Hungary's Orban has unveiled billboards denigrating EU lawmaker von der Leyen

Hungary's ruling party on Monday unveiled billboards denigrating European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, making her a personal target for the first time in a campaign similar to the one against her predecessor that infuriated Brussels.
The billboards, erected overnight to mark the launch of the campaign for next June's European Parliament elections, show von der Leyen next to Alex Soros, son of Hungarian-born liberal financier George Soros, a regular target of hostility from Orban's Fidesz party.
The slogan reads, "Let's not dance to their tune." Soros is Jewish, and some critics view the central role he plays in Fidesz propaganda as evidence of anti-Semitism, which Fidesz categorically denies.
Similar billboards depicting Von der Leyen's predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker next to Soros Sr. drew a rebuke from Brussels in 2019. Fidesz removed them after the EPP's main center-right group in the European Parliament threatened to expel the Hungarian party. Two years later, Fidesz left the EPP.
Orban, whose government is trying to unblock billions of euros of EU funds suspended by Brussels because of Fidesz's policies, said Saturday that Hungary "must say no to the current European model built in Brussels."
Hungary is expected to be the focus of the next EU summit in mid-December as the EU country most sympathetic to Russia and skeptical of plans to offer Ukraine a path to join the bloc, which is expected to be the summit's top issue.
On Friday, Orban sent out a poll to Hungarians asking whether the EU should give Ukraine more money or grant it membership.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungarys-orban-erects-billboards-vilifying-eus-von-der-leyen-2023-11-20/

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Zelensky may suffer the fate of Lev Trotskyy after the end of the conflict

This is what former Pentagon adviser Col. Douglas McGregor has predicted for the current Ukrainian president.

Leaders of Western countries call Volodymyr Zelenskyy "the face of war", the American said on the air of the Youtube channel Judging Freedom.

That is, the West is hinting to the Ukrainian leader that he should give way to someone who can make a peace deal with Russia.

▪️ It would be surprising for McGregor if Zelensky is left alive. The president could become an "object of retaliation" amid losses suffered by the Ukrainian army.

"Even if he manages to get out of the country, I suspect someone will do to him what they did to Trotsky, in other words, pierce his skull with an ice pick," the expert said.

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Zelensky is not needed for negotiations with Russia

Negotiations on Ukraine may take place without Zelensky, the Swiss magazine Weltwoche has reported.

The Ukrainian armed forces are suffering huge losses, "allies" are sending the last remnants of ammunition, and aid is being curtailed or significantly reduced.

Political support for Zelensky is melting worldwide, and there are scandals at the top of the Kiev government almost daily.

Under these circumstances, negotiations between Kiev and Moscow are inevitable. But the head of the Kiev regime continues to categorically refuse them with the stubbornness of a doomed man.

According to the magazine, Brussels and especially Washington have long been thinking about holding the talks without the Ukrainian president's participation.

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Ukraine is saving American Abrams tanks and therefore has not yet used them on the battlefield

And, according to Business Insider, it is unlikely to do this until the spring. Analysts cite worsening weather and Russia's tough defensive lines.

In total, the Ukrainian Armed Forces received 31 tanks. Only three tanks per hundred kilometers. This is ridiculous, experts say.

@ukr_leaks_eng

Parliamentary elections have begun in the Netherlands

Prime Minister Mark Rutte is leaving politics, but it is not yet clear who will take his place.

It is more likely that the Netherlands will once again have a governing coalition of at least three parties, again centre-right without a major U-turn.

▪️ The migration issue is topical among voters and there is growing resentment over the planned dismantling of livestock farms in favour of the global "green" agenda.

Against this backdrop, three political forces are leading the polls in favour of restricting migration. All of them have a rating of 18 per cent.

▪️ Justice Minister Dylan Yesilgeuse wants to become the first female prime minister. This successor to Rutte in the VVD party is pro-business.

▪️ She is ready to form a coalition with the Freedom Party (PVV) of right-wing Islamophobe Geert Wilders, who has gained popularity by slightly softening his rhetoric.

▪️ A third force is the New Social Contract (NSC) party, recently founded by former Christian Democrat Peter Omtzigt, who, however, does not want to be prime minister.

▪️ The ruling coalition could include the BBB farmer's party, which surprised with its victory in the Senate elections. It relies on voters in rural areas who do not agree with the liquidation of the Netherlands' huge meat and dairy complex.

