The Prep: Europeans, Feeling Abandoned, Get Ready For War
NEED TO KNOW
The Prep: Europeans, Feeling Abandoned, Get Ready For War
EUROPE
The Lithuanians recently unveiled an evacuation plan for Vilnius, just in case the city of 540,000 is invaded. In it, residents of each neighborhood are told which one of the 150 routes out of the capital they can use to leave the city.
“People need to make this decision now, not when it’s time to leave their homes,” said Vilnius City Council member Aurimas Navys in an interview with Lithuanian public broadcaster, LRT. “You have to ask yourself: Will I need assistance, will I go on my own, or even on foot?”
Some may believe that is fearmongering. But Lithuania, a post-Soviet state that is now part of NATO and the European Union, and which borders Russia’s Kaliningrad – a heavily militarized Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea – and also Belarus, which hosts thousands of Russian troops, has long been worried about its aggressive neighbor.
Those fears are now spreading around Europe, which is waking up to the reality that the new, unpredictable US administration is less interested in the transatlantic alliance or defending Europe. As a result, in recent months, European leaders have increasingly switched to a war stance, increasing budgets for defense, mulling conscription, and buying weapons.
“After the Munich Security Conference, then the Trump-Zelenskyy row, Europe got a wake-up call,” Monika Schnitzer, chair of Germany’s Council of Economic Experts, told the BBC. “For the first time Europeans may not be able to rely on Washington. A lot of people had sleepless nights after that.”
European leaders don’t want to frighten people, but they want them prepared. They say they recognize they have long outsourced their security to the US and that Europeans have gotten complacent. It’s now time for that to change, they add.
As a result, the EU recently told the bloc’s 450 million residents to pack a 72-hour survival go-bag with items such as food, cash, a flashlight, a radio, and a Swiss army knife to face threats that are “more complex than ever,” according to Hadja Lahbib, European commissioner for preparedness and crisis management.
“For three years in Ukraine, we have seen a battlefield of bombs and bullets, drones and fighter planes, trenches and submarines,” she said in a statement. “Our European security is directly threatened by this.”
“We can stick our heads in the sand and act like it isn’t happening,” she added. “Or we can look these threats squarely in the eye and say: ‘This is the reality. We will prepare.’”
The EU recently also told all its member countries to develop their own preparedness plans while the bloc would coordinate emergency responses, stockpile medicines, energy, and other necessary items.
Some were already ahead of the curve. Sweden, late last year, sent out its recommendations to its residents on how to survive a crisis or attack in a brochure called, “In Case of Crisis or War,” with tips on how to stockpile food and water, first aid, and how to find reliable information in case of emergency – social media did not make that list.
“If Sweden is attacked, everyone must do their part to defend Sweden’s independence – and our democracy,” it said. “You are part of Sweden’s overall emergency preparedness.”
Meanwhile, France is creating a “survival guide” for residents for distribution this summer. Germany, which changed its constitution recently in order to vastly increase its defense budget, is also building more bomb shelters. It’s even thinking of dropping a public holiday to pay for these expenditures. Poland, meanwhile, is implementing “military training for every adult male,” Polish President Donald Tusk announced in March.
And conscription is back on the table across the continent, in the hopes of assembling the additional 300,000 troops analysts say the continent needs for deterrence.
Currently, Austria, Cyprus, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Greece, Denmark, and Estonia have mandatory military service. Lithuania reintroduced conscription in 2015, a year after Russia annexed Crimea. Sweden followed suit in 2017, and Latvia in 2023.
Over the past 25 years, however, some countries such as Germany and Poland have abolished conscription. Now, some like Croatia are bringing it back, reported Euronews.
Europeans have been suddenly struck by their vulnerability, Michel Goya, an author and military historian at Sciences Po university in Paris, told France 24. “It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked,” he said. “The American sea is receding, and many European countries are saying to themselves that yes, in the end, they are a little bit exposed.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Israel’s Allies Threaten Sanctions Over Gaza
ISRAEL/ WEST BANK & GAZA
The United Kingdom on Tuesday suspended trade negotiations with Israel, while the European Union pledged to review its trade accord and ties with the country, increasing pressure on Israel to halt its new military offensive and allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip after an 11-week blockade, the Washington Post reported.
The British government said it would continue its existing trade pact with Israel but that the “egregious policies” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza and the West Bank have made it impossible to “advance discussions” on a new free trade agreement.
In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc of 27 countries, Israel’s largest trading partner, would begin a formal review of its trade accord with Israel.
The European moves follow threats by France, the UK and Canada Monday to implement “targeted sanctions” and other “concrete actions” against Israel, Reuters reported.
The British, French, and Canadian leaders said in a joint statement that the humanitarian situation in the enclave is “intolerable,” and called on Israel to halt its new, intensified campaign, which comes after a months-long blockade and has involved a fresh wave of ground assaults and air strikes intended to take control of the enclave by displacing Gaza’s residents to areas in the south. There, the Israeli military and US security contractors would control the delivery of aid through distribution hubs and maintain strict limits on food.
“Israel suffered a heinous attack on October 7,” wrote Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of the UK, President Emmanuel Macron of France, and Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada. “We have always supported Israel’s right to defend Israelis against terrorism. But this escalation is wholly disproportionate.”
They warned that “the denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law.”
The trio also said they opposed the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, adding that they “will not hesitate to take further action, including targeted sanctions.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response that the three were offering a “prize” to Hamas with their statement.
“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa (sic) and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” Netanyahu wrote on X.
He insisted that Israel would defend itself until total victory was achieved, all the hostages were released, and the Gaza Strip was demilitarized.
