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600 Sign Appeal Against Arms Buildup in Germany

March 26, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in General updates, Geopolitics updates, Germany, World war danger updates

600 Sign Appeal Against Arms Buildup in Germany —

Mar. 24 (EIRNS)–Stirred up by the announcement of the government that an extra 100 billion euros shall be spent to upgrade the armed forces, 600 Germans from politics, science and culture have signed an appeal “No to War!” denouncing the war in Ukraine, but also declaring that, “A massive armament of the Bundeswehr will not help the people in Ukraine. The new weapons to be acquired will not support the Ukrainians in their struggle and right to self-defense. Already now the “defense expenditures” of all 30 NATO countries exceed the Russian ones by almost twenty times. Acquiring conventional weapons such as fighter jets and weaponized drones as a deterrent under nuclear military blocs is pointless. “

The sum of 100 billion euros for arms corresponds to the combined expenditures of several federal ministries, including such important departments as Health (16.03 billion), Education and Research (19.36 billion), Interior, Construction and Homeland (18.52 billion), Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (12.16 billion), Economy and Energy (9.81 billion), Environment (2.7 billion), Cooperation and Development (10.8 billion), and Food and Agriculture (6.98 billion). In the future, 2% of GDP is to be spent on armaments on a permanent basis. This would increase spending to well over 70 billion euros a year.

Since the government wants to adhere to a zero-budget increase, massive cuts in the social, cultural, and public sectors must be expected, the appeal says, pointing out that “security and social justice, not armaments, are the mandate of the constitution. The appeal concludes stating “We have to deal with a situation in which our health care systems are on edge, with a public infrastructure that has been neglected for decades and is now costing us dearly, with a cultural scene that is running on fumes, and with a climate catastrophe.”

The appeal was initiated, among others, by SPD politicians Andrea Ypsilanti and Jan Dieren, by Left Party politician Julia Schramm, by the former Green Party member of parliament Hans-Christian Ströbele, the Green Party youth spokeswoman Sarah-Lee Heinrich, the Lutheran theologian Margot Käßmann, the metal workers union executive Hans-Jürgen Urban, and the actresses Katja Riemann and Corinna Harfouch.

Pakistan’s PTV Interviews Helga Zepp-LaRouche on OIC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Islamabad

March 24, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Cultural renaissance updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, History, Media coverage of our activity, Our conferences

March 23 (EIRNS)—Helga Zepp-LaRouche was part of a panel interviewed yesterday by Pakistan’s PTV host Faisal Rehman about the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers’ meeting in Islamabad on March 22. Here are the exchanges in the interview with Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche, who is the founder and chairwoman of the Schiller Institute. The entire program is posted to YouTube.

FAISAL REHMAN: Let’s see what the lady has to share regarding this. Helga, let me put a straight question to you: Tell us, being a woman living in Europe what exactly do you think about the religion Islam, your perception? How do you perceive it?

HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE: I think it’s one of three great monotheistic religions. It’s building on Judaism and Christianity, and I think that the ecumenical dialogue among these three religions is very important as a potential peace factor in the world. I think Prime Minister Imran Khan said something very important: He said that the OIC should unite, and together with China and put maximum influence and pressure on both Ukraine and Russia in order to have a ceasefire and come to an agreement. I think that’s a perfect example how Islam can play a very positive role as an instrument peace.

On the negative side, I think one problem, and this was also mentioned that the Islamic world did not correct the narrative which started to build after 9/11. I think that is still a task, because 9/11 was not as it was presented in the official narrative and the war against Afghanistan—if you think about the people in Afghanistan who were involved in this war, it’s very little if any at all. In any case, I think the origin of 9/11 is a big question which would really need to be analyzed much more in depth.

Then naturally, one cannot forget that Samuel Huntington in his book Clash of Civilizations, he said when the East-West conflict was finished after the collapse of the Soviet Union, that basically one needed to replace the East-West conflict with a North-South conflict, and then he started to talk about the so-called “unsurmountable” conflict between Christianity, Islamic, Hinduism, Confucianism. I read this terrible book and I came to the conclusion that Huntington knows very little about all of these religions and cultures. But nevertheless, this was instigated as a tool of the British Empire and in the case of Afghanistan, you can see very clearly … actual terrorist organizations in Afghanistan is all part of the Great Game.

