ReneKursson

[ReneKursson @kursson]

@rceallen Not so happy, what Churchill done with us 1945 in Jalta...

[NEXTA @nexta_tv]

In the world's biggest gas station, people are being asked to drive less to avoid worsening a fuel shortage

The governor of Russia's Vladimir region said the area is experiencing gasoline supply problems. Residents have been urged to use their cars less and buy fuel only when necessary.

“The calmer people react to these difficulties, the faster the situation will return to normal,” Governor Alexander Avdeev said.

At this rate, Russia may soon become the greenest country in the world: everyone will be getting around on horses and bicycles.

[Kaja Kallas @kajakallas]

It was good to be back in Amman for talks with League of Arab States counterparts.

Jordan is a pillar of stability and one of the EU’s closest and most trusted partners in the Middle East. With Foreign Minister @AymanHsafadi, I spoke about the US-Iran peace talks and how the current truce can be turned into a more lasting peace.

In Lebanon, Israel and Hezbollah are caught in a dangerous cycle of attacks, counterattacks and fragile ceasefires. With Foreign Minister @YoussefRaggi, I reviewed the EU’s support for the Lebanese Armed Forces and work on establishing a new EU mission in the country.

The EU’s naval operation Aspides has a vital role in protecting shipping in the region. With Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Abdoulkader Houssain Omar, I discussed maritime security and the importance of freedom of navigation.

With Syria’s Foreign Minister @AsaadHShaibani, I exchanged views on regional security and the country’s path towards an inclusive political transition, building on the exchanges at our recent first ministerial dialogue.

I also reviewed the deepening bilateral relations and positive trajectory of EU-Algeria cooperation with Algeria’s Foreign Minister @AhmedAttaf_Dz.

[Tomi 🇺🇦🇫🇮🇪🇺 @TallbarFIN]

Harjavalta refinery in Finland functions as a key Western gateway for russian Nornickel, turning russian raw nickel into higher-value products for Europe while recycling byproducts back to russia.

It represents one of the last raw material links between Finland and russia. 🧵

[Olena Rohoza @OlenaRohoza]

🇪🇪Kaja Kallas was born on June 18, 1977, in Tallinn into a family deeply scarred by Soviet occupation. Her mother, Kristi, was only six months old when she, along with her mother and grandmother, was deported to Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region in cattle wagons. They spent ten years there before finally returning to Estonia in 1959.
That family history of survival shaped Kallas into one of Europe’s strongest voices against Russian aggression — a stance that earned her the nickname “Europe’s Iron Lady” after she became Estonia’s first female prime minister in January 2021.
She studied law at University of Tartu, graduating in 1999, and later earned an Executive MBA from the Estonian Business School in 2010 while building a successful career as a competition lawyer and partner at major law firms.
Her father, Siim Kallas, served as Prime Minister of Estonia and later Vice-President of the European Commission. For many years, this actually pushed Kaja away from politics because she did not want to spend her life being compared to her father.
She played drums, loved dancing, and by age 27 had already become a partner in a law firm where the other partners were over 60 and spent their days golfing — making her question whether that was really the life she wanted.
That restlessness pushed her into politics in 2010. Within a year she entered parliament, and later became a member of the European Parliament for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2014 to 2018, where Politico named her one of Brussels’ most influential women.
In 2018, she married her second husband, Arvo Hallik, while raising a blended family with two children and navigating the collapse of her first coalition government, the global pandemic, and the highest inflation in the European Union.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kallas pushed Estonia to donate more than 1% of its GDP in support of Ukraine — a larger share than any other country. She repeatedly argued that every weapon sent to Ukraine weakens the enemy while strengthening Estonia’s own security.

[Andrii Melnyk @MelnykAndrij]

Russians are far worse than any barbarian hordes in history. They just damaged one of the holiest shrines of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, the Dormition Cathedral (Uspensky Sobor), built in 1078, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will never forgive Russia😡Never🤬

[Joni Askola @joni_askola]

If you want to measure the impact of a European leader, look at how much energy foreign adversaries spend trying to destroy their reputation.

The constant stream of pro-Russian and pro-China propaganda aimed at @kajakallas proves she is a formidable opponent to them, and while the exact powers of the EU High Representative position can potentially be reformed, Kallas has the ideal mindset to confront hostile autocrats.

European capitals have every right to analyze and potentially adjust the bureaucratic mandate of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Rethinking how the bloc coordinates its external actions is a standard part of institutional evolution, but any systemic flaws in the office cannot be blamed on Kallas.

The concentrated hostility directed at her from state media ecosystems in Russia and China (and some other enemies too) is an involuntary admission that her strategic clarity poses a major problem for them. Their fixation on Kallas confirms her status as a high-stakes obstacle.

She has a profound understanding of the psychological games autocrats play, and she refuses to grant them the passive diplomatic concessions they crave. Her clear, unyielding communication style helps insulate the European Union from the gaslighting tactics that hostile regimes use to manipulate Western policy.

The narrative attacks against her should therefore be viewed as validation of her approach. Discussions about reforming European diplomacy are healthy, but Kallas herself is not the issue, as her defiant attitude is exactly what is needed to face down modern authoritarian threats

[Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 @bayraktar_1love]

🐝 Want to put your name on a drone that's helping defend Ukraine?

For a $500 donation, you can name a STING interceptor drone and receive a guaranteed video of your STING taking down a Russian drone.

Together with Wild Hornets, we're raising $30,000 to provide three mobile training trailers for the 1020th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment. Thanks to your support, we've already raised over $9,000.

Just $1,000 more and we'll have enough to purchase the first trailer.

