Orban Positions Himself As Trump's Link in Europe

"Europe's contrarian, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is positioning himself as Donald Trump's link across the Atlantic, saying he is on a mission to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Orban, fresh from meetings this month with top leaders in Beijing, Moscow and Kyiv, plus a swing through Washington for NATO's summit, traveled to Florida Thursday to meet with Trump, a good friend of Orban's who is again the Republican presidential candidate.

The gadfly nationalist Hungarian leader, who has maintained relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin -- to the consternation of other North Atlantic Treaty Organization members -- used the social-media platform X to describe his stop at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate as part of his "peace mission." He said Trump "is a man of peace," adding: "He will do it again!"

Orban "is clearly betting on a Trump victory in November," said Jorn Fleck, a senior director with the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank. "His check-in with Trump in Mar-a-Lago seems a well-timed gamble to establish himself early for unique access to a Trump II administration and position himself as a potential player on a larger stage."

Orban last week greeted Putin with a hug. It has become rare for European leaders to visit Russia since its full-scale conflict in Ukraine in February 2022. A day earlier Orban had made an unannounced visit to Ukraine, where he met President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky had invited Orban, and despite longstanding animosity the meeting was fairly cordial, according to two people familiar with it. Zelensky invited Orban partly in the hope of keeping Hungary from blocking European Union aid to Ukraine, and also to hear Hungarian ideas for facilitating peace talks, the people said.

Orban has criticized Western support to Ukraine and Zelensky himself, and even temporarily blocked EU funding. Zelensky in turn lambasted Orban for what Ukraine and others saw as his support for Russia and appeasement of Putin.

Hungarian officials said the visit was meant to explore a peaceful settlement, although it wasn't immediately clear what was achieved. After Moscow, Orban met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Hungary holds the rotating presidency of the EU, but the role has always focused on internal issues, not international diplomacy. EU leaders have said Orban has no authority to hold meetings or speak on the 27-country bloc's behalf.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Orban of "appeasement" while he was in Moscow, saying on X that his outreach "will not stop Putin." Other senior European diplomats said the trips are more about aggrandizing Orban's role on the continent than sincere efforts at diplomacy.

In a nod to Trump, Hungary adopted "Make Europe Great Again" -- MEGA -- as the motto for its term in presidency. In April Budapest hosted the Conservative Political Action Conference, a premier gathering of the U.S. right wing, for the third year running.

Trump campaign officials said the two men weren't discussing any official effort to negotiate peace between the warring European nations, but the visit sparked speculation that Trump was using Orban as an intermediary and seeking information in the hope of better understanding Putin's terms, were he to agree to a negotiation.

"Trump has repeatedly stated that a top priority in his second term will be to quickly negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict," said Trump campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung. "The conflict between Russia and Ukraine never would have happened if Donald J. Trump were president. So sad."

Orban last visited Trump in March, and often makes clear his desire to see Trump back in office. Now the EU's longest-serving leader, Orban shares the former U.S. president's populist approach. The two are hard-liners on immigration and restrictions on LGBTQ rights. He has also taken measures to crack down on his country's press and the judiciary.

Trump has referred to Orban as a "great gentleman" and a "strong" leader." [1]

Promoters of hatred between nations, running EU, would eat Orban alive, if not for Trump. They are now afraid that they will be forced to eat their own shit if Trump is re-elected as a president of America.

1. U.S. News: Orban Positions Himself As Trump's Link in Europe. Salama, Vivian; Pancevski, Bojan. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 13 July 2024: A.5.

Mirties kelias visoms Bideno subsidijoms: Australijos BHP sustabdys vidaus nikelio operacijas

 

 „BHP grupė nutrauks jos Australijos nikelio operacijas vėliau šiais metais dėl pasaulinio metalo, vieno iš pagrindinių elektromobilių akumuliatorių sudedamųjų dalių, pertekliaus.

 

 Sprendimas sunaikinti nepelningas nikelio kasyklas ir perdirbimo operacijas, taip pat neseniai įsigytą projektą buvo priimtas po baterijų metalų rinkų nuosmukio, dėl kurio buvo uždarytos kasyklos ir prarastos darbo vietos, ypač Australijoje.

 

 Australijoje įsikūrusio BHP teigimu, sustabdymas, kuris, anot Australijos, gali trukti keletą metų, nutraukia pagrindinį Vakarų nikelio šaltinį, galintį tiekti pakankamai metalo, kad kiekvienais metais būtų pagaminta 700 000 elektromobilių baterijų. Tai smūgis JAV pastangoms sumažinti Amerikos kompanijų priklausomybę nuo Kinijos, kurios įmonės ėmė griežčiau kontroliuoti pasaulinę nikelio pasiūlą, investuodamos į nikelio turtingą Indoneziją.

 

 Dar visai neseniai BHP – didžiausia pasaulyje kalnakasė pagal rinkos vertę – matė nikelį, metalinį varį ir kalio trąšas, kaip augimo prioritetą. Tačiau nuo praėjusių metų pradžios metalo kainos sumažėjo beveik perpus, nes pigus Indonezijos eksportas užvaldė pasaulinę rinką.