I think it’s important to look behind what is being said. I think Islam as a religion is a very positive thing, and as you may know, and I mentioned this on an earlier show, the reason why I called for Operation Ibn Sina, reviving the image of this great physician who is one of the absolutely great minds of universal history, that would not only help to solve the medical problem in Afghanistan and reconstruct Afghanistan, but I think if Islamic countries would start to discuss the great contributions which were part of the history of Islam, like Ibn Sina, I think you should not just be defensive about saying that the Islamophobia is wrong and unjust, but I think it would be important to reconnect to the proudest periods of Islamic tradition, like the Abbasid dynasty which was in Baghdad at that time, which was the most developed city in the world! There were more libraries, more books, all the great inventions from the previous time were revived; the caliphs would pay everybody in gold who would bring an invention from Egypt or from Spain or from other places, and without the contact between Haroun al Rashid, for example, and Charlemagne—Carl der Grosse—the Europeans would not have rediscovered their own great heritage.

So, I think, rather than being just defense and saying, this is an unjust vilification of one of the great religions, I think it would make a lot of sense to take a more positive, and in one sense, more offensive attitude by reviving the great Islamic contributions to world history. And given the fact that you had the Abbasid dynasty, you had Ibn Sina who was a great metaphysical philosopher, if I would be a Muslim woman, that’s what I would propose.

REHMAN: Helga, if I might put an interesting question—it was just popping in my mind—I can see you wearing a scarf around your neck, right? So if you put that scarf over your head, do you think your government, or your neighbors or anybody else is going to have an issue? Because, I’m not going to do India-bashing, but they’re not allowing the females Muslim to wear a scarf—but the problem is what happened in France, when the girls were not allowed to cover their head. I’m not saying cover your face, but even during the pandemic, everybody was covering their face, except wearing your glasses—I mean nothing was visible, and that is acceptable. But when you use that scarf to cover your head, that becomes a problem for the Western world, and especially for the non-Muslims. Do you think that’s an issue, or a non-issue?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think it’s definitely something which should be left to the respective religions to figure out. I’m a strong believer in the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the UN Charter; I believe in sovereignty and non-interference in the affairs of other countries; I believe in acceptance of a different social system. I think the Afghanistan disaster has shown, among many, many others, that you cannot impose your values on another culture without causing havoc and terrible conditions.

On the other side, I’m a modern woman, obviously, and I think that the reason why the Europeans, or some Europeans make an issue out of it, is because they see this as a sign of the suppression of the women. And there is something to be done for the liberation of women—there is no question about it—but I think in all of these questions once you understand the reasons why the representative of the other culture is doing something and you explain your own position, I’m sure that you always can come to an understanding and a solution. But for me, this issue is really not one of the pressing issues. It’s important for some people, but….

REHMAN: Do you think that right direction has been followed now as far as the OIC is concerned, or the Muslim countries are related to it? And maybe in another couple of decades things would really change for the betterment of the Muslims? We’re not terrorists, we’re not extremists, I mean in general—yes, there are radicals in every society, in every religion. Let’s keep them apart. But in general, do you think that if we focus, for example, this year they’re talking about unity, justice and development—I mean, there are so many themes every year, but focus, dedication, hard work and commitment, that is what is required: Helga, your take?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: I would like to answer that question in the context of the time change which is occurring. You know, in Europe right now, you have a militarization of the EU going on, which I think is very scary, because, with the war in Ukraine, the sanctions against Russia, the effort to try to imply that China is helping Russia, what we are heading towards is the danger of a real bloc building, you know where you have a NATO bloc with the United States and Europe, and maybe Australia and Japan; but then you have a Russia-China bloc. And given the fact that we have right now these sanctions, they’re forcing practically a different financial system. You can already see that trade is occurring in renminbi and rubles; other countries are starting to not trade in dollars anymore.

If this thing goes wrong, you will have two complete blocs which will be hostile to each other. There will be a summit of NATO in June in Spain, where on the agenda is a globalized NATO. If that would go through, and right now, unfortunately it looks like it, the danger that you would have a war between these two blocs is, in my view, a question of time. And that would be a catastrophe for all of humanity. So I was very encouraged when Imran Khan said that the OIC should work with China to try to mediate.

