Archive for the ‘European Defence and Security’ Category
USA President of Vice JD Vance flounders in Greenland Snow – Sniffer Dogs on Trail of 2nd Lady Usha Vance
Great mocking description : dogsled diplomacy – USA President of Vice JD Vance and his wealthy wife Usha flounder in Greenland snow.
From Tony Tassell of the Financial Times :
Trump’s dogsled diplomacy has spooked and angered Greenland – @richardmilne.ft.com column. Nobody in Greenland or Denmark is accepting the cited reason for the US national security adviser, vice-president’s wife & secretary of energy to the island – a dogsledding contest http://www.ft.com/content/079a…

Denmark Sends Extra Sniffer Dogs 🐕 to Greenland
USA “Second Lady” Usha Vance has created a stink in Greenland – Diplomacy?
The Journal.ie reports :
AN UPCOMING VISIT to Greenland by US Vice President JD Vance’s wife Usha Vance, along with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, has been denounced by the country’s Prime Minister Mute Egere.
The Office of the Second Lady of the US issued a statement today announcing Thursday’s trip, saying the delegation would be visiting historical sites, learning about Greenland’s culture and attending its national dog sled race.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright will also be joining the delegation.
“It should be said clearly that our integrity and democracy must be respected without foreign interference,” Egede said, adding that this week’s visit “cannot be seen as just a private visit”.
Negotiations over the formation of a new government are ongoing in Greenland following elections held earlier this month that saw the centre-right Democrats come out on top.
Source :
Denmark’s crack sniffer- dogs team retaliates :
Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory seeking to emancipate itself from Denmark, holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, although oil and uranium exploration are banned.
Greenland is also strategically significant in geopolitical terms due to its location in the Arctic. Geographically, it is closer to North America than to Europe and is also home to a US military base.
The country has its own flag, language and institutions. However, Greenland’s judiciary, monetary policy, defence and foreign affairs all remain under Danish control.
The Greenland government also relies on Denmark for more than half of its budget and the subsidies it receives from Copenhagen amount to a fifth of its GDP.
According to polls, most Greenlanders support independence from Denmark but not annexation by Washington.
Denmark has responded to Usha Vance’s planned visit by sending extra personnel and sniffer dogs to Greenland, in order to beef up security, the chief spokesman for Denmark’s national police said today.
Rene Gyldensten said that the extra officers, deployed the day before, were part of regular steps taken during visits by dignitaries to Greenland, a self-governing, mineral-rich territory of American ally Denmark.
Citing office procedure, they declined to specify the number of extra police flown on the chartered flight.
How to finance European defence (and how not to) – and how the Irish left can assist Ukraine by all means necessary
Hanna Perekhoda’s article highlights uncomfortable truths about European Defence. The new Trump-Putin reactionary alliance against Ukraine has brought matters to a head.
Perekhoda states “The real question now, particularly for the left, is whether it has a concrete program to address this crisis.”
Link : How to finance European defence (and how not to)
Ireland will not escape the consequences.
Do the best parts of the left in Ireland pass this Perekhoda test?
We must start by examining a misnamed policy : supporting Irish “Neutrality”. Language matters, as we shall see. This is a key part of the problem.

The best of the Irish left declares itself in favour of “Neutrality” – but in the conflict between Israel and Palestine it supports Palestine.
The best of the left should not support a policy of “Neutrality” in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It should support Ukraine.
The best of the left correctly opposes Irish state membership of military alliances such as NATO, but that is not a policy of “neutrality”. The policy is more accurately described as “non-alignment”. That, for the sake of clarity, was the policy of Tito’s Yugoslavia after his country’s progressive breakaway from the Warsaw Pact.
Does this matter in practice? The answer is Yes.
When the Irish government militarily assists the state of Ukraine by providing mine-clearing equipment, it is helping to defend the hospitals, schools and housing of people living in Ukraine. It is preventing Ukraine from becoming a new defenceless Gaza.
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