 

 BHP Australijos operacijų vadovė Geraldine Slattery sakė, kad BHP ir kiti kalnakasiai buvo nustebinti, kaip greitai išaugo nikelio pasiūla. Gamintojai, įskaitant Šveicarijoje įsikūrusią „Glencore“ ir Kanados „First Quantum Minerals“, taip pat sustabdė nikelio kasyklas.

 

 – Ar galėjome pamatyti, kaip tai ateina? Slatter sakė žurnalistams per skambutį. "Manau, mes visi užduodame sau šį klausimą."

 

 Nikelis nėra vienintelė prekė, naudojama pasaulinėje energetikos pertvarkoje, kuri išgyvena sunkų laikotarpį; Ličio kainos taip pat nukrito, didėjant pasauliniam tiekimui.

 

 BHP dar 2019 m. apsvarstė „Nickel West“ pavadinimu žinomų operacijų pardavimą, tačiau nusprendė jas išlaikyti, nes tikėjosi, kad baterijų bumas sustiprėjo. Nikelis daugiausia naudojamas nerūdijančiame pliene, kuris sudaro daugiau, nei 60 % pasaulinės metalo paklausos, nors jo naudojimas EV baterijose smarkiai išaugo.

 

 BHP išplėtė savo veiklą Australijoje, kad gamintų nikelio sulfatą, kuris naudojamas ličio jonų akumuliatoriuose, varančiuose elektromobilius.

 

 Tačiau BHP sunkiai ir beviltiškai stengėsi, kad nikelio veikla būtų pelninga, nepaisant to, kad nuo šio dešimtmečio pradžios į verslą investavo apie 3 mlrd. dolerių. Kalnakasė apskaičiavo, kad 2024 m. birželio 30 d. pasibaigusiais fiskaliniais metais bus patirtas maždaug 300 mln. dolerių nuostolis.

 

 „Akivaizdu, kad tęsti veiklą, patiriant šiuos didelius ir nuolatinius nuostolius neperspektyvu“, – sakė Slattery.

 

 Ji sakė, kad kalnakasė kalbasi su jos klientais apie sustabdymą. BHP anksčiau pasirašė tiekimo sutartis su „Tesla“ ir „Ford Motor“. Daugiau komentuoti ji atsisakė.

 

 BHP sustabdys veiklą spalį ir ketina persvarstyti sprendimą iki 2027 m. vasario mėn.“ [1].

 

Jokia šalis nepajėgi ilgai kovoti su rinkos jėgomis, net Amerika nepajėgi.

 

1. Business News: Australia's BHP To Halt Domestic Nickel Operations. Hoyle, Rhiannon.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 12 July 2024: B.3.

The Way of Death for All Biden's Subsidies: Australia's BHP To Halt Domestic Nickel Operations

"BHP Group will shutter its Australian nickel operations later this year due to a global glut of the metal, one of the key ingredients in batteries for electric vehicles.

The decision to mothball the unprofitable nickel mines and processing operations, as well as a recently acquired project, follows a downturn in battery-metals markets that has left a trail of mine closures and job losses, especially in Australia.

The suspension, which Australia-based BHP says could last several years, cuts off a key Western source of nickel capable of supplying enough metal to make 700,000 EV batteries each year. It is a blow to U.S. efforts to lessen American companies' dependency on China, whose companies have been tightening their grip on global nickel supply with big investments in nickel-rich Indonesia.

Until recently, BHP -- the world's biggest miner by market value -- highlighted nickel as a priority for growth, alongside industrial metal copper and fertilizer ingredient potash. But prices for the metal have nearly halved since the start of last year as a surge in cheap Indonesian exports swamped the global market.

The head of BHP's Australian operations, Geraldine Slattery, said BHP and other miners have been surprised by just how quickly nickel supply increased. Producers including Switzerland-based Glencore and Canada's First Quantum Minerals also have suspended nickel mines.

"Could we have seen this coming?" Slattery told reporters on a call. "I guess we are all asking ourselves that question."

Nickel isn't the only commodity used in the global energy transition that is having a tough time; prices of lithium also have slumped amid a rise in global supplies.

BHP had considered a sale of the operations known as Nickel West as recently as 2019, but chose to retain them as expectations of a battery boom intensified. Nickel is primarily used in stainless steel, which accounts for more than 60% of global demand for the metal, although its use in EV batteries has been rising sharply.

BHP expanded its Australian operations to produce nickel sulfate, which is used in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars.

Yet BHP has struggled to make its nickel operations profitable, despite investing around $3 billion in the business since the start of this decade. The miner estimates the operations will record an underlying loss of roughly $300 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024.

"Clearly it's not viable to continue operating under these significant and sustained losses," said Slattery.

The miner is speaking to its customers about the suspension, she said. BHP has previously signed supply deals with Tesla and Ford Motor. She declined to comment further.

BHP will suspend the operations in October and intends to review the decision by February 2027, it said." [1]

No country is able to fight market forces for long time, even America is not able to.

1. Business News: Australia's BHP To Halt Domestic Nickel Operations. Hoyle, Rhiannon.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 12 July 2024: B.3.