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PThe SPD’s Arti Scholz will reconsider Germany’s relations with Russia and strengthen its role in NATO. The special history of Moscow and Berlin “clouded the view” of what was happening, which is why the German authorities did not respond to Russia’s actions properly, the SPD believes. They also called for strengthening the power of the Bundeswehr

For too long, Germany has relied on the prospect of a joint future with Russia and neglected to develop other scenarios for the development of the situation, which was “urgent and necessary” after the armed conflict in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008 and no later than the annexation of Crimea in 2014. This is stated in the draft strategic guidance document of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which will be discussed at its presidium on January 23, Handelsblatt, ZDF and Zeit write, citing sources.

Due to the special history of Russia and Germany, too much attention was paid to unifying factors, and this “clouded the view of what separates them,” the document says. The authors believe that Berlin did not react to Moscow’s actions properly, but became dependent on it unilaterally due to the import of energy resources and it is proposed to “recognize trends at an early stage and, accordingly, determine possible courses of action”.

The document stipulates that Germany should become a “strong partner in NATO”, and the German army should be equipped in such a way that it can “fully and always” fulfill its duties: Berlin should be ready to “take on more responsibility for the realization of our common interests in ensuring a peaceful order based on values.

Germany’s attitude towards China should also be reviewed, given the fact that Beijing has not condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the document says. It says that under the leadership of Xi Jinping, this country has become a global power that intends to “reorganize the international system in its favor” by becoming a systemic rival. In foreign policy, China has become more self-confident and aggressive, and regarding domestic policy, the SPD is concerned about restrictions on civil liberties in Hong Kong and human rights violations against Uighurs.

At the end of December, the German Foreign Ministry warned that European countries could not have normal relations with the current Russia, despite the fact that they wanted it in Europe. “But we have no illusions,” we are now living in a different reality,” said Minister Annalena Berbock, representing the Green Party.

The Russian authorities have also repeatedly stated a similar attitude towards the leaders of Western countries. President Vladimir Putin believes that “we were simply led by the nose, deceived”, despite Moscow’s attempts to negotiate. “Today we have been declared a real hybrid war, a total war,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

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Olaf Scholz

politician, german chancellor

June 14, 1958

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EErdogan: Turkish presidential elections will be held on May 14

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish presidential elections will be held on May 14, the current head of the republic Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Cumhuriyet reports.

“I would like to thank the Lord for allowing us to be together with you, young people, in the elections to be held on May 14,” Erdogan said at a meeting with young people in Bursa. He stressed that this is not an early election, but a postponement of the elections. Erdogan planned to set a new date on March 10, Yeni Safak reports.

Initially, the general elections in the country were planned to be held on June 18 at the same time as the presidential and parliamentary ones. Observers have repeatedly said that Erdogan, who heads the Justice and Development Party, will postpone them to an earlier date. Sabah newspaper wrote about this at the end of December last year, citing sources. Erdogan also made it clear that this scenario is possible.

Speaking to his fellow party members on January 18, he recalled the day of May 14, 1950, when elections were held in the country, which were won by the opposition of Ataturk. “73 years later, again on this day, our people will say no to these applauding putschists from the bloc of six,” the Turkish president said, referring to the alliance of opposition parties.

Erdogan, who has been the head of the republic since 2014 (before that, he had been the head of government since 2003), is looking for an opportunity to attract more of his supporters to the polling stations, this explains the postponement of the elections, France 24 points out. In addition, May 14 is a date that is very important for religious Turks;, notes the telegram channel «AgendaTurkey». After winning the 1950 elections, Adnan Menderes and his Democratic Party carried out all the transformations in favor of the religious part of the population, but after the military coup of 1961, he was hanged, and then became a sacred figure for the right-wing Turkey.

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GThe Prosecutor General of Bulgaria declared that the country was not involved in the explosion on the Crimean Bridge, the FSB stated that the device that exploded on the bridge was transported, including through the port of Bulgaria. The country’s chief prosecutor called the accusation a “hybrid attack” on the European community by Russia

The latch of the first span of the left road part of the Crimean bridge

Bulgaria is not involved in the explosion on the Crimean Bridge, the country’s chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev wrote on Twitter.

