| Europe |
| 'Revolution of Garbage Bins': Protesters Want to Send Serbia to the Dump |
| 2025-07-01 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Oleg Khavich [REGNUM] Protests against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic have reached a fundamentally new level, paralyzing the country. Last Saturday, June 28, Serbia celebrated Vidovdan, the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, which is considered the beginning of the Turkish yoke. Serbian Tsar Lazar died in the battle, but Serbian knight Milos Obilic managed to kill Turkish Sultan Murad after the battle. It was Obilic's example that inspired Gavrilo Princip, who killed Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, which became the reason for the outbreak of World War I. As a result of two world wars, it seemed that the Serbs had received their own small empire – Yugoslavia, but in fact, in this state they found themselves in the role of Russians in the USSR. It was at the expense of Serbia that the rest of Yugoslavia was developed, and only in Serbia – the only one of all the Yugoslav republics – were autonomies created. At the same time, Kosovo, the core of the national myth of the Serbs, actually became Albanian. The leader of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, tried to change the situation by proclaiming the need for national emancipation of Serbs on all historical lands, including outside the artificial borders of the Federal Republic of Serbia, on the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo. In response, the elites of the other republics, with the support of the West, first destroyed Yugoslavia and then Serbia (Kosovo has been occupied by NATO troops since June 1999), and Milosevic himself was overthrown and extradited to The Hague on June 28, 2001, as a result of the first “color revolution.” Given the importance of Vidovdan for the Serbs, this year both the opposition, which has been holding mass protests against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic since November of last year, and Vucic himself, have been carefully preparing for June 28. Let us recall: On November 1, 2024, in the city of Novi Sad, the recently renovated canopy of the railway station, one of the key objects on the high-speed railway Belgrade-Budapest, collapsed. The opposition blamed Vučić personally, as well as China, whose companies are reconstructing this section of the Serbian railways. Since then, protests have been ongoing in the country and education has been completely blocked in all public and most private higher education institutions – it is the “protesting students” who are the main proxy force of the opposition, which relies on the support of Brussels. On the other hand, for several months now, in front of the building of the Serbian Assembly (parliament), there has been a tent city of “students who want to study”, openly supported by the authorities and personally by Vucic. It is clear that in the ranks of both there are not only students. At the same time, the Serbian "guardians" are habitually passive, while the "overthrowers of power" actively incite hatred towards their opponents, calling them "chatsi". This is a corrupted Serbian word "Gatsi" ("students") - approximately how to write "uchinEki" in Russian - which is supposed to emphasize the ignorance and backwardness of Vucic's supporters. On June 28, the opposition announced another “mass protest” in Belgrade, which was supposed to be “the last warning for Vucic.” True, the president did not sit idly by either: a few days before Vidovdan, all pro-government TV channels aired a “journalistic investigation” – recordings of discussions of the opposition’s real plans to block highways, bridges, and physically destroy the facilities of the EXPO-2027 World Exhibition, which are being built near Belgrade International Airport. The cynicism of the speakers was astounding: they directly calculated the possible losses to the Serbian budget from the blockade of transport routes and stated that Vucic would not last “more than two weeks” in such a regime. Some organizers directly said that "Murad must be killed," meaning the Serbian president, the authorities must be seized, and if that succeeds, mass civil disobedience must be carried out. Six conspirators were detained, and one of them was found to have a pistol with the serial number filed off. On the eve of Vidovdan, the “protesting students” announced their ultimatum to the president: to dissolve parliament by 21:00 on June 28 and call early parliamentary elections, as well as to remove the tent camp in front of the Assembly. Vucic immediately responded that Serbia does not accept ultimatums (referring to the ultimatum of Austria-Hungary in 1914), and the police will protect citizens and the constitutional order in the country from any encroachment. It is worth noting that on June 27, all passenger train traffic in Serbia was suspended for several hours due to reports of explosive devices being installed on all trains and tracks. The protest itself in Belgrade on the evening of June 28 was quite calm, there were no attempts to break through to the parliament building, key transport interchanges or EXPO-2027 sites. The police estimated the number of protesters at 36 thousand people, the organizers - at 140 thousand. The truth usually lies somewhere in the middle. The most interesting thing began after the end of the action, when its organizers announced that they were no longer responsible for the behavior of people on the streets - they say that now there are not students there, but ordinary citizens who will remain there until victory. True, citizens began to act as a well-oiled machine: some tried to seize traffic interchanges and bridges, and a larger group moved towards the Skupština building. Stones, flares and firecrackers were thrown at the police and gendarmes, who by that time had taken control of the center of Belgrade, and the first overturned garbage cans appeared on the streets. Several dozen hooligans were arrested, 48 police officers were injured. Protesters in Belgrade have called for the destruction of Serbia in a civil war, the speaker of the National Assembly and former Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic said on Sunday night. In turn, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that during the riots in Belgrade on Sunday night, “only by a miracle” there were no casualties. And although the situation in the Serbian capital had returned to normal by the morning of June 29, by mid-Sunday garbage bins and elements of street fences had already appeared on the streets of several dozen cities. Moreover, sometimes the footage from them was painfully reminiscent of Kyiv-2013: the participation of actors and famous people, jumping to the chant "Who does not jump, that chatsi" and so on. For now, the situation in Serbia resembles a game of cat and mouse. By the morning of Monday, June 30, police had unblocked traffic in all cities in Serbia, but attempts to block streets continued, both with the help of garbage bins and mass walking on pedestrian crossings - in more than 100 places across the country. Organizers of the protests mockingly called for not interfering with the security forces dismantling the barricades and to resume their installation later. It is worth noting that during the protests, Russia has been a kind of “silent figure.” The organizers of the protests say nothing about Serbian-Russian relations, but for many years these people have been demanding to join Western sanctions, stop (or at least reduce) Belgrade's cooperation with Moscow and Beijing, and focus exclusively on European integration. By the way, these people are also for the recognition of Kosovo's independence and the recognition of the events in Srebrenica as "genocide" for which the Serbs are to blame. Since only about 40% of Serbian citizens currently support its accession to the European Union, the opposition has to focus on the “fight against corruption,” but the openly anti-Russian positions of Aleksandar Vucic’s opponents have not gone away. It is clear that Moscow is closely monitoring events in Serbia, where more than 80% of the population supports the priority of cooperation with Russia. " We are monitoring this situation. We are interested in these unrests being, in general, calmed down, as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, on the basis of the constitution and laws of this friendly state," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 30. “ We have no doubt that the current Serbian leadership will be able to restore law and order in the republic in the very near future,” the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, expressed hope on the same day. "There is no great philosophy here, so we will maintain order in the country. Thank you to our Russian friends for your good understanding and wise assessment of what is happening in Serbia," Vucic responded. He noted that huge amounts of money had been invested in the attempt at a “color revolution” in Serbia, and those who invested it could not simply say: it failed and it’s all over. "There will still be some torment, but overall it's all behind us. I want to tell them that Serbia has won, and I look forward to continuing cooperation with the Russian Federation," the Serbian president said. However, both victory and normal cooperation between Serbia and Russia are still quite far away. |
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| Europe |
| Judenfrei: Sarajevo hotel cancels European rabbis’ conference after minister calls to ban event |
| 2025-06-12 |
