rikefranke.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Outch “Trump didn’t cut out Europe any more than it cut out the Guatemalans. In both cases, Trump and his team didn’t think they were necessary to the talks, so they didn’t invite them. It is not a plot against Europe: it is yet another demonstration of Europe’s increasing geopolitical irrelevance”

submitted 1 hour ago • 45 comments

“U.S. negotiators have warned that Ukraine would lose access to Starlink terminals, owned by billionaire Elon Musk's company SpaceX, if Kyiv did not sign the deal” kyivindependent.com/us-threatens...

submitted 1 day ago • 36 comments

In case you are interested, this is what a German ballot paper looks like. Two votes - first goes to the candidate in your constituency. As you can see, only some, usually the bigger parties, put up these “direct” candidates. Second vote determines the % of the party in your Land. #BTW2025

submitted 6 days ago • 18 comments

Very clever, if true. Taken from the Israel-Hezbollah-pager playbook? “Ukraine behind FPV goggles explosions in Russia, source claims” kyivindependent.com/ukraine-behi...

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

was really struck recently talking to a friend who spent six months in that corner of the world working and talking to people about their immediate future, he said he was struck by the extent to which all these countries were essentially convinced Russia would be nibbling on them by around 2027

submitted 3 days ago • 13 comments

British frigate HMS Lancaster has introduced its new helicopter drone, known as Peregrine, into active operations against suspected drug smuggling. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british-nava...

submitted 2 days ago • 3 comments

I always forget that Alexandre has cheekily installed cameras in the podcast studio 😅. Now I have to brush my hair to record a podcast?! Anyway: listen in your podcatcher or anywhere you get your podcasts.

submitted 2 days ago • 4 comments

Tuesday I wrote "There is a scenario in which US not only trades its presence on NATO’s Eastern flank, but also opposes deployment of Euro troops to UKR. It may not be the likeliest today but nothing can be ruled out" Tough DC visit ahead for Macron+Starmer carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

submitted 2 days ago • 4 comments

“Munich et après? » Our latest Collimateur episode is online. lerubicon.org/collimateur-...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

In der letzten Folge 2024 sprachen wir darüber, wie man/wir eigentlich in diesen Zeiten irgendwie zuversichtlich bleiben kann. Vielleicht grade hilfreich: sicherheitspod.de/2024/12/18/f...

submitted 2 days ago • 5 comments

Tbh, I saw this and thought: “careful Economist, it can always get worse…” #happythoughts

submitted 2 days ago • 14 comments

Macron gave a surprisingly upbeat commentary on the Trump-Russia-Ukraine crisis in an 80 minute live video conversation with the French public tonight. He said the “uncertainty” generated by Trump could, in the end, be “good for Ukraine and good for Europe” but needed to be “structured” properly. 1/

submitted 2 days ago • 13 comments

This is a new level of madness. I don't know how it can be stopped

submitted 2 days ago • 655 comments

Macron has just urged the French to join the military reserve. “We are entering a new era”. France will have to spend more on defence. “The threat that Russia represents imposes choices on us” (Live exchange on social media)

submitted 2 days ago • 169 comments

Notre prochain mardi du Grand Continent à @normalesup.bsky.social portera sur les élections allemandes. Avec @guillaumeduval.bsky.social, @fhublet.bsky.social, @josephdeweck.bsky.social, @vdubslaff.bsky.social, @rikefranke.bsky.social, @pmennerat.bsky.social. legrandcontinent.eu/fr/evenement...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Me, again with the cheery scenarios. 🫠 (Recorded at #MSC2025, full report here: www.ardmediathek.de/video/report...

submitted 3 days ago • 13 comments

Interesting article on the drone manufacturing plant the German #drone producer Quantum Systems has built near Kyiv. (In German) www.reservistenverband.de/magazin-loya...

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

Very clever, if true. Taken from the Israel-Hezbollah-pager playbook? “Ukraine behind FPV goggles explosions in Russia, source claims” kyivindependent.com/ukraine-behi...

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

Don’t agree with the article but interesting read nonetheless. foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/18/e...

submitted 3 days ago • 13 comments

This!! foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/18/e...

submitted 3 days ago • 30 comments

Radio report on the future of war with yours truly (and yes, this was the first recording after the flu, as you will be able to hear) (In German) www.ardaudiothek.de/episode/gros...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

My latest for WPR, in which I try to explain why Vance’s speech in Munich hit so hard. www.worldpoliticsreview.com/us-europe-al...

submitted 3 days ago • 8 comments

Super interesting how the Linke seems to be staging a comeback here on the last meters.

submitted 3 days ago • 9 comments

Me, again with the cheery scenarios. 🫠 (Recorded at #MSC2025, full report here: www.ardmediathek.de/video/report...

submitted 3 days ago • 13 comments

Wow, good diplomatic move - Macron reportedly joining in the meeting with Trump by Starmer. Not sure whether anything or anyone can make Trump change course, but this is a strong signal of Europeans moving together to speak to the US.

submitted 3 days ago • 16 comments

In mounting an attack on the US and Europe’s shared values, JD Vance shattered the very thing Europeans believed made the alliance special, @rikefranke.bsky.social writes.

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

“As Rym Momtaz, an analyst of European security at the Carnegie Endowment, eloquently put it, 80 years after the end of World War II, “Vance called on Germany to get rid of its firewall against neo-Nazis, the heirs to the very political movement 416,800 American soldiers died to defeat.””

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

My latest for WPR, in which I try to explain why Vance’s speech in Munich hit so hard. www.worldpoliticsreview.com/us-europe-al...

submitted 3 days ago • 8 comments

📢 Event: Can Germany remain the driving force in the European Union? Join us as experts discuss the German election results. Panel: ▪️ @onethuthree.bsky.social ▪️ @nvondarza.bsky.social ▪️ @codendahl.bsky.social ▪️ @armida.bsky.social 🗓️25 February 📍10:00 GMT www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/o...

submitted 3 days ago • 3 comments

Welche Rolle spielt #Sicherheitspolitik im #Bundestagswahlkampf2025? Was kommt auf die nächste #Bundesregierung zu? @rikefranke.bsky.social vom @ecfr.eu gibt bei uns im Interview Antworten. #Politikwissenschaft #Polisky

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

A question many Europeans are asking themselves. on.ft.com/3Xad4pR How will the UK pay for higher defence spending? 🎁🔗

submitted 3 days ago • 12 comments

The EU’s 16th package of sanctions “target 73 so-called shadow fleet tankers used by Moscow to export crude oil in violation of western restrictions, 13 Russian banks, and scores of individuals and companies deemed to be helping the Russian war effort.” on.ft.com/4hH5ds5

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

Talked to DW last night about European defence and what to do now. The solutions, I argue, are in fact pretty much known. We just need to do it. Now. www.dw.com/en/european-...

submitted 5 days ago • 5 comments

Detailed article, with some insights by yours truly. Krieg der Drohnen: Wie unbemannte Flugkörper Deutschland abwehrbereiter machen könnten www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/politik/krie...

submitted 4 days ago • 2 comments

Russia keeps modifying its #drones, here with a bigger warhead. kyivindependent.com/russian-shah...

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments