Month: March 2017

The European Union peacekeeping force (EUFOR) in Bosnia warned its political leaders Tuesday that it was prepared to intervene at short notice should violence resume two decades after the end of its ethnic war that killed 100,000 people.

Concerns are rising about increasing instability in the historically volatile Balkans, including secessionist pressures in Bosnia, a parliamentary boycott in Montenegro, and renewed tensions between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo.

“A lot has been achieved but a lot can be lost again,” Major General Anton Waldner said at a ceremony in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, marking his takeover of the command of EUFOR, which has 800 troops deployed in Bosnia.

“There is still an executive mandate which allows significant reinforcement at short notice of [EUFOR]. I will not hesitate to call [on] these reserve forces if needed,” said Waldner, an Austrian. “You, political leaders, have the most powerful key in your hands.”

EUFOR’s new operations chief, General James Everard, said there were “external influences at play in the wider Western Balkans region, and in Bosnia, [that] have the potential to challenge progress.”

Western leaders have accused Russia of seeking to exploit diminishing EU leverage in the Balkans by manipulating political events in the region. Russia, which denies such allegations, is a historical ally of the Serbs.

“In the face of such challenges it is essential that we persevere together,” added Everard, a Briton.

Last year, Montenegro’s authorities accused a group of Serb and Russian nationalists of planning a coup during elections to get an opposition alliance into power.

Russia strongly opposes the former Yugoslav republic’s bid to join NATO, but it rejected the accusations.

EUFOR first deployed in Bosnia in 2004, replacing the 60,000-strong NATO Stabilization Force.

For its part, NATO had said that in case of any violent flare-up in Bosnia, it could quickly deploy military assets, mainly from Italy and Germany.

Fears of fresh conflict in Bosnia have risen amid calls from Serbs for the secession of their postwar autonomous entity from Bosnia and their overwhelming vote to keep a national holiday that Bosnia’s central top court has ruled unconstitutional.

Postwar Bosnia’s two highly autonomous regions, the Serb Republic and the Bosniak-Croat Federation, largely eclipse a weak central cabinet in Sarajevo. This has meant that economic reforms and development often become hostage to ethnic politicking and conflicting visions of the nation’s future.
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Montenegro is one step closer to becoming NATO’s 29th member.

Ratification of the treaty on Montenegro’s admission into the alliance cleared a procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate Monday, setting the stage for a final vote later this week. Approving the treaty requires a two-thirds’ vote in the Senate, after which the president can ratify it.

Ninety-seven senators supported the measure.

“It [approval] will enhance our security. It will strengthen the alliance and it will send a strong message of resolve to Russia as it invades its neighbors and the international order,” Sen. Ben Cardin, D-MD, said. “No country outside the alliance gets a veto over who gets to join, especially Russia. So we must send a strong signal.”

A final vote is expected as early as Tuesday.

Tillerson supports addition to NATO

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent a letter to the Senate pressing lawmakers to approve the treaty ahead of a summit scheduled for May that will include NATO heads of state and government.

“Montenegro’s participation in the May NATO summit as a full member, not an observer, will send a strong signal of transatlantic unity, and that no third parties have veto power over NATO decisions,” Tillerson wrote in the letter. He said Montenegro’s membership would give NATO a contiguous border along the Adriatic coast.

Montenegro is in the middle of a clash between the West and Russia over influence in the Balkans. The outcome could determine the way the region is heading: toward NATO and the European Union, or back to Russia’s sphere of influence.

Two senators against expansion

All 28 of NATO’s members must ratify Montenegro’s accession before it can formally join the alliance. Only three members have not finalized their approval. The vote in the U.S. Senate was blocked for months by two Republican senators, Rand Paul and Mike Lee, who oppose expanding the military alliance.

Paul spoke on the floor against ratification of Montenegro’s membership and NATO expansion.

“Admitting Montenegro to NATO will do nothing to advance our national security, and will do everything to simply add another small country to the welfare wagon of NATO. Advocates for expanding NATO believe that unless the whole world joins NATO, Russia will conquer the world. but the truth is more nuanced,” he said. “The same cheerleaders for Montenegro being in NATO want Ukraine in NATO. They want Georgia in NATO. If both Ukraine and Georgia were in NATO today, we would be involved in a world war with Russia.”
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Turkish pop star Atilla Tas and 28 others, most of them journalists, are being tried in Istanbul on terrorism charges over alleged links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed for last year’s failed coup attempt in Turkey.

They face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of membership in “an armed terrorist organization,” in a massive government crackdown that has seen more than 100 media outlets closed and more than 41,000 people arrested since July.

