Meanwhile In Balkans...

[Stuart Galbraith]

Ireland and Iceland. One has ice cold bitter, the other is just bitter about all the cold and ice.

[BansheeOne]

The story of Gruevski's flight completely escaped (ha!) me until now.

 

November 20, 2018 / 2:34 PM / Updated an hour ago

Ex-Macedonia PM Gruevski granted asylum in Hungary: media

 

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Macedonia’s former prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, has been granted asylum in Hungary, the Magyar Idok newspaper reported on Tuesday.

 

Gruevski, who resigned in 2016 after 10 years in power, fled the country six months after being sentenced to two years in prison on corruption-related charges.

 

Macedonian police issued an arrest warrant after he failed to show up to begin his sentence, following a Nov. 9 court ruling against his motion for a reprieve.

 

The Magyar Idok newspaper, which did not name its sources, said the Hungarian Immigration and Asylum Office had established that the legal conditions to grant asylum had been met.

 

Neither the immigration office nor a Hungarian government spokesman were immediately available for comment.

 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban supported the nationalist Gruevski in the run-up to Macedonia’s 2017 elections and praised his party’s efforts to halt migrants passing through the Balkans to Western Europe.

 

Orban’s office has said it considered Gruevski’s asylum request to be solely a legal issue to be handled by the competent authority.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-macedonia-hungary-gruevski/ex-macedonia-pm-gruevski-granted-asylum-in-hungary-media-idUSKCN1NP1J5

 

I guess corrupt heads of government are a type of asylum seeker deemed compatable with local culture in Hungary.

[Adam Peter]

I guess corrupt heads of government are a type of asylum seeker deemed compatable with local culture in Hungary.

Unfortunately it is, he was persecuted for stealing, cheating and lying, a perfect fit to our governing party.

 

Index.hu, based on a Fokus article, says that it is part of the deal formed since August. Zoran Zaev allowed him to leave, in turn Gruevski's party, VMRO will support him to turn the country more to the West.

[Yama]

[Roman Alymov]

Not military related, but still interesting: Russian and Serbian students in China exploring language differences\commons (with explanations in English)

[Roman Alymov]

[bojan]

One good thing came out of it - how Putin politely said f*** off to Vucic when he tried to use Putin for own political cause.

[Roman Alymov]

More coverage of Putin visit translated

 

[Roman Alymov]

Graham Philips now in Serbia

 

[Roman Alymov]

20 years of Yugoslavia bomings

[Roman Alymov]

[BansheeOne]

Current Serb-Orthodox protests just brought this issue to my attention.

 

How Montenegro’s religious property law is a regional power struggle

Abdullah Kesvelioglu 2 days ago

The controversial law could backfire badly.

 

In many Slavic Orthodox countries, religion and politics are closely intertwined. This is the case in Montenegro, which is making international headlines with its controversial law on church property.

 

It has been three years since Montenegro caught international attention when news surfaced about an alleged “Russian-backed” coup plot when Montenegro was on the verge of joining NATO.

 

This time, the event is not any less contentious. The latest law, passed on December 27, is raising eyebrows across the region. Religious communities will have to provide evidence for ownership of their property – churches, monasteries, shrines etc. - that were built before 1918, when Montenegro lost its independence and became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (and later took the name of Yugoslavia).

 

More than 70 percent of Montenegrin society is Orthodox Christian. However, this community is divided into two camps. About 70 percent of Orthodox Christians follow the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) whereas 30 percent follow the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC), founded in 1993 after the breakup of Yugoslavia.

 

Although other Orthodox Churches do not recognise the MOC, it considers itself as the sole representative of Orthodox Christianity in Montenegro. It also claims that all Orthodox Christian property on Montenegrin soil should be its own, even though the SOC currently controls the majority of these properties.

 

The rift between the two churches increased after 2006 when Podgorica gained independence from Belgrade following a narrowly-won referendum, which reflected then the deep divisions within society.

 

Although the Montenegrin state does not adopt an official religion, it has close ties with the MOC. In parallel to its nationalist discourse, Montenegrin authorities support the MOC against the SOC, as they consider the former more aligned with the state objectives. Hence, the opposition argues that the new law aims to weaken the SOC by transferring its properties to the MOC, labelling this legislation as a significant blow to freedom and human rights.

 

Since its independence, Montenegro has been following a pro-Western path at the expense of its historical allies, Serbia and Russia. The Balkan nation joined NATO in 2017 and is in line for European Union membership.

 

The latest move of the Podgorica cannot be understood without considering the international implications of the issue. The state sees the SOC as a threat to its pro-Western and nationalist policies. According to Milo Dukanovic, who has been ruling the country since 1991, the SOC is undermining Montenegro’s statehood by promoting pro-Serb policies.

 

Although relations between Montenegro and Russia are strained, large sections of Montenegrin society view Moscow's policies favourably. In Montenegro, about 30 percent of the population is ethnically Serbian, and half of the total population are adherents of the SOC. This swath of the population is generally more sympathetic to Russia and Serbia than it is the West.

 

On the other hand, the SOC also follows controversial policies, which unsettles Podgorica. SOC Patriarch Irinej’s remarks in his recent visit to Montenegro drew a strong reaction from the Montenegrin officials. Irinej said, “We are one nation, although we are divided” referring to Serbs and Montenegrins as one nation, which is something that the Montenegrin government rejects.

