Free Republic

We were told to expect a decision “within days” as to Finland applying for membership in NATO, triggering a threatening response from the Kremlin. That estimate proved to be true. This morning, the President and Prime Minister of Finland held a joint news conference where they announced that Finland’s formal application to join the alliance will be submitted this week following a vote in Parliament that is being described as “a formality.” But formally applying is not the same as being formally accepted. While NATO leadership initially announced that Finland’s application would be accepted and approved “quickly,” some analysts are...

India, the world’s second largest producer of wheat, has banned all exports with immediate effect after a heatwave affected the crop. A notice in the government gazette by the directorate of foreign trade, dated Friday, said a rise in global prices for wheat was threatening the food security of India and neighboring and vulnerable countries. A key aim is to control rising domestic prices. Global wheat prices have increased by more than 40% since the beginning of the year. Before the war, Ukraine and Russia accounted for a third of global wheat and barley exports. Since Russia’s 24 February invasion,...

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday outlined demands for Finland and Sweden which seek membership in NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Speaking with Turkish reporters after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin, he said that Sweden and Finland must stop supporting terrorists in their countries, provide clear security guarantees and lift export bans on Turkey. According to Cavusoglu, Turkey was not threatening anybody or seeking leverage but speaking out especially about Sweden's support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Ankara views the PKK as a terrorist organization. Cavusoglu echoed an earlier statement by Turkish...

The war between Russia and Ukraine is following a trajectory that is perfectly in line with NATO’s, or rather the Anglo-American world’s, expectations. It is clear that this war has been brewing for quite some time – the start perhaps dates back all the way to the Barack Obama era. Considering it on a continental plane, the war will include an Atlantic-Pacific showdown. This showdown is progressing not directly and all at once, but gradually. There are two simultaneous objectives in the first stage. Accordingly, the Anglo-Saxon bloc planned and programmed to divide from Eurasia continental Europe, which is thought...

Study: Germans pessimistic on Islam By GEORGE CONGER German public opinion believes a clash of civilizations" is under way between Christians and Muslims that will lead to further domestic and international conflict, a report commissioned by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung finds. Germany is in the midst of "a conflict spiral," researchers from the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research reported last week. "Conceptions of Islam were already negative" but have hardened "noticeably in recent times," the survey's authors Elisabeth Noelle and Thomas Petersen reported. "Germans are increasingly of the opinion that a lasting, peaceful coexistence with the Islamic world will...