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Markus Poole
@mtpoole.bsky.social
Reposted by Markus Poole
Agree Mercosur trade deal or give up on the EU’s global reputation as a reliable partner, Brussels’ trade chief @marossefcovic.bsky.social tells @financialtimes.com

“This is a matter of the credibility and predictability of the EU” he warned

w @andybounds.bsky.social

as.ft.com/r/ca5324d2-b...
EU will lose face if it rejects Mercosur deal, warns trade commissioner
[FREE TO READ] Maroš Šefčovič says bloc must not delay vote on pact with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay
as.ft.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
I welcome the decision of the Council on our proposal to continue the immobilisation of Russian Sovereign Assets.

We are sending a strong signal to Russia that as long as this brutal war of aggression continues, Russia’s costs will continue to rise.
December 12, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
The 🇺🇸 Deputy Secretary of State has today made your choice as a European very clear:

1️⃣Live in a vassal state of either America or Russia
2️⃣Live in a united federal EU

Which do you choose?
www.TheOwnedContinent.eu
December 7, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
From the @wsj.com chief foreign correspondent
December 7, 2025 at 9:42 AM
👇This
OPINION: The intense diplomatic maneuvering to end the war in Ukraine has revealed a troubling reality: Even when it comes to its own security, the EU struggles to be a central player.
Europe’s psychology of weakness
It’s time the EU ditched its failing strategy of “react, hope, repeat.”
www.politico.eu
December 1, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
For the sake of European security, Europe's leaders should agree to release Russia’s frozen assets for the support of Ukraine — and clearly state their willingness to defend Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
Trump’s 28 point ‘peace plan’ marks Europe’s last chance to stand up for Ukraine
European national leaders have been too slow and cautious in their support for Kyiv. Can they rise to meet this defining moment?
www.chathamhouse.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:01 AM
An unfortunate reality that all too many EU leaders fail to address...Good to see Gideon calling a spade a spade
November 17, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
Trump and Putin are threatening to carve up Europe between them. Suddenly, it all feels a bit 1939 | Simon Tisdall
Trump and Putin are threatening to carve up Europe between them. Suddenly, it all feels a bit 1939 | Simon Tisdall
Forget the US president’s seeming volte-face on Ukraine this week: he and Putin fundamentally agree that European liberal democracy is the problem, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall
www.theguardian.com
September 28, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
Europe has lost one superpower ally – can it afford to be in the crosshairs of two? | Nathalie Tocci
Europe has lost one superpower ally – can it afford to be in the crosshairs of two? | Nathalie Tocci
For years, the EU followed the US’s lead when it came to China. That is no longer an option and Beijing has other priorities, says Guardian journalist Nathalie Tocci
www.theguardian.com
September 23, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
I’ve been outside the Brussels bubble this summer travelling around Europe, spending time in 🇫🇷🇪🇸🇮🇹🇵🇱🇧🇪🇹🇷🇬🇧🇬🇷. In talking to Europeans, a grim reality has become apparent.

We are facing a crisis of confidence in facing the 🇺🇸 threat. How can we make Europeans believe in themselves?
Europe has all the tools it needs to be free, but Europeans are afraid to use them
Over the past months, this continent has collapsed into a mire of fatalistic thinking. Mario Draghi is trying to remind us of the strength we possess. But Europeans don't believe in themselves.
davekeating.substack.com
August 28, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
Motherfucking wind farms…
July 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
On 27 May, an official document, The Need for Civilizational Allies in Europe, calling for regime change in European countries was published, written by a senior adviser for the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the US State Department, writes Caroline de Gruyter.
Trump is working on regime change in Europe — fact, not conspiracy theory
On 27 May, an official document, The Need for Civilizational Allies in Europe, calling for regime change in European countries was published, written by a senior adviser for the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the US State Department, writes Caroline de Gruyter.
euobserver.com
July 8, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
Israel wages war invoking “self-defence”.Nuclear armed Israel/US attack Iran to stop it making nuclear weapons it wasn’t making.Europeans call for diplomacy without condemning the attack that killed it.Russia opposes the violation of int law, while doing far worse in Ukraine.As Orwellian as it gets
June 22, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
Martin Wolf is not messing around here

www.ft.com/content/d96d...
April 8, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
Trump claims that European states charging VAT is a “tariff” on US goods!

Where does this madness end?

Eg. when I pay a 20% tip on a meal in an American restaurant, should I see this as a tariff on the eating service I am selling to America?

🤷‍♂️
April 3, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
From @gideonrachman.bsky.social's excellent column on Trump Making Europe Great Again

As one leading French businessman put it to me, with more than a touch of ambivalence: “It is very clear. The Germans can’t sell their cars. So they will make tanks.”

www.ft.com/content/724d...
Trump is making Europe great again
The US president has provided the biggest stimulus towards European integration since the end of the cold war
www.ft.com
March 10, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
🔴LIVE: Ontario announces tariff response with 25% surcharge on US-bound electricity

➡️
🔴LIVE: Ontario announces tariff response with 25% surcharge on US-bound electricity I AFP
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks as Ontario prepares to move ahead with a 25 percent surcharge on U.S.-bound electricity in response to President Donald Trum...
www.youtube.com
March 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
#UPDATE The German conservatives of Friedrich Merz and the centre-left SPD said Saturday they have reached an in-principle agreement to form a government that plans to invest massively to revive and rearm Europe's largest economy.
March 8, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
We will never know— we will never have the faintest idea— how much money is getting made in insider trading windfalls from people in Trump's and Musk's circles who have an hour of notice about the daily swings in tariff policy or the occasional announced *expectations* of such swings.
March 6, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
French satellite company Eutelsat is in talks with the EU to replace Elon Musk’s Starlink system in Ukraine.

CEO Eva Berneke confirmed that the company can deploy 40,000 terminals, equivalent to the number of Starlink terminals currently used by Ukraine.

European resilience in action.
March 6, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
“If Roosevelt had told Churchill to sue for peace on any terms with Adolf Hitler and to fork over Britain’s coal reserves to the United States in exchange for no American security guarantees, it might have approximated what Trump did to Zelensky.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/o...
Opinion | A Day of American Infamy
A dreadful moment for Ukraine, for the free world, for the legacy of an America that once stood for the principles of the Atlantic Charter.
www.nytimes.com
March 1, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
🇩🇪 Germany: one nation, two societies.
February 23, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by Markus Poole
The US State Department is forcing all of its employees to cancel subscriptions to any Trump-unfriendly media.
February 19, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
This little bird survived a volcanic eruption!

Buried by volcanic ash from Vesuvius in AD 79, this Roman fresco of a little bird pecking at fruit re-emerged looking as delightful as it did some 2,000 years ago!

Villa Poppaea, Oplontis, Italy
📷 by me 2023

#Archaeology
February 9, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Markus Poole
That 43 pounds of fentanyl intercepted at the US-Canada border last year? Nearly 1/3 of it was seized in July in Spokane, Wash. – more than 150 km from the border – as part of an investigation that led to charges against three Mexican nationals
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Nearly one-third of seized fentanyl attributed to the U.S.-Canada border had no connection with Canada
Finding undermines assertions by Trump administration that Canada is a rapidly growing source of fentanyl in the U.S.
www.theglobeandmail.com
February 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM