A real European peace plan would be one that reduces Putin’s strength at home or in Ukraine, forcing him to change his calculations. If the Russian people stop supporting him, if he cannot maintain the fight in Ukraine, if he sees that the West can support Ukraine longer than he can keep going – only then will his calculations start changing. However, recent announcements carried the very important message that the current contact line would be considered to be the starting point for negotiations. The idea was tentatively suggested by many in Europe, but now Zelenskyy has confirmed it officially. The idea has been characterised as an “acceptance of reality but without legal recognition”. This implies that there is nothing else that could be done to change this accepted reality, that Putin has control of the land and, at least militarily, there is nothing that could be done to change the status quo. Call it what you want, but it is still Sudetenland de facto, if not de jure. Continue reading the full article at the link below 🔗

Pleased to share my thoughts in this @timesradio #MagnitskyAwards interview. I talked about the pursuit of justice for political prisoners, and accountability for their oppressors.

A huge honour to be recognised in this way. I am very grateful to @GMJCampaign for all the work they do, and for their encouragement to keep up the fight.

Every authoritarian expansion is a global challenge. I'm standing with Taiwan.

An honour and a pleasure to be back in Taiwan with good friends of democracy 🇹🇼

We know what victims have to endure at the hands of Russian occupiers. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, especially Ukrainians, even if “only de facto”. landsbergis.com/donbas-is-to…

Lithuania has reinstated @Tsihanouskaya's security detail for one month. I hope this welcome reversal will be extended into something less temporary.

Prime Minister Kobakhidze, The Georgian future is only for the Georgian people to decide. The same applies to every OSCE participating state. For people to be able to exercise this right, they need freedom of speech and free and fair elections with political alternatives to choose from. Helsinki Final Act (1975): ✔️[Participating states] commit to promote and encourage the effective exercise of civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and other rights and freedoms for all individuals. ✔️They affirm that these rights and freedoms derive from the inherent dignity of the human person and are essential to the development of free and democratic societies. In this spirit, as Chair of the OSCE and 50 years since the signing of this document, I invite you, @PM_Kobakhidze, to come to Finland, meet the free press and observe any demonstration of your liking. PS. Sorry I had to cancel our meeting in Tbilisi because of clashing schedules.

If you want to know why Putin has contempt for the West, listen to this statement by @NATO SecGen Rutte. We show again and again that we seem to only know the path of appeasement. Yes, the West is wealthy but being fat is not the same thing as being strong.

When @SecGenNATO says Russian operations in our airspace "don't pose a threat" – all I can hope is that this novel interpretation will never become universally adopted as doctrine.

Russia’s T-90 tank production in 2024 reached around 240 units, including both new and modernized tanks. But internal planning papers analyzed by Frontelligence Insight show Moscow’s plan to lift output by 80% and launch production of a new T90 variant. 🧵Our Special Report:

We need to continue supporting a democratic Belarus:landsbergis.com/why-is-lithu…

This worrying u-turn is the straw that can break the camel’s back, unravelling what Lithuania has stood for since regaining independence. landsbergis.com/why-is-lithu…

Why is Lithuania betraying Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya? I hope I am wrong, but it looks like the Lithuanian government is turning dark very quickly.

Say what you want about Merkel's legacy, at least she finally admitted whose side she was on.

Our leaders hope Putin will give up. He will not. Unless deterred – his escalation will increase, until a Pearl Harbour moment forces us all to realise it's war. We will then fight back half-prepared, wishing we'd listened more to the people who saw all this coming. telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2…

CZECH ELECTION: INITIAL SUMMARY WHAT HAPPENED: populist centre-left ANO clearly won with 35%, while the incumbent centre-right coalition lost the majority WHAT TO EXPECT: 1) with ANO isolated, the only option is to form a coalition with both protest parties - far-right (SPD) and hard-right (Motoriste) 2) any ANO-led coalition with hard/far-right parties will be extremely fragile since it consists: MAGA-like party (Motoriste) far-right pro-Russia party (SPD) random libertarians (Svobodní) two minor far-extreme entities (PRO and Trikolora) 3) ANO will be the most policy-moderate part of the expected coalition. Fringe & protest parties will likely lead domestically-focused culture wars from their parliamentary seats. 4) Russia policy: expect ANO to keep moderately pro-NATO line within European mainstream. Staying mute not to trigger its coalition partners, but keeping much of the policies in place. Likely coalition partners will rhetorically call for peace talks and appeasement, mainly to satisfy their radical voters. 5) China policy: not a major issue for any party. Expect almost no rhetorics on China. Czech national security institutions keep pretty hawkish line, as they did during previous ANO cabinet (2017-2021), which is expected to continue. Much of China policy will likely be driven by Czech President Petr Pavel, an uber-hawk on China, GOOD NEWS: 1) the most pro-Russian & pro-Chinese coalition of Communists and Socialists collapsed, failed to make it to the parliament (not making the 5 % threshold, made only 4.5%) 2) the fragile coalition set-up will increase the power of President Petr Pavel, who sets the strategic policy boundaries (EU & NATO membership, support for Ukraine, increased defence budget) and will likely be more visible in foreign policy 3) pro-Russian or pro-Chinese elements across Czech politics got serious beating, even dominant pro-Russian far-right party (SPD) dropped heavily from expected 10-12% to final below 8%

To stop Russian "hybrid attacks" against Europe is not complicated at all. All you need to do is stop accepting the blows and push back. My speech in Strasbourg debating the "Russian threat"

Macron says that in defence of NATO airspace and international law – "nothing is ruled out", except confiscating the blood money of the murderers who keep violating both.🤷🏼‍♂️

Will the Drone Wall be programmed to defend Ukraine's sovereignty against Hungary's accidentally friendly intrusions?