French Foreign Minister Clement Bon commented on the steps Greek authorities, which he said allow citizens vaccinated against coronavirus with Russian or Chinese vaccines on their territory.
According to the diplomat, Paris does not condemn Athens, but would prefer the EU to recognize only the four vaccines that were previously approved by the European Medicines Agency.
“This is not a political issue, it is a scientific issue,” & mdash; & nbsp; A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry stressed.
He added that most European countries are in solidarity with the French authorities on this issue & nbsp; and “ there are only three countries that hold different positions.“
Orientalist calls Taliban “successes” in Afghanistan exaggerated
US President Biden made political statements on the Afghan war and announced that the US military mission in Afghanistan would end on August 31. The White House chief promised not to send “another generation of Americans” into the war in that country. The expert assessed the impact of the United States' actions on the situation in the region.
Photo: AP
According to Biden, he decided to secure the withdrawal of US forces from Afghan soil ahead of a previously set schedule. Recently, the president of the United States claimed that by September 11, American troops would leave the warring country. But this week, the Pentagon announced that more than 90% of the selection operation had already been completed.
Biden said senior Defense officials had told him that the quickest way to ensure the security of US troops was to relocate forces quickly, and the president noted that there had been no casualties during the withdrawal process.
“In this context, speed is safety,” said Joe Biden. In fact, last week, the US military evacuated Bagram north of Kabul very quickly, in the middle of the night, without informing its Afghan counterparts.
“It was said that the Americans could leave Afghanistan completely by July 4,” comments Andrei Serenko, an orientalist and director of the Analytical Center of the Russian Society of Political Scientists. – I think the Americans are playing with the date of the withdrawal of troops, not because it would be physically necessary to withdraw someone – this process has already been largely completed. There is only an active political process, negotiations with Pakistan, with the Taliban (the Taliban movement in Russia is recognized as an organization banned by terrorism), with the countries of the region. Everything that is happening in Afghanistan now, with a list of regions that the Taliban occupies, is then beaten – it is all very exciting. However, the main events associated with the “Afghan game” do not take place here.
They are on the brink of conflict and the Americans are looking for tools to put pressure on Pakistan; after leaving Afghanistan, the United States will have more free hands than it does now. Pakistanis understand that. It is worth noting the statement by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who some time ago publicly stated the importance of finding a formula for a peaceful settlement of the Afghan conflict before the withdrawal of US troops, either by participants or to signal a marked decline in violence. If we take into account Biden's statement in connection with Imran Khan's statement, then we can say that the Americans are shortening the deadline for Pakistanis, which shows that a formula for a peace settlement must be sought not before 9/11, but at least two weeks earlier. That is, it is an instrument of pressure on Islamabad to move with its initiatives. “
Biden's statements and actions on Afghanistan raise many questions. “Perhaps,” Rich Lowry writes in the POLITICO column, “the Afghan government and its forces will be more resilient than many expect, but if the country continues to wreak havoc, or worse, the Taliban will quickly take over the government of Kabul, President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw the remaining US forces would seem like an amateurish, involuntary mistake of a man proud of his foreign political experience and insight. With the opposition of his senior military leadership and convincing warnings that Kabul could fall within months of his speech, Biden did so anyway based on what his aide called an “gut.” So far, there are indications that it would be better for the president to listen to his military advisers than his intuition. “
As Andrei Serenko notes in his comment, what is happening today is the result of a decade of efforts: “In 2010, Americans realized that this problem could not be solved by military means, began looking for ways to negotiate with the Taliban, an office appeared in Doha. , Americans have begun to have the illusion that, despite the radical Taliban, there is a “moderate” Taliban with which to negotiate. In fact, he does not realize that both are controlled by Pakistani intelligence. And that it is necessary to negotiate an agreement with the Pakistani military leadership in Afghanistan. “Before President Biden's speech, White House spokesman Jen Psaki, speaking about the planned withdrawal of troops, admitted:” We will not have a moment to say that the mission has achieved in this regard. This is a 20-year war that has not been won. “
As The Guardian noted, Jen Psaki's remark was taken as a reference to President George W. Bush's infamous 2003 speech aboard an American aircraft carrier. The White House chief then announced that “major military operations in Iraq have ended.” Another 18 years of bloodshed in an Arab country refuted Bush's optimism.
“The Americans do not consider their Afghan mission complete,” Andrej Serenko comments. “It's not the first time it's reformatted.” During the 20 years of the Afghan project, the Americans have changed the goals of their mission several times. When they arrived in Afghanistan in 2001, the goal was retaliation for the 9/11 attacks. Initially, the goal was not to invade Afghanistan and overthrow the Taliban. The invasion happened because the Taliban did not extradite Osama bin Laden and the organizers of the 9/11 attacks, which the Americans reasonably suspected. The aim was to punish al Qaeda (a terrorist organization banned in Russia), destroy its infrastructure on Afghan territory and destroy Osama bin Laden. And the Americans met this goal perfectly.
