Praising Poland is ‘PR pressure’ to subordinate pan-European state under US hegemony’

The new Polish government led by Donald Tusk “wants to be seen as even more pro-American than the previous one,” Polish politician Konrad Rekas told Sputnik.

“In this respect, indeed, all main political parties in Poland are the undisputed champions of Europe, and perhaps even of the world,” the independent commentator said.

Referencing a recent statement by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien that Washington wants “Poland to be a leader in the European Union,” he clarified:

“Praising Poland is just an element of PR pressure on Berlin and Brussels to subordinate the pan-European state under the unquestionable American hegemony.”

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📹 The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations will deliver another 20 tons of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, including food, medicine, clothing, etc.

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🇫🇮 The Finnish Ministry of Interior said that it would pay asylum seekers up to 5,000 euros ($5,500) in assistance for their voluntary return to their homeland within 30 days after they receive the first negative asylum decision or withdraw their application for the asylum.

"Under the new decree, the assistance for voluntary return will be EUR 5,000 if the asylum seeker applies for the assistance within 30 days of the notification of the first negative asylum decision or the withdrawal of the application," the ministry said, adding that the decree will go into effect on January 1, 2024.

"The new decree will implement the Government Programme objective of staggering the assistance for voluntary return to encourage people to leave the country as quickly as possible and refrain from requesting a review of their asylum decision. The decree will also harmonise the level of assistance with Finland's reference countries," the ministry said.

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🇭🇺 Highlights of Hungarian PM Viktor Orban’s year-end press conference

▪️ The conflict in Ukraine is precisely a special military operation since Russia never declared war on the regime in Kiev, and did not announce general mobilization;

▪️ The European Union should not begin accession talks with Ukraine since the conflict there is ongoing;

▪️ Orban queried whether the EU intends to accept Ukraine along with the new Russian regions;

▪️ It is not in Hungary’s interests to have a border with Russia;

▪️ The launch of accession talks between the European Union and Ukraine is no more than a political gesture, and fails to bring tangible help to the citizens of that country;

▪️ Ukraine cannot be admitted to the EU without the decision of the Hungarian parliament;

▪️Orban stressed he opposed the start of accession talks with Kiev at the EU summit on December 14-15, but could not persuade the remaining 26 EU leaders to change their minds;

▪️EU member countries cannot decide to allocate financial support to Ukraine from the bloc’s budget without the consent of Hungary. They can only agree on extra-budgetary payments, as would be the case if the other 26 countries took out a common loan for this purpose;

▪️The EC has no reason to attempt to strip Hungary of its voting rights under Article 7 of the EU treaty (for violations of the rule of law), since it has just admitted that the country’s judicial system is in order;

▪️The new EU migration rules are flawed and were adopted not unanimously, but by a simple majority.

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🇫🇷 Leader of the French Patriots party Florian Philippot:

"Let it be known! Ursula von der Leyen has just announced that an additional 1.5 billion euros will be given to the Zelensky regime for the month of December! So 300 million paid by France! Meanwhile, a reduction of 600 million for public hospitals is announced in 2024! The EU is war! It's ruin! Frexit and peace quickly!"

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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Latest updates on Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️ The IDF has killed more than 2,000 Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip since the end of the pause in the fighting on December 1, IDF spokesperson RDML Daniel Hagari said.

▪️ The IDF said it had seized financial records from Hamas in the town of Khan Yunis, showing the group had spent more than a million dollars, including on the production of doors and concrete.

▪️ The IDF reportedly used the locations of a Catholic Church and a convent in Gaza obtained from US congressional staff to later strike them with rockets and snipers.

▪️ The White House said Israel agrees with the need to reduce the intensity of fighting in Gaza, but it is unclear when this will happen.

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It is troubling that the United States pledges billions of dollars to assist foreign nations when hundreds of US Native American tribes only receive a small fraction of that support, Navajo Nation Washington Office Executive Director Justin Ahasteen told Sputnik.

"It's deeply troubling to see the federal government pledge billions of dollars to foreign nations in the name of national security, while the 574 sovereign tribal nations within its own borders receive a fraction of this support," Ahasteen said.