“Colleagues from the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office categorically established that Bulgaria has nothing to do with the explosion on the Crimean Bridge,” he wrote.

Geshev called the accusation of Bulgaria’s involvement in the terrorist attack “another Russian hybrid attack on the European community”.

The terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge occurred on October 8: a truck was blown up, which set fire to railway fuel tanks on a passing train. As a result, two automobile spans of a branch line from Krasnodar to Kerch collapsed, killing four people.

The FSB named the organizers of the military intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and its head Kirill Budanov. According to the intelligence service, the explosive device was sent from the port of Odessa to the Bulgarian city of Ruse in early August, from there to the Georgian port of Poti, and then to Armenia. There, the cargo was cleared according to the rules of the EAEU and sent through the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border to Armavir, from where it got to Simferopol.

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showThe President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, declared the country’s non-involvement in the terrorist attack. “We definitely did not order this, as far as I know,” he said. At the same time, the adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, Mikhail Podolyak, after the explosion declared the need to return to Ukraine “everything stolen” and called the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge “the beginning”.

The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case on the fact of the explosion on the Crimean Bridge under Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code “Terrorism”. Later, the agency reported that it had identified 12 involved in the explosion. Eight people – five Russians and three citizens of Ukraine and Armenia – were detained.

In response to the explosion on the Crimean Bridge, Russian President Vladimir Putin explained the strikes on energy facilities in Ukraine.

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Bloomberg reported on the supply of metals for armor-piercing shells to the EU through Russia, Russia remained a key link in the supply of rare earth metals from China to the EU. Despite the conflict in Ukraine and sanctions, the volume of traffic on Russian railways has more than doubled in the first nine months of 2022

Rare earth elements necessary for the production of microchips, electronics and ammunition used in modern weapons are being transported from China to Europe through Russia, Bloomberg reports.

China supplies more than 90% of the rare earth metals used in the EU. Thus, Chinese lanthanum is widely used by Western manufacturers of armor-piercing ammunition. The most demanded tungsten in the EU, used for the production of anti-tank weapons, is also supplied by China.

According to Bloomberg, according to the latest EU data, Russian railways remain an important link in supplies from China, despite the fact that the total share of traffic through Russia is 3%-4% of the total volume of trade between China and the EU. Metals can also be shipped by sea, but this route takes twice as long as rail. A freight train departing from the Chinese city of Wuhan to the German Duisburg through the territory of Russia takes only 16 days.

The volume of Chinese metals transported by trains, including those that have fallen under European sanctions, “Russian railways”, increased to 36 thousand tons in the first nine months of 2022. This is more than twice the volume transported for the whole of 2021. The volume of trade in rare earth metals increased by more than four fifths in nine months and by September amounted to 377 million euros ($408 million).

“It’s amazing that, despite all the sanctions, this supply chain is still working,” said the founder of the exploration company Norge Mining Ltd. Michael Wurmser. In his opinion, this underlines the importance of rare earth elements and the EU’s dependence on them.

RBC has contacted a representative of Russian Railways for comments.

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Rare earth metals are crucial in the production of a number of products, from batteries to microchips, and almost two-thirds of the identified reserves were under the control of China and Russia. Abandoning Chinese tungsten mines, which account for more than 83% of global production, could make Western economies particularly vulnerable, Bloomberg notes.

At the same time, demand is only growing due to “defense spending fueled by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia,” according to Tungsten West Plc. “Competition for resources is about to become even more intense,” said Rafael Loss, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations dealing with military trade issues.

In early January, the Swedish mining company LKAB reported the discovery in the Arctic of Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth metals, with a total volume of over 1 million tons. At the same time, the company noted that they will be able to start extracting and supplying raw materials to the market in at least 10–15 years.