 

The SOC also enjoys close relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which is viewed as a foreign policy tool of the Russian state with its nationalist and state-oriented policies. Russian President Putin is often on the receiving end of praise from the Russian Orthodox Church and the SOC. In Serbia, he even has a church named after him.

 

Hence, SOC’s close collaboration with the ROC makes it an essential ally for Russia to exert influence not only in Serbia but also in Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia since Orthodox communities in these countries are also historically tied to the SOC.

 

Therefore, even though Montenegro has become a member of NATO, it is still a battlefield for influence between the West and Russia. This is evidenced by Russia’s harsh stance about Montenegro’s accession to NATO.

 

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry stated that Montenegro’s NATO membership goes against historical traditions of friendship between Montenegrins on the one hand, and Serbs and Russians on the other side.

 

The statement also said that half of the country’s population was opposed to NATO membership, highlighting the deep societal divisions on the issue. In fact, the Russia-Montenegro rift extends beyond political and media rhetoric.

 

According to Montenegrin officials, Russia plotted a coup to overthrow the government and replace it with a pro-Russia one.

 

A close look at the Russian media also shows that Moscow is not happy with the latest church law. The Russian News Agency TASS reported a pro-Russian Montenegrin journalist and political commentator Igor Damjanovic’s statements saying that the latest law was “imposed on Montenegro by the United States.”

 

Also, an op-ed in RT found the new law as a “vile lawless travesty.” The op-ed also criticised the US and the EU for staying silent on a bill that would oppress a religious community.

 

It is clear that the Montenegrin government feels threatened with the SOC’s vast influence in the country and that the new law is aimed to curb its power within Montenegro’s borders.

 

However, this new law will likely deepen polarisation in Montenegro, as the opposition will not accept the seizure of church properties.

 

https://www.trtworld.com/perspectives/how-montenegro-s-religious-property-law-is-a-regional-power-struggle-32987

[Roman Alymov]

On the way to Serbia

[Roman Alymov]

[bojan]

Very strange color scheme. Local color scheme, applied to practically everything, including H-145M helicopters:

[Roman Alymov]

 

 

The same for Greece https://scontent.fhel3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/s960x960/87402762_3077948912224182_3440292263207370752_o.jpg?_nc_cat=104&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=Zm88mNK0cxoAX-_vXX8&_nc_ht=scontent.fhel3-1.fna&_nc_tp=7&oh=04aa8f2d17b017f2036649c6dbecefe6&oe=5E9297D7

Edited March 6, 2020 by Roman Alymov

[Roman Alymov]

[JWB]

On Point: Has the Trump Administration Ended Clinton's Less-Than-Splendid Balkan War?

Quote

On Sept. 4, the Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic signed an agreement committing the two Balkan states to reach a mutually beneficial and permanent economic and trade normalization deal. The Trump administration brokered the agreement and hosted the signing ceremony in Washington.

https://www.strategypage.com/on_point/2020090910164.aspx

[bojan]

No, it did not.

[Adam Peter]

Not seen it in the Hungarian news, so probably not a game-changer agreement.

[Adam Peter]

Magnus Jacobsson, a member of the Swedish Parliament, announced he was nominating the Trump administration and the two European nations for their “joint work for peace and economic development, through the cooperation agreement signed in the White House.”

Source

[bojan]

 I have almost died laughing when I heard it.

[JWB]

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci resigns to face war crimes charges in The Hague

Quote

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci resigned Thursday to face war crimes charges in The Hague, raising uncertainty in a thorny conflict that President Trump has tried to resolve.

Thaci was indicted on a range of war crimes charges, including nearly 100 murders, in June, just days before he was supposed to attend a White House meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to try to work out their countries’ differences. 

Now the prosecution has taken a step forward. Thaci told reporters in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, that the indictment against him had been confirmed after a review by the special chamber in The Hague. The allegations date to his time as one of the commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army when it fought a war to break away from Serbia starting in 1998.

 

Thaci said he was stepping down "to protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo,” and planned to face the charges from the special court in The Hague as a civilian and not as the leader of a country, the Associated Press reported. The head of Kosovo’s parliament will serve as acting president until a new leader is elected. 

Thaci had been president since 2016. He was prime minister of Kosovo when the country declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

 

The charges have ensnared other top Kosovo Liberation Army officials as well, many of whom are now active in Kosovo political life. Kadri Veseli, Thaci’s successor as the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, said Thursday that he was also resigning his position and immediately traveling voluntarily to The Hague to face indictments, which he said have been confirmed by a pretrial judge.

“I see it as an opportunity to finally respond to these false suspicions and rumors which have been circulating for years,” Veseli said in a statement. 

On Wednesday, another former Kosovo Liberation Army leader, Jakup Krasniqi, was arrested in Pristina and transferred to The Hague to face war crimes charges. Krasniqi is a former speaker of parliament.

 

The special chamber in The Hague is staffed with international judges and prosecutors but operates under Kosovo law. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/kosovo-president-thaci-resigns-war-crimes-hague/2020/11/05/c7054fe0-1f65-11eb-ad53-4c1fda49907d_story.html

[bojan]

Wait to see how many witnesses disappear or miraculously change testimony at the last moment.

[Roman Alymov]

18 hours ago, bojan said:

Wait to see how many witnesses disappear or miraculously change testimony at the last moment.

Quite likely he will be accused and jailed - he is not needed anymore and could play his last role as scapegoat to demonstrate "moral highground" of West.