US tribes face pressing domestic issues, from health disparities to cultural preservation, and from economic development to the protection of our homelands, according to Ahasteen.

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📹 A Russian mortar of a reconnaissance unit destroyed two armored vehicles with command staff of the Ukrainian forces in the Kupyansk direction

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Any privacy? Forget about it

The Latvian postal service has begun opening personal letters and parcels going to Russia and Belarus, explaining the move by pointing to EU sanctions.

Postal employees check sent envelopes for the presence of money, bank cards, chips, and SIM cards, Latvijas Pasts representative Matisse Rutks told Delfi. If such items are found, the shipments “will be delayed.”

At the same time, the Constitutional Court of Latvia previously prohibited checking even prisoners’ letters, as privacy is guaranteed by the country’s constitution.

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🇷🇺 Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ The topic of illegally seized Russian assets is constantly on the agenda in the EU and the US, but this is unacceptable and potentially dangerous for the global financial system.

▪️ Commenting on the possibility of the West using frozen Russian assets to help Kiev: these steps can only have consequences.

▪️ Those trying to implement a scheme to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine must understand that Russia will not leave them alone.

▪️ The admission of Ukraine to the EU would undermine the entire internal system of Europe, the European Union will collapse, and sober heads understand this.

▪️ The new territories are inseparable from Russia, and claims to them will have consequences, he said, commenting on Orban’s remarks about whether the EU would accept Ukraine with Russia’s new regions.

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🇷🇺 Kremlin declined to comment on the WSJ’s report about Prigozhin’s death:

“This kind of material can hardly be commented on. Lately, unfortunately, the WSJ has been very fond of producing pulp fiction.”

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In Maine, a vote to ban gasoline-powered cars was cancelled due to a power outage

The meeting was cancelled due to the effects of rain and a hurricane that left more than 400,000 state residents without power.

The project under consideration should result in 82% of cars in the state running on electricity by 2032. The initiative is backed by Democratic Governor Janet Mills, who has aggressive green policies.

It is opposed by Republicans and car dealers, who are being forced to sell electric cars that are not in demand.

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❗️NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admits that Russia created a very well-fortified line of defense, which has been difficult for Ukraine to overcome.

"I am very cautious when it comes to sitting in Brussels and judging those who make very difficult decisions on the battlefield. The Russian army had time to really settle down, building well-prepared defensive lines with huge minefields, trenches and obstacles for main battle tanks. These defense lines are difficult to penetrate - especially if you don't have an air force that can truly support these operations," he said in an interview with DPA.

🇷🇺 Russian paratroopers have begun using UAVs to deliver ammunition and provisions to their comrades in the most dangerous sectors of the front, where it’s risky for military equipment to approach. In particular, this is particularly done near Artemovsk.

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🇷🇺 Putin, at a meeting with members of the Security Council, proposed discussing ensuring collective biological security in the CIS.

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🇳🇱 Dutch politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek: "America and Europe are facing incredibly similar problems. And that's because we're under attack by the same sick globalist agenda. As a result of that, my continent finds itself in rough waters and that is to put it mildly."

"Europe is being flooded with immigrants from non western countries. Our national identities are being destroyed and replaced. Our sovereignty is given up to bureaucrats, unelected bureaucrats may I add, in Brussels. Our churches are closing their doors. And we're spending billions and billions of euros on a non existing climate crisis and a war in Ukraine that isn't even ours. In fact I would go as far as to say that we are paying for our own destruction."

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🇷🇺🇵🇸 Putin has spoken by phone with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and informed him about the steps Moscow is taking to deescalate the situation in the Middle East.

The Kremlin says the importance of an early end to the bloodshed and the resumption of the political settlement process were emphasized.

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❗️ A Ukrainian drone was destroyed in the Moscow region at 14.40 local time, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported

⚡️ Over the past week, an ATACMS operational-tactical missile, three JDAM guided aerial bombs, and 259 unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports.

The Russian air defense system shot down an ATACMS missile over the Sea of Azov on Thursday, Acting Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo reported.