Welcome to this edition of What about Ukraine?, a newsletter that helps you keep updated about what has been said recently about Ukraine in Ukraine, and in the international media.

After EU parliamentary elections, Europe is waking up to the rise of far-right and sometimes not so Ukraine-friendly parties in Germany, Bulgaria and France, where 30 percent of the votes went to the Rassemblement National, which led President Emmanuel Macron to call for unexpected national elections.

Meanwhile, Hungarian media has uncovered the strategies of the authors of fake news originating from Russia, and a Spanish article details the results of a European intelligence analysis of incidents ordered by the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU).

The Italian press was focused on international meetings this week, with G7 on its soil, and the Swiss peace summit on Ukraine on 15-16 June.

The Europe-Ukraine Desk has not translated an article from Ukrainian to English this week, but stay posted, as this is just a break. 

Have a good read, 

Sarah-Lou Lepers
Editor of this week's edition

France

General elections could impact Ukraine support 

Early legislative elections in France expected on 30 June and 4 July raise the question of the country’s support for Ukraine, if the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) gain power. Former 2022 President candidate Marine Le Pen had supported the idea of pulling out of NATO’s strategic military command, and the RN did not vote in favour of the bilateral security agreement between France and Ukraine last March. A RN Member of Parliament shared that the recent announcement of sending Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine is another point of disagreement because according to him that will "weakean even more our capacities" and will send a "bad signal to Vladimir Putin." (Le Journal du Dimanche) 

France has trained Ukrainian soldiers who have publicly displayed neo-Nazi symbols, reveals an investigation by website Mediapart. The article mentions Ukrainian soldiers of the Third Brigade (‘Heirs of Azov’ says the article), trained in central France in fall 2023. Pictures show one of them with Nazi symbols tattooed on his face, and noted other Nazi references on social profiles of soldiers trained in France. A researcher explains that, despite these individuals and Azov’s extreme positions in the past, a majority of the Third Brigade does not share these extreme positions now. The article also mentions the links these soldiers had with French neo-Nazis. (Mediapart)

Paris's major military industry expo Eurosatory opened on Monday 17 June, with twice as many registrations as previous editions. Neither the Israeli nor Russian delegation was invited to join. The number of drone producers almost doubled, and the artillery supply on sale is up 40 percent. The article explains that western armies have to upgrade their equipment. "We have too many armoured vehicles and not enough ground-to-air missiles," sums up French general Charles Beaudouin. A four percent growth in this sector is expected in the next ten years, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This includes the transfer of stocks from western countries to Ukraine and the rebuilding of national stocks. (Les Echos)

Germany 

Increase in farmers voting AfD due to Ukraine concerns, still a minority

German farmers are increasingly voting for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a way of showing their opposition to European and domestic agricultural policies, although this number is only slightly higher than the national figure. The potential EU membership of Ukraine, which would introduce "32 million hectares of additional arable land and an integration of agriculture that is in no way comparable with the farm structures within the EU", is a bone of contention, says Joachim Rukwied, president of the German Farmers' Association. "If Ukraine immediately joins the EU, our family-run agriculture will die," adds Rukwied. Farmers expressed their dissatisfaction "at the voting booth," he noted. This resulted in almost one in five farmers voting for AfD in the EP elections (just above the 16 percent the party polled nationally). (FAZ)

Peace in Ukraine cannot be achieved "without involving Russia" said German chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Ukraine peace summit in Bürgenstock, Switzerland. "Russia could end this war today or at any time by stopping its attacks and withdrawing its troops from Ukraine," Scholz added, underscoring Germany and the EU's commitment to supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity (Zeit). The summit had more symbolic than substantive value, argues Daniel Brössler, Süddeutsche correspondent in the Parliamentary Office and Chancellery. "The most important document from Bürgenstock was a photo" with over 90 delegates, he writes, "determined to stand by Ukraine in its struggle against subjugation." (Süddeutsche) 

