How stupid do some journalists and the Chancellor actually think we are? I’m really hard-boiled when it comes to propaganda after 16 years living in Russia – so it’s all the more surprising that I’m always being stunned by what’s going on in this country. Recent case in point: A report and a video at the newspaper “Bild” and many other media featuring Merkel in the way you would probably expect it on North Korean television – reporting about Kim Jong-un. The head of the government, so the message, goes shopping like any other person – and coincidentally someone from the newspaper “Bild” is also there to record this.The text to the video: “She experiences the Corona crisis like millions of people in Germany.” First she went to the vegetable shelves, then to the delicatessen department”. And then, “She filled the cart herself.” Really? How newsworthy! Could have been other customers filling it.”In the end, she put it all on the conveyor belt herself.” Unbelievable! “And paid by card!” Really? Who could have guessed it? How dramatic must the situation and the need be for such crude propaganda, reminiscent of the slogans of perseverance from dark times? When I e-mailed a Russian friend the link to the video, she told me it reminded her of the legends about Lenin in the Soviet Union: “They also said he was the most human of all people.” The second reaction: “Two rolls of toilet paper? Where do you get that? And who would buy only two rolls today, if there were any? It’s obvious that these are staged photographs…” And the third reaction: “Look at the wine bottles, two of them are empty, how embarrassing!”

http://www.reitschuster.de/post/merkel-lenin

A tense confrontation between Turkish police officers and Austrian commandos happened in Greece on Tuesday night as European forces struggle to hold back the swarms of illegal migrants who are being aided by the Turks.

Thirteen commandos from Austria’s Cobra elite special forces unit were patrolling the Greek-Turkish border in an armored car when Turkish police began shouting at them through the fence. “What are you doing here? This is not your country!” they asked, according to a report by the Greek newspaper Proto Thema.

The Austrian officers responded, “This is our country, and we are defending the European border.”

The unit was patrolling in the Evros region, which has been a flashpoint for violence since Turkey’s President, Recep Erdoğan, announced that his country would no longer prevent migrants from crossing Turkish territory in an effort to enter Europe illegally through the Greek border at the end of February. Since then, Greek security personnel have had to face daily battles with tens of thousands of migrants who are attempting to breach the border fence, often with the aid of the Turkish police, who have deployed tear gas against the Greeks as a distraction, as previously reported by Voice of Europe.

Several European nations, including Austria, have either sent or have pledged to send additional forces to reinforce the Greek border at the request of the Greek government, including all the Visegrád Group countries (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia). The Cobra officers came to Greece last week as part of the Austrian contingent.

Only a few hours after the confrontation between the Austrians and the Turks, the Turkish police again used tear gas and smoke bombs against the border force near the Kastanies border crossing in an effort to help an estimated 500 migrants to get across.

Greece has reported that they have prevented approximately 53,000 migrants from illegally entering Europe since the latest crisis began.

voiceofeurope.com/2020/03/greece-austrian-commandos-confronted-by-turkish-police-before-migrant-assault/

The Greek authorities arrested three Palestinians for setting ablaze a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos earlier this month.The Greek news outlet Sto Nisis (On the Island) reported on Saturday about the arrests in connection with the arson attack. According to the report, one of the Palestinians — a 59-year-old man – has a Greek passport and lives in Mytilene, the capital of Lesbos. The two other Palestinians live in Athens and travelled to Mytilene.

