The European Union could become as dependent on China for lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells by 2030 as it was on Russia for energy before the war in Ukraine.
A study prepared by European Union leaders says that could happen unless the bloc's countries take decisive steps.
The document, obtained by Reuters, will form the basis of discussions on European economic security at a meeting of EU leaders in Granada, Spain on October 5.
Worried about China's increasing global assertiveness and economic burden, the country's leaders will discuss European Commission proposals to reduce the risk of Europe becoming too dependent on China and the need to diversify into Africa and Latin America.
The paper says that due to the volatile nature of renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power, Europe needs a way to store energy to reach its target of net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. "This
will skyrocket our demand for lithium-ion batteries, cell fuels, and electrolysers, which are expected to increase between 10 and 30-fold in the next few years," wrote the study prepared by the European Union presidency in Spain.
Although the European Union has a strong position in the intermediate and assembly stages of electrolyzer manufacturing, with more than 50 percent of the global market share, it relies heavily on China for fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries critical for electric vehicles.
"Without implementing strong measures, the European energy ecosystem could have a dependence on China in 2030 of a different nature, but with the same severity, compared to Russia before its invasion of Ukraine," he said.
According to the European Commission in 2021, a year before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union sourced more than 40 percent of total gas consumption, 27 percent of oil imports and 46 percent of coal imports from Russia.
Ending most energy purchases from Russia apparently caused energy price shocks in the European Union and a spike in consumer inflation, forcing the European Central Bank to raise interest rates sharply and hampering economic growth.
Lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells are not the only vulnerable areas in the European Union, says Spanish presidential review.
"A similar scenario could occur in the field of digital technology. Forecasts show that demand for digital devices such as sensors, drones, data servers, storage equipment and data transmission networks will increase sharply in this decade," according to the study
are strong in those areas, but they show significant weaknesses in other areas," he continued.
By 2030, this dependence on foreign factors could seriously hamper much-needed productivity increases for Europe's industry and services sectors and could hinder the modernization of agricultural systems that is essential to tackling climate change, he said.
Nazareth : Pope Pius 12 knew about the Nazi extermination camps and preferred to remain silent
Italian and Israeli media revealed an archival document stating that the late Supreme Pontiff Pius 12 knew of Nazi atrocities, but preferred to remain silent.
According to the report, the representative of the Church in Germany sent a letter to the Supreme Pontiff Pius 12, in 1942, in which he said that at least 6,000 people were killed every day, most of them Jews and Poles, in crematoriums in Poland.
The report is based on a letter found in the Vatican archives, a year ago, and published the day before yesterday in the Italian newspaper “Corriere di la Sera,” from which it is conclusively inferred that Pope Pius XII knew what was going on inside the Nazi concentration and extermination camps, but he chose to remain silent.
Former Pope Benedict 16 said that Pope Pius 12 saved more Jews during the Holocaust than anyone else.
In the letter sent by the German priest, called Luther King, there are details about what is going on in the Belzic extermination camp in Poland. It is noteworthy that during the Second World War, Pope Pius XII had previously been accused by many Jews of preferring to remain silent about the crimes of the Holocaust, or at least not doing enough to stop them.
This letter, which was published by Hebrew newspapers today, includes an appendix with the names of the priests detained inside the “Diekhau” concentration camp, near Munich. It also mentions the Nazi concentration and extermination camp in “Auschwitz” on Polish territory, and a reference to the numbers of Jews and Poles who are killed every day.
According to the Hebrew “Ynet” website, today, the purpose of the aforementioned letter, sent on December 14, 1942, was to inform the Vatican of the persecution to which Christian clergy in Germany and Poland are also being subjected.
It was also stated in the report that this historical letter was only revealed now after researchers succeeded in identifying its author, who signed it with “Yours sincerely, Luther.”
The press report confirms that although news of Nazi atrocities led by Hitler reached the ears of the Supreme Pontiff Pius XII, before this letter, this has exceptional value, due to the fact that it comes from the Church itself, and from a reliable source.
