Speaking to Euronews, Christian Hallum, the tax lead at Oxfam, stated that the ultra-rich are still sequestering "oceans of wealth" and warned that this is not merely a matter of clever accounting, but one of "power and impunity". www.euronews.com/business/202...

Wow. Trump directs US embassies across the world to launch coordinated campaigns against foreign propaganda and endorses Elon Musk’s X as an “innovative” tool to help do it. Government astroturfing www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

“Donald Trump warns Nato faces ‘very bad future’ if allies fail to help US in Iran.’” You do not exclude Europe from the decision and then demand Europe bear the consequences. Go to hell. Europe should cut the US loose, whatever the consequences. #NATO #Trump #Iran #Hormuz

As a former EU Health-expert, I know that poverty also has a devastating effect on public health. Poverty is associated with a higher disease burden, a reduced life expectancy and and it fuels chronic stress through ongoing insecurity and deprivation #EndPoverty

📣REMIND: "18 EU MS will not be able to meet their targets for investment in #schools, #hospitals & #housing. New 🇪🇺 #economic #governance rules being voted later this month would mean a return to #austerity."👇#TogetherAgainstAusterity www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...

I created these two images last year on an Instagram account of mine. I’m sharing them here because it’s important to keep the historical context in mind. Wishing the beautiful people of Iran strength in these difficult times. #Iran #Mossadegh #MiddleEast #HumanRights

“Journalists are being killed in record numbers at a time when access to information is more important than ever. We are all at risk when journalists are killed for reporting the news.” — CPJ CEO @jodieginsberg.bsky.social Read CPJ’s #2025KilledReport: cpj.org?p=553549

Moroccan Jewish activist Abraham Serfaty warned in the 1980s that Israel’s internal divisions were so deep that its leaders would keep redirecting that tension outward by producing new external enemies. Now watch who the enemy is according to Naftali Bennett.” #Israel #Turkey #MiddleEast #Iran

I can’t believe the EU-Israel Association Agreement is still in effect. How can the EU keep this framework in place while claiming to stand for human rights and international law? #EU #Israel #HumanRights #InternationalLaw #Gaza

Open-source flight trackers show a noticeable uptick in military air traffic over Europe in recent hours/days. That could reflect routine rotations, exercises, or logistics, but it’s a signal worth monitoring. #OSINT #AirTraffic #USAF #Europe #Attack #Iran #OpenSource

Protect our health and our planet instead! Millions of hectares go to alcohol crops. Pesticides + an energy-intensive supply chain (smelting glass) hit biodiversity and climate. And alcohol causes at least 7 cancers. #Alcohol #Climate #Green #Health #EU #WHO www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...

For the legislative music nerds (yes, they exist): a reminder of the EU’s critical raw materials act, curated as a playlist. #CRM #EU #Breton #StrategicAutonomy open.spotify.com/playlist/54J...

EU rules are estimated to keep up to 1.3 billion plastic caps out of nature every year. Regulation is a tough sell to companies, yet brands market the result as their own eco success. #TetheredCaps #EULegislation #PlasticWaste #EU

RESourceEU + CRMA Amendment Critical raw material supply chains challenges. RESourceEU accelerates implementation of existing rules, and introduces labelling and recycled content requirements for magnets. Current action plan: eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...

Capital Markets Integration and Supervisory Package One of the EU's answers to the Draghi-report. This legislation seeks to dismantle barriers, harmonise rules, and consolidate EU-level oversight. A substantive move toward a single market. #Draghi #Capital finance.ec.europa.eu/publications...

Economic Security of the EU The EU remains exposed to economic coercion, technology leakage, and strategic dependencies. This Communication outlines a framework for earlier threat detection and coordinated response alongside member states and industry. eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...

