A flying object, likely a drone, entered Lithuanian airspace and exploded on Oct. 18, sending residents to shelters and damaging a civilian vehicle, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said.

This weekly update from the Kyiv Independent aims to shed light on the situation facing Ukrainians living under Russian occupation and the ever-tightening control of information imposed by the Kremlin.

Key news as of Oct. 17:

• Eleven Ukrainians, including 96-year-old woman, return from Russian-occupied territories, ombudsman says
• Russia sends terrorism

Christine Lagarde says rising government borrowing costs are tightening financial conditions across the eurozone, complicating efforts to contain inflation without undermining economic growth.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has warned that a sharp sell-off in government bonds is tightening financial conditions across the eurozone, threatening to weaken economic growth at a time when European governments are already struggling with mounting debt and higher energy prices.

Speaking during the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings on Saturday, 17 October, Lagarde said rising bond yields were imposing additional pressure on the European economy, potentially reducing demand and helping to bring inflation down.

Her comments came as investors demanded higher returns on government debt across major developed economies, reflecting concerns about persistent inflation, widening budget deficits and the substantial borrowing requirements associated with investment in artificial intelligence.

The development presents a complicated situation for the ECB, which has already raised its key interest rate twice this year in response to renewed inflationary pressure following the conflict in the Middle East.

Higher government bond yields effectively tighten monetary conditions even without a further decision by the central bank to increase official interest rates.

Bond markets tighten financial conditions

The latest sell-off has pushed borrowing costs higher across Europe, although the pressure is particularly acute in countries with large public debts and persistent budget deficits.

When investors sell government bonds, their market prices fall and yields rise. Those higher yields eventually feed into the costs of borrowing for governments, businesses and households.

Lagarde indicated that financial conditions had become tighter than assumed in the ECB’s September economic forecasts.

According to her latest assessment of the bond market, the resulting slowdown in demand could help moderate inflation, but would also place additional pressure on an economy whose growth prospects remain limited.

The ECB’s September projections forecast eurozone economic growth of just 0.9 per cent in 2026, followed by 1.4 per cent in 2027 and 1.5 per cent in 2028.

Inflation was expected to average 3.0 per cent this year before declining to 2.5 per cent in 2027 and 2.1 per cent in 2028.

Those forecasts were based on assumptions about financial conditions and energy prices that may no longer fully reflect developments in international markets.

France faces particularly acute pressure

France has emerged as one of the most vulnerable major eurozone economies because of its high public debt, persistent deficits and political disagreements over fiscal consolidation.

French government bond yields have risen sharply as investors question whether Paris can deliver the spending reductions required to stabilise its finances.

As EU Today reported earlier this month, eurozone finance ministers have been pressing France to produce a credible budget that would restore confidence in the country’s fiscal position.

The borrowing premium demanded on French debt relative to German government bonds has also widened, reflecting investors’ concerns about the financial outlook and the political difficulties surrounding the 2027 budget.

The IMF has warned that continued increases in borrowing costs could eventually force the French government to undertake more substantial fiscal adjustments.

In its assessment of French bond yields, the Fund said the immediate pressures remained manageable, partly because France benefits from established debt markets and relatively long borrowing maturities.

Nevertheless, persistently elevated yields would increase the cost of refinancing government debt as existing bonds mature.

The wider concern is that higher borrowing costs could reduce the room available for public investment and other expenditure across several European economies simultaneously.

IMF warns governments over rising debt

Lagarde’s intervention coincided with renewed warnings from the IMF about the sustainability of European public finances.

In its latest European economic assessment, the Fund argued that governments must either accelerate economic growth or reduce borrowing to prevent debt burdens from becoming increasingly difficult to manage.

The IMF expects eurozone growth of approximately 1.1 per cent in 2026 and 1.2 per cent in 2027, with continuing pressure from energy costs, demographic changes and weak productivity.

The European Commission’s forecasts indicate that eurozone government debt could rise from 88.7 per cent of GDP in 2025 to 91.2 per cent in 2027.

The IMF has also identified structural weaknesses, including barriers within the European single market, which restrict investment and productivity growth.

These problems are becoming more difficult to address as European governments face demands for greater defence expenditure, infrastructure investment and support for industries affected by higher energy prices.

ECB faces difficult interest-rate decision

The ECB has already increased its deposit rate to 2.5 per cent following successive increases in June and September.

As EU Today reported after September’s decision, the central bank has been attempting to contain inflation generated by rising energy costs without causing a more substantial economic slowdown.

