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Craft matters in small ways, like how a coffee is brewed, and in not so small ways, like how your money is cared for. Which is why for 160 years, UBS has elevated banking to a craft, tailoring unique strategies that combine human expertise with the latest technologies, all happening across 24 time zones and 12 key financial hubs. With you at the heart of it all, UBS advice is our craft. You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 7 January 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U.
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Hello.
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This is the Globalist broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London. I'm Georgina Godwin on the show ahead.
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This is a vital part of our Ironcast commitment to stand with Ukraine for the long term. It paves the way for the legal framework under which British, French and partner forces could operate on Ukrainian soil.
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That's Keir Starmer announcing the declaration of intent on Ukraine, guaranteeing the country's future security, but only after a ceasefire with Russia. We'll get the details. We'll cross to our Bangkok bureau to catch up on the strained truce between Thailand and Cambodia. We'll flick through the newspaper front pages and get a roundup of news from the Balkans before heading to Germany, where our freezing correspondent can bring us up to date on the power outage which has plunged 100,000 Berlin residents into the cold and dark.
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Plus, authenticity is the new luxury and I think we have to be very cautious and very vigilant. When you grow, you don't dilute the brand and you don't break the magic that has been created over almost 98 years now.
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We'll hear from the chief executive of the Peninsula Hotels and we'll find out how French wine growers affect fighting back against the very concept of dry January. That's all ahead here on the Globalist. Live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Six European allies are backing Denmark after US President Donald Trump repeated his desire to acquire its semi autonomous region of Greenland. Donald Trump has unveiled a plan to seize and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil as Washington deepens coordination with Caracas following the capture of Nicolas Maduro. And China has imposed a ban on any items with a military use being exported to Japan. In the latest reaction to pro Taiwanese comments made by the Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi last year. Do stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on those stories. Now, leaders of some 35 countries from the Coalition of the Willing met in Paris yesterday to discuss how Ukraine could be secured after a ceasefire with Russia. The meeting was led by Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer, joined by Volodymyr Zelenskyy and senior US Envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. It comes at an awkward moment with Washington focused on Venezuela and relations with Europe strained by renewed tensions over Greenland. Well, joining us now from Studio 5 at Rue Brachemont in Paris is Francis Collings, foreign news correspondent for the BBC, AP and more franc. Many thanks for coming into our Paris studio this morning at this 15th meeting of the coalition, Britain and France signed a declaration of intent to send troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal. So what actually is the detail on this?
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Well, it's complicated as ever with these things. A lot of the detail has yet to be ratified. The cost. They did stress that troops are not going to be sent on a combat basis, but more or less being put into military, military hubs also reinforcing Ukrainian armed forces. But we've also got to bear in mind, Georgina, this has got to go back to the respective countries. It's got to be ratified by parliaments in the UK In Germany, Congress in the United States. And as you mentioned, the US Was there, not necessarily with any heavyweight government officials, but the representatives of Donald Trump and Stephen Witkoff and Jared Kushner. And the concern, I guess, is always, how much of a backing are they going to get from the United States States? Will things change on a dime? But it is a step forward in terms of deploying troops, establishing military hubs, but all, of course, dependent on a ceasefire with Russia. And bearing in mind Vladimir Putin has stated categorically all the way through he would not accept NATO troops close to the Russian border on Ukrainian soil.
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You talk about Witkoff and Kushner there. What did they say that the United States is prepared to do?
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Well, they say that they stand firmly behind the guarantees that have been agreed. And these are guarantees designed to prevent any further aggression. Certainly in terms of keeping something of a BDI on Russian forces, they can provide technology, boots on the ground from the United States is something which, of course, President Trump is not willing to commit or talk about. But we have to start thinking about, well, can this go ahead if the United States do actually change their mind or they are less willing, even though they are part of the coalition of the willing. And also, does Europe have to really start firming its act, stepping things up, bearing in mind they're not entirely sure what support is coming from NATO, whether there will be a NATO in A few months. And what President Trump is going to do over the thorny issue of things like Greenland, which he keeps talking about.
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And of course, this is the elephant in the room because it makes one wonder significant. The declaration is because of what Trump is saying over Greenland, which is of course a NATO ally. So is Europe preparing itself to perhaps act without the U.S. well, I don't.
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Think they want to go that far and I don't think anyone is going to be willing to talk about that. I mean, we see, and I'm sure you've seen in the UK the squirming by the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, whenever he's asked questions about this. You have people who obviously have a duty to their own country while also trying to maintain a good relationship with President Trump and of course with the United States. And there is, you know, someone was talking recently and I heard them mention that it's almost a holding pattern. Yes, Ukraine has to be sorted out as soon as possible, but this White House may not be there for the long term. There's three years to go on a term on this term, of course. And also we have to ask, you know, are we looking at the future of NATO perhaps hinging on what comes out of the Epstein files? Are we seeing a wag dog scenario? If you recall that great film from the 90s about America declaring war to distract from presidential problems. And also what is going to happen next week? This is unprecedented, it seems in world politics, certainly in our time. You always at least knew where America stood. You know, we're not entirely sure now.
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Just focusing back in on should this all go well, should there be a ceasefire, which is extremely unlikely at this point, it has to be said. How would a European led multinational force operate on Ukrainian soil?
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Well, it's military hubs as well as hardware. So it's going to be bases, effectively. I don't think if we're looking for a comparison, it can be quite the same of what happened in West Germany post World War II, but establishment of secure hubs that can monitor Russian forces. And we're not talking, it seems in the short term, we're not just talking about ending the conflict in the short term. These are troops that want to be there according to this agreement, according to what they say, they haven't said how many troops and they haven't spoken about cost. But to be there for the long term, to prevent any resurgence of any aggression from Russia, any reattempt to invade. So it's basically military hub's hardware, expertise And American security guarantees in terms of keeping an eye on Russians, is how I seem to read it after looking at the press conference yesterday.
