The International Olympic Committee said Thursday that youth athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports should be allowed to compete under their national flag and anthem, easing restrictions on Russian athletes that have been in place since the country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The updated position applies to the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, but it did not mention the Milan Cortina Winter Games next year, where Russian athletes are expected to compete as neutral competitors under stringent regulations. “With its considerations today, the Olympic Summit recognised that athletes, and in particular youth athletes, should not be held accountable for the actions of their governments — sport is their access to hope, and a way to show that all athletes can respect the same rules and each another,” the IOC said in a statement. Still, the IOC maintained its guidance that Russia should not be allowed to host international sports events, although it said events could be hosted in Belarus. It also reiterated that restrictions on government officials from Russia and Belarus should stay in place for both youth and adult sports events. Russia has long faced scrutiny from the IOC over allegations of doping, with a number of Russian athletes who competed in the 2014 Sochi Olympics being stripped of their medals. IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who took the helm of the organization in June, has signaled that she would be open to seeing Russia compete in the 2026 Olympic Games, sparking a fierce backlash from Ukraine. The decision came out of this week’s Olympic Summit in Switzerland, at which key stakeholders decided to take up a recommendation from the committee’s Executive Board to change its guidance for Russian youth athletes. In its statement, the IOC said, “The Summit also reaffirmed that athletes have a fundamental right to access sport across the world, and to compete free from political interference or pressure from governmental organisations.” European soccer governing body UEFA attempted to allow Russian youth to participate in its competitions in 2023 but ultimately scuttled the effort following opposition from countries including Ukraine.

BRUSSELS — Britain’s top Europe minister defended a decision to keep the U.K. out of the EU’s customs union — despite sounding bullish on a speedy reset of ties with the bloc in the first half of 2026. Speaking to POLITICO in Brussels where he was attending talks with Maroš Šefčovič, the EU trade commissioner, Nick Thomas-Symonds said a non-binding British parliamentary vote on Tuesday on rejoining the tariff-free union — pushed by the Liberal Democrats, but supported by more than a dozen Labour MPs — risked reviving bitter arguments about Brexit. Thomas-Symonds described the gambit by the Lib Dems — which had the backing of one of Labour’s most senior backbenchers, Meg Hillier — as “Brexit Redux.” And he accused Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, of wanting “to go back to the arguments of the past.” The Lib Dems have drawn support from disillusioned Labour voters, partly inspired by the party’s more forthright position on moving closer to the EU. But Thomas-Symonds defended Labour’s manifesto commitment to remain outside the single market and the customs union. “The strategy that I and the government have been pursuing is based on our mandate from the general election of 2024, that we would not go back to freedom of movement, we would not go back to the customs union or the single market,” the British minister for European Union relations said. Thomas-Symonds said this remained a “forward-looking, ruthlessly pragmatic approach” that is “rooted in the challenges that Britain has in the mid 2020s.” He pointed out that post-Brexit Britain outside of the customs union has signed trade deals with India and the United States, demonstrating the “advantages of the negotiating freedoms Britain has outside the EU.” ‘GET ON WITH IT’ Speaking to POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy for the “Politics at Sam and Anne’s” podcast, out on Thursday, Thomas-Symonds was optimistic that a grand “reset” of U.K.-EU relations would progress more quickly in the new year. The two sides are trying to make headway on a host of areas including a youth mobility scheme and easing post-Brexit restrictions on food and drink exports. “I think if you look at the balance of the package and what I’m talking about in terms of the objective on the food and drink agreement, I think you can see a general timetable across this whole package,” he said. Pressed on whether this could happen in the first half of 2026,  the U.K. minister sounded upbeat: “I think the message from both of us to our teams will be to get on with it.”  The Brussels visit comes after talks over Britain’s potential entry into a major EU defense program known as SAFE broke down amid disagreement over how much money the U.K. would pay for access to the loans-for-arms scheme. The program is aimed at re-arming Europe more speedily to face the threat from Russia. Asked if the collapse of those talks showed the U.K. had miscalculated its ability to gain support in a crucial area of re-connection, Thomas-Symonds replied: “We do always impose a very strict value for money. What we would not do is contribute at a level that isn’t in our national interest.” The issued had “not affected the forward momentum in terms of the rest of the negotiation,” he stressed. YOUTH MOBILITY STANDOFF Thomas-Symonds is a close ally of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and has emboldened the under-fire British leader to foreground his pro-Europe credentials. The minister for European relations suggested his own elevation in the British government — he will now attend Cabinet on a permanent basis — was a sign of Starmer’s intent to focus on closer relations with Europe and tap into regret over a post-Brexit loss of business opportunities to the U.K. Fleshing out the details of a “youth mobility” scheme — which would allow young people from the EU and the U.K. to spend time studying, traveling, or working in each other’s countries — has been an insistent demand of EU countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands. Yet progress has foundered over how to prevent the scheme being regarded  as a back-door for immigration to the U.K. — and how exactly any restrictions on numbers might be set and implemented. Speaking to POLITICO, Thomas-Symonds hinted at British impatience to proceed with the program, while stressing: “It has to be capped, time-limited, and  it’ll be a visa-operated scheme. “Those are really important features, but I sometimes think on this you can end up having very dry discussion about the design when actually this is a real opportunity for young Brits and for young Europeans to live, work, study, enjoy other cultures.” The British government is sensitive to the charge that the main beneficiaries of the scheme will be students or better-off youngsters. “I’m actually really excited about this,” Thomas-Symonds said, citing his own working-class background and adding that he would have benefited from a chance to spend time abroad as a young man “And the thing that strikes me as well is making sure this is accessible to people from all different backgrounds,” he said. Details however still appear contentious: The EU’s position remains that the scheme should not be capped but should have a break clause in the event of a surge in numbers. Berlin in particular has been reluctant to accept the Starmer government’s worries that the arrangement might be seen as adding to U.K. immigration figures, arguing that British students who are outside many previous exchange programs would also be net beneficiaries.  Thomas-Symonds did not deny a stand-off, saying: “When there are ongoing talks about particular issues, I very much respect the confidentiality and trust on the ongoing talks.”  Britain’s most senior foreign minister, Yvette Cooper, on Wednesday backed a hard cap on the number of people coming in under a youth mobility scheme. She told POLITICO in a separate interview that such a scheme needs to be “balanced.” “The UK-EU relationship is really important and is being reset, and we’re seeing cooperation around a whole series of different things,” she said. We also, at the same time, need to make sure that issues around migration are always properly managed and controlled.” A U.K. official later clarified that Cooper is keen to see an overall cap on numbers. BOOZY GIFT As negotiations move from the technical to the political level this week, Thomas-Symonds sketched out plans for a fresh Britain-EU summit in Brussels when the time is right. “In terms of the date, I just want to make sure that we have made sufficient progress, to demonstrate that progress in a summit,” Nick Thomas-Symonds said. “I think that the original [post-Brexit] Trade and Cooperation Agreement did not cover services in the way that it should have done,” he added. “We want to move forward on things like mutual recognition of professional qualifications.” Thomas-Symonds, one of the government’s most ardent pro-Europeans, meanwhile told POLITICO he had forged a good relationship with “Maroš” (Šefčovič) – and had even brought him a Christmas present of a bottle of House of Commons whisky. “So there’s no doubt that there is that trajectory of closer U.K.-EU cooperation,” he quipped. Dan Bloom and Esther Webber contributed reporting.