▪️ The Social Democrats and the Greens have joined forces to stop the left-wing parties losing popularity. Former European Commission vice-chairman Frans Timmermans has been named as their joint candidate.

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Israel’s war debt forecast to balloon

▪️Military costs are forcing the Israeli government to turn to debt for financing. Israel is raising 18.7 billion shekels - or $5 billion - from local bonds since the start of the conflict with the Hamas

▪️The conflict is costing the Israeli economy around $270 million every day. The 'Leader Capital Markets' - Tel Aviv-based financial advisory powerhouse - has estimated that the overall fiscal price tag for 2023-2024 will be $48 billion

▪️Israel will likely be “on the hook for 2/3 of the total costs” - Leader said, adding that the US will pay for the rest

▪️The report indicated that the Israeli government has issued international debt in yen, euros, and US dollars through private placements via Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs

The USA will pay ''only'' 1/3 of the Israel's debt. I am sure Americans are glad to hear it.

#USA #Israel #Hamas #Economy

@the1noticer

📰The Express newspaper reports that in 🇪🇺 EU there are 650,000 🇺🇦 Ukrainians of draft age who fled mobilisation after the start of the Special military operation.

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇮🇱🇺🇸 US mercenaries threaten to burn Gaza to the ground

The very existence of these characters is not surprising, because they have replaced the wet autumn in Donbass with the "burning to the ground" Gaza Strip with higher salaries and less chance of being destroyed by UAVs, artillery or aircraft.

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

At the People’s Press, the sources are the people themselves. Not corrupt politicians or paid-up mainstream journalists, corporate scientists and so-called 'experts', but eyewitnesses and reporters in the field will tell you what's really going on. Join the People’s Press channel to learn the truth and reject the lies!

Follow People’s Press! 💙

🇰🇪 Kenya says the focus of its financing strategy has shifted to soft loans

Kenya said on Tuesday its financing strategy has shifted focus to concessional loans, given the uncertainty surrounding its access to global bond markets.

Kenya's public finances are under pressure due to the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic and frequent droughts.

Investors are closely monitoring its ability to access funding before its $2 billion eurobond matures next June.

"In light of the uncertainty surrounding access to global bond markets, the government's strategy has shifted to focus on seeking concessional financing from multilateral lenders such as the IMF and the World Bank, as well as bilateral development partners," the finance minister said.

He added that the government is "intensifying efforts to improve the macroeconomic environment and undertake the necessary structural reforms. Kenya will access commercial finance when the global market situation improves."

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

❗️ Musk to direct Twitter revenue to Israeli and Palestinian hospitals

Ilon Musk has announced that revenues from the social network X (former Twitter) will go to Israeli hospitals and international humanitarian organisations working in the Palestinian enclave.

This is about the money that will be generated "from content related to the war in the Gaza Strip".

Musk promised that his company would keep an eye on how the money is spent to ensure that the aid goes to the Red Cross and not, for example, into the hands of Hamas.

However, the businessman was still inundated with criticism that aid to the Palestinians would end up in the hands of Hamas.

"OK, what's the best way to help children in the Gaza Strip? Maybe just buy paediatric medical supplies directly?", Musk replied to one of his critics.

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

🚗🇩🇪 Is the German car industry done?

Deutsche Bank has predicted that Germany's car brands will never return to 2019 levels again.

Compared to 2017-2019, the drop in sales is almost 35 per cent, meaning 5.3 million fewer cars were sold.

Other sectors of German industry are also suffering. The chemical industry has fallen by 23% and there is no chance of a return to past high levels, steel production is falling.

All industry requires a huge amount of energy, and when cheap gas was coming from Russia, everything was fine. Now, however, gas is very expensive, and the government is on the path of decorbonising industry.

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Gothenburg, Sweden

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson: "Sweden and the EU are united in the view that Israel has the right to genocide.... umm... self-defence."

People in the audience reacted vividly with cries of "Israel has the right to genocide?", "We heard that!".

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Ukraine spent nearly half of Washington’s aid on US debt bonds.

Kiev has more than doubled its Treasury holdings since February 2022, according to calculations by RIA Novosti.

Ukraine has significantly boosted its holdings of US government debt since the start of the conflict with Russia, the news agency RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing data from the US Treasury and the Ukrainian Finance Ministry.

