Artis Pabriks

After USSR attacked Finland in 1939, it was excluded from League of Nations, after Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022 it should be excluded from UN. Especially, if UN wants to be respected again.

@NileGardiner The most damaging to Alliance is denial of support to Ukraine and flirt with Russia including lifting of sanctions to Russia and its puppet Belarus. Russia is in war alliance with Iran and Europeans are the only ones helping (not enough) to Ukraine.

European weakness over Iran is hugely damaging to the NATO alliance.

Iran’s ambassador to Germany asked Berlin to clarify the role of Ramstein Air Base in the war. The question was direct. Is the largest American military installation in Europe being used to coordinate, plan, or support strike operations against Iran? Because if it is, then Germany is not a neutral party observing a war from across the Mediterranean. Germany is an active participant whose territory enables the bombing. The ambassador cited what Iran described as a request for clarity under UN Resolution 3314, which defines aggression to include allowing territory to be used by another state for acts of aggression against a third state. The legal framing is precise. If Ramstein’s Combined Air Operations Centre is coordinating targeting data, refuelling schedules, or intelligence distribution for strikes on Iranian territory, then Germany’s national territory is a component of the kill chain. The 3314 definition does not require Germany to fire the weapon. It requires Germany to provide the territory from which the weapon is directed. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius responded that there is no reason at present to doubt the legality of Ramstein’s use. The qualifier at present does the same work as appropriate efforts in the seven-nation statement: it preserves optionality while conceding nothing. He added that Germany would not take part in this war, at most in terms of protection or material support. The phrase at most in terms of protection or material support is extraordinary. Material support to a belligerent conducting air strikes from your territory is participation. The distinction Pistorius is drawing between taking part in the war and providing material support to the country taking part in the war does not exist in international law. It exists in domestic political communication, where it allows the German government to tell its electorate that this is not our war while hosting the air operations centre that makes the war possible. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas made the tension explicit on March 19. She said the war was started by the US and Israel without consulting the EU and despite the bloc’s calls for restraint. Then she said the sentence that captured Europe’s position more honestly than any diplomatic communique: This is not Europe’s war. We are allies of America, but we do not really understand their moves recently. The admission is revelatory. Europe’s most senior foreign policy official publicly stated that the continent’s closest ally launched a major war without explaining its strategic logic to its partners. The allies did not understand the moves. They were not consulted. They are now absorbing the consequences: gas prices doubling, food prices rising, refugee flows from Lebanon reaching one million, and an Iranian diplomat asking whether German soil is part of the targeting infrastructure. Ramstein is not a minor installation. It is the headquarters of US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa. It hosts the 603rd Air Operations Centre, which provides command and control for all US and NATO air operations across the European and African theatres. The base processes intelligence, coordinates aerial refuelling, and serves as the logistics hub for US military operations extending from the North Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Whether it is being used for Iran-specific operations is a factual question that the German government has chosen not to answer directly. The firewall between Europe and the Iran war has an American door. It is located in Rhineland-Palatinate. It is called Ramstein. And Iran has publicly asked who is walking through it. open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

@normundsbergs Sen jau to saku. Bezjēdzīgi un tuvredzīgi Latvijas lauksaimniecības zemi izmantot degvielas ražošanai.

Varbūt vispār ir laiks atmest to degvielas "zaļināšanu" ar pārtikas piedevām. Elektroauto ir nostiprinājies kā alternatīva iekšdedzes dzinējiem. Atbalstam elektrību, bet lauksaimniecības zemi izmantojam pārtikas ražošanai, ne dārgai un neefektīvai degvielai.

Vienmēr prieks satikt uzņēmīgus cilvēkus no Latvijas mazpilsētām, kuri mūs priecē ar kaut ko unikālu, garšīgu, skaistu vai interesantu. Šoreiz Cesvaines alus darītāji padara mūsu dzīvi interesantāku un Latviju atpazīstamāku. Iesaku Cesvaines alu!

@counterbrange @JurgisLiepnieks Trīsdesmito beigās arī tā domāja, lai nu šoreiz izdodas, jo miers un drošība ir trauslas lietas. Jebkurā gadījumā-jābūt gataviem uz visu.

@JurgisLiepnieks Lūdzam dievu un turam īkšķus, lai Latvija būtu vismierīgākā un omulīgākā saliņa bangojošajā pasaules okeānā. Sargeņģeļa un veiksmes faktoram arī ir milzīga nozīme, lai izspruktu daudzmaz sveikā.

Tramps Irānas sakarā izskatās haotisks, izmisis, apjucis. Nerunāsim, ka visu laiku nonāk pretrunās, pinas un putrojas. Vai ASV vēl aizvien pēc būtības ir NATO, tas liels jautājums. Krievijā tikmēr acīmredzami kaut kas briest. Kādreiz mēs šo atcerēsimies un brīnīsimies, ka mēs tā mierīgi dzīvojām, ar savām lietām nodarbojāmies, neko īpaši neuztraucāmies ne par ko.