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What has Vladimir Zelensky said?
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Well, I mean, you have to, you know, feel for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who seems to spend most of his time in the air rushing around to various meetings. And I think he was in Florida a few days ago. He's always very grateful. He's always, I think since he got very badly burned in February at the White House in that horrible scenario with Trump and his advisors, he's always saying how grateful he is. But he has had backing and support, certainly from Britain, France and Germany all the way through. He can count on their support. And they, of course, are placing themselves very much as mitigators when it comes to the Americans as well. Starmer, as we know from the UK works very hard on his relationship with Trump, as does Emmanuel Macron, who invited Trump, if you remember, to the opening Notre Dame here in Paris before he was even starting as president for the second time. So the support is there from Europe. But, you know, we have to consider we may be looking at a new world order over the next few years where NATO could dissipate if something happens. If not Greenland, something else. Trump, when he was on the stump, of course, said, I think when he was just talking and he does say a lot of things on his rallies. Well, I could encourage Putin to invade a country in Europe, but what if Putin is encouraged to invade Latvia or in Estonia? What does NATO do then? Does it have American backing? Are we going to see the formation of a European based NATO going over the next few years? And is there any concrete ability to do that?
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And of course, that's something that Macron has looked at. I mean, he's really wanted to firm up a European security force.
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Yes, he has for a long time. I think he described NATO as brain dead a few years ago. It's something which he is very keen on. I think he could see the way that things could be going. And I think also he sees it as an natural progression of European solidarity of the European Union. I mean, we have to bear in mind, you know, Britain may not be in the European Union anymore, but this is an organization that has protected Europe politically. We've had peace. We've lived through a generation where we haven't had the terrible wars that our grandparents fought through. And this is mainly down to the European Union and cooperation across Europe. So it could be the next natural stage. But there is a lot of opposition as well, and of course, you have to try and get, get over 30 countries to try and agree on something.
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Like this and Russia, because this means nothing unless there's a ceasefire. I mean, how much pressure does this declaration put on the Kremlin?
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Well, I think the pressure that comes onto the Kremlin really depends on the White House. And as you know, the pressure from that direction seems to come and go a little bit with the wind. Was it a wise idea to invite Putin onto American soil, as they did a few months ago, to meet in Alaska? Is the financial pressure going to start telling on Russia? That certainly seemed to be the tactics of the previous White House administration to try and squeeze Russia financially, economically, if not militarily. So we're not entirely sure what pressure is being put by the United States on Russia. And Putin is generally quite consistent and adamant in terms of things like, as we mentioned, NATO troops being nearby.
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And, I mean, there are also suggestions of some sort of swap here, a lot of chatter about Venezuela and Greenland and Russia and all of this coming together in some grand plot.
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Yes. And it's something that's been floated around by more than one analyst over the last few years, things they've heard about this. But the problem is that, and I was reading Michael Wolf the other day, who is Trump's biographer, who is still in contact, so he says, with advisors within the White House, that after the Venezuela attack at the weekend and Nicolas Maduro being taken to the United States, Trump was giving one of his speeches, as he did, I think, at Mar a Lago and on the plane, and they weren't entirely sure what he was going to say and were somewhat surprised when he said, we're in charge and we're going to be running the country. So this is what we are up against. So this indeed is what some staff at the White House seem to be up against, that you never quite know which tack the boss is going to go for, which way he is going to go. Now, he seems to be riding on a wave of I can do anything at the moment. So Greenland really is a big concern unless he can be dissuaded from that. And you imagine there are plenty of back channels from people who get on well with him across Europe to try and dissuade him of that. And you also have to wonder, it surely would be hubris to do it on a military basis, despite them saying this last night. I think they came out and said that military options were still there in terms of Greenland because they could always strike some sort of financial Deal. They've already got a base there. They have bases in so many countries. Do you have to have the political fallout by seizing Greenland from a fellow NATO member? It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. But you know, Georgina, what does these days? Politics.
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We have to leave it there, Frances. But I suppose bottom line is what happens to Greenland is desperately important to Ukraine, then.
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Yes, it is. I think so. And also, we don't want any distractions from what is going on in Ukraine, as whenever they're even speaking, Russia is still bombing Kyiv and bombing other places. It's ongoing. They need to try and sort this out. This was a big step forward yesterday. There did seem to be a lot of cooperation. It's whether it can be firmed up with action, whether the United States and others can drag Russia to the negotiating table again and establish some sort of peace accord, which we all need.
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Francis, thank you very much indeed. That's Francis Collings there joining us from our Paris studio. This is the Globalist. It's 40 14, 14 in Bangkok, 714 here in London. A ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia is being tested yet again after a Thai soldier was wounded by mortar fire in a disputed border region on Tuesday. Bangkok initially accused Cambodian forces of breaching the late December truce before Phnom Penh said the strike was an operational error. While the guns are quieter for now, the deeper dispute over an ill defined border remains unresolved and may not be addressed until Thailand forms its next government after elections in early February. Well, I'm joined now by James Chambers, Monocle's Asia editor, live from our Bangkok bureau. James, good afternoon to you. What are the circumstances then surrounding this latest incident? Is it clear?
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Hi, Georgina. That's a very good summary of what's going on.
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Actually.