BERLIN — Before Leif-Erik Holm became one of the German far right’s leading figures, he was a morning radio DJ in his home state in eastern Germany celebrated, by his station, for making “the best jokes far and wide.” Ahead of regional elections across Germany next year, Holm, 55, is now set to become the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s top candidate in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a largely rural area bordering Poland and the Baltic Sea. With polls showing the AfD in first place at 38 percent support in the state, it’s one of the places where the party — now the largest opposition group in Germany’s national parliament — is within striking distance of taking significant governing power for the first time since its formation over a decade ago. Holm embodies the type of candidate at least some AfD leaders increasingly want at the top of the ticket. With an avuncular demeanor, he eschews the kind of incendiary rhetoric other politicians in the party have embraced and says he seeks dialogue with his political opponents. Asked what his party would do if it takes power in his state next year, Holm rattled off some innocuous-sounding proposals: invest more in education, including STEM subjects, and ensure children of immigrants learn German before they start school. “I’m actually a nice guy,” Holm said. Underneath the guy-next-door image, however, there’s a clear political calculus. National co-head of the party, Alice Weidel, is attempting something of a rebrand, believing that the AfD won’t be able to make the jump to real political power unless it moves away from candidates who embrace openly extreme positions. That means moving away from controversial leaders like Björn Höcke — found guilty by a court for uttering a banned slogan used by Adolf Hitler’s SA storm troopers — and Maximilian Krah, who last year said he would “never say that anyone who wore an SS uniform was automatically a criminal.” Instead, the preferred candidate, at least for Weidel and people in her camp, is someone like Holm, who can present a more sanitized face of the party. But the makeover is proving to be only skin deep, and even Weidel, despite her national leadership role, can’t prevent the mask from slipping. NEW LOOK, SAME POLITICS Since its creation in 2013 as a Euroskeptic party, the AfD has grown more extreme, mobilizing its increasingly radicalized base primarily around the issue of migration. Earlier this year, Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency — which is tasked with surveilling groups found to be anti-constitutional — deemed the AfD an extremist group. Weidel is now trying to tamp down on the open extremism. The effort is intended to make the AfD more palatable to mainstream conservatives — and to make it harder for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right alliance to refuse to govern in coalition with the party by maintaining the postwar “firewall” around the far right. Weidel’s push to present a more polished party image isn’t necessarily supported by large swaths of the AfD’s rank and file — especially in its strongholds in the former East Germany — who point to the fact that the party’s political ascent coincided with its radicalization. The argument isn’t without merit. Despite its rising extremism, the party came in second in the snap federal election early this year — the best national showing for a far-right party since World War II. The party is now ahead of Merz’s conservatives in polls. Alice Weidel’s push to present a more polished party image isn’t necessarily supported by large swaths of the AfD’s rank and file. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images  Weidel is nevertheless pressing ahead with her drive to try to soften the AfD’s image. As part of this effort, Weidel has tried to somewhat shift her party from its proximity to the Kremlin — seeking closer ties with Republicans in the U.S. From now on, the party will “fight alongside the white knight rather than the black knight,” a person familiar with Weidel’s thinking said. In another remake attempt, earlier this year, an extremist youth group affiliated with the AfD dissolved itself to avert a possible ban that might have damaged the party. Last weekend, a new youth wing was formed that party leaders will have direct control over. Other far-right parties across Europe have made their own rebranding efforts. In France, far-right leader Marine Le Pen has attempted to normalize her party — an effort referred to as dédiabolisation, or “de-demonization” — ditching the open antisemitism of its founders. As part of that push, Le Pen moved to disassociate her party from the AfD in the European Parliament. In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has moderated her earlier anti-EU, pro-Russia stances. For the AfD, however, the attempted transformation is less a matter of substance — and more a matter of optics. Underneath Weidel’s effort to burnish her party’s reputation, many of its most extreme voices continue to hold sway. THE POLISHED RADICAL Perhaps no AfD leader embodies that tension more than Ulrich Siegmund, the lead candidate for the party in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, where it is polling first at 40 percent support ahead of a regional vote next September. It’s here, in this small state of just over 2 million people, where AfD leaders pin most of their hopes of getting into state government next year — possibly even with an absolute majority. Like Holm, Siegmund too tries to cultivate a regular-guy persona. Even members of opposing parties in the state parliament describe him as friendly and approachable. With over half a million followers on TikTok, he reaches more people than any other state politician in Germany. Perhaps no AfD leader embodies that tension more than Ulrich Siegmund, the lead candidate for the party in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. | Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto via Getty Images At the same time, Siegmund is clearly connected to the extreme fringe of the party. He was one of the attendees at a secret meeting of right-wing extremists in which a “master plan” to deport migrants and “unassimilated citizens” was reportedly discussed. When news of the meeting broke last year, it sparked sustained protests against the far right across Germany and temporarily dented the AfD’s popularity in polls. Speaking to POLITICO, Siegmund minimized the secret meeting as “coffee klatsch,” claiming the real scandal is how the media overblew the episode. He described himself not as a dangerous extremist — but as a regular guy concerned for his country. “I am a normal citizen, taxpayer and resident of this country who simply wants a better home, especially for his children, for his family, for all of our children,” Siegmund said. “Because I simply cannot stand by and watch our country develop so negatively in such a short time.” Yet, when pressed, Siegmund could not conceal his extremism. He defended the use of the motto “Everything for Germany!” — the banned Nazi phrase that got his party colleague, Höcke, into legal trouble. “I think it goes without saying that you should give your all for your own country,” Siegmund said. “And I think that should also be the benchmark for every politician — to do everything they can for their own country, because that’s what they were elected to do and what they are paid to do.” Siegmund also took issue with the notion that the Nazis perpetrated history’s greatest crime against humanity, so therefore Germans have a special responsibility to avoid such terms. Ulrich Siegmund also took issue with the notion that the Nazis perpetrated history’s greatest crime against humanity, so therefore Germans have a special responsibility to avoid such terms. | Heiko Rebsch/picture alliance via Getty Images “I find this interpretation to be grossly exaggerated and completely detached from reality,” he said. “For me, it is important to look forward and not backward. And of course, we must always learn from history, but not just from individual aspects of history, but from history as a whole.” Siegmund said he couldn’t judge whether the Nazis had perpetrated history’s worst crime, relativizing the Holocaust in a manner reminiscent of some of the most extreme voices in his party. “I don’t presume to judge that,” he said, “because I can’t assess the whole of humanity.” One lesson from Germany’s history, Siegmund added, is that there should be no “language police” or attempts to ban the AfD as extremist, as some centrist politicians advocate. “If you want to ban the strongest force in this country according to opinion polls, then you’re not learning from history either,” he said. INTERNATIONAL NATIONALISTS The AfD’s national leaders privately smarted at Siegmund’s comments for making their faltering rebrand more difficult. (Holm did not respond to a request for comment on the statements.) That’s especially the case because Weidel and other AfD leaders are increasingly looking abroad for the legitimacy they crave at home and fear such rhetoric will complicate the effort. Weidel and people in her circle have sought to forge closer ties to the Trump administration and other right-wing governments, seeing connections with MAGA Republicans in the U.S. and other populist-right parties in Europe as a way of winning credibility for the AfD domestically. In Europe, Weidel has repeatedly visited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at his official residence in Budapest. The party is also making an effort to reestablish connections with members of Le Pen’s party in the European Parliament, according to a high-ranking AfD official. Not everyone in the AfD, however, sees eye to eye with Weidel on the attempt to moderate the party image, especially when it comes to relations with Moscow. The AfD’s other national co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, recently told an interviewer on German public television that Vladimir Putin’s Russia poses no threat to Germany. Chrupalla’s rhetoric is much more friendly to the Kremlin, and he’s the preferred party leader among many of the AfD’s most radical supporters in eastern Germany — where pro-Moscow sympathies are more prevalent. Many of the AfD’s followers in the former East Germany, where the party polls strongest, see Weidel, born in the former West Germany, as too mild in her approach. Ultimately, the direction of the AfD — in next year’s state elections and beyond — may well depend on which leader’s vision prevails.

Voters in Switzerland rejected by large majorities two initiatives in a referendum on Sunday, one proposing to tax the super-rich on their inheritance and another to extend mandatory civic or military service to women. Some 84 percent of voters said no to the civic duty proposal, while around 79 percent voted against the inheritance tax initiative, according to initial projections after polling closed at noon on Sunday. The tax measure was a proposal to impose a 50 percent levy on inheritance above a tax-free amount of 50 million Swiss francs (€53.6 million) and direct the funds toward measures to mitigate climate change. It was put forward by the youth wing of the leftist Social Democrats. The “For a committed Switzerland” initiative wanted to see compulsory military or civilian service for men extended to women and expanded to additional forms of service to benefit society such as protecting the environment, assisting vulnerable people and helping with disaster prevention. The civic duty proposal was launched by Geneva-based association servicecitoyen.ch, backed by a petition with 107,613 signatures and the support of the Liberal Greens, the Evangelical Party, the Pirate Party, the youth wing of the Centre Party and other associations. Both initiatives failed to garner wider political support from the Swiss government or other parties, and a poll 10 days before the vote predicted ballot-box defeats for both.

