In 1973, Volkswagen acquired 140,000 hectares of land in Brazil, where it set up a livestock farm. According to some reports, slave labor was widely used there and human rights violations were reported everywhere, as evidenced by dozens of testimonies cited by the German publications NDR, SWR and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
On June 14, 2022, a hearing will begin in the court of the Brazilian capital in the case of the subsidiary of the Volkswagen concern – VW do Brasil. According to a former employee of the company, the guards on the farm were armed, and those who tried to escape were tied up and beaten. A fleeing man was shot in the leg, and as punishment for the attempted escape, his wife was raped.
“Workers had to work 7 days a week, more than 10 hours a day, and that’s without pay. They were abused and strictly forbidden to leave the farm, “said Rafael Garcia, a senior prosecutor. According to a 2017 investigation by the historian of the University of Bielefeld – Christopher Koper, commissioned by Volkswagen, VW do Brasil has made no effort to improve the situation of workers. It is alleged that the then board of directors of the Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg was aware of these incidents. The current charges against Volkswagen cover the period from 1974 to 1986.
Between 1964 and 1985, Brazil was under a military dictatorship, and Volkswagen’s farm received support from rulers who wanted to promote the development of the Amazon region. It should be noted that this is not the first time that Volkswagen has been held responsible for cooperating with the Brazilian military dictatorship. As early as 2017, studies by the same publications NRD, SWR and Süddeutsche Zeitung showed that the largest European car giant is actively involved in political repression and persecution of opponents of the military dictatorship at the Sao Paulo plant.
It came to the point that in 2020, Volkswagen paid 36 million reais (about 5.5 million euros) in compensation to family members of employees who were tortured and killed during the military dictatorship. Prior to the criminal case, investigators had been gathering evidence for three years. According to senior prosecutor Rafael Garcia, it is possible to reach an agreement on monetary compensation for the victims. Otherwise, Volkswagen could be prosecuted.
The German carmaker plans to discontinue the production of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in Europe by 2035. In addition, by 2030 in Europe, the company intends to increase the share of electric vehicles with total sales to 70%. “Volkswagen announced in March that it plans to set up a network of six battery factories for electric vehicles in Europe by 2030. The companies are expected to produce batteries with a total capacity of 240 GWh per year. The first two plants will operate in Sweden and Germany, using renewable energy sources. Production at the plant in Sweden should start in 2023, and in Germany in 2025.
The manager of the music institution Dominique Mayer also defended the decision to continue working with Russian performers such as soprano Anna Netrebko
Milan’s La Scala Opera House will open next season with Russian opera Boris Godunov, ANSA reported, citing opera manager Dominique Mayer. He said he was against the “witch hunt” linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Modest Mussorgsky’s masterpiece will open the season on December 7, he announced.
Mayer also defended the theater’s decision to continue working with Russian performers such as soprano Anna Netrebko. “I’m not for witch hunts,” Mayer told a news conference. “I do not support the rejection of Russian works, and when I read Pushkin, I do not hide,” he said.
The choice of the opera for the opening of the season was made several years ago, added Meyer, quoted by Reuters. The main roles in the production are entrusted to the Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov and the soprano Anna Denisova.
Immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, the Milan Opera House refused to work with Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, who refused to condemn the war. Asked by a journalist what the difference was with the Gergiev case, Mayer said La Scala saw the Russian conductor almost as a politician. “He is something like a Russian culture minister. The other artists are in a different position – they receive awards, but that does not make them supporters of the war,” he added.
The Scala in Milan has planned over 200 performances for the 2022-2023 season.
As early as mid-March, a petition against Russia’s cultural isolation began in Italy – a petition calling for cooperation with Russia’s cultural and scientific representatives should not be refused, launched in Italy. According to the website change.org, as of Monday, nearly 20,000 people had signed the appeal, the TASS news agency reported at the time.
The authors of the petition note that after Russia launched the “operation” in Ukraine, in Italy “there are a number of dismissals of scholars and representatives of Russian culture.”
“Our concern is that discrimination against Russians, especially the most prominent members of this country, could have irreversible consequences in the long run. uncontrolled violence, “the text reads.
