Europe

Hi.

In the past few days, discontent regarding mod decisions in this community has been brewing, particularly when it comes to comments on Palestine, Israel, and Israeli politics and actions. There are also misunderstandings regarding mod intention and German law. We hope to clear that up with this post.

While the servers of feddit.org are in Austria, most of the mods of this community as well as admins of this server live in Germany. Speaking of, our server admins have also posted a write-up on the same topic.

And with that, let's go:

In Germany, antisemitism is specifically sanctioned in German criminal law, both for speech and as a motivation for other criminal behavior. In addition, Germany seeks to protect the Jewish state of Israel (the so-called "Reason of State" introduced in 2008) and thus verges toward protecting Zionism as well. Certain criticism of Israel/Israelis is also categorized as "Israel-related antisemitism".

Since criminal law is involved, enforcement can mean things like police raids and device confiscations. After such police action, it does not really matter if it was appropriate or if cases are dropped or never charged: The damage is done. All told, it's not that fun.

There is also no point in engaging in discussions about the veracity of statements that could get us into legal trouble. In addition, we believe that you can express most opinions without breaking rules.

If your comment contains the following, it will be removed from this community:

• Calling for the dissolution of Israel, or calling for a one-state solution without specifying equal rights for all people; Jewish in particular.
• Calling for a destruction, annihilation, an end of all Zionism or the like.
• Equating Israeli actions and (historical) Nazism.
• The slogan "from the river..."
• Endorsement of or justifications for Hamas or Hezbollah, or slogans or graphics positively referring to these organizations. These are considered terrorist organizations in Germany.
• ... and obviously: Any of the common antisemitic tropes or calls to violence against Jews or Israelis

Comments will not be removed for the following:

• Denouncing genocide.
• Denouncing Israeli war crimes.
• Criticizing Zionism as an ideology or political movement.
• Referring to the current Israeli government as "criminal," "expansionist," or "far-right".

If your comment is removed nonetheless, these are not the reason. I'd also like to stress that this community was never a free-speech-absolutist zone: It is a (usually lightly) moderated community. There may also be times when bans go too far. In such cases, please DM the @EuroMod@feddit.org account (which all mods have access to).

federal reverse (on behalf of the mods of !europe)

Archived

The Czech Republic has issued a rare and sharply worded rebuke of the People’s Republic of China, formally attributing a long-running cyber-espionage campaign targeting its Ministry of Foreign Affairs to APT31 — a notorious hacking group directly associated with China’s secret police, which has systematically targeted U.S. politicians, election candidates and campaign staff, journalists, corporations, and critics of the Chinese Communist Party, alongside similar assaults on Canada and democracies worldwide.

[…]

“These activities undermine the credibility of the People’s Republic of China and contradict its public declarations,” the Czech government stated. “They are contrary to the norms of responsible state behavior in cyberspace as endorsed by all UN Members.”

[…]

The BIS, Czechia’s domestic intelligence service, also addressed the issue in its 2024 annual report. The agency warned that cyber operations are only one facet of the threat posed by Chinese state actors, writing: “The Chinese embassy logically focuses on gaining information about the Czech political scene.”

The campaign drew swift and strong expressions of solidarity from the European Union, NATO allies—and from Taiwan, which many officials and experts now view as the front line of China's cyber and cognitive war playbook.

[...]

“These allegations pull back the curtain on China’s vast illegal hacking operation that targeted sensitive data from U.S. elected and government officials, journalists, and academics; valuable information from American companies; and political dissidents in America and abroad. Their sinister scheme victimized thousands of people and entities across the world, and lasted for well over a decade,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York.

[…]

Canadian intelligence reported by The Bureau alleges that regional MSS bureaus across China competed for impact in Canada’s 2019 federal election, suggesting the brute force that decentralized MSS teams seek to impact upon foreign nations to achieve high-level objectives for MSS bosses in Beijing. In Canada’s case, The Bureau reported, MSS teams sought to win the release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, rather than having her extradited to American justice, which would pose a catastrophic risk to Beijing’s security arms.

[…]

At a 2024 conference in Ottawa attended by U.S. and Taiwanese officials, Shun-Ching Yang of Doublethink Lab and Eve Chiu of the Taiwan FactCheck Center warned that Taiwan has lived for decades under this form of “cognitive warfare”—a term used to describe China’s deliberate campaign to reshape perceptions, sow division, and disable democratic defenses through information dominance.

[…]

To conceal attribution, the [Chinese Communist Party] CCP now routes many of its bot-driven propaganda operations through servers and agents in Cambodia—a proxy state for Chinese intelligence. Sophisticated, automated accounts flood WeChat, Twitter, and other platforms with disinformation dressed in local political commentary, targeting ethnic groups and migrant workers to provoke tension.

[…]

“China has a very sick skill in reframing thinking of the society,” Yang said. “We have to be very careful about their sophisticated brainwashing of ideology, which we call cognitive warfare.”

“We have been facing this for decades, ever since I was a child,” Chiu added. “I think China’s government is trying to colonize Canada, because you are an ally of the United States. So they are trying to manipulate Canada against the U.S., because now is a very big competition between China and the U.S.”