The IMF now expects at least one additional quarter-percentage-point increase before the end of 2026.

Such a decision would bring the deposit rate to 2.75 per cent, although the ECB has not committed itself to that outcome.

The challenge is that tighter monetary policy would coincide with financial restrictions already being imposed by bond markets.

At the same time, higher energy prices continue to affect household purchasing power and business operating costs.

In her statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee, Lagarde acknowledged that the eurozone had proved more resilient than expected, while warning that risks to growth remained tilted to the downside and risks to inflation to the upside.

The duration of the Middle East conflict, developments in energy markets and changes in investor confidence will be important in determining the economic outlook.

For the ECB, a bond-market slowdown could reduce the need for further interest-rate increases by weakening demand. But if energy-driven inflation remains elevated, the central bank may still face pressure to tighten policy.

Europe’s governments, meanwhile, have considerably less control over the borrowing costs demanded by international investors.

The next ECB interest-rate decision will therefore take place against an increasingly difficult combination of sluggish growth, persistent inflation and financial markets imposing their own constraints on public and private borrowing.

Inde Navarrette, Colman Domingo, Teyana Taylor, Anna Kendrick, Rami Malek, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jacob Elordi, Adrien Brody, Mikey Madison, Chase Infiniti, Mark Hamill, Kate Hudson, Sofia Vergara, Seth Rogen, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Ackie, Charlize Theron, Alexa Demie, Mia Goth, Cailee Spaeny, Mckenna Grace, Zoey Deutch and Kristen Wiig were also in attendance at the star-studded event.

The Indian stock market continued its 3-day rally, defying other Asian markets dragged down by speculation around AI stocks and concerns about U.S. inflation and a potential interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve

"Today, this is fully under Europe's control. That means (Russian assets) are safe for now," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Whether it was youngsters proving their skills or state sabotage, Europe’s most hacked country was left with a mountain of waste after food began cooking in freezers

Shortly before midnight last Sunday, the digital thermostats controlling hundreds of supermarket cold aisles across France began to flicker and rise.

In a “bizarre and unprecedented” cyber-attack, hackers had remotely overridden the temperature settings on thousands of freezers, fridges and chiller cabinets pushing them from as low as -27C (-16.6F) to well over 50C (122F).

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© Photograph: Lucien Libert/Reuters

© Photograph: Lucien Libert/Reuters

© Photograph: Lucien Libert/Reuters

Russia has placed five foreign-owned businesses under compulsory administration, including Belgian manufacturer Ontex and French flooring group Tarkett. The latest seizures deepen the confrontation over sanctions, frozen Russian assets and the future of European investment in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the transfer of five Western-owned businesses into compulsory Russian management, extending a campaign of asset seizures targeting European companies that continued operating in Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The decree, signed on 15 October, affects businesses with combined annual revenues exceeding 53 billion roubles, approximately €530 million. They include French flooring manufacturer Tarkett, Belgian hygiene products group Ontex, German packaging producer Menshen, Kappa Rus and Eviosys Packaging Kuban, now linked to American group Sonoco.

Under Presidential Decree No. 738, operational control has been transferred to Centre Capital, a little-known Moscow company established in February 2026 with registered share capital of just 10,000 roubles.

The decision follows similar interventions against Nestlé, Auchan, FM Logistic and Metro in September. Together, the measures demonstrate how Moscow is using foreign-owned businesses as instruments of economic retaliation against countries supporting Ukraine.

Foreign businesses placed under Russian control

Centre Capital is headed by Marat Mirkhaydarov, a former senior official in Russia’s Zabaykalsky region who reportedly served with the Akhmat military formation during Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The scale of the companies placed under his management contrasts sharply with the financial standing of the administrator.

Tarkett’s Russian operations generated approximately 19.3 billion roubles in revenue during 2025, while Kappa Rus recorded 16.5 billion roubles and Ontex RU another 10.3 billion. Eviosys Packaging Kuban and Menshen Packaging CIS reported approximately 6.1 billion and 1.4 billion roubles respectively.

The decree does not formally transfer ownership of the companies to Centre Capital. It does, however, remove the foreign shareholders’ effective control over management, operations and commercial decisions.

For Belgian manufacturer Ontex, the consequences are immediate.

In an official statement issued on 16 October, the Aalst-based company confirmed that a government-appointed administrator had assumed operational control of its Russian subsidiary.

