We have obtained a secret audio recording of a Moscow meeting between three Russian operatives and a close aide to Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini negotiating a plan to pump money from a Russian oil deal into Salvini’s far-right Lega party
UK prime minister Boris Johnson told the nation yesterday, "as we come to that Brexit deadline I am encouraged by the progress we are making."
I asked an EU official whether it was true that there has been progress in talks.
Their response: "No there hasn't."
An observation: Salvini, who tweets pretty much every time a migrant gets found with a pen knife, has had very little to say about far-right activists arrested with a frigging missile and an arsenal of weapons
Things that will surprise many British observers about the German
#EP2019
result:
1) Germany has a Green party
2) some 90% of Germans voted for pro-EU parties
3) the AfD isn't very popular
Raab on the BBC refusing to condemn Trump’s remarks, something a British foreign secretary would likely not hesitate to do if the president of another foreign country had made similar comments
A German journalist interviewed the co-leader of the far-right AfD, asking questions about climate change, pensions, housing & digitalisation. The far-right politician didn’t have any answers. Every journalist should read this. (via
@marceldirsus
)
This tape provides the first hard evidence of Russia’s clandestine attempts to fund Europe’s nationalist movements, and the apparent complicity of some senior figures from the far right in those attempts
NEW: Biden assured key allies in June that US security enablers would remain in place in Afghanistan as NATO troops withdrew, so much so that U.K. thought it could maintain its Kabul embassy
EU migrants have been able to “treat the UK as if it’s part of their own country” for too long, Boris Johnson said yesterday as he reprised the core message of Vote Leave’s 2016 EU referendum campaign.
Germany has treated more than 200 coronavirus patients from other European countries, and is prepared to take more. The costs — some €20 million — will be covered by the German government
BREAKING: Milan's public prosecutor has opened an investigation into Lega and Russia after BuzzFeed News released a tape of the Moscow meeting involving a close Salvini aide
When the existence of the Metropol meeting was reported by two Italian journalists earlier the year, Savoini and Salvini dismissed the story as a fantasy.
This recording blows those statements apart.
Brexit status update. A short thread:
- UK has not put forward any concrete proposal/text. A fundamental point that needs repeating when you read X could be a solution or Y could replace a backstop.
We have a saying in Italy: my grandmother would be a bicycle if she had wheels.
Some thoughts on the tragedy that hit Genova. Here's Salvini implying that it’s the EU’s fault because it constrains spending First, the obvious: it’s tragic that even in tragedy Italian politicians, across parties, immediately started blaming someone else
Se ci sono vincoli europei che ci impediscono di spendere soldi per mettere in sicurezza le scuole dove vanno i nostri figli o le autostrade su cui viaggiano i nostri lavoratori, metteremo davanti a tutto e a tutti la sicurezza degli Italiani.
We have seen the UK’s Brexit analysis. It shows that Britain will be worse off outside the single market and customs union under all modelled scenarios
NEW: Flight records show that the close Matteo Salvini aide who negotiated a proposed oil deal to fund Salvini's Lega party made multiple trips to Moscow around the time of the meeting
Had it not been for Merkel, Greece would have been kicked out of the euro. AfD emerged on back of that (ie they wanted to kick Greece out of the euro), and grew after Merkel took in 1m refugees avoiding a humanitarian catastrophe while the rest of Europe sat on its hands
Angela Merkel’s government bears chief responsibility for plunging Europe into catastrophic austerity which has ruined living standards, caused mass unemployment, decimated public services, and fuelled the far right.
Her government isn’t woke, it’s a catastrophe for Europe.
#G7
trade discussion yesterday. I understand that Trump presented a list of grievances, listing what each country, one by one, owed the US - trade deficits, tariffs, defence and so on. Basically, a live performance of his Twitter threads.
The recording is of a meeting that took place at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow last October. The six men — three Russians, three Italians — are explicit that the purpose of the potential agreement is to fund Lega and its European election campaign
A short thread. Many seem to be arguing that MPs were clear in what the UK wants from the EU, and the EU is now playing games. This argument is grossly misplaced, and somewhat detached from reality
After four incredible years, I am leaving BuzzFeed News this month. I'm extremely grateful to all my editors and colleagues, past and present.
But I’m very excited to be joining Bloomberg as correspondent-at-large for Europe. I start in September — and can't wait to get going!
UK PM May presented her views to EU27 leaders at
#EUCO
. I am told she was “evasive” and “tightlipped”. The prime minister was repeatedly asked by several leaders what she would do if MPs vote the deal down. May didn’t answer the question.
Senior EU official tells me UK now has 3 options:
1) leave with no deal on March 29
2) ask for extension (dependant on reason, length & EU27 unanimity)
3) revoke article 50
“There will be no further talks,” the source says.
