According to the Financial Times, the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Europe’s largest port, has begun allocating space for NATO military cargo and planning routes for weapons shipments in preparation for a potential war with Russia.

Landing exercises will also be conducted at the port. Although the port has previously handled weapons shipments, it did not have a dedicated pier for this purpose, even during the peak of the Cold War. Under the new plan, a section of the container terminal will be refitted to allow for the safe transfer of ammunition from one ship to another.

Port Director Boudewijn Simons stated that military shipment logistics will be coordinated with the neighboring Port of Antwerp in Belgium, the EU’s second-largest. Simons emphasized that this cooperation will be particularly important for receiving cargo from the US, the UK, and Canada. “We increasingly see each other less as competitors. Of course, we compete when necessary, but we work together where we can,” said Simons, adding that when large volumes of weapons need to be transported, Rotterdam will ask Antwerp or other ports to handle part of the load, and vice versa.

The Dutch Ministry of Defence confirmed in a statement in May that the port would provide space for military shipments at NATO’s request. This decision was made within the framework of the European Union’s rearmament program, through which the bloc aims to reduce its defense dependency on the US.

The Port of Rotterdam is also used as a center for storing strategic oil reserves. In this context, Simons called on European countries to take precautions regarding other critical resources such as copper, lithium, and graphite. The EU is expected to present a “stockpiling strategy” on July 8, which will cover medical supplies, critical raw materials, energy equipment, food, and water.

Divisions within Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) over rearmament and relations with Russia are set to culminate at its upcoming congress, where party leader and finance minister Lars Klingbeil faces backlash from a faction within his party.

According to a report in the Financial Times, one of the critics of the SPD leadership is the eldest son of former SPD Chancellor Willy Brandt, who still holds significant influence over the party with his Ostpolitik (Eastern Policy), a policy of rapprochement with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

Peter Brandt, a 76-year-old historian, has co-signed an SPD motion criticizing the government’s rearmament plans and advocating for “de-escalation and a gradual return to cooperation with Russia.”

The manifesto, published ahead of this week’s SPD party conference, states, “There is a long road ahead to return to a stable order of peace and security in Europe.”

While acknowledging that strengthening the defense capabilities of Germany and Europe is “necessary,” the authors emphasize that these efforts must be “part of a strategy aimed at de-escalation and the gradual restoration of trust, not a new arms race.”

Peter Brandt told the Financial Times that Klingbeil approved the new defense spending increase “without checking if it was the majority view.” He added, “This is a problem. There isn’t as clear a stance among the members as is reflected in the leadership.”

The criticism comes as Klingbeil, deputy chancellor in the coalition government led by Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz, prepares a major “funding injection” for the military, aiming to increase the country’s defense budget by 70% by 2029.

Brandt’s words are a reminder that many Social Democrats remain reluctant to fully embrace the country’s “Zeitenwende” (turning point) in defense policy, announced by former SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The internal rebellion could create problems for Klingbeil, who negotiated the coalition agreement with Merz after the SPD’s worst-ever election result in February. The dissenters could make it difficult for the government, which holds a slim majority of just 13 seats, to pass legislation on the budget, arms deliveries, and the planned return to compulsory military service.

Uwe Jun, a political scientist at the University of Trier, noted that while the rebels are not a majority in the SPD, they are not a small minority either. “There is a long tradition in the SPD of people who came from the peace movement of the 1970s and 1980s,” he said. “They are critical of anything related to the military.”

Klingbeil’s reorganization of the party leadership following the election fiasco has further fueled the controversy. The 47-year-old politician is accused of consolidating his power after replacing 66-year-old Rolf Mützenich as the head of the SPD parliamentary group. Mützenich is also a signatory of the manifesto.

“Personal and political tensions are also playing a role,” said Gesine Schwan, a political scientist and SPD member who was asked to sign the motion but declined.

