Comedian, writer, IR geek

Joined May 2014
🤝 Putin floats a summit with Trump and Xi on Ukraine, without Ukraine. Andy's verdict: "three very aggressive real estate agents." If three men decide Ukraine's future, who speaks for Europe? @AndyValvur @ilvestoomas 🆕 New look. Full episode out now: youtu.be/c04ex211MC8
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Andy Valvur retweeted
The irony that right when Europe is finally starting to invest properly in its own defence, the US is ensuring that its suppliers can’t be relied upon. On the latest @ContRiftShow, President @IlvesToomas and Andy Valvur discuss this, and more including Putin’s proposed summit, talks on Ukraine, the Starshield debacle no one will own up to, the curious overlap between “people who were happy about Wikileaks, but not so happy about [the AfD’s] Nazileaks,” and why Russia can’t respect a border even in space. Listen and subscribe to the Continental Rift wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube: youtu.be/c04ex211MC8
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Andy Valvur retweeted
🕊️ Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff to Putin: "You are a humanitarian also, sir." Russia had just freed a 74-year-old American teacher held for four years. President @ilvestoomas and comedian @AndyValvur Full episode available now: youtu.be/c04ex211MC8
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Andy Valvur retweeted
You misspelled “Russia”.
What’s actually going on in Ukraine is that there is a massive incentive difference between the elites and the people. The former have grown very rich off the hundreds of billions flowing to Ukraine, while the latter’s children are conscripted to die in trenches.
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🐸 Frog Watch: an alleged plot to kill Poland's PM, c. 700 French supermarkets' fridges hacked, Starlink antennas burned, a ship sunk. Is Russia's shadow war escalating? President @ilvestoomas & @AndyValvur Full ep.: youtu.be/E3yHdqhWV1A
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🐸 Frog Watch, in 1 week: 🇩🇰 Denmark's population register hacked. 🇧🇬 2 cargo ships sunk in the Black Sea. 🇱🇻Armed, masked men on Latvia's border with Belarus. 🇬🇧 A Royal Navy sailor charged. @AndyValvur + President @ilvestoomas Full ep.: youtu.be/CLiZEgmbIYc
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🕊️ Neither Russia nor Ukraine said it had agreed to Trump's energy ceasefire. His explanation: "They agreed because I said they agreed." President @ilvestoomas and comedian @AndyValvur 🎧 📺 This week's NEW EPISODE of The Continental Rift: youtu.be/E3yHdqhWV1A
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Based on her own consistently outlined plans, all of the following are logical consequences of a Le Pen victory the rest of Europe must plan for already now. Not wait for "sudden surprises" next spring when we discover that everything she said she would do, she in fact does.
Some consequences stand out if Le Pen wins: 1) NATO: France would stay a member but become less reliable. Macron's offer of a European dimension to French nuclear deterrence would likely end. 2) Ukraine: France would move from being a co-leader to being a brake. 3) EU: veto-player at a critical moment. She no longer advocates Frexit or leaving the euro. Instead, she favours a constitutional push to make French law take primacy over EU law. 4) Defence-industrial policy: "strategic autonomy" would turn national. The National Rally supports higher defence spending, but through French sovereign industry, not Commission-led instruments. The paradox is that Europe would get more French defence capability but less European defence integration. 5) JEF would become a hedge against France as well as the US. The ten members (the UK, the Nordics, the Baltics and the Netherlands) already value it as a fast, flexible format that isn't hostage to unanimity in Brussels or Washington. With Paris unreliable on Ukraine and deterrence, northern Europe would lean on it harder. 6) Britain's pivot partner would weaken. The UK runs a two-track European defence strategy: JEF in the north, France for high-end capability and the nuclear dimension. Several UK-France arrangements would be at risk. 7) France's own competing format to JEF would wither. The French-led European Intervention Initiative (EI2) overlaps heavily with JEF membership. Under Le Pen, it would likely lose political drive. That would remove one of Paris's main channels into northern European security thinking, leaving JEF largely unrivalled. 8) The Franco-German axis would shift toward Berlin–London. With France turning inward, Germany would become the natural continental anchor.
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🇧🇦 Banned from office, not on the ballot, and his party still came first. Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik thanked Trump AND Putin. What does that mean for Europe? President @ilvestoomas + @AndyValvur The Continental Rift, Full episode: youtu.be/CLiZEgmbIYc
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🕵️ Canada, Lithuania and the EU's diplomatic service: retreat from European disinformation conference after Washington objects. 😱 Who's afraid of the truth? ➡️ SUBSCRIBE to The Continental Rift with President @ilvestoomas 📺 Full episode available now: youtu.be/CLiZEgmbIYc
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FM @larsloekke: “Danmark er dybt uenig i USA’s beslutning om at indføre sanktioner mod ICC, som vil få enorme konsekvenser for domstolens arbejde og for efterforskningen af de mest alvorlige internationale forbrydelser. DK bekræfter sin urokkelige støtte til @IntlCrimCourt.”