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MThe Ministry of Foreign Defense of Ukraine will ask the SBU to check publications on overstating prices for products for the army. The Ukrainian Ministry asked the SBU to investigate the spread of “deliberately false information.” Journalist Yuri Nikolov reported that the Ministry of Defense buys food at inflated prices

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine called the publication in the media a lie and manipulation that the department buys products for the military two to three times more expensive than in stores, and promised to contact the SBU.

“Information about the content of the procurement of food services, which have become widespread in the public space, is distributed with signs of deliberate manipulation and misleading,” a statement on the agency’s website says.

The agency will appeal to the SBU to investigate the dissemination of “knowingly false information that harms the interests of defense in a special period.”

The head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Alexey Reznikov, appealed to the chairman of the Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence with a request to hold a meeting and hear data on the circumstances and results of the purchase of military catering services for 2023, writes Ukrainska Pravda.

On the eve of the publication ZN.ua reported that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine buys a number of products for the military at two to three times inflated prices. Journalist Yuri Nikolov referred to the agency’s contract for the purchase of food in 2023 for military units in Poltava, Sumy, Kiev, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and Cherkasy regions. It was concluded on December 23 for UAH 13.16 billion ($358.2 million).

The article said that the ministry buys eggs for 17 UAH apiece (in the store they cost 7 UAH), potatoes for 22 UAH per 1 kg (respectively 8 UAH 9 UAH), chicken thighs for 120 UAH per 1 kg (80 UAH).

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According to the publication, the contract was concluded with “Asset Company” LLC. In 2021, the tax service cancelled the non-certification of the VAT payer due to lack of supplies and failure to submit declarations.

In 2019, the company was held in a criminal case, which was related to a tender for the supply of beef for penitentiary institutions and pre-trial detention centers.

Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Mariana Bezuglaya said that the State Audit Service of Ukraine is conducting an audit against the Ministry of Defense after the appearance of material on purchases at inflated prices.

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Zeit: disputes arose in the Bundestag over Scholz’s decision to supply tanks to Kiev. The defense committee of the Bundestag called for tanks to be delivered to Ukraine or “clearly” explain their refusal. A representative of the SPD faction in the lower house criticized this position, calling for sanity on the issue of tanks

Olaf Scholz (left)

There were disagreements in the German government over the decision of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to supply combat tanks to Ukraine. This is reported by the German edition of Zeit.

The head of the defense Committee of the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman, demanded that the head of government make “clear” statements about military support for Ukraine.

“If you don’t want to supply [tanks] Leopard 2, then you have to explain to the Ukrainians why,” the parliamentarian said. According to her, the discussion about the supply of tanks “does not shed a good light on Germany”.

In response, Rolf Mutzenich, chairman of the faction of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), stressed that clarity and sanity should be guided in the issue of the supply of German combat vehicles.”Those who talk about tanks today will talk about planes or troops tomorrow,” he said.

Strack-Zimmermann objected that the sending of troops by Germany was a violation of international law, and the issue of the supply of aircraft is also not subject to discussion.

“If the tank stops due to improper control, then it stops. If the plane is operated incorrectly because there were Ukrainian pilots in it, it crashes. This is a completely different category,” she replied.

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Mutzenich, in turn, concluded that this is “a symbol of all the major mistakes of German foreign policy.”

Germany has repeatedly stated that it will not supply Ukraine with tanks alone. Scholz explains the reason that Germany does not want to bring the conflict to a war between Russia and NATO.

Nevertheless, a number of European countries where Leopard is in service have expressed their readiness to transfer them to Kiev as part of an international coalition, for example Poland and Finland. However, this requires permission from Berlin.

Der Spiegel learned that the German Defense Ministry last summer compiled a list of Leopard tanks and some of them may be considered for supplies to Ukraine. According to sources, the German authorities allow the transfer of Leopard 2A5 tanks to Kiev19.

As reported on January 19 by Süddeutsche Zeitung and The Wall Street Journal, citing senior German officials, Scholz, in a conversation with US President Joe Biden, made it clear that Germany would supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine if Washington handed over Abrams tanks to Kiev. Later in Berlin, such a relationship was denied. At the same time, the Pentagon stated that they did not yet see the point in supplying ABRAMS, citing the complexity of maintenance.