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As with everything that's going on with this border crisis, nothing is really clear. Both sides are saying different things. But I guess the good news after your previous discussion is that given everything that's going on in the west, there's a, there's a bit more kind of calmer heads in, in, in the east and, and with this latest skirmish. So as you said, there was a. Reports from the Thai side of a mortar, of mortars being fired by the Cambodians and injuring a Thai soldier. But it seems as if the both sides, both armies are in direct discussions and the Cambodians quickly made it clear to their Thai equivalents that this was an accident and they didn't intend to fire at the Thais. They backtracked a bit and as you said, they're now saying it was operational issues. The suggestions that some Cambodian soldiers were essentially cleaning up and kind of set fire to a garbage dump or garbage heap and then some kind of ordinance or some rockets or some mortars had accidentally gone off and injured some Cambodian soldiers. So it sounds a bit like, you know, incompetence or negligence, but nothing, nothing deliberate. And, you know, that the two armies have been chatting. They seem there's no interest in escalating this. I guess the only danger is that the politicians are now involved. And as you pointed out, it's election season here in Thailand. So the caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Chandvirakun has come out and said, you know, the Cambodians need to explain what happened and they need to apologize, which is obviously not going to happen. And on the Cambodian side, it just so happens to be Victory Day, which is the anniversary of when, of, of the fall of the Khmer Rouge and pol pot in 1979. And so the, I guess the de facto leader, Hun Sen, has come out and made his usual statement about that, you know, historic event. But, you know, he's not minced his words about Thailand and, and spent a lot of time basically trash talking about the ties and how they're threatening Cambodia. So that's not going to do anything to dial down the situation. But for now, it seems that the men in uniform are keeping a lid on this.
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And what does Thailand's election mean for the chances of serious negotiation? Is it even something that voters care about? Is it being used as a campaign issue?
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I mean, that's funny because it doesn't seem to be, be. I mean, it's this, this latest incident is not a big story in Bangkok. There's obviously, it's obviously extremely important and sad for people who live by the border and have only been able to recently return to their homes after the latest fighting. And there are stories of, you know, farmers having to quickly and, and, and, and, and bring forward their harvest because they don't know what's going to happen next and they want to, you know, sell their crops and, and basically stash some money away for whatever's going to happen. But in Bangkok, the focus is certainly not on Cambodia and this war. It's all about the domestic situation and, you know, the usual contest between the, the conservatives and the progressives. So that's dominating the news at the moment. You know, it is election season. There are banners and hoardings everywhere. I mean, you can't walk down a pavement with, without bumping into a big poster of Some politician. And so this war seems to be on the back burner. But as, as you said, no politician in Thailand can appear right now to be soft on, on, on so sovereignty and territory and not, no one has the authority to essentially deal with this issue until they, you know, we, Thailand has a new prime minister. But and as you said in your intro, you know, this is kicking the can down the road where even if this ceasefire holds for now, you know, the situation over the, the border has got potentially even worse because the Thai military is happy with the territory that it now has and it agreed to this truce with the kind of understanding that it wouldn't give any of that back. Cambodia is obviously not happy. It is suggesting that Thailand has taken a bit more than it, you know, deserves. And so what was a dispute about a few temples going back, you know, 100 years is, is probably now a much bigger issue and it's certainly not going to be solved any day soon.
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James, thank you very much indeed. That's James Chambers, Monocle's Asia editor now. Still to come on the program, A welcome sound, but not one that one hears very much of during dry January, those dreaded words. But France has an alternative suggestion which we are prepared to take very seriously indeed a little later on in the show. This is the globalist. Craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS Chief Investment Office House features you. We're focused on identifying the latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals. So you get the big picture broken down into thought provoking insights delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts. UBS banking is our craft. Well, let's continue now with Today Today's newspapers. Joining me in the studio is Terry Stiastheny who's a political journalist and author of Believable Lies, the Misfits who Fought Churchill's Secret Propaganda war. Good morning to you, Terry.
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Good morning. Happy New Year.
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Happy New Year. I think we have to stop that.
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Is it the end?
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Yeah, it's the end. Yeah, yeah. Just, yeah, these, this set of newspapers, had we looked at it even a year ago, they would be unbelievable really the types of stories that we're seeing at the moment. I mean, let's just start with this Greenland story because it's everywhere. Obviously people are extremely concerned about this, a NATO country being threatened in this way. Politico rather helpfully has suggested exactly how the US might achieve its aims.
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Well, yes, I mean as you say, you know, 2026, even if it's not a new year anymore, it's already looking very unstable, very, you know, not quite sure where the next thing might kick off. But, yes, Politico is looking at the way it's headlined How Trump Gets Greenland in Four Easy Steps. And their subheading on this is. And worryingly for the Danes, it looks like he started, and they're sort of kind of war gaming what might happen and comparing this to Putin's expansionist playbook, as they call it. And they've been talking to NATO insiders and Danish politicians and really, you know, just worrying quotes from a D and Danish politician who asked for anonymity, saying that if Trump wanted to take over, it could be like, five helicopters, he wouldn't need a lot of troops. But interestingly, you know, as someone who's looked at propaganda and how it has worked in the past, their first step that they're suggesting would be an influence campaign to try and boost Greenland's independence movement. So, you know, Americans trying to carry out covert influence operations in Greenland and trying to encourage people within Greenland to say, you know, that, you know, we want independence, we don't want to be part of Denmark anymore. And it suggests that they're already using some of these kind of influence methods. Next step, potentially offer Greenland a deal to leave Denmark, try and, you know, incorporate them into the United States, then going further and, you know, getting Europe on board. Now, given what happened yesterday, you know, that's. That looks like something that they would find pretty hard to do. I mean, you know, most of Europe and NATO are saying, you know, absolutely not. This is not something that we're even prepared to consider. And then step four, a potential military invasion. I mean, can we really believe that this is where we are at the beginning of 2026?
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It's quite extraordinary. I wanted to move on. I mean, not a million miles away, actually, but this NATO shadowing a tanker fleeing the US Oil blockade that's around Venezuela. Tell us more about this story from the Times.
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Yes, this is very intriguing, and I think it just shows, you know, the kind of flashpoints that there could be around the world where we might least expect. And this is a tanker which is currently known as the Marinara. And it's had, I think, about five different names in the past five years. Most recently, before that, it was called the Bella one. And it doesn't actually have any oil on it at the moment, but it keeps changing, not only its name, but its, its nationality and its flag. And it's currently sailing under A Russian flag and it is sailing at the moment across the Atlantic, going somewhere towards the North Sea, possibly towards Russia. And its route is likely to take into Irish waters, potentially into Icelandic waters, into Danish waters as well. And so NATO are tracking this. But also, according to some reports from cbs, Russia is also deploying naval assets to try to escort this tanker. And the reason this matters, of course, is that, you know, Donald Trump said he's blockading oil tankers which have come from Venezuela. He wants to impose sanctions on them, he wants to, to get a load of the oil. But, you know, Russia thinks otherwise about this and, you know, there's a suggestion that this could be another US Operation where they potentially go in and try to, to seize a tanker. But, you know, again, if you're doing this somewhere near other countries, other countries waters and, and heading for Russia, you know, who knows what might happen there?
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Well, another story in the Times suggested that really this all kicked off because Maduro stole Trump's dance moves. I'm sorry, it seems ridiculous.
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Funny and horrible at the same time, isn't it, this one? We know that Donald Trump has a thin skin. You know, there's been suggestions that he was a bit miffed about not getting the Nobel Peace Prize, that the Venezuelan opposition leader got the peace prize instead of him. That's why he doesn't favor her as a potential new leader. But he did accuse Nicolas Maduro of attempting to steal his apparently famed dance moves. Says, says the Times, which is his sort of. And they have a little video where you can compare and contrast. If you want to watch this, you can see Trump sort raising his fists and Nicolas Maduro doing, I would say, quite a different dance, possibly both dads.
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I mean, that's how dads dance.
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But the idea that, you know, the dictator dancing in a similar fashion and singing songs was mocking Trump. And that might be one of the reasons that Trump's team thought Madero believed that the US Was bluffing and so that they felt that they had to carry out this strike. And Trump described it, he gets up there, he tries to imitate my dance a little bit, but he's a violent guy. And so that was part of his justification for the capture of Maduro.
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Quite, quite extraordinary. So we are now looking at weather because you have clearly noticed here in Britain that the temperatures absolutely dropped. It's freezing.
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It is freezing. We are expecting another storm coming in later on in the week. And in France, across Europe, it's been usually just pretty cold and quite snowy. But this is having huge impact on transport, which is often does. We often say, say here in the UK that we are, you know, really bad at dealing with, with snowy weather conditions. But the Dutch are having an absolute nightmare at the moment. So Schiphol Airport, busiest airport in Europe often and hundreds, up to thousands of flights now have been cancelled. They can. Klm, the Dutch airline, has cancelled more than a thousand flights since Friday. Many hundreds more have been delayed. Loads of people are stuck in Schiphol trying to get to elsewhere in, in Europe and beyond because of course it's a big hub to travel around the rest of the world. And now KL has warned it's a risk of running out of de icing fluid. So this is. There's so much snow and ice at Schiphol airport that they've been getting daily deliveries of de icer. They're finding it hard to get those and their supplier of de icer in Germany is running out. The Financial Times is reporting all of this and the airlines had to send a team to Germany to collect more de icing fluid and bring it to the airport. So I mean this is just the kind of, you know, you think that people plan for this and the airport, Schiphol Airport is saying, well, we're managing to keep the runways clear and it's, this is the airline problem rather than the airport's problem. But yeah, this is, could potentially cause huge difficulties for anybody trying to travel around Europe this week.
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Extraordinary. Now Terry, I know that you have two sons and they're a little bit older now and probably don't play with Lego anymore, but I'm sure that they once did.
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Yes, they, they used to absolutely love Lego. We've still got a few bits lying around the house. Most of it is gone now. But this, I think this is a story reported here in the Guardian and elsewhere, which I think is quite sad. So Lego are planning to bring in smart bricks and this going to be in specific sets which are Star wars themed set and there will be chips inside your Lego brick which when you put them together correctly and play, play with them, they make, they make the whooshing noises and they do the Darth Vader, you know, and make bleeps. But isn't the whole fun of Lego and of building something that's supposed to be about your imagination? You do that yourself, that the children can make the whooshing noises and go blam, blam, blam. You know, I'm going to shoot you or you know, know, it just seems a really, a really bad idea and I think it's just, you know, just because you can do something with the technology doesn't mean you should do it. And I think Lego has possibly kind of shot itself in the foot here with, with a sort of laser, with a, with a lightsaber. Because I think people are going to say, you know, we, if we want our kids to be playing with toys that are, you know, using their own creativity and keeping them away from screens and things don't bring in, in, you know, that element of it that, you know, will send them hurrying back to the screen again.
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Absolutely. Terry, thank you very much indeed. That's Terry Stiestany there. And this is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. Six European allies are backing Denmark after US President Donald Trump repeated his desire to acquire its semi autonomous region of Greenland. Trump said the US Needs Greenland for security reasons. And the one White House has not ruled out military intervention. Donald Trump has unveiled a plan to seize and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil as Washington deepens coordination with Caracas following the capture of Nicolas Maduro. While Venezuela's political future remains uncertain amid US Claims that it will be running the South American country for now, Trump appears to be working with Interim President Delsey Rodriguez and other senior officials from Maduro's government, disappointing the opposition that had hoped to play a large, larger role. And China has imposed a ban on any items with a military use being exported to Japan. It's the latest reaction to pro Taiwanese comments made by Prime Minister Sanaya Takeaichi last year. The list of banned Exports runs to 800 items, including chemicals, electronics and tech. Japan has called the measures absolutely unacceptable. This is the global list. Stay tuned. It is 8:32 in Berlin, 7:32 here in London. Parts of South West Berlin remain without power or heating today four days after an arson attack severely damaged cables during freezing temperatures. Around 100,000 people have been affected. A state of emergency was declared and authorities say full power will not be restored before tomorrow. A far left group has claimed responsibility, but investigators say this is still being looked at as concern grows over the security of Germany's critical infrastructure. Well, I'm joined now by Andrew Bulkeley, who is the co founder of 20% Berlin, a newsletter for Berlin's foreign expat population. Andrew, many thanks for joining us. How rare is an outage of this scale in Germany?
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G
Well, one would think that they would be very rare. I think these are the only things we're used to from earlier decades. But weirdly, this is the second major major outage actually in this neighborhood within two years. And they were both related to the same left wing, supposed left wing terrorist group attacking critical infrastructure. And it comes at kind of a very sensitive time. So this is sort of a perfect storm that these outages are happening, these attacks are happening because on one side the we're learning that the legacy of Chancellor Merkel in Germany is that she spent very little on critical infrastructure in Germany, Germany. So highway bridges are crumbling. Ironically, two bridges in that area of Berlin had to be closed on the autobahn, Germany's pride, the autobahn. Two bridges are closed, being replaced because they were neglected for years. And at on the other side. So we're worried about infrastructure already in Germany. And on the other side, of course, we have these geopolitical events where we're worried about Russia and how vulnerable we are to Russia. And now we're finding out we're very vulnerable. That apparently one sort of left wing wacko with a lighter can take the power away from 100,000 people in a major European capital.
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A
Well, tell us about the wacko with the lighter. Who is the group that's claimed responsibility and why do they say they did it?
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G
This is a group called, they call themselves the Volkan group or the volcano group. And this is, they think at the 11th attack since about 2000, 2015 that they have perpetrated here in Berlin. And they say they're doing it to protect the climate, that rich people. Southwestern Berlin is famous as the sort of the rich enclave in Berlin. It's where there's villas and people have lakefront property. But of course there's also lots of middle class people there. Thirteen schools are closed. So the volcano group is saying they're doing this to try to help the environment, that we need to do more to help the environment. And rich people are playing an inordinate role in damaging the environment.
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A
The investigators don't seem to completely buy this. They're still looking into it. So is the claim being taken seriously?
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G
That's not entirely true. The Internet isn't buying it. The investigators are pretty confident that this is a left wing group or maybe just one individual who after these attacks they always send out letters claiming responsibility for the attacks. This time it's a little bit differently. Usually these letters are published on left wing websites. This time the group went straight to media, sent these notes to media, and after they sent sent the notes to media, they sent another note that said they weren't happy with the way media published these letters, that they didn't publish the letters verbatim that they just quoted them. And now last night the group even sent out a letter that said they are in fact for real. They are the Volcano group. They're a left wing group because the Internet is speculating that this is actually hybrid warfare from Russia, that these are Russian agents attacking Russian infrastructure. But if you look at the big media, Germany, Deshp, Eagle, Frankwater, Algomaide handles, but those are the newspapers with contacts in Germany's intelligence services. And none of them are saying that their sources are telling them that these are actually Russian agents. They're saying it is most likely the Volcano group and they are left wing terrorists.
- [36:30]
A
You mentioned the attack in September. Were any changes made after that? Was any action taken?
- [36:37]
G
This is the big question that we're all, we're all wondering then the answer does not seem to be becoming. You get the usual political answer of we're looking at it, we're considering it. It's sort of amazing that, you know, I've been a reporter for 30 years and I've written about power grids. I mean we call them grids. The German word is network. And I've always understood that if you lose a wire over here on the right hand side, more power is just brought in over the left hand side, that it's always been able to compensate. And we're learning that that isn't the case. All you need to do is burn one cable and you can take away 100 power to 100,000 people. So we haven't heard much about what they're going to do and frankly I'm not sure they're sure what they're going to do. And this is also a problem because we have local elections in September and the mayor, he's not looking very good right now.
- [37:23]
A
I mean there are currently reforms before the Bundestag. Do we know what those are and will this latest incident accelerate the process?
- [37:32]
G
Well, I think the reforms you're talking about is that they've passed a giant spending pattern package. They borrowed billions to spend on infrastructure. So one would think that the money is there to maybe bulk up on redundancy, obviously maybe have two cables that are several hundred meters apart set rather than just one. It has to be said that whoever is doing this knows exactly what they're doing because this was a cable that comes from a gas fired power plant. So they know something about the infrastructure and they also know which cable because this was under a bridge. And I think we've all walked under a bridge and looked up and wondered what all those things were are that are going across the water with us. And this person knew exactly which one to target. So this is somebody with some knowledge and well, let's hope that some of the money is going to be spent on not only making the infrastructure last longer, but also safer.
- [38:18]
A
Absolutely. Andrew, thank you very much. I hope you're keeping warm. We're going to hear later in the show that Germany has the second cheapest alcohol in Europe, so perhaps that might help you. Now let's have a roundup of news from Guy Delaunay, Monocle's Balkans correspondent. Good morning to you, Guy.
- [38:45]
B
Good morning to you, Georgina, from a very snowy Ljubljana.
- [38:48]
A
Is it beautiful?
- [38:50]
B
It is actually gorgeous. And I was out sledging last night in Tivoli park, which was spectacular.
- [38:55]
A
Oh, it sounds just beautiful. Tell us about Slovenia and the presidential party polls.
- [39:02]
B
Well, it's not the president who's being elected. It's actually going to be the parliamentary elections and the president has called them and this has just happened. It wasn't entirely unexpected. We knew that a general election had to be held this year. And Natasha Piet Smutsar, the president has chosen the date, which is 22 March. The interesting factor here, Georgina, is that the current prime minister, Robert Golub, will actually become the first prime minister to complete a full four year term in almost 20 years. So 2008 was the last time we had a government run to its full term in Slovenia. That gives you some idea of a. It's a bit like a mini Japan. Sometimes Slovenia in its politics, you get an awful lot of churn at the top.
- [39:47]
A
That's extraordinary. That's a very long time for it to be in that situation. And is this making big news? I mean, is this a huge story in the the country?
- [39:56]
B
Well, the funny thing is, of course, you think when you're correspondent in this region. Right. I want to know all about what's going on. Let's start with the national broadcaster RTV Slovenia. Let's see what they're saying about the election, the runners and riders, whether Mr. Gollob stands a chance of getting another term in office with his freedom movement, whether it'll be Yannis Jancha and his SDS party, which is a right wing, somewhat nationalist party. Mr. Jancha himself one of the loudest figures in Slovenian politics. And for sure that'll be the battle in the election. But that wasn't what was on the front page of RTV Slovenia, Georgina. No, it was all about the man.
- [40:34]
A
They call the Dominator, who is The Dominator.
- [40:40]
B
Thank you very much for picking that up. The Dominator is none other than Domen Preutz. And Domin Prej is not a politician, though he could probably run for office anytime he liked now and win. Domin Preutz is the world's great greatest male ski jumper. And he is Slovenian. And he has just proven what a great ski jumper he is, not just by the fact that he holds the current world record, but by winning the four Hills competition, which is one of the most prestigious awards you can get in the world of ski jumping. And Slovenians consider ski jumping to be their national sport. So when Domon Praetz wins the four Hills competition, which, as it implies, is spread across four different hills in European ski jumping competitions, then this is enormous news, and it was absolutely everywhere on the pages of not just RTV Slovenia, but every other news outlet in Slovenia.
- [41:33]
A
So he's the third Slovenian to win it.
- [41:36]
B
That's right. So this is. I mean, Slovenians are really good at this. They. They. I did a piece about ski jumping recently for Monocle. I interviewed Domen Preots and his sister Nika, who just happens to be the women's world record holder and a double World cup champion. And she's only 20 years old. She's currently leading the women's rankings as well in the World Cup. So these two are hot favorites for the Olympics. But, yes, Domen Prejots became just the third Slovenian to win the Four Hills competition in. Gosh, I think it's 72 years of that competition being held. The last one to win it 10 years ago was, of course, his brother Peter. So you're getting a picture now, aren't you, of what sort of a family? The Preutzers. I think there's one other ski jumping prey who's still coming through. He's still in the. Still in the junior ranks. And their dad has been taking them to all these competitions for years, although he probably doesn't need to now because Domman won a hundred thousand euros for taking the Four Hills title. So being good at ski jumping pays well.
- [42:37]
A
Can you imagine if you're part of the family and you're not good at it?
- [42:40]
B
Yeah, I mean, quite a lot. I think there's at least five children, and one of them is. And I think one of them's a dancer, I seem to recall them telling me. So I don't know if they're very good at dancing. You'd have to be, wouldn't you?
- [42:51]
A
What if you just, you know, want to be a librarian or something? I mean, you, you met them, were they odd?
- [42:57]
B
Nika Preutz, the, the, the younger sister who is the, the, the, the leading woman in the world and of all time because of her world record. She is a woman of very few words. I have to tell you. You get very, you know how it is as a journalist. You try and ask open questions, not things that will just give you a yes, no answer. Nica will give you a one word answer to an open question. Domen, on the other hand, is extremely loquacious. But what all of the ski jumpers I met have in common is this. They all talk about how what's really necessary is to be right. And we could view this another way, Georgina, but they say you've got to be right in your head in order to do ski jumping. Because when you, when you see these people sitting at the top of the ski jumping hill and it looks sort of fairly common, and then they just push off and then they're taking off at more than 100 km an hour sometimes and flying in distances of more than 250 meters. In Domin's case, that's something which takes a little bit special in the head. And there was one of the other ski jumpers who said, you know, when I got up there and it was so foggy that I, I couldn't see anything, I thought, great, now I don't need to be afraid.
- [44:09]
A
Wow, that's extraordinary. Have you done it? Have you skied? I don't know why we're talking about ski jumping so much, but I'm suddenly fascinated.
- [44:15]
B
Well, you know, I've done a. I haven't done it and it would be crazy for me to start doing it at my age. You have to start very young because as with many of these extreme sports, if you try doing them when you are, I mean, even in late teens or something like that, you wouldn't be able to start doing it because you simply have to get used to doing, doing the small hills, the very small hills. First falling over, learning how to fall, that's very, very important. You can't do it when you get older. So. And I'm talking about it a lot, Georgina, because it's such a huge obsession here in Slovenia. Can you imagine what it's like with the Olympics a month away and two Slovenians being hot favorites for gold medals in what Slovenians consider their national sport? It's a huge part of the national discourse here. And, and that is why I'm banging on about it.
- [45:02]
A
Let's talk about Serbia spending big on A Bosnian airport. What's that?
- [45:07]
B
It's a funny. Yeah, it's a funny one, this. So it's not just any airport. This is the airport in Trebinye, which is in Republika Srpska, in Bosnia. So this is the majority Serb part of Bosnia, and it's also extraordinarily close to Dubrovnik. So this is. This airport is actually close, closer to Dubrovnik than Dubrovnik airport. So you can sort of see what's happening here, that there's a bit of opportunism going on, that, hey, I wonder if we develop this airport in Bosnia that's actually closer to Dubrovnik than Dubrovnik airport, whether we could nick some of that custom and Serbia is getting involved. I mean, I don't know whether this is just trolling Croatia or something, Georgina, but the president, Alexander Vucic, says he's willing to lob in 200 million euros for the construction of Trebinje airport. And that's quite astonishing, though I have to say. This is his most recent pronouncement this week. This sort of idea of Trebinya being developed as a rival to Dubrovnik has been, you know, rumbling away for a few years, so it remains to be seen whether this will turn into something substantial this time around.
- [46:20]
A
And then there's more aviation news about an Albanian airport.
- [46:25]
B
Indeed there is, because Ryanair has named its top five destinations for 2026. And on the list, well, it's listed just under Bratislava is Tirana of Albania's capital, of course. And Ryanair is getting very excited about this. And it's not just getting excited in terms of putting a story in its In Flight magazine and saying, hey, these are the people places you should visit when you're in Tirana. It's basing planes in Tirana. And I just checked something, because it said here that it's going to be basing three aircraft at Tirana, offering regular flights, 450 per week across its 33 route offering. And I thought, that can't possibly be correct. But then I just went on the Ryanair website and, you know, put in Tirana and checked the number of airports that I could fly to, and it's actually 36 different airports because there's a few which double up, like the airports in Milan and Warsaw, where you've got two airports in one city available on the Ryanair network. So whether that amounts to 450 flights a week or not, I'm not quite sure. But Ryanair definitely putting, well, it's planes where it's a chief Executive's mouth usually is Guy Delaunay.
- [47:38]
A
Thank you very much. Much indeed. Guy is our Balkans correspondent and you are listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Iq, EQ and AI. Three components key to the craft of innovation at ubs. Because to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving age, you need a partner with decades of experience, endless passion for the work and a finger on the pulse of leading technologies. Bridging human expertise with artificial intelligence, all to elevate you. UBS banking is our craft. And now adapting the rapidly evolving luxury landscape while preserving the magic of a heritage brand has become the key to thriving in the luxury market. While in Cannes last month at the international luxury travel market, Monocle's Emma Nelson spoke with leaders from some of the world's most exclusive hospitality brands to get a picture of the luxury hotel scene. Emma caught up with Benjamin Rushot, who is CEO of the Peninsula Hotels. She started by asking him how he thinks luxury manifests itself in the guest experience.
- [48:56]
D
I think one of the the biggest word that we should focus when trying to define luxury for me is authenticity. You can't fake it in hospitality if your approach to the guest is not sincere, if you're not really genuinely smiling when you're opening the door to welcome your guests to your hotels, or even just being called in the middle of the night to bring those slippers because they're too small. When you're size 12, you have to really be authentic and you have to be really genuine about delivering that experience. Authenticity is the new luxury. And I think we have to be very cautious and very vigilant when you're the custodian of a brand like the Peninsula Hotels to make sure that while you know temptation to grow is there, when you grow, you don't dilute the brand and you don't break the magic that has been created over almost 98 years now.
- [49:43]
F
That nearly century old identity is something which is very precious. When you work in something like jewellery. It is the most intimate product because it touches your skin. How do you transmit those values into something such as a hotel? And you talk about the authenticity of it, but that idea of actually even scaling up to 12 properties, how tricky a balance is it?
- [50:12]
D
I mean, there's definitely the nomination negotiables when you build a luxury hotel which is a beautiful bathroom, you know, the best beds, the best pillows and all the hardware that is expected in a luxury hotel like the Peninsula Hotels, what really will differentiate it is the quality of the service and the intentionality of the service. Getting to know your Guests is really an art. Anticipating the needs of the guests even before they can think of it is what really will define an excellence in service. The biggest compliment that we get when we get reviews is that when our guests don't comment on the quality of the marble or the beautiful chandeliers that were made in those magnificent places in Venice or others. It's about the service, about the people. It's about the name of our colleagues that have dedicated their time and attention to them. And that really is a true differentiator. Those are true values. There's something that we claim when we invite our new colleagues to come enjoy in the Peninsula is make it right. Everybody makes mistakes. What is important is to make it right.
- [51:11]
F
Where do you find that calibre of.
- [51:15]
H
People who will be dealing with customers.
- [51:17]
F
Who make sure that the Peninsula's brand is maintained professionally day to day?
- [51:21]
D
It's getting harder and harder. I won't lie to you. It's a true commitment, the world of hospitality. I say that in a very humbled way because I don't come from that trade. But when I started working recently, retail, I actually was on the shop floor. I don't know what it is to stand, you know, for 8, 9, 10 hours and greeting clients and sometimes having to deal with difficult situations. This training in luxury hospitality has to come also with this amazing atmosphere, this amazing, you know, those beautiful palace. They attract people who want to work for that. It's a career. We offer wonderful careers, you know, from start of being an apprentice, of being an intern to, you know, being managing directors of those operations. Those are 6, 700 people working in a hotel. And what we try to do at the Peninsula is to give that passion for the brand and give those opportunities to travel around the world, around our 12 hotels, and get some opportunities to grow. But it is more and more difficult to really get that passion for others, the dedication to service. So we have to have fun and we have to create an environment that is stimulating.
- [52:16]
B
This.
- [52:16]
F
What do you do that's fun?
- [52:17]
D
Well, we try to get them not to take themselves too seriously. We just have. We just had a leadership conference in Hong Kong for all our executives who work around the world. And I decided to take the uniform for me and the whole leadership team. And we opened the conference, opening the doors, dressed up as the Ninsula page, and clapping our colleagues to say, we thank you for being so helpful in helping our guests every day of your. Of your lives. And this was a great moment. So that taking us too seriously and really remembering that it's all about the guest experience and the guest satisfaction.
