . . they will rise to the top of countries of the world,  like the Roman Empire will be resurrected or something.”

But instead of the EU winning a war against Russia, Armstrong predicts, 

“They will lose bigtime.  The third time is not going to be the charm. . . . The euro will disappear, not the dollar.”

The timing of the next big turn for war?  Armstrong says,

“After May 15, war is turning up (in Ukraine) and it will be turning up into 2026.  If I am Putin, there is no way I am signing a peace deal.  Putin signed a peace deal (in 2015) and what did they do?  They built an army while Russia didn’t.”

Armstrong predicts China will come in on the side of Russia, and there could be as many as “one billion dead and wounded” as a result.  

What should the US do?  Armstrong says, 

“I have been talking to people in Washington, and I have told them to ‘Get the hell out of NATO.’  There are plenty of people warming up to that idea.”

Armstrong predicts if that happens, capital will leave Europe and flow into the US as a safe haven.

Armstrong also thinks gold will hit $5,000 per ounce at the next target, but it will not hit that price until war takes off in Europe and Ukraine.  

Armstrong also thinks the Democrat party will split in two, and they will not retake the House of Representatives in 2026.

Does the conflict between Pakistan and India blow up or blow over?  Armstrong says, “My computer (Socrates) says it blows up.”

There is much more in the 64-minute in-depth interview.

Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with Martin Armstrong as he gives his analysis on war, default, depression and unpayable debt that will make a huge mess for the world for 5.3.25.

*  *  *

To Donate to USAWatchdog.com click here

There is free information, analysis and articles on ArmstrongEconomics.com.

We think it’s time we can officially present the ESG grift – which we have spoken out against and called a scam for the better part of the last decade – dead.

The latest casualty? BP’s top sustainability executive, Giulia Chierchia, will leave the company on June 1, marking another high-profile exit and an obvious signpost in the oil giant’s sharp pivot away from green energy and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, according to The Guardian.

Chierchia, who joined BP in 2020 to help steer it toward a “net zero” future, was hired by then-CEO Bernard Looney and became the architect of the company’s now-defunct sustainability strategy.

Her departure will not trigger a replacement; instead, her team will be folded into other business units to “simplify our structure” and enable “quicker decision-making and clearer accountabilities,” BP said.

Chierchia’s exit follows closely on the heels of BP Chairman Helge Lund’s announcement that he too would step down next year. Both executives had come under growing scrutiny after BP formally abandoned its green energy transition in favor of doubling down on oil and gas, a shift driven by falling profits and pressure from shareholders.

“In February, we announced a fundamental reset of our strategy – to grow the upstream, focus the downstream and invest with discipline in the transition – and we have already made significant progress,” said CEO Murray Auchincloss.

The Guardian writes that at BP’s latest annual general meeting, Lund faced a shareholder revolt over his role in the collapse of the green strategy. Meanwhile, activist hedge fund Elliott Management has taken a 5% stake in the company and reportedly demanded a full reversal of its low-carbon investments and an overhaul of its board.

BP’s financial performance has deteriorated, with first-quarter 2025 profits nearly halved to $1.4 billion from $2.7 billion a year prior. Its full-year 2024 profits fell by a third to $8.9 billion. Shares dropped over 2% on the news, continuing a trend of underperformance relative to competitors since Looney first charted a net-zero course.

In response, the company has pledged to slash spending, particularly in renewable ventures, and accelerate asset sales. It plans to cut 2025 capital spending by $500 million to $14.5 billion and raise divestments to as much as $4 billion this year. The goal is to offload $20 billion in assets by the end of 2027.

BP’s ESG era—once held up as a model for oil industry transformation—is now officially over, buried under investor discontent, falling returns, and an unmistakable return to fossil fuel fundamentals.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Following massive local election gains for Reform UK, the populist Party headed by Nigel Farage, the legacy media revealed just how completely out of touch with British people it is.

Here is the headline the Financial Times published.

An unwelcome surge of rightwing populism in Britain https://t.co/Dow38Svpf3

— Financial Times (@FT) May 2, 2025

Yeah, they seemed pretty welcome, given how much they trounced everyone else in democratic elections, winning 677 seats out of around 1,600 being contested.

“Unwelcome at our dinner parties”*

— Man of the Dissident Right… (@anglowanderer) May 2, 2025

The Conservatives lost a whopping 676 seats, one less than Reform gained, while Labour, the Party that won a general election LAST YEAR, won just 99 seats and lost more than 180.

Monumental. People have had enough. pic.twitter.com/jxpta4GdLj

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) May 2, 2025

It’s pretty clear that Reform UK was “welcome” as far as voters were concerned.

Unwelcome? Says who? It’s not evil to think that your countrymen should be the first priority of your country.

— XBradTC (@xbradtc) May 2, 2025

Nevertheless, the FT described the monumental victory as a “populist-nationalist bug” adding that Reform found just the right “blend of far-right anti-immigration and anti-net zero stances,” to give “both main parties a drubbing.

Are you sure it’s unwelcome?

— The Panic (@ThePanic16) May 3, 2025

The media, like Kier Starmer, can bandy around the pejorative term ‘far right’ all they want, the fact is it’s clear a majority of people in a Britain are now acutely aware that mass uncontrolled and incentivised immigration is degrading quality of life throughout the country.

The mainstream media elites can’t hide their disdain for ordinary people

Instead of trying to understand their concerns they write them off with derogatories like “right-wing populism”.

I have nothing but contempt for them https://t.co/GgfQ0sFpDN

— Winston Marshall (@MrWinMarshall) May 3, 2025

From collapsing metropolises to quiet country villages. No where is exempt from its reach.