| [IsraelTimes] The Conference of European Rabbis has been forced to relocate its biannual meeting to Munich from Sarajevo, after a Bosnian government minister called to "ban the European Jewish event from its city," says the body’s president, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, the former chief rabbi of Moscow. The CER’s biannual meeting was set to be held at a hotel in Sarajevo next week, "to discuss the most pressing issues facing European Jewish life today and matters of freedom of religion or belief," Goldschmidt writes in a tweet. "Shockingly, the hotel has suddenly canceled on us." The cancellation follows an open letter published by Bosnian Federal Minister of Labour and Social Policy Adnan Delic, in which he calls on "citizens and civil society organizations not to remain silent in the face of this attempt to morally humiliate our capital and our country." He also reportedly refers in the letter to Israel as a "genocidal entity" committing "shameful crimes against humanity." "We have been made unwelcome and this last-minute ministerial boycott of Jewish European citizens, dedicated purely to promoting Jewish life in Europa  ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...and furthering dialogue and democracy across the continent, is disgraceful," says Goldschmidt, noting that the CER has heard nothing from other Bosnian government officials. |
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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Lessons for the West and Kyiv: Don't forget that Russia can fight for a long time |
| 2025-05-20 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Dmitry Gubin [REGNUM] Our side has already outlined the main "positional points" following the direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations held on May 16 — the first in almost three years. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov pointed this out on May 19. The start of the negotiations marked changes in the "chess game" of the conflict. The Kiev regime has played to a clearly worse position compared to March 2022.  On this occasion, the head of our delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, gave a blitz lecture on air on Russia 24, citing, as a historian, analogies from the past and, as a politician, parallels with the current negotiations. LESSON 1: THE WEST, BY DISRUPTING NEGOTIATIONS, HARMS ITSELF The first historical analogy is with the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. “There were many Russo-Turkish wars, and as a result of one of these wars, which was caused by a major conflict in the Balkans – this was in the 1870s – we, in principle, came to an agreement with Turkey,” Medinsky noted. We remember from our school history course that Russia then helped the Balkan countries – Serbia, Montenegro, Romania – gain complete independence from the Turks and Bulgaria, which gained autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. Less well known is the diplomatic postscript to the exploits of Russian soldiers in Plevna and Shipka, the storming of Kars and the defense of Bayazet. On March 3, 1878, bilateral agreements between Russia and Turkey were concluded in San Stefano, a suburb of Istanbul. San Stefano, occupied by Russian troops, was not chosen by chance. The head of our delegation, Count Nikolai Ignatiev, wrote: “A wonderful place on the shores of the Sea of Marmara, there we will be the same as in Constantinople, and the English (who “demonstrated” their squadron. — Ed.) will have nothing to find fault with.” According to the treaty, the Ottomans agreed to transfer Macedonia, part of eastern Thrace and access to the Aegean Sea to the newly formed Bulgarian Principality. The territory of Serbia and Montenegro, allied with Russia, was increased, and Bosnia received autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. But “our Western partners” decided to devalue the results of the Istanbul negotiations of 1878. If in 2022 the Istanbul agreements were nullified by Boris Johnson, who persuaded Kiev to fight until “victory on the battlefield”, then almost 150 years ago this role was played by diplomats from Germany and Austria-Hungary - behind whom loomed the same Britain. In May–June 1878, the British signed two treaties: with the Turks (the Ottomans gave Cyprus to the British, and London promised to defend its borders in Asia by “force of arms” in the event of Russian encroachment) and with the Austrians on a common line of conduct. At the initiative of the Western powers, the Berlin Congress was convened. At these multilateral negotiations, Russia was forced to revise the Treaty of San Stefano. Russia returned the fortress of Bayazet to Turkey, the territory of Bulgaria was cut in half and divided into two parts with different levels of dependence on the Ottoman Sultan. Macedonia (which the Bulgarians considered historically theirs) was left with the Turks, part of the Bulgarian acquisitions were transferred to Serbia, and Bosnia, populated largely by Orthodox Serbs, was “gifted” to Catholic Austria-Hungary. It seemed that the goal had been achieved - the West “curtailed Russian appetites” and did not allow the new Balkan states to be turned into our satellites. "What did the West's 'improvement' of the bilateral agreements that had been reached lead to? Because then there were new Balkan wars, in 1912-1913. And ultimately, due to the unresolved problems in the Balkans, the First World War broke out," Medinsky notes. Let us explain: during the first, unexpectedly bloody Balkan War, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and the Macedonian rebels fought Turkey, which was “left too much” at the Berlin Congress. Bulgaria emerged victorious, and was immediately torn apart by its neighbors: Serbia, Greece, Romania and the same Türkiye. At the same time, the Bosnian issue fueled Serbia's hatred of Austria-Hungary, which resulted in "the most effective terrorist act in history" - the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. The First World War, provoked by this shot, ended, among other things, with the death of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires - the two powers that guaranteed the Berlin Congress. And the British Empire also emerged from the war rather battered - especially if you consider that the First World War made the Second World War inevitable. Trying to dig a hole for Russia, which in 1878 almost reached an agreement with Turkey, the West dug one for itself. Another example close to the Istanbul-2022 and Istanbul-2025 incidents is the history of the Soviet-Finnish War. As historians point out (Medinsky in the interview is no exception), Joseph Stalin offered Finland a truce in the early stages of the war. Let us add that before the start of hostilities, the Soviet leader offered the Finns a mutually beneficial compromise. Here we can draw a parallel with the compromises regarding security in Eastern Europe that Moscow offered the West in 2022, before the start of the Central Military District. "Since Leningrad cannot be moved, we ask that the border be 70 kilometers from Leningrad... We ask for 2,700 square kilometers," Stalin addressed the Finnish side. But the latter, feeling the support of Britain and France, stood its ground - just as the Kiev regime stood its ground on the issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO and the return of the republic's nuclear status. In parallel with the battles at the front, " Stalin offers Finland a truce, that is, peace," Medinsky noted. But the Finns refused, because they were inspired by London and Paris. In France - as now, during the time of Emmanuel Macron - they began to threaten to introduce "peacekeepers" and even demonstratively began to assemble a volunteer expeditionary corps. Britain began to concentrate long-range bombers in Iraq (then a mandated territory), capable of flying to the Baku oil fields. But no "volunteers" came to help Finland - the Suomi authorities were unable to fight "to the last Finn" on their own, and on March 12, 1940, the Moscow Treaty was signed. The Finns recognized Soviet claims on the Karelian Isthmus and moved the border without any compensation from the Soviet Union. Britain and France, by inciting the Finns against the USSR and disrupting the negotiation process, did not win at all. It was not they, but Hitler who received another ally in Marshal Mannerheim. The Third Reich had enough forces and resources in the West both to defeat France and to wage war with Britain. Will the current leaders of the West, who are eager to become a third party in hypothetical negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv (and achieve an agreement that is advantageous to them and disadvantageous to us), learn historical lessons? LESSON 2: RUSSIA CAN PLAY THE LONG GAME AND GET WHAT IT WANTS However, it seems that Europe has a poor memory (or pretends to have a poor memory) of the history of the Napoleonic wars that ploughed up this continent in 1803-1815. Now the West and its Kyiv "clients" are taking the position of first stopping the fighting, a truce, and then negotiations. French President Macron, in particular, demanded a 30-day halt to the fighting. His more successful predecessor, Emperor Napoleon, acted differently: the Peace of Tilsit of 1807 (or rather, two peace treaties between France and Russia and Prussia) was preceded by negotiations between Paris and St. Petersburg and Vienna. And these negotiations, we note, were conducted against the backdrop of battles between Napoleon's army and the troops of the 4th anti-French coalition. There was no "ceasefire" until Tilsit. But the Napoleonic wars should be remembered not only as an example of how negotiations are conducted, but also for another reason. After the defeat at Austerlitz (which was a failure for our army as well) and the defeat of the Prussians and Russians at Friedland, after the forced diplomatic maneuver at Tilsit, there was the undermining of the power of Napoleon's great army in the Battle of Borodino. And then - the defeat of the French at Berezina, the Foreign Campaign of 1813-14 and the triumphal entry of Russian troops into Paris. Which was followed by the establishment of the post-Napoleonic order in Europe, where Russia played no small role. This is an example of how Russia can and does play the long game, achieving its goals after military failures and political compromises. In this sense, an even more striking example, which Medinsky also cited, is the Northern War of 1700–1721 “with Sweden, after which Sweden forever lost its status as a great power, and the Russian Empire became a great power.” Russia, under the leadership of Peter the Great, was returning its previously lost