Ontex Russia employs approximately 350 people, operates a manufacturing facility in Noginsk and maintains a sales office in Moscow. The subsidiary accounts for around five per cent of the group’s total revenue and between seven and eight per cent of adjusted EBITDA.

The company said it was examining measures to protect its assets and maintain business continuity.

Tarkett likewise confirmed that it was losing effective control of its Russian operations.

A mechanism established in 2023

The legal framework for such interventions dates to April 2023, when Putin introduced Decree No. 302, allowing the Russian authorities to place assets associated with countries designated as unfriendly under temporary external management.

The appointed administrator can exercise extensive ownership-related powers, although the formal right to dispose of the assets remains excluded.

Crucially, the arrangement can be terminated only by presidential decision. There is no automatic deadline for returning operational control to the original owners.

Moscow maintains that the measures are reversible. Nevertheless, the loss of management authority raises questions about whether businesses could eventually be returned with their financial position, organisational structure and commercial value intact.

The latest decree extends the process already documented by EU Today following the September takeover of Nestlé and Auchan’s Russian operations.

The Kremlin’s approach also serves domestic economic objectives. Keeping factories, retail networks and distribution facilities operating under Russian management helps preserve employment, production capacity and established supply chains.

At the same time, appointing Russian administrators allows the authorities to exercise greater influence over businesses originally developed through foreign capital, technology and expertise.

European companies caught in sanctions confrontation

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has explicitly linked the seizures to the nationality of the affected companies and the policies of their governments.

He accused European states of participating in the unlawful seizure of Russian property through sanctions and financial restrictions.

Moscow’s argument centres partly on approximately €210 billion in Russian sovereign assets immobilised in the European Union, most of them held through Belgium-based securities depository Euroclear.

The European Union has used extraordinary revenues generated by those assets to support Ukraine, while further proposals involving the underlying funds remain subject to legal and political debate.

Belgium has been particularly concerned about potential financial exposure and legal claims. As EU Today reported in September, a Belgian Council of State judgment raised additional questions about the administrative procedures governing certain frozen assets.

The dispute has also moved into the European courts, with the Bank of Russia challenging EU measures intended to protect Euroclear against the enforcement of Russian judgments.

Moscow’s treatment of European businesses adds another dimension to this confrontation. By retaining control over foreign-owned industrial and commercial assets, Russia possesses a means of exerting pressure on companies whose governments support sanctions and military assistance to Ukraine.

The implications are particularly serious for Western banks that still maintain substantial Russian operations.

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International and Italy’s UniCredit remain exposed to Russia through local subsidiaries. Any extension of compulsory administration to financial institutions could create additional difficulties involving deposits, capital and banking supervision.

The cost of remaining in Russia

The seizures also expose the financial risks faced by Western companies that delayed their withdrawal after February 2022.

Many initially sought to protect their investments, employees and commercial infrastructure. Others reduced operations but retained ownership, expecting that conditions might eventually permit an orderly sale or renewed business activity.

Russian restrictions have progressively complicated that calculation, requiring foreign investors from designated countries to accept substantial discounts on asset sales and obtain official approval for transactions.

Companies remaining in the country now face the additional possibility that the government will appoint administrators without their consent.

The consequences extend beyond the businesses immediately affected. Russia is establishing a precedent under which foreign investment can remain legally owned by its original shareholders while its economic benefits and operational management are placed beyond their control.

For European governments, the latest decree illustrates the increasing connection between commercial interests and geopolitical decisions.

The Kremlin has demonstrated that sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine can be answered not only through diplomatic or financial measures, but also through direct intervention in European-owned businesses operating on Russian territory.

Any eventual negotiation over sanctions relief and the restoration of economic relations will consequently have to address the status of these assets, the rights of their original shareholders and the question of compensation.

Until then, Western companies remaining in Russia face an investment environment in which the ultimate authority over their businesses rests increasingly with the Kremlin rather than their shareholders.

• In 1946, Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy opened the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia.
• In 1967, Cathy opened the first Chick-fil-A and invented the restaurant's iconic chicken sandwich.
• Chick-fil-A is now the third-largest restaurant chain in the US.

Eighty years after Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy opened his first restaurant, Chick-fil-A is now the third-largest restaurant brand in the country.

The family-owned chain has since grown to more than 3,200 US restaurants and generated nearly $24 billion in US systemwide sales in 2025, trailing only McDonald’s and Starbucks, per Technomic's Top 500 chains report.

The chicken chain's rise has not been without controversy.