The authors of the document call on the Italian government to “not allow any acts of ostracism.”
“We hope that broader academic and cultural dialogue will help avoid isolating Russia,” the petition said.
Earlier, 200 Italian officials, including journalists, writers, musicians, students and teachers, as well as cultural figures, called on President Sergio Matarella and Culture Minister Dario Francescini not to discriminate against Russian culture.
Such calls were prompted by a number of events, including the cancellation of a lecture at the University of Milan on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s work by Italian Slavist, writer and translator Paolo Nori, and social media attacks on Italian-born Russian writer Nikolai Lilin, author of the novel Siberian upbringing “, on which the Italian director Gabriele Salvatores made the film of the same name (2013). In addition, La Scala removed the world-famous conductor Valery Gergiev, and Anna Netrebko canceled her participation in an opera production at the Milan Theater. Dancer Sergei Polunin also said he would not be able to present his Rasputin in Milan at the Archimboldi Theater in April due to injury. The show has been postponed to next year, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.
We know that some foods are natural aphrodisiacs, but there are some that kill sexual desire, so they should not be consumed often.
Improper nutrition can kill libido as it not only causes drowsiness but also lowers testosterone levels.
Too much red meat, which is rich in hormones, can create an imbalance in the level of natural hormones, so it will be difficult for men to “get aroused” in bed.
Bean foods
Beans contain oligosaccharides (indigestible sugar molecules that the body cannot break down completely), which more often lead to abdominal cramps and excessive gas – this is definitely not romantic.
Cruciferous vegetables
Cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli – they all contain raffinose, and people do not have the enzyme to break it down. When these vegetables reach the lower intestines, they ferment and produce methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen, leading to the formation of gases.
Garlic and onions
There is no way onions or garlic can make you irresistible to your partner. These spicy vegetables, as well as coffee and spicy foods have the ability to stir your body odors and not in the most pleasant way.
Inorganic soy products
Because soy contains isoflavones that mimic estrogen, called phytoestrogens, consuming too much can upset the hormonal balance of both men and women – leading to low libido. Do not eat excessive amounts of soy milk, edamame, tofu and soy-based meat alternatives.
Beer
You may want to drink a glass or two of beer before jumping between the sheets, but this can affect your libido. This is because hops used to make beer contain phytoestrogens that disrupt hormones.
Pastries from the store
There are two great sexual saboteurs in your favorite pastries from the store or the nearby bakery: trans fats and sugar. In both men and women, this leads to decreased libido. And rest assured, sex is better than dessert.
Cheese
Apart from the fact that many commercially produced dairy products are full of hormone-disrupting antibiotics, many people are also lactose intolerant. Remember stomach discomfort is not the best motivation to make you have fun in bed.
“Red meat is a great source of protein and zinc, which help build muscle, but eat it in smaller amounts and not every day,” advises male nutritionist Frieda Harvey.
If you thought that soy is a good substitute for meat, you are wrong because it reduces the level of testosterone in the body, which also has a bad effect on libido.
Mint is also on the list of non-recommended foods, and alcohol consumption can directly lead to sexual problems.
Its goal is for the two countries to conclude a bilateral agreement that would allow the start of negotiations for the accession of RS Macedonia to the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed readiness to bring together in Paris, “when the time comes”, representatives of the authorities in Sofia and Skopje to conclude a bilateral agreement that would allow negotiations to begin on the accession of the Republic of Northern Macedonia (PCM) to the European Union. , reported AFP.
France, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council until the end of this month, has been supporting “for several weeks” efforts to find a solution to the dispute between the two countries, the Elysee Palace said last night after Macron’s telephone conversations with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Prime Minister RSM Dimitar Kovachevski.
The French president expressed his “full support for an agreement between the two countries that would contribute to good neighborly relations and specify the European perspective of Northern Macedonia”.
Since November 2020, Sofia has blocked the start of EU membership talks with Skopje over bilateral disputes over language and history.