historical lands in this war — access to the Baltic Sea, which was taken from our country by the "advanced European power" Sweden during the time of Ivan the Terrible and later, during the Time of Troubles. As a result of the battles, our new (and in fact, returned to the Russian state) territories became the "Izhora and Korelskaya provinces". A new capital appeared on the ancient Izhora land, which was still owned by Veliky Novgorod — St. Petersburg. And here an important historical parallel appears: simultaneously with the military actions, but without interrupting them, Peter I offered Charles XII a compromise option: Sweden would agree to the transfer of Ingria, that is, the lands around St. Petersburg, to the Russians, and would retain the Baltics for itself. But Charles preferred to “defeat Russia on the battlefield” and fight for the borders of 1700. "Charles XII continues his insane war, despite Peter's repeated peace proposals. But the funniest thing is, who do you think supported Charles XII? England and France. They endlessly finance Sweden," scientist and politician Medinsky drew a historical parallel. But Charles did not take into account the main thing - the ability of Peter and his army, which had modernized during the war, to wage a battle of attrition and over large territories. The war was fought in the Ostsee (Baltic) provinces of Sweden, and on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and in Little Russia. The defeat of the main Swedish land forces near Poltava occurred on July 8 (1709 according to the new style), the "zeroing" of the Swedish fleet at Gangut - on August 7, 1714. And for almost seven more years the Russian army exhausted and finished off the enemy. As a result of the Treaty of Nystad concluded in 1721, Sweden lost much more than it could have conceded if it had not listened to London and Paris and come to its senses earlier. The successor of Charles XII, who died in 1718, Queen Ulrika Eleonora was forced to admit the loss of Ingria, Estonia with Reval (Tallinn), Livonia with Riga and Old Finland, that is, Eastern Karelia. Sweden forever lost its role as the hegemon of the Baltic and a first-rank European power. And after two unsuccessful attempts to play a rematch with Russia (1788–90 and 1808–09), these “descendants of the Varangians” ceased to pose a threat to our country and to Europe. Russia has been among the great powers since 1721 until now. The Swedes had enough historical memory from the beginning of the 19th century until the 2020s, when the country decided to join the anti-Russian alliance again, this time NATO. At the same time, Kiev preferred to forget how Sweden's client, Hetman Ivan Mazepa, ended his life. But in Russia they remember the lessons of history: including the fact that the 21-year war that Russia went through from the “confusion” near Narva to the Poltava “victory” and the political victory in Nystadt was not in vain. |
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| -Short Attention Span Theater- | |
| The 213 Things Skippy Is No Longer Allowed To Do In The U.S. Army | |
| 2025-05-15 | |
| June 21st, 2007 by skippy [WebArchiveSkippysList] The Skippy List
a) I did myself, and either got in trouble or commended. (I had a Major shake my hand for the piss bottle thing, for instance.) b) I witnessed another soldier do it. (Like the Sergeant we had, that basically went insane, and crucified some dead mice.) c) Was spontaneously informed I was not allowed to do. (Like start a porn studio.) d) Was the result of a clarification of the above. (“What about especially patriotic porn?”) e) I was just minding my own business, when something happened. (“Schwarz…what is *that*?” said the Sgt, as he pointed to the back of my car? “Um….a rubber sheep…I can explain why that’s there….”) To explain how I’ve stayed out of jail/alive/not beaten up too badly….. I’m funny, so they let me live. The 213 Things…. 1. Not allowed to watch Southpark when I’m supposed to be working. 2. My proper military title is “Specialist Schwarz” not “Princess Anastasia”. 3. Not allowed to threaten anyone with black magic. 4. Not allowed to challenge anyone’s disbelief of black magic by asking for hair. 5. Not allowed to get silicone breast implants. 6. Not allowed to play “Pulp Fiction” with a suction-cup dart pistol and any officer. 7. Not allowed to add “In accordance with the prophesy” to the end of answers I give to a question an officer asks me. 8. Not allowed to add pictures of officers I don’t like to War Criminal posters. 9. Not allowed to title any product “Get Over it”. 10. Not allowed to purchase anyone’s soul on government time. 11. Not allowed to join the Communist Party. 12. Not allowed to join any militia. 13. Not allowed to form any militia. 14. Not allowed out of my office when the president visited Sarajevo. 15. Not allowed to train adopted stray dogs to “Sic Brass!” 16. Must get a haircut even if it tampers with my “Samson like powers”. 17. God may not contradict any of my orders. 18. May no longer perform my now (in)famous “Barbie Girl Dance” while on duty. 19. May not call any officers immoral, untrustworthy, lying, slime, even if I’m right. 20. Must not taunt the French any more. 21. Must attempt to not antagonize SAS. 22. Must never call an SAS a “Wanker”. 23. Must never ask anyone who outranks me if they’ve been smoking crack. 24. Must not tell any officer that I am smarter than they are, especially if it’s true. 25. Never confuse a Dutch soldier for a French one. 26. Never tell a German soldier that “We kicked your ass in World War 2!” 27. Don’t tell Princess Di jokes in front of the paras (British Airborne). 28. Don’t take the batteries out of the other soldiers alarm clocks (Even if they do hit snooze about forty times). | |
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| Europe | |
| EU Pushes Balkans Towards New War, Dodik Seeks Support from Russia and Israel | |
| 2025-04-03 | |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Bogdan Kish [REGNUM] Over the past month, Republika Srpska
 On April 1, Dodik held a meeting in the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is noteworthy that the head of the RS had already visited Serbia, Hungary and Israel before his visit to Moscow, enjoying the support of a number of countries tired of the “rules-based world.” UNTENABLE VERDICT After the BiH court sentenced the leadership of the Republika Srpska, a real hunt began. Due to “disrespect” for the illegitimate “high representative” appointed to oversee Bosnia and Herzegovina after the end of the 1992-1995 war, Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison and banned from political activity for five years. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska Radovan Višković and the Speaker of the Parliament Nenad Stevandić were also found to be "guilty". Moreover, due to Sarajevo's inability to arrest the RS leadership, the Serbian leaders began to be accused of "attempting to undermine the constitutional order" of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which resulted in an Interpol request and a ban on leaving BiH. One of Dodik's main allies, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was the first to react to the verdict, and quite violently: "The political witch hunt against Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik is a sad example of how the legal system is being turned into a weapon against a democratically elected leader. If we want to maintain stability in the Western Balkans, this is not our way forward." However, the verdict itself is hardly legitimate. It is not for nothing that the Republic of Srpska has not recognized the activities of the High Representative Christian Schmidt and the Constitutional Court of BiH for more than two years. Schmidt does not have a UN Security Council mandate, as Russia and China have vetoed it. Therefore, the decisions and imposed laws of the self-proclaimed high representative in Banja Luka are simply ignored. The situation is similar with the BiH court. This court is built on the system of "2+2+2+3", it has two representatives of each nation: two Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, and three foreigners. It is not difficult to guess that the presence of foreigners provides political Sarajevo with the decisions it needs, so the court has long become an anti-Serb (and even anti-Croatian) political instrument within the process of creating a unitary country. "BiH has never emerged from crisis. It is an impossible country, in constant crisis. It emerges from one crisis process and enters another," Dodik said recently. RETURN OF POWERS The political structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina is an extremely complex system, in which, in theory, there should be two entities - the Republic of Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation of BiH. The entities have the broadest rights and, in fact, these are two states in one, which is enshrined in the Dayton Peace Treaty. However, Sarajevo, the EU and the US are increasingly unhappy with this arrangement, since the Republic of Srpska is blocking accession to NATO, refusing to impose anti-Russian sanctions and not supporting Ukraine. In fact, they began to take away its powers almost immediately after the signing of peace. This is noticeable in a number of decisions - from the creation of the Brcko district to common institutions of power at the level of BiH. But especially strong pressure began with the coming to power of Milorad Dodik. Under him, the republic began to regain a number of powers, and the sentence to its leadership became the last straw, after which they realized that they had a choice: either to surrender and allow the destruction of statehood, or to fight through legal and diplomatic means. "We are not fighting against BiH and Bosniaks, but we are fighting for our rights, as enshrined in the Dayton Peace Accords," said Milorad Dodik. The leadership of the Republic of Srpska promptly passed laws banning the work of the Bosnian prosecutor's office, court and SIPA intelligence service on its territory, as well as laws on foreign agents and the fight against intelligence activities. At