The European trade moves and the joint statements came less than a week after Israel launched a new military offensive in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas and increasing further pressure on the group to return the remaining hostages taken after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
Gazan health officials reported more than 300 people have been killed in the new operations, according to the Associated Press.
Amid the offensive, Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would allow a “basic amount of food” to enter the enclave.
Despite pressure from his far-right government allies, he explained the decision came after pressure from the country’s closest allies, MercoPress added.
However, the UK, France, and Canada described Israel’s move as “wholly inadequate,” while reiterating their support for a ceasefire and recognizing a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to the conflict.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers from Germany, Italy, and 19 other countries separately called for Israel to allow the full resumption of humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza by the United Nations and other international aid groups.
Sudan Gets First Prime Minister Since Outbreak of War
SUDAN
Sudan’s army chief and de facto head of state on Monday appointed Kamil al-Taib Idris as the country’s first prime minister since the start of the civil war two years ago, a move officials hope will put the country on a path to civilian rule, Al Jazeera reported.
Idris will form the transitional government, a move long promised by military chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, which comes as the army has made advances against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and regained control of the capital, Khartoum, in March, the Associated Press wrote.
The last prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, stepped down in 2022 during a political stalemate and widespread pro-democracy protests.
Analysts say that Idris is a solid choice to restore civilian rule and deal with Sudan’s political crisis because he has no political affiliations, which may make him acceptable to a broad range of Sudanese communities, including RSF supporters.
Idris previously served as Sudan’s legal adviser at the United Nations mission and is a member of the UN International Law Commission.
The government is moving to implement civilian rule even as the RSF and its allies in February signed a charter to establish a parallel government.
Meanwhile, the civil war has spread across the country, killing tens of thousands of people, displacing millions, and destroying critical infrastructure.
The army currently holds areas in the central, eastern, and northern parts of Sudan. The RSF maintains control over most of the western region of Darfur and part of the south. It has been repeatedly striking Port Sudan in the past month.
Brazil’s Top Court Starts Bolsonaro’s Coup Trial
BRAZIL
Brazil’s Supreme Court this week began hearing key witnesses in the prosecution of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, accused of plotting a coup to retain power after narrowly losing the election in 2022, France 24 reported.
Gen. Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, a former army commander under Bolsonaro, took the stand on Monday and said that he met with Bolsonaro between the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his inauguration in early 2023 to discuss a “state of siege” as a possible way to overturn Bolsonaro’s election defeat, according to Agence France-Presse.
Another military official under Bolsonaro, Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, told the court he also took part in meetings in which Bolsonaro discussed “the hypothetical possibility of using legal instruments” to overturn the election results and justify military intervention.
Both Gomes and Júnior said they refused to comply. Gomes said that he warned Bolsonaro of the judicial implications of declaring a state of siege and even threatened to have him arrested if he followed through with the plan.
More than 80 witnesses, including senior military officers, former government ministers, and officials from the police and intelligence services, are expected to testify in this preliminary trial phase, which is expected to continue for at least two weeks.
Bolsonaro, who joined the hearing wearing the yellow Brazilian football jersey in a symbol of solidarity with his right-wing voters, faces allegations of plotting to retain power despite his 2022 election loss, a plot that prosecutors say includes plotting to murder the current president and a supreme court justice, the BBC noted. If found guilty, he faces up to 40 years in jail and would also be banned from holding office.
Bolsonaro is already facing a ban from holding office until 2030 after alleging that the Brazilian electronic voting system is vulnerable to fraud. Despite the ban, he said he plans to run again in the 2026 presidential election.
DISCOVERIES
Taxes and Death
Archaeologists have found a strange pyramidal structure in the Judean Desert, located near the coast of the Dead Sea, filled with Greek papyri, weapons, bronze vessels, furniture, and coins.
It may have been an ancient tax collection site, say archaeologists.
“(It is) one of the richest and most intriguing archeological excavations ever found in the Judean Desert,” excavation leaders told the Israel Antiquities Authority.
When modern-day Palestine was conquered by the Macedonian King Alexander the Great, the region entered its Hellenistic period – referring to Greek influence – in 332 BCE. The region was then ruled by two Macedonian empires, the Ptolemaic kingdom and the Seleucid kingdom, both founded by two of Alexander the Great’s former generals.
The bronze coins found at the site recount this history, as some have prints of the Ptolemaic dynasty and others of one of the Seleucid kings. At the same time, other treasures found include coins, “bronze vessels,” furniture debris, an ancient needle and button, seeds, colored beads, and documents written on papyrus – the typical Egyptian paper made from a plant that grows along the Nile.
The papyrus sheets were written in Greek and likely were tax documents, according to Klein. The main road connecting modern-day Jordan to Gaza was directly under the pyramid, so the researchers think that the structure was built to safeguard the road and as a place for Ptolemaic officials to collect taxes from travelers.
Rising as much as 20 feet high above the surface of the hill and made of hand-cut stones, each weighing hundreds of pounds, the site is believed to have had multiple uses over the millennia.
“At first, we thought the site could be just a tomb, but later, we noticed the shape of the original walls, and we understood that the structure was a building,” Klein told the Times of Israel. Now, they think the building north of the Zohar Valley is a tower or a fortress from the Hellenistic period, 2,200 years ago.
Still, there is much to learn about this enigmatic pyramid, researchers added.
“This is a very promising site – every moment new findings are discovered, and we are filled with anticipation for what else the next three weeks might produce,” they said.
The pyramid was probably used between 300 and 150 BCE, before being abandoned and collapsing. At some point in the Roman era, probably between 63 BCE and 135 CE, it was turned into a grave, probably thanks to the beauty of the location and the structure.