GROßRÄSCHEN, Germany — It was in a bowling alley beside a parking lot in a small eastern German town that the designated youth-wing leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) laid out a simple vision for the party’s march to power: recruit and professionalize the young acolytes. “We will need new blood,” Jean-Pascal Hohm, the 28-year-old who is set to lead the AfD’s new youth organization, told POLITICO as families gathered to bowl nearby. “We need to identify talented people early on.” Hohm is set to be elected leader of party’s revamped youth wing, dubbed Generation Germany, during its founding congress on Saturday. The group’s creation is part of a wider effort among some of the AfD’s national leaders to destigmatize the party and efface its extremist image. The rebrand comes after the former youth organization affiliated with the AfD dissolved itself earlier this year in what was widely seen as a tactical maneuver to avert a possible ban. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency had labeled the former group as extremist. But experts say the makeover, which brings the youth wing under the direct control of the AfD, is merely cosmetic. While the organization may appear more palatable and professional under Hohm’s leadership, it’s likely to be just as ideologically extreme as the earlier incarnation. “In terms of content, my perception is that what is currently happening is not what one would understand as a major deradicalization effort,” said Anna-Sophie Heinze, a researcher at the University of Trier who has studied the AfD. EXTREME HOOLIGANS Hohm, who joined the AfD when he was 17, in many ways embodies efforts by some party leaders to sanitize their image. With an assured demeanor and measured tone, his own ideological peers once described him online as the kind of guy a mother would be happy to see her daughter marry. But his past activities and connections suggest a far more extreme edge. Hohm is deeply rooted in the eastern German city of Cottbus, where he leads the local AfD branch, and is described by political scientists as a figure who has helped link local extremist activists. For a brief period he was deemed too extreme even for his own party. In 2017, Hohm lost his job as an aide for the AfD parliamentary group in the eastern state of Brandenburg after he was spotted at a soccer game for FC Energie Cottbus, a team in Germany’s third division that at the time attracted right-wing extremist hooligans known for chanting Nazi slogans and performing Hitler salutes in the stands. Hohm was seen at one game among the hooligans sitting beside a then-leader of Germany’s Identitarian Movement, which was eventually designated a right-wing extremist group by the federal domestic intelligence agency. But his exclusion from the AfD didn’t last long, and Hohm soon got a job as an assistant to an AfD national parliamentarian. Last year he himself was elected to the Brandenburg state parliament. When asked about his connections to Identitarian figures, Hohm took issue with their classification as extremist. “We will need new blood,” Jean-Pascal Hohm, the 28-year-old who is set to lead the AfD’s new youth organization, told POLITICO as families gathered to bowl nearby. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images “The question is always: How do you define extremism?” Hohm said. “There is the definition used by the media or domestic intelligence service, which says that the Identitarian Movement, for example, is right-wing extremist. But they also say that the AfD is right-wing extremist. And I don’t believe that either.” Hohm and others now see the new youth wing as a recruitment engine that can equip the AfD leaders of tomorrow with the political savvy they’ll need to take power and keep it — in part by making such ideological views palatable to mainstream voters. WHAT WOULD GRANDMA THINK? AfD youth activists have become increasingly influential in recent years, attracting young voters with online campaigns that have made once-fringe ideas mainstream. Last year, for instance, some activists created a viral AI-generated video for “Remigration Hit,” a far-right dance track that calls for the deportation of migrants from Germany. At the same time, the previous AfD youth organization, known as Young Alternative, was seen by party leaders as a potential liability. Germany’s postwar constitution allows domestic intelligence agencies to surveil political parties and organizations deemed extremist — and even makes it possible to ban such groups, though the legal bar is high in the case of political parties. Young Alternative was classified as a right-wing extremist organization by federal domestic intelligence authorities in 2023. The AfD as a whole was classified as extremist earlier this year. While centrist politicians have debated whether to try to ban the AfD, the idea is considered politically fraught given the party’s popularity. The former youth group, however, which functioned as an independent organization, was seen as far more vulnerable to a possible ban. That’s why the new youth group is forming under Hohm’s leadership. Because it will be under the direct control of the AfD, a ban attempt is considered less likely, thereby protecting the party from the possibility of collateral damage. Or, as Hohm put it at the bowling alley, “When grandma sees on the news that the AfD’s youth organization has been banned for right-wing extremism, that definitely leaves an impression.”

LONDON — Chancellor Rachel Reeves has insisted that the government’s new trade deals will boost growth, after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) snubbed a request to count them in its growth forecast. In its pre-budget forecast on Wednesday, the OBR acknowledged that new trade deals “have the potential to increase U.K. trade and GDP,” including the government’s Brexit “reset” deal with the EU and its free trade agreement with India. But the budget watchdog indicated that neither of the deals had met the criteria to be included in its forecast. As elements of the U.K.-EU reset deal were still under negotiation, the OBR said there was “not sufficient detail to assess their potential fiscal and economic impacts.” In the case of the India deal, the OBR said it could be seen to increase GDP by 0.13 percent, in line with the government’s impact assessment, but only once ratified. When it came to the U.S. trade pact — which saw the U.K. hit with 10 percent baseline tariffs on most goods — the OBR noted that some “details of the future trading arrangement are yet to be negotiated and confirmed.” The assessments came as a disappointment for Reeves, who had pinned her hopes on trade as a booster for growth. In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, the chancellor said she was “confident that the growth policies that we’re pursuing will grow our economy,” pointing to trade deals with the EU, India and U.S., as well as planning and pensions reforms. “Why do I say that?” Reeves added. “Because the OBR said in the spring our economy would grow by 1 percent this year. They revised it up yesterday to 1.5 percent. The IMF, the OECD, the Bank of England, also revised up their growth forecasts for this year.” “So I’ve defied the forecast this year, and I’m determined to defy them next year and the year after, because it is absolutely the case that the best way to fund our public services and keep taxes down is to grow the economy.” GLOBAL HEADWINDS While the U.K.-EU reset deal and India deal are not included in the OBR’s current forecast, it does offers some hope for the future. “The result of the UK-EU strategic partnership and the Youth Mobility Scheme are still being negotiated and therefore there is not sufficient detail to assess their potential fiscal and economic impacts,” it said. “We will consider whether any such impacts should be included in the forecast once the full details of the agreements have been finalised, published and agreed by both the EU and UK. This is the standard approach we have taken to assessing the fiscal and economic impacts of trade deals and other international agreements.” The assessments came as a disappointment for Reeves, who had pinned her hopes on trade as a booster for growth. | Neil Hall/EPA Once the U.K.-India free trade agreement is ratified by both countries, the OBR said it could increase real GDP by amounts rising to 0.13 percent by 2040, in line with the government’s impact assessment. But Reeves has less reasons to be cheerful about the state of trade overall, with global trade growth expected to slow from 3.7 percent in 2024 to 2.3 percent in 2026 in line with the IMF’s forecast. Speaking at a Resolution Foundation event on Thursday, OBR chair Richard Hughes said tariffs and global trade restrictions had played a part in their decision to downgrade productivity. “There are some new global headwinds in the global economy since our forecast in March — U.S. tariffs going up and also just wider global trade restrictions being put in place,” Hughes warned. “Trade wars are very bad things for everybody, especially an open economy like the U.K., which relies a lot on trade as a driver for growth so and for the first time that I’ve seen in my career, the IMF is actually forecasting over the next five years trade falling as a share of GDP.”