the same time, Milorad Dodik called on Serbs working in the general government bodies to leave them, promising to find them all other jobs. Moreover, the deputies of the National Assembly (parliament) of the Republic of Srpska approved a draft resolution on the beginning of the adoption of a new constitution of the Republic of Srpska, which will give the right to recreate its armed forces, create special services and border guards, form a court and prosecutor's office, and even the right to a confederation with Serbia. Particular attention is drawn to Articles 115 and 116, which state that Banja Luka will have its own army and can both declare neutrality and enter into military alliances with other states. Given the authority of Milorad Dodik and the political majority in parliament, the adoption of a new Constitution is a matter of time. One of the main points of the republican leadership's activities will be the restoration of the border police. Two laws have already been developed and are under consideration by the government. It is worth recalling here that from 1996 to 2000, the border of the Republic of Srpska with Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro was controlled by its own police. The creation of the border service of Bosnia and Herzegovina was initiated by the high representative Wolfgang Petritsch, putting pressure on the then weak Banja Luka. It is noteworthy that the Serbs who worked in the institutions of BiH were given until March 19 to decide whether to transfer to the institutions of the Republic of Srpska. And from that date, all employees of the SIPA special services and the Bosnian prosecutor's office can be detained for working on the territory of the Republic of Srpska. "If something can't live up to Dayton, then we have to be a free state," Dodik said. Despite the constant accusations of "separatism" and "attack on the constitutional order" against the RS leadership, it is Banja Luka that does everything within the framework of the Dayton Accords and the BiH constitution. It does not go beyond what is permitted and uses the broadest possibilities of the internationally recognized documents that were won on the battlefield from 1992 to 1995. It is obvious that the strong position of the republic does not suit either Sarajevo or the US and the EU, so they not only interpret the agreements as they want, but also directly contradict them - the appointment of an illegitimate high representative alone is worth something. ISOLATION HAS FAILED The persecution of Milorad Dodik is just part of a larger EU campaign to combat dissent. Brussels today represents the "war party" and is the main supporter of the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine to the last Ukrainian. However, a number of political leaders in Europe "sabotage" the EU plan, as a result of which the Union openly spat on all democratic processes and moved to a real dictatorship even beyond its borders. The arrest of a presidential candidate in Romania, the detention of the head of Gagauzia, attempts to overthrow the Prime Minister of Hungary, an attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister of Slovakia, unrest in Georgia, the arrest of Marine Le Pen in France and the attempt to detain Milorad Dodik are all links in the same chain. At the same time, arresting the president of the RS turned out to be not so easy. Firstly, the republic has its own police and special forces that report exclusively to it. Secondly, the Bosnian Interior Ministry does not enter the republic. SIPA officially refused to participate in Dodik's arrest, and the head of the special services, Darko Čulum, even moved to Dodik's Interior Ministry. Thirdly, even the EUFOR peacekeeping contingent refused Sarajevo, citing the fact that they do not have the authority to do so. That is why Milorad Dodik feels at ease in Banja Luka and is not planning to run anywhere. Foreign visits, of course, became more difficult after the Sarajevo branch of Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for him. However, even this did not stop Dodik from making four foreign trips in a little over a month. In mid-February, he flew to Hungary on an official visit together with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. After discussing a number of economic issues, the country's President Tamas Sujok presented Vucic with the Grand Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit with a chain and a gold star. Then Milorad Dodik calmly visited Serbia on March 24, the anniversary of the start of the bombing of Yugoslavia, and returned to Bosnia. Sarajevo was, of course, indignant, but there was nothing they could do about it. And even though his own border police is still in the process of being created, there are Serbs working on the border with Serbia, and they will not detain their president. The situation with travel to distant foreign countries has become even more interesting. Milorad Dodik, as before, left BiH unhindered and traveled from Serbia to Israel. He took part in an international conference on combating anti-Semitism, organized by the Israeli Diaspora Ministry, and also held talks with the country's top leadership. The details, unfortunately, are not disclosed, but it can be assumed that Dodik has secured the support of Tel Aviv. It is noteworthy that Banja Luka, unlike Sarajevo, has good relations with it. The Republic of Srpska has long cooperated with Israel on a number of issues, especially in the area of security (due to the threat of Wahhabism) and the study of suffering in World War II (more than 20 years of intensive joint work with the International Institute for the Study of the Holocaust Yad Vashem, cooperation with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, etc.). Israel also rejected all UN resolutions directed against Republika Srpska, and the republic responded by blocking BiH's vote in the UN against Israel. The icing on the cake of Milorad Dodik’s international voyage was a visit to Moscow. It is worth noting that he announced his visits to Israel and Russia long ago. The only question was whether he would be able to leave Bosnia. As we can see, he did. The meeting with Vladimir Putin was already Dodik's 26th. On the Russian side, the president's aide Yuri Ushakov also took part. "Russia is a very important country for the Republic of Srpska, including in the UN Security Council. And it has always been objective. Russia is the guarantor of the peace agreement, and Putin said this at the meeting. Within this framework, Russia will advocate for the cessation and abolition of the work of international institutions, especially the fake high representative or, as he says, the illegitimate representative. He was interested in the details of what we do and how we work," Dodik said. Earlier, the issue of the activities of the EUFOR "peacekeepers" was also raised, as Milorad Dodik wanted to ask Vladimir Putin to veto their activities in the UN Security Council. It is unknown whether this topic was also touched upon. Sarajevo began spreading rumors that Dodik had received Russian citizenship, but this news was quickly denied. It is not yet known when the President of the Republic of Srpska will return to Banja Luka. However, it is certain that Sarajevo, with the assistance of the EU, will do everything to remove him from political activity. Any means will be used: arrest, attempt at a “color revolution,” increased sanctions, pressure through Belgrade, and so on. However, the situation in BiH is such that the potential detention of Dodik threatens a referendum on the secession of the republic he leads from the federation, and this, in turn, could provoke a new war. Do they understand this in Sarajevo and the EU? There are serious doubts about this. But there is absolutely no doubt that the isolation of Milorad Dodik has failed. Banja Luka has excellent relations with Hungary, Russia, Israel, China and, with a little help from them, with the entire “global south”. And the common border with Serbia, which is obliged to help and protect Banja Luka, plays a key role in this. Related: Milorad Dodik 03/28/2025 Right-wing politics take center stage at Israel’s controversial antisemitism confab Milorad Dodik 10/14/2024 'True Friend': Erdogan Visits Serbs, But Gives Drones to Kosovo Milorad Dodik 05/24/2024 UN General Assembly approves a draft resolution on the 'genocide in Srebrenica' | |
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| Europe |
| Bosnia: More migrants taking the Balkan route once again |
| 2024-09-11 |
I guess they haven't got the message that Germany is closing the border. [DW] The Drina River on the Bosnian-Serbian border is a bottleneck on the busy Balkan route. Some locals help migrants where they can, others see them as an opportunity to earn money. The authorities are overstretched.It's a warm, sunny, late summer day on the Drina River near the village of Kozluk in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although the river can reach a depth of up to 1.5 meters (almost 5 feet) in places, it is mostly only knee-deep around here, which means it's almost possible to wade from one bank to the other. Three young men have just emerged from the river; their shorts and T-shirts are still wet. "We just swam over," one of them tells DW. He says his name is Aman and that he is 20-years-old. "We saw that no one was on the other side, so we set off. In some places, the river bed is dry. We got wet, but the sun is shining, so we'll dry off quickly," he says, smiling. All three laugh. WELL-WORN REFUGEE PATH After almost a full decade since Angela Merkel threw open the doors, well-trodden seems a fair description. The three young men come from Morocco and are on their way to western Europe. They traveled first to  ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...and then to Greece. From there, they crossed over into North Macedonia and on to Serbia. Until just a few days ago, they were in a reception facility near Belgrade. The Drina River is part of what is known as the "Balkan route" used by many VOLUNTEERS ON HAND TO HELP Here, at the Drina River, which forms a large part of the border between Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the three young men waited until the coast was clear and for a good opportunity to cross. "No problem, no problem," they say at the end of almost every sentence. One of the three sustained minor injuries to his legs while crossing the river. A volunteer from a Bosnian Red Thingy team that happened to be in the area when they came out of the river, bandages the young man's right knee. The Red Thingy team patrols the river bank regularly on the lookout for Sometimes, says team leader Mladen Majstorovic, they are called on by the border police. His colleague, Darko Jovanovic, says that the Red Thingy team treated a total of 800 refugees here and handed out almost 3,000 meals in the first eight months of the year. MIGRANTS HAVE DROWNED IN THE RIVER Every day, dozens of This part of the border is patrolled by an insufficient number of Bosnian border guards. Hundreds — perhaps even thousands — of guards would be needed to patrol the entire region. The situation is so dramatic that at some border crossings, there is only one officer processing all entries and departures at a time. Despite claims to the contrary, the Balkan route was never entirely shut down. Indeed it has been particularly busy again for quite some time now — especially along the Drina. There have been a number of tragedies on the route in recent years. The last one took place just a few weeks ago when at least 10 The people were apparently crammed onto the boat by human traffickers. Eighteen people managed to save themselves. 'IT ALL SEEMS ORGANIZED' Nihad Suljic has also noticed that the number of In addition to his regular work in the eastern Bosnian city of Tuzla, the 34-year-old is also a human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. activist who helps stranded Suljic is well known in Bosnia because he helped set up a cemetery for "When it comes to migration, Bosnia is once again the center of attention," Suljic told DW. "But unlike in the pandemic years and the period immediately preceding it, the human traffickers now seem to be perfectly integrated into the structures." After crossing the border, MIGRANTS KEEP OUT OF SIGHT Miroslav Radisic says much the same thing. He owns a guesthouse only a few meters from the Sepak crossing on the Bosnian-Serbian border, about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) downstream from the city of Zvornik in Bosnia. Radisic says that business with the refugees is booming, that everything is interconnected and everyone in the region knows it. According to Radisic, taxi drivers wait right outside his guesthouse and negotiate with arriving "You can't get any sleep around here, with taxis coming and going all the time," he complains. "Then there are the sirens blaring. People fight over the refugees: Sometimes ten refugees arrive and 20 taxi drivers are waiting for them here." Radisic is standing underneath the bridge over the Drina that leads to Serbia, explaining how "They climb onto the steel girders under the bridge and abseil down a rope hanging down on our side that no one removes — not even the officers here at the border." When asked why this is the case, Radisic says that the border will only be hermetically patrolled when the border police get enough personnel. STEPPING UP BORDER PATROLS In response to a query from DW, the border police in Bosnia and Herzegovina said that the force is monitoring the border more closely and that more coppers and members of the special security forces have been deployed. Their aim is to stop irregular migration. "Since the beginning of the year, border coppers have registered 5,477 people who have illegally crossed or tried to cross the border," the border police said in a statement. "In most cases, human traffickers, who bring people across the Drina either in private cars or with boats, are also involved." The three young Moroccans seem to have come to Bosnia on their own steam — at least they make no mention of human traffickers. They say that they first want to go to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, and then cross the green border into Croatia near Bihac in northwestern Bosnia. They are headed for Germany. "We cannot lead normal lives in Morocco," they say, when asked why they have made the journey. Then they get into a taxi and set off towards Zvornik. Related: Balkan route: 2023-10-18 Germany closes borders: migrant integration policy has not worked Balkan route: 2023-10-01 Keep on Moving on the Balkan Route: No quarter for Afghan asylum seekers in Croatia and Serbia Balkan route: 2023-05-25 Ukrainian mafia switches to arms smuggling to Poland Related: Bosnia: 2024-09-07 Day 3: Austrian investigators seize devices at home of man who fired shots near Israel’s Munich consulate yesterday Bosnia: 2024-09-06 Day 2: After shooting at the Nazi Documentation Center in Munich: Suspect dead Bosnia: 2024-09-05 Shooting in Munich in front of the NS Dokuzentrum (and Israeli consulate) |
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| Britain |
| Black Hand Strike. How Britain starts world wars |
| 2024-06-29 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Oleg Khavich [REGNUM] Exactly 110 years ago the “long nineteenth century” ended. According to British historian Eric Hobsbawm, it lasted from the French Revolution until the outbreak of the First World War. The formal reason for the latter was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. The course of events of that fateful day in Sarajevo is known minute by minute; journalists from the British media corporation BBC even reported on them ten years ago, using 21st century journalistic techniques, in the style of “live reporting”. IA Regnum will take the liberty of not only reconstructing the events that led to one of the two largest catastrophes of the 20th century, but also pointing out the forces that stood behind these events. |
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| Europe |
| UN General Assembly approves a draft resolution on the 'genocide in Srebrenica' |
| 2024-05-24 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] On May 23, the UN General Assembly approved a draft resolution submitted by Germany and Rwanda on the “genocide in Srebrenica.”  Fortunately, absolutely nothing the UN General Assembly does matters.Representatives of 84 countries voted in favor, and 19 countries voted against, including Russia, China, Belarus, Hungary and Cuba. Representatives of 68 countries abstained from voting. Russia previously spoke out against the adoption of this resolution. On May 23, the Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, called the voting results disgraceful and noted that the initiators of the resolution were pushing the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina towards confrontation. As Regnum reported, on May 5, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the draft resolution on the events in Srebrenica submitted by Germany and Rwanda to the UN General Assembly was being promoted with the goal of “breaking the Serbs.” The project involves condemning only one side, Lavrov noted. Russia has previously blocked similar draft resolutions in the UN Security Council, the minister recalled. On April 30, Nebenzya stated that the draft resolution violated the Dayton Agreement. The possible adoption of the initiative would have a disastrous effect on Bosnia and Herzegovina and could lead to destabilization of the entire Balkan region, he said. Nebenzya stressed that the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina must independently come to a consensus regarding their history. Over the past year, the Serbian entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina has faced unprecedented pressure due to its refusal to impose anti-Russian sanctions, give up its powers to Sarajevo and join NATO, noted IA Regnum columnist Bogdan Kis in his article. This pushes the President of the Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik and his circle to serious actions that the collective West does not like, but brings the republic closer to a historic decision, the expert emphasized. On May 23, Dodik announced that within 30 days the republic would present a project for the peaceful division of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serbian people can no longer live in Bosnia and Herzegovina in its current form, Dodik emphasized. Related: Srebrenica: 2024-05-14 Rwanda denies involvement in grenade attack blamed on Burundi rebels Srebrenica: 2024-05-06 Lavrov: The West wants to break the Serbs with a UN resolution on Srebrenica Srebrenica: 2024-05-02 UN draft resolution on 'genocide' in Srebrenica called a blow to Serbia Related: UN General Assembly: 2024-05-23 Members of the Circassian diaspora at the UN building in New York recalled the expulsion of their ancestors UN General Assembly: 2024-05-11 Israeli PM ready to kill thousands more, Palestinian envoy tells UNGA UN General Assembly: 2024-05-11 Katz denounces UN decision to upgrade Palestinians' status as ‘prize for Hamas' |
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| 'It's your job!' Who is accused in Slovakia of attacking Prime Minister Fico? | |||||
| 2024-05-16 | |||||
by Oleg Khavich [REGNUM] "Robo, come here!" - these were the last words that Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico heard after a visiting meeting of the country’s government in the town of Handlova. It took place in the city house of culture, and after the meeting the prime minister came out to the people who stood nearby to shake their hands. At this time, according to various testimonies, from three to five shots were fired. Fico was wounded in the chest and abdomen. He started to fall, security grabbed him and put him in the car. According to Slovak media reports, the prime minister was sent first to a local hospital, and then by ambulance helicopter to the Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica. The shooter was detained by security and police; he turned out to be a 71-year-old native of the Slovak city of Levice. The publication Denník N claims that the pistol from which the shots were fired was in legal possession.