Klingbeil, who grew up after the fall of the Berlin Wall, has tried to shift the party’s foreign policy stance. In a series of speeches and editorials in 2022, he admitted that the party had “failed to realize that things in Russia had already been moving in a very different direction.”

The manifesto’s signatories argue that the pursuit of peace must be the priority. Ralf Stegner, who helped draft the text, caused controversy last month when it was revealed he had traveled to Azerbaijan in April to meet with Russian officials, including one under EU sanctions.

Stegner, 65, who at the time served on the parliamentary committee overseeing Germany’s intelligence service, defended the meeting, stating that MPs from Merz’s CDU had also attended to keep communication channels with Moscow open.

“You have to keep talking to everyone,” Stegner told the Financial Times. “The insinuation that this means agreeing with what others say or being a secret agent for a third party is, of course, complete nonsense.”

Stegner’s stance reflects the continued nostalgia within the SPD for Willy Brandt’s Ostpolitik. According to a party insider, members who joined the SPD under Brandt’s leadership, now in their 60s, make up 58% of the membership.

Peter Brandt, who said he never fully shared his father’s views, explained that he signed the manifesto because he believes the Russian threat is exaggerated.

“I do not agree with the idea that Russia will attack NATO,” said the younger Brandt. “The Russian army has shown weakness in the Ukraine war.”

He added that NATO is “currently superior to the Russian army in conventional terms, even without the Americans,” and called NATO’s goal of dedicating 5% of GDP to defense “unreasonable.”

Klingbeil, however, pointed out that Willy Brandt, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971, also oversaw large defense budgets exceeding 3.5% of GDP.

“And ultimately, I don’t think anyone would associate Willy Brandt with someone who focused solely on military matters,” the SPD leader remarked.

Jun said Klingbeil symbolizes the “new school of thought within the party,” adding that the SPD’s younger MPs are “quite pragmatic” on Russia.

But Schwan believes Klingbeil will have to contend with the “old guard” for a while longer. “De-escalation, security, and peace policy are still part of the SPD’s DNA,” she said.

The grandfather of the new head of MI6 was reportedly a Nazi spy known as “The Butcher” in German-occupied Chernihiv.

Blaise Metreweli was appointed earlier this month as the first female spy chief in the 116-year history of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).

According to documents cited by the Daily Mail, Metreweli’s grandfather, Constantine Dobrowolski, was a Nazi collaborator who boasted of killing Jews.

The newspaper reports that Dobrowolski, a Ukrainian, defected from the Red Army to become a chief informant for the Nazis and Adolf Hitler in the Chernihiv region.

Metreweli, 47, never knew her grandfather. He remained in Nazi-occupied Ukraine when his family fled in 1943 as the Red Army liberated the area.

Documents found in German archives reveal that Dobrowolski was known to the Nazis as “Agent No. 30.”

At one point, the Soviet Union placed a 50,000-ruble bounty on Dobrowolski’s head (approximately £200,000 today), labeling him “the greatest enemy of the Ukrainian people.”

According to the newspaper, Dobrowolski sought revenge against Russia for killing his family and confiscating their property during the 1917 revolution.

One file reportedly contains a handwritten letter from Dobrowolski to his Nazi superiors, signed “Heil Hitler.”

In another file, he is said to have boasted that he “personally participated in the destruction of the Jews” and had killed hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office commented on the allegations, stating, “Blaise Metreweli did not know and had never met her father’s father. Blaise’s ancestors are characterized by conflict and division, and like many with Eastern European roots, she has a history that is only partially understood.”

The spokesperson suggested that it is “precisely this complex heritage” that “contributes to Blaise’s determination to prevent conflict and protect the British people from the modern threats of hostile states” as the next head of MI6.

Metreweli grew up abroad before studying anthropology at Cambridge, where she was part of the winning team in the 1997 Boat Race.

Joining MI6 in 1999, Metreweli served for two decades in Europe and the Middle East.

Metreweli currently holds the position of “Q,” the head of the technical section of MI6, made famous by the James Bond films.