Euractiv - Charles Szumski and Natália Silenská / Fico’s assassination attempt reveals Slovakia’s serious polarisation
The assassination attempt against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico exposed deep divisions in Slovak society, which his controversial ruling style polarised further.
Fico (Smer-SD, S&D) was shot by a lone gunman on Wednesday afternoon (15 May) and was immediately transported to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery and was said to be in a life-threatening condition.
Many European leaders immediately condemned the violence and showed support for the controversial leader, who has been criticised for his pro-Russian stance, attacks on the media and NGOs, and laws that his government is trying to pass despite criticism from the European Commission.
These include draft laws that would significantly lower jail terms for corruption, the introduction of labelling NGOs as “organisations with foreign support”, and strengthening the governmental control over the public broadcaster RTVS.
Foreign Policy - Jack Detsch / Russia Advances on Kharkiv as Ukraine Struggles to Fight Back
After months of attrition warfare, Russia is once again on the march in Ukraine, this time targeting Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, which is just a stone’s throw from the border with Russia.
The attack, currently focused on breaching defenses north of the city, has already picked up steam as Ukrainian troops still wait for Western weapons to arrive en masse. Ukraine has evacuated 8,000 people from the Kharkiv region during the five-day assault, according to the national emergency services. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has canceled his foreign trips. And Ukrainian troops appear to be backing off the city of Vovchansk, a central front-line defensive position near Kharkiv.
Outgunned and outmanned, frustration is mounting in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials say Russia has succeeded in making tactically significant gains around Kharkiv in recent days in part because the Biden administration has forbidden Ukrainian troops from using U.S. weapons to fire on Russian positions across the border inside Russia.
These targets are right in front of Ukrainian troops—Kharkiv is only 25 miles from the Russian border. They can geolocate them. But Ukrainian officials say they’re not being allowed by the White House to fire their guns en masse to hit them.
The Guardian - Peter Beaumont / Israel war cabinet split looms as defence minister demands post-war Gaza plan
A long-festering split at the heart of Israel’s war cabinet has burst into the open with the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, challenging the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to come up with plans for the “day after” the war in Gaza, and saying he would not permit any solution where Israeli military or civil governance were in the territory.
Gallant’s comments, immediately backed by his fellow minister Benny Gantz, plunged Israel’s leadership into a highly public row, in the midst of the Gaza conflict, raising immediate speculation over his future in the Israeli government and of Netanyahu’s fractious coalition.
In uncompromising remarks, Gallant – whose firing last year by Netanyahu triggered mass protests, a political crisis and an eventual reversal by the PM – publicly demanded that Netanyahu describe plans for a “day-after plan” for Gaza.
Gallant’s comments provoked an immediate political row, with Netanyahu pushing back rapidly with a videotaped statement and a call from the far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, for Gallant to be replaced.
Related article: The Washington Post - Louisa Loveluck / Israeli forces push into Rafah city as roughly 600,000 flee fighting
Financial Times - Andy Bounds, Henry Foy and James Kynge / EU under pressure after US levies tariffs on Chinese goods
New US tariffs on Chinese goods are set to redirect shipments to Europe and put increased pressure on Brussels, which is scrambling to avoid being caught in the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday slapped tariffs of 100 per cent on Chinese electric vehicles and tripled the rate on steel and aluminium. He increased tariffs on solar cells to 50 per cent and said the rate on semiconductors would be doubled from 2025.
“The US has sent a very clear message that it wants minimum Chinese participation in its green transition,” said Yanmei Xie, a geopolitics analyst at Gavekal Research. “The EU being the remaining large developed market with green ambitions and generous subsidies will be a must-have market for Chinese exporters of clean-energy products.”
The US move came as the European Commission is struggling to protect domestic green technology industries from cheap Chinese competitors, with EU officials stressing that Brussels lacks the powers to compete with Washington and Beijing in a global trade war.
Our opinion reads for today:
The Economist / America’s 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs: bad policy, worse leadership
Bloomberg - Lionel Laurent / Europe's New Power Map, From ASML to the Arctic
