Compiled by Hristo Voynov and Kristijan Fidanovski
1. Russia’s tension with the rest of the world continues to mount this week. Earlier in the week, the US put further sanctions on various Russian oligarchs and companies. This was the harshest sanctions yet, as it hits a vital business class, risking serious damage to the Russian economy. However the true tension comes from the US threatening to strike targets in Syria following an alleged chemical weapons attack. Russia claimed it would shoot down any missiles, which resulted in further threats from Donald Trump on twitter. The Russian military has limited its presence in Syria to avoid any casualties. Exactly where this leads is unknown, though it is clear that if this escalates, it can have disastrous results for all involved.
2. In a resounding reversal of the verdict by the now-defunct International Court Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), a United Nations has found Serbian nationalist Vojislav Seselj guilty of crimes against humanity, sentencing him to ten years. While Seselj is not going to serve his sentence, as he already spent eleven years in prison awaiting his verdict between 2003 and 2014, he did use the reversal to say that he is “proud of his alleged war crimes and ready to repeat them in the future”.
3. Hungary’s election ended with an expected victory for incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orban. His FIDESZ party won 48.48% of the vote and 134 out of 199 seats in parliament, with Jobbik receiving second place with 19.54% and only 25 seats. Orban stated that he will be changing up the composition of the government within 3-4 weeks and plans to use this new mandate to finally pass a ‘Stop Soros’ bill. Jobbik’s leader Gabor Vona directly stated that the results were altered, claiming that it was because FIDESZ had to choose “whether to go to parliament or to prison”. He also resigned from his position as party leader, taking the blame for the electoral loss.
4. Macedonia is the only Balkan country whose ranking has improved in the 2018 Freedom House rankings, with all other countries experiencing a decline. Overall, freedom in the Balkans has been constantly declining since 2008 according to the rankings. Despite its progress, Macedonia remains a “hybrid regime” together with Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, while Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and Bulgaria are classified as “semi-consolidated democracies”.
5. The Czechian government’s coalition building attempt between the ANO, Christian Democrats, and Communist parties failed over who would head the Interior Ministry, leaving the door open for the next alternative. One option is for President Zeman to empower a member of the ANO party who isn’t scandal plagued Prime Minister Babis to take over the efforts. ANO party deputies are firmly against this plan. Another suggestion is to continue the previous talks, but with the Freedom and Direct Democracy party replacing the Christian democrats. An early election has also been suggested, and rejected, by ANO’s Babis. It is unknown when this saga will be concluded, but protests are underway throughout the country over the lack of leadership.
6. Kosovo’s controversial deportation of five Turkish education workers and one Turkish doctor, which has already resulted in the resignation of the interior minister, has now triggered a parliamentary inquiry. The inquiry will examine the legality of the deportation, which was conducted by the Turkish intelligence services in cooperation with their Kosovar counterparts.
7. The EU released a report regarding the Association Agreement with Moldova, stating that there is “some progress” made, but emphasizing the many obstacles needed for further ties between the two. The Association Agreement became law on July 1st of last year, and since then multiple issues have come up regarding Moldova’s ability to advance out of its current problems. One of which was Moldova’s disregard for the recommendations given by the Venice Commission regarding electoral changes. It also points out that corruption is still a major issue within many different spheres of society that must be addressed. While Moldova is not expected to reach EU standards for this agreement any time soon, this report gives off the impression that the reform process will take longer than previously thought.
8. Macedonia’s right-wing opposition party VMRO-DPMNE has returned to parliament after its four-month boycott over the arrests of six of its MPs in relation to the storming of the parliament last April. Their return is important in light of the vote on important legislation on the judicial system, which has been one of the main obstacles to Macedonia’s European integration.
9. The 8th anniversary of the Smolensk plane crash that killed 96 people, including then Polish President and other vital government officials, saw multiple memorials. But the most important news regarding this is a report released by the Polish government which claims that the plane’s left wing exploded 900 meters away from the airport, followed by a second explosion and a loss of power. This goes against the previous theories which were centered around the dense fog which obscured the landing. While the plane crash has been a source of tension for a long time between the two countries, tangible results from this report are unlikely as Russia will certainly stick to its story instead of accepting the Polish blame.
10. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska entity has set aside 10,000 euros for RS citizens who are in custody or indicted for war crimes. The main beneficiaries of these funds are Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, both convicted in the first instance of genocide. Karadzic’s final verdict will be announced in November 2019, while the date for Mladic’s is still unknown.
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