Funny isn’t it that when the side the establishment media falls on wins big, it’s championed as ‘the will of the people’ but when the other side wins it’s some sort of ‘unwelcome’ anomaly.

Maybe it has something to do with all the unwelcome immigrants.

— Stuck (@StuckInMiddleU) May 2, 2025

“We must destroy democracy in order to save it.”

— Nick Uva (@nickuva) May 2, 2025

Unwelcome to far Left busybodies who demand total control.

Yes. https://t.co/kcWG323ISy

— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) May 3, 2025

There’s a simple fix to this populism ‘bug’.

If you don’t like populism, stop being communists. https://t.co/dMD5MO54W0

— Wontonimo Bae .🤍. (@wontonimobae) May 3, 2025

*  *  *

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again made more ultra-provocative remarks aimed at the West concerning Russia’s nuclear doctrine.

In a fresh interview with a Russian broadcaster that aired Sunday Putin claimed that the West “wanted to provoke us, wanted to force us to make mistakes” on a strategic level.

He described, in an unprecedented allegation, that Ukraine’s Western supporters in NATO were essentially trying to bait Moscow into deploying nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Putin emphasized that Russia exercised restraint in this matter.

“They wanted to provoke us, wanted us to make mistakes,” the Russian leader asserted in the Rossiya-1 interview. “And there was no need to use the weapons that you mentioned. I hope that it won’t be necessary,” he added, referencing the interviewer’s question which mentioned nuclear arms.

“We have enough capabilities and means to finish what we started in 2022 with the result that Russia needs,” Putin concluded. He emphasized that Russia is able to carry through with its military goals without resorting to nuclear arms.

No evidence was given for this charge; however, it’s been a constant theme of the Kremlin to accuse Zelensky’s NATO backers of seeking constant escalation of the conflict, and the avoidance of a peace settlement (which would result in Russian control over eastern Ukraine and Crimea).

RT also commented in featuring the fresh statements, “Russia has repeatedly confirmed its stance that the use of nuclear weapons will be its last choice. In November, Putin has approved Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine.”

The West became alarmed when earlier in the Ukraine war Putin ordered tactical nuclear warheads to be stationed in Belarus. These are reportedly overseen by Russian officers in Belarus, and with President Lukashenko’s permission.

Starting in late September, Russia had unveiled its expanded nuclear doctrine which proposed a lowered threshold for Russian strategic forces’ use of nukes.

This was due to the “emergence of new sources of military threats and risks for Russia and our allies” – amid fiercer drone and missile attacks coming across the border from Ukraine.

Also, Moscow has said US-produced F-16s which are now being flowing by Ukraine’s air force are capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov previously described that Russia’s nuclear doctrine changes mean that “the Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression using conventional weapons against it and/or the Republic of Belarus.” 

Via Remix News,

Germany and Poland have been at peace for decades, yet the border between the two is still fraught, with this new dispute arising largely due to migration. Germany’s Friedrich Merz, expected to become the country’s new chancellor in just a few days, has announced that his country would tighten the external border on the first day of his chancellorship.

In response, Poland is warning Germany against this move, with Warsaw fearing that these tightened controls could make Polish commuters’ lives very difficult, reduce commerce, and potentially even increase migration pressure on Poland, according to German newspaper Welt.

Polish diplomat Jan Tombinski told Politico magazine that the current controls are already a “problem for daily border traffic and the functioning of the EU internal market. We therefore do not want to see any tightening of the border controls.”

The Polish government “naturally stands by our commitment to protecting Europe’s external borders—especially with Russia and Belarus,” the diplomat said. He also emphasized that “free movement within the European Schengen area (should) be maintained.”

Germany could send up to 70,000 migrants to Poland per year, according to a Polish MP.@DariuszMatecki filmed the new massive migrant center near the Polish border.

Germany “can’t cope with the migration problem.”

The solution? Send them to Poland and other EU nations. pic.twitter.com/b0Ak8fctgn

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 21, 2025

Many migrants entering Poland make their way to Germany, which has become a problem for the German government. Polish conservatives accuse the ruling left-liberal government of quietly taking back thousands of these migrants from Germany, and in some cases, German police have been accused of “dumping” migrants back on Polish territory.

Tombinski, hinting that Poland may be willing to accept more of these migrants, said that his country will accept its “obligations under EU legislation,” including the new CEAS asylum policy.

The likely future head of the German chancellery, Thorsten Frei, told Spiegel: “We will intensify border controls and turn back those who have no right to enter Germany.” He said the federal police being supported at the border is “an essential point. It will have a short-term effect.”

In regard to the medium-term solution, Frei said he wants to regulate migration across the European continent so “that, on the one hand, we live up to our humanitarian responsibility and, on the other hand, prevent our societies from being overwhelmed,”

Designated German interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), said that new measures will be used to combat illegal immigration. “There is no doubt about my determination.” said Dobrindt, however, “borders will not be closed, but they will be more tightly controlled.”

The CDU, which fears the growing popularity of the AfD, played a huge role in the current immigration crisis when Angela Merkel first allowed over 1 million migrants to enter the country in 2015 and 2016, but now the party is attempting to talk tough on the issue.

“We have strong polarization in the country,” Dobrindt stated. “We have to reduce it. We can only achieve this if we get illegal migration under control.”

The Green Party is already trashing the move, stating that it is illegal and contrary to European law.

“I’m curious to see how long it will take this time for the courts to overturn this,” warned a Green Party member speaking to Welt.

Merz is headed to meet Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw next week, where the issue will likely be discussed further.

Read more here…