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Award-winning journalist: US and Norway behind blowing up Nord Stream

The new cold war

  • Seymour Hersh, a former Pulitzer Prize winner, goes public with very startling information, citing a source with insight into the blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipeline on 26 September last year, which stopped the direct entry of Russian gas into Europe via Germany.
  • According to reports, C4 explosives were deployed by Norwegian and US dive teams from Bornholm during the NATO military exercise Baltops 2022 in the Baltic Sea from 5-17 June.
  • The bombs were later detonated on direct orders from the US using so-called sonar buoys dropped in the area by the Norwegian Air Force.
Published 8 February 2023
– By Editorial Staff
Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft allegedly used to bring down the buoys that activated the explosive device previously attached to the gas pipeline.

Last June, under the cover of a much-publicized NATO exercise in the middle of summer, Baltic Operations 22, divers planted remotely detonated explosive devices which, three months later, were triggered on direct orders from the US, destroying three of the four Nord Stream pipelines. This according to a source who, according to Seymour Hersh, has direct insight into the operational planning of the attack.

Norway is said to have been the main partner in the operation alongside the US, which according to the new information was partly due to the highly integrated cooperation between US and Norwegian forces through NATO, as well as the fact that NATO is also led by Norway’s former prime minister Jens Stoltenberg.

The person responsible for the planning is said to be security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is said to have assembled a group of US agencies to develop a coordinated plan to carry out the attacks without being able to trace them directly to the US. Key members of the group include Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the State Department’s Victoria Nuland.

P-8 Poseidon aircraft being refueled in flight over sea areas. Photo: New Jersey National Guard/CC BY-ND 2.0.

Sweden and Denmark are also said to have been informed superficially in advance that diving activity would take place in the area, but without being given any details about the purpose of the activity. This was after the Norwegian side insisted on the matter on the grounds that it considered there was a high risk that the Swedish navy in particular would be able to detect unusual activity on its own, given its previous record in underwater detection.

The motive given for the blasts is a fear on the part of Washington that European countries such as Germany might otherwise be unwilling to provide Ukraine with the money and weapons needed to defeat Russia in an expected future war in Ukraine.

Seymour Hersh is an American journalist who has worked for many years for The New Yorker magazine.

In November 1969, Hersh exposed the Hersh Son My massacre in Vietnam, which occurred in 1968, for which Hersh was later awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Hersh was also behind the revelations about the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US military personnel at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. These two reports are among Hersh's most high-profile earlier efforts.

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Poland and Baltic States withdraw from anti-personnel mine ban treaty

The new cold war

Published 20 March 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Donald Tusk's Poland could be one of the first EU countries to leave the Ottawa Treaty.

The defense ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia announce in a joint statement that they will withdraw from the international convention banning the use of anti-personnel mines.

They say that Russia is threatening their countries and that they will “use every necessary measure to defend our territory and freedom”.

The treaty entered into force in the late 1990s and has so far been signed by 164 states – excluding major military powers such as the US, China and Russia.

The background to the convention is that it is mainly civilians who are killed by mines and that many years after conflicts and wars are over, they remain in the ground and cause deaths, for example when children accidentally step on or kick them.

According to The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, 76% of the victims of anti-personnel mines are civilians and about half are children. Today, it is estimated that around 45 million unexploded landmines are still in place around the world, killing thousands of people every year.

More could leave

The four ministers “unanimously recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention”, arguing that the security situation in NATO’s eastern flank “has fundamentally deteriorated” since the Convention was signed and is therefore no longer relevant.

Military threats to NATO member states bordering Russia and Belarus have significantly increased”, they say, adding that they want to give their respective defense forces “flexibility and freedom of choice of potential use of new weapon systems”.

With this decision, we are sending a clear message: Our countries are prepared and can use every necessary measure to defend our territory and freedom”, the ministers continue.

It is not only Poland and the Baltic States that may leave the Ottawa Treaty. Although all EU countries are currently covered by the convention, there are forces that believe it is high time to abandon it.

In Finland, a citizens’ initiative calling for the country to withdraw from the treaty quickly gathered 50,000 signatures, and the Finnish Defense Forces are currently investigating the issue, before the Minister of Defense is due to take a position on its conclusions.

French MEP wants to “take back” the Statue of Liberty

Donald Trump's USA

Published 18 March 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Raphael Glucksmann says Americans today “despise” the Statue of Liberty and what it stands for.

French-Jewish MEP Raphael Glucksmann wants France to “take back” the Statue of Liberty 140 years after it was donated to the US.

The reason is that, according to Glucksmann, Americans have “chosen to side with tyrants” and that the American people today allegedly “despise” the ideals that, according to the left-liberal politician, the statue represents.

On October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York Harbor, on the occasion of the centenary of the American Declaration of Independence. Designed by Frenchman Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was a gift from the French people to the Americans and has since become one of the world’s most famous tourist destinations.

However, Raphael Glucksmann, a member of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, is now calling for the statue to be returned to France citing his disapproval of the political path taken by the Trump administration.

