The World That Was-China, CNN, Donald Trump, Europe, France, Russia, USA

Adrian Olivier,

Sunday 30 June – Sunday 7 July:

On Sunday, French voters gave Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party a first-round election win. The RN and their allies led with 33.21% of the vote, followed by the parties of the left-wing New Popular Front with 28.14%, those of Ensemble with 21.28%, and The Republicans and miscellaneous right candidates with 10.17%, with an overall turnout of 66.71%, the highest since 1997.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald J. Trump is entitled to substantial immunity from prosecution on charges of trying to overturn the last election. This decision vastly expands presidential power by insulating them from repercussions for their actions in carrying out their official duties. The decision ensures that political enemies will be unable to charge them with crimes once they have left office. Broad immunity for official conduct is needed, the chief justice wrote, to protect “an energetic, independent executive.” “The president therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote. “That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy or party.” The alternative, the chief justice wrote, is to invite tit-for-tat political reprisals. The vote was 6 to 3, dividing along partisan lines. The liberal wing said the majority had created a kind of king not answerable to the law.

On Monday, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a Telegram post that a group of people were preparing “a series of provocations” in the capital Kyiv. It added that the group was led by a co-founder of a public organization known for its “anti-Ukrainian actions” since 2015, although it did not name either the individual or the group. After calling for a public gathering in central Kyiv on Sunday, the suspects were planning to announce the removal of the country’s military and political leadership from power, the SBU said. Then they plotted to seize the building of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, the statement added. The perpetrators “hoped to stir up the social and political situation within our country, which would work in Russia’s favour,” the Security Service said, although it did not explicitly say whether the Kremlin was behind the group or its plans and did not identify any suspects or say how many people were detained. Those detained are facing charges of calling for and trying to overthrow the constitutional order and seize power. They face up to 10 years in prison, the SBU said. In a separate statement, Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General said that the head of the group sought out members of the military and private security guards to help them carry out the plan. It added that the leader rented a hall in Kyiv that could accommodate 2,000 people, although it did not specify what the hall was to be used for. It also said that four people had been detained.

On Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Kyiv on a surprise visit. There he met with Zelenskyy and called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and said Hungary wanted to improve its ties with Ukraine and offered to help modernise its economy, in an apparent olive branch to its long-estranged neighbour. Zelenskyy, speaking alongside Orban at a news briefing, said he “appreciates” the Hungarian leader’s visit, the first in more than a decade, but stressed that Ukraine needs a “just peace” after more than two years of fighting Russia’s invasion. Orban said he would report on his talks with Zelenskyy to European Union prime ministers “so that the necessary European decisions can be taken”.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for the second time in as many months as they visited Astana, Kazakhstan for the annual two-day session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The two leaders hailed their Eurasian security club as a force for global stability at a summit of the regional body, which is seen by Moscow and Beijing as a tool to counter Western influence. Putin and Xi have expanded the SCO, founded in 2001, to include, India, Iran and Pakistan. “The organization has firmly established itself as one of the key pillars of a fair, multipolar world order,” Putin said, adding that bilateral ties between Moscow and Beijing were at their best in history. “Our cooperation is not aimed against anyone, we are not creating any blocs or alliances, we are just acting in the interests of our peoples,” Putin said. In his opening remarks, Xi told Putin that China and Russia should “uphold the original aspiration of friendship for generations” in response to an “ever-changing international situation.” Calling Putin an “old friend,” Xi alluded to the progress the two countries had made in putting in place “plans and arrangements for the next development of bilateral relations.” Ahead of his meeting with Xi, Putin met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the presidents of Azerbaijan and Mongolia, Ilham Aliyev and Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh. India said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected in Moscow later this month, would not attend the Astana gathering, sending Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar instead.

On Thursday, British voters headed to the polls where they overwhelmingly voted for a Labour government. Labour leader Keir Starmer became Prime Minister on Friday.

On Thursday, CNN reported that Democratic governors were seeking a meeting with the White House to voice their concerns after Joe Biden’s dismal debate performance. On the call, some of the governors expressed surprise that they had not heard from Biden himself about his debate performance. There was a strong sentiment on the call that they needed to hear from Biden directly on the matter. There was also some discussion of having Vice President Kamala Harris address them. The governors, one of the sources said, were worried about going public with their concerns out of fear that it would lead to Biden digging in further. Plans for the meeting at the White House are underway but it has not been scheduled. The White House is eyeing a meeting with Democratic governors on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter says. The meeting at the White House would likely include a mix of in-person and virtual attendance, the source said.

On Friday, Viktor Orban travelled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a press conference after their meeting, Putin said on Friday that the talks were “frank and useful” and that they discussed the situation in Ukraine. However, the Russian leader reiterated that Moscow’s peace proposals should be key to any negotiations. Putin added that he was grateful to Orban for an attempt at restoring dialogue between Russia and Europe, but Kyiv was still not willing to stop the conflict. At the press conference, Orban also said that “many steps” were needed to end the Russia-Ukraine war. “We took the first step to restore dialogue,” Orban said, adding that “points of view remained far from each other in Kyiv and Moscow.” In televised comments at the beginning of their meeting, Putin suggested that Orban had come to Moscow as a representative of the European Council, despite several European officials having condemned the visit. “I understand that this time you have come not just as our longstanding partner but as president of the council,” Putin told Orban, adding that he expected him to outline “the position of European partners” on Ukraine. But EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Orban had not received any mandate to visit Moscow, consigning the visit to “the framework of … bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia”. The Hungarian leader “is thus not representing the EU in any form,” Borrell said in a statement.

On Sunday, in an election surprise, the left beat the right in the second round of parliamentary elections. France’s Interior Ministry confirmed the final results of Sunday’s election which saw a 66.63% voter turnout. The largest number of seats were won by the pan-left alliance New Popular Front – with 182 seats. The centrist party, Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble party won 163 seats. In third place, the far-right National Rally and allies won 143 seats. This means no party has won the required 289 seats for an absolute majority, and seems set to plunge France into more political uncertainty, with the parliament likely to be paralyzed, split between three blocs. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, Macron’s protege, announced he would resign as prime minister Monday morning. He seemed to take a swipe at Macron’s decision to call the snap vote, saying he “didn’t choose” for France’s parliament to be dissolved.

SOURCE:The World That Was – Africa Unauthorised