Eastern Europe Top 10 March 8

Compiled by Eva Jovanova and Hristo Voynov

1. Serbian ruling party won municipal election in the Serbian capital Belgrade this Sunday. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), chaired by Serbia President Aleksandar Vucic, won more than 45% of the voter share, resulting in 64 seats in the 110-seat City Assembly. This means they will be able to form a city government without needing a coalition partner. The party’s mayor nominee should be revealed two weeks after the election. SNS’ government coalition partner, the Socialist Party of Serbian (SPS), won only 8 seats.  An NGO that observed the election reported irregularities and incidents in 8% of the polling station. However, according to the president of the City Electoral Commission, no major incidents had occurred that could have influenced the election process.

2. Czechians took to the streets in mass over the election of communist MP Zdeněk Ondráček for the head of the lower house committee overseeing the police. Ondráček is notorious for his role as a police officer in violently beating pro-democracy protesters in Czechoslovakia in 1989, giving him a reputation that is ill-suited for a police oversight position. He resigned from the position, stating that it was because of threats to him and his family, having nothing to do with the protests against him. His election was most likely due to the governing ANO party’s support, which is part of its efforts to give leadership positions to smaller parties in exchange for their support in building a coalition.

3. Kosovo commemorated the “Beginning of the end of the Serbian rule” this Monday. Through a series of events, Kosovo leaders commemorated the 20th anniversary of the death of Adem Jashari and his family. President Hashim Thaci and Speaker of the Parliament Kadri Veseli held speeches. Adem Jashari and 58 members of his extended family were killed on March 7, 1998, after a three-day siege on his home. Adem Jashari was one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a separatist organization that fought for the secession of Kosovo from Milosevic’s Serbia. While in Kosovo he is remembered as a hero, his heroism is highly disputable in the Balkans.

4. The murder of Slovakian journalist Ján Kuciak and his girlfriend continues to reverberate across the nation. The unfinished article is available in English here. Multiple individuals listed in the article were arrested, but released within 48 hours due to the lack of evidence to justify charging them with crimes. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has offered a million Euros to anyone with information regarding the murder, which is a dangerous move considering he himself has been accused of being connected to the crimes that Kuciak was investigating. Protests have taken place all over the country, even during the freezing cold weather that has overtaken Europe, and the movement for justice over the killings appear to have strong political power.

5. Bosnian and Herzegovinian municipal assembly of Srebrenica decided to give an honorary certificate to Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik this Monday. The event is scheduled for March 11, at the celebration of the town’s annual holiday. The decision angered Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as Dodik and Mladen Grujicic, the mayor of Srebrenica, disapprove to address the July 1995 massacres in Srebrenica as genocide. This, as well, is the official position of the Republic of Serbia. Grujicic is a member of Dodik’s Alliance of Independent Social Democrats party. The local Bosniak committee, insulted by the decision, called Bosniaks to boycott Srebrenica Day on March 11.

6. FIDESZ, the ruling Hungarian party, has added the UN to its list of targets. A new campaign has been set in place, accusing the UN of cooperating with the ‘Soros Plan’ to change Europe’s demographics with forced migration. This comes along with an interesting report that connects the many government-sponsored ads against Soros to FIDESZ friendly advertising companies. While the anti-Soros campaign of FIDESZ is finally showing some cracks within party ranks, PM Viktor Orban has doubled down. In an interview regarding the upcoming elections, he told the Hungarian people that their choices come down to his ruling party or Soros’ people.

7. Bulgaria finds a rather unconventional way to celebrate the International Women’s Day. Yesterday, the government decided to abandon its plan to ratify the so-called “Istanbul Convention”. The convention aims at preventing domestic violence and violence against women. Bulgaria signed the convention in 2016, however, a huge dispute between different social organizations and parties in Parliament has since then prevented the convention’s ratification. One of the arguments against the ratification is that it might open way to legalization of gay marriage and introduce a “third gender”. The Istanbul Convention has been signed by all (46) members of the Council of Europe, but so far has been only ratified by 28.

8. Sergei Skripal, a former Russian army officer who spent years in a Russian jail for spying on behalf of Britain, was poisoned in the UK. While there is no public evidence linking Russia to what happened, all eyes are on it regardless, especially because of similar incidents such as that of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. This is likely to strain UK/Russian relations, though the Russian embassy has vehemently denied involvement. This comes at an interesting time. Skripal’s espionage revealed the identities of hundreds of Russian agents working in the UK but this was over a decade ago and his capacity to continue espionage against Russia as a persona non grata was likely to be nil. Regardless, rumors and conspiracy theories from all angles are spreading about this spy drama.

9. Macedonia Anti-Corruption Commission seems to have been involved in corruption itself. After an audit was exposed last week that members of the commission were reimbursed for suspicious travel expenses, the members started to resign. The first member to resign was the commission’s former head Goran Milenkov, who did not exactly state the reason for his resignation, but claimed to feel no moral responsibility after the scandal came to light. It is speculated that the current head of the commission will also hand in his resignation soon.  

10. Reports spread that the US was unofficially cutting ties with Poland until it relented in its new laws regarding the historical legacy of Polish involvement in the Holocaust. This was quickly debunked as fake news by US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. Following the new law, Poland has made a significant effort to solidify its stance on the issue, including trucks with pro-Polish slogans and new plans for a museum in the Warsaw ghetto.