Johan Lindblad

Samhällsintresserad, jurist, arbetar med vin - här mest handelspolitik. Twittrar såklart privat.

[Carl Bildt @carlbildt]

This gets difficult. 🇺🇸 threatens action against Europe if it restricts Starlink, but at the same time Starlink restricts use for the defence of a European country 🇺🇦. Europe needs sovereignty - not submission.

[Christopher Miller @ChristopherJM]

Latest: ​Zelenskyy tells reporters over WhatsApp that restrictions on Ukraine's Starlink systems remain. Interceptor drones can't function, logistics and operations hobbled. The maximum speed is 161 kph; "exceeding this limit causes the Starlink connection to cut out completely, resulting in the loss of the drone."

He says Ukraine has done tests to determine whether SpaceX is truly facing technical issues, as has been told Kyiv by the US side, or if this is a "deliberate operation... to restrict us, cut us off, and prevent us from defending ourselves and protecting our people, both at the front and among the civilian population."

He says Ukraine "sent a couple of vehicles equipped with Starlink terminals into European Union territory."

"They moved at speeds exceeding 180kph, and the Starlink systems worked perfectly. We have the relevant logs and evidence to prove this."

He adds: "The conclusion is clear: the restrictions are in effect within Ukraine but do not apply within the European Union. In other words, this is a planned operation."

[Nina Schick @NinaDSchick]

Dear God, the sooner this copium ends, the sooner we can get a handle on reality and start thinking strategically. I heard the same refrain about how the EU would forge ahead throughout my many years working in EU policy. Just like it would ‘LEAD IN AI BY REGULATING IT.’ It was always empty rhetoric.

So, to address your list:

How many lithography machines did ASML (with ZEISS & TRUMPF components) sell into Europe in Q2 2026? Zero. As ASML’s own Executive Vice President put it: “We are selling absolutely nothing in Europe.”

Not to mention that ASML itself is reliant on demand generated by the largest capital investment cycle in history, with the U.S. currently hosting over 75% of the world’s AI compute fabric. (ASML’s technological indispensability is itself built on a transatlantic supply chain, including critical American IP, BTW.)

Commercial SMRs are coming. @AaloAtomics achieved criticality in less than eight months from groundbreaking and is already building its commercial-scale reactor in partnership with @Crusoe, with plans to power an AI data center in 2027. (I’ll be doing a deep dive next week with @AaloAtomics and @MattLoszak. Watch this space.)

Moreover, the U.S. is mobilising billions to break China’s chokehold on rare-earth supply chains, protecting trillions of dollars in downstream economic activity. These investments will benefit Europe too. Meanwhile, the EU is trying to restrict Chinese market access while negotiating with Beijing for the rare earths its industries depend on. Beijing has the EU over a barrel on REEs.

Nokia & Ericsson do not possess exclusive technological indispensability. They have competitors, including Huawei and Samsung. And now the entire architecture of terrestrial communications is being challenged by that company sending 40-storey reusable rockets into space to deploy fully functional satellites the size of school buses.

I say all of this as someone who desperately wants Europe to succeed. But we have to disabuse ourselves of the comforting delusions we keep repeating, especially now, in an age where we are beginning to convert electricity into intelligence. The takeoff has already started.

Europe needs abundant energy, sovereign compute capacity and the political will to build at industrial scale.
Only by confronting the very stark reality of where we stand can we begin to do anything about it.

(As you can see, I feel very passionately about this. )

[The Economist @TheEconomist]

Vladimir Putin appears to have concluded that he cannot win the war in Ukraine on the battlefield. His strategy now is to grind Ukraine down. How scandalous that Donald Trump has become his best weapon https://t.co/L2lZcibP0D

Photo: AP

[Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum]

Trump is lying again. Putin started the war and has repeatedly refused to negotiate to end it. The US spent nothing like $350 billion. Half the money is not missing. Washington and Moscow are both significantly more corrupt than Kyiv. Putin, not Zelensky, is a dictator who openly steals elections.

[Nina Schick @NinaDSchick]

ASML aside, it is incomprehensible how Europe has allowed itself to become almost entirely absent from the industrial supply chain of Intelligence.

I made these remarks in Europe today, because the situation is dire:

1/ No energy sovereignty
2/ No operational commercial SMRs
3/ Grid connection queues stretching beyond 10 years
4/ Industrial base being gutted
5/ Negligible rare-earth refining capacity
6/ No leading-edge AI chip fabrication at scale
7/ No meaningful HBM fabrication
8/ No globally dominant AI accelerator chip IP
9/ No globally dominant semiconductor design software
10/ No meaningful frontier AI chip packaging capacity
11/ No globally dominant frontier AI models
12/ No globally dominant open-weight AI models
13/ No globally dominant frontier AI intellectual property
14/ No globally dominant AI companies
15/ No trillion-dollar technology companies
16/ No global hyperscalers
17/ No globally competitive neoclouds at US scale
18/ No serious frontier-scale AI compute
19 / No sovereign frontier AI training infrastructure at global scale
20/ No globally dominant AI inference platform
21/ No globally dominant AI developer ecosystem
22/ No globally dominant AI operating system
23/ No globally dominant AI-native enterprise software company
24/No globally dominant AI-native defence software platform
25/ No globally dominant AI robotics platform
26/ No globally dominant commercial space launch and satellite internet platform
27/ No capital mobilisation at the scale required to compete in the intelligence economy

This is the cumulative result of policy choices: on energy, investment, regulation, taxation …

The biggest risk to the West’s future prosperity and security is failing to build. Europe is the cautionary tale.

[Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum]

This is a lie. Zelensky has repeatedly offered a ceasefire and the Russians have always refused

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Another strike on a Russian oil refinery in Omsk – one of the major refineries – as well as on the Ukhta oil refinery, 1,900 kilometers from Ukraine’s state border. The target in Ukhta was hit by An-196 RS drones, which can fly about 2,500 kilometers, while FP-6 drones (modified FP-1s) were used against the Omsk refinery the day before. We continue to respond to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, and we’re doing so with high precision. Another data center was hit as well – our symmetrical response. An important display of accuracy by our warriors. Glory to Ukraine!

[Boris Johnson @BorisJohnson]

It is sickening that the USA is now lifting sanctions on Russian fuel, and transparently ridiculous to blame Ukraine for the spike in prices that obviously began with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Putin is murdering innocent Ukrainian civilians every day. The Ukrainians are fighting for their lives. And yet the White House is apparently determined to force American drivers to bankroll Putin’s slaughter. It won’t work and I doubt it will make much difference to the price of fuel.

If we want Russian oil and gas back on the world market then let’s end this war - with a free, sovereign and independent Ukraine.

[Patrik Oksanen @patrikoksanen]

Skriver om ett beslut som borde ha kommit tidigare, om en kyrka som inte är som andra kyrkor. https://t.co/V2115h461m

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

So this deal is largely Potemkin, but the damage is obvious: the US will give something for nothing to get realignment with Russia and of course — in the long run — to line the pockets of Trump’s friends and family. Let’s assume, based on initial reporting, that Ukraine continues deep strikes with European assistance and even escalates now. Russian refineries burn. Moscow says they can’t satisfy the demands of the deal (which they couldn’t do anyway) because of those deep strikes. Whom do you think Trump will blame when his Potemkin bargain is shown to be just that? The hucksters in Moscow and Miami who sold it to him, or the country he’s sold out? Even in the deal’s inevitable implosion, Russia snags a big strategic victory. I’m guessing they factored that into their design.

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

“Misreading the room”? Get fucked. You started a needless war with Iran, it went sideways, and now you want to make Ukraine pay the price.

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

I spoke with President of Finland @AlexStubb. I’m especially grateful for the assistance package to help protect our skies. We’ll receive ammunition for our F-16s in the coming days. This is what’s currently enabling us to shoot down jet-powered “shaheds.

I briefed Alex on the latest Russian strikes. Of course, we also discussed a new challenge: additional revenue for Russia from petroleum product exports, which can be used to finance further Russian aggression. We’re preparing meetings and coordinating steps that can be useful under the current circumstances.

Alex, thank you for your support! It’s important that we continue working together to protect people and limit Russia’s ability to wage this horrific war.

[Patrik Oksanen @patrikoksanen]

Sweden continues to stand with Ukraine. 🇺🇦💙💛🇸🇪

https://t.co/9EcOqzmegs

[Ulf Kristersson @SwedishPM]

Sweden's position is the same as it has been since February 24 2022: we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. Now more pressure needs to be put on Russia and more support needs to be provided for Ukraine.

We regret the US agreement with Russia to supply diesel, as energy revenues are a vital source of funding Russia’s war of aggression.

On Monday, the EU will adopt the largest sanctions package to date, listing 1,600 entities in the Russian military industrial complex. This is - in contrast - a welcome step.

More countries also need to do more against the shadow fleet and eventually make use of the frozen Russian assets to the benefit of Ukraine. In all of this, we need to stay closely coordinated in the EU and with the US, UK and other international partners.

The broad political and popular support in Sweden for Ukraine is a strength and an asset in these turbulent times. Sweden stands with Ukraine, and Ukraine’s freedom and sovereignty remains our foremost foreign policy priority.

[Niklas Orrenius @niklasorrenius]

Trump underminerar nu direkt Ukrainas försvar mot det ryska invasionskriget.

Efter att ha tackat Putin, börjat köpa rysk diesel och uppmanat Ukraina att sluta bomba angrep Trump president Zelenskyj:

”Det är dags för Ukraina att skaffa en ny president”.

https://t.co/Uz8mVPqiDz

[French Response @FrenchResponse]

Sovereign countries don't come with a "give" button.

[Phillips P. OBrien @PhillipsPOBrien]

The fact that Trump has reduced the US-Canada relationship to a zero-sum competition in the eyes of his supporters is in itself a catastrophic development. The relationship always thrived because it was seen from a mutually beneficial point of view. That’s now over.

[Markus Uvell 🚫👞🇺🇦 @markus_uvell]

Jag skriver på @ABDebatt om svartmålningen av Sverige, apropå min nya bok ”Det här jävla landet”. https://t.co/KJiyNwtX9Y

[Karlis Neretnieks @neretnieks]

@StefanForss46 , @patrikoksanen och jag har skrivit en replik på en debattartikel i SvD som förespråkar att Sverige ska avstå från truppminor. Vi anser tvärtom - truppminor behövs, de är en viktig komponent i ett effektivt försvar. https://t.co/SNVg7qOKQm