The news outlet said a fourth suspect was involved in the arson attack. According to the On the Island report, the local police arrested the Palestinians after viewing CCTV video footage from nearby businesses.The three Palestinians allegedly torched the Swiss-run One Happy Family community center on Lesbos. The fire did not cause injuries to the 1,500 refugees and migrants who live at the camp.Dr. Nikos Michailidis,  Professor of Anthropology University of Missouri, St.Louis, and a political and Turkey analyst, told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday: “Greece is a country that has always been protecting vulnerable people. This incident provoked criticism by some international media, but in light of the recent arrests of the three Palestinian arsonists, the criticism was unjustified and presumptive, to say the least.”He added that “I would place this event in the broader context of what has recently been going on at the Greek-Turkish border, where the Erdogan regime has tried to send thousands of immigrants illegally to Greece in order to destabilize the country. It is also well-known that the Erdogan regime has developed close ties with Palestinian organizations around the world.”

https://www.jpost.com/International/Three-Palestinians-arrested-for-torching-refugee-camp-on-Lesbos-621793

The current entry bans at Germany’s borders due to the Coronavirus crisis do not apply to asylum seekers.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior told Berlin weekly Junge Freiheitthat here are exceptions for goods traffic and commuters… and for asylum seekers.

Germany has been manning its borders with France, Switzerland and Luxembourg since the beginning of the week. No other EU member can enter the country without good reason, but asylum seekers are still welcome.

This means that if a migrant travels to France or Switzerland via Italy, for example, and reaches the German border, he only needs to apply for asylum and is allowed to go to Germany to start the procedure.

French or Italians, on the other hand, who have no permanent residence in Germany or work there, are rejected at the border and returned. This was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior when asked by the JF.

“At the German EU external borders (airports and seaports) there has been no change in the previous procedure. This also applies to the internal Schengen borders,” she said when asked whether asylum seekers were still admitted to Germany.

While the basic freedom of movement of people is restricted or even suspended for EU citizens, non-EU foreigners are still allowed to travel around unhindered, even if they spread the Coronavirus. The word “asylum” is seemingly some kind of antidote to the virus as far as the government is concerned.

freewestmedia.com/2020/03/22/germany-still-welcomes-asylum-seekers-despite-covid-19/

Boris Johnson’s decision to push through Brexit has saved the UK from a huge financial bill from the EU, amid fears that Brussels could demand billions of euros from member-states as part of a huge coronavirus bailout. Boris Johnson avoided an “economic catastrophe” by pushing through Brexit “at the right time,” according to former Brexit Party candidate Mitch Feierstein. The UK could have been subject to Brussels demands to contribute towards a mammoth financial bailout for central banks that have failed during the coronavirus. Speaking to RT, Mr Feierstein warned that the UK should “not pick up any part” of the EU’s massive bailout fund.

He told RT: “This is a sign we got out in time.

“They want to take the European fund to bailout the banks that will fail during this next depression and fault wave that is coming and spend that on coronavirus and getting the economy back on track.

“However they need to have a buffer fund for the banks that will fail and we shouldn’t pic up any that of the tab for that.”

This comes as Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte demanded that the EU make use of its €500billion fund.

Earlier this week, the European Central Bank (ECB) has launched an emergency £700bn package to ease the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

This will see the ECB buy government and company debt across the eurozone, including that of troubled Greece and Italy.

ECB boss Christine Lagarde tweeted “there are no limits” to its commitment to the euro.

Brussels has also relaxed budget rules for the first time and allowed member states to redirect money allocated for other purposes to fight the virus.

However, the EU officials have also stressed that Brussels could run out of money, after admitting there are limits to how much financial support can be made available directly from the EU budget, which is approaching the end of a seven-year cycle.

The EU27 failed to agree to a new budget earlier this year, leaving the current funds drained and at risk. 

National governments are exploring ways to make greater use of other central resources such as the European Investment Bank and the euro area’s bailout fund.

Mr Feierstein also urged Prime Minister Johnson not to back down to EU pressure by extending the Brexit deadline beyond the end of this year.

He explained: “I don’t think he needs to extend the Brexit deadline. We have all the cards. We have three aces, they have a pair of twos.

 “They are trying to bluff with no hand. They are playing this game the wrong way.

“Basically they need us more than we need them, if you look at the cash flows going back and forth.

“The debt problems they have are magnitudes more than we have. They want to make an example out of the UK but now is not the time to do that.