Because we need a new paradigm in international relations: I think that if we go into a geopolitical confrontation in the age of thermonuclear weapons, we could look at the annihilation of civilization. And on the other side, one of the speakers, I think it was [Pakistan’s] Foreign Minister Qureshi also mentioned the need for a new security architecture in the region of the Islamic world; but I’m proposing to have an international security architecture for everybody: Every single country must be taken care of, because security pacts, or security alliances, only function if the interest of everyone is taken into account.

The Schiller Institute will have a very important conference on April 9—and I want to invite all of your viewers to come and look at that: We will try to revive something like the Non-Aligned Movement. We will have an effort to put new principles, overcoming geopolitics on the international agenda. And I think the OIC, if they would really form a bloc and be unified, they are really strong, they could be one of the major forces in the world trying to not have this bloc-building but to move toward a higher principle of coincidence of opposites, of peaceful coexistence, reviving the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement. Many of the OIC members used to be very strong members in the Non-Aligned Movement, and I think you need that kind of an intervention. Because right now, what is happening in Europe is really scary: The EU wants to become a military force; Germany turned into a war cabinet. I think this is a very dangerous development.

And I know it’s very difficult for somebody living in one culture to completely understand the importance of what is going on in other parts of the world, but right now, I think this dangerous moving toward a clash has to be avoided by all means.

REHMAN: Thank you very much, Helga, for your comments and your participation in our program. … That’s all we have for this hour.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche on Pakistani TV: We Must Find a Way To Get Peace, Immediately!

May 11, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Economic development updates, General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Helga media coverage or interview, Sanctions, World war danger updates

May 10, 2022 (EIRNS)—Two diametrically opposed views on what could happen in the Russia-Ukraine conflict were presented on yesterday’s “Views on News” program on Pakistan’s PTV public television channel. One, presented by a guest Pakistani columnist, was the dominant “narrative” of Russia, the sole aggressor, the sole party responsible for a war which will last for a long time, devastating Ukraine in the process, but that’s the way it is, because Putin won’t give in.

Schiller Institute founder and chairwoman Helga Zepp-LaRouche countered forcefully, when given the floor:

“Most important, is to find a way to get peace, immediately, to not accept the idea that this will be a war which will go on for very long, because if that would happen— There are some people who think this war should go on until the last Ukrainian. This is a very cynical approach, because the main suffering people will be the Ukrainians.

“There is right now in Germany a huge debate which erupted because there were several open letters directed to Chancellor Scholtz, one coming from a group of intellectuals who warned that Germany should not send heavy weapons to Ukraine, because that implies the danger of the conflict going out of control and leading to World War III, and there is generally a recognition that if this comes to WW III, nobody will be left—nobody in Germany, nobody in Pakistan, nobody in the United States! So there is a growing momentum of people who say, ‘We must have a negotiated, diplomatic solution, immediately’.”

Geopolitical thinking, the idea of exhausting, of crushing Russia, of finishing off Putin, or that you keep fighting until your enemy is completely destroyed—this will lead to World War III! People should really think about that, Zepp-LaRouche insisted.

Nor is how the war came about as simple as the last speaker made it look, she noted. For 30 years, the Schiller Institute has been trying to shape events so as to bring about a new peace order, not commenting on what happens, but presenting such ideas as the Eurasian Land-bridge as the basis of peace. That potential for peace was destroyed by the drive for a unipolar world, with its color revolutions and regime changes against any government which would not accept that unipolar order. The West does have a share of responsibility for this crisis, in which, if Sweden and Finland join NATO, we could face again a reverse Cuban missile crisis.

Asked later by the host about such consequences from the war as growing malnourishment worldwide, Zepp-LaRouche urged governments to get together to set about doubling food production, to end the threat that 20% of the world’s people—1.7 billion souls— may fall into food insecurity and famine.

She counterposed the two systems developing in the world: the trans-Atlantic sector and those governments with neoliberal economic systems, which is blowing out, as Germany did in 1923; and Russia and China, which are responding to the West’s confrontational policy by trading in national currencies, setting up new banks and credit mechanisms. Much of the rest of the world —India, Indonesia, South Africa, even Brazil under Bolsonaro, Nigeria, among them—also refuse to go along with the West’s confrontation.