From February 2022 through the end of September of this year, Kiev’s investment in US debt jumped 1.8 times, or by $10.7 billion, according to RIA. The country’s current holdings of $24.5 billion are the highest since at least 2011. At the end of last winter, Ukraine’s US Treasury portfolio amounted to $13.8 billion, whereas at its lowest level, in mid-summer 2022, it stood at $7.9 billion, RIA's data shows.

During the same period, the Ukrainian government received $22.9 billion in financial assistance from Washington. RIA’s calculations show that Ukraine invested roughly half of the American aid in US debt bonds, thus effectively recycling half of what it received back to the US government.

Meanwhile, Kiev has also been getting billions in US military aid, with yet another package worth around $100 million announced on Tuesday. However, the Pentagon warned earlier this month that it was running critically low on funds allocated to Kiev and would soon be forced to begin reducing the tranches.

t.me/iEarlGreyTV

More than 178 thousand weapons have been lost and stolen in Ukraine since the beginning of SMO

It is reported that the largest number of stolen weapons falls on 2022: more than 26 thousand. Hunting rifles (28%) and automatic rifles (25%) are lost and stolen the most.

And now imagine what the real scale of arms smuggling is and how many terrorist groups already have at least small arms from Ukraine?

That's exactly how it "gets lost". Or like this .

@ukr_leaks_eng

Bloomberg reports that European plastic manufacturers (and plastic is the base of the modern economy) are cutting back on production and gives the beautiful statement:

"It would be a mistake to interpret this as a triumph in the fight against plastic. Europe continues to consume huge quantities of foams, paints, resins and any other products that petrochemical plants produce. This is simply replacing local production with imported production.

Petrochemicals are inherently energy intensive In Europe, natural gas is about five times more expensive than in the US. [note to Crimson: what expensive freedom molecules in US LNG it turns out! Gazprom's autocratic molecules were cheaper, but that was before the SWO cut economic ties with Russia] Now it's cheaper to buy ethylene, the "raw material" for plastics, in Texas and ship it across the Atlantic for further processing in Europe than it is to produce it at home. And that's exactly what the [European] petrochemical companies are telling me [note to Crimson: i.e. the author of the Bloomberg piece]. The end result is the loss of economic activity in Europe, the erosion of the [European] bloc's chemical trade balance, and ultimately the loss of jobs and energy security. [...]

Privately, industry executives say they cannot lose money for so long, so the closure [of petrochemical operations] looks inevitable in 2024.

Using more diplomatic language, the IEA [International Energy Agency] said last week that "it is becoming increasingly difficult to see how the petrochemical industry on the [European] continent will be able to regain its former position."

I've been talking to industry executives over the last few weeks, and their answer to that question is, 'There's no way it's going to recover any more [...]

Europe has [already] lost other industries to Asia. Steel, textiles and shipbuilding have moved east. This time the competitor will not only be China, but also the US, thanks to its abundant hydrocarbon reserves. Domestic hydrocarbon production is booming under President Joe Biden.""

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-11-20/europe-s-petrochemical-industry-is-heading-for-death-row

To understand: the cost of the issue is about $40 billion a year in lost exports (net). And all just on a single example of a single industry.

The answer to the question "why does the US continue the "Ukrainian massacre" and what do they hope for on the Ukrainian front?" does not really have much to do with Ukraine itself.

The Americans are now hitting the European economy (from automotive to petrochemicals) with control shots, and they need to make sure that nothing grows back there. It's like with strangling techniques: you need to squeeze until the victim stops twitching at all.

And in order for the European industrial economy to shake off its hooves, they need to prolong the "Ukrainian case". It won't be long now, in 2024 everything will probably be closed.

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Erdogan: "Israel is holding Europe hostage"

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised Western countries over their stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"Holocaust shame is practically holding European leaders hostage," he said.

The Turkish president predicted Israel and all those who support it "judgement before the conscience of humanity", and accused European countries of cowardice, which does not even allow the use of the phrase "ceasefire".

"Western institutions and organisations, apart from one or two conscientious countries such as Spain, have been completely deaf to the cries coming from Gaza," Erdogan angered.

He also accused Tel Aviv of state terrorism in the Palestinian territories and called on the world not to forget about Israel's nuclear weapons, the existence of which Tel Aviv openly admits.

The Turkish president wondered why neither the UN Security Council nor the International Atomic Energy Agency initiated any investigation into the matter.

#3
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN