This newsletter is the 11th published in 2026 and the 57th since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. November, 11th month of the year. The number 11 evokes a football team where everyone has their position according to their talent with a captain who breathes spirit into the group. In Russia, the hopes born with the fall of the USSR in 1991 were quickly dashed with the arrival of oligarchs and then a new "tsar" in 2000. Russia is under influence, a secondary player within the BRICS dominated by China. Ukraine has expressed its willingness to join the European Union; and will become a full player in an economic Union with democratic functioning, where the rules of the game are known and accepted by all, and a common agenda that each member is required to respect, based on shared values. Ukrainians have been fighting for nearly thirteen years (Maidan) to join Team Europe. In the concert of nations, an outdated formula given that “noise” has replaced music, the European Union, heckled and attacked, is holding its own. The 27 member states will be joined by other European countries. The EU remains a mobilizing project, a guarantee of peace and economic prosperity. Football is also well organized with clear rules; the "Laws of the Game" issued by the IFAB. The last World Cup in the United States showed that "newcomers" did not hesitate to transgress them. The betrayal of Ukraine by President Trump’s team is part of this spirit. All blows are allowed, especially the lowest ones.
1-number 11- the Laws of the Game in football
2-Team Russia- vertical, hierarchical, unequal spirit
3-Team Ukraine – horizontal, united and democratic spirit
4-Team Europe- freedom and democracy