Peace talks, spies, extremists: Europe roundup
KYIV/STOCKHOLM/BERLIN: Ukraine urges new momentum for peace talks amid war fatigue; Sweden grapples with a high-level espionage case; and German authorities crack down on a radical anti-state group. A look at Tuesday's top developments across Europe.
Zelensky presses Trump to help secure Putin talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging former U.S. President Donald Trump to help secure a long-sought meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as efforts to end the war in Ukraine face renewed uncertainty.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday, Zelensky said, 'I do not know the US president's decision, but if he confirms his participation, I think it would give additional impetus for Putin to come.' He added that he would 'do everything' to make the meeting happen and secure a ceasefire. Zelensky also warned that if Putin fails to attend, it would signal an unwillingness to end the conflict: 'Putin does not want the war to end, does not want a ceasefire, does not want any negotiations.' In that case, Zelensky called for the United States to impose its 'strongest' sanctions yet on Russia, saying Putin's absence would be 'a clear signal that they do not want and are not going to end the war.'
The Kremlin has not confirmed whether Putin will travel to Turkey, despite having proposed talks in a televised weekend address. If it happens, the meeting would mark the first formal negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials since the early months of the war in 2022. Trump, who reentered office in January promising a quick resolution to the war, has expressed frustration with both Kyiv and Moscow over their lack of compromise. On Monday, he said he was 'thinking' about attending the Turkey talks and urged both leaders to go.
Spy arrested in Sweden is senior diplomat
A senior diplomat arrested in Sweden on suspicion of spying is a senior diplomat, Swedish authorities said. Public broadcaster SVT reported Tuesday that the individual held multiple overseas postings during a 24-year diplomatic career, though officials have not released the suspect's name.
The Swedish Security Service (Sapo) confirmed on Monday that it had made the arrest in Stockholm. A spokesperson for Sapo, Johan Wikstrom, told AFP that an "espionage" case had been opened. Sweden has experienced several espionage-related incidents in recent years. In 2023, a former Swedish intelligence officer received a life sentence for spying for Russia, while a Russian-Swedish national was tried for allegedly passing Western technology to Moscow. Earlier this year, Sweden's faith agency cut funding to the Russian Orthodox Church, citing Sapo's concerns that it was being used for intelligence purposes. Contacted by AFP, Sweden's foreign ministry declined to comment on the case and referred questions to the justice ministry. Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer did not respond immediately.
Germany Bans 'Kingdom of Germany' group
German authorities have banned the far-right group 'Kingdom of Germany' and arrested four of its top members, including founder Peter Fitzek, in a large-scale police operation on Tuesday. Fitzek, a former chef and karate instructor, declared himself 'king' of the organization in 2012 and is accused of building a parallel state structure. The Interior Ministry said the group issued its own currency and IDs, ran a private insurance scheme, and operated outside the law. The group was accused of 'attacking the liberal democratic order' of Germany.
Prosecutors described Fitzek as the 'so-called supreme sovereign' who exercised 'control and decision-making power in all key areas.' Authorities said the group financed itself through 'prohibited banking and insurance transactions' and donations. The "Kingdom of Germany" is part of the broader "Reichsbuerger" (Citizens of the Reich) movement, which denies the legitimacy of the modern German state. In 2022, German intelligence counted roughly 23,000 members in the movement, including more than 2,000 considered potentially violent.
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Teenage hitmen plague Colombia
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Taleban hang up Kalashnikovs to pen war memoirs
KABUL: Since trading the battlefield for Afghanistan's halls of power, some Taleban members have also swapped their weapons for pens to tell their version of the 20-year conflict with Western forces, who they accuse of distorting 'reality'. A flood of books has been written, mostly from a Western perspective, about the war between the US-led forces that invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks until the Taleban's return to power in 2021. But in the years since, a proliferation of writings by Taleban figures - praising their exploits and the achievements of the 'Islamic Emirate' - is now the reigning narrative in Afghanistan. 'No matter what foreigners have written... they have largely ignored the reality of what happened to us and why we were forced to fight,' author Khalid Zadran told AFP. A member of the Haqqani network - long viewed as one of the most dangerous militant factions in Afghanistan - he now serves as the spokesman for the capital's police force. In his 600-page tome in Pashto published in April, he recounts US incursions in his home province of Khost, his childhood steeped in stories of soldiers' 'atrocities', and his desire to join the Taleban in the name of his country's 'freedom'. 'I witnessed horrific stories every day - mangled bodies on the roadside,' he writes in '15 Minutes', a title inspired by a US drone strike he narrowly escaped. Muhajer Farahi, now a deputy information and culture minister, penned his 'Memories of Jihad: 20 Years in Occupation' to 'state the facts', he said. 'America, contrary to its claims, has committed cruel and barbaric acts, destroyed our country with bombs, destroyed infrastructure, and has sown discord and cynicism between nations and tribes,' he told AFP from his office in central Kabul. Little attention is paid in either book to the thousands of civilians killed in Taleban attacks - many of them suicide bombings that entrenched fear across the country for nearly two decades. Farahi insists the Taleban 'were cautious in saving civilians and innocent' lives, while criticizing fellow Afghans who collaborated with the pro-Western police as a 'stain' on the country. Rights groups accuse the current Taleban authorities of widespread abuses - particularly against women and girls, who the United Nations say are victims of what amounts to 'gender apartheid'. In his book published in 2023, Farahi claims the Taleban attempted to negotiate - in vain, he insists - with the United States over the fate of Osama bin Laden, whose capture or death Washington demanded after his plane hijackers killed around 3,000 people in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, who had been based in Afghanistan, was killed by US forces in Pakistan in 2011. American 'bloodthirsty dragon' 'It was clear... that the Americans had already planned the occupation of Afghanistan,' writes Farahi in the English version of his book, which has been translated into five languages. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, Afghans thought it would 'have nothing to do with our country', he continues, but soon realized that Afghanistan would face 'punishment'. For 20 years, the war pitted Taleban militants against a US-led coalition of 38 countries supporting the Afghan Republic and its forces. Tens of thousands of Afghans died in the fighting and in Taleban attacks, as did nearly 6,000 foreign soldiers, including 2,400 Americans. For Farahi, the war reflects the West's desire to 'impose its culture and ideology on other nations'. His disjointed journal mixes battlefield memories with polemical chapters railing against the American 'bloodthirsty dragon'. The book 'reveals the truths that were not told before because the media, especially the Western media, presented a different picture of the war,' he said. According to him, the Mujahideen, or holy warriors, despite being far less equipped, were able to rely on their unity and God's aid to achieve victory. New front Only a few of the new wave of Taleban books have been autobiographies, which appeal to an audience seeking to understand the war 'from the inside', according to Zadran. His book, initially 2,000 copies in Pashto, sold out quickly and another 1,000 are in the works - along with a Dari-language version, he said. Many chapters mention Bowe Bergdahl, the US soldier held hostage for five years by the Haqqani network. He recounts treks through the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to move him between hideouts, efforts to convert him to Islam and conversations about his girlfriend back in the US. Both accounts end in 2021, before the transformation of the fighters who moved from remote mountain hideouts to the carpeted offices of the capital. There, their battle has turned diplomatic: The Taleban are now fighting for international recognition of their government. 'The war is over now,' Farahi said, 'and we want good relations with everyone' - even with the 'bloodthirsty dragon'. — AFP