In July, repairs began on the Bulgarian section of the bridge near Ruse
Bulgaria and Romania are launching simultaneous feasibility studies at five locations on both sides of the Danube to build new bridges. This was announced by the press center of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
For the Romanian side, dredging the Danube is a priority. The Bulgarian side will respond adequately to this, as from June 20 the Executive Agency “Research and Maintenance of the Danube” (EAPPD) begins dredging the river with its own funds, and within a week we will announce a public tender for dredging activities, said the Minister. Nikolay Sabev during a meeting today in Bucharest of the joint Bulgarian-Romanian working group on connectivity, which is under the patronage of the two prime ministers.
On the Romanian side, the working group is led by Sorin Grindianu, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure. The Bulgarian delegation was accompanied by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to Bucharest HE Radko Vlaykov.
Minister Sabev stated that funding has been provided for the deepening of the Danube in the amount of BGN 15 million.
“The documentation has been prepared and has already been sent to the Public Procurement Agency for preliminary control, and the funds have been distributed for a three-year period,” he explained.
Regarding the joint project Fast Danube Sabev and Grindianu agreed by the end of 2022 a joint working group to prepare a joint project for funding by the European Commission of the planned engineering measures on the river.
Sabev informed his Romanian counterpart that Bulgaria is fully prepared for the launch of the Ruse-Giurgiu ferry connection and suggested that a joint border control be carried out in Ruse, while the necessary conditions are being created in Giurgiu. Deputy Prime Minister Grindianu has pledged to help local authorities speed up action in Giurgiu.
The Bulgarian side plans to start repairing its part of the Danube Bridge I in July, which from the point of view of the Romanian delegation could create serious problems for tourist and trade flows, the ministry said in a statement. Sabev will discuss the issue with Deputy Prime Minister Grozdan Karadzhov so that the time for repairs can be planned so that traffic between the two countries is hindered to a minimum, the ministry said.
Paychecks: Agreement at night – lead negotiator Dennis Radtke (CDU):“Agreement writes socio-political history in Europe”
Straßburg/Düsseldorf, 07. Juni 2022 – “With the agreement on minimum wages, we are writing socio-political history in Europe. For the first time, EU legislation will make a direct contribution in ensuring that workers are getting fairer, better paychecks”, the lead negotiator of the European Parliament, Dennis Radtke (CDU), commented the result on a statement sent to The European Times.
Until deep in the past night, the EPP-Coordinator for Employment and Social Affairs had negotiated in the Trilogue between the Parliament, the Council and the European Commission and reached a compromise on the EU Minimum Wage Directive.
With the agreement on minimum wages, we are writing socio political history in Europe. For the first time, EU legislation will make a direct contribution in ensuring that workers are getting fairer, better paychecks
MEP Dennis Radtke
According to the North Rhine-Westphalian MEP, the compromise contains the following key points:
The “Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages in the European Union” sets, among other things, EU-wide procedural standards for the setting, updating and enforcing of statutory minimum wages;
the framework includes provisions to promote collective bargaining on wage-setting;
the directive requires the Member States to establish action plans to increase collective bargaining coverage if the latter is below 80 per cent.
“It was a tough job and we wrestled with the Council and the Commission until the very last moment”, Radtke assesses the agreement. “But I may say – it was worth it! Political soapbox speeches about the dignity of work are now finally being filled with life throughout the EU. The implementation of the standards set out in this directive will make a crucial difference in the lives of millions of workers with low and sometimes even existence-threatening wages.”
Together with his Dutch MEP colleague Agnes Jongerius (S&D), Radtke led the negotiations on the side of the Parliament. Parliament, Council and Commission are now working on the technical details of this deal. The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council is expected to take a decision on June 16. After that, the European Parliament must confirm the informally agreed text.
Der Kompromiss zu Europäischen Mindestlöhnen heute Nacht ist echter Rückenwind für soziale Marktwirtschaft in #Europa. Stärkere Tarifbindung und ein klarer Rahmen für faire Mindestlöhne! #Mindestlohn#minimumwagespic.twitter.com/Eb8cxDj3iO
With antisemitism worryingly on the rise in Europe and beyond, the European Union is beginning to implement the first ever EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life. EU regions and cities have a crucial role in protecting and promoting Jewish cultural heritage as a vital part of Europe’s culture and way of life.