Russia criticizes the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged not to exaggerate the possible influence of tanks on the course of the conflict.

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Inolodin: the supply of offensive equipment to Ukraine will entail a response with more powerful weapons, the Speaker of the State Duma considered the arguments that nuclear powers do not use weapons of mass destruction in local conflicts to be untenable. He warned about retaliatory measures for the supply of weapons to Ukraine by the West

Supplies of offensive weapons to Ukraine will lead to a global catastrophe, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote in his telegram channel.

“If Washington and NATO countries supply weapons that will be used to attack peaceful cities and attempt to seize our territories, as they threaten, this will lead to retaliatory measures using more powerful weapons,” he said.

In his opinion, the decisions of Washington and Brussels “lead the world to a terrible war” and “completely different fighting”. Volodin noted that, given the technological superiority of Russian weapons, foreign politicians should understand that “this may end in a global tragedy that will destroy their countries”.

Volodin called the arguments that the nuclear powers did not use weapons of mass destruction untenable. He believes that this did not happen because these States “did not face a situation where there was a threat to the security of their citizens and the territorial integrity of the country”.

Earlier, on January 20, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the supply of new weapons to Ukraine from Western countries. Thus, Sweden will provide Kiev with infantry fighting vehicles and Archer howitzers, Denmark will transfer 19 howitzers, Latvia – Stinger systems, helicopters and other weapons.

Austin also recalled the next $2.5 billion in military aid promised by Washington. The new package will include NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems, eight Avenger air defense systems, 59 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers.

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“This is a crucial moment. Russia is regrouping, recruiting and trying to rearm. Now is not the time to delay,” he said, calling for every effort to provide Kiev with weapons.

The British authorities, in turn, promised to transfer a squadron of Challenger 2 tracked tanks to Kiev soon. According to Politico, France has also been thinking about the supply of Leclerc tracked tanks. Polish President Andrzej Duda spoke about plans to supply German-made Leopard tanks.

The Kremlin, speaking about the consequences of the transfer of tanks to Kiev, said that they “will be with a minus sign, unequivocally”, and urged not to “exaggerate the importance of such supplies in terms of their ability to change something”.

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Posol South Africa Maketuka: 13 countries expressed interest in joining BRICS Among the applicants for joining BRICS, the South African ambassador named Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

About 13 countries have expressed interest in BRICS membership, and almost half of them have already submitted official applications. This was stated by South African Ambassador to Russia Mzuvukile Maketuka in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“There are about 13 applicants now. There are countries that have officially submitted applications, there are six of them; and there are countries that have expressed interest,” the ambassador said. He considered that priority will be given to those who have already submitted an application.

Maketuka named Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE among the candidates for joining the BRICS.

According to Maketuki, the issue of BRICS expansion is on the organization’s agenda, but for this it is necessary to determine which criteria and mechanisms to use.

“South Africa will now deal with this issue as Chairman. During our term, the expansion of BRICS will be one of the priorities,” he stressed.

BRICS includes five countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The group emerged in 2006 on the basis of the cooperation of the first four, and in 2011 an African country joined it. The goal of BRICS is a comprehensive partnership at the political, economic and interethnic levels.

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Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov noted that Moscow is positive about the potential expansion of the BRICS, but insists on the need to define procedures and requirements for candidates for accession.

On June 27 last year, Iran and Argentina applied to join the BRICS. The President of the Islamic Republic, Ebrahim Raisi, noted that “Iran’s geopolitical and geo-economic position can make it a stable and reliable BRICS partner.”

Argentine leader Alberto Fernandez pointed out that his country aims “to be a full member of this group”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Iran and Argentina worthy candidates for joining the BRICS. He noted that the preparatory process for the expansion of this association has been launched.

Later, Algeria submitted an official application to join the BRICS organization. The representative of the country’s Foreign Ministry, Leila Zerrougui, noted that the members of the organization studied Algeria’s dossier before deciding on the application.

Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have also expressed interest in BRICS membership.

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WSJ learned that cracks appeared at the hydroelectric power plant opened by Xi Jinping in Ecuador, the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric power plant was put into operation in 2016, since then more than 17 thousand cracks have been found in the turbines of the station. Power engineers blame poor-quality steel supplied from China for this. They are afraid that the HPP will fail

Thousands of cracks have formed at the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric power plant in Ecuador, built with the help of China; this raises fears that the hydroelectric power plant may fail, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports, citing engineers.

“We can lose everything. And we don’t know if it will happen tomorrow or in six months,” Fabricio Yepes, an engineer from the University of St. Francis in Quito, told the publication.

Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric power plant, the largest in Ecuador, is located on the Amazon River in Napo province. Its cost is $2.7 billion. The construction of the hydroelectric power plant lasted six years, the work was carried out by the Chinese company Sinohydro. The station is equipped with eight turbines — it was assumed that after the start of operation its capacity will be about 1.5 thousand. MW, which should cover more than half of Ecuador’s electricity needs. The hydroelectric power plant was launched in 2016, for this purpose, the leader of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping personally came to the country.

The WSJ calls the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric power plant China’s most ambitious project in Ecuador; local engineers studied the construction of a station on this site back in the 1970s, but then the project was considered too risky due to the high cost and location next to an active volcano. As a result, Ecuador agreed with Beijing, construction began in 2010.

Since the commissioning of the HPP, Ecuadorian power engineers have found more than 17 thousand cracks in the turbines and blame defective steel supplied from China for this. In 2021, they filed a lawsuit against Sinohydro, the proceedings are still ongoing. The state utility service of Ecuador said that numerous attempts to repair the cracks were unsuccessful. Because of them, the HPP equipment “may lose its structural integrity, and this will lead to destruction,” they fear.

The former Minister of Energy of Ecuador and ex-OPEC Secretary General Rene Ortiz, in turn, said that the country “suffers because of the poor quality of equipment and parts” on projects under construction by China.

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The Chinese Embassy in Ecuador did not respond to the WSJ’s request.

The newspaper writes that defects have been identified on other infrastructure projects in different countries, where China has invested in the framework of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. For example, in Pakistan last year, the Nilum Jhelum hydroelectric power plant was closed due to cracks found in the drainage tunnel. Energy CompanyUganda (UEGC) has discovered more than 500 construction defects at the Isimba hydroelectric power plant in the northeast of the country. The construction of the 183 MW plant was carried out by the Chinese corporation China International Water & Electric Corp.

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NYT: The US will extend the presence of 4 thousand military in Romania for 9 months

The United States has decided to extend the presence of the 101st Airborne Division of the ground forces in southeastern Romania for nine months, The New York Times (NYT) newspaper reports.

The brigade located in Romania includes about 4 thousand American military personnel, they are stationed at the airbase “Mikhail Kogalniceanu”. The latter is located about 30 km from the largest seaport of Romania Constanta.

The brigade of the 101st Division has been at the base since last summer. Prior to that, military personnel of the 82nd Airborne Division were on duty there, sent to Romania as part of the reinforcement of the NATO response forces on its eastern flank after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

The NYT writes that the base is used as a training base for NATO forces in Eastern Europe. In the next two months, there will be a rotation: the soldiers of the 101st airborne Division will leave the base, they will be replaced by the military of the same division, who will arrive from the United States.

The 101st Airborne Division of the US Army “Screaming Eagles” took part in World War II operations in the Western European theater of operations. Participated in the Normandy landings, in Operation Market Garden. In 1965, the brigade of the 101st Division took part in the Vietnam War, and in 2003 in the invasion of Iraq.

In October, the CBC TV channel, citing the division command, reported that “Screaming Eagles” are ready to enter the territory of Ukraine in case of further escalation between Moscow and Kiev or an attack on one of the NATO countries. The White House has repeatedly assured that the US military will not take part in the military conflict in Ukraine.

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