🌍 On World Wetlands Day, discover how Europe is scaling wetland restoration through science, community action & innovative governance. This #EUGreenDeal success story shows how healthy wetlands build long-term resilience for nature & people: link.europa.eu/FVhfMD

The link says ‘shocking’ UNESCO-report about the rise of antisemitism. Yet they attacked and ignored UN-reports about the genocide in Gaza. This ultraconservative party does not allow women to hold office, supported Apartheid South Africa untill the end. They do not care about equal rights! #EU #UN

🇪🇺 European Judicial Training Strategy 2025–2030 Judges across Europe aren’t equally equipped for digital courts or cross-border cases. Training varies by country, so does the quality of justice. Brussels responds: upskill legal professionals in EU law and digital tools by 2030. #Commission #Law

EP-member Bert Jan Ruissen abuses UNESCO-report on antisemitism to progressive institutions that boycott Israel. He is not worried about the denial of the holocaust and Nazi-sympathies among pupils. THAT is the real threat mentioned in the report. #Unesco #EP #Israel youtu.be/b-n6hU1hVck?...

Digital Justice: Cross-border legal cases in the EU still run on fax and post. Commission’s Digital Justice@2030 strategy proposes shared IT tools and videoconferencing standards. 14 actions in total. Member states support it. Unnecessary duplication and costs should be avoided. #Justice #Digital

On Ukraine, the Netherlands position is unequivocal: military and financial support continues 3 billion euros per year. The coalition states Ukraine is on an “irreversible path” toward EU and NATO membership. #SlavaUkraini #Zelensky #Netherlands #Coalition #Agreement

Dutch explicit support for European Defence Fund, the SAFE lending instrument, and a proposed new European Defence Mechanism for joint procurement. With UK, Norway and Canada. #Defence #EU #SAFE #UK #Canada #Norway #Netherlands

What stands out is the NL's strong stance on the rule of law. Hungary and Slovakia are named as countries “ undermining Europe”. Rule of law is top of the Dutch agenda. They want to push for a simplification of the Art. 7 procedure. #Coalition #Agreement #EU #Netherlands #Hungary #Slovakia #Renew

#Netherlands just dropped its coalition agreement. The incoming Jetten government will have its youngest and first #gay and first progressive-liberal #PM in #Dutch history. Source photo ANP.

#CharlieHebdo #France #EU #Minnesota #ICE

To be continued. A 2nd thread on the Mark Rutte en LBJ's parallels is coming soon.

4) In #Congress: LBJ was a reliable ally of Southern segregationists. Untill he became #President. Then he used all his political capital to push through reforms: #CivilRights Act of 1964 and 1968, #VotingRights Act (1965), #Medicare & #Medicaid (1965). Improving social rights, banning racist laws.

3) #LBJ was a machiavellian genius who despised idealists and "beautiful talkers." He believed in deals and results. #Rutte is a machiavellian pragmatist who despised beautiful visionary talks. He also believed in deals and results. Lying was second nature to them both.

2) They were both teachers. #LBJ started his career #teaching poor Mexican-American children in rural Texas. The experience marked him for life. #Rutte taught every Thursday morning at a secondary school in a poor neighborhood in The Hague, even during his 14-year tenure as PM. #Nato #SG

1) If you want to understand #NATO SG Mark #Rutte, read R. Caro's biography on Lyndon Johnson. #LBJ could be brutal, transactional during his rise to the top, and then pivoted into a civil-rights president. Rutte is huge fan of the LBJ-biographies. The parallels between the two are striking.

U.S. diplomats asked a French magistrate last year whether she could intervene over Marine Le Pen’s election ban. The previously unreported details of the meeting will refocus attention on American efforts to back the European far right. 🔗 #[politi.co/4qxwpy9

🇪🇺 New #EU Supplementary #Pension Package proposes IORP II & PEPP reforms to boost pension savings and mobilise long-term capital. NL supportive but flags subsidiarity concerns on fiscal incentives and proportionality re EIOPA's role. Source photo: grenzenloos.nl open.overheid.nl/documenten/3...