Chick-fil-A faced widespread backlash in 2012 after Cathy's son Dan, then the company’s CEO, publicly opposed same-sex marriage, while the company and its foundation were criticized for donations to organizations with anti-LGBTQ+ positions.

This week, current CEO Andrew Cathy declined to directly address the company’s history or state its position on LGBTQ+ equality in an interview with NBC, instead saying Chick-fil-A is focused on hospitality and welcoming everyone who comes through its doors.

Here’s how Chick-fil-A grew from a small Southern diner into a fast-food powerhouse.

De Wever said that Ukraine urgently needed the fighter jets, as they were one of the few weapons capable to strike Russian jet-powered drones.

"Without a determined European Union capable of making strong decisions Putin would have gone much further by now," Zelensky said, before calling on the bloc to double down on its support.

ETS, il pressing di Meloni e il nodo competitività: cosa ha ottenuto l’Italia a Bruxelles

Poco prima della partenza per Bruxelles, Giorgia Meloni avrebbe avuto, secondo fonti a lei vicine, una breve conversazione con Emanuele Orsini, presidente di Confindustria. L’indiscrezione, anche se da confermare, si inserisce in quel costante dialogo tra governo e imprese, nel quale il costo dell’energia e le regole europee sulle emissioni occupano da mesi un posto centrale. Ed è proprio su quel terreno che la premier ha concentrato una parte significativa del negoziato al Consiglio europeo.

«La questione, in fondo, è piuttosto semplice: che senso ha chiedere alle imprese europee di competere sui mercati internazionali se poi vengono costrette a sostenere costi che i loro concorrenti americani o asiatici non hanno? È attorno a questo interrogativo che Giorgia Meloni ha costruito una delle partite più delicate del Consiglio europeo di Bruxelles», racconta una fonte diplomatica di stanza a Bruxelles.

Per arrivare a un’intesa sull’ETS, il sistema europeo di scambio delle quote di emissione, ci sono volute ore di discussioni e una mediazione conclusa nella notte. Meloni non ha ottenuto la sospensione del meccanismo né il rinvio dell’ETS2 invocato dall’Italia e da altri governi, ma nelle conclusioni compare una richiesta precisa alla Commissione: aggiornare la valutazione degli effetti dell’ETS2, a partire dalla sua struttura e dalle misure di salvaguardia.

Al tempo stesso, i Ventisette sollecitano interventi contro l’eccessiva volatilità del prezzo della CO₂ e richiamano esplicitamente la necessità di proteggere la competitività industriale. Per capire perché Roma abbia insistito tanto sull’ETS basta guardare i bilanci delle imprese italiane, già alle prese con un costo dell’energia che pesa sulla competitività. Il sistema europeo impone agli impianti industriali interessati di restituire quote corrispondenti alle emissioni prodotte. Una parte è ancora assegnata gratuitamente; le altre vanno comprate sul mercato.

Il meccanismo serve a incentivare la riduzione della CO₂. Ma quando le tecnologie necessarie per tagliare le emissioni sono costose, o non ancora disponibili su scala industriale, il conto rischia di diventare pesante. Nell’acciaio, nel cemento, nella chimica, nel vetro e nella ceramica al costo diretto delle emissioni può aggiungersi quello indiretto dell’elettricità. Per le imprese italiane, già esposte a prezzi dell’energia spesso elevati, la combinazione può diventare particolarmente difficile da sostenere. Il pericolo non è soltanto una contrazione dei margini. È il cosiddetto carbon leakage: produzioni che si spostano in Paesi dove i vincoli sulle emissioni sono meno onerosi, con il rischio di perdere occupazione e capacità industriale in Europa senza ridurre le emissioni complessive a livello mondiale.

È una delle ragioni per cui Bruxelles ha introdotto anche il CBAM, il meccanismo di adeguamento del carbonio alle frontiere; restano tuttavia questioni aperte, tra cui la protezione delle esportazioni europee. È su questo nodo che Adolfo Urso insiste da tempo. Il 26 febbraio, al termine del confronto con i ministri dei Paesi riuniti nel formato Friends of Industry, il titolare del MIMIT aveva chiesto di sospendere l’ETS in attesa di una revisione profonda dei parametri di riferimento, delle quote gratuite e del calendario della loro progressiva eliminazione. Aveva inoltre sollecitato uno strumento stabile di sostegno alle imprese esportatrici.

