Poland's Sikorski says arms race could lead to Putin's fall
WARSAW: Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Thursday that a new arms race could lead to the fall of Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'regime', just like it toppled the Soviet Union.
The NATO member's top diplomat spoke after the Western defence alliance agreed to massively ramp up defence spending, seen as vital to counter the threat from Russia.
'Putin should understand that he is on the path of (Soviet leader Leonid) Brezhnev. He himself once said that the Soviet Union collapsed because it spent too much on armament, and now he is doing exactly the same thing,' Sikorski said in an interview with AFP, the Polish news agency PAP and German agency DPA.
'He is waging a very expensive war and also provoked, scared the whole West into reinforcing its defence spending... We are doing it because Putin is threatening us,' he added.
'This means that from an economy the size of Texas, Putin will have to squeeze out even more defence funds. Hopefully with a similar result for the regime (to that of the Soviet Union), but faster.'
NATO's 32 countries agreed to US President Donald Trump's headline target of five percent of GDP on defence spending following two days of talks in The Hague.
The compromise hatched by NATO sees countries promise to dedicate 3.5 percent of GDP to core military spending by 2035, and a further 1.5 to broader security-related areas such as infrastructure.
Underpinning the leaders' discussions on defence was Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, with the summit's final statement referring to the 'long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malaysian Reserve
34 minutes ago
- Malaysian Reserve
G7 agrees compromise with US over global minimum tax for firms
NEW YORK — The G7 nations have backed a compromise with the United States in the dispute over an international minimum tax agreement for large corporations, reported German news agency dpa. The agreement means that US companies would be exempt from the global minimum tax but would instead be subject to taxation under a parallel US system, according to a statement from the Canadian G7 presidency following a summit there earlier this month. It has been agreed that the arrangement proposed by Washington ensures progress in combating international profit shifting. After taking office again in January, President Donald Trump declared the global minimum tax for large companies invalid in the United States. The White House views the global tax agreement as an unacceptable infringement on national sovereignty over finances and taxation. The minimum tax idea is part of a global corporate tax reform agreed by approximately 140 countries via the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Under the agreement, all multi-nationals with annual revenues exceeding €750 million (US$880 million) must pay at least 15 per cent in taxes, regardless of where the profits are generated. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil welcomed the compromise following talks by the Group of Seven major industrialised democracies. 'The G7 agreement makes it possible for us to further advance the fight against tax havens, tax evasion and tax dumping,' he said in a statement on Sunday. He added that the US no longer opposes the global minimum tax per se, and planned punitive measures against European companies have been dropped. 'This allows the OECD and US minimum taxes to coexist,' he said. –BERNAMA-dpa
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
More than 50 arrested ahead of banned Istanbul pride parade
ANKARA: Police arrested more than 50 people in Istanbul Sunday ahead of a banned LGBTQ+ pride march, the city's bar association said. 'Before today's Istanbul Pride march, four of our colleagues, including members of our Human Rights Centre, along with more than 50 people, were deprived of their liberty through arbitrary, unjust, and illegal detention,' the Istanbul Bar's Human Rights Centre posted on X. Earlier Sunday, police arrested protesters near the central Ortakoy district, AFP journalists observed on the scene. Once a lively affair with thousands of marchers, Istanbul Pride has been banned each year since 2015 by Turkey's ruling conservative government. 'These calls, which undermine social peace, family structure, and moral values, are prohibited,' Istanbul Governor Davut Gul warned on X on Saturday. 'No gathering or march that threatens public order will be tolerated,' he added. Taksim Square, one of the city's main venues for protests, celebrations and rallies, was blocked off by police from early Sunday. According to a video posted on X by Queer Feminist Scholars, one protester chanted 'We didn't give up, we came, we believed, we are here,' as she and a dozen others ran to avoid arrest. Homosexuality is not criminalised in Turkey, but homophobia is widespread. It reaches even the highest levels of government, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regularly describing LGBTQ+ people as 'perverts' and a threat to the traditional family. The banning of Istanbul pride follows the failure of Hungary's conservative leader Viktor Orban to prevent his country's main pride parade from going ahead. A estimated 200,000 people, a record, marched in the Budapest Pride parade Saturday, defying a ban by Orban's government.
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Building artificial coral reefs made from human ashes to restore marine life
A British startup is building memorial reef structures out of human ashes. — AFP A British start-up has come up with the original and surprising idea of building artificial coral reefs made from human ashes to help restore marine life. The technique was tested in Bali, Indonesia in 2024 and has already proven successful, demonstrating fish diversity 14 times greater than degraded areas nearby. In recent years, the funeral industry has been slowly shifting towards more eco-friendly services, with biodegradable urns made from 100% natural materials (clay, salt, earth, sand, plants), recycled cardboard coffins, and even bicycle hearses now available. But British company Resting Reef is taking innovation even further by offering a service that helps restore the seabed by providing underwater habitats made with human ashes. Founded by designers Aura Murillo Perez and Louise Skajem, this startup uses a process known as "aquamation', a funerary technique that involves dissolving the tissues of a living organism in a heated alkaline liquid, then grinding the bones into a white powder similar to the human ashes obtained by cremation. With this concept, Resting Reef aims (as stated on its website) to "... redefine the death care industry landscape and evolve the way we all perceive, experience, and interact with death.' The idea is also to offer an eco-friendly, meaningful and purposeful alternative to conventional methods of commemorating a loved one. To do this, the company mixes human (or animal) ashes obtained through aquamation with crushed oyster shells and concrete, creating a material whose properties enhance marine growth, The Guardian reports. Once this mixture has been obtained, it is moulded into structures similar to those formed by corals. These artificial reefs are then submerged to sit on sea and ocean floors, at a depth of about 10m. "The reef sites themselves provide families and friends with the opportunity to visit beautiful natural areas as part of the commemoration of their loved ones. Loved ones may also choose a memento. These are replicas of the reef structures kept at home, as a link to the structures on the seafloor," the Resting Reef founders state. A "pilot' reef was created in Bali in 2024 using the remains of pets donated by their owners. "The pilot project attracted 84 fish species and achieved fish diversity 14 times greater than nearby degraded areas,' Auro Murillo Perez told The Guardian. The next step for the founders of this startup is to move on to human ashes and obtain licenses to roll out their concept in the port city of Plymouth in England. All over the world, the survival of coral reefs is under threat. Ocean warming is causing coral bleaching, which leads to their death. Added to this danger are ocean acidification, water pollution, overfishing and coral predators. According to figures from a Unesco study published in 2017, most coral reefs are at risk of disappearing by 2050. – AFP Relaxnews