The Czech Republic’s investigation shows how far this competition now extends—from the neural networks of fake social media posts to the physical servers of foreign ministries.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/45823859

In Gallup’s most recent poll of Ukraine — conducted in early July — 69% say they favor a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible, compared with 24% who support continuing to fight until victory.

This marks a nearly complete reversal from public opinion in 2022, when 73% favored Ukraine fighting until victory and 22% preferred that Ukraine seek a negotiated end as soon as possible.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.online/c/euro/p/1699737/the-final-results-of-the-eurovision-song-contest-2026

Paywall? https://archive.is/X0n8o

Paul Buitink talks to former Greek Minister of Finance (2015) and author of several books like 'Technofeudalism, What Killed Capitalism' about the risks of modern technofeudalism in which cloud capitalists extract rents from the public and distort public discourse. He says we need to tax big tech to the hilt since privatizing wouldn't work. Also he proposes how cities should create their own tech alternatives.

The gentlemen also talk about the euro, why Bulgaria shouldn't join and Greece should exit. The Netherlands should perhaps try to reform it or join a union with other hard currency countries. Yanis would like to federalize the EU but realizes it's maybe time to dismantle it. Also he laments Europe's military Keynesianism and thinks it's not wise to spend all that money on defense. The EU has taken the wrong turn and each path since 2014 when it comes to the war in Ukraine Yanis believes.

I am leaving this group. Do I post with a positive message, that Europe is taking matters into its own hands and immediately get a shit load of negative comments, doomsday scenarios and conspiracy theories thrown at your head as if the European Union has a secret agenda to turn the EU into some kind of Russian or Chinese regime. No, the EU is not perfect, but neither am I, neither are you and no country, manager or company is. I thought things would be different here than on X for example, but the negativism here is not much better. I hope you continue to have fun here, but I (try to) seek more positive places.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Archived version

• The HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 49.4 in May from 49.0 in April, marking a 33-month high and in line with a preliminary estimate but remaining below the 50.0 threshold separating growth from contraction.

• France's PMI moved closer to breakeven at 49.8, a 28-month high. But Europe's largest economy, Germany, remained the weakest performer among the big euro zone members with a PMI of 48.3.

• U.S. Manufacturing PMI edged down to 48.5, the lowest since November, from 48.7 in April. Manufacturing accounts for 10.2% of the U.S. economy. The PMI, however, remains above the 42.3 level that the ISM [Institute for Supply Management] says over time indicates an expansion of the overall economy.

• Japan's final au Jibun Bank manufacturing PMI stood at 49.4 in May, up from April but stayed below 50.0 for an 11th successive month.

• The PMI for South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, stood at 47.7 in May, staying below 50 for a fourth month due to frail demand and the hit from U.S. tariffs, S&P Global's survey showed.

• The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI declined to 48.3 in May 2025, down from April’s 50.4 and missing forecasts of 50.6, marking the first contraction in the sector in eight months. The latest reading also represented the steepest decline since September 2022.

"With domestic demand weak, China is flooding Asia with cheap exports, which is also putting deflationary pressure on the region's economies," [Toru Nishihama, chief emerging market economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute] said.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/45430254

Germany has been one of the worst Western countries for whitewashing Israel’s genocide in Palestine. Now it wants to do it with AI.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/45696354

The KIIS poll, which began a day after the controversial vote on July 22, found that 58 per cent of Ukrainians currently trust Mr Zelensky, down from an 18-month high of 74 per cent in May and 67 per cent in February-March.

Here Meadway draws parallels between Trumps tarrifs and Volcker's interest rate shock in the 1970ies. Is this justified considering the world economy has a totally different structure today?

There is another argument that what Trump actually wants is a reactionary economic policy more similar to the 19th century where interests of small, wealthy, powerful groups were dominant over the well-being of normal people. For how much of a difference that can make, Germanys rapid economic development which was then to a large part attributed to Ludwig Erhard, Germanys minister for economic affairs from 1949 to 1963.

Archived

The European Union agreed overwhelmingly to curb Chinese medical device manufacturers’ access to public procurement contracts in the bloc, according to people familiar with the matter.

EU countries voted Monday on the measure, which will ban access to public contracts worth more than €5 million ($5.7 million), said one of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

The move is the first action taken by the EU based on its International Procurement Instrument, a 2022 law that’s meant to promote reciprocity in access to public procurement markets.

[...]

The EU has long argued that Beijing has been pushing market-distorting measures and practices to implement its “Made in China” policy and its target of achieving 85% domestic market share for Chinese companies producing “core medical device components” by 2025. The target is 70% for higher-end devices.

{The EU can now] impose various restrictions on firms seeking to participate in procurements, ranging from score adjustments in tenders to an outright ban from procurement contracts.

In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that only the United States has the power to stop Russia. He believes peace will require compromises on both sides, including from Ukraine.

This is a compelling argument. Is it time we stop considering Europe and Asia as separate continents when they're in fact a single continent and even share the same tectonic plate?