3) no it is not just bureaucracy, it is our best line of defense against monsters like Peter #Thiel, Elon #Musk, Alex #Karp, and Larry Ellison, men who've made fortunes building the infrastructure of #surveillance while positioning themselves as #libertarian visionaries.

2)What do crony #capitalism and #communism have in common? Concentration of power by a few. Laws for fair #EU competition, public procurement, DSA and DMA are strong laws that prevent that power concentration. #Bigtech frames EU-regulation as burdensome and unnecessary bureaucracy.

1) #VonderLeyen's #EUInc announcement at #Davos tackles the scaling barriers for European companies, 48-hour digital incorporation, one rulebook across all 27 states instead of fragmented national systems. Her advice should be heeded, but we must safeguard fair #competition at all cost.

Some perspective: The S&P opened down -1.3% on Trump's Greenland saber-rattling. That's $750 billion of wealth destroyed -- roughly equal to estimates of the value of Greenland. And so ~in dollar terms~ his shenanigans have already cost the US one Greenland, and we've got nothing to show for it.

#GeertWilders #PVV-party is almost 20 years old. What did Wilders achieve? Lied about climate Lied about healthcare Lied about Islam He stoke fear amongst millions of people Walked away from 2 cabinets Lost 7 MPs today Thank you Geert for being so ineffective. #Netherlands #TweedeKamer

One of the most racist parties in EU just got gutted from the inside. 7 MPs broke away from Wilders' PVV today. Wilders wrote in Breitbart once that Europe needs 'Zionism for the nations of Europe', praising Israel as an ethnostate model. apnews.com/article/wild...

High level 'Diplomacy' #Trump to #Norway's PM: "Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize... I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace." A toddler throwing a tantrum with a lit match in a room full of gasoline. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

EU's retaliation playbook against Trump's #Greenland tariffs is surgical: bourbon (Kentucky), H. Davidsons (Wisconsin), Boeing (Washington), soybeans (Midwest). All targeting the #Republican heartland. Plus "trade bazooka" is on the table, blocking US firms from #EU contracts & markets.

The road to 2029: #Netherlands officially launches organisational preparations for its EU Council Presidency. Preparation starts early while the baton is first passing to #Cyprus → #Ireland → #Lithuania → #Greece → #Italy → #Latvia → #Luxembourg before reaching NL.

Good luck with imposing those #tariffs. In the EU’s single market, supply chains are pan-European, tariffs based on ‘country’ origin will be a bureaucratic nightmare (rules of origin, mixed components, re-exports). #Trump #EU #US #TradeWar #Greenland

Brilliant visual of the #EP #Calendar 2026. #EPRS

New #EU #Biotech rules are on the way. EU is rolling out a biotech boost package: easier access to capital, space for regulatory sandboxes, AI testbeds, and more focus on biosimilars. Clearer guidance for faster scaling. #HealthTech #Regulation #EUHealth health.ec.europa.eu/publications...

#UK #Youth Welcome back.

A reminder that youth-led projects shape Europe’s future. The Charlemagne Youth Prize, awarded by the European Parliament and the Charlemagne Prize Foundation, highlights initiatives with real impact. 👉 Apply before 2 February: link.europa.eu/cTCyTV #EUYouth #CharlemagneYouthPrize #YouthLeadership

Last year, Greenpeace said Sweden’s Budget 2026 would push emissions up, not down, and urged Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari to step down. Sweden’s Climate Policy Council also said the current policy isn’t enough to hit 2030 targets. #EUClimate #Sweden

#NATO can be considered dead. Any concession to the USA will only encourage to demand more. Time for #consumer #boycotts of American products from red states—starting with items the #EuropeanCommission targeted under Trump I: #Americanwhiskey #bourbon, #motorcycles #Pecan

How the Netherlands has moved from being one of the EU’s smaller member states to a medium-sized, at least by population. Romania is shrinking. Demographic imbalances have gradually become one of EU’s most important challenges. #EU #Demographics #Population #NL #Land #Ageing