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Topic: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland? (Read 200263 times)

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #551 –
It has been shaping the last five years or so, dramatically increased the last year, pretty significant changes to be expected the next five to ten years. After the Cold War a lull in the Naugties, and now this rearmament a.

More importantly the Nordic integration. Effectively the Nordic countries have been split into two theatres since WWII, the Arctic  theatre comprising Iceland, Denmark (and Greenland) and Norway, and the Baltic theatre comprising Sweden, Finland and pieces of Denmark. These two are now merging.

Nordic Air Force Takes Flight

(That merge is happening elsewhere in Europe too, like the slow merge of Dutch and German forces)

Re: What's going on in Finland

Reply #552 –
Biden will visit Finland next week https://yle.fi/a/74-20039704

Last time an American president visited Helsinki, it was Trump and Putin. Trump asked Putin if he had meddled with the presidential elections. Putin said no. Trump later informed American public, "I strongly pressed Putin and he vehemently denied it was him."

Before that, W saw Putin's soul by looking into his eyes. I hope Putin won't be around this time. He tends to induce excited schoolgirl behaviour in American presidents.

What's going on in Estonia?

Reply #553 –
Finnish state media created a nice animation implicating a Russian vessel in damaging a data cable between Estonia and Sweden and a gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland. Also, alongside the gas pipeline another data cable between Estonia and Finland was affected.

https://yle.fi/a/74-20056160

What's going on in Finland?

Reply #554 –
This morning Finland's state broadcaster published an article saying that the current Finnish government awakened to a thought that maybe it's a good idea to revisit and review the history of Russian influence and meddling in Finland's politics, how deep it has run and what its current aftereffects are. For example, a researcher notes that it would be interesting to analyse the exceptions and special privileges given to certain individuals and companies in Finland under the current sanctions regime, and the instances where police and other authorities claim they "cannot do anything" despite sanctions. Another researcher says that Russia's "soft power" may have hit Finland very hard https://yle.fi/a/74-20056140

*Not* in the article is the grossest example of Russia's corrupting power on Western governments in recent memory: The recruitment of Finland's ex-prime minister Paavo Lipponen to Nord Stream board. Thus Finland was about as rotten at its topmost level as Germany when Russia was playing its gas games. In Germany it's called schröderisation, while in Finland it can be seen as a reverberation of finlandisation, i.e. a longer history of "neutrality" policy with regard to Russia/Soviet Union.

However, what *is* in the article is eight points worth investigating according to the researchers and investigative journalists:
1. What was Russia's grand strategy? With regard to Finland, it seems to have been smooth talk to keep Finland away from Nato, while Russia was painting the rest of "collective West" as a threat and danger.

2. Why did Finland fail in its (geopolitical) forecasts? The article quotes a professor saying that Russia was exporting fear and Finland was buying it.

3. Was Russia blocking Finland's membership of Nato? This is about the hypothetical that if Russia had blitzconquered Ukraine in the end of February 2022, would Finland have been able to join Nato.

4. Were Finns misled (by the communication of their own government) in the energy deals? Energy deals such as Nord Stream and Finland's nuclear power stations in collaboration with Rosatom.

5. Have "home Russkies" had an effect even in 21st century? "Home Russkies" refers to KGB misinformation operatives who kept contact with Finnish politicians (the president, prime minister, most leaders of political parties and important news outlets), cultivating a positive image of Russia in Finland. Such contacts became normal after WWII, even celebrated during Kekkonen's presidency, and lasted long after Kekkonen, possibly into 21st century according to a good book detailing the relevant diplomatic/intelligence history of Finland, Kremlin kortti by Alpo Rusi, which I have read.

6. Did Putin's oligarchs gain special privileges? Spoiler: Obviously yes. Some of them hold Finland's citizenship awarded for "services rendered to the nation".

7. Was Airiston Helmi a threat to national security? Along with other notable Russian-funded real estate projects, Airiston Helmi, a massive construction object in Finland's territory, appears to have been developed for military purposes.

