Meanwhile In Balkans...

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 28.11.2020

Montenegro expels Serbian ambassador over 'meddling'

Serbia's ambassador to Montenegro, Vladimir Bozovic, has been declared "persona non grata" by the Montenegro government. Serbia mirrored the move, but the row between one-time close allies might turn out short-lived.

As Montenegro prepares to name a new government, the incumbent cabinet close to veteran strongman Milo Djukanovic accused Serbian Ambassador Vladimir Bozovic of "meddling into the internal affairs of Montenegro" and ordered him to leave the small Adriatic country.

The expulsion comes in response to Bozovic's "behavior and statements incompatible with the usual and acceptable standards of diplomacy," said Montenegro's Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

Specifically, the ministry pointed to Bozovic's recent praise of the 1918 Podgorica assembly which decided to join Montenegro with Serbia and accept Serbian King Petar I as its sovereign.

The history of Montenegro's statehood is a particularly painful issue in the smaller nation, as Montenegro only regained full independence after a 2006 referendum. Nearly 30% of Montenegrin citizens consider themselves ethnic Serbs.

In their statement, Montenegro's Foreign Ministry slammed the 1918 assembly as "illegal and illegitimate."

Hours later, Serbia retaliated by expelling Montenegro's envoy in Belgrade, Tarzan Milosevic.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/montenegro-expels-serbian-ambassador-over-meddling/a-55761826

... wait, what, Ambassador Tarzan Milosevic?! 🤣

[bojan]

Last grasps of the Djukanovic's dog and pony show ("we pretend we are against Vucic, but actually fincance him and do a shady work with him").

As for name...  Names such as Tarzan, Dzontravolta (bastardized John Travolta), Sandokan, Kasandra, Isaura, Konan and few other were quite common among Roma, "Turkish" (mostly Muslim Roma) and Albanian population in ex-Yugoslavia. With the popularity of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles there was more than one Leonardo, Raphael etc...

My mother worked as a psychologist in the Belgrade suburb primary school (1978-2013) that had a considerably portion of Roma and "Turkish" children, every generation had at least half dozen - dozen of such names.

[BansheeOne]

Towards the end of the DDR there was a certain trend to "exotic" names for kids, some inspired by socialist brother countries, but many obviously not - Chantal, Cindy, Kevin, Mandy, Ronny, (En)Rico, Sandro, Sandy. I always took it as an expression of desire for the world East Germans were barred from. 

[bd1]

and i thought that my friend who named his son Neo after first Matrix movie (actually ´his-own-name-Neo´) was bit weird. but then i realised, it was not weirder than Jr. , like ´John Jr.´ 

[rohala]

On 11/30/2020 at 8:58 PM, bd1 said:

and i thought that my friend who named his son Neo after first Matrix movie (actually ´his-own-name-Neo´) was bit weird. but then i realised, it was not weirder than Jr. , like ´John Jr.´ 

"Neo" is weird.

'John Jr.', "John XYZ the third" etc always seemed weird to me until I realised that there are some cultures that do it. I was commenting about that to Spanish colleague and he told me that actually that is common also in Spain.

[bojan]

On 11/5/2020 at 6:23 PM, bojan said:

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

And we got a first one. "Found dead in the mountains".

[TonyE]

Balkan stay balkan.

[Nikolas93TS]

It is no less a triumph of Western silence in face of failures in the witness protection system and unpleasant prosecuting of their former allies. 

[BansheeOne]

So is accusing ambassadors of meddling somewhat of a regional habit? 

Quote

Albanian president slams US envoy for 'election intereference'

By James Franey (with material from AP) | 1h ago

Speaking in live TV broadcast, President Ilir Meta alleged that Washington is trying to ensure that incumbent prime minister, Edi Rama, forms the next government.

Albania and the United States have become embroiled in a diplomatic spat after the country's president accused Washington's ambassador of interfering in the general election set for Sunday. 

The president of the Balkan nation, Ilir Meta, claimed on live television that Ambassador Yuri Kim was backing incumbent prime minister, Edi Rama.

He urged Kim "to stop supporting Rama, who is violating the election" after warning that Albanians would take up their "pitchforks" if Rama tries to manipulate the results.

The US ambassador later slammed Meta's remarks as "unacceptable."

"These threats deserve condemnation. Those who incite violence will be held responsible for the results of their words and actions," Kim wrote on Twitter.

During the TV show,Meta also alleged that Kim told him during one telephone call, “We know some things about you.”

"I have told (Washington) that if you have any issue with me, please let me know because I know that you may even kill me," he said, suggesting the ambassador's action were part of a secret Serbian lobbying campaign.

Minutes later, the president said that he had received a message from the US Ambassador Yuri Kim urging him to tone down his comments, according to the Exit.al news outlet. 

