Macron’s nuclear throwdown, Mossad’s man in Germany, Ukraine in flames: RT stories that shaped the week

This week we also followed the rapidly escalating Saudi/Houthi conflict and the disputes stressing India’s relationship with the US Macron sends a nuclear message When France’s military test-fired its latest nuclear-capable ballistic missile, the submarine-launched M51.3, on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron chose to milk the spectacle for every last drop of propaganda value.

“To be free, we must be feared,” he said.

“And to be feared, we must be powerful.” The launch, Macron said, was intended as “a clear message… for wherever it must be received.” The missile may have splashed down in the north Atlantic, but the message was received “loud and clear” in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the following day.

“Problems should be resolved through dialogue, not demonstrative missile launches,” but Russia will take “all necessary measures” to protect its strategic security, Peskov added.

Read more Trump blames French unrest on ‘mass migration’ (VIDEOS) France is currently modernizing and expanding its nuclear arsenal amid a broader rearmament push, but it remains unclear how Paris intends to pay for its remilitarization.

This week, RT looked at France’s looming sovereign debt crisis and the violent riots tearing the country apart from within.

This domestic turmoil isn’t unique to France, nor is it something that can be fixed with minor policy tweaks.

As RT examined on Friday, mass migration has already pushed European housing, security, and welfare systems to the breaking point .

With native Europeans set to become minorities in their own countries in the coming decades, the social and political consequences could be deadly.

Germany’s enemies within France is not the only European power gearing up for conflict abroad while its political and economic foundations disintegrate at home.

Germanys’ foreign intelligence chief opened the week with a warning to lawmakers: Moscow is waging “a shadow war” against Europe, and “Germany is in danger ​of becoming embroiled in a violent conflict with Russia.” The Kremlin views accusations of “shadow war” and “hybrid war” – which are unprovable by nature – as “hastily cobbled-together provocations,” designed to serve “Kiev and the militaristic wing of the European political class.” Read more Wired for War: The German spymaster caught in Mossad’s web They’re provocations that Berlin is looking less and less able to follow through on.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is going from one electoral humiliation by the right-wing AfD to another, anti-war protests are spreading , and conscientious objections to a proposed military draft have tripled.

However, the German government can’t trust the loyalty of its own intelligence agents.