PARIS — After a hiatus of nearly 30 years, France is set to announce the reintroduction of military service on Thursday in a further sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin is remapping Europe’s security landscape. Nuclear-armed France is the EU’s only military heavyweight with global reach, and a return to national service is a major political step. President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce the measure — most likely a voluntary 10-month stint for both men and women — at Varces army base in the French Alps on Thursday. While this is a mini revolution in France, the voluntary program represents a far lighter-touch approach to military expansion than in many Nordic and Baltic countries, where service is compulsory. Latvia and Croatia are the two most recent EU countries to reintroduce an obligatory term in the ranks. The idea of reinstating military duty has consistently reared up in France’s public debate since the draft was terminated in 1997. The left has called for a resumption to foster social cohesion and diversity, given that young people from different backgrounds have to work together in their units. The nostalgic right, meanwhile, has seen military service as a way to instill a sense of patriotism and respect for authority in the young. Now, however, the rationale behind Macron’s plan is mainly military. France simply needs more manpower in the barracks given the scale of its ambitions and the growing threat from Moscow. The French leader’s proposal “reflects young people’s desire to serve but, even more, the operational need for the armed forces to respond to the acceleration of perils,” an Elysée official told reporters on Wednesday. With Europeans expecting Russia to pose a heightened risk to NATO by 2030, beefing up understaffed armed forces with trained personnel has become one of the main priorities for the alliance’s defense chiefs. The French military is already the EU’s second-largest behind Poland, with more than 201,000 personnel. France has around 45,000 reservists and has pledged to reach 105,000 by 2035 — a target the voluntary military service plan is designed to help reach. EAST-WEST DIVIDE In France, the reintroduction of a voluntary service comes almost four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For those on Russia’s doorstep, however, the comeback of mandatory schemes has been a no-brainer and has followed the relentless pace of Moscow’s offensives. After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Lithuania was the first to reintroduce compulsory military service, followed later by Sweden and then Latvia after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in 2022.  “The primary objective is to reinforce military capacity from a quantitative perspective. The sheer reality is that when you face a national crisis or conflict, you need people roughly capable of responding with a basic level of skills,” said Linda Slapakova, a defense specialist at Rand Europe.  President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce the measure at Varces army base in the French Alps. | Ercin Erturk/Getty Images Meanwhile, popular support for national service has soared, particularly in Nordic and Baltic countries. In Finland, which shares a 1,300 kilometer border with Russia, support for defending the homeland has reached record highs. In 2022, 83 percent of Finns believed in defending their nation, up from a low of 65 percent in 2020, according to the country’s yearly polling.  But in the West, further from the existential threat posed by Russia, the conversation is a lot more complicated. “The core of the issue these days is that countries sharing a border with Russia feel the threat much more acutely than others, who feel protected by their geography,” said Katrine Westgaard from the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank. “Finland, Baltic states, Norway, Sweden, Denmark have tackled this challenge for longer. There is more hesitation in countries like Germany, the U.K., France, and both geography and culture have something to do with that.” In France, the military justification is straightforward: The army wants more soldiers. But the initiative is also about winning over hearts and minds, and raising awareness of the threats facing Europe.  “With the war in Ukraine, the hardening of geopolitical tensions and the withdrawal of U.S. [troops in Europe], we need to strengthen the pact between the nation and the army,” said a person close to Macron, who was granted anonymity owing to protocol reasons.  In other Western and Southern European countries, however, national conversations about military service have flickered and gone out quickly.  In the U.K., where only a third of the British said they would be willing to go to war for Britain, the reintroduction of a national service was briefly proposed by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in 2024 before being buried by the current Labour government.  In Spain, a country that has been criticized for refusing to sign up to NATO’s new spending targets, the revival of military service “hasn’t even crossed anyone’s mind” within the country’s left-wing government, Defense Minister Margarita Robles said last year. MONEY AND MINDS In France, despite sharp increases in the defense budget over the past years, policymakers concede the country simply cannot afford to make military duty obligatory.  Indeed, beefing up the continent’s armed forces to face a potential Russian aggression faces many challenges, including finding enough money and winning support from the younger generation. “The armed forces are no longer equipped to supervise and accommodate the entire age group, meaning 800,000 young people. We no longer have the resources, we have given up the barracks,” the Elysée official mentioned above told reporters. In fact, the French government is hoping to enroll about 50,000 youngsters in the voluntary scheme by 2035 — about 6 percent of the targeted age group.  Nuclear-armed France is the EU’s only military heavyweight with global reach, and a return to national service is a major political step. | Clement Mahoudeau/Getty Images Since the full-blown war in Ukraine began, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Belgium, Germany, Poland and Romania have also chosen voluntary schemes for now.  According to the ECFR’s Westgaard, voluntary military service can be a tool to boost recruitment, but she notes that competitive benefits and pensions are also key.  In Germany, volunteers will be paid €2,600 a month, a salary considered so attractive that the private sector fears it will lead to an exodus toward military service. By comparison, France is expected to provide up to €1,000 to its volunteers.  Another problem is simply getting youngsters on board.  A recent poll conducted by the ECFR shows that while a majority of Europeans favor reintroducing mandatory military service, Europe’s youth — between 18 and 29 years of age— are quite reluctant, even in frontline countries such as Poland and Romania.   For decision-makers, it’s critical to make the case that their societies are at risk, said Panagiotis Politis Lamprou, a research fellow on EU institutions and policies at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, a non-profit research institute.  “The message to the public should be that it’s about protecting our way of life and [that] being unprepared makes us vulnerable,” he said. “One of the most important challenges is the governments’ ability to convince their people why conscription may be necessary nowadays.”  Hanne Cokelaere, Tim Ross, Aitor Hernández-Morales and Matt Honeycombe-Foster contributed to this report.