Presenting the European Committee of the Regions’ opinion at the plenary session last week, rapporteur János Adam Karácsony (HU/ECR) underlined that the fight against antisemitism is about safeguarding and demonstrating European core values. The Vice-President of the Pest Megye County Council welcomed that the EU strategy “includes a reference to the much-needed support for local and regional authorities to safeguard Jewish heritage and raise awareness of local Jewish culture and traditions” and suggested, for instance, that an action plan could be developed to revitalise Jewish quarters in European cities.
The opinion highlights the importance of education in preserving memory of Holocaust, dismantling prejudices against Jews and raising awareness of Jewish culture and history. “The purpose of combatting antisemitism is not just protection of Jewish community but the community of all European nations whose foundation is a commitment to shared values”, Mr Karácsony concluded.
“Antisemitism is a poison to society, a threat to our EU values and everything that the EU stands for. If we fail to ensure future for Jews in Europe, European project will have failed”, stressed Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission Coordinator on combating antisemitism. She regretted that security concerns have led to Jews leaving some European countries and pointed out that “if the actions at EU level don’t trigger down to cities and regions, little will change for the Jewish community”.
Ms von Schnurbein warned against increasing antisemitic hate speech and conspiracy theories online and welcomed that the Czech EU Council Presidency will address the topic in a specific conference in November. She also accused Russia for using the Holocaust and false claims of denazification to justify the brutal invasion of Ukraine.
President Metsola expressed her condolences to those injured and to the relatives of those who died in a train accident in Bavaria on 3 June, at the opening of the session.
Outgoing MEPs
Chrysoula Zacharopoulou (Renew, France) as of 19 May 2022.
Incoming MEPs
Max Orville (Renew, France) as of 20 May 2022.
Changes to the agenda
Tuesday
As Mr Borrell cannot attend this part-session in Strasbourg, the Question Time with the High Representative, scheduled for Tuesday as the third item in the afternoon, is cancelled.
Wednesday
Council and Commission statements on “The massacre of Christians in Nigeria” are added to the agenda.
Thursday
The debate on Tuesday on the Council and Commission statements on “The rule of law and the potential approval of the Polish national Recovery Plan (RRF)” will be wound up with a resolution to be put to the vote on Thursday.
Information concerning the distribution of votes is available on the website of the European Parliament under the section “Priority information”.
Requests by committees to start negotiations with Council and Commission
Decisions by committees to enter into inter-institutional negotiations (Rule 72) are published on the plenary website.
If no request for a vote in Parliament on the decision to enter into negotiations is made by Tuesday 12.00 midnight, the committees may start negotiations.
Allegations of sexual violence by Russian troops in Ukraine are mounting, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Monday, expressing regret over a stark discrepancy between that painful reality, and the global community’s ambition to end the use of rape as a weapon of war.
Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict, recalled her recent visit to Ukraine and outlined the elements of a recently signed Framework of Cooperation on the Prevention and Response to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, which seeks to strengthen accountability and combat those abhorrent crimes.
“Too often have the needs of women and girls in conflict settings been side-lined and treated as an afterthought,” she said, welcoming that fact that the newly signed Framework makes them an explicit priority.
Recalling the Council’s many resolutions – backed up by international law – prohibiting the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war, the Special Representative highlighted the gaping chasm between those commitments and the situation of many women around the world.
“Painfully, my visit cast into stark relief the gap that still exists between the aspiration of prevention expressed by this Council through the robust normative framework that has been established over the past decade, and the reality on the ground for the most vulnerable,” she said.
As of 3 June, the Human Rights Monitoring Team of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had received reports of 124 alleged acts of conflict-related sexual across Ukraine.
UN Photo
Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, briefs members of the UN Security Council.
Forced to watch
Women and girls constituted most of the alleged victims, while some reporting instances of sexual violence were also men and boys.