According to the portal Pravda. sk, the attacker was walking near the cultural center, and when the prime minister came out, the man approached the crowd and suddenly shot Fico almost point-blank. According to the source of the Pluska portal. sk, Prime Minister Fico's condition is very serious. “He was wounded in the stomach and arm. But at present his life is not in danger. They are going to operate on him,” the source said. Reuters, citing a hospital representative, reported that the Slovak Prime Minister was conscious upon arrival at the hospital, he was treated and his condition was stabilized. Having announced the assassination attempt on Robert Fico, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Lubos Blaga, an ally of the prime minister in the Smer-SD party, closed the meeting for an indefinite period. After this, dissatisfied cries from the opposition were heard, to which Blaga meaningfully replied: “This is your job!” At the moment, possible developments in the event that Fico does not survive are not publicly discussed in Slovakia. The media are discussing who will become acting prime minister in the event that the head of government himself becomes incapacitated for a long time. By law, this must be one of the deputy prime ministers, whose appointment is decided by the prime minister. There are four deputy prime ministers in the Slovak government. One of them is Defense Secretary Robert Kaliniak. Since Kalinyak belongs to the same party as Fico, most likely he will be the acting head of government. Robert Fico's coalition partner, the elected President of Slovakia Peter Pellegrini (Hlas-SD party), said that the assassination attempt on the Prime Minister constituted a threat to everything that adorned Slovak democracy. “ I am shocked at what hatred of other political views can lead to. We don't have to agree with everything, but there are many ways to express our disagreement in a democratic and legal way,” he said. Pellegrini called the attack an unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy. “ If we express other political views with weapons in squares and not in polling stations, we will jeopardize everything that we have built together during 31 years of Slovak sovereignty,” said the politician, who is due to take office as President of Slovakia on June 15 and Now he is urgently returning from abroad. The leader of another political force included in the ruling coalition, Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party, SNS), said that what happened was the beginning of a “political war.” He said changes would inevitably follow in the attitude of the media and politicians of the former government. “I want to tell the opposition to shut up and respect the election results,” Danko said, adding that SNS supports Robert Fico. And his party colleague, Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba, wrote on social networks that “ the entire opposition has blood on its hands.” In turn, all the leaders of the country's opposition parties condemned the assassination attempt and wished Robert Fico a speedy recovery. In particular, ex-presidential candidate of Slovakia from the pro-Western opposition, Ivan Korcok, called the attack on the prime minister an unacceptable act of violence and called for restraint until this act is investigated. The Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia also condemned the assassination attempt on Robert Fico. “Violence has no place in our society,” his statement said. It noted that " this horrific act represents an attack not only on individuals, but also on our democratic values and principles." Let us remember that Fico was previously subjected to sharp criticism from Brussels for his allegedly “pro-Russian” position. It consisted, in the opinion of European bureaucrats, of consistent support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. The Slovak head of government negatively assessed the position of the European Union on this issue; in his opinion, the EU was unable to come up with a peace initiative. “ Peace must be at the top of the European agenda, because the EU was created as a peace project,” he noted in particular on May 2 at the conference “20 years of Slovakia’s membership in the EU - challenges and opportunities.” Other words of the politician in the context of what happened look like an ominous prophecy. Following the victory of his ally in the presidential election, who beat the pro-Western candidate in a bitter struggle, Robert Fico said that in the near future he expects Brussels to “revenge Korczok’s defeat.” At the same time, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also condemned the “dastardly attack” on the Slovak prime minister. “ I strongly condemn the cowardly attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most valuable common asset. My thoughts are with Prime Minister Fico and his family,” she wrote on the X* platform. Leaders of other European countries and international organizations also condemned the attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister of Slovakia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was one of the first to react to the assassination attempt. “I am deeply shocked by the horrific attack on my friend, Prime Minister Robert Fico,” the Hungarian leader wrote in X*, stressing that he “prays for his health and a speedy recovery.” In retweets to this publication, Ukrainian users left characteristic comments: “You’re next!” A source from the Serbian publication Vecernje Novosti reported that Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic may visit the wounded Slovak prime minister in the “next two or three days. ” In an emergency address to the people, the current President of Slovakia Zuzana Čaputová repeated the formulation of the EC representation that “this is an attack on the individual, but also an attack on democrac,” and called on people not to make hasty conclusions and to stop the “ rhetoric of hatred.” She noted that the police had arrested the criminal and would report this soon, and wished the Prime Minister a speedy recovery. So far, the main version of what happened is that it was the result of a wave of hatred that the current opposition has been whipping up against Fico since the parliamentary campaign last year. He was accused of all the deadly sins - working for the Kremlin, connections with the mafia, involvement in the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, corruption... Now these attacks have intensified again in connection with the elections to the European Parliament, scheduled for early June. “This is the culmination of those sentiments that are cultivated in society. This is a manifestation of hatred, an attack not only on a person, but also an attack on the prime minister, as well as an attack on the very essence of statehood,” said Slovakia’s Prosecutor General Maros Zilinka. Law enforcement agencies will respond to the assassination attempt uncompromisingly and will take all actions to ensure that the culprit is uncompromisingly and fairly punished, the Prosecutor General said on social media. A similar opinion is shared by security expert and former director of the Office for the Protection of Officials and Diplomatic Missions Juraj Zabojnik. “Society is polarized and there are people full of hatred,” he added. However, he said the attack could have had “several reasons,” but did not specify them. Official Moscow paused after the first reports of the assassination attempt. This is not surprising, given the unfounded accusations of the Slovak prime minister of being “pro-Russian” - the Kremlin does not want to create additional problems for one of the few adequate European politicians. Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to the President of Slovakia in which he asked to convey to Fico “words of the most sincere support, as well as wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.” The Russian expert community speaks out much less diplomatically. Philosopher Alexander Dugin wrote on his Telegram channel that “the assassination attempt on Fico is another blow from the West against those who dare to object to him.” According to a man whose family became a victim of terror, “not only the Kyiv Nazis, but also the modern globalist West itself is a terrorist organization that does not know any rules.” In this regard, Dugin believes that “ Russia should offer assistance to the Slovaks in investigating this disgusting crime, and perhaps in retribution. How can little Slovakia respond to globalist terror?! But we can." In turn, Russian publicist Sergei Mardan believes that the current assassination attempt is a real shot at Sarajevo. “ Anything can happen next, even nuclear escalation, ” he noted on Telegram. And although Juraj Cintula is nothing like Gavrilo Princip, and Robert Fico is nothing like Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the spiral of European history is often very unusual.
The video, obtained by the Guardian, showed a frantic crowd mobbing an individual moments after Prime Minister Robert Fico was struck with at least one slug to the stomach on Wednesday afternoon. Slovakia’s interior minister Matúš Šutaj-Eštok later in the day said the shooting was "politically motivated" after the country’s recent presidential election. Fico was shot five times, officials said. The attack left Fico in "extraordinarily serious" condition and "fighting for his life," Slovakian defense minister Robert Kaliňák said in a presser hours after the shooting, the Guardian reported. "We do not have good news at the moment and we put our hope in the hands of the medical specialists at the hospital," he said, adding the prime minister’s "health is serious, his situation is bad." Fico remained in surgery three and a half hours after first going under the knife, Kaliňák said. Fico’s official Facebook page called the shooting an liquidation attempt. The shooting happened in the town of Handlova, about 90 miles northeast of the capital Bratislava, where Fico was meeting with supporters. Video also showed guards carrying a seriously injured Fico, 59, into a black government car, which then sped off. "At this moment he is transported by helicopter to Banská Bystrica, because it would take too long to get to Bratislava due to the necessity of an acute procedure. The next few hours will decide," the Facebook post said. Photos from the scene showed a white middle-aged man and a bloodied head being detained by police. It was unclear what motivated the shooting. A staunch conservative, Fico was elected to his third term as prime minister in September after campaigning with a pro-Russian and anti-American stance. In Slovakia, the prime minister is the most powerful office. Numerous demonstrations have been staged in Bratislava in protest of Fico’s policies since his election. Despite the tensions, Fico’s opponents in government condemned the shooting, and even canceled a planned protest after the attack. "We absolutely and strongly condemn violence and today’s shooting of Premier Robert Fico," progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka said. "At the same time we call on all politicians to refrain from any expressions and steps which could contribute to further increasing the tension," he added.