👉 Donate: https://t.co/B5jdKkzonw
👉 Name your STING: https://t.co/V1wpREuHax
👉 Shop merch (also counts for raffle tickets): https://t.co/1JyWtstrBX
🎟️ $10 = 1 raffle ticket

To receive your raffle tickets, send a screenshot of your donation or store receipt to @Wendehopes, @KanariFella, @Kerri970, @lacerantplainer, or @ArmedMaidan.
🇺🇦🐝

[Margus Tsahkna @Tsahkna]

A major milestone for Ukraine, Moldova and Europe.

Ukraine and Moldova have delivered on reforms under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Today's decision confirms that their future lies in the European Union and that enlargement remains one of Europe's strongest strategic tools.

[Kyrylo Shevchenko @KShevchenkoReal]

⚡🇧🇪 Belgium is openly buying hundreds of thousands of tons of #RussianSteel slabs from Kremlin-linked oligarch Vladimir Lisin’s #NLMK every year. Russia supplies 58% of the EU’s slabs, with Belgium taking nearly one third, per @KyivIndependent. These ultra-cheap semi-finished products flow to NLMK’s plants in Wallonia (just 22 km from Brussels), giving local re-rollers a major cost advantage. 🇧🇪authorities openly block #EUSanctions on Lisin to protect jobs in a struggling region. Full phase-out is delayed until 2028. This is sanctions hypocrisy at its finest: national economic interests override pressure on 🇷🇺war economy. #MakeRussiaPay
Photo: @KyivIndependent

[Margus Tsahkna @Tsahkna]

Russia's defense industry depends on aluminum. Aluminum depends on alumina.

Estonia has proposed an EU ban on alumina exports to Russia. If we are serious about raising the cost of aggression, we must close this loophole.

My op-ed @ERRNews.
https://t.co/vAwSMg1z3i

[Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen]

Today, the European Union took a major step forward.

All Member States agreed to open the first accession negotiations cluster with Ukraine and Moldova.

At the first Intergovernmental Conference on Monday, we will open the cluster on fundamentals; the backbone of the accession process.

It covers the core values and principles on which the EU is built, from the rule of law to strong democratic institutions.

This is a recognition of the determination, courage and hard work shown by both countries in advancing reforms, even in the face of immense challenges.

And a signal that the EU’s offer of peace, stability and opportunity is unmatchable.

Enlargement is a strategic choice.

By bringing our nations closer together, we strengthen peace, security and prosperity across our continent.

In a world marked by growing uncertainty, a larger European Union is in our common interest.

Enlargement remains one of the EU’s greatest success stories and our best investment in our shared future.

[Isa Yusibov 🇪🇺 🇳🇱 🇺🇦 @Isa_Yusibov]

European countries should not trust the US assessment as long as a KGB asset is running the country. Russia is going to attack the NATO and US won't come to the rescue. Simple as that.
https://t.co/0FuERhvKUB

[emily dumortier #TAEM #TEAMLecornu @DumortierEmily]

Voilà ⤵️

[Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof]

Unofficial Russian media reports that the general assassinated in Moscow today is Lt. Gen. Alexander Maksimtsev, chief of general staff and first deputy commander of Russia’s Aerospace Forces. *No confirmation yet* In 2015, he was the commander of the Russian air component in Syria, and in his roles was responsible for many Ukrainian — and Syrian — civilian deaths. He was under European and other sanctions. Source: https://t.co/H75OWZjhZS

[ReneKursson @kursson]

@FriaUkraina Klockrent arbete av SBU...👍 Ingen ska känna sig trygg i Moskva idag...

[NOR defence 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇩🇰🇵🇦🇹🇼🇬🇪 @DefenceNor]

@iLepikVonWiren Also Haakonsvern Naval Base, Bergen, Norway has Russian Orthodox Church as an unwanted neighbor after it bought a cabin overlooking the base. Time to throw this church out of Norway, cause it is after all just a FSB cover.

[IllimarLepikvonWirén @iLepikVonWiren]

The Swedish government is exploring legal mechanisms to enable the State Treasury to forcibly take over private property owned by russian citizens located close to military facilities.

Stanislav Aleshchenko, who also holds a Cypriot passport, purchased a 600-square-meter house and plot of land on the shoreline of Muskö Island in the Stockholm archipelago in 2017, the newspaper Expressen reported. 

The property sits on cliffs under which a secret underground naval base operated during the Cold War before being abandoned in 2004. 

Swedish armed forces returned to the base in 2019. 

Recently, Swedish media have reported that the russian Orthodox Church, which is closely tied to President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin, has acquired property near Västerås Airport, an international airport outside Stockholm. The national security service, SÄPO, has warned of espionage activities in the area.  

https://t.co/WvQAdAiIhN

[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

Russia has now lost four elections in a row: in Romania, Moldova, Hungary, and now Armenia.

What's more, no one expected the margin in Armenia to be so large. This suggests that Armenians have lost faith in Russia and are distancing themselves from it.

I do not believe Russia will take military action against Armenia. The military base poses no threat, and Russia itself is exhausted by the war it is waging against Ukraine.

Through its heroic resistance, Ukraine is also giving other nations and states a chance to break free from Russia.

I believe Georgia may be next in attempting to remove pro-Russian forces.

Armenia's break with Russia will strengthen Turkey and its influence in the region. That is good news.

In addition, sources believe that the defeat in Armenia could be used by the Kremlin to oust the so-called "Armenian lobby" within the Russian leadership: to weaken, remove its members from office, and cut them off from financial flows.

The main names mentioned are Mikhail Mishustin, Russian prime minister, and Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister.

Russia continues to lose ground and its influence.

[Omne Europa @neolatyno]

Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 is gradually changing its alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin on all official documents, in a bid to distance itself from the Russosphere. I’ve noticed the very based Qazaq emblem was changed too, from Қазақстан in Cyrillic to its new official name: Qazaqstan.