Compiled by Eva Jovanova and Hristo Voynov
1. Bosnia and Herzegovina might have a government by the end of March! The leaders of the three main parties divided along ethnic lines met on Wednesday and announced that they are optimistic that they will form a new government by the end of the month. The country has been in a stalemate ever since the October 2018 election. According to Milorad Dodik, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers – the highest government position, will indisputably be a Serb from Dodik’s party. Reaching a compromise over the issuing of the Membership Action Plan (MAP) is still a challenge in forming a government.
2. Hungary’s ruling party, FIDESZ, might be out of its European Parliament center-right European People’s Party (EPP) membership after enough members decided to initiate expulsion proceedings. This was triggered by controversial billboards that FIDESZ put up across Hungary, but was the product of the long-standing dispute between Hungarian PM leader Viktor Orban and the EU over accusations that the EU is flooding Europe with migrants. Three requirements for continued membership were issued by the EPP, that Orban is unlike to agree on, as he sees this debacle as part of the continued efforts of the pro-migration forces in the EPP. Orban also stated that if FIDESZ were to leave the EPP, they would look towards Poland for their next alliance, the same time as the EPP met in Warsaw for a two-day conference.
3. Turkey was the least festive country on International Women’s Day. Turkish police used tear gas this Friday to disperse thousands of peaceful demonstrators who tried to march on Istanbul’s main streets in support of women emancipation. The police said that the march was unauthorized. Turkey has restricted the freedom of protests recently.
4. Former Slovakian police corps president Tibor Gašpar has been caught in a lie regarding government screenings of murdered journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée a few months before his death. Gašpar stated that Kuciak was screened when the policed were looking for information regarding the then interior minister’s leaked banking details, but it has been revealed that this investigation ended months before Kuciak was been screened. Questions have been raised over the government’s decision to screen Kuciak, among other journalists, which adds the possibility of other abuses of power by Slovakian police
5. Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs and ex-Prime Minister met with North Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs in Ljubljana on March 6 and assured him that Slovenia would vouch for North Macedonia at the June summit of the European Council. North Macedonia is expected to begin its negotiations for EU membership as soon as possible, as the name issue has been resolved with the Prespa agreement. Some European countries, most notably France, remain averse to beginning negotiations with the country and stress that the EU should introduce internal reforms first before it admits new members. North Macedonia can hope now that Slovenia will persuade other countries to back the long-awaited opening of negotiations.
6. Just weeks before the Ukrainian presidential election, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko fired an aid recently embroiled in a major weapons smuggling scandal. Ukraine has two anti-corruption agencies, and the heads of both will be testifying in front of the Rada on March 13 regarding the state of corruption in Ukraine, while Ukraine is under pressure to fire one of them because of his own complicity in covering up certain graft cases, as well as to reinstate proper anti-corruption legislation. This all comes right before a monumental election in Ukraine, in which fears of violence, both internally from nationalists within Ukraine as well as Russian influence are a major concern.
7. Albania’s protests continued this week. The opposition gathered in front of the Parliament to chant for Edi Rama’s resignation this Tuesday while the Albanian police had significantly restricted the protest area by blocking the center of Tirana. The protests were not as violent as last week, when the protesters clashed with the police, although some of the protestors burned tires in the city center. Opposition MPs from the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) and the Democrats had resigned, but according to Albanian law, each time an MP resigns, they get replaced by the next person from the closed list. However, some MPs who were automatically appointed have not turned down their mandates, which got them labeled as “traitors” among their party colleagues.
8. Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, the acting mayor of Gdańsk and deputy of former mayor Paweł Adamowicz who was murdered on stage, has been elected as his replacement with over 82% of the vote. His murder shocked the country, which is unused to such violent political action. The violence almost came up again, as a man was arrested with multiple weapons after having sent death threats to various mayors across Poland, including Adamowicz. While both ruling and opposition politicians have come out together to denounce violence, this incident shows us that the sentiment behind the violence has yet to go away.
9. Croatian journalists and media outlets staged a protest last Saturday in Zagreb in defense of media freedom that has been deteriorating in the country. The protesters claim that numerous lawsuits against journalists, threats, political pressure, and advertisers’ demands have made their jobs more difficult and have endangered media freedom. The protest slogan “You’ve taken the media, but we’re not giving up journalism,” together with the protesters’ “Eight demands against censorship,” mark the start of the protests that have spread like the plague this spring in the Balkans.
10. The Central Electoral Commission of Moldova has certified last week’s parliamentary election, setting aside the multiple accusations of voter fraud. As no party received anything close to a majority, many are speculating the direction that the country will go. While pundits are discussing the many coalition possibilities, the fact is that the three main parties are vastly different and finding a coalition will be a long road. The three include the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSMR) whose pro-Russian stance is likely to impede any coalition with the other two, which are the pro-EU, anti-oligarch ACUM coalition, and the pro-EU, oligarch-led Democratic Party of Moldova (DPM). While a leader of ACUM said that the DPM has reached out to discuss forming a coalition, they are unwilling to deal with the party because of its controversial leader Vladimir Plahotniuc. Before this election, Moldova appeared to be stuck between Russia and the EU. Now, it appears to be stuck between its own divisions.
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