Urso, insomma, non chiedeva qualche correttivo di facciata. A suo giudizio, bisognava intervenire sulle regole che rischiano di rendere sempre meno conveniente produrre in Europa. Un altro passaggio si è avuto l’8 aprile, quando Urso ha incontrato a Roma Stéphane Séjourné, vicepresidente esecutivo della Commissione per la prosperità e la strategia industriale. Nel bilaterale si è discusso anche della revisione dell’ETS e delle preoccupazioni delle imprese sui benchmark, i parametri che concorrono a determinare le quote assegnate gratuitamente. Il confronto con Séjourné mostra come il dossier sia stato seguito non soltanto a Palazzo Chigi, ma anche nei rapporti diretti tra il ministero e l’esecutivo europeo. Al vertice la discussione è ripartita da qui.

L’Italia ha trovato punti di contatto con la Polonia e con alcuni governi dell’Europa centro-orientale, preoccupati per il peso della transizione sui sistemi produttivi. Altri Stati hanno insistito perché non venissero indeboliti gli impegni climatici già assunti. Alla fine è prevalsa una mediazione: l’ETS resta uno strumento centrale della politica europea, ma nelle conclusioni trovano spazio la volatilità del prezzo della CO₂, i rincari dell’elettricità e le ricadute sulla competitività delle imprese. C’è poi una distinzione importante.

L’ETS2, richiamato esplicitamente nelle conclusioni, riguarda i combustibili utilizzati negli edifici e nel trasporto stradale: le sue ricadute interesserebbero soprattutto il riscaldamento e i carburanti. L’ETS tradizionale, invece, riguarda direttamente gli impianti dei settori energivori, le quote gratuite e il rischio di delocalizzazione. Sono due questioni diverse, ma entrambe incidono sui costi della transizione. Ed è su questi costi che il governo italiano vuole continuare a incalzare Bruxelles.

Per Confindustria, che da mesi segnala il peso dell’energia e la necessità di regole sostenibili per la manifattura, il passaggio europeo può offrire uno spazio di confronto ulteriore. Sarebbe però prematuro parlare di una riforma già ottenuta. Il Consiglio ha chiesto ai colegislatori di accelerare il lavoro sulla riserva stabilizzatrice del mercato e alla Commissione di riesaminare gli impatti dell’ETS2. Non ha deliberato la sospensione dell’ETS né fissato il rinvio dell’ETS2 al 2030.

Per Meloni il risultato politico sta nell’aver portato le richieste di correzione dentro un testo condiviso dai leader europei, dopo mesi di pressioni italiane e di interlocuzioni condotte anche da Urso con la Commissione. La partita, però, non si è chiusa nella notte di Bruxelles. Si sposta adesso negli uffici della Commissione e nei successivi negoziati, dove si deciderà quanto di quelle richieste finirà davvero nelle regole. Per le imprese, alle prese ogni giorno con il prezzo dell’energia, le dichiarazioni di principio non bastano. Servono provvedimenti. E soprattutto risultati.

LEGGI LE NOTIZIE DEL CANALE ECONOMIA

L'articolo Meloni forza il negoziato sull’ETS: Bruxelles apre ai correttivi, ora la prova dei costi per l’industria proviene da Affaritaliani.it.

Ukraine’s government has approved a Strategy for the Engineering Equipment of Defensive Lines through 2028. It makes strengthening anti-drone protection of logistics routes one of its priorities, the Defense Ministry says.

Russian FPV drones hunt almost anything that moves within 15 to 30 kilometers of the front, which has forced Ukraine to drape its logistics roads in overhead netting, wire-mesh canopies and reinforced barriers that catch an attacking drone before it reaches a vehicle. Ukraine had already built more than 1,066 kilometers of such protection by mid-July and aims for 4,000 kilometers by the end of 2026.

The new strategy turns that scramble into a single national standard, setting deadlines, assigning responsibility, and building control mechanisms, the ministry explained.

“Solutions that have proven effective we will scale. But we will also account for new challenges, threats and changes in Russian tactics. The main goal is the protection of our service members and civilians,” the Defense Ministry says.

One digital map for every trench and net

The plan puts the entire defensive network onto a screen. To track and monitor the state of defensive lines, Ukraine will introduce a single digital geographic information platform, built on and expanding existing systems, including the DELTA situational-awareness system.

The database will hold object passports, photographs, and data on each structure’s location and condition, helping officials verify that work is done, identify repair needs, and distribute resources on evidence rather than guesswork.

From trenches to supply roads, one cycle

The strategy covers the full span of military engineering. Its main lines of work are building and maintaining fortifications, laying engineering obstacles, strengthening anti-drone protection of logistics routes, using modern designs, materials and camouflage, creating a reserve of construction materials, and maintaining digital records of the work.

