Stuart M. John

European citizen taking part in the public debate. Isn't that what democracy is about? Gentleman-Rider. Liberal. Humanist.

[Prof Michele Geraci, fmr Undersecretary of State @michele_geraci]

Ma secondo voi,

1) Siamo noi che dobbiamo contribuire il budget NATO/USA che ci protegge

Oppure

2) È la NATO/USA che ci deve pagare per ospitare basi miliari nel nostro territorio sovrano?

#Meloni vera sovranista che si preoccupa degli interessi dell’Italia, potrebbe dire a #Trump: “senti da oggi, avere le tue basi miliari da noi, ti costa. Pagi o le smantelliamo entro fine anno?”

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@BrunoRetailleau @MACHINASUMMIT Les Etats derrière les plateformes, c'est récent... mais conforme à la (re)nationalisation prônée par certains, au détriment de la liberté d'entreprendre, de la concurrence... et in fine du citoyen. Si vous croyez que les Etats Européens peuvent gagner cette course, bonne chance!

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@alemannoEU @CSpillmann @euobs That's the message that voters sent loud and clear at the last EP elections. They were ignored while people like you applauded. The EPP has nothing to gain from following the "mainstream" (witness Merz).

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@alexstubb @vonderleyen What else would you discuss?

[Baptiste Detombe @BaptisteDetombe]

Le projet de souveraineté numérique européenne finit chez Microsoft.

Le réseau social français Bulle a récemment participé au hackathon « Hack The Hate, Renew Democracy », organisé autour du Conseil de l’Europe pour lutter contre la haine en ligne et la polarisation des débats.

Bulle est arrivé en finale et a même remporté le prix du public. Une belle reconnaissance, en apparence. La récompense ? 10 000 dollars de crédits sur Microsoft Azure.

Autrement dit, après une semaine consacrée à la démocratie et à la souveraineté européenne, une entreprise française cherchant précisément à sortir de sa dépendance aux géants américains a été « aidée » en étant incitée à s’y enfermer davantage en payant des dollars à Microsoft.

Cette anecdote résume la condition numérique de l’Europe : nous produisons les normes, les discours, les chartes éthiques et les grands colloques sur la souveraineté, tandis que les infrastructures, les capitaux, les outils stratégiques et la monnaie d'échange restent américains. Nous prétendons réguler les empires numériques dont nous sommes devenus les clients captifs.

Bulle explique avoir déjà sollicité la BPI, la French Tech et la Ville de Paris, sans obtenir de véritable soutien. Son unique récompense institutionnelle consiste donc à financer indirectement Microsoft. Même l’aide publique européenne prend désormais la forme d’un crédit chez le colonisateur.

L’Europe parle sans cesse de souveraineté numérique, mais une souveraineté qui ne finance ni ses infrastructures, ni ses plateformes, ni ses entreprises n’est qu’un slogan.

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@DanielKral1 Yes, Europe has only half-killed its economy. It should have finished its job!

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@dperetti @La_Fuly @brivael Tu es capable de faire mieux? Fais-nous savoir.

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@La_Fuly @brivael Tu es capable de faire mieux? Fais-nous savoir.

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@greg16676935420 Moron

[Martin Sonneborn @MartinSonneborn]

Ich habe heute versucht, die Chatkontrolle zu stoppen.

Am Wochenende mussten Sibylle Berg und ich Parlamentspräsidentin Metsola schriftlich mitteilen, dass das Durchprügeln der Chatkontrolle im Eilverfahren leider gegen die Geschäftsordnung des EU-Parlaments verstößt. Während Metsola der interessierten Presse daraufhin (fälschlicherweise) mitteilte, dass das schon alles seine Richtigkeit habe, warten wir immer noch auf ihre Antwort.

Deshalb wollte ich es ihr heute bei der Eröffnungssitzung in Straßburg noch einmal erklären. Und musste erstaunt feststellen, dass die Präsidentin doch Regeln kennt: Exakt nach 60 Sekunden hat sie mir das Mikrophon abgestellt. (regelkonform, wird aber selten gemacht)

Dabei hätte ich noch einiges zu sagen gehabt: "Frau Präsidentin, Sie wachen nach Artikel 22 über dieses Regelwerk (mit der ausgedruckten Geschäftsordnung wedelnd) - erklären Sie den Eilantrag für unzulässig. Wir sind hier schließlich nicht auf Malta! Die aktuelle Fassung der Geschäftsordnung überreiche ich Ihnen gerne persönlich. In der MEP-Bar."

Wie es nun weitergeht? Morgen wird über das Eilverfahren abgestimmt, obwohl diese Abstimmung gar nicht stattfinden dürfte. Wenn der Antrag erfolgreich ist, kommt die Chatkontrolle Donnerstagmittag zur Abstimmung ins Plenum. Um sie noch zu stoppen, müssten 361 Abgeordnete - eine qualifizierte Mehrheit - DAGEGEN stimmen.
Die schlechte Nachricht: Donnerstag ist der letzte Tag vor der Sommerpause und viele MEPs dürften bereits auf dem Weg in den Urlaub sein. Ein Schelm, wer Böses denkt bei dieser Terminierung... Smiley!

Wenn die Chatkontrolle durchgeht, dürfen die Plattformen (also die US-Tech-Bros) wieder & weiterhin fröhlich & ganz legal Ihre Nachrichten scannen. Schreiben Sie also gefälligst etwas unterhaltsamer in den kommenden Wochen... ZwinkerSmiley!

[Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib @afalkhatib]

The ceaseless headlines about Hamas “ending its government” in Gaza and “preparing to give up control” are yet another ruse and a nothing‑burger dressed up as a concession by the terror group, which has zero intention of relinquishing real power or disarming. Similar announcements like this have happened frequently in the past.

The resignation of the head of the so‑called “Emergency Committee,” or Hamas’s post–October 7 governing façade, is simply the removal of a figurehead. His duties have already been quietly assumed by another “temporary” Hamas administrator while everyone pretends to wait for NCAG, the incoming Technocratic Committee, to take over. Hamas has already announced that its administrative and technical staff will continue working until NCAG arrives, fully aware that the new transitional governing body will lack the capacity, personnel, or infrastructure to run Gaza. This is Hamas’s plan: recycle its current/existing apparatus into the new administration expected to emerge from the Trump Administration’s transitional process overseen by the Board of Peace.

What we’re seeing is the sloppy rollout of a long‑predicted strategy: Hamas shifting from direct control to indirectly reigning, Hezbollah‑style. It’s cheaper, it shields the group from accountability, and it allows new civilian faces to absorb public anger while Hamas retains decisive control over every meaningful lever of power in the Gaza Strip.

None of this resembles disarmament. Hamas’s al‑Qassam Brigades are working nonstop to repair tunnel networks and rebuild munitions stockpiles using unexploded ordnance and Israeli bombs from two years of war. Yet the media coverage of this non‑event has already reframed Hamas as cooperative, reasonable, even constructive; a narrative shift that obscures Hamas’s role as the primary obstacle to Gaza’s recovery. And this is landing successfully and working well for Hamas; not only with outlets, voices, and platforms who are typically softer on the terror group, but even in some mainstream political discourse, where some are treating this as tantamount to the initiation of disarmament or the start of Phase II of the ceasefire.

The timing is no coincidence: this move by Hamas comes one week after the Board of Peace met in Cyprus and agreed to pursue “Plan B,” the approach I’ve long advocated: moving Gaza’s civilian population across the “Yellow Line” and draining Hamas of access to resources and human shields it relies on.

Ultimately, Hamas “dissolving its government” will be judged by simple metrics like whether Gazans can share posts on Facebook without being tortured, beaten, or dragged into hospital interrogation rooms, abuses that continued from October 7 until just last week. Until that changes, the headlines are theater, and Hamas’s grip in Gaza remains intact.

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

In the end, Poland is a rogue country like any other. Paying lip service to the 'rule of law' and doing whatever it pleases from ignoring European arrest warrants to engaging into arms proliferation.

[Theresa Fallon @TheresaAFallon]

Looks like this NATO Summit might be 🌶️.

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@RnaudBertrand 👍

[Cérémé @_Cereme_]

🔒L'UE bloque l'aide de l'Etat aux futurs EPR2 d'EDF. Résultat : la relance de la filière est suspendue à une enquête qui pourrait courir jusqu'en 2027 !
L'an dernier, pour l'éolien en mer français, le dossier de Bruxelles était bouclé en 6 semaines.

https://t.co/N0U6HOqakZ

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@ZeClint @mareebasse441 Un frexit serait une catastrophe. Le Général de Gaulle l'avait compris: sa politique de la chaise vide a abouti à des réformes qui ont permis à l'UE de fonctionner pour le bénéfice des citoyens pendant des décennies. Ce n'est pas l'UE qui pose problème, mais nos dirigeants!

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

🎯

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

This is properly insane: quite literally the worst example of censorship I've ever heard of anywhere.

I checked the actual ruling (which you can see here: https://t.co/dBKFWZ2ZWm) and, to be clear, it isn't just censorship in the conventional sense - blocking access to a website or removing content from platforms - this is the criminalization of information relayed by private citizens, with prison sentences attached.

And the most insane aspect if that it does NOT matter if the information relayed is accurate or not. It just matters that it originates from RT or other media outlets banned in the EU.

In other words, truth isn't a defense anymore in the EU, it literally doesn't matter. It's purely based on the identity of the speaker.

The ruling is actually explicit about this: the regulation, quoted by the Court says that the prohibition applies to "any content," and they draw no distinction based on what the content actually says. If it originates from banned outlets, it's banned.

It is, quite simply, a complete unraveling of the entire post-Enlightenment legal and philosophical project where entire generations of Europeans fought to move from "who says it" to "is it true" as the operative question.

Think about the absurdity of it: if RT publishes a video saying the sky is blue and you share it on a publicly accessible website in the EU, you'd fall within the scope of this ruling, making you liable to criminal prosecution.

Completely and utterly absurd. But that's the EU today for you 🤷

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

@frei_geist_ Da kann man ja gleich Wagenknecht wählen!

[Stuart M. John @stuartmjohn]

If @elkevdbrandt is in charge, we can be sure it will be an absolute hit.

[The Brussels Times @BrusselsTimes]

Due to the constant stream of traffic and inefficient layout the square is seen as one of the city's most dangerous intersections. https://t.co/sxxxd2SxBe

[Il est l’or 🌱🚲 @_ilestlor]

Exit les arbres en plastique, retour des éclairages estivaux sur la Cathédrale 😍

Quelques minutes de beauté, de douceur et d’optimisme qui sonnent à coup sûr le début d’une nouvelle ère pour Strasbourg 🥨♥️

[Clash Report @clashreport]

Polish PM Tusk:

I am convinced that good Polish-Ukrainian relations are in the interest of both countries.

But they require goodwill from Kyiv as well.

It can no longer be the case that only Warsaw is expected to show goodwill all the time.