Slovak Ministry of Internal Affairs head confirmed that Fico was attacked for political reasons [Regnum] The assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was for political reasons. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, Matush Shutai-Eshtok, told reporters about this on May 15. “This assassination attempt was politically motivated,” he said. According to the minister, the attacker could have planned the attack shortly after the country's presidential elections, the second round of which took place on April 6. Earlier, the Slovak TV channel TA3 showed footage of an elderly man declaring his disagreement with government policy. According to the channel, the video shows an assassination suspect who was detained by the police. As reported by IA Regnum, an attempt was made on Fico on May 15 in the city of Gandlov after a meeting of the Cabinet, when he came out to the public. The shots rang out shortly after someone shouted at the politician, “Robo, come here.” After this, Fico fell to the ground. The moment of the assassination was caught on video. The attacker was detained. He turned out to be a 71-year-old supporter of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party, writer Juraj Cintula. Previously, he openly expressed hatred towards Fico on social networks. The wounded prime minister was taken to a Bratislava hospital by helicopter. His condition is assessed as very serious. According to media reports, the politician suffered a hemorrhage in the abdominal cavity. It later became known that Fico’s operation was successful, his condition is stable and he is conscious. Fico has repeatedly condemned sanctions against Russia, noting that they harm the people of Slovakia. In one of his speeches, he expressed the opinion that Moscow is not interested in a third world war. According to the Prime Minister, the Ukrainian conflict could have been extinguished at the very beginning. The politician also stated that he would not support Ukraine’s accession to NATO. In April 2024, Fico noted that Slovakia is interested in friendly relations with Russia. More from regnum.ru The former head of the Kremlin protocol called the assassination attempt on Fico a failure of his security Politicians often ignore the advice of security guards, which could also be the reason why the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico became possible. This was stated by the former head of the Kremlin’s presidential protocol, who worked under Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Shevchenko. “As for the work of security, politicians often treat its advice without due attention,” Gazeta.ru quoted the expert as saying. At the same time, Shevchenko noted that there are cases when security guards behave too brazenly, which negatively affects the politician’s image. But too gentle behavior can lead to an increase in the likelihood of an assassination attempt. It is difficult to find a balance, the expert noted. In any case, Shevchenko considers it a failure of the security that they could not prevent the attempt on Fico. As Regnum reported, Fico was shot several times on May 15 in the city of Gandlova during his communication with local residents. The prime minister was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery. According to the latest data, the operation was successful and he is conscious. The current President of Slovakia, Zuzana Caputova, said that the shooter was detained, but did not name him. According to media reports, 71-year-old supporter of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party, writer Juraj Cintula, is accused of the assassination attempt. Fico has repeatedly opposed the supply of weapons to Kyiv, and also called for the normalization of relations with Russia. According to the director of the Institute of Systemic Political Research and Humanitarian Projects, Anatoly Gagarin, it was the political position that could have become the reason for the assassination attempt. He also noted that the direct executor could have been used in the dark. Even more from regnum.ru Slovak Prime Minister Fico successfully operated on after assassination attempt The operation of the Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico, on whom the assassination attempt was made, was successful, his condition is stable, he is conscious. The Slovak TV channel TA3 reported this on May 15. “Fico successfully underwent surgery, his condition is stable and he is communicating,” the statement said. It is noted that the attacker wounded the Prime Minister in the stomach, pelvis and injured a finger. As Regnum reported, Fico was attacked on May 15 in the city of Gandlova, when he went out to talk with residents. He was shot several times by a man standing in the crowd. The victim was sent by helicopter to the hospital. According to Slovak media reports, the attacker was detained. Allegedly, the shooter was a 71-year-old supporter of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party, writer Juraj Cintula. The current President of Slovakia, Zuzana Caputova, confirmed the detention, but did not name him. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed outrage over the assassination attempt on the Slovak prime minister. He noted Fico's courage and fortitude and wished him a speedy recovery. Fico advocated the restoration of friendly relations with Russia, for which he was called a pro-Russian politician in the European media. Director of the Institute of Systemic Political Research and Humanitarian Projects Anatoly Gagarin believes that they tried to kill the head of government because of his political views. | |||||
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| Europe |
| A new state friendly to Russia may appear in Europe |
| 2024-04-21 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Bogdan Kish [REGNUM] The pressure faced by the Republika Srpska is pushing President Milorad Dodik and his circle to serious actions that are not to the liking of the collective West, but bring it closer to a historic solution. Criminal cases, foreign interference, threats and blackmail - over the past year, the Serbian entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina has faced unprecedented pressure due to its refusal to impose anti-Russian sanctions, give up its powers to Sarajevo and join NATO. Milorad Dodik has repeatedly stated that the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina have several “red lines”, if they cross them, the region will face serious consequences. If the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), with the help of the West, tries to “push” Banja Luka on a number of issues, including imposing anti-Serbian laws and recognizing the resolution on Srebrenica, the Serbs may declare independence. But such an announcement is not the most difficult decision, unlike the pressure that is expected after. The main question is: will Banja Luka be able to survive? REPRESENTATIVE DESTROYER After the civil war, peace never came to Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the West, they decided to forcibly keep three peoples within one state, albeit divided into two parts - the Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation of BiH. Since 1995, the country has introduced the position of High Representative, who is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Dayton Peace Treaty. To say that all representatives vested with practically unlimited power worked against the Republika Srpska is an understatement. However, I would like to dwell separately on the current High Representative, German politician Christian Schmidt, who was mired in scandals in his homeland and sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina into a kind of exile. His appointment is not recognized by Republika Srpska, Russia, or China, since his powers were not confirmed by the UN Security Council. However, the lack of a UN Security Council mandate does not prevent Schmidt, who is actively supported by official Berlin and the US and British embassies, from pursuing a de facto anti-Serbian policy. The fact that Schmidt “wouldn’t work” with the Republika Srpska became clear when he insisted on implementing the “Law on Denial of Genocide in Srebrenica,” which not only prohibited denial, but also punished it with a prison term. Republika Srpska, naturally, does not recognize either the law or the fact of genocide. In this regard, in August 2023, the prosecutor's office of Bosnia and Herzegovina brought charges against the president of the republic under the law on “failure to comply with decisions of the Constitutional Court and the High Representative.” The confrontation between Schmidt and Dodik reached a new level when the High Representative, not recognized by many, tried to impose the “Electoral Law” and the “Property Law.” The first assumed that the Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH would have more rights and opportunities to influence the electoral process throughout the country, and the second - that all the property of the entities - from natural resources to government buildings - would belong to Sarajevo. Both laws directly violate the Dayton Accords, which Schmidt is supposed to be enforcing. The innovations caused a strong reaction in Banja Luka, which stated that it not only does not recognize the imposition of such laws, but is also ready to consider the possibility of leaving BiH. And recently, to these two “red lines” a third was added - work on a UN resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica. “BOSNIA MAY NOT SURVIVE THE RESOLUTION” In March, it became known that the Bosniak part of the Bosnia and Herzegovina mission to the UN was independently, without a decision from the BiH Presidency, working on a new resolution on Srebrenica. It is due to be presented at the UN General Assembly on May 2. According to the draft resolution being prepared, July 11 will be declared “international day of genocide in Srebrenica”, the Serbian people will be called responsible for the genocide, and reparations may be demanded from the Republika Srpska and Serbia. Political pressure on the entity will also increase. Despite the fact that such a resolution is not binding, a “sediment,” as they say, will remain. Moreover, neither the Germans, nor the British, nor the Spaniards, nor the Croats, etc. were not found responsible for genocide, despite proven crimes against humanity. Just as the mass killings of Serbs in the concentration camps of Jasenovac, Jastrebarsko, Banica, and