The danger, Zepp-LaRouche warned, is that if the West continues its confrontation, it may come to a break between the Western world and the countries gathered around Russia and China, which would be very dangerous, and an economic catastrophe, for Europe, for example. A different approach is needed! Governments must get together and agree to double food production. The U.S. could compensate for the loss of all Ukraine’s grain simply by cutting the amount of grain it burns in ethanol in half, and it should do that. Governments simply have to make available to farmers the credits, fertilizers, machinery they require to produce, and food production can be doubled.

The “Views on News” host, who had listened carefully, responded wholeheartedly: “absolutely.” The interview can be found here.

U.S. Sanctions Could Lead to One Billion People Starving, Economist Says

March 24, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Finance, General updates, Sanctions, World war danger updates

Mar. 23 (EIRNS)–Liu Zhiqun, a noted Chinese economist at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, in an interview with CGTN’s Tian Wei on March 23, was asked to comment on the global economic effects of the U.S. sanctions regime on Russia. Liu commented, “It has already been estimated that the spread of Covid will lead to conditions of starvation for 200 million people. But with the effects of the sanctions regime that number will be one billion.” He made the point that this is the greatest violation of “human rights” in history.

At Victory Day Parade, President Putin Reiterates Circumstances Requiring Russia’s Military Operation in Ukraine

May 11, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in General updates, Geopolitics updates, History, Russia, World war danger updates

May 9, 2022 (EIRNS)—“There is no family in Russia that was not burnt by the Great Patriotic War; its memory never fades,” said Russian President Putin at the Victory Day parade in Moscow.

He explained that NATO’s proxy war against Russia demanded that his nation take action:

“[D]espite all controversies in international relations, Russia has always advocated the establishment of an equal and indivisible security system which is critically needed for the entire international community.

“Last December we proposed signing a treaty on security guarantees. Russia urged the West to hold an honest dialogue in search for meaningful and compromising solutions, and to take account of each other’s interests. All in vain. NATO countries did not want to heed us, which means they had totally different plans. And we saw it.

“Another punitive operation in Donbass, an invasion of our historic lands, including Crimea, was openly in the making. Kyiv declared that it could attain nuclear weapons. The NATO bloc launched an active military build-up on the territories adjacent to us.

“Thus, an absolutely unacceptable threat to us was steadily being created right on our borders. There was every indication that a clash with neo-Nazis and Banderites backed by the United States and their minions was unavoidable.

“Let me repeat, we saw the military infrastructure being built up, hundreds of foreign advisors starting work, and regular supplies of cutting-edge weaponry being delivered from NATO countries. The threat grew every day.

“Russia launched a pre-emptive strike at the aggression. It was a forced, timely and the only correct decision. A decision by a sovereign, strong and independent country.”

(In a sense, Ukrainian military forces had already started the war, through a dramatic increase in strikes in the Donbass republics, as determined by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.)

After reviewing past heroic acts of the armed forces, he spoke to the present and the past, together:

“I am addressing our Armed Forces and Donbass militia. You are fighting for our Motherland, its future, so that nobody forgets the lessons of World War II, so that there is no place in the world for torturers, death squads and Nazis.

“Today, we bow our heads to the sacred memory of all those who lost their lives in the Great Patriotic War, the memories of the sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends.

“We bow our heads to the memory of the Odessa martyrs who were burned alive in the House of Trade Unions in May 2014, to the memory of the old people, women and children of Donbass who were killed in atrocious and barbaric shelling by neo-Nazis. We bow our heads to our fighting comrades who died a brave death in the righteous battle—for Russia.” Pres. Putin’s full speech is here.  Putin’s speech did not announce any new initiatives in Ukraine, a declaration of war against that country, or a military draft.