- [52:53]
F
How do you make something like this distinct? In a place like Hong Kong, for example, where you have a heritage hotel with great provenance and everybody knows yet the market in Hong Kong is getting tougher and tougher and tougher and the clients are getting tougher as well and more demanding. What do you do to make sure that people still choose you over someone else?
- [53:12]
D
I think it's about relevance and it's a combination of that wonderful heritage, the Peninsula Hotel. And the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel is secondary to none. It's legendary, it's a must go to. And it's really a place where things happen, business ideals are made, movies are being shot. It's an ongoing stage. What we have at the same time is to make sure that while memories are being celebrated, maybe your grandparents were married in the Peninsula Hotel. How do we make sure that the next generation also wants to come and spend time with them? So it's about a great F and B offering. It's about capturing this. Today we say that the grandeur of a hotel is actually very much in fashion. It's reassuring, but at the same time we don't want to be too boring or too stiff. So it's about playing with those dimensions and making it very authentic again.
- [53:57]
A
That was Benjamin Vouchot, CEO of the Peninsula Hotels, in conversation with our Emma Nelson. Now it's the first week of the new year when many people adopt dry January. I'm personally torn between a dry martini January or a dry white wine January leaning towards a crisp Albarino or an unoaked Chardonnay. So perhaps it's time for me to consider relocating to Germany, where the country's department for statistics has published figures showing that alcoholic beverages are cheaper there than in many of its neighbours, 14% below the EU average. The only EU country where it's cheaper to imbibe is Italy. Well, I'm joined now in the studio by Angelica Jopson, who is a producer, also originally from South Africa. So, Angelica, are you having a dry January? And is that something people do in South Africa?
- [54:53]
H
Georgina? I am not. I will say that I have dabbled in a dry January in the past and this year I can say I've seen the error of my ways. Because as we know, coming from South Africa, being here in the UK behavior, it's very cold. We had some snow sitting in Midori House. We could see it coming down yesterday. This is not the time to be taking pleasures away from life.
- [55:16]
A
Couldn't agree with you more. I mean, there is a middle ground, a sort of slightly damp January, or as our friends across the Channel put it, a French January. So what does that involve?
- [55:26]
H
There is. And so there has been this tension in France around, you mentioned about Germany and the low alcohol price prices, but there's been a bit of tension in France as well of dry January or to not dry January. And this year there has been a new campaign and it is by a collection of winemakers and what they say, don't abstain, but moderate, enjoy. Why not take the pleasures away? And that might be something. Or I'll certainly say I have adopted French January, although I didn't know before this campaign that that is the word for it. But of course, of course, from a very strong winemaking country and culture, that's something that they take very seriously. And indeed, last year the mayor of Chateauneuf du Pape said it was an insult to the French culture. The concept of dry January itself, I've.
- [56:18]
A
Got to agree, and not just to French culture, to kind of everything. I don't think it's a good idea. But I was asking you about South Africa because I'm genuinely interested to know is if that's something, if that whole concept, I mean, certainly in Zimbabwe, it's not something that happens.
- [56:34]
H
It's the first time that I've come across it here in the UK and I think it's a campaign that has started here. It does get spoken about, for sure. But also you need to think of January is still a time of summer in South Africa. There is still. There are still a lot of brides going on, there are people outdoors. So there is definitely a lean towards resolutions and perhaps that does indeed include maybe laying off the wine, of which there is, of course, plenty and very cheaply. So you do hear about does happen. There's not the kind of French culture that we mentioned, this kind of, you know, that kind of wine culture in society. So you do hear it, but not as much as here in the UK.
- [57:15]
A
Because, I mean, there are some fabulous vineyards there.
- [57:17]
H
Oh, absolutely. And also, as I said, it's a time of summer, it's a time of heightened tourism and more so where people are coming in and February knowing that Christmas time is completely mad, specifically thinking about Cape Town, that has some of the most beautiful vineyards and I will say very biasedly, some of the most delicious wines. And people are visiting more in January and February, taking advantage of the prices and so wale off the wine then.
- [57:45]
A
And of course, there's a fabulous literary festival There, I think it's February Franschhoek and that's happening all around the sort of Winelands, which is, sadly, I can't go go because I'm busy elsewhere. But it sounds amazing. Just before we go, what about low or no alcohol drinks? Is that a thing? Is that catching on in South Africa?
- [58:05]
H
Anywhere, Anywhere.
- [58:06]
A
Absolutely.
- [58:06]
H
I think here it is more and more. There are, of course, spirits, which I find quite interesting that you do see particularly major brands that have their own versions of zero percent, particularly gins, things like that. I think you do see more and more of those, whether it's categories touching on. I think there are, you know, especially with younger generations that do drink less, that's something that they are more interested in. But I have also seen more wines as well, doing zero percent.
- [58:34]
A
Honestly, what is the point?
- [58:37]
H
Maybe February, we could be trying them, but maybe for this January, let's stay on the Pinot Grigio.
- [58:41]
A
Yeah, exactly. February, the shortest month. That's the one to do it in, if you're going to do it. Angelica, thank you very much indeed. That's Angelica Jobson. And that's all for today's program. Thanks to our producers, which include Angelica Jobson and Anita Rea, our researcher, Anneliese Maynard, and our studio manager, Steph Chungoo, with editing assistance by Christy o'. Grady. After the headlines. There's more music on the way. The Briefing is live at midday in London and the Globalist will return at the same time tomorrow. I'm Georgina Godwin. Thank you for listening. With ubs, you have a truly global partner, incorporating new technologies, innovative approaches and unexpected opportunities, leading you to insights that help answer the questions that matter. Delivered with passion, care and unmatched expertise. Because it's about rising with the dawn each day, knowing that we can do even better. That's what banking is to us. Not just work, but a craft. UBS advice is our craft.