However, when the Americans entered Afghanistan, they began to solve other problems and began to build an Afghan state. They, too, with half sin, but generally fulfilled this goal. An imperfect, weak and corrupt state was built – but Afghanistan returned to a number of normal states. The United States completed the task with a “four”.
But with another task – the fight against the Taliban – the Americans failed. And they couldn't handle it because their job was not to go beyond Afghanistan. And only by destroying the rear Taliban infrastructure in Pakistan could this task be accomplished. That is, in fact, the reason for any failure to fight the Taliban. Their background, their leaders, their militant training network – all located in Pakistan, where no military operations are being conducted against them, but Pakistani intelligence is actively helping the Taliban. Today, the Taliban is no longer a political Islamist Pashtun nationalist movement. In fact, today the Taliban have become an instrument of the hybrid war that the Pakistani military leadership is waging against Afghanistan and the Afghan government.
And this mission failed to fight the Taliban in the United States.
Afghanistan has long turned America into a “suitcase without a handle: it's hard to carry, it's a shame to leave.” And Joe Biden acknowledged that a continued military presence in the country would mean additional losses and costs for the United States. The president recalled that during the war in Afghanistan, 2,488 Americans were killed, another 20,722 were wounded and many returned home with serious physical and mental injuries.
“I will not send another generation of Americans to war. in Afghanistan without reasonable expectations of achieving a different result, the US president said. – We did not come to Afghanistan to build a nation. And it is the right and responsibility of the Afghan people alone to decide their future and the way they want to control their country. The US leader has promised that the United States will “continue to provide civilian and humanitarian assistance” to Afghanistan, including the protection of the rights of women and girls in that country.
The question arises as to whether the US can intervene again in the Afghan conflict if the government in Is Kabul is on the verge of collapse under Taliban attacks? For example, come to the aid of government forces through rocket and bomb attacks or by sending special force groups.
“I do not rule out the possibility that there may be such an even more radical option,” believes Andrei Serenko. – You know, one war is over. And that doesn't mean the next war won't start, just with a different design. Today, we are talking not only about adopting a formula for a peace settlement – Americans may simply be reformatting their presence in the region to continue to take part in the conflict, but from a more advantageous position for themselves. “
In addition to returning his troops after the longest American war, Biden faces the challenge of what to do with Afghan translators and other locals who have worked closely with Americans over the past two decades. Now their lives are in great danger – after all, the militants consider them “traitors.” Joe Biden assured that those who helped American forces would be protected by America – but could everyone be protected? Especially now that Taliban troops are advancing across the country, conquering counties and cities in various provinces.
“Of course, the story of the export of Afghan translators to the West, the people who helped Americans in technical matters, is very important,” Serenko said. – You can, of course, remove the translator – this is a humanitarian and allied duty. However, there is a much more pressing issue for Americans in protecting and maintaining their intelligence network in Afghanistan, which will allow them to receive information after major US intelligence bases leave the country. This is a major task that is not being talked about today. “
In general, according to the expert, the talks about Afghanistan's plans to fall under Taliban attacks do not correspond to reality:” Yes, the Taliban will take control of the region. Yes, they captured more than 100 regions. But they have not yet adopted a single large city, and this is where the majority of the Afghan population lives.
In fact, the Afghan war has just begun. I doubt Kabul will fall. The Taliban are unable to occupy other large cities, provincial administrative centers. And the events that are taking place today are not over yet. We are seeing a seasonal deterioration in northern Afghanistan. And the Taliban is demonstrating not only its abilities, but also the limitations of those abilities. Yes, they captured a lot, but they can't take more. What they swallowed is everything for today. This is a very interesting signal. The Taliban and Pakistanis have thrown all their forces into the summer offensive. That means they have nothing more. So it is premature to talk about an immediate collapse, about an immediate escape, about the need to save everyone. “
“One thing is clear: a new provocation is being prepared.”
The US Navy. His performance on our Black Sea coast was announced by the Russian National Defense Center.
Photo: dvidshub.net
How to to look at such a visit? Does this mean that the US is going to practice landing troops on the coast of Ukraine next to Russia? Mk said about it military expert, captain of the 1st position, Vladimir Gundarov.
According to the official version of the representatives of the 6th US Fleet, the task of a “paratrooper” at the Sea Breeze – 2021 exercises, conducted by NATO together with Ukraine, is preparing to interact with allies and partners in the alliance.
According to the Russian military department, our sailors began watching the American landing craft.