Our story on tonight's vote:
Salvini's aide, Gianluca Savoini, who attended the government dinner with Putin in Rome last week, mentions Salvini several times during the meeting. He describes him as "the first man that wants to change all of Europe". The Russians describe Salvini as the "European Trump"
The leaked paper is the first evidence that Germany may be preparing to let Britain walk away with No Deal rather than back down to Boris Johnson’s demand to drop the Irish backstop
EU27 received an update on Brexit today. They were told:
- UK committed to send concrete proposals three weeks ago but hasn't done so. Every week, the UK promises to send proposals the following week, but to date nothing has been received.
Matteo Salvini can’t seem to remember much about his 20 year bromance with his aide Gianluca Savoini. So
@MarkDiStef
and I have put together this handy explainer for him
The BuzzFeed UK news is tremendously sad. We broke some pretty decent stories over the past few years and had lots of fun. I am so proud of everyone on the team. For those who like football analogies we were like Sampdoria 1991. Everything just clicked and it was beautiful
Important update for "Festival of Brexit" fans — An FOI shows:
- The government has so far spent £728,118.00 on the festival. This amount relates to internal Festival Team's staff related costs.
- There is still no agenda. The process for appointing a delivery body is underway
We —
@BuzzFeedNews
,
@Bellingcat
and
@The_ins_ru
— have identified two of the Russian men who met with a longtime Salvini aide in a Moscow hotel last October to hatch a secret plan to fund Salvini's far-right Lega party
Just a reminder that EU, and EU27, have been expecting UK to start blaming EU for no-deal for weeks. All this may whip up UK voters, but will make no difference on EU27 position nor on the consequences that no-deal would have on Britain’s economy
Boris Johnson doesn’t want a deal. He’s preparing for an election. He will paint himself as the champion of Britain, everyone else as talking the country down. Reality is project fear & gloom. He speaks in slogans. No details nor policies. It’s the 2016 referendum all over again.
“If we need to leave with no deal and negotiate a free trade agreement during the transition period, so be it.”
The man who was in charge of delivering Brexit still doesn’t understand how the process works. There is no transition without an exit deal.
This deal is not what the people voted for. It will tie us to the Customs Union for years to come with no way out. But there is still time to negotiate a Canada+++ deal that delivers on the referendum. So let’s get on with it.
The coronavirus hit Germany and the UK just days apart.
@alexwickham
and I have examined how the German and British governments responded since, day-by-day — a timeline:
May said in
#PMQs
that due diligence was carried out on Seaborne by Deloitte, Mott MacDonald and Slaughter & May.
Deloitte: “The standard tests could not be completed on Seaborne given a lack of existing financial information due to it only being incorporated in April 2017.”
NEW: I have spent a bit of time working to answer a simple, but important, question: was Boris Johnson a good foreign secretary?
I have spoken to senior US, European and UK diplomats & officials who all worked and dealt with Johnson directly
Last month: ‘Strong Merkel will help UK & Brexit’
Now: ‘Weak Merkel helps UK & Brexit’
In Brexit Britain everything is great & glorious regardless. Also: how propaganda works.
As Germany votes soon, for me one of Merkel’s biggest legacies is she has embedded decency, and a politics of values, calm & facts over populist & nationalist attitudes, into the German mainstream. Looking at Europe today, that was neither obvious nor should be taken for granted.
Just a reminder that the Brexit deal was agreed last November. Since then, the substance of the agreement remains unchanged, and we've had four months of internal Tory party politics
Idea that Germany is in “crisis” is bollocks. Merkel led her party for 18 years, won 4 terms, was not going to run for a 5th. She will leave on her terms, her preferred successor in place, and the centrist course she paved protected against those who wanted to shift to the right
Salzburg. A short thread:
1) Nothing that Tusk said on Chequers, that Macron said about some Brexiteers (while stressing he respected the choice of British voters), and that Merkel said about the single market and four freedoms, is anything they hadn’t said before.
Anyone arguing for ideas that don’t actually do this, are, in effect, wanting the UK to renege on its commitments. This is what makes UK prime minister May’s decision to back such ideas all the more puzzling - and, paradoxically, makes the need for a backstop even clearer.
Un membro dello staff del ministro Salvini (assunto Agosto 2018 come consigliere per le attività strategiche internazionali, stipendio €65,000/anno) era prenotato sugli stessi voli di Savoini nelle date del Metropol — SU2411 16 ottobre 2018 e SU2414 il 18
More than 3 years since Germany welcomed nearly 1m refugees. One in three now work or are in training schemes. These figures continue to rise fast (). Merkel’s approval stands at 60% (ht
@emilyrs
). Not giving in to populists isn’t easy, but it can be done.
NEW: updated draft conclusions: 'EUCO agrees to an extension to 22 May, provided WA is approved by the HoC next week. If the WA is not approved by the HoC next week, EUCO agrees to an extension until 12 April, expects UK to indicate a way forward for the consideration of EUCO'