Search

Marco Setaccioli challenged Marco Travaglio's calculations on European and Russian military spending, stating that Travaglio had indicated 450 billion euros for Europe and 150 for Russia and had argued that Russia had reason to fear Europe, which had invaded it four times in the last 200 years. According to Setaccioli, in the current year Russia would have spent around 17 trillion rubles on defense, equivalent to 181 billion euros, a figure indicated, according to him, by most analysts. He noted that the nominal comparison did not take purchasing power into account: applying indices developed by specialized research centers, Russian spending would rise to 574 billion international dollars, compared to about 700 billion for the entire EU. He added that the EU would have three and a half times the population of Russia and a GDP nine times greater. Setaccioli argued that the Russian federal budget did not show all military costs. He cited studies by economist Craig Kennedy, according to which part of the spending would be financed through subsidized loans and would thus remain on the banks' balance sheets. He also recalled an investigation by Dozhd', which, according to him, had documented pressures on private companies to hire people before signing contracts with the military and to supplement salaries with corporate funds. He added that at least three militias would be linked to Gazprom, which would cover part of the costs. For these reasons, he dismissed as false the claim that Russia spent less than the EU. Historically, Setaccioli criticized Travaglio's reconstruction, according to which the Napoleonic and Nazi invasions, along with interventions in Crimea and support for the Bolsheviks, would justify Russian fears toward Europe. Setaccioli listed Russian troop interventions in Poland in 1939, Finland in 1939-1940, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Romania in 1940, Bulgaria in 1944, Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, Moldova in 1992, Georgia in 2008, and Ukraine in 2014 and 2022. He stated that there were no Russian regions occupied by European countries, while eight regions—one in Moldova, two in Georgia, and five in Ukraine—would be under Russian control. Finally, Setaccioli accused Travaglio of presenting a selective and misleading reconstruction to make Russia appear not dangerous, portray Europe as a threat, and argue that rearmament was unnecessary and risky. In his view, that reasoning could legitimize a potential Russian attack on Europe and constituted a form of collaborationism. #Russia #Europa #Difesa (translated)

The university conference (uniko) warns of "enormously negative consequences" for universities, students, and researchers due to vague information about the budget of 16 billion euros for the years 2028 to 2030, which could be accompanied by massive staff cuts. #UniBudget #Bildung #Wissenschaft (translated)

These efforts today make it possible to avoid having to make sacrifices tomorrow. We still have a chance to escape imposed and violent cuts. Before the government's budget presentation, which is characterized by a goal of 54 billion euros in savings, Sébastien Lecornu stated, for example: "These efforts today make it possible to avoid having to make sacrifices tomorrow. We still have a chance to escape imposed and violent cuts." #DettePublique #FinancesPersonnelles #Budget2024 (translated)

The article explores the growing impact of public debt on the personal finances of the French and highlights the current concerns of the government regarding the need to restore investor confidence, despite the fact that debt has been high for decades without any apparent immediate consequences. #DettePublique #FinancesPersonnelles #Budget2024 (translated)

the tl;dr is the kids are rightfully pissed that Macron has been cutting the education budget and current conditions for French students needs to improve tremendously, but the Macron government doesn't want to move on econ, so the harsh repression of protests was opted for instead

The Austrian federal government has decided on a university budget of 16 billion euros for three years during its autumn results meeting, which, however, is far below the expectations of the universities and could lead to potential cuts in teaching. #UniBudget #Zukunftsdepot #Österreich (translated)

The government has reached an agreement on the university budget for 2028 to 2030 and the future fund, with the universities receiving 16 billion euros, which is still below the requested amounts and could continue to lead to budget cuts. #Unibudget #Zukunftsdepot #Österreich (translated)

The Austrian government reached an agreement on Saturday regarding university funding, which includes an increased budget of 16 billion euros for the years 2028 to 2030 as well as the introduction of a future fund starting in July 2027. #UniBudget #Zukunftsdepot #Bildungsfinanzierung (translated)

The federal government is facing the finalization of the controversial university budget on Saturday, which is criticized as too low by universities and students, while the "Future Fund" pushed by the ÖVP is to be finalized at the same time. #UniBudget #Zukunftsdepot #Hochschulfinanzierung (translated)