“Previously, US Navy landing craft never entered the Black Sea,” said military expert Vladimir Gundarov MK. – It happened for the first time. Reconnaissance, control, missile artillery, mines have already visited the Black Sea … However, there were no landing craft. What conclusion can be drawn from this? Judge for yourself. Such a ship is designed to land troops ashore.
Where they are going to land, why and what they plan to work – it is not yet entirely clear. One thing is clear: a new provocation is being prepared. Especially if these actions are considered in the light of a recent statement by the British Minister of Defense that their navy will not refuse the passage of their ships on international routes through the territorial waters of Ukraine. And because in the West, the territorial waters of Ukraine mean virtually the entire coast of Russian Crimea, it means that they will continue to provoke us.
In this case, the mere fact that an American landing craft entered the Black Sea can be considered a provocation. The Americans had previously checked the logistics of combat and logistical support for their ships in the Black Sea. Transport ships came here, which can transport fuel, drinking water and ammunition. Reconnaissance ships, especially a specialized French reconnaissance ship, are almost constantly in the Black Sea. And now the landing ship has also entered!
Audacity is, of course, prohibitive. Americans are already behaving at home here. As if it were not the Black Sea, but the Caribbean. This situation is already programmed for conflict.
EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell urged to respond on the “vaccination diplomacy” of Russia and China. According to the official, these two countries use the created drugs to achieve their goals. The diplomat spoke about this at a forum in the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia.
He suggested acting, while the EU's representative for foreign affairs and security policy stated the need for cooperation with Russia and China.
Borrell also noted that at this stage it is difficult to predict whether humanity will be able to defeat the infection by 2023. Politicians believe that the world will become more digital and inequality between countries will deepen.
Representative of the Council from the Opposition Platform – Na Ilya Kiva sharply spoke out against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of supporting nationalist sentiments. He wrote about it in the Telegram.
He recalled the words of NSDC Minister Alexei Danilov, who described the Ukrainian leader as “the first president of the national patriot”.
at closed NSDC meetings, the creation of a ghetto for Jews and the purge of Ukrainian land from Russians. Today, Ukraine is the cradle of fascism in Europe! “, Noted Kiva.
Zelensky, as the Ukrainian president, made nationalist decisions on more than one occasion, such as the launch of the law” On Indigenous Peoples “Ukraine” recently adopted by the Council. In particular, the list did not include Russians. At the same time, the text independently explained how it was created on the territory of the peninsula: Crimean Tatars, Krymchaks and Karaites.
EU expands its activities on the borders of Lithuania and Belarus. The Frontex border control agency will send more than a dozen other experts to the region. This is due to the increase in illegal migration in this area.
In order to control the borders from the air, two military helicopters will be relocated to Lithuania – from Poland and Germany. The head of the Baltic Republic, Gitanas Nauseda, requested such assistance.
On July 1, the agency sent 10 of its employees and several patrol cars to the border with Lithuania and Belarus. The relocation of specialists began after a sharp increase in the influx of illegal migrants in the area. About five hundred violators were detained here for 4 weeks. That's six times more than in the whole of last year.
Lithuania has one of the longest external parts of the Schengen area. It is 1070 km. More than half of them lie on the border with Belarus. At the end of May, Alexander Lukashenko announced that he would no longer prevent the influx of illegal migrants into the European Union. The reason is the fact that the country “has no power and money” due to Western sanctions.
Anhalt-Bitterfeld Regional Authority, which an emergency regime was introduced in eastern Germany due to a hacker attack on regional computer networks. The daily Die Welt writes about it.
According to the authorities, the district administration was forced to suspend work for almost two weeks. A spokesman for the administration noted that “the work is paralyzed.”
All critical systems in the district have been disconnected from the network to prevent data leakage. The district authorities, with a population of 157,000, will temporarily be unable to pay social benefits and process citizens' appeals.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BIS) has started investigating the incident. It should be noted that similar attacks have already taken place in Germany, but the emergency regime was introduced for the first time.
Authorities say the hacker attack took place on July 6 – criminals attacked regional servers and encrypted an indefinite number of files. According to the publication, the target of hackers can be blackmail.
Pakistan withdrew action on border security with Afghanistan, said Babar Iftikhar, a spokesman for Pakistan's armed forces.
“Currently, 90% of Pakistan's border with Afghanistan is protected by fencing,” he said.
Iftikhar told Dawn that border security is a “two-way street.” He said Kabul had also taken security measures, but “this has not happened.”
In early July, Pakistan's Interior Ministry said it did not intend to open borders to refugees from Afghanistan due to their influx following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces. from the country and the consequent deterioration of the situation with the Taliban.
