International
European leaders: there is an “imperive need” to improve military and civilian preparedness in the face of “threats”
The leaders of the European Union have stressed at their Brussels summit the “imperive need” to improve and coordinate military and civilian preparation and strategic crisis management in the face of “a panorama of threats.”
In this sense, the heads of state and government of the Twenty-seven invited the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, to propose actions to strengthen the preparation and response to crises at the EU level.
These proposals must have “an approach that includes the whole of society and all the dangers, taking into account the responsibilities and competences of the Member States, with a view to a future preparation strategy,” according to the text of the conclusions of the two-day summit held in the Community capital.
Just on the eve of the summit, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, commissioned former President of Finland Sauli Niinisto to prepare a report to strengthen citizen preparation for defense, in which she wants him to replicate her country’s model to the entire bloc.
“We have a lot to learn from Finland,” the German said at a press conference on Wednesday, in which she praised the “specific mentality” of her country in terms of citizen preparation for defense and called for it to be adopted in Europe.
The head of the Community Executive stressed that Finland “has learned to live with a neighbor as unpredictable and aggressive” as Russia, with whom it shares more than 1,300 kilometers of border.
It is a fact that “has shaped its society” through a citizen defense strategy that “concerns everyone” to be prepared for all kinds of threats, including cyberattacks.
Von der Leyen stressed that in the Finnish model “every part of society is able to help safeguard vital functions in times of crisis,” as well as “guarantee a basic supply for the population and help the defense forces in their tasks.”
“The Finnish model is a set of experiences through history for centuries as a neighbor of Russia,” he explained before pointing out that “in Finnish society, each of the citizens defends the country.”
For his part, former President Niinisto stressed that preparation for security and defense is a “very broad” area and, therefore, it should also be the report he prepares for the next European Commission that comes out of the June elections, with aspects that go beyond “conventional” military defense and involve aspects such as cyber resilience or the use of drones.
International
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
A 65-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested at a border checkpoint in Croatia after attempting to enter the country in his car with a deceased woman sitting as a passenger, police announced on Tuesday.
The man was detained in a routine check in late November in Gunja, a border area separating Bosnia from Croatia, the police told AFP. Suspicious because they saw “no consciousness or movement” from the passenger, Croatian officers called a doctor, who confirmed the death of the 83-year-old woman, also Austrian, according to her identification.
The woman’s relationship to the suspect is unknown. She had died in Bosnia, and the man intended to repatriate her body to Austria to “avoid the formalities related to transporting a corpse,” according to the police. Croatian media reported that the man was her legal guardian.
Once her death was confirmed, a funeral service took charge of the body.
International
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Colombian authorities arrested two nationals accused of the illegal trafficking of migrants to the United States and of endangering lives due to the disappearance of a boat with 40 people aboard, U.S. Department of Justice officials reported on Tuesday.
Hernando Manuel de la Cruz Rivera Orjuela, 52, and Luis Enrique Linero Pinto, 40, both Colombian citizens, were arrested on December 13 in Colombia at the request of the United States for their alleged involvement in a “transnational human trafficking operation,” the department said in a statement.
According to the charges, the detainees were transporting migrants to San Andrés Island in the Caribbean, where they would then be taken by boat to Nicaragua. The goal was to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
The accused are said to have advised the migrants on how to reach San Andrés Island, where they personally received them, arranged accommodations, and “took them to the boats that transported them to Nicaragua so they could enter the United States illegally,” the statement reads.
“These defendants put several migrants on the boat that disappeared off the coast of Nicaragua in 2023,” said Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, as cited in the statement.
Both men are “directly and personally responsible for the illicit trafficking of migrants on that vessel,” according to the indictment dated October 23.
International
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Two soldiers were killed and five others were injured by the explosion of homemade landmines planted by a criminal group in a mountainous area of the Mexican state of Michoacán (west), the Secretary of Defense reported on Tuesday.
The attack occurred on Monday morning in the municipality of Cotija, a border area between Michoacán and the state of Jalisco, when the military was conducting a reconnaissance mission after receiving information about an armed camp in the area, explained Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla.
“At that moment, an improvised explosive device detonated. Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives, and five others were injured,” the military leader detailed. The affected soldiers were airlifted to hospitals in the region by a military helicopter, while the rest of the team continued with the reconnaissance of the area.
Trevilla stated that before the explosion, the military unit had located the dismembered bodies of three people, and upon continuing the mission, they confirmed the camp was abandoned.
Asked about the individuals responsible for placing the explosives, the general suggested they could be criminals linked to the local group Cárteles Unidos, which operates in Michoacán and uses these tactics in their territorial dispute with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the country.
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
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