Pyry Peltonen

[ElBuni @therealbuni]

Mercenario vikingo persigue a soldado otomano en las puertas de constantinopla

Imperio romano de oriente, 1366 DC

[Mads @europemaxxed]

European reaction to the "economic output"

[Clash Report @clashreport]

French President Macron:

We should not underestimate that this is a unique moment where a US president, a Russian president, a Chinese president are dead against the Europeans.

This is the right moment for us — wake up.

[(((Tendar))) @Tendar]

The collective meltdown among most at the far right regarding Péter Magyar's resounding victory in Hungary is probably the most telling moment you will see regarding the so-called "conservative" or "patriotic" movements across the globe. I will elaborate:

Péter Magyar is not a lefty or woke. His ideology is center-right. Tisza will partially follow an even harsher immigration policy and continue some decisions made under Orban, e.g. opposing the EU migration and asylum pact, a core demand of many of the far-right figures. Magyar himself describes his movement a "renewal", not a "revolution".

So why the meltdown? The answer is so unmasking. Péter Magyar and Tisza are no Russian puppets. They haven't forgotten what Soviet-Russia did in 1956. They made a clear stand against the Russian aggressions, both of those in the past and today.

Furthermore, the system of rampant corruption Orban and his allies have built is not limited to Hungary. It has deep ties to foreign actors. It is obvious that it will reveal some very interesting money streams coming from East and West. So, we are not talking about Hungary alone, but an international network of right-wing movements actively collaborating.

Most of those right-wing movements bemoan this development, and this development alone. It unmasks that their political leaning of being "conservative" was but a sharade. It was only about money and a deeply corrupt network benefiting them, with money streams coming from Russia and elsewhere.

[Clément Molin @clement_molin]

The defeat of Orban 🇭🇺 is the defeat of Moscow 🇷🇺

For years, Hungary served as a gateway for Russian spies into Europe. Hungary sent secret EU documents to Russia, blocked aid packages for Ukraine, and continued to buy oil and gas from Russia.

The Hungarian prime minister became the most fervent anti-Ukrainian figure in Europe, largely supported by Moscow. Let's not forget the scandals involving Bosnian Serbs (with Hungarian intelligence services repeatedly assisting them), the arrest of Ukrainian citizens, and the drone surveillance of Ukrainian air defense systems.

All those are foreign policy scandals, we shouldn't forget other scandals :

🔹Child Abuse Pardon: His administration collapsed into crisis after pardoning a man who helped cover up child sexual abuse in a state orphanage.
🔹Pegasus Spyware: The government used military-grade spyware to illegally monitor the phones of investigative journalists and political rivals.
🔹Elios Corruption: Orbán's son-in-law's company won millions in EU-funded contracts through what investigators called "systematic irregularities."
🔹Völner-Schadl Bribery: A deputy minister was caught in a massive corruption ring involving rigged court bailiff positions and secret kickbacks.
🔹Russian Nuclear Deal: Orbán bypassed public bidding to award a multi-billion dollar nuclear plant contract to Russia's Rosatom under a secret agreement.

🔹Media Consolidation: Hundreds of private media outlets were merged into a single state-aligned foundation controlled by Orbán’s associates.
🔹Sovereignty Protection Act: A new law empowers the state to investigate and jail anyone receiving foreign funding under the guise of national security.
🔹University Expulsion: The government passed specific laws that successfully forced the Central European University to flee Hungary for Austria.
🔹Stop Soros Laws: Legislation was enacted that criminalized humanitarian work and legal aid provided to migrants and refugees.
🔹Anti-LGBTQ+ Law: A "propaganda" law was passed that bans any depiction or discussion of LGBTQ+ identities in schools and media for minors.
🔹Electoral Gerrymandering: Orbán rewrote the voting maps and rules to ensure his party retains a supermajority despite losing many popular votes.

[Michael MacKay @mhmck]

Marco Rubio refuses to meet with European leaders in a multilateral format and refuses to talk to the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.

Rubio is meeting with two insignificant Putin puppets, Orbán of Hungary and Fico of Slovakia.

The USA is a pathetic proxy for aggressor Russia.

[toomas hendrik ilves @IlvesToomas]

I am beginning to have serious doubts about either the competence or the honesty/loyalties of the NATO SecGen:

Warning Europe, Rutte says Europe would have to spend 10% GDP on defence to match US capabilities.

Is that really true?

Given the size of the EU economy i.e. not much smaller than the US', and that the US spends 4% (not even the 5% demanded of us) on defence for all its worldwide needs, is Rutte's statement even remotely credible?

We do not need worldwide expeditionary forces
We don't need 11 carriers.
We don't need to maintain worldwide basing and infrastructure.
We do not need a global posture
We do not have defence treaty commitments around the world.

We DO need to beef up transport, space capabilities, 6 gen fighters and missiles. But is that 10%?

The 10% ,given the EU economy is just spit-balling. It's neither backed up by facts nor credible.

And if not, why should we take the current SecGen of NATO seriously?

[French Response @FrenchResponse]

« Fo shur »

[Donald Tusk @donaldtusk]

Appeasement is always a sign of weakness. Europe cannot afford to be weak - neither against its enemies, nor ally. Appeasement means no results, only humiliation. European assertiveness and self-confidence have become the need of the moment.