US diplomats in Tirana have not commented on the president's claims.

What is behind the row?

DW's correspondent in Tirana, Elona Elezi, says the US embassy in Albania has been engaged in the country's politics for decades. However, the public conflict between Kim and Meta was unprecedented, according to our correspondent.

"In recent years, US have been seriously invested in the vetting process in Albania — the justice reform which is expected to investigate high-level figures in the country's judiciary and political system," she said.

The new vetting system would put the nation's prosecutors and judges under the spotlight, and could eventually lead to confiscation of property or even arrests.

Why is Meta opposing Rama?

The 52-year-old head of state has repeatedly accused Rama, his bitter political rival, of trying to steal the upcoming parliamentary vote.

While irregularities have marred previous elections, Meta failed to cite any direct evidence to support his claims.

He also branded the Socialist Party leader a "gangster" who was leading "a kleptocratic regime."

The pair have been at loggerheads over the prime minister's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and ties with the European Union.

Meta, himself a former Socialist premier, founded a breakaway party, the Socialist Movement for Integration in 2004 that is currently led by his wife.

What are the main issues in Sunday's election?

Albanians will elect 140 lawmakers later this weekend which is considered as key to convince the 27-nation European Union bloc to agree on starting full negotiations to admit the small Balkan nation as a member.

Western diplomats have urged all political partes to dial down the rhetoric after a shooting on Wednesday in the capital, Tirana, was linked to party activists.

The incident left one dead and four injured.

The US Embassy urged the country's main political leaders to “exercise restraint” and “to clearly reject violence” before the election.

https://m.dw.com/en/albanian-president-slams-us-envoy-for-election-intereference/a-57323847

 

[bojan]

Because they most often really at least borderline meddle into elections "suggesting"' that party A is a "solid partner of the country X" (and doing it during "pre election silence period") or that 'boycotting elections is not supported by the country Y", that "party B values are opposed to that by which country Z stands for" etc. Top of that was ambassador from ... let's say "prominent European country" congratulating one of the presidential candidates on the win before end of elections and while race was still pretty tight.

All of the above really happened. Behaving like colonial administrators, not ambassadors, and then wondering while support toward EU and US is dropping like crazy in Serbia, even among those that very totally pro EU/US 5-10 years ago.

Edited April 24, 2021 by bojan

[BansheeOne]

I was referencing the expulsion of the Serbian ambassador from Montenegro on the same complaints noted a couple posts up, actually.

[bojan]

I was commenting that Albanian claim about US ambassador meddling might not be w/o any sustenance, since it happens in Serbia regularly (US and not just US ambassador meddling into elections).

[BansheeOne]

Oh, everyone gets those pushy types once in a while. The last US ambassador to Germany of course was notorious for giving interviews to Breitbart declaring that "I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe" like Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, etc. But usually governments leave public outrage to some parliamentarians who can say whatever they want, while the officials just invite the offender to a quiet talk about the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations at the foreign ministry; and if that doesn't help, he'll find himself frozen out of official contacts.

Dramatic responses tend to make you look like some authoritarian regime complaining about "meddling in domestic affairs" when the diplomatic community from democratic states voices concerns, i. e. someone who probably deserved the criticism. Public declarations by senior government figures and expelling senior diplomats is usually reserved for embassies tapping the head of government's cellphone, committing murder on your soil and such. Hence my note of easily inflamed Balkan politics.

[bojan]

Most such hysterics are for "internal use", keeping own voters entertained with the endless line of the "enemies" both foreign and domestic.

[alejandro_]

Interesting read

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/25/everyone-loved-each-other-rise-yugonostalgia-tito

In Serbia, 81% say they believe the breakup was bad for their country. In Bosnia, which was always the most multicultural of the republics, 77% share that sentiment. Even in Slovenia, which was the first ex-Yugoslav country to join the EU and is widely regarded as the most “successful”, 45% still say the breakup was damaging. Unsurprisingly, only 10% in Kosovo, which didn’t have full independence in Yugoslavia, regret the breakup.

Fondness for the old system is often referred to as “Yugonostalgia”. However, Larisa Kurtović, a political anthropologist from Sarajevo who studies post-Yugoslav identity in Bosnia, is cautious about the term. “Nostalgia implies some kind of melancholy or longing,” she says. Of course this exists, with many restaurants and guesthouses around the region, such as the famous Café Tito in Sarajevo, festooned in kitschy memorabilia and presenting a rose-tinted view of the era. But Kurtović says there is also a movement of younger people who look more critically at the period, assessing both its positives and negatives.

...

