Every Sunday, The Vostokian brings you the most important pieces of news from the Balkans and Eastern Europe!
Compiled by Eva Jovanova and Hristo Voynov
1. Albania held its local election this Sunday amid strong opposition against them. As late as this Thursday, the Albanian President, Ilir Meta, urged the Parliament to postpone the elections until the middle of October. Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama refused the proposal and even refused to meet with the President to discuss the local elections. Edi Rama’s Social Democrats are running unopposed or opposed by only minor parties in most municipalities, as the opposition in Albania boycotted the elections. Although there were no incidents on the day of elections, it will be difficult for Edi Rama to defend the result as legitimate due to the opposition boycott and low turnout.
2. Czechian President Andrej Babiš survived his second no-confidence vote in one year after a 17-hour debate on the merits of the vote. The vote was triggered by a recent European Commission report that he still holds informal control over a company he was supposed to have put aside once taking office, and improperly used his sway to get the company subsidies, a clear conflict of interest. The vote was largely along party lines, 85 for and 85 against, with 30 abstentions. Even with the European Commission against him, Babiš accuses the opposition of destabilizing the country for the sake of a political victory. It is unlikely that this no-confidence vote will be the end of this scandal’s hold over Czechian politics.
3. North Macedonia hosted its first Pride parade this Saturday. Although a parallel counter march organized by a group called “Alliance for Life” tried to intimidate the people attending the Pride parade and marched against what they called “Western LGBTI propaganda”. Luckily, there were no clashes between the two groups. North Macedonia is among the last countries in the Balkans to have a Pride parade. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only Balkan country that hasn’t organized a Pride parade yet, and there are only tentative plans to host one this September.
4. The Constitutional Court of Moldova resigned in mass following the recent decision that resulted in parallel governments in the country. It decided that a coalition made between the Socialist Party and the ACUM bloc was invalid, which was seen by the coalition as a coup to keep the Democratic Party of Moldova (DPM) in power. This is significant as it takes out the final bit of power that the DPM held on to, and it is now in full opposition status. The upcoming government will be tasked with filling it, which might create a point of conflict between the two parties looking to cement their power in the future.
5. Bosnian Serbs are accused again of trying to establish a reservist police force. The first plan to do so was withdrawn this Monday, but the new one doesn’t come as a surprise. The Interior Ministry of Republika Srpska, an entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, withdrew the initial plan because it assessed it lacked the time and funding to establish the reservist police force. The Interior Ministry in the Bosnian Federation entity welcomed the withdrawal and said they will also drop their plans to form a reservist police force. However, this Friday’s plan for Republika Srpska to launch a gendarmerie caused a lot of confusion – will it be a reservist police force or a Republika Srpska infantry?
6. Russian backed separatists in Ukraine have released 4 captives, who have been delivered to Minsk and are set to soon fly off to Kyiv. While this is a small symbolic gesture of peace between the two countries, many in Ukraine are skeptical. The main reason behind this is that the release was organized by Viktor Medvedchuk, the head of a Ukrainian pro-Kremlin opposition party, the For Life party, which has tainted the deal for many Ukrainians who see it not as a sign of peace but as an election stunt orchestrated to help the party in the elections.
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