We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty’, the politician proclaimed at a party congress.

The “tyrants” are presumed to refer to Russia and its leadership in Moscow, and Glucksmann, a long-time supporter of Ukraine, campaigned last year to further increase French aid to Kiev.

– We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home, the MEP continued during the party event.

“Welcoming” laid-off American scientists

Furthermore, Glucksmann argues that the Americans who are losing their jobs due to the Trump administration’s public sector cuts are instead very welcome to live and work in France.

– If you want to fire your best researchers, if you want to fire all the people who, through their freedom and their sense of innovation, their taste for doubt and research, have made your country the world’s leading power, then we’re going to welcome them.

However, any “return” of the 46-meter statue is highly unlikely. On social media, many users see Glucksmann’s statement as another example of how difficult it is for many European politicians to deal with the political shift that Trump’s presidency has brought to the US and the world.

Some observers also point to the fact that France, Germany and other European countries have acted as an extension of the United States in foreign policy for decades, and now that US priorities have changed, they no longer have a clear plan on how to deal with the Americans.

Swedish finance minister: European war economy is a positive thing

The new cold war

Published 17 March 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Elisabeth Svantesson admits that “war economy” has a negative connotation - but that this time it is about something completely different.

EU leaders want Europe to arm itself militarily and to do so in a big way additional defense spending of around €800 billion proposed .

Sweden’s Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) is one of many leaders who welcome the development, saying there are many advantages to “a modern European war economy”.

During the Moderate Party’s Sweden Days, the Finance Minister shared her thoughts on how to strengthen Sweden’s defense and how to maintain or further expand support to Ukraine.

I realize that what I’m about to say is going to sound a bit drastic, but I envision a European war economy, Svantesson explains.

She admits that for most people the word “war economy” has a very negative connotation and brings to mind ration cards and coffee surrogates but this time, she claims, it means something completely different.

– This is not what I am after, the modern war economy actually rests on two parts. First, a strong and growing economy – because that is a precondition for a strong defense.

“Fewer communicators – more companies”

The second part, according to Svantesson, is about having “order and clarity” in public finances while being able to prioritize money for “defense and security”.

– Now we are reprioritizing. Aid has decreased, it is still very high, but we can strengthen Sweden’s security and safety. To be specific, it’s really about fewer communicators and more companies.

The Finance Minister emphasizes that Sweden is certainly no closer to a full-scale war today than it was yesterday, but says that it is instead a matter of preparing mentally and highlighting how important it is for Sweden to carry out a military rearmament.

Wants to borrow billions

You should feel calm, we have economic muscle and a large unit in the Swedish parliament that creates stability, they say.

Despite the “financial muscle”, Svantesson confirms that the government will still need to borrow several billions to finance the initiative.

– We will need to borrow for a few years to quickly reach the levels needed.

Sweden deploys fighter jets to Poland: “Contributes to NATO’s deterrence”

Sweden-NATO-relationship

Published 8 March 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The Swedish Jas 39 Gripen will be operated by the NATO Combined Air Operations Center in Uedem, Germany.

From April, Swedish Gripen aircraft will be stationed in Poland and participate in NATO’s airspace surveillance operation “Enhanced Air Policing”.

– Through Gripen fighter jets, Sweden contributes both to the protection of NATO’s airspace and to the protection of continued supplies of weapons to Ukraine, says Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard (M).

It involves 6 to 8 Gripen aircraft with associated pilots and service personnel that will be based in Poland between April and June, and the government claims that there are “strong security policy reasons for Swedish participation”.

It is the first time that Swedish fighter jets have participated in airspace surveillance from the territory of another ally. It is also the first time that Swedish fighter aircraft participate abroad in NATO’s enhanced airspace surveillance under NATO’s leadership, says Minister of Defense Pål Jonson (M).

Supporting Ukraine is the Government’s main foreign policy task. The focus is and remains on strengthening Ukraine through military, political and civilian support. With our participation in the air defense operation, we contribute to protecting the supplies and thus ensure that the support to Ukraine arrives, says Fredrik Malm, second vice chairman of the Liberal Party.

Will identify “anomalous air activity”

The centre-right government also wants the Gripen planes to remain in Poland over the summer to help support and coordinate arms deliveries to Ukraine.

By contributing to NATO’s overall deterrence and defense, the air force also strengthens Sweden’s security. It is an important development of our capability and another step for the Air Force to become fully integrated into NATO’s air defense, says Jörgen Axelsson, Chief of Operations of the Air Force.

The Swedish Jas 39 Gripen aircraft will be managed by NATO’s Combined Air Operations Center in Uedem, Germany. NATO’s air policing program, which has existed since the 1960s but was greatly expanded in 2014 following the Russian annexation of Crimea, is essentially a “deterrent” against Russia.

Incident response and airspace surveillance will respond to anomalous air activity in the area of operations. This may involve identifying, meeting and escorting aircraft that do not respond to calls or that move towards the territory of the alliance”, the Swedish Armed Forces write.

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