Europe – Page 23 – Prologue Journal

Czech Dam Project Was Stalled by Bureaucracy. Beavers Built Their Own.

New York Times The dam project, drafted in 2018 and based on a former military training site south of Prague, had been delayed by land negotiations. Local beavers built several dams, saving the government more than one million euros. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/world/europe/czech-dam-project-was-stalled-by-bureaucracy-beavers-built-their-own.html

Belarus Frees an American and 2 Others as It Tries to Thaw Relations

New York Times Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, Belarus’s autocratic president and Russia’s closest ally, has taken steps to soften his country’s isolation from the West. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/world/europe/belarus-prisoner-release.html

Austrian Coalition Talks Collapse, Averting, for Now, a Far-Right Chancellor

New York Times The plan by the far-right Freedom Party to run Austria was halted by a disagreement over who would lead the all-important Interior Ministry. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/world/europe/austria-coalition-talks-far-right-chancellor.html

Trump Says Call With Putin Is Beginning of Ukraine Peace Negotiations

New York Times Among the topics the leaders discussed in their first confirmed conversation of President Trump’s second term was ending the war in Ukraine, he said. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/us/politics/trump-putin-call-russia-ukraine-war.html

Hegseth Says Return to Ukraine’s Pre-War Borders Is ‘Unrealistic’

New York Times In his first trip abroad, the new U.S. defense secretary told Ukrainian and NATO officials that a durable peace could only come ‘with a realistic assessment of the battlefield.’ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/world/europe/ukraine-war-hegseth-nato.html

Treasury Secretary Expected to Visit Kyiv

New York Times The visit by Scott Bessent will be the first by a Trump official since the president’s return to office and comes amid uncertainty about the future of U.S. support for Ukraine. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/world/europe/scott-bessent-us-ukraine.html

Trump’s W.H.O. Exit Throws Smallpox Defenses Into Upheaval

New York Times Health experts see his retreat from international cooperation as disrupting the safe-keepers of one of the world’s deadliest pathogens. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/health/smallpox-who-cdc-bioweapons.html

How Ukraine Pitched Trump on a Deal for Critical Minerals

New York Times President Trump says he wants to make a deal for minerals from Ukraine in exchange for aid. That followed a long effort by Ukrainian officials to appeal to Mr. Trump’s transactional nature. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/world/europe/turmp-ukraine-rare-earth-minerals.html

The Fiercest Fighting of the Ukraine War May Be in Russia

New York Times The Times interviewed Russian soldiers who said they face a brutal fight to dislodge determined Ukrainian forces from a sliver of Russian land. Trapped civilians fear catastrophe. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/world/europe/kursk-russia-war-ukraine.html

Wednesday Briefing

New York Times A threat from Netanyahu. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/briefing/trump-gaza-musk.html