[Ave Europa @AveEuropae]

Europeans want dignity.

The dignity and pride that comes from standing up for yourself and your interests.

We want to see our governments resist disrespect, blatant attacks on our sovereignty and insults.

Instead (with the exception of France and the Nordics), we see them submit to pressure, make excuses for why we can't retaliate to unilateral attacks or they just ignore the problem altogether.

Just how much could Europeans achieve if our leaders were able to instill a sense of pride, a sense of direction, a sense of a grander mission in our peoples?

If they could give us something to believe in?

If they could make us feel an emotion other than humiliation?

So much potential is squandered by out of touch elites who choose to cling onto a dying world instead of bravely stepping into the new, emerging one.

[The Atlantic @TheAtlantic]

The message of Trump’s letter to the prime minister of Norway signals that the president “genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him,” @anneapplebaum argues. https://t.co/hNLMZ7JYQ9

[Frid 🇪🇺🦌 @Frid45]

International law was designed to restrain the weak and, under the guise of justice, preserve the privileges of those who dominate. Europe faces hybrid wars from empires claiming to save or exploit it. A united, federal Europe is no longer an ideal, it is a condition for survival

[Gad Saad @GadSaad]

Cultures are neither equal nor indistinguishable. Cultural relativism (a parasitic idea) coupled with suicidal empathy eradicates this obvious reality. It is a form of lobotomy that immobilizes people from stating that they do not wish to host people who hail from cultures that are antithetical to their foundational values. This simple reality is destroying the West.

[Rauli Partanen @Kaikenhuippu]

Pari ajatusta heräsi.
1. Miten ihmeessä tämä on ollut jotain mikä ei ole ollut koko ajan täysin selvää?

2. Olen itsekin havainnut että uutisointia on värittänyt sekä avoin että piilotettu puolueellisuus ja bias (kutsun tätä aktivismijournalismiksi kun en parempaakaan termiä keksi). Tätä tapahtuu myös kaupallisissa medioissa (mutta niiden tilauksen pystyn lopettamaan halutessani - Ylen tilausta en, maksan sen joka tapauksessa). Tämä ärsyttää silloin kun bias on omia käsityksiäni vastaan, ja silloin kun se myötäilee niitä. Molemmat vievät journalismilta uskottavuutta tiedonvälittäjänä.

3. Koska #1, voi muutos olla monelle toimittajalle raju ja vaikea? Jos on vuosia raportoinnin sijaan tulkinnut maailman tapahtumia oman ideologisen kehyksen kautta ja jopa pyrkinyt "aktivismijournalismilla" vaikuttamaan ihmisten mielipiteisiin ja siihen miten heidän tulisi suhtautua raportoituihin asioihin, on tätä monille kenties todella vaikea ja epämiellyttävä lähteä muuttamaan.

Näille ihmisille ehkä sellaisia terveisiä, että heidän käsityksensä journalismista ja siitä mitä kansalaisten rahoittaman uutispalvelun tehtävä on, on ollut vääristynyt. Tämä ei välttämättä johdu heistä itsestään.

Jos kuitenkin aktivismijournalismi tuntuu enemmän siltä omalta jutulta, niin sitä voi tehdä esimerkiksi kaupallisen median leivissä, jos/kun sille on kysyntää.

Jos ja kun meillä on Ylen kaltainen toimija, sen on erityisen tärkeä pyrkiä pysymään neutraalissa raportoinnissa (poliittisen ohjauksen tai mielipidevaikuttamisen sijaan). Jos ja kun toimittajilla ihmisinä on omat poliittiset taustansa ja preferenssinsä, heitä tulisi palkata tasapuolisesti ja nämä preferenssit tuoda avoimesti esille.

Heille, ketkä ovat pyrkineet tasapainoiseen raportointiin, tiedostaneet omat biakset ja pyrkineet ottamaan ne huomioon työssään, kiitos ja hatunnosto. Täydellisyyttä ei tässä asiassa ole, mutta sitä kohti tulee joka päivä pyrkiä, tiedostaen että siihen ei koskaan pääse.

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

If you believe free speech is for you but not your political opponents, you're illiberal.

If no contrary evidence could change your beliefs, you're a fundamentalist.

If you believe the state should punish those with contrary views, you're a totalitarian.

If you believe political opponents should be punished with violence or death, you're a terrorist.

[Matthew E. Cochran @matt_e_cochran]

If you sit down to play a game of chess and your opponent punches you in the face, you're not going to prevail by getting better at chess.

[Leevi Leivo @leivoks]

Elvytyspaketti oli kyllä yksi niistä asioista, joka opetti tällaiselle nuorelle pojalle, että moni vallankäyttäjä mediassa ja politiikassa voi olla todella pihalla merkittävistäkin asiakokonaisuuksista.

[sophie @netcapgirl]

guy who thinks you hire mckinsey for their insights

[Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 @DrewPavlou]

Please please please please please Melania 🤞

[Mika Aaltola @MikaAaltola]

Spain took €140B during COVID. €100B in the euro crisis. Europe showed up.

Now? It snubs NATO’s call to raise defense spending. Its socialist PM’s message: Your security is not our problem.

Solidarity isn’t a one-way street. Europe remembers. #nato