Governing coalition member, the liberal Free Democratic Party’s (FDP) general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai has called for an end to providing Bürgergeld, a welfare program aiming to cover basic living expenses, to newly arriving Ukrainian refugees. Discussions inside the coalition on how to organise further spending on this ‘citizen’s income’ has led to new plans to save money "as spendings on citizen's income continues to rise." Coalition partners the Social Democrats and the Greens reject FDP's proposal, and the Social Democrats propose a different reform "to cut benefits for those receiving citizen's income who are caught working illegally". (Welt)

Bulgaria

New party spreading pro-Russian narrative elected to parliament

Early elections on 9 June brought a new party with a pro-Russian position to the Sofia parliament. The Velichie (Greatness) movement, practically unknown to most Bulgarians before the vote, exceeded the four percent threshold to enter parliament, probably thanks to its aggressive communication strategy on social media platforms such as TikTok and Youtube. "After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine," writes RFE "content from websites linked to Ivelin Mikhailov [Velichie's leader] began to appear on websites close to the Kremlin on topics such as 'Nazism in Ukraine' and calls for Bulgaria's neutrality". Immediately after the elections, Velichie called for a halt to all military aid to Ukraine. (Radio Free Europe/RFE)

Bulgaria is preparing a new, substantial military aid package for Ukraine, announced Atanas Zapryanov, the caretaker Bulgarian defence minister. After the 9 June election, Bulgaria is still waiting to form a new government, but is not slowing down its support for Kyiv, particularly in the supply of ammunition. "Our military industry is working at full capacity, and we are increasing shifts to supply not only Ukraine but also other customers," Zapryanov said. Bulgaria has already supplied Ukraine with missiles, armoured vehicles and howitzers, which are weapons not capable of reaching Russian territory. (Sega)

A Bulgarian company specialised in the production and sale of drones has been included in the latest list of entities sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in connection with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Sofia-registered Freshvale is specialised in the design, development and production of unmanned vehicles and robotic platforms. In the last two years, the firm has reportedly sold Russian military products to an African country, most likely Ethiopia. With the new measures, a total of five individuals and companies connected to Bulgaria have been sanctioned by the USA since 2022. (Mediapool)

Hungary

Russian propaganda: Hungary is peaceful, prosperous, immigrant-free

Italy-based Twitter page Radio Genoa, with 770,000 followers, is an active disseminator of Russian propaganda in Europe, argue experts. Hungarian TV channel RTL has noticed the page has published a lot of content related to Hungary in recent months. A noticeable number of posts showed Hungary in a positive context, which, from these posts, appears to be "the most peaceful and prosperous nation in Europe", summarises the article. Prime minister Viktor Orbán also appears in posts, portrayed as a strong leader. Last November, Radio Genoa noted that "Europe needs more Viktor Orbán and less Ursula von der Leyen, because Hungary doesn't have a single migrant." (RTL)

Investigative portal Átlátszó has examined Hungarian-language fake news of Russian origin on TikTok and argues the situation is different from other countries. Russian disinformation content is usually disseminated by radical movements and alternative media, while in Hungary it is spread by mainstream, and often state-backed sources. By uploading video clips from the Hungarian state media, the Kremlin can spread its narratives on TikTok. "This social network reflects the media environment in Hungary, where Moscow does not have to spend cash on disinfo campaigns, since these are carried out with domestic money by actors connected to the government," the article sums up. (Átlátszó)

"Hungary has different views on Ukraine, but will not block majority decisions [by NATO]," Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said at a joint press conference after the meeting between the NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and Viktor Orbán in Budapest last week. According to the premier, Hungary “received a strong guarantee” during the NATO secretary general's visit that it would not need Hungary to get involved in Russia’s war against Ukraine. In fact, Hungary has also been under no obligation to do so until now. (Telex English)