A national hotline on domestic violence, human trafficking and gender-based discrimination has been set up, and has received multiple shocking reports ranging from gang rape, to coercion, where loved ones are forced to watch an act of sexual violence committed against a partner or a child.
Urgent action
Against that backdrop, Ms. Patten urged humanitarian actors to prioritize support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence as a life-saving component of their work.
She also warned against waiting too long to act.
“An active battle-ground is never conducive to accurate ‘book-keeping’ […] if we wait for hard data and statistics, it will always be too late,” she said, calling on the international community to mobilize immediately.
“We do not need hard data for a scaled-up humanitarian response, nor for all parties to put in place preventive measures,” she added.
Trafficking risks ‘alarmingly evident’
Detailing the provisions of the recently signed Framework of Cooperation, she said it will help strengthen cooperation between those working to combat and deter sexual violence in Ukraine.
It also aims to reduce the risk posed by human traffickers to those fleeing Ukraine, and to provide services to victims.
However, she cautioned that the protection challenges facing the nearly 6.8 million people who have fled the country are unprecedented, and the heightened risks of trafficking in persons – including for purposes of sexual exploitation and prostitution – have been “alarmingly evident” since the start of the conflict.
Against that backdrop, she urged the Council and the global donor community to stand in solidarity with Ukrainian authorities and UN entities to support the Framework’s implementation.
“It is crucial to ensure that the level of political focus, as well as the allocation of resources for a comprehensive response, is commensurate with the scale and complexity of the problem,” she said.
According to the unanimous opinion of the competent specialists in international relations, the special military operation is the last and decisive chord in the process of transition from a unipolar to a multipolar world.
Multipolarity sometimes seems intuitive, but once we try to give precise definitions or a correct theoretical description, everything becomes less obvious. I believe that today my work “Theory of the Multipolar World” is more relevant than ever. But since people have forgotten to read – especially voluminous theoretical texts, will try to share the basics.
The main actor in a multipolar world order is not the nation state (as in the theory of realism in international relations), but neither is the world government (as in the theory of liberalism in international relations). This is the State-Civilization. Other names for this are “Great Space”, “Empire”, “Ecumenical”.
The term “civilization state” is most commonly used in China. Both ancient and modern. Since ancient times, the Chinese have developed the theory of “Tiansha”,” China “, according to which China is the center of the world, as a meeting place of the unifying Heaven and the dividing Earth. In addition, the “Celestial Empire” can be a single state or it can be dismantled and then reassembled. In addition, Khan’s China itself is a culturally forming principle for neighboring nations that are not directly part of China – mainly Korea, Vietnam, Indochina and even fairly independent Japan.
The nation-state is a product of the European modern age, and in some cases a post-colonial construction. The State-Civilization has ancient roots and … indefinitely changing borders. The state-civilization sometimes pulsates – now expanding, now narrowing, but always remaining a constant phenomenon.
Modern China adheres to international politics strictly according to the Tianxi principle. The One Road, One Belt initiative is an excellent example of what this looks like in practice. And the Chinese Internet, which disrupts all kinds of networks and resources that could weaken the civilizational identity at China’s entrance, demonstrates how to build defense mechanisms.
The state-civilization can interact with the outside world, but never depends on it and always retains self-sufficiency, autonomy and autarchy.
The state-Civilization is always more than a state both in the spatial and in the temporal (historical) aspect.
Russia is increasingly gravitating towards the same status. After the beginning of the SVO, this became not just a wish, but an urgent need. As in the case of China, Russia has every reason to claim that it is a civilization. This theory was most fully developed by the Russian Eurasianists, who introduced the concept of “world state” or – which is the same – “Russian world”. Continent-Russia. In fact, the Russia-Eurasia concept is a direct indication of Russia’s civilizational status. Russia is more than a nation state (which is the Russian Federation). Russia is a separate world.
Russia was a civilization in the era of the Empire and remained so in the Soviet era. Ideologies and regimes have changed, but the identity has remained the same.
The struggle for Ukraine is nothing but a struggle for the State-Civilization. The same applies to the peaceful union of Russia and Belarus and the economic integration of the post-Soviet Eurasian space.