THE ALTAR BOYS WHO GREW UP TOGETHER — AND TRIED TO KEEP EUROPE’S CENTER FROM CRUMBING The lives of Daniel Caspary and René Repasi often overlapped as they grew up. In the European Parliament, they became political rivals — but were also united in common cause. By MAX GRIERA and NETTE NÖSTLINGER in Stutensee, Germany Photo-illustrations by Klawe Rzeczy for POLITICO Sometimes it’s the least extraordinary places that throw up the most startling of coincidences.   In this case, a tiny German town — nothing special: a stone’s throw from the Rhine river, a small 18th century castle, the kind of suburban sleepiness where boys like Daniel Caspary and René Repasi while away their teenage years cycling to the city to party or the nearest lake to cool off — has produced rival leading European politicians who have been key to assuring EU political stability in a time of unprecedented fragmentation.  The way their lives have intertwined is astonishing. Caspary, now 49, and Repasi, three years his junior, went to the same school. There, they both organized a cabaret of political satire. They honed their skills on the student newspaper. They were both altar boys in the same church. And they both scored their first political victories on their town’s council. Almost since birth, their lives have taken staggeringly parallel paths. Now, they’re on different sides in the European Parliament.  Advertisement Caspary is leader in the Parliament of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), the largest faction in the European People’s Party. Repasi is the equivalent for the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the third-largest national delegation in the Socialists and Democrats group. The EPP and the S&D are the two biggest Parliament groups and for decades have between them held a grip on EU power. Despite the rivalry between their umbrella political families, with antagonism only worsening since the 2024 EU elections, the two men have cemented their reputation as the backchannels between the two sides, attempting to safeguard what in EU circles is known as the “grand coalition” between center right and center left. That’s significant because the Parliament is fractured like never before. Aping a trend seen across western democracies, the middle ground is crumbling. Politicians like Caspary and Repasi represent the old ways of doing things ― political opponents, yes, but ready to put aside their differences so their two sides can work together to face down the extremes. Increasingly, that’s no longer a given in the European Parliament. That was evident when the EPP, earlier this month, abandoned its traditional centrist allies and pressed ahead with the support of far-right groups to approve cuts to green rules.  Daniel Caspary, the charismatic old-school conservative deeply rooted in his community, in his class photo from the year he graduated. | Stutensee’s Thomas Mann-Gymnasium 1993-1994 annuary René Repasi, the cosmopolitan and slick social democrat with an impressive track record in academia, in his class photo from the year before he graduated. | Stutensee’s Thomas Mann-Gymnasium 1993-1994 annuary A good relationship between the pair has been particularly useful because the leaders of the two pan-European groups rarely conceal their mutual dislike and are increasingly finding it tough to reach compromise positions on new laws, such as on green rules for business or on controlling migration.  “Of course we have many differences politically, but it’s good if you can talk,” Caspary told POLITICO. “We’ve known each other for ages … We know that we can trust each other.”   “He was always a sort of leading figure,” Repasi said, remembering their shared childhoods in Stutensee. I “looked up to him.”  Advertisement While their paths overlapped, they could barely be more different personally and politically. Caspary is the charismatic old-school conservative deeply rooted in his community, pressing the flesh at local events and using the language of the person in the street. He still lives in the area. Repasi, by contrast, is the cosmopolitan ― the slick social democrat with an impressive track record in academia, a man of scholarly rhetoric who moved away from Germany completely. “What Repasi lacks,” said Mathias Zurawski, a journalist who attended the same school, “Caspary offers. And vice versa.”   ALTAR BOYS Stutensee’s discreet Catholic St. Josef Church is in the town’s backstreets. The garden surrounding it boasts abundant fruit trees. Posters advertise meetings of the scout group.  It’s humble in comparison to the more spectacular Protestant church on the main street. It’s here where the Caspary and Repasi families worshipped. And it’s where the two boys built trust in each other.  “We met for the first time in the youth groups of the Catholic church,” Caspary said. “We talked about this. I think this stands for some values. We always try to be honest.”  Those early religious experiences play a big role in Caspary’s life today, said Ansgar Mayr, a regional CDU politician who has known him since he made his first steps in politics.    Stutensee’s St Josef Catholic Church, where Caspary and Repasi used to serve as altar boys. | Max Griera/POLITICO “He was greatly influenced by his time in the Catholic Church and also his time with the Scouts, who are Catholic Scouts,” Mayr said. “His circle of friends, outside the political bubble, comes very much from the Catholic Church and parish youth groups.”   The pair served as altar boys, assisting the priest at Mass and kneeling as part of the liturgy. On Christmas, they sang carols around town. The Social Democrat Repasi’s Catholicism has lapsed somewhat, but despite being “one of those guys who go to church only at Christmas,” he said Christian values serve as guidance for his daily life and political career. CHAOS AND REVOLUTION The pair’s paths crossed again as teenagers in high school. The Thomas-Mann Gymnasium is just a stone’s throw from the church. It’s seen better days and is due to be renovated next year. For now, it still looks as it did in the 1990s. It’s easy to imagine Caspary and Repasi here. The lockers they’d have used line the corridors and the classrooms are plain, aside from the vintage orange cubical washbasins. In those years, they both dived into extracurricular activities. Caspary founded an annual political cabaret show. At 18, he handed the organizing baton to Repasi, who suddenly found himself facing the daunting task, he said, of raising money to cover costs.  “If the whole thing was a success, [that] was due to the fact that he [Caspary] handed it over, and we did the transition period together,” said Repasi.  Advertisement The boys’ school yearbooks portray two kids destined for greater things. Alongside a photo of Caspary humorously dressed as a medic, his classmates described him as “source of the most creative interjections (‘yes, but…’) that elicit a wide range of reactions from teachers, ranging from amusement to annoyance.” It’s “hard to believe,” the entry said, “that this chaotic person will one day take on a leading role as a conservative politician.”  Repasi’s friends saw him as a revolutionary. His portrait shows him wearing a Soviet hat. “Discussions with him often turn into fights,” his schoolmates said. “But no one else is as good at arguing objectively.”  The boys also bumped into each other on the school’s newspaper, Pepperoni. Caspary was already acting as a sporadic school reporter, when Repasi — a couple of years later — became editor in chief. The boys weren’t scared of hitting the establishment where it hurt. Pepperoni signified “something that stings”  so was “a means to express criticism,” said former teacher Sabine Graf, who taught French and German at the school at the time.  