Glazyev: A New Economic Era Has Begun; the Center of The World Economy Has Shifted to Southeast Asia

March 24, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Economic development updates, Finance, General updates

March 23 (EIRNS) – Sergei Glazyev, the distinguished Russian economist and currently Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission of the EAEU, gave a presentation on March 22 in which he said that “a new economic era has already begun, and the center of the world economy has shifted to Southeast Asia.” As reported by Tazabek of Kyrgystan (Google translation), Glazyev said that “a new economic structure has emerged in the world, which, unlike liberal globalization, is based on a combination of strategic planning, in which the state sets goals, and a market economy, which is controlled.” The state plays a role as “regulator… It also blocks those types of private activities that cause destabilization, capital flight and disruption of the reproduction of the economy.”

“The state ensures price stability and control over the basic sectors of the economy, which provides raw materials, fuel and energy. And this is a sector where the state dominates. Here is such a mixed, and if you want – a planned market economy today is proving its advantages and the center of the world economy is moving to Southeast Asia. It is a center that includes China, India, the countries of Indochina, Japan and Korea. Today, they absolutely surpass the US and even the entire European Union in terms of production. There is no doubt that the further development of the world economy will go in this direction,” he concluded.

In other recent video interviews Glazyev has stated that the issue of a new non-dollar monetary system is under discussion, but not within the EAEU proper but more broadly, e.g. between Russian and Chinese academics. If such a new currency is developed, one option is for it to be gold-backed, and based on a treaty agreement, perhaps using the SCO as a platform, he said.

Former NATO Commander, General Mini: Replace NATO with a Different Security Architecture

May 11, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Color Revolutions, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Greece, World war danger updates

May 9 (EIRNS)—Italian Gen. Fabio Mini (ret.), former commander of the NATO-led KFOR mission in Kosovo (2002-2003), said in a May 7 interview with AmbienteWeb that NATO should be dissolved because it has become a threat to world security, and that we are already on the brink of the third world war, as reported in yesterday’s briefing.

General Mini: “From an operational point of view, and considering the nature and multiplicity of the actions taken against our adversaries, we are in the middle of a global conflict. The alignments between the West and the East speak clearly, and just because we are only given the ‘military’ picture of this conflict, does not mean that the war is merely military. The various wars overlap and include operations in Ukraine such as economic, financial, cyber, demographic, information and propaganda wars—these are not metaphors. They are real wars that produce greater damage than conventional warfare. And they are global. …

“[NATO] Articles 5 and 6 on so-called mutual defense refer to the territories of individual member states threatened by armed attack. Ukraine is not a member state, but we are sending weapons and whatnot. Article 7 states that the treaty does not and shall not be considered in any way detrimental to the rights and obligations under the charter to the parties that are members of the United Nations or the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security. Russia, like Serbia, is a part of the United Nations and NATO’s policy has harmed its rights, compromising peace and security throughout the world. Finally, I believe that the European NATO countries have renounced that all states are to be treated on an equal footing, not because of the United States, but because of their own choice and convenience. The United States is doing its job and protecting its own interests. These interests never coincided with those of Europe, not even during the Cold War, when a hot war was being prepared that would have taken place in Europe and not in the U.S., where it was clear that the U.S. would not have lifted a finger to save Europe except if the continental United States had been directly attacked. No European state objected to NATO’s call to arms in areas outside its responsibility and for reasons not pertaining to Europe. Nor did anyone object to certain countries being invited to join NATO, that did not meet requirements, but brought with them a heavy burden of insecurity. We were disloyal to the United States by not pulling them up short when they wished to do things that made no sense. You can show your loyalty to friends by moderating them, not by egging them on or passively supporting them. I believe that at the end of the day, a restructured and revised NATO would also benefit the Americans, with or without their participation.” The Ambienteweb article is here.

German Railway Suffers Partial Blackout

March 24, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Environmentalism updates, Finance, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Green New Deal

German Railway Suffers Partial Blackout

Mar. 23 (EIRNS)–Early Wednesday morning (Mar 23) all rail freight traffic in Germany was brought to a standstill because of an ‘under supply’ of electricity according to a statement by German network operator DB Netz. The Deutsche Bahn had to pull the plug on rail freight in order not to interrupt the passenger network in the middle of the rush hour. The extra power was restored by the afternoon according to an article in railfreight.com.

