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March 14, 2019

EU-Russian Relations: Russia will meddle in European elections, keep prepping for war with NATO says Estonian Secret Service Report

The Big Bad Bear From The East is Eyeing the EU Elections
As they have been doing all along, the Russians will continue their political destabilizing activities in Europe also in 2019, with a special focus on May this year, to influence the European Parliament elections, continue intelligence and influence operations against the West, and keep preparing for armed conflict with NATO, according to the latest annual threat assessment by the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Services. 

All this becomes very clear in an exclusive 70-page report, which provides a window into the activity and goals of the Russian intelligence services from next door in Estonia.
Russia will target the European parliamentary elections in May, the report says, with a likely focus on the larger member states — Germany, France and Italy — where it can hope to have the most influence on the composition of the E.U. Parliament, whose members are elected for five-year terms

"Russia is very likely to try to intervene in the European Parliament elections to secure as many seats as possible for pro-Russian or eurosceptical political forces," writes the report's author Mikk Marran, director general of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service.

The report says Russian intelligence services will also  continue the extensive cyberespionage campaign against the West that they have pursued for years, with the military intelligence service, called the GRU, and Russia's spy agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB) directing most operations.


Cyber espionage groups APT28 and Sandworm are the most active of the Russian-backed groups, usually exploiting simple online tools and tactics, like phishing campaigns and "most likely to blur the line between clearly state-sponsored attacks and the activities of online activists and profiteering cyber criminals," the report says.

 SNAKE APT, a group tied to the FSB, operates more covertly, according to the report. "Most cyber and information operations originating from Russia are led by the special services, particularly the FSB and GRU," who often enlist cybercriminals to do the work for them.

 According to the report, Russian intelligence and special services use human, cyber and signals intelligence — electronic and radio signals — to gather information, including tapping into civilian communication services inside and outside the country.

 All Russian communications service providers are required to give the FSB access their networks and information," says the report. Russian authorities force service providers operating in Russia to disclose their decryption keys, while the FSB works to decrypt communications from foreign service providers.
The report also tracks Russia's military activities. Last year, says the report, the Russian military expanded its military build-up along the western border, placing seven new maneuver regiments less than 50 km (31 miles) from the border.
Most units are based near Ukraine and Belarus, but one division, the Pskov Air Assault Division, near the Estonian border "became the first division of Russian Airborne Troops to be reinforced with a third regiment."
"Russian armed forces are preparing for a possible war along a wide front," the report says.
Analyzing Russia's most recent exercises, the report finds that "Russian armed forces are consistently practicing for an extensive military conflict with NATO." Leadership in Russia fears the spread of democracy and Russian armed forces leaders believe a military conflict with NATO will be sparked by a "colored revolution" in one of Russia's neighboring countries, in other words Western intelligence services encouraging democratic uprisings.
If crisis breaks out, Russia is most likely to attack the Baltic States first, but a conflict between Russia and NATO would involve attacks on Western Europe, says the report.
Vladimir Putin continues to focus attention on Belarus and moving both the leadership and population closer to Russia and away from any western influences, according to the report. "If anything unexpected should happen to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka personally or to his regime, there will be a great risk of swift military action by Russia to prevent Belarus from becoming a pro-Western democracy," the report finds.
A new trend identified by the report is the Russian state enlisting civilian ships and vessels to carry out activities on behalf of the government. The report identities "provocative behavior" of Russian civilian ships, including entering territorial waters without permission and carrying out research on a nation's submarine communication's networks. Shipowners and crews must at all times be ready to perform national assignments, regardless of geographical location, the report warns.
"The Russian civilian fleet and its activities are a potential security threat," it says. "More attention should be paid to Russian civilian vessels sailing under the Russian flag."

For the complete Estonian  report click here.

March 13, 2019

Britain - Brexit: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop - by Alice Tidey & Rachael Kennedy

British lawmakers on Tuesday rejected May's Brexit deal for a second time with 391 votes against, 242 in favour.

MPs first rejected the deal on January 14 by a margin of 230, handing May the worst defeat of any sitting government in British parliamentary history.

The prime minister said immediately after the vote that MPs now face "an unenviable choice" and said she still believes that her deal is the best and only deal available.

May said if lawmakers backed a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday, it would become government policy.

A division list released by the Commons website shows that 75 Conservative MPs rebelled against May.

They were joined by 232 Labour MPs, 17 independent MPs, and every single MPs from Scotland's National party (35), the Liberal Democrats (11) and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (10)

Bottom ine: the Brexit  deal is clearly dead - and to make any sense of what the British really want, specially now the British Public has become more familiar with what breaking away from the EU and the Common Market would eventually mean to the economy and them, and the danger of becoming totally subservient to the US, is to have a second referendum.

This is the only way to stop this chaos, after the political establishment totally failed the people.  It is high time to put the control of the future of Britain back in the hands of the British people, before the country implodes.  

Read more: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop | Euronews

March 9, 2019

International Women's Day - The 10 worst countries in the world for women and the ten best - by Lia Ryerson

Syria was named the worst country for women this year, according to the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, and the Peace Research Institute of Oslo's global Women, Peace and Security Index.

The index measures women's well-being — based on factors such as justice, security, and inclusion — in 153 countries.

Here are the 10 worst countries in the world for women to live in:

10. Niger  9. Sudan  8. Mali  7. Iraq 6. Congo Democratic Republic 5. Central African Republic4. Pakistan 3. Yemen  2. Afghanistan  1. Syrian Arab Republic

As to the best countries for women to live in Denmark has overtaken Sweden as the best country in the world to live in for women, according to a 2018 ranking from US News & World Report.

Here are the ten best countries for women to live in: 

10. Germany 9. New Zealand  8. Australia 7. Switzerland 6. Canada 5. Finland 4.The Netherlands 3. Norway 2. Sweden 1. Denmark 

Britain -- Brexit: May on course of another BREXIT defeat after Barnier says NO to more changes to the agreement