8. Did Russia warp the opinion of Finns? The relevant instances here are Russia's troll factories and earlier court cases where Russia has accused Finns of abducting Russians in connection with adoptions and separated families, discriminatring against Russians culturally and linguistically. There is also an ongoing Russian history project investigating an alleged genocide against Russian Karelians during WWII.

In an earlier article there is an overview of the construction of Alakurtti, a military base in Russia near Finland's border built as a joint venture of Finland and Russia in early 90's. At the time, both Finland and Russia were suffering from economic crisis and neither side saw a security problem. Soon after completion, the military personnel at the location were decommissioned and the project turned (elite) civilian, but now it is again a notable military base in Russia at Finland's border https://yle.fi/a/74-20013084

What's going on in Scotland?

Reply #555 –
Scotland still has no mercy on witches.

Quote from: https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/plans-to-pardon-witches-dropped
SNP MSP Natalie Don had introduced a private member’s bill to the Holyrood in 2022 in which she said the failure to pardon the women “prolongs misogyny”.

The proposed Witchcraft Convictions (Pardons) (Scotland) Bill would have pardoned those convicted under the Witchcraft Act 1563.

One X user said: “Where’s the compassion for all those that were turned into newts by witches.”

Another said: “If this is your priority then your constituents are being robbed of their taxes.”

A Scottish government spokesman said: “Natalie Don’s member’s bill was withdrawn when she was appointed as a minister as it is a parliamentary rule that Scottish ministers do not promote member’s bills. Ministers have no plans to legislate in this area.”

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #556 –
Putin wants Estonia's PM. I wonder how much he is willing to pay for her. Prigozhin was valued by various US services from $100,000 up to $8m. But there's no Prigozhin anymore available for bounty hunters. What's KGB's preiskurant?

Another question is that maybe Putin feels like not paying out anything out to the bounty hunter who delivers. Or maybe he will pay AND send the bounty hunter to the Ukraine front.

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #557 –
Emigration from Sweden surpasses immigration for the first time in 50 years. Not in the news: Where do they emigrate? Maybe some law changed that made it more profitable for Swedes to openly declare when they live elsewhere.

https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2024/08/fler-utvandrar-an-invandrar-till-sverige-for-forsta-gangen-pa-over-50-ar/

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #558 –
Mix of two main factors. Once every eight years or so the tax office (that keeps tabs on all of us) clean up their registers of people who have left Sweden, but not bothered to tell anyone about it. Also, Sweden has been in a shallow recession.

Statistics Sweden doesn't keep statistics of where people are going, even though they do keep statistics on where they are born. Naturally most are born in Sweden, and in countries with the largest immigration (like other Nordic countries, Poland, Iraq and Syria). But a surprisingly large number of emigrants are born in India and China. Now, these are of course huge countries, but relatively few have immigrated to Sweden.  Mostly this seems an artefact of registry cleaning. More than twice as many Indians left in 2023 as in 2022, and almost four times as many Chinese.

That is a common pattern, It is commonly believed that many more Chinese live in a country that actually do, and Chinese in particular often see residency as an insurance policy. Also, they have a larger proportion of students, and they are more likely to leave without telling anyone about it.

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #560 –
Trump is serving as an awesome inspiring example. According to TASS, Mikhail Myagkov (called историк Мягков when TASS suggests him to be taken seriously) proposes to rename the Gulf of Finland to the Gulf of Saint Peterburg (Санкт-Петербургский залив) because Finland and Sweden are russophobic countries so it would be "logical" to rename the gulf to harmonise with "historical and political reality" because it is Peter the Great and Russia who developed the gulf area since ancient times.

Very much like Trump: If you don't like Gulf of America, then you hate America! (Nevermind that there is no Gulf of America...)

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #562 –
Okay, I recognise some misspelled place names. It would be interesting to know how many ships sank trying to navigate according to this map.

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #564 –
Historic moment: Baltic states synchronize with European electricity grid
Quote from: https://news.err.ee/1609600139/historic-moment-baltic-states-synchronize-with-european-electricity-grid
The desynchronization process took 17 years and cost €1.6 billion, of which 75 percent was funded by the European Union.

The Baltic states were the last three EU member states whose electricity networks were still operating fully within the Russian and Belarusian system. The electricity frequency was centrally controlled by Moscow, leaving them vulnerable to Russia's weaponization of energy.