@AmbDanFried @ralakbar Did they fake also assasination in US elections? Any thoughts?

Russian intelligence considered faking an assassination attempt to increase his chances in next month’s elections. washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/…

The President of the United States just recorded a campaign video for Viktor Orban. From the Oval Office. Orban – the man blocking EU aid to Ukraine, maintaining warm ties with Moscow, and systematically dismantling Hungarian democracy for fifteen years – needed a boost ahead of his April election. So Trump sent one. “A very big hello to CPAC Hungary.” Reagan would have needed a drink.

Mana intervija Somijas laikrakstā par iespējamiem Krievijas draudiem iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/a/348…

Larvijai jau sen bija piedāvājumi iesaistīties Igaunijas atomstacijas plānos un tas būtu mums jādara. Pēc tam varēsim sapņot paši par savus staciju.

@janis_sarts @krispumpurs RIP, leģendas aiziet.

Esmu no tās paaudzes kuriem Čaks Norris nebija tikai anekdošu personāžs. Viņš bija viens no tiem aktieriem, kas 80o gadu otrā pusē pusē pavēra durvis uz aizliegtu pasauli. Šobrīd varētu šķist jocīgi, kā gan vienkāšas kautiņu filmas tā varētu uztvert.⬇️

JUST IN: The country that learned to shoot down Iranian drones over Kyiv is now teaching the Gulf to shoot them down over refineries. Nobody asked Trump. The Gulf asked Ukraine. President Zelensky confirmed at the UK Parliament on March 18 that 201 Ukrainian military specialists are already deployed across UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, with teams en route to Kuwait and 34 more ready to go. These are active-duty government military personnel, not private contractors. They are sharing combat-proven expertise from three years of intercepting Iranian Shahed drones over Ukrainian cities, power grids, and civilian infrastructure. The Gulf states requested the assistance. Saudi Arabia explicitly approached Ukraine. The arrangement is reciprocal: Ukraine provides the expertise that no other country possesses at this depth of operational experience, and the Gulf provides what Ukraine needs most, funding, technology, and air defence systems. Zelensky specifically highlighted Patriot missiles as part of the exchange. The country that cannot get enough Patriots from the West is earning them from the Gulf by teaching drone interception. Trump did not request this deployment. No reporting in any outlet, from Reuters to Al Jazeera to the Kyiv Post, indicates American coordination or approval. The recent Trump-Zelensky tensions over aid disputes and public friction are well documented. This is not a Washington-orchestrated move. It is a bilateral arrangement between Ukraine and Gulf capitals that bypasses Washington entirely. Zelensky built a parallel channel to the Gulf that gives Ukraine what America has been reluctant to provide while giving the Gulf what America’s $23.5 billion arms surge does not include: the people who know how to fight Shaheds because they have been fighting them every night for three years. The expertise is specific and irreplaceable. Ukraine has intercepted thousands of Shahed-136 and Shahed-238 drones since 2022. It has developed detection protocols, jamming techniques, acoustic tracking, small-arms interception methods, and integrated air defence coordination that no training manual teaches. The Gulf states purchased Patriot batteries, THAAD radars, and anti-drone systems through the $23.5 billion arms package. The hardware is American. The operational knowledge of how to use it against the exact Iranian drone variants now striking Gulf refineries is Ukrainian. Israel views this positively. Anything that strengthens Gulf air defences against Iranian drones reduces the threat environment for every country in the region, including Israel. Ukrainian-Gulf cooperation reinforces the anti-Iran alignment that the Abraham Accords established. Israel and Ukraine share a common adversary’s weapons system: Iran builds the Shaheds, Russia deploys them against Ukraine, and the IRGC deploys them against the Gulf. The expertise flows in one direction. The threat originates from the same factory. The Putin dimension is real but secondary. Iran supplies Russia with Shahed drones for use against Ukraine. Ukraine now teaches Gulf states to destroy those same drones when Iran uses them directly. The feedback loop is elegant: every Ukrainian lesson learned from shooting down Russian-deployed Shaheds over Odesa is now applied to IRGC-deployed Shaheds over Ras Laffan. Putin’s Iranian drone supplier is being countered by the country Putin is fighting, on a battlefield 4,000 kilometres from the front line. The irony is structural. The aggravation is intentional. Two hundred and one experts. Government military, not contractors. Gulf-requested, not Trump-directed. Shahed-specific, not generic. And the country with the most relevant expertise on Earth got there before the $23.5 billion in hardware arrived. open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

Nuo baimės iki pasitikėjimo – taip latviai augina vaikus 🇱🇻 Štai kur formuojasi charakteris 😉 IG 🎬 andisneiksans

@Gaumigais_joks Šādi Baltkrieviju neatdalīt no Krievijas, bet būs iespēja apgādāt krieviju ar avio rezerves daļām un no Krievijas importēt minerālmēslus. To var uzskatīt par nākošo sankciju atcelšanu. Bez tam, neesmu pārliecināts, ka te kāds prasīja pārtraukt hibrīduzbrukumus mums.