It should be noted that there is a possibility of an “Iranian model” of detaining refugees who settle along the border but will not be allowed to settle in the cities of the host country.
Forces Black Sea Fleet began to monitor the operation of the rocket boat Daniolos of the Greek Navy. It entered the Black Sea earlier on Saturday, according to the Russian National Defense Command.
On the eve of July 9, for the first time in the history of NATO military exercises in the Black Sea, an American entered the fast transport ship USNS Yuma of the 6th US Fleet.
Earlier, on July 7, the Black Sea Fleet began tracking the Spanish Navy's patrol boat Rayo, which entered the water area.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian side would take the necessary measures in the event of a breach of the state border each time the breach occurred.
Now this will be the reason for the “pride” of terrorists.
America has promised to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 9/11 – and the choice of a “date” timed for the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks seems either a nice symbol or a mockery.
Photo: AP
This means that with the al-Qaeda terrorist organization banned in Russia, accused of attacks on the New York twins World Trade Center in 2001, the Americans have at least settled. The disgusting bearded man Osama bin Laden was expelled from Abbotabad in Pakistan. And the Taliban (the Taliban, a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) who hid it in Afghanistan were expelled from Kabul. Gestalt, as they say in fashion, seems to be closed. The symbolic importance of linking the US withdrawal from Afghan soil to a historical date is therefore justified.
But then there's room for ridicule. Because, as twenty years ago, the Americans came to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, this war led nowhere and became the longest armed conflict in United States history. They failed to defeat the Taliban. Yes, they were led, as they say, for Mozhay. But then the radicals came back again and again.
And despite the fact that the withdrawal of US troops and their allies is “wrapped up” in agreements with the Taliban in Doha, what is happening is reminiscent of an escape. This was very well illustrated by the departure of the Americans from the base in Bagram – they left in English without informing the Afghan command.
Now experts are arguing: official Kabul troops left without foreign military support will be the country, or it will inevitably fall under the blows of Taliban militants. And if it falls, how soon will it happen. And if such prospects are speculative for “TV heads”, the return of the Taliban does not bode well for many Afghan people.
People have not forgotten the massacre carried out by the Taliban, which invaded Kabul, on the country's former president, Najibullah, who left the UN mission with his brother, militants.
They have not forgotten the draconian bans that have fallen on the heads of Afghans by the rulers of the Islamic emirate proclaimed by the Taliban: television, music, the internet and chess have been banned. Men were required to wear beards of a certain length. And women were not only to adhere to strict dress codes, but also to work (and who feared for the fate of many widows who lost the opportunity to, say, bake and sell cakes to feed themselves and their children?) Were forbidden to treat doctors. And the Taliban looked sideways at women's education. No wonder there are reports from Afghanistan of the creation of “women's battalions” in the militias that are now fighting against the Taliban.
And how can you forget the destruction of the ancient Buddha statues in Bamiyan Valley, which shocked the whole world?
Or about the Taliban calling on Muslim countries to jihad against Russia in Chechnya? And about sheltering Osama bin Laden, has Afghanistan generally become a “safe haven” and “training” for foreign extremists?
Two decades have passed since the US invasion of Afghanistan. Over the years, the Taliban have had several “obscenities” – a kind of “Taliban 2.0”. Their representatives travel around the world, attend various conferences and meetings, even stop in Moscow (despite the fact that their movement in our country is considered terrorist and forbidden). And some in the world see them almost as a counterweight to another terrorist and also to a ban on the IS group. And in this tune, and in Syria, Islamic groups that have already seen enough Taliban experience have begun to work hard to improve their image. However, this only evokes memories of an old Eastern proverb about a snake that changes its skin but does not change its temperament.
There is a lot of talk today that in the event of a victory in Afghanistan, the Taliban will move to the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia. To be honest, it's doubtful. The Taliban leadership is clearly not stupid and understands very well what such campaigns to the north are full of.
However, there is a worse problem. In 1989, Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan. In 1991, the USSR ceased to exist. And by confusing the terms “after” and “as a result,” radical Islamists have taken “credit” for themselves and declared the disintegration of the Union almost the victory of the Mujahideen in the Afghan war. Many experts believe that this propaganda piece played a significant role in the growth of the phenomenon of Islamist terrorism in the early 1990s around the world.
Now the Americans are leaving Afghanistan, which has poured billions and billions of dollars into the war. They leave with their state-of-the-art weapons, drones and satellites. They leave and cannot defeat the Taliban.
And now there is a danger not only that the Taliban's propaganda campaign will boast of victory over the American superpower, but that the Taliban will become a new role model for extremists in Afghanistan's neighborhood and beyond. But it's really scary – an extremist pandemic could spread around the world and cause a lot of trouble for years to come.