Turkish state media said Tas and several others are charged with managing a Twitter account that spread propaganda on behalf of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of masterminding the coup attempt.

Gulen has denied any knowledge of the plot.

Human rights groups say Turkey has jailed about 150 journalists, many of whom were arrested before the botched insurrection, for alleged ties to Kurdish rebels who are fighting the Turkish state. The Reporters Without Borders group ranked Turkey at 151st out of 180 countries on its press freedom index last year.

The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists the crackdown was essential for the stability of the country. But critics say the detentions show Turkey is becoming more authoritarian under the Islamist leader.

This trial is being closely watched in Turkey, which holds a referendum on April 16 on whether to expand the powers of the presidency.
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Serbia is committed to European Union membership but it will work hard to improve relations with its traditional ally Russia, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told Reuters ahead of a presidential election Sunday.

The poll will test the popularity of Vucic, a frontrunner in the race, as well as his center-right Serbian Progressive Party, economic reforms and a bid to bring the country closer to the EU.

“Serbia is on the European path and that is our strategic goal. We want our society to be modeled after most developed Western European countries,” Vucic said.

But he said he would work hard as president to maintain good relations with fellow Christian Orthodox Russia, as well.

Powers in Serbia are strictly divided between the president and prime minister. Under the constitution, the president signs bills into laws, commands the military, presides over the national security council and represents country abroad, but economic and foreign policy is in the hands of the prime minister.

Serbia, which in the 1990s was seen as the pariah of Western Balkans for its central role in wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia, expects to complete negotiations on EU membership by 2019.

Many Serbs remain skeptical about joining the bloc and view Western European countries as outspoken advocates of the 1999 NATO bombing to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians in the former province of Kosovo, in which thousands of civilians had been killed.

“We have to show ordinary people what are we doing together [with the EU],” said Vucic, once a firebrand nationalist. “We have to show concrete roads and concrete projects.”

The West sees integration of Western Balkan countries as a way to stabilize a region recovering from a decade of wars and economic turmoil.

Russia opposes the integration of Western Balkan countries, including Serbia, into NATO and the EU and is trying to extend its influence.

On Monday, Vucic traveled to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin for talks on trade and military cooperation.

Last year, Russia donated six MIG-29 fighter jets, and Vucic said he now plans to negotiate a purchase of surface-to-air missiles with Putin.

“We are also discussing economic cooperation with Russia, we would like to attract more investors,” Vucic said, adding investors could profit on trade deals with EU member states.

Vucic said his country is also looking to build economic cooperation with China. He said he expected a Chinese private company to start flights between Beijing and Belgrade.
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Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the Kremlin’s propaganda machine has shrunk the field for independent media and increased cynicism about politics and current events. To combat the problem, one group of Russian journalists, “The Meduza Project,” moved operations to Latvia and focuses on online content and humor to attract young Russians. In Lithuania, a news-comedy program is using a similar strategy, as VOA’s Daniel Schearf reports from the capital, Vilnius.
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A Russian court has sentenced opposition leaer Alexei Navalny to 15 days in prison, a day after he and hundreds of other protesters were detained at an anti-corruption rally.

Navalny was taken to a Moscow court Monday hours before the Kremlin publicly called the protests a “provocation” to violence, and accused organizers of paying young people to attend the rallies.

The court said he was guilty of resisting police orders. Earlier, he was fined the equivalent of $350 for organizing an unauthorized protest.

Tens of thousands of Russians demonstrated in cities across the country Sunday in support of a call by Navalny for accountability among Russia’s elite.

OVD-Info, an organization that monitors Russian political repression, said on its website that more than 1,000 people were arrested in the Moscow demonstrations alone.

That number has not been independently confirmed and state news agency TASS cited Moscow police as saying they made about 500 arrests, including Navalny.

He was detained while walking from a subway station to join the rally at Moscow’s iconic Pushkin Square. Reports from the scene say police put him in a truck that was surrounded by hundreds of protesters. The crowd briefly tried to block it from driving off, shouting “Shame!” and “Let him out!”

“Guys, I am all right, go on along Tverskaya,” Navalny tweeted from the van, referring to Moscow’s main central street.

US condemnation

Washington has “strongly condemned” the detention of protesters, including Navalny.

“Detaining peaceful protesters, human rights observers, and journalists is an affront to core democratic values,” acting U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

He said the U.S. is “troubled” by the arrest of Navalny, who has announced plans to run for president in the 2018 election.

The protests appear to be the largest coordinated outpouring of dissatisfaction since the massive 2011-2012 demonstrations following a fraud-tainted parliamentary election.