The multipolar world consists of States-Civilizations. This is a kind of world of worlds, a megacosmos that includes entire galaxies. And here it is important to determine how many such states-civilizations can even theoretically exist?
Of course, India belongs to this type, it is a typical State-Civilization, which even today has sufficient potential to become a full participant in international politics.
Then the Islamic world – from Indonesia to Morocco. Here, the division of countries and different ethnocultural enclaves still does not allow us to talk about political unity. There is an Islamic civilization, but the question of its assembly in the State-Civilization is quite problematic. Moreover, the history of Islam knows several types of Civilizations – from the Caliphate (First, Umayyad, Abbasid, etc.) to the three components of the empire of Genghis Khan, who turned to / accepted / Islam / the Golden Horde, the state of the Ilhans. and the ulus Chagatai), the Persian Safavid state, the Mughal state, and finally the Ottoman Empire. The boundaries once drawn are still relevant today. But the process of assembling them into one structure requires considerable time and effort.
Latin America and Africa are in the same situation – two macro-civilizations that remain quite separate. But the multipolar world will in one way or another push the integration processes in all these areas.
Now the most important thing: what to do with the West? The theory of the multipolar world is absent in the nomenclature of theories of international relations in the modern West.
Today, the dominant paradigm there is liberalism, which generally denies all sovereignty and any autonomy, abolishes civilizations and religions, ethnic groups and cultures, replacing them with violent liberal ideology, the concept of “human rights”, individualism (leading to borders) of gender and transgender policy), materialism and technical progress, elevated to the highest value (Artificial Intelligence). The goal of liberalism is to abolish nation-states and create a World Government based on Western norms and rules.
This line was followed by Biden and the modern Democratic Party in the United States, as well as by most European rulers. This is globalism. He categorically rejects the State-Civilization and any hint of multipolarity. That is why the West is ready for war with Russia and China. In a sense, this war is already being fought – in Ukraine and in the Pacific (the problem of Taiwan), but for now it relies on proxy actors.
There is another influential school in the West – realism in international relations. Here, the nation-state is considered a necessary element of the world order, but only those who have managed to achieve a high level of economic, military-strategic and technological development have sovereignty – almost always at the expense of others.
If liberals see the future in the creation of a World Government, then realists see the future in a union of leading Western powers that establish global rules in their interest. Again, both in theory and in practice, the State-Civilization and the multipolar world are categorically rejected.
This creates a fundamental conflict already at the level of theory. And the lack of mutual understanding here leads to the most radical consequences at the level of direct confrontation.
In the eyes of proponents of multipolarity, the West is also a State-Civilization or even two – North American and European. But Western intellectuals disagree: they have no theoretical framework for this – they know either liberalism or realism, and no multipolarity.
However, there are exceptions among Western theorists, such as Samuel Huntington or Fabio Petito. They, unlike the overwhelming majority, recognize multipolarity and the emergence of new players in the form of civilizations. This is encouraging, because with such ideas it is possible to build a bridge from the proponents of multipolarity (Russia, China, etc.) to the West. At least such a bridge would make negotiations possible. Meanwhile, the West categorically rejects multipolarity and the very concept of “State-Civilization”, the conversation will be held only at the level of a clash of brute force – from military action to economic blockade, information and sanctions wars, etc.
One last thing. To win this war and defend itself, Russia itself must first have a clear understanding of multipolarity. We are already fighting for it, but we still do not fully understand what it is. Therefore, the liberal think tanks created during the Gorbachev-Yeltsin period should be disbanded urgently and new ones should be created – multipolar.
It is also necessary to build the educational paradigm itself – especially at MGIMO, Moscow State University, the Russian University for Friendship of Peoples, the Maurice Thorez Institute, the Diplomatic Academy and specialized universities. Finally, let us really turn to the expanded and full-fledged Eurasian school of thought, which has proved its maximum relevance, but against which open and covert Atlanticists and foreign agents who have penetrated deep into our society continue to fight.
Source: On Russia-Eurasia concept – Pogled.info / 01.06.2022