Another common theme Kurtović sees is a loss of status, and a perception that people have gone from living in a relatively large, well-respected country to much smaller, less significant ones. George Peraloc was born in Macedonia (now North Macedonia) in 1989 but currently lives in Bangkok. “Whenever I have to do something bureaucratic like open a bank account here, they can never find North Macedonia on their system, but they can find Yugoslavia,” he told me.

“If you ask me, we could still benefit from a federation, even if it’s not Yugoslavia, because we’re so small and insignificant on our own.” He believes these feelings are common among people of his age, who never actually lived under the old system. “All our infrastructure is from that period, and now it’s falling apart,” he adds.

[sunday]

36 minutes ago, alejandro_ said:

Interesting read

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/25/everyone-loved-each-other-rise-yugonostalgia-tito

In Serbia, 81% say they believe the breakup was bad for their country. In Bosnia, which was always the most multicultural of the republics, 77% share that sentiment. Even in Slovenia, which was the first ex-Yugoslav country to join the EU and is widely regarded as the most “successful”, 45% still say the breakup was damaging. Unsurprisingly, only 10% in Kosovo, which didn’t have full independence in Yugoslavia, regret the breakup.

(...)

Indeed, History has shown that a motivated minority is enough to break a country. Such was the danger of Puchi and his merry companions back in 2017.

[bojan]

"Slaughtering an ox for a pound of meat" is the saying if I am not wrong. And that is exactly what has happened.

[Strannik]

15 minutes ago, bojan said:

"Slaughtering an ox for a pound of meat" is the saying if I am not wrong. And that is exactly what has happened.

It's worth it for the ones who get that pound.  Same as USSR.

 

[Perun]

21 hours ago, alejandro_ said:

Even in Slovenia, which was the first ex-Yugoslav country to join the EU and is widely regarded as the most “successful”, 45% still say the breakup was damaging.

1990 Slovenian independence referendum

On 26 December the results of the referendum were officially proclaimed by France Bučar in the Assembly. 88.5% of eligible voters (94.8% of those participating) had voted in favour of independence, therefore exceeding the threshold.[5] 4.0% had voted against independence, while 0.9% had cast invalid ballots, and 0.1% had returned their ballots unused.[6] 6.5% of electors did not participate in the elections.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Slovenian_independence_referendum

 

Yugoslavia breakup was not by loud minority, it was a bit complicated then that.

[sunday]

4 minutes ago, Perun said:

1990 Slovenian independence referendum

On 26 December the results of the referendum were officially proclaimed by France Bučar in the Assembly. 88.5% of eligible voters (94.8% of those participating) had voted in favour of independence, therefore exceeding the threshold.[5] 4.0% had voted against independence, while 0.9% had cast invalid ballots, and 0.1% had returned their ballots unused.[6] 6.5% of electors did not participate in the elections.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Slovenian_independence_referendum

 

Yugoslavia breakup was not by loud minority, it was a bit complicated then that.

If that referendum was like the last illegal one we had in Catalonia, those percentages could be very well something that has nothing to do with people's will.

[alejandro_]

29 minutes ago, Perun said:

1990 Slovenian independence referendum

On 26 December the results of the referendum were officially proclaimed by France Bučar in the Assembly. 88.5% of eligible voters (94.8% of those participating) had voted in favour of independence, therefore exceeding the threshold.[5] 4.0% had voted against independence, while 0.9% had cast invalid ballots, and 0.1% had returned their ballots unused.[6] 6.5% of electors did not participate in the elections.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Slovenian_independence_referendum

Yugoslavia breakup was not by loud minority, it was a bit complicated then that.

No questions about that, but support can vary with time. When Ukraine had an independence referendum the "yes" option won by a large margin, even in regions like Crimea and Donbass, but there was a thought that some "centre" would be kept. Also, Kravchuk promised that quality of life would improve dramatically, as Ukraine could become like France of Germany. The end result was a drop in GDP of around 40%. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14489883#input_right

[bojan]

1 hour ago, sunday said:

If that referendum was like the last illegal one we had in Catalonia, those percentages could be very well something that has nothing to do with people's will.

Slovenian one was pretty legit, even with some voters suppression, but that did nothing on the grand scale, since those represented at best 10% of population.

It was such time that people believed more what their "hearts" told them than they did thinking with their "brains", and every nationality in Yugoslavia was guilty of that.

Which is why every harebrained idea like Yugoslavia was doomed to fail from a get-go, only question being how much time it would take.

Edited August 31, 2022 by bojan

[sunday]

Often, people do not consider that affirmative outcomes of independence referenda are not reversible, also.

Edited August 31, 2022 by sunday

[Josh]

34 minutes ago, sunday said:

Often, people does not consider that affirmative outcomes of independence referenda are not reversible, also.

Like my raincoat!

[JWB]

Treasury Targets Corruption and the Kremlin’s Malign Influence Operations in Moldova

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1049