“This is an important event!  We came here to express our position as citizens,” said one protester who just gave her first name – Alina.  “We came to remain citizens of our country.”

“By my presence here, I stand against the corruption of the incumbent power,” said another protester who only gave his first name – Maxim.  “The authorities do not feel like talking to their people, they communicate only through force-applying methods.”  

Anti-corruption protest

Navalny, a Kremlin critic, called the demonstrations after his Foundation for Fighting Corruption released a detailed report earlier this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of amassing a collection of mansions, yachts and vineyards through a shadowy network of non-profit organizations.

The report has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube.

There was scant coverage of the demonstrations on Russia’s official media.  A short report on TASS said a police officer was injured during an “unauthorized” rally in Moscow.

Navalny said on his official website that 99 Russian cities planned to protest, but that in 72 of them local authorities did not give permission.

Navalny has been rallying supporters in major Russian cities in recent weeks.

 
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was brought to a Moscow court on Monday after he had been detained at an anti-corruption rally a day earlier.

Thousands took to the streets on Sunday in various cities and towns across Russia to participate in anti-government protests following calls by Navalny and his anti-corruption fond.

In many places including Moscow the authorities called the gathering an illegal provocation.

At least 500 people had been detained only in Moscow, among them Navalny, who was on his way to join protesters rallying along the city’s Tverskaya street.

The 40-year old Navalny, arguably Russia’s most popular opposition leader, has been twice convicted on fraud and embezzlement charges that he has dismissed as politically motivated. Navalny is currently serving a suspended sentence, and Sunday’s arrest could be used as a pretext to convert it into jail time.

Separately, police arrested 17 associates of Navalny’s who were at their office, setting up and monitoring a webcast of the rally.

All of them spent the night at the police station while authorities raided their office, reportedly taking out all equipment. It wasn’t immediately clear what charges they may be facing.

 
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party won a state election by large margin, exit polls said Sunday, in an early setback to center-left hopes of unseating her in the September national vote.

Early results from the voting in Saarland state had Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) leading with 40 percent while the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) had around 30 percent.

The SPD was facing its first electoral test since nominating Martin Shultz to face off against Merkel in September.

The party has seen a recent surge in popularity.

Merkel is expected to run for fourth term as chancellor.
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Russian protesters have demonstrated by the thousands in cities across the country in support of a call by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for accountability among Russian elite.  Over a hundred people were detained around Moscow’s Pushkin square, including Navalny, for protesting without permission.

“This is an  important event!  We came here to express our position as citizens,” said one protester who just gave her first name-Alina.  “We came to remain citizens of our country.”

“By my presence here, I stand against the corruption of the incumbent power,” said another protester who only gave his first name-Maxim.  “The authorities do not feel like talking to their people, they communicate only through force-applying methods.”  

Navalny, a Kremlin critic, was detained as he arrived to join the Moscow rally. Reports from the scene say police put him in a truck that was surrounded by hundreds of protesters who tried to open its doors and halt the arrest.

The protests appeared to be the largest coordinated outpouring of dissatisfaction since the massive 2011-2012 demonstrations following a fraud-tainted parliamentary election.

Navalny called the demonstrations after publishing a detailed report earlier this month accusing Prime Minister  Dmitry Medvedev of amassing a collection of mansions, yachts and vineyards through a shadowy network of non-profit organizations.

The report has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube.  Medvedev has not reacted to it so far.

Navalny said on his official website that 99 Russian cities planned to protest, but that in 72 of them local authorities did not give permission.

There was scant coverage of the demonstrations on Russia’s official media.  A short report on Tass said a police officer was injured during an “unauthorized” rally in Moscow.

Navalny, who has announced his intention to run for president in next year’s election, has been rallying supporters in major Russian cities in recent weeks.
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Interior minister Amber Rudd said on Sunday the British government did not yet know what kind of cost there may be for trying to get the “widest possible access” to the European Union’s single market.

Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty on Wednesday, hoping to secure what she calls a “good deal” of close cooperation on the economy and security while being able to control immigration.

“I certainly do think that we should try to have the widest possible access to the single market … we don’t know what that cost would be, we don’t know that at all, that is going to be part of the negotiations,” Rudd told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.

“We have a lot to offer in this negotiation as well so we must not ever forget that it is going to be two-way.”
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Francois Fillon’s aides used an umbrella to shield him from eggs thrown by protesters in southwest France on Saturday as the beleaguered conservative fell further behind centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-rightist Marine Le Pen in opinion polls.

The contrast between former front-runner Fillon, embroiled in a financial scandal, and new poll favorite Macron was striking as both candidates campaigned 29 days before the first round of France’s unpredictable presidential election.