@Pabriks Ar Baltkrieviju Tramps nedraudzējas,bet panāca politieslōdzīto atbrīvošanu!Kartupeļu fīrers saprot,ka kļūdīties šeit nedrīkst,ja negrib kļūt par Maduro2.0. Ļoti labi vērtējams fakts,ka fīreru atdala no pļutkina! Vēl viena mums izdevīga lieta! Labāk lai amerikāņi tam maksā, ne pū!

Labs paskaidrojums tiem, kuri aicina “izlikties”, ka esam gatavi doties uz Līci atsaucoties Trampa mediju aicinājumam. Var papildināt ar mūsu atbalstu Ukrainai no kurasTramps ir atteicies un izvēlējies draudzēties ar Baltkrieviju, kura mūs apdraud.

Tajikistan’s 110-truck “humanitarian” convoy to Iran is raising alarms. Russia used similar convoys to mask weapon shipments in 2014.

Today, four years ago, 19 March 2022 When words no longer mean anything, symbols speak. Ukrainian border guards handed the ambassador of Belarus “30 pieces of silver”—a clear, cold signal: betrayal is remembered. With contempt.

Support @425Skala donate Chance for Peace. Ukrainian defence is fundamental for European security.

“Why are the russians doing this to Ukraine? Because they can, because the world has allowed them to.” Testimony of Taira (Yuliya Payevska) to the US Helsinki Commission. She was captured and imprisoned by russians on March 16, 2022 and released on June 17, 2022. ▪️ Taira about herself: "My name is Yuliya Payevska. By profession, I am a graphic designer, as well as the president of one of the Aikido federations of Ukraine. Russians call me a Nazi. This is what they call everyone who opposes them, or simply does not want to see russia in Ukraine. I spent the first 20 days of this war in Mariupol, which turned into hell. After that, I spent 3 months in russian captivity. And it was hell too." ▪️ About the proposal to commit suicide: "When my executioners suggested that I commit suicide, I said no. I wanted to see what would happen tomorrow, I wondered how far they would go in their madness and malice. And then one day, when it seemed that there was no hope, someone looked into the window and called my name. "Take your things and go out" — that's how my path to freedom began. ▪️About those who remained in russian captivity: "Pregnant prisoners whose fate is unknown neither to their families nor to the state. A soldier who was beaten for three hours and then thrown into the basement like a sack, and only a day later someone came to him." ▪️ About horrors in Mariupol: "A dead child in his mother's arms, a seven-year-old boy with a gunshot wound dying in my arms because I cannot stop his death. Prisoners screaming for weeks in their cells, dying of torture in hellish agony. I remember my friend's eyes, which I closed before his body went cold, and another friend, and another, and another... I saw half a million people dying under air strikes. Air strikes on hospitals and residential areas. A hospital full of wounded people, with no medicine. Surgeons and medical staff sleeping for three hours a day as operations followed one after another. Medical evacuation vehicles arriving every 5 to 10 minutes, with the living and the dead lying on top of each other. Cars that are on fire with people inside. Police officers pulling women and children from the rubble, mutilated beyond recognition. People collecting water from puddles. Dogs that were once pets dragging human limbs around the city." ▪️About questions from the executioner: "One of my executioners asked me: "Do you know why I do this to you?" I answered: "Because you can." He did not expect such an answer. But it is true. They do it because they can. Because their leaders told them they had the right to do so. Because once they were allowed to. Because the world gave them such permission. The world was silent, watching the crimes of the russians in Georgia, Syria and so on."

@counterbrange @Znotina Jāizvērtē ir visas situācijas, arī iespējamās partnerības ar “jauno stratēģisko partneri” Baltkrieviju. Nedrīkstam atpalikt.

@Znotina Latvija un Igaunija netika pat uzaicināta iestāties Trampa Miera padomē. "Izvērtētu". Saprotams, ka diplomātiem nav viegls laiks. Cerams, ka memuāros kādreiz varēs uzrakstīt, kā patiesībā bija, ko vajadzēja noklusēt, kādus "krupjus norīt".

Latvija izvērtētu palīdzības sniegšanu sabiedrotajiem operācijā Hormuza šaurumā, saka Braže delfi.lv/193/politics/1…