Compiled by Eva Jovanova and Hristo Voynov
1. The former Bosnian Muslim army commander Atif Dudakovic and eleven other people were detained and then arrested by the police authorities last Friday on suspicion on committing crimes against humanity during the Bosnian war. Dudakovic is seen by many Bosniaks as a wartime hero for fighting against the Serbs in the area of Bihac. He denied the police charges as “politically motivated”, and several thousands of Bosniaks organized protests in many Bosniak-dominated cities in his support.
2. The US has officially sent Ukraine new weapons in its effort to fight against its pro-Russian separatists in the East, most notably the US made Javelin missiles, which is one of the most advanced portable anti-tank weapons. The first phase in the Ukrainian military plan, the Anti Terrorist Operation, ended on April 30th, and now a Joint Forces Operation will take its place. This translates to more funding and control, as the war effort will be organized by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The problem with this is that any firm increase in the Ukrainian war effort could be met by a like reaction by Russian support for the separatists.
3. Serbia gives the first NBA head coach born and raised outside of the USA in the NBA history! Igor Kokoshkov will take up the position as Phoenix Suns head coach after the end of the current season. Kokoshkov became the first non-American assistant coach in the NBA history in 2000. His most recent coaching success was winning the 2017 EuroBasket title as a head coach of the Slovenian national team. This was the first European title in the history of Slovenia.
4. While the Hungarian Election Committee has stated it will not recount any votes from the recent election, this has not discouraged the opposition. The Democratic Coalition party plans to take this up with the Supreme Court in order to fight against what it, along with much of the opposition, sees as issues with vote counts that hurt all parties except for the winning FIDESZ party. Other opposition parties have already started planning to run one joint candidate in the future to combine their votes and increase their chances of winning against FIDESZ. Meanwhile, FIDESZ has wasted no time preparing for its next term in office, changing up its cabinet composition to fit its new goals. While there are rumors as to whose in and whose out, the official announcement regarding changes will come on May 8th.
5. Kosovo puts further effort into getting international recognition. Behgjet Pacolli, the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, started his diplomatic tour throughout Asia, seeking international recognition for his country. His first stop will be the Council of Foreign Minister of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Bangladesh. Kosovo, a predominantly Muslim country, has gained recognition only by 36 out of the 57 members of OIC. According to the Foreign Ministry of Kosovo, currently, 116 countries recognize its independence. However, Russia, who is backing Serbia in the dispute, continues to block Kosovo’s path towards the United Nations.
6. Coalition building efforts in Czechia have yet another confusing week. A high ranking member of ANO, which won the parliamentary elections in late 2017, stated that the current efforts to build a coalition with the Social Democrats and the Communists is the only plausible coalition that ANO can build, as the current makeup of the parliament requires ANO to have at least two partners. While the ANO deputy spokesman stated that a deal may be reached by the end of the week, this is a very optimistic approach for efforts that failed early last month. The Social Democrats have major issues regarding ANO leader Babis’ legal troubles and ANO’s unofficial cooperation with the far right Freedom and Direct Democracy party. While cooperation between the two appears possible, the next question would be whether all of the Social Democrats will follow the party line.
7. Macedonia ruling party is facing the challenge of broadening its government coalition base. Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s SDSM is leading intensive talks with the two Albanian parties in opposition, BESA and DPA, in order to secure broader support in Parliament. BESA has split at the beginning of this year, with one wing of the party controlling three seats, and the other controlling two seats, which makes the negotiations even more challenging. If BESA and DPA decide to join SDSM’s governing coalition, this would extend the parliamentary majority from 61 to 68 (out of 120) seats. However, everyone waits with anticipation of Zaev’s long-scheduled government reshuffle.
8. Russia has set its military budget 20% lower than last year, which sends multiple signals regarding its geopolitical position. This is most likely the direct result of the decline in Russia’s revenue, which is due to the lowered price of oil, one of Russia’s most lucrative exports. It could also be connected with, or more likely a key cause of, Russia’s disengagement with Syria. But unstable peace in Ukraine might force Russia into engagement again, though the cost of assisting a neighbor would be much less of a burden on the Russian military compared to the cost of assisting Syria’s government.
9. Albania’s former Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri resigned from Parliament yesterday in order to give way to investigators to dig into his alleged involvement in drug trafficking. Tahiri served as an Interior Minister from 2013 to 2017 under the leftist Socialist party. He has been accused of having links to a group involved in cannabis trafficking, which he strongly denies. The Parliament lifted his parliamentary immunity yesterday, so all of these allegations can be probed now. Albania’s drug trafficking is one of the biggest challenges on its path toward starting the EU membership talks.
10. Poland celebrates its Flag Day and Constitution Day in the same week. May 3rd, 1791 is the day which the Polish constitution, which Poles see as a source of national pride since it was the first modern constitution of a nation in Europe, and second worldwide after the US, with modern aspects such as a separation of powers and religious tolerance. May 2nd is Poland’s Flag Day and Day of Poles Abroad, both of which being new holidays meant to inspire pride in Poland. November 11th of this year will also mark 100 years of Polish independence following WWI, and the Polish government has called on citizens to put up the Polish flag until then in celebration.
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