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Security in Europe
Russia’s plan for Moldova: “Collapse the EU from within”

Russia’s campaign to destabilize Moldova, and through it NATO and the EU, is unprecedented. The New York Times reports this in a comprehensive examination of Russian attempts to influence its small neighbor.

According to the newspaper’s sources, Vladimir Putin is said to have declared during a secret meeting that Russia’s goal for 2026 is “to collapse NATO and the EU from within.”

According to the sources, Moldova is seen as a key player in these plans.

As many as 150,000 Moldovans may have been offered Russian money in exchange for their votes and for participating in pro-Russian protests, according to documents first reported by the Moldovan newspaper Ziarul de Gardă.

According to the New York Times, some activists have also been trained by Russian intelligence in Serbia, and Moldovan priests have been provided with Russian messages to spread in their congregations.

Moldova is not a member of the EU, but President Maia Sandu's government has made membership one of its top priorities.

 
Russian Peace Prize laureate: Putin laughs at Europe's leaders

Vladimir Putin has a firm grip on power in Russia, even though rumors are circulating that the elite is divided. This is what Dmitry Muratov, who founded the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, said in an interview with the BBC.

The Peace Prize laureate says it is impossible to know what is going on in the Russian president's head, but he is also convinced that he "really laughs" at European leaders who try to talk to him about human rights.

- He laughs out loud because they are simultaneously signing agreements - or used to sign agreements - on trade with Russia.

Muratov, like many other journalists in Russia, has been classified as a "foreign agent" by the Kremlin.

Ebola outbreak
Ebola has reached a sixth province: "The virus is ahead"

The Ebola outbreak in Congo-Kinshasa has spread to a sixth province, reports Semafor.

A total of 2,100 people have been confirmed dead. The true toll could be high. 4,500 infected people have been identified.

According to the AP, healthcare workers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the spread of the infection, and tracking is becoming inadequate as a result.

- We are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us, said WHO Africa Director Yakub Janabi earlier this week.

Ebola outbreak
Ebola has reached a sixth province: "The virus is ahead"

The Ebola outbreak in Congo-Kinshasa has spread to a sixth province, reports Semafor.

A total of 2,100 people have been confirmed dead. The true number could be high. 4,500 infected people have been identified.

According to the AP, healthcare workers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the spread of the infection, and tracking is becoming inadequate as a result.

– We are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us, said WHO Africa Director Yakub Janabi earlier this week. 

Border crisis in Ceuta
Unions: Government ignored our warnings about Ceuta

Several unions that organize border guards and police say they warned of the large influx of migrants into the exclave of Ceuta several weeks in advance, without the Spanish government acting. This is reported by Reuters.

A court decision from June 29 ruled that migrants could only be sent back immediately if they crossed a physical barrier and therefore not if they swam in.

– We understood that the ruling would lead to more people coming here. The ruling, criminal gangs and social media were an explosive cocktail, says Rachid Shibi, spokesman for one of the police unions in Ceuta.

A government spokesperson says they analyzed the situation in advance, and that this enabled rapid action when tens of thousands of asylum seekers made their way to the Spanish exclave at the end of July.