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The whole #Ragozin affair reminded me of something. While working as Senior Advisor on Foreign Affairs and Defence in the Dutch Parliament, I was approached by a very prominent Russian living in exile. I won't name him. We arranged a one-on-one call. He had three proposals: 1) Grant permanent EU residency to Russians who fled after February 2022. 2) Bring Russian IT specialists to Europe and give them jobs. 3) Remove Mikhail Fridman from the EU sanctions list. I asked what Russians themselves should do to help end the war. What about Ukraine? What about Russia's responsibility? He didn't give any meaningful response. Out of respect for my guest, I sat through the call. Having studied Russian intelligence services, I left with one thought: an SVR officer seeking to advance Russian interests in Europe could have made exactly the same requests. I am not saying that he is an intelligence operative. But the alignment of interests was remarkable. And now, watching prominent Russians in exile rush to Ragozin's defence, I see the same problem. These guys confuse journalism with recycling Kremlin talking points. They confuse freedom of speech with immunity from criticism. And they seem more concerned with what Europe owes Russians than with what Russians owe Ukraine. Living in exile doesn't automatically make you an opponent of Russian imperialism. Sometimes it just means you've moved the lobbying operation to Brussels, or in my case, to The Hague.
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🇪🇺 Some EU countries still demand up to 45 days' notice before allied troops can cross their territory, the EU's top diplomat said last November. Brussels wants it down to three days. President @ilvestoomas @AndyValvur on a military Schengen youtu.be/msH3vb3MtyY
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Andy Valvur retweeted
The ICC is the cornerstone of the international criminal justice system. It prosecutes individuals responsible for the most serious crimes under international law. I have spoken with ICC President Tomoko Akane following the United States’ announced intention to impose sanctions. The six-month period before the measures take effect offers a window for dialogue. The EU has always supported the Court, and the EU has options to ensure that it can continue its vital work. Protecting the ICC remains an EU priority.
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More good sleuthing from @InformNapalm
Russia is already airdropping its Kurier combat UGV from Il-76 aircraft. But who stands behind the electronics linked to its developers? InformNapalm traced dozens of declarations, Chinese companies, product models, a contract and an invoice — with the paper trail leading to Shenzhen. informnapalm.org/en/nrtk-kur… #OSINT #Russia #China
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China gets a state dinner. Canada gets a trade ban. Putin gets a golf invitation. So who can Europe count on? President @ilvestoomas and @andyvalvur on a week of friends and foes. Full episode on YouTube: youtu.be/msH3vb3MtyY
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President @IlvesToomas and @andyvalvur on Trump telling ICC members to quit. Toomas: without the court, there's no way to take war criminals to task, from Putin to Lvova-Belova, both wanted over the deportation of Ukrainian children. If the ICC goes, who answers for Ukraine?
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Andy Valvur retweeted
Based on the information collected by the Estonian Internal Security Service @kaitsepolitsei we can conclude with certainty that the arson attack on Milrem Robotics premises that took place on the night of 14–15 august in Tallinn was an act of sabotage ordered by the special services of the Russian Federation. Such actions are absolutely unacceptable. In response, the @MFAestonia will today summon Russia’s Chargé d’affaires. The perpetrators have been apprehended and no longer pose a threat to our national security. Estonia is a difficult environment for Russia to carry out such actions because we act decisively and swiftly to protect our state. This act of sabotage is part of Russia’s broader campaign across Europe, aimed at intimidating us and weakening our support for Ukraine. Our response will be the opposite. We will increase both our support for Ukraine and the pressure on Russia to end its aggression. Let’s not lose focus and stay the course, because Russia’s actions are a clear indication that our collective exertion of pressure is working.
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Context: the day we recorded, Denmark's Defence Intelligence Service warned Russia will intensify its hybrid campaign in the coming months, and called the risk of a limited Russian attack on a NATO border state low but growing. Full episode: youtube.com/watch?v=MTr-rYFt…
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President @IlvesToomas and @andyvalvur on Greenland: Copenhagen swore Greenland had no price at all. So what did Denmark actually sign on Tuesday? Toomas: close to the 1951 deal, but with no end date. Did Denmark pay a price, or dodge one?
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