Vatican Archive researcher Giovanni Cocco believes that the letter is very important because “the Pope did not have a more reliable source than a German priest in the church who wrote down what he saw and heard.” The Italian newspaper quotes Cocco as saying, “It cannot be confirmed with certainty whether Pope Pius 12 received this letter, because it initially reached his personal secretary, who assumed the task of informing the Supreme Pontiff of the information, or showing him direct documents.”
The Israeli website "Ynet" believes that this archival message is like a "smoking gun," meaning that it is conclusive evidence of the claims of historians who previously confirmed that Pope Pius 12 knew about the Holocaust during its investigation, but did not do anything that would stop it. He explained that some historians suggested that, with his behavior, the Pope chose not to confront Adolf Hitler, so he remained silent because he feared Communism more than Nazism, and he believed that the Nazis would prevail in World War II, and thus he wanted to avoid millions of German Catholic believers turning away from religion.
Some historians suggested that the Pope chose, by his silence, not to confront Adolf Hitler.
On the other hand, there were historians who claimed that Pope Pius
The revelation of this historical letter, one of the most important archival discoveries, comes after the current Pope Francis allowed the archives of Pope Pius 12 to be opened in 2019, claiming that the Church is not afraid of history.
It is noteworthy that former Pope Benedict XVI claimed, in 2010, that Pope Pius 12 had saved more Jews during the Holocaust than any other party. At that time, Benedict said this in press statements, on the eve of the publication of his book “Light of the World,” claiming that the Vatican had conducted an internal investigation of the historical documents of Pope Pius 12, according to which the accusations against him were denied.
It is noteworthy that the British writer Gordon Thomas said, in 2013, that the Vatican documents he had received stated that Pope Pius 12 worked to rescue Jews, pointing out that this was also confirmed by survivors who were interrogated in this regard. He said that while Christian clergy were silent about the Holocaust, Pius 12 extended his blessing to those who hid Jews inside monasteries in Europe, and supervised the efforts of priests who risked their lives as they sought in a secret operation to rescue Jews.
In this context, Gordon Thomas said that hundreds of Jews in Italy, and hundreds of Jews in Hungary, had obtained false identification papers that identified them as Catholics, and thus escaped persecution by the Nazis, while 4,000 Jews found refuge, food, and clothing inside Italian monasteries.
Increasing border tention : Armenia intensifies its provocations against Azerbaijan in the border areas
Armenian provocations against Azerbaijan continue on a large scale in the border areas and in the Karabakh region. All these provocations indicate that Armenia does not accept the peace proposals presented by Azerbaijan, and that it is interested in increasing tension in the region, according to the Azerbaijan News Agency.
Armenian provocations against Azerbaijan continue on a large scale in the border areas and in the Karabakh region.
The Azerbaijani News Agency said on Sunday that the increasing number of provocations observed in recent years is further evidence of this.
The agency stated that the number of provocations committed in July of this year on the conditional borders between Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani Karabakh economic region reached 28 (12 on the conditional borders, 7 in the Karabakh economic region. They included border violations using quadcopters, and attempts to Digging trenches on the border, fortification activities, and other provocations.
Provocations reached 45 in August (17 - on the conditional borders, 3 - in the Karabakh economic region).
According to the Azerbaijani Agency, this September witnessed a significant increase in the number of provocations. The number of provocations rose to 61 in the first half of the same month.
All these provocations indicate that Armenia does not accept the peace proposals presented by Azerbaijan and is interested in increasing tension in the region.
The agency confirmed that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are taking all necessary measures to prevent Armenian provocations.
Baku has repeatedly stressed that responsibility for deliberate tension in the region lies with the Armenian military and political leadership.
The Azerbaijani army was able to thwart all provocations, such as approaching its positions, digging trenches, various fortification activities, sabotage attempts, and the use of drones, according to what the agency reported.
Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian army occupied Karabakh, an internationally recognized region as part of Azerbaijan, and seven neighboring regions.
On September 27, 2020, the Azerbaijani army launched an operation to liberate its occupied territories in Karabakh, and after fierce battles that lasted 44 days, Azerbaijan and Armenia reached a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement, stipulating that Baku would regain control over the occupied provinces.