Austrian armed forces are ready to cooperate with Moscow as “Russia is much closer to Austria than other major world powers,” chief of the Austrian General Staff said in Moscow, according to TASS. Vienna’s top military figure noted that one of the reasons for his visit to the Russian capital was to disobey others’ orders. [...]

The Paris and Brussels attacks are blowback from what Islamic State terrorists see as betrayal by Western benefactors who thought using jihadists could bring “regime change” in Syria, says Pakistani analyst Nauman Sadiq. France under President Nicolas Sarkozy played a lead role in fomenting the insurgency against the Gaddafi regime in Libya in 2011, and Sarkozy’s successor, Francois Holla [...]

Austria intends to send military to the Italian border to boost protection amid the refugee crisis, the country's defense minister said. Austria is planning to send soldiers to the border with Italy to enhance border protection amid a migrant inflow, Austrian Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said Saturday. [...]

Islamic State has urged its radical followers in Germany to carry out Brussels-like attacks on the Chancellor’s office and an airport in one of Germany’s main cities. Despite the threats, German authorities have no plans to step up security measures. [...]

A new draft law proposed by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere makes taking German lessons and otherwise integrating into society a mandatory requirement for refugees seeking to stay in Germany for the long term. Germans are clearly not happy with their government's hospitable policy toward the refugees that continue to flee to Europe predominantly from war-torn Middle East and poor Af [...]

Politically and symbolically any attack on Belgium – the state where the political and administrative center of NATO is located – is by implication an attack on the US and its global dominance, French journalist and founder of Agora Erasmus political organization Karel Vereycken told Sputnik. [...]

Following the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris in November, Brussels’ town hall was lit in the colors of the French flag. Today, sadly, the Eiffel Tower is being lit for Brussels. On Tuesday, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced that the tower would be lit in black, yellow, and red, to show solidarity after terrorist attacks of the morning left at least 31 dead and many more injured. [...]

Brussels, the administrative capital of Europe, was turned into a war zone after a series of deadly bomb blasts caused the city to shut down all transport links to the outside world. Zaventem International Airport was struck by two blasts during the early morning rush hour. [...]

The Bundesbank has announced plans to repatriate some of Germany’s gold reserves from abroad. At least half of the country’s gold would be transferred to Frankfurt by 2020, according to Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann. Weidmann says 366 tons of gold worth €11.5 billion have been delivered to Frankfurt so far. "There are now about 1,400 tons or 41.5 percent of our gold reserves here," t [...]

The corporate media has virtually ignored Jean-Claude Van Damme’s commentary on the US election. Van Damme told the French TV show Le Grand Journal the global elite, controlled by “people like the Rothschild” will determine the outcome of the election and Ted Cruz and Donald Trump will not be elected. [...]

In the context of the current refugee crisis, leaders of the European Union reached an agreement on the deal with Turkey. The package of measures agreed on Friday morning is now awaiting approval by the Turkish government, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) reported, referring to Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. [...]

The Dutch parliament has passed a landmark resolution calling on the government to halt the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia, accusing the Gulf kingdom of "violating international humanitarian law" as a result of its military offensive in Yemen. The bill is the first of its kind to be passed by a European Union member state following developments in the EU parliament last month, [...]

Controversial changes to the Polish Constitutional Tribunal brought in by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, following its election in October 2015, have been blasted as "crippling" and undermining the basic principles of democracy. A report by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe — a separate body from the European Union founded in 1949 to protect democracy, human rights and the rule [...]

The launch of the first joint ESA-Roscosmos mission to the Red Planet serves partly as a response to the "stupid political" anti-Russian sanctions, according to Alexey Novikov, spokesman for the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos. In an interview with Sputnik, Alexey Novikov, spokesman for the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, described the launch of the first joint ESA-Roscosmos miss [...]

Following her party's success in the German regional elections, the chairwoman of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party told RT that the results were “even better” than anticipated, and that AfD is needed in the country. Official election results proved significant success for AfD, which received enough votes to get into three state legislatures. [...]

Stability used to define Germany's political system. But the refugee crisis has fundamentally changed the country's party landscape. The rise of the fringe has eroded the traditional centers of power. Seven or eight months ago, Germany was a different country than it is today. [...]

With her refugee policies, Chancellor Merkel has isolated Germany to a greater degree than any of her predecessors. The Balkan Route has been closed down against her will and many EU leaders believe her overtures to Turkey are delusional. There were times when interactions between the German [...]

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Philip Breedlove recently took US hawks' campaign of Russia-baiting up a notch, suggesting Russia and Syria have 'deliberately weaponized' refugees to 'break European resolve'. The remarks, and the mainstream media's ability to convey them with a straight face, are an indication of a broken system, experts suggest. [...]

Hundreds of tractors disrupted traffic in the Finnish capital on Friday, when thousands of farmers arrived in Helsinki to protest the catastrophic situation in the agricultural sector and ongoing sanctions against Russia. [...]