Addressing a rally in the French island of La Reunion, in the Indian ocean, Macron departed from typical campaign speeches by inviting members of the audience — including a 6-year old who asked him “How do you get to be president?” — on stage to ask questions on a wide range of issues.

“It’s historic, we need to decide whether we want to be afraid of the century that has just started … or want to bring fresh ambition to France,” the 39-year-old former investment banker said to chants of “Macron President!”

Macron, a former economy minister to Socialist President Francois Hollande, set up his own centrist party last year.

Macron leads in polls

He has shot to first place in opinion polls since Fillon was put under investigation over suspicions he misused public funds by paying his wife hundreds of thousands of euros as a parliamentary assistant for work she may not have done. Fillon denies any wrongdoing.

Fillon slipped to 17 percent in a BVA poll published Saturday, which saw Macron getting 26 percent of the first-round vote, up 1 percentage point from a week ago with Le Pen at 25 percent, down one point.

The number of undecided voters for the first round remains high, with 40 percent of voters still undecided.

The poll showed Macron winning a second round vote with 62 percent of the vote versus 38 percent for Le Pen, who is to hold a rally in the northern France city of Lille on Sunday.

The poll was carried out partly before a TV interview Thursday night in which Fillon, 63, accused Hollande of leading a smear campaign against him.

Voters throw eggs, bang pans 

Met by some 30 protesters throwing eggs and banging pots and pans to shouts of “Fillon in prison” in the southwest France town of Cambo-les-Bains, Fillon told reporters: “Those protests are an insult to democracy … the more they protest, the more French voters will support me.”

Meanwhile, a faction of the centrist UDI party, which is allied with Fillon’s The Republicans, was kicked out of the party Saturday for rallying behind Macron.

The BVA poll also showed far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon gaining ground in the first round, up 2 points from a week earlier to 14 percent, now 2.5 points ahead of the ruling Socialist Party’s candidate Benoit Hamon.
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Tens of thousands of pro-EU demonstrators rallied in London, despite heightened concerns about the terrorism threat, to mark the European Union’s 60th anniversary — just days before Britain’s exit from the EU is expected to formally begin.

Organizers said about 80,000 people joined the march calling for Britain to stay in the EU on March 25.

The demonstration came four days before British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would formally start Britain’s exit negotiations by invoking Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty.

Hundreds of blue EU flags were carried by protesters in the procession as it stretched through central London.

Banners carried by the demonstrators had slogans like “I am European,” and “I’m 15 — I want my future back!”

The protesters fell silent as they moved through Parliament Square, where a British-born terrorist earlier this week drove a car through crowds of people before crashing into a fence and stabbing a police officer to death.

One banner raised in front of Britain’s Parliament said, “Terrorism won’t divide us — Brexit will.”

About 10,000 EU supporters also marched in Rome on March 25 while about 4,000 gathered in Berlin.

Some material for this report came from AFP, BBC and AP.
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Riot police in Belarus launched a massive crackdown Saturday on protesters trying to hold a banned march in Minsk. Hundreds were reported arrested, and a human rights leader said many of the detainees had been beaten by police and needed medical attention.

An estimated 700 people were trying to march through a central part of the capital, part of a wave of anti-government protests against a new tax on workers. Truckloads of police intercepted the protesters and attacked them with clubs.

Witnesses said unarmed civilians also were assaulted, and a Reuters reporter said at least 10 journalists were arrested.

Earlier Saturday, officials from the opposition group Vesna-96 said police had raided their headquarters in the capital and detained about 60 activists. All were later released, and there was no official comment on the incident.

Earlier this week, Belarus’ authoritarian president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, said dozens of militants planning an “armed provocation” had been arrested in Minsk and elsewhere in the former Soviet republic.

Lukashenko claims conspiracy

Lukashenko, who has been in power in Minsk since 1994, said the detained militants had undergone training in neighboring Ukraine and had been funded by Poland and Lithuania. Relations between Belarus and those two other neighboring, pro-Western states have been strained throughout Lukashenko’s time in power.

Lukashenko offered no evidence to support his claim that protesters in his capital had been trained and funded by other nations, nor did he provide any details of the alleged plot.

Protesters in Belarus have been staging civil disobedience actions in reaction to a new labor law that forces citizens to pay the government the equivalent of $250 if they work less than six months in a year, or if they fail to register with state labor exchanges.

Belarus, a country of 9.4 million people, has been mired in recession since 2015. Many opponents of the unpopular tax say they are effectively being penalized by the same government that has failed to reduce unemployment.

Responding to mounting public pressure, Lukashenko suspended collection of the unemployment fee earlier this month, but protests have continued.
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