“This is a bad sign for the EU. More will follow Britain out of Brussels’ control.”

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1258385/Brexit-Coronavirus-COVID-19-European-Union-Brussels-Ursula-von-der-Leyen-Boris

(Some of the tweets of military hardware in Germany have already been removed. There are a lot of twitter and YT videos of heavy military equipment moving around in Germany, mostly by rail.)

https://vladtepesblog.com/

The LNA successfully ambushed and defeated one of the field commanders of the internationally recognized but disputed forces of the Libyan Government of National Accord’s (GNA).

The leader of the Omar Mukhtar Brigade, Ziyad Balaam, was a terrorist connected with Al-Qaeda in Ain Zara. On Wednesday, March 18, militants of the GNA, along with Syrian mercenaries (transferred by Turkey to Tripoli earlier), attacked LNA positions in Ain Zara. However, the military succeeded in repulsing the attack, which eliminated 36 terrorists, including six high ranking GNA field commanders.

Ziyad Balaam had been classified on the UN sanction list because of his terrorist activities. The group, to which Ziyad Balaam belonged – Ansar al-Sharia – was designated by the UN as the Al-Qaida affiliated militant group.

Ansar al-Sharia is one of the most violent Salafist militias that has been operating in Libya since 2012. The main goal of the group is to transform Libya into an “Islamic State” in accordance with sharia. According to the United Nations, Ansar al-Sharia in Libya supervised training camps in the country “mainly for the benefit of Al-Qaida associated groups in Syria and in Iraq”.

Although Ansar al-Sharia denied any official connection, the group’s former emir Mohamed al-Zahawi openly praised al-Qaida in a 2012 BBC interview. In 2014, after the launch of the “Operation Dignity” by General Haftar, a part of Ansar al-Sharia terrorists defected and were integrated into the ISIS (including the founder of Ansar al-Sharia Abu Sufyan Bin Qumu and the militia’s senior sharia official Abu Abdullah al-Libi).

Ziyad Balaam had been closely collaborating with the GNA of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. A member of al-Qaida, one of the field commanders of the so-called radical-Sunni “Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shura” – in September 2012, as part of a group of jihadists from Ansar al-Sharia, attacked the American Consulate in Benghazi.

Ziyad Balaam had been heading the gang formation of the “Benghazi Defense Brigade”, which consists of fighters from the unit formed in 2016, with the group quickly declaring its loyalty to the Government of National Accord.

In the same year, the “Benghazi Defense Brigade” attempted to repel the Oil Crescent from the LNA, but was defeated. This attack was actively supported by Fathi Bashaga, the current Interior Minister of the GNA.

Ziyad Balaam had lived in Misrata until April 2019. After the LNA announced the beginning of the final phase of its anti-terrorist operation, Balaam moved to Tripoli, where he joined the ranks of GNA field commanders. Throughout the year, he commanded militant groups in Ain Zara.

After the attack against the US consulate in Benghazi in 2012, Turkey officially recognized this group as terrorists. But after Ziayad Balaam entered the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shura, Ankara dropped all claims against him. He started making regular trips to Istanbul, which intensified in 2018 and became regular until recently. After his latest injury, he was sent from Tripoli to an Istanbul hospital where he died according to a version of his demise circulating on social media.

As per LNA sources, he had played an active role in transferring Syrian jihadist groups to Tripoli through Turkey and had been integrating them into the GNA’s armed forces to fight against General Haftar.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published an investigation in which it was noted that Turkey had proposed a salary of 2 000 to 2 500 USD to jihadists for the three-month-contract for fighting on the side of GNA. According to the Observatory, nearly 2 400 Syrian mercenaries and terrorists had already relocated from northern Syria to Tripoli. It added that about 1 700 other recruits had already arrived in Turkey to take training courses before being shipped off to Libya.

freewestmedia.com/2020/03/21/the-death-blow-against-terrorism-in-libya/