Patrick Lawrence, Scheerpost:

Despite the economically disastrous impact the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage will have on Europe, Western media still holds its tongue about it.

Absolutely remarkable, Western media’s determination to ignore the recent Baltic Sea detonations, which knocked out the Nord Stream I and II gas pipelines. A major piece of Europe’s energy infrastructure, the joint property of Germany and Russia, has been destroyed. Any chance that Russian gas transmissions westward will be resumed is off the table. The Continent is now sent on a desperate search for new sources of natural gas, inevitably at higher prices. I cannot think of many stories that are more significant.

The Western press and broadcasters have reported next to nothing about this momentous development since the September 26 explosions. And it is now clear that the media’s silence reflects a larger silence. On October 14, Reuters reported that Sweden has declined to participate in a joint investigation with Germany and Denmark. German television reported that the Danes also dropped out. Now we have a German minister stating his government knows who is responsible for the attack but cannot say who it is. In all three cases, the explanation is the same: This matter is too sensitive to pursue and doing so risks “national security.”

So: There will be no joint investigation of the Nord Stream I and II incident. And whatever Sweden and the others may discover on their own, they have no intention of telling the world about it.

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It is notable that Stockholm and Copenhagen have decided to shut up about what happened off a Danish island close to Germany’s Baltic Sea coast. It is shocking that Berlin has done so. Somebody just blew up a project worth €11 billion, $10.8 billion, that Germany set in motion and in which it has a majority share. In effect, the Federal Republic has chosen to stand with what is almost certainly a state actor as said actor impugned its sovereignty and destroyed not only its property but also its energy-sourcing alternatives.

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“We are risking a massive deindustrialization of the European continent,” Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo, told the Financial Times recently.

Europe’s creeping economic ruin is the most immediate, tangible casualty of the war in Ukraine the U.S. provoked and the sanctions regime against Russia the U.S. leads and the European Union backs. The nearly incredible refusal of Germany and its neighbors to stick up for them­selves on the pipeline question suggests that the larger consequence is the final collapse of all pretense that Europe is other than a collection of vassal states subservient to the U.S., even at the expense of their own citizens.

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This topic came up some years ago during an interview I did with Perry Anderson, the British writer and publisher. Why can’t Europe find its voice? I asked. Anderson had an interesting reply.

The last generation of European leaders with any experience of acting independently of the U.S.—Churchill, Anthony Eden, de Gaulle, et al.—passed into history during the early part of the Cold War, Anderson astutely pointed out. No generation since has any experience other than as dependents sheltering under the American security umbrella. They know nothing else. They have never spoken in voices of their own.

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Europe’s goose seems cooked on the energy side now. Saad al–Kaabi, the Qatari energy minister said in an Oct. 18 interview with the Financial Times that for Europe to go without Russian gas will doom it indefinitely to economic decline and widespread suffering. If “zero Russian gas” flows into the EU, he said, “I think the problem is going to be huge and for a very long time.”  

Post–Nord Stream Europe is now at the mercy of hard-bargained contracts in the open market, where it will never match the price at which Russian gas would have flowed under the Baltic Sea to Germany.

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To turn the gaze forward, the most discouraging aspect of the Nord Stream incident is a tie between two grim realities. On the one hand, it seems clear now the U.S. is emboldened to do anything it likes to the Europeans to preserve its power over them, and on the other it seems just as clear the Europeans will take it in the way of the Stockholm syndrome.

Spiegel:

Erst am Freitag löste Wagenknecht erneut Wirbel aus. Sie nannte die Grünen »die gefährlichste Partei« im Bundestag, während Fraktionschef Dietmar Bartsch unterstrich: »Die gefährlichste im Bundestag vertretene Partei ist und bleibt die AfD.«

Luisa Neubauer:

Bis heute, und im Sommer selbst bei 40 Grad im Schatten, scheinen sich Teile der Öffentlichkeit und Politik mehr dafür zu interessieren, wie über die Klimakrise gesprochen wird, als darüber, wie sie bewältigt wird. Wer über die gefährlichste Katastrophe des Jahrhunderts sprechen möchte, darf bloß nicht zu laut sein, nicht zu hysterisch, nicht zu ernst, nicht zu humorvoll. Nicht zu viele Fakten liefern, nicht zu viele Gefühle zeigen, nicht moralisieren, schon gar nicht predigen und keine Vorschriften machen. Was okay ist: freundliche Hinweise über die Apokalypse, natürlich ohne apokalyptisch zu werden, gerne mit Praxistipps und einer Prise Hoffnung.

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Was fast immer ausgeklammert wurde: die Frage, wie Macht in der Gesellschaft aufgebaut und Macht der fossilen Lobbys geschwächt wird. Über die Klimakrise zu sprechen, ohne über Macht zu sprechen, negiert die Tatsache, dass die Existenz der Klimakrise per se eine Konsequenz von Machtkämpfen ist. Bisher haben sie die fossilen Industrien gewonnen, deren Finanziers und politischen Unterstützer:innen.

Guardian:

After eight rounds, is there space for further EU sanctions on Russia?

xe:

Die Verfolgung von Assange muss enden!

Die Zeit:

Der Bundestag hat einen Entwurf zur Änderung eines Gesetzes verabschiedet, wonach die Billigung, Leugnung und Verharmlosung von Völkermorden und Kriegsverbrechen grundsätzlich unter Strafe gestellt wird. Eine entsprechende Ergänzung wird im Paragrafen 130 StGB (Volksverhetzung) vorgenommen. Nach dem neuen Absatz 5 sollen diese Taten mit einer Freiheitsstrafe von bis zu drei Jahren oder Geldstrafe belegt werden können.

You know those moments in action/adventure hero movies where some fool kills John Wick’s dog and there’s the dramatic equivalent of a narrator intoning „Now, it’s personal„? Trying to objectively compare genocides or place war crimes in context is in my experience often interpreted as „minimizing war crimes“. Life suddenly got more interesting. 🤔

Craig Murray:

… those who lead political parties – and here comes my promised perception – believe they don’t actually need members any more.

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This is a fundamental change in what a political party is – it no longer is a free association of citizens holding a common political outlook and working to elect representatives to support that philosophy. This great change in society – which renders western “democracy” entirely meaningless – is being consolidated before our eyes.

The destruction of Corbyn and his member supported left wing programme is mirrored in the destruction of Truss and her member supported right wing programme.

European Parliament:

Awarded for the first time in 1988 to Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is the highest tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work. It gives recognition to individuals, groups and organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to protecting freedom of thought. Through the prize and its associated network the EU assists laureates, who are supported and empowered in their efforts to defend their causes.

The prize has so far been awarded to dissidents, political leaders, journalists, lawyers, civil-society activists, writers, mothers, wives, minority leaders, an anti-terrorist group, peace activists, an anti-torture activist, a cartoonist, long-serving prisoners of conscience, a film-maker, the UN as a body and even a child campaigning for the right to education. It promotes in particular freedom of expression, the rights of minorities, respect for international law, the development of democracy and the implementation of the rule of law.

ZEIT ONLINE:

Mr. Shapiro, in a recent essay, you wrote that the West and Russia are caught in a cycle of escalation. If the world continues on that path, a nuclear confrontation seems inevitable to you. Why?

Jeremy Shapiro:

It’s not inevitable. But there’s a very strong possibility that a nuclear confrontation will happen unless we break out of the current path. The reason is quite simple: Both sides have decided that they cannot lose, that their existential values are at stake and they have proven themselves willing to escalate continually.