Compiled by Hristo Voynov and Eva Jovanova
1. European Parliament has approved the Sargentini Report which accuses Hungary of rule of law violations and proposes triggering an Article 7 procedure to strip Hungary of its voting rights. The report needed 2/3 votes in parliament to pass, which it received from a wide coalition, including some Hungarian opposition MEPs and the European People’s Party, which Hungary’s ruling party FIDESZ is a part of. Jobbik, the most popular opposition party, voted against the report as an attack on Hungary but also accused Hungarian PM Viktor Orban of ignoring the report’s factual findings regarding FIDESZ’s corrupt actions. Orban’s defense of these accusations has consistently been that the EP is motivated to attack him for being vehemently anti-migrant, ignoring the rest of the accusations. Now the question remains of whether article 7 will be triggered, and what this means for the EU’s ‘illiberal’ bloc. Early indications say no, as Poland, who is also at risk of article 7, claims it will veto any sanctions against Hungary. As any sanctions must be unanimously approved, the illiberal alliance within the EU may completely stop it from enforcing its norms, or be a saving grace from the EU’s tyranny, depending on one’s perspective.
2. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic made most of the world question the decade they live in. His speech in Gazivoda, Kosovo on Sunday, September 9th slightly reminded all of those who watched closely on Slobodan Milosevic’s speech in Gazimestan in 1989. Even though the main idea was for Vucic to promote the land swap agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, his references on late Serbian dictator and war criminal Milosevic being a great leader were shocking for the international audience.
3. Moldovan state security service, the SIS, is in hot water over the extradition of seven Turkish citizens over their ties to the Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen accused of being behind the 2016 failed Turkish coup. This coup attempt was followed by a state of emergency and a statewide purge of Gülen supporters with little supporting evidence, which gives reasonable doubt to expect that these Turks will receive a fair trial. Because of this, various human rights organizations including the UN Office for Human Rights have made statements against the events.
4. Kosovo has a reason to celebrate this week! With 420 votes in favor, the European Parliament paved the way for Kosovo’s visa liberalization. The European Council is now Kosovo’s next stop for negotiating the terms of visa liberalization. Once in effect, the visa waiver will allow the citizens of Kosovo to stay up to 90 days in all EU member countries except Great Britain and Ireland as they have an opt-out, but including the EFTA countries (Norway, Lichtenstein, Iceland, and Switzerland).
5. The two Russians publically accused of poisoning Sergei Skripal sat down with RT to defend themselves after the British government publically released information as evidence that Russia was behind the incident. Their interview is can best be described as lackluster, in which they complain about the weather during their vacation in England, their claimed work as fitness trainers, and their fear of being falsely accused of behind the poisoning. If they are members of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency, then it is now up to the British intelligence agency making the accusations to prove its allegations correct by providing further evidence that contradicts their testimony. If it does hold this evidence, publically releasing it may prove to be complicated because of laws surrounding the release of such information.
6. East European and Balkan women live much shorter on average than other women from EU member states according to an article by the Guardian. Whereas women in Spain, Italy, France, and Luxembourg live more than 85 years on average, women in Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania are on the bottom of the chart with an average life expectancy of fewer than 80 years. The EU average for women was 83.6 years, and Bulgaria has the lowest life expectancy at less than 78. To some, the idea that the average life expectancy today is much higher than it was in the past might seem like good news, but the article might check your optimism that the life expectancy will continue to rise in the future.
7. Pension age protests in Russia were shut down by security services, with over 800 arrests throughout the country. The protests were called for by jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny and were set for the same day as local elections also occurred in the country. As for the elections, President Putin praised the results and the lack of reported violations. He is undoubtedly also happy about Sergei Sobyanin, his former chief-of-staff, being reelected as mayor of Moscow with a promising 70% of the vote. The overall vote had a little surprise, aside from a slight decline in votes for the United Russia party and a slight increase in votes for the Communist party.
8. “We need a forthright attitude towards the accession of the Western Balkans. Otherwise, our immediate neighborhood will be shaped by other actors” stated European Commission’s President Jean Claude Juncker in his annual State of the Union speech this Wednesday. Montenegro and Serbia are next in line for EU accession, with Macedonia trying to join them by resolving its name dispute with Greece.
9. With the assassination of the leader of the Ukrainian breakaway state called the Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, elections have been scheduled for November 11th where a new leader and local politicians will be elected. The US State Department has accused these elections being a violation of the Minsk peace agreement. Until the elections, Denis Pushilin, who is the chairman of the People’s Council which is equivalent of a parliament, will act as the leader of the republic.
10. Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo received sharp criticism by the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in a report issued by the UN earlier this week. According to the report, the countries treat the problem with missing people from the war more as a political issue and sometimes deliberately prevent the truth from reaching the public. It also points out that these countries have reached a stalemate in bilateral cooperation on the issue. The only praise the report shed light to was the created database on active missing person cases.
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