Using Tactics Perfected By Trump, Populist And Nationalist Leaders Are Undermining Italy’s Institutions buzzfeednews.com/article/albert… Italy’s budget incident isn’t isolated. It sits within a crescendo of verbal attacks carried out by both the Five Star Movement and the League against officials, institutions, the media, anything and anyone perceived to stand in their way. Social media is their weapon of choice

Salzburg. A short thread:

1) Nothing that Tusk said on Chequers, that Macron said about some Brexiteers (while stressing he respected the choice of British voters), and that Merkel said about the single market and four freedoms, is anything they hadn’t said before. 2) Surprise today is in many ways due to misreading the past few weeks and months. Misplaced optimism and reports stemming from who knows where, ignoring reality, confusing details that evolve all the time with substance and principles that have remained intact since day one.

Brexit section of Tusk letter to EU leaders ahead of Salzburg meeting: "we should reconfirm the need for a legally operational backstop on Ireland" While the EU has been working to dedramatise the backstop, its main principle - a legally operational backstop that can be used if and until there is no other solution - remains intact, and is very unlikely to change

For me, the most interesting line in Barnier's FAZ article isn't the rejection of Chequers (we knew that) but: "We don't need more time. What we need are political decisions”. So let's have a look at the state of the UK's political decision making: First up, this marvellous tweet, and the debate on geographical indications (GI). France sells China about 220 million litres of wine a year. Britain sells China less wine than Georgia (fabulous wine btw) and Moldova.

The Papadopoulos sentencing memo is a fascinating read documentcloud.org/documents/4776… It appears to describe Mifsud as a Russian intermediary. This par is particularly interesting: Here are Mifsud’s movements since from @buzzfeednews reporting:

Weeks later, he was in Moscow, according to a visa dated 24 March 2017

After that, in early April 2017 he flew to Kiev, from London, to visit his fiancee. On 12 April he flew back to London buzzfeednews.com/article/albert…

The M5S-led decision to revoke Autostrade’s concession agreement before an inquiry or trial is interesting, and rather revealing of the party's DNA:

1) From a comms perspective, it makes it hard for opposition parties to criticise without getting accused of siding with the firm 2) But, legally, it’s a curious decision.

3) From a practical point of view, it seems to have been done without a clear alternative plan in place.

In short, it’s the kind of thing the M5S would call for in opposition

Some thoughts on the tragedy that hit Genova. Here's Salvini implying that it’s the EU’s fault because it constrains spending

https://twitter.com/matteosalvinimi/status/1029429954331725829

First, the obvious: it’s tragic that even in tragedy Italian politicians, across parties, immediately started blaming someone else Some of the specifics:

1) the EU has given the green light to some €10bn on infrastructure spending, including in Genova repubblica.it/economia/affar… If anything, the EU has highlighted the need for Italy to spend on infrastructure ec.europa.eu/info/sites/inf… (ht @politicoryan)

I understand that PM May had a phone call with Italian PM Conte yesterday. For some reason, I can't seem to find this anywhere on the N10 website or the news alerts N10 send via email. Calls with Colombia's president, and Mexico's president-elect are listed gov.uk/government/org… but the call with Italy's Conte doesn't seem to be there

Remember Trump’s Tweet Saying He Was Pulling Out Of The G7 Summit Agreement? No One Ever Did Anything About It. buzzfeednews.com/article/albert… Right after the G7 Summit in Quebec, Trump tweeted that he’d “instructed” US officials to not endorse the Communique he’d just agreed with other world leaders. Today, @BuzzFeedNews can reveal that no US official followed up on the President’s instructions

The EU Thinks That Theresa May’s Week From Hell Has Increased Exponentially The Chances Of A No-Deal Brexit buzzfeed.com/albertonardell… The most consequential amendment adopted by MPs this week is the one that makes EU backstop proposals to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland illegal - it has substantially increased the chances of a no-deal Brexit

Matteo Salvini’s Unofficial Kremlin Fixer Sat In On Official Meetings In Moscow. Nobody Seems To Know Why. buzzfeed.com/albertonardell… This weird tale begins with a photo tweeted by Salvini from a meeting in Moscow with his Russian counterpart. It shows the president of an Italian pro-Kremlin cultural association with links to religious far-right movements in Russia sitting on the Italian side of the table

One of the photos posted by Salvini (

https://twitter.com/matteosalvinimi/status/1018857762590281736

) after his meeting with Russia's interior minister in Moscow reveals an interesting detail: one of the individuals on the Italian side of the table is the head of a small cultural association in Lombardy On its Facebook page, the association says a Tass journalist name checked, and thanked the associations, for arranging an event with Salvini in Moscow

An interesting passage in Johnson’s letter - where he blames the EU for lorry safety standards. It reveals a lot about Britain’s now former foreign secretary. 1/4 Johnson made the same claim during the referendum campaign. Blaming the French, of course bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi… 2/4

Backstop par is intriguing and ambiguous What UK means by backstop par will be crucial to unlocking a deal. Worth remembering that to get to March 2019 with an exit deal and transition, the backstop is key. On future, a political declaration will suffice.

If Merkel falls, Europe falls buzzfeed.com/albertonardell… feat. more Trump at the G7

Much of the immigration debate between political parties in Germany seems grounded more in the events of 2015 than in the reality of 2018. A short thread. CSU’s Söder and FDP’s Lindner have in recent days claimed that Merkel acted unilaterally in 2015. Although a small detail in the greater scheme of things, this is factually incorrect.

Ieri il ministero dell’interno ha pubblicato dati sul numero di sbarchi. Ad oggi, nel 2018, 15,500. Un calo del 80% rispetto al 2017 interno.gov.it/sites/default/… Lo stesso documento contiene dati sul numero di ricollocati. La Germania, che Salvini e i suoi fans tanto attaccano, ha preso dall’Italia più migranti di chiunque altro. Malta più di Kurz. Orban 0

The problem with populists. A short story. Yesterday, Italy’s interior ministry published data on migrant arrivals. So far this year there have been 15,500 arrivals, an 80% drop compared to last year A second interesting slide in the release, which is here interno.gov.it/sites/default/…, is data regarding relocations. Salvini & his fans love attacking Germany. They praise Kurz & Orban. But who takes most migrants from Italy? Germany. Malta takes more than Austria. Hungary takes none

#G7 trade discussion yesterday. I understand that Trump presented a list of grievances, listing what each country, one by one, owed the US - trade deficits, tariffs, defence and so on. Basically, a live performance of his Twitter threads. Trump was especially "strong" towards Trudeau, ranting about agriculture, and Merkel. He reportedly said NAFTA was the second worst deal ever, WTO was the worst, and that US/he paid to defend other countries, they don't pay to defend themselves.

A short thread. The shit show that is the backstop debate currently taking place in Britain perfectly exemplifies the state of where the UK is at with Brexit: The UK agreed to the backstop in December. The agreed EU-UK text states that a backstop is required “in the absence of other solutions” not in the absence of other solutions by some random date assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

Quite a few sources I have talked to believe Salvini used the Savona incident to get what he wanted all along: an election. President had signed off on everything but one name. Salvini could have simply proposed someone else as is usual practice, including, reportedly, his deputy Salvini gets to say the president blocked the government, 5S have no choice but to go along. But was an unelected 82-year old most have barely heard of really so essential to implementing a radical programme of change?