the executions in Kragujevac and Kraljevo were not declared genocide. It is worth recalling that this is not the first attempt to assign such responsibility to the Serbs. In 2015, at the UN Security Council, the UK did everything to adopt a similar resolution, but then it was blocked by Russia. The Russian “no” and the raised hand of the late permanent representative Vitaly Churkin saved the Serbian people from the stigma and again reminded Belgrade who its main ally is. The Russian diplomat himself received more than one monument in Serbia and the Republika Srpska for this decision. And now nine years later, the West is again trying to adopt an anti-Serbian resolution, but not in the UN Security Council, but through the General Assembly, where no one has the right of veto. Why now? Relations between Republika Srpska and Russia are at their peak. Milorad Dodik and Vladimir Putin presented each other with state awards, bilateral relations are developing in all directions. Banja Luka demonstratively refuses to introduce anti-Russian sanctions, which saves the whole of BiH from the status of an unfriendly country, and also blocks BiH’s entry into NATO. Pressure on the Republika Srpska is also pressure on Serbia, which supports the Serbs on the other side of the Drina in everything. Belgrade and Banja Luka are Russia's only friends in the Balkans. This prevents the West from completely controlling the region and drawing the republics into NATO. President Milorad Dodik has repeatedly called on the Bosniaks not to provoke the situation and not to incite ethnic hatred, since “Bosnia and Herzegovina may not survive the resolution.” According to the head of the RS, the Serbs see no point in continuing to live in the same country with those who consider their people guilty of genocide. “Don't do this because it is not conducive to life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This will not unite us, but will separate us forever. We do not want to live with those who say that the Serbian people are “genocidal”. We don’t want to live with you and we won’t live in the same country with you,” Dodik emphasized. On April 18, a rally called “R. Serbia is calling you,” where the top leadership of the entity, as well as the Prime Minister and ministers from Serbia, were present. Several tens of thousands of Serbs from both sides of the Drina gathered in the square and presented a united front against the resolution on Srebrenica. In addition, the Serbs do not understand why they should mourn the victims of others, while no one even remembers their losses for more than 30 years, which certainly does not contribute to reconciliation. From the stage, politicians declared that the national idea of the Serbs from Serbia and Republika Srpska is unification. The people supported. Naturally, the brightest speaker was Milorad Dodik, who said : “Serbia is our land, our state. If it were God’s will, constitutional and any other justice, we would be an integral part of Serbia, and not this crap called Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Hints of an imminent declaration of independence are heard more and more often in Banja Luka. And Republika Srpska is not limited to just words. NOT BY RALLIES ALONE On April 18, the Republika Srpska parliament adopted the report of an independent international commission. At one time, Banja Luka asked her for help in investigating the events in Srebrenica and the surrounding area in order to prove that accusations of genocide were lies. The group was led by the famous Israeli historian and “Nazi hunter” Gideon Greif. According to the commission's findings, during the entire period of the war from 1992 to 1995, 3,741 people died in the Srebrenica region, more than 2,500 of them were Serbs. The National Assembly of the RS supports the point of view expressed in the conclusions of the commission and confirms that the term “genocide” for Srebrenica is incorrect and cannot be accepted. At the same time, Parliament expresses its respect to the victims of the tragic conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina and their families and condemns the war crimes committed by all parties. The report of the commission led by Greif is the only legitimate document that recognizes the Serbian entity. Banja Luka also adopted its own law, which provides for the holding of municipal and republican elections. “We will return what belongs to us,” Dodik said. Thus, the Republika Srpska actually ousted the Central Election Commission of BiH from its territory, and the Serbs working in this body resigned. This is how Banja Luka wants to protect itself from interference in the elections from Sarajevo. If the resolution on Srebrenica is adopted, the Republika Srpska will not stop there and will return all its powers that were given by the Dayton Peace Agreement. Powers that, over the years, have effectively been taken away by Sarajevo and the West, using various pressures - from threats to personal sanctions. The list of initial powers belonging to the Dayton Republic includes the return of the army, jurisdiction in the fields of justice, energy, government procurement, tax policy, border control, the electoral process, and so on. In fact, Republika Srpska may soon become a full-fledged and independent state within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then, possibly, beyond them. The West continues to rely on Sarajevo in attempts to create a unitary Bosnia, which will oppose Russia, join NATO, and move away from Serbia. Republika Srpska does not see any point in continuing to coexist with the Federation of BiH within the framework of an artificially created state. Milorad Dodik has made this clear with his latest statements. Given the seriousness of his intentions and the noticeably tougher rhetoric, Banja Luka clearly has an action plan and, apparently, support outside the entity. One thing is for sure - in the near future the Balkans will not let the world get bored again. Related: Republika Srpska: 2024-01-24 Path to the abyss: Bosnia and Herzegovina is heading towards a new conflict Republika Srpska: 2024-01-09 US fighter jets to fly over Bosnia in show of support for country as it faces secession threats Republika Srpska: 2023-12-07 After defeats in Ukraine and Africa, the European Union is trying to win back in Serbia |
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| US fighter jets to fly over Bosnia in show of support for country as it faces secession threats |
| 2024-01-09 |
| [FoxNews] The bilateral training showcases advanced military cooperation, according to the US Embassy. Two U.S. fighter jets are set to fly over Bosnia on Monday in a demonstration of support for the Balkan country's integrity in the face of increasingly secessionist policies of the Bosnian Serb pro-Russia leader Milorad Dodik. The U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons will fly as part of joint air-to-ground training involving American and Bosnian forces. The flyovers will take part in the regions of the eastern town of Tuzla and northern Brcko, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo. "This bilateral training is an example of advanced military-to-military cooperation that contributes to peace and security in the Western Balkans as well as demonstrates the United States’ commitment to ensuring the territorial integrity of BiH (Bosnia-Herzegovina) in the face of ... secessionist activity," the statement said. "The United States has underscored that the BiH (Bosnia-Herzegovina) Constitution provides no right of secession, and it will act if anyone tries to change this basic element" of the Dayton peace agreements that ended the 1992-95 war in the country, the statement added. The ethnic conflict in the 1990s erupted because Bosnia's Serbs wanted to create their own state and join neighboring Serbia. More than 100,000 people were killed before the war ended in a U.S.-brokered peace accord that created Serb and Bosniak-Croat entities held together by joint institutions. Dodik, who is the president of the Serb entity called Republika Srpska, has defied U.S. and British sanctions over his policies. Backed by Russia, he has repeatedly threatened to split the Serb-run half from the rest of Bosnia. On Tuesday, Dodik's government plans to hold a celebration of a controversial national holiday that Bosnia's top court has declared unlawful. On Jan. 9, 1992, Bosnian Serbs proclaimed the creation of an independent state in Bosnia, which led to the bloodshed. Dodik has dismissed the U.S. jets' flyover, ironically saying it would contribute to Tuesday's celebrations, which routinely include a parade of armed police and their equipment. The U.S. Embassy said that the mission also will be supported by a KC-135 Stratotanker that will provide aerial refuelling for the F-16s. "U.S. aircraft will return to base immediately following mission completion," it said. "The ability to rapidly deploy, reach a target and return home demonstrates the United States’ ability to project power anywhere at a moment’s notice and operate alongside Allies and partners." Western countries fear that Russia could try to stir trouble in the Balkans to avert attention from the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which was launched by Moscow nearly two years ago. The U.S. Embassy statement said that "Bosnia and Herzegovina is a key U.S. partner with a shared goal in regional stability." Bosnia is seeking entry into the European Union, but the effort has been stalled because of slow reform and inner divisions. Related: Bosnia: 2024-01-03 The ghost of empire: in the past year, Austria-Hungary rose from the grave Bosnia: 2023-12-17 Young Kurdish man drowned in English Channel Bosnia: 2023-12-13 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: December 12 2023 Related: Milorad Dodik: 2023-12-07 After defeats in Ukraine and Africa, the European Union is trying to win back in Serbia Milorad Dodik: 2017-10-14 Bosnian Muslim commander acquitted of war crimes Milorad Dodik: 2015-04-29 Bosnia Arrests Suspect after 'Islamist' Attack on Police Related: Republika Srpska: 2023-12-07 After defeats in Ukraine and Africa, the European Union is trying to win back in Serbia Republika Srpska: 2022-10-21 'It’s a pity for ordinary people. But let them stay in our place': what Donbass residents say about strikes on Ukrainian energy Republika Srpska: 2022-06-05 West warned not to draw Ukraine into NATO - Lavrov |
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