No reason was given for the power shortage. Deutsche Bahn has its own energy provider, DB Energie which produces and purchases all the energy requirements for the railway. DB makes a big deal in its advertising that its high speed passenger ne​t​work runs on 100% green energy – whatever that means. The problem is DB Energie plans by 2038 to be totally green by phasing out all the other sources including, nuclear, coal and gas. The nearly 40% which now comes from non green sources is planned to be sourced from new wind​ ​farms in the North Sea, some of which have yet to be built, and from Norwegian hydro-power plants. The Deutsche Bahn consumes as much electricity as Berlin, a city of four million people.

Greek Open Letter Against Government’s Ukraine Policy

May 11, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Color Revolutions, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Our initiatives (petitions, etc), World war danger updates

May 9, 2022 (EIRNS)—There is an open letter circulating in Greece addressed to the Greek government protesting its shamelessly pro-NATO policy on Ukraine. It has 159 signatures, including many university professors, retired diplomats, two former government ministers and a very high-ranking, recently retired General.

Entitled, “Protest the Attitude of the Political System and the Media on Ukraine,” they slam the unprecedented propaganda campaign the public has been subjected to.

“Although the situation in the war zone for the past eight years was a prelude to what we are experiencing today, although we have witnessed attacks by our allied countries on various fronts (Cyprus, Serbia, Iraq, Libya, Syria…), this is the first time that the attacker has been convicted, while the campaign has reached the limits of official racism. Ideological terrorism in the media is reminiscent of McCarthyism at its worst….”

It characterizes the “unbelievable” media campaign as “rampant barbarism that, among other things, demonizes the Russian leadership” and leads to a “self-manipulation of Europe, to its complete submission to U.S.-NATO plans, while the unthinkable possibility of a global nuclear catastrophe comes closer.”

Significantly, it contrasts “the Turkish counter-example of a balanced attitude” with the fact that the Greek government has “decided to destroy longstanding Greek-Russian relations, to be indifferent to the unknown fate of the Black Sea Hellenism, to endanger the energy and defense security of our homeland, to undermine even the peace in our country—not for Cyprus or but for a province of Ukraine, Donbass, defending at all costs a country that has never helped us!”

It concludes: “Those who understand the national interest of Greece and not in Euro-Atlantic terms, those who learned about war from Thucydides … and those who know who the real enemies of Greece are, feel that this government, by its attitude to the issue, offends them, poses a huge risk, and certainly does not represent them.” Among the noted signers are former Associate Minister of Finance Nadia Valavani, former Deputy Minister of National Defense Kostas Isychos, both of whom served in the previous government led by Syriza; Lt. Gen. Athanasios Tsouganatos, who retired in 2019, and Ambassador Ad Honorem Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, who has also signed the Schiller Institute petition.

Africa Faces an ‘Unprecedented Crisis,’ UN Warns

May 11, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Africa, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Nigeria, Sanctions, World war danger updates

Africa Faces an ‘Unprecedented Crisis,’ UN Warns —

May 9, 2022 (EIRNS)—Representatives of the United Nations warned of major crises emerging in the continent of Africa due to the Western sanctions against Russia, in a press conference on May 6 in Geneva. Al Jazeera reported the UN officials said that the ongoing conflict has not only led to shortages of wheat, fertilizer and other goods, but also zooming inflation has impacted many nations, pointing out that already, commodity prices have soared—with the price of sunflower and colza oil shooting up 40%. “This is an unprecedented crisis for the continent,” UNDP Africa chief economist Raymond Gilpin said on May 6. “We are seeing a reduction of GDP growth on the continent.”

“With the disruptions that now happen, you see an urgent situation materialize because where do these countries turn overnight for commodities?” UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Africa regional director Ahunna Eziakonwa said. “Tensions, particularly in urban areas, low-income communities, could spill over and lead to violent protests and violent riots,” he said, noting that countries holding elections this year and next year were particularly vulnerable.

In a signal development, domestic air travel in Nigeria is stopping completely. The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) announced that starting on Monday, May 9, all domestic flights will be grounded, due to the soaring price of jet fuel, which has increased from 190 to 700 Nigerian naira per liter (from $0.45/liter to almost $1.70—attributed to the economic effects of the sanctions). This means that even a one-hour flight would cost about 120,000 naira ($289), a sum unaffordable for Nigerians “already experiencing a lot of difficulties,” said AON.

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