Spain

Mystery death of Spanish deserter in Ukraine 

The death of a Spanish navy deserter on the Ukrainian front was disclosed on 15 June, though mystery surrounds the timing of this death. Miguel Antolin Zuzunegui deserted his job as a Spanish marine to join the Ukrainian Third Assault Brigade, where he was engaged in the retreat from Avdiivka. He was killed in combat on 25 May, according to officials in Kyiv. However, his comrades reported that he died two months earlier, on 29 March, after shrapnel struck his chest. His body, identified and transported to Kyiv, was honoured in the capital a few days later. Spain accepted the Ukrainian authorities' version, despite its conflict with the accounts of his comrades-in-arms. Why did Ukraine not repatriate a soldier being sought by a partner country? Why did it take two months for Miguel's death to be made public? Doubts surround a case that has given rise to many conspiracy theories. (El Español)

The Russian military Intelligence services (GRU) could be recruiting criminal organisations via Telegram to destabilise the European democracies, according to European intelligence. This theory is supported by the profile of the suspects - young men in their 20s who are users of Telegram - involved in recent incidents against Ukrainian targets in Europe. These include the arson attack on a Ukrainian company in Madrid last March, a similar one in London ten days earlier, a burned bus in Prague last February, and explosives found on a pro-Russian Ukrainian in a hotel room near Charles de Gaulle Airport early June in Paris. The article suggests these events may be just the tip of the iceberg of a low-risk, low-cost strategy that could potentially have a wide-reaching impact. (El Confidencial)

Ukrainian sniper Ruger, from the 80th Air Assault Brigade with seven years of experience in Donbas, discusses with Alberto Rojas how the sniper's role has evolved during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What goes through his mind before pulling the trigger? How does he prepare to remain still for days? How have drones impacted sniper operations on the battlefield? "I shoot because the enemy will kill me if I don't," says Ruger, but he also confesses: "The more I shoot, the more I like it. I am a hunter. I only felt remorse for my first kill (...) but I stopped thinking about them." (El Mundo)

Italy

Zelensky wins right to use gains from frozen Russian assets

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky gained the commitments of support he asked for at the G7 under the Italian presidency on 13-15 June, in Apulia, Italy, writes Domani. Zelensky obtained an agreement to use the profits generated by Russian assets frozen in western countries to finance a 50 billion euro loan for Ukraine (Domani). This was the major result of the G7, but the credit does not belong to Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Repubblica highlights. This solution was pushed by the US, which doesn't completely trust Meloni, due to the lack of firm opposition to Putin from her deputy PM Matteo Salvini and French political leader Marine Le Pen, who has a rapprochement with Meloni. (La Repubblica)

NATO countries’ ministers of defence have decided that the Alliance will take over the coordination of the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. However, the ministers have not agreed on sustaining an annual package of 40 billion euros in military support for Ukraine, shared between its members. This long-term commitment would give predictability to Ukraine, and shield Kyiv from a Donald Trump presidency, if he chose to cut military aid from the US. Italian minister of defence Guido Crosetto opposed this measure, arguing it's already hard for Italy to reach two percent of its GDP on defence spending, to meet NATO targets, and it would not be possible to add other ambitious objectives. (La Stampa)

Ukrainian historian Yaroslav Hrytsak is sceptical about the recent Swiss peace summit’s effectiveness, he reveals in an interview with Il Corriere. He believes it's too soon for peace talks with Russia, since real negotiations will only be possible after significant Ukrainian victories on the ground, supported by western aid. Hrytsak doubts that upcoming conferences will also yield results, as Putin's proposals are unacceptable. Consensus in the  Ukrainian population around a territorial compromise is growing, Hrytsak states, but unconditional surrender is not an option. The result of the US presidential elections, he says, will heavily influence future negotiations. (Il Corriere)

The Europe-Ukraine Desk curated this newsletter. This week's edition has been composed by our team all over Europe: Marika Ikonomu, Kornelia Kiss, Katarina Kukla, Sarah Lou Lepers, Oksana Mamchenkova, Francesco Martino, Antonina Rybka and Fermin Torrano.
Michael Bird was our proofreader. 

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