Synchronizing with Europe strengthens the energy security of the Eastern Baltic Sea region and the EU as a whole, the European Commission said in a statement.
During the interim of 36 hours between decoupling from the Russian grid and uniting with the European grid, a power plant in Lithuania malfunctioned and could not contribute to maintaining our little Hertzes and Amperes, but there were no (other) outages. Most importantly, no malicious interference.

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #565 –
Just a little bit of a commentary regarding the Baltic perspective. Note that the interviewees in Estonia are Russian-speaking (without the slightest shadow of doubt).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htaXCWlGxCc

At 5:55 "This is Donald Trump's Churchill moment." Way too diplomatically put. This is more like Donald Trump's Chamberlain moment, except Chamberlain was arguably excusable because Chamberlain was duped. Trump has been bought and paid for. Hell yes, it's Trump's Quisling moment.

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #566 –
Is it surprising that ersi seems more prone to believing Russian propaganda than anyone? (I remember how miffed he was, when Steele's company impinged on his little fiefdom...)
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #567 –
Quote from: ersi on
At 5:55 "This is Donald Trump's Churchill moment." Way too diplomatically put. This is more like Donald Trump's Chamberlain moment, except Chamberlain was arguably excusable because Chamberlain was duped. Trump has been bought and paid for. Hell yes, it's Trump's Quisling moment.

In a manner of speaking. Chamberlain talked peace, but prepared for war. However the reprieve Britain and France got from the Munich Agreement was short-lived and didn't amount to much, and greatly favoured Nazi Germany (and obviously disfavoured Czechoslovakia and later Poland).

Quisling is indeed a more appropriate analogy, as this weakens both the US and the West, and simultaneously strengthen the Russian invaders. Trump's is not just a betrayal of the Czechoslovaks, like Chamberlain, but a betrayal of his own country, like Quisling.

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #568 –
The way in which the United States has diminished its power over the past month is something I didn't think was even possible, at least not without severely losing a war or simply gradually over the course of many years.

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #569 –
:)

I wonder what you're reading...
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #570 –

Quote from: Frenzie on
The way in which the United States has diminished its power over the past month is something I didn't think was even possible, at least not without severely losing a war or simply gradually over the course of many years.

It is stunning, as is the fear of upsetting him, both in Congress and in the Fourth Estate. They are well aware of the harm he does, but are too scared to stand up for their country if that could affect their primary process or profit margin.

It is unknown if he is actually a Russian deep agent, so by Occam we must assume he is not. But it is pretty irrelevant either way, as long as his actions are indistinguishable from what an agent in this position would do.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLchCS4OOjA

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #571 –
Quote from: jax on
It is stunning, as is the fear of upsetting him, both in Congress and in the Fourth Estate. They are well aware of the harm he does, but are too scared to stand up for their country [...]
Which country would that be? The future Soviet States of America?[1] :)
Much of what you call the Fourth Estate consists of quislings... People who reject the U.S. Constitution and our Declaration of Independence as foundational documents. (Have you read the 1619 Project? It won its author a Pulitzer Prize!)

What you fail to realize is that Putin is the most important person who's afraid of Trump!

You may be, too; but I honestly don't know why you'd be... (Perhaps exposing bankrupt ways of viewing and dealing with geopolitics threatens you?)
1 Of course, on the CCP model! Have you still got your copy of the Little Red Book?↵
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)
 

Re: What's going on in Scandinavia, North Atlantic, Baltic States and Scotland?

Reply #572 –
The checks and balances don't work if they don't check and balance the executive. The US is not a soviet state yet, but it is well on its way, and that in less than three months.

Putin is in a weak position, but Trump has been his biggest gift in the war so far, and the Mar-a-lago administration is agog to become a part of the Moscow empire. Were Trump to turn, he has the capability to undo the very same empire. It is a much greater win for the US and for Trump himself supporting Ukraine than trying to please the Putin mafia. But Trump is besotten. That is what the Ukrainians are hoping and aiming for, that his unrequited love for Putin will turn to hate.

Back to the Baltics,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l82DgCsWL1I