Yearbook of Daniel Caspary, featuring a photo of Thomas Mann blended with Albert Einstein’s famous tongue picture, symbolizing science. | 50 years anniversary book, Thomas Mann Gymnasium 1974-2024 Covers of the Pepperoni school magazine, which both Caspary and Repasi contributed to. | 50 years anniversary book, Thomas Mann Gymnasium 1974-2024 Yearbook of René Repasi, featuring a pig with a black flag, symbolizing social class revolution and anarchism. | 50 years anniversary book, Thomas Mann Gymnasium 1974-2024 Those shared experiences form the basis of the two men’s relationship in the Parliament today. “You can always say you can trust me,” Repasi said. “But actually you can only do so if you have experienced it. And I experienced it in my past that I can trust him and that I can rely on him.”  VOTERS’ CRITICISM These days, Stutensee isn’t immune to the political winds that blow across the whole of Europe. With populism, of right and left, on the rise, centrist politicians who broadly prefer to focus on points of agreement rather than division aren’t in vogue. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) came in second in Germany’s national election earlier this year ― the best showing for a far-right party since the Nazi rise to power. The AfD isn’t represented on the city council here, but locals acknowledge there’s a desire to kick the establishment. An establishment symbolized by men like Caspary and Repasi. Despite their deep roots in the town, many reject the idea they’re local heroes. “They show up at some celebratory events around town with their family a couple of times a year, but you don’t hear from them afterwards,” said a 37-year-old bartender at the smoke-filled bar in town, who gives his name only as Dominik. A handful of people at the bar hear his remarks and nod.  Dominik also went to Thomas-Mann Gymnasium. He knew Caspary’s brother. But he insisted neither politician can be trusted. They’re not “looking out for the interests of the people,” he said.  But early on in their careers, the two politicians made some tangible changes for locals. When they were both on their school’s student council,  Caspary campaigned for a night bus line between Stutensee and the city of Karlsruhe, 10km away. In some ways, he succeeded, advancing a cause that led to the construction of a durable tram connection built years later.   “During this campaign, I realized that if you start engaging with the town representatives, like the mayor, like the city council members, then you can change things,” Caspary said.      Advertisement Repasi’s political awakening came when the regional government tried to cut by a year the time that students attended high school to align practices with other European countries. The school’s leadership wanted to participate in the pilot, despite most students being opposed. “I found it total nonsense,” Repasi said. “I was mobilizing the school kids to come to this meeting of the municipal council, and I think for the first time ever it was totally full.”     The students cheered loudly when their arguments, compiled by Repasi, were presented to the mayor. The council ultimately rejected the plan. If the bus line was Caspary’s first political victory, this was Repasi’s.  MR. STUTENSEE VS. MR. EUROPE Eventually, they drifted apart.   These days, Caspary’s image is one of a politician still deeply rooted to his home, who found his way to Brussels by chance. People close to him describe him as a family man, raising his five children just a few kilometers from where he grew up. Repasi, in contrast, is seen as a professor-turned-politician, someone with a strong passion for European affairs who deliberately chose to build his life abroad.   Classroom of Thomas Mann Gymnasium, intact since Caspary and Repasi studied in it. | Max Griera/POLITICO For Repasi, who was raised by a German mother and Hungarian father, “cosmopolitanism runs through his life,” said Graf, the schoolteacher. She and another former teacher both recalled his in-depth study on the Yugoslav Wars. He became a professor of European law in Geneva and Rotterdam, where he raised two sons with his Polish wife.    Caspary was elected to the European Parliament almost by accident in 2004, at 28, because of the CDU’s exceptionally strong showing.   “My plan was to become the chairperson of the group in my city council,” he said.  Advertisement For Repasi, on the other hand, ending up working in an EU institution was his dream, according to colleagues. He even dabbled with joining Caspary in the CDU. But in his village, the party didn’t feel very welcoming, he said. “I’m Western-looking enough not to have any discrimination experiences like Turkish people, but my strange family name was strange enough in my village,” he said.   Repasi’s road to the Parliament was bumpier than Caspary’s. He ran in three elections but never made it, ultimately joining when another SPD member gave up her mandate in 2022. TOGETHER IN BRUSSELS ― AND THEN APART AGAIN Reuniting in the European Parliament was almost like a homecoming for Repasi. Caspary presented him with a basket of delicacies from the region around Stutensee. Repasi’s rise since then has been rapid. He became the head of the SPD faction in the S&D only two years after his arrival. And in that time, they’ve put their friendship to good use. Cordial catchups soon turned into high-level political negotiations. They were suddenly in charge of leading the biggest German parties in the Parliament and had to overcome the increasing estrangement between their group leaders, Manfred Weber, the head of the EPP group, and Iratxe García, the S&D chair. Caspary was elected to the European Parliament almost by accident in 2004 because of the CDU’s exceptionally strong showing. | Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images For Repasi, ending up working in an EU institution was his dream. | Marijan Murat/picture alliance via Getty Images That’s why they have been in constant dialogue, “to bring together political lines,” Caspary said. “We do speak about conflicts that are arising,” Repasi said. “Whether we can totally solve them is a different question.”  Other MEPs say the good relationship between the German conservatives and Socialists has proved critical. “The stability of the mandate” ― European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s loose coalition of centrist parties ― “is at stake, and what can help cement a stronger cooperation is the link between the CDU and SPD,” said Javi López, a Spanish S&D lawmaker and Parliament vice-president.     But nothing lasts forever and the double act is about to split once more. In October, the German government nominated Caspary to be its representative at the European Court of Auditors, in Luxembourg. Advertisement On Thursday he is expected to be confirmed by the Parliament. That will leave a gap, according to his colleagues. “Over the years, he has been a steady and unifying presence, bringing together a team of highly diverse personalities,” said Niclas Herbst, chair of the Parliament budgetary control committee, and one of the names floated to succeed Caspary. “He is, in the best sense, a true generalist — someone who can swiftly and thoroughly grasp complex political issues … I know there is great anticipation in Luxembourg for his arrival.”  When Caspary departs, Repasi will have to find himself another opposite number to build up a trusting relationship. But it remains to be seen whether the fraying ties between center right and center left can retain at least one strong thread. While that won’t be impossible, it certainly won’t come as easy as a relationship forged in little Stutensee. Out of experiences in church, student politics and the school newspaper, the foundations held up well.

BERLIN — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is facing rising opposition — but this time it’s from within his own conservative ranks. A group of 18 young lawmakers in Merz’s conservative bloc are threatening to stop a pension reform bill put forth by the chancellor’s coalition government, arguing the benefits pledged in the agreement aren’t sustainable and “cannot be justified to the younger generation.” The revolt has turned into a test of Merz’s authority and the durability of his relatively weak government — a coalition between his conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). Merz’s coalition only has a 12-seat majority in parliament — one of the narrowest in postwar German history — making his government vulnerable to even modest defections within the ranks. During a conference over the weekend, Merz pushed back against criticism from young conservatives that planned pension benefits are too generous. “Does anyone seriously believe that we can win a race to the bottom on who can offer the lowest pension levels?” Merz said. “You can’t be serious!” Merz faced a series of harsh questions from attendees, many of whom felt the chancellor was not taking their arguments sufficiently seriously. “Let me be perfectly clear: There will be no further changes to this law,” SPD Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said. “We will pass it in the Bundestag.” | Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images “Can you personally reconcile this with your credibility?” asked Laurenz Kiefer, a member of the young conservatives from Munich. Coalition lawmakers had initially expected to pass the pension reform package in early December as part of a series of bills Merz has attempted to push through to show his government can undertake the key structural reforms Germany needs to boost economic competitiveness. But the timing of that vote has now been cast into doubt amid the internal fighting. “I hope that we will have concluded this discussion by the end of the year so that we can enter 2026 with a genuine willingness to reform,” Merz said during an event in Berlin on Monday. Merz is effectively stuck between the demands of young conservatives to reconsider the pension package and the obduracy of his SPD coalition partners, who say they’re not willing to renegotiate it. “Let me be perfectly clear: There will be no further changes to this law,” SPD Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said. “We will pass it in the Bundestag.” The pension issue has become particularly thorny as Germany’s baby-boomer generation enters retirement, with millions of people leaving the workforce and far fewer entering it. Pensions are the largest single item of public expenditure in the country. At the heart of the internal rebellion is a proposal to stabilize pension benefits after 2031. Young conservatives argue that this plan goes further than what was originally agreed by the coalition, and would mean over €115 billion in additional costs by 2040. The internecine dispute has led some in Merz’s coalition — including his own family minister, Karin Prien — to propose postponing the pension reform vote to avoid the kind of embarrassment and open discord that could potentially lead to the coalition’s unravelling. “It is important that fair solutions for the broad majority are found in parliament,” Prien told German newspaper Handelsblatt.

BELÉM, Brazil — Thousands of Indigenous people and environmental activists marched through the streets Saturday carrying flags, banners and one unflattering statue of U.S. President Donald Trump in the first major protest outside an annual United Nations climate conference in four years. Traffic around the COP30 summit venue in Belém, Brazil, halted as protesters from across the world, including Indigenous activists from the Amazon region, braved the tropical heat to demand governments step up efforts to combat climate change and protect nature. “For the first time, at a COP event, we, the indigenous peoples, are occupying this space and speaking for ourselves,” said Takak Xikrin, a member of the local Xikrin people. Members of his community carried banners decrying water contamination in their territory, while other Indigenous activists protested logging and plans for oil drilling in the Amazon. “It is a historic moment for us to be part of this march … and show the world that we are the answer,” he added. “Indigenous knowledge is fundamental to protecting the Amazon. … If Indigenous people do not protect the Amazon, the world will suffer a collapse.” Local media quoted police as saying 20,000 people attended the protest. The march came after two protests centered on Indigenous rights disrupted the entrance to the conference earlier this week. On Tuesday, youth activists and indigenous protesters forced their way into the venue, clashing with United Nations security, followed by another peaceful demonstration Friday that saw one Indigenous group block access to the entrance for several hours. The protests set apart this conference, hosted in democratic Brazil, from the past three years of summits held in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan — autocratic states with little tolerance for demonstrations. Many protesters relished being back in the streets, noting this was the first such march since the 2021 conference in Glasgow, Scotland — a youth-led protest that took place under pandemic restrictions — and the 2019 Madrid summit. “Past COPs have restricted people’s voices. It’s important that the COP has open streets for demonstration so that when the polluters are here, we can raise our voices to them a little stronger,” said Pema Wangmo Lama, a 26-year-old activist from Nepal. “At this COP, people can be upfront, and Indigenous people have been very upfront about the things they and their community have faced” as a result of climate change and environmental degradation, said Wangmo Lama, herself a member of Nepal’s Mugum Indigenous group. At COP30, Brazil’s government has highlighted the role of Indigenous peoples in fighting global warming and protecting the Amazon, which plays a key role in regulating the world’s climate but is under threat from logging, mining, agriculture and infrastructure projects. But many Indigenous groups say their concerns are not addressed in the negotiating rooms. “The meaningful representation of Indigenous people has never been a reality” at climate summits, Wangmo Lama said. “Our voices are not heard.” Climate activists were also part of the march, calling for action rather than more “blah, blah, blah,” a catchphrase coined by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who founded the global movement Fridays for Future. “It’s so motivating to see people who are on the front line, who are seriously affected by the climate crisis, coming together across the world,” said Muhammed Lamin Saidykhan, an activist from Gambia working with Climate Action Network. “I hope leaders are going to see this power and listen to the power and do the right thing.” And at least one marcher shared his thoughts about Trump, who has worked to undermine climate action and chosen not to send a U.S. delegation to this year’s talks. The internationally known Danish artist Jens Galschiøt, whose past works include a series of 26-foot-tall statues commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre in China, created an 8.5-foot copper sculpture of Trump that his son, Lasse, pulled along throughout the march. Lasse Galschiøt had 6,000 3D-printed figurines he was handing out along the way. The statue depicts the U.S. president naked, holding a golf club in one hand and the scales of justice in the other. He sits on the back of a thin man who stands on a pedestal that reads, “The Orange Plague.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Trump is the big guy here, and the small guy represents you and me, Denmark, Brazil and the climate that he’s trying to control,” said Lasse Galschiøt, adding: “He shouldn’t be on our shoulders.” At a press conference Friday night, COP30 CEO Ana Toni said the summit has more than 900 Indigenous participants, much higher than the 300 registered at last year’s gathering in Azerbaijan, and promised to listen to them. Brazil came under pressure from the U.N. earlier this week over the protests disrupting access. The Brazilian government has also faced months of complaints about its decision to host the summit in Belém, a port city near the mouth of the Amazon River where a shortage of hotel rooms has sent lodging costs soaring and prompted some countries and even the U.N. to consider limiting the number of people they sent. “We have a COP in the Amazon. We could have chosen to have a COP in São Paulo, Rio or Brasília, but we would not be seeing so many Indigenous peoples,” Toni said. “They wouldn’t have had their voice heard.”