Developed on the Defense Ministry’s initiative based on combat experience, the document spans the entire cycle from planning and construction to accounting, upkeep, and restoration, the ministry noted. Financing will come from the state and local budgets for the relevant year and from other sources not prohibited by law.

The talks apparently failed to yield a breakthrough on the fate of €200 billion ($227 billion) in Russian assets frozen by Euroclear under Belgian jurisdiction.

Russia has exploited an EU sanctions loophole to unfreeze $3 billion worth of assets held by Belgium's Euroclear, according to a Flemish media report, and Austria's Raiffeisen Bank could be about to execute the same maneuver.

Some shootings in Israeli jails caused severe injuries that went untreated, according to documents; one detainee's testicle was removed after it was reportedly 'crushed' by bullet

Convergenze parallele e, per certi versi, anche fisiologiche. Ieri in Senato si è assistito ad un fenomeno che, in quattro anni, non si era quasi mai visto. Ovvero gli applausi a Meloni di Calenda e mezzo Pd. Come se la geopolitica, prima che politica, avesse avuto il sopravvento su contrapposizioni, insulti, contestazioni. Come se il clima pre-elettorale fosse stato messo da parte sull’altare delle cose giuste da fare e da rivendicare a Bruxelles. Il paniere di temi in questione è noto e riguarda il futuro non solo dell’Italia, ma anche della stessa Europa.

Quando la presidente del Consiglio ha spiegato che alcune dinamiche non hanno molto a che fare con la tutela dell’ambiente, ovvero il prezzo degli Ets che sale e che quindi fa salire anche il costo di produzione per l’acciaieria, la cartiera, il cementificio, la ceramica, ha posto un tema su cui nessuna parte sana può non essere d’accordo, perché riguarda la salvaguardia delle imprese.

Che non hanno colore politico, ma rispondono a logiche semplicissime: se regole sbagliate le strozzano, allora rischiano la chiusura, con conseguente perdita di posti di lavoro.

Quando Meloni ha chiesto una sospensione temporanea di alcuni obblighi sul Regolamento europeo del metano ha posto un altro tema nevralgico: ovvero che se una norma, nel passaggio dalla teoria alla pratica, produce danni o mancati benefici, semplicemente va corretta.

Infine quando ha avvertito che non è più possibile per l’Europa importare cobalto, grafite, terre rare imprescindibili per transizione energetica, transizione digitale e difesa, non fa solo una diagnosi arci nota (su cui però dei “bravi” nessuno ha dato un’accelerata fino ad oggi) ma indica la cura, proponendo Porto Marghera come uno dei primi siti europei di stoccaggio strategico di queste materie, iniziativa che potrebbe diventare un progetto pilota europeo.

“Il filo che lega tutte queste iniziative, insomma, è semplice: l’Europa deve tornare a mettere la capacità di produrre al centro delle proprie scelte”, ha detto la premier. In quel momento gli applausi di democratici e calendiani sono stati la spia che l’interesse nazionale è sentito dalle cosiddette forze responsabili presenti in Parlamento, dove l’epiteto responsabili non è il titolo di una squadra buono per un discorso carico di demagogia.

Ma la pragmatica conseguenza di scelte strutturali e lungimiranti che devono essere fatte per il bene futuro (e presente) della collettività. Che si fanno solo in un modo.

L’Europa forte che ha bisogno di Nazioni forti, parafrasando Meloni in chiusura, fa il paio con l’esigenza di un’Europa più solida e credibile all’interno di un metodo di amministrare il paese che difenda l’interesse italiano (come fanno anche tutti gli altri paesi membri).

Solo una parte delle opposizioni lo ha ben compreso.

"These are frozen Russian assets held in Europe, belonging to Russians who are destroying Ukraine and killing people there every day... the idea of releasing these assets is completely out of the question," said Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

Official guidance says ammonia in animal urine should be watered down to stop it corroding bark

A neighbourhood in Vienna has introduced guidelines for dog walking, including the use of bottled tap water to rinse away urine and protect vulnerable trees.

Neubau, an up-and-coming, densely populated district dotted with cafes and galleries, rolled out the Schönes Gassi (nice dog walk) campaign this week.

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© Photograph: Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP/Getty Images

"All of us in Europe want this war to end. And for that to happen, strong signals are needed — more real pressure on Russia and more defense support for Ukraine," Zelensky wrote on social media upon arrival.