International events

[A Horse Named Stranger]

We haven't had a story about FrontEx (EU border guards/goons) and illegal pushbacks in a while. If you missed those stories, here you go you are welcome. If on the other hand you are decent human being with empathy and stuff. This makes grim reading.

Thick and thin of it. EU (frontex) is now doing pushbacks by proxy, namely a Lybian militia doing pullbacks. Special kicker in this story. Those goons that do the EU dirty work also very likely have a hand in human trafficking (putting people on the boats in the first place).

[Rippounet]

3 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

We haven't had a story about FrontEx (EU border guards/goons) and illegal pushbacks in a while. If you missed those stories, here you go you are welcome. If on the other hand you are decent human being with empathy and stuff. This makes grim reading.

Thick and thin of it. EU (frontex) is now doing pushbacks by proxy, namely a Lybian militia doing pullbacks. Special kicker in this story. Those goons that do the EU dirty work also very likely have a hand in human trafficking (putting people on the boats in the first place).

For a second there, I thought this was the climate change thread.

I don't think I need to explain why.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Was about to drop a link there, too.

[Zorral]

With Navalny’s whereabouts still unknown, Kremlin targets novelist Akunin

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/19/navalny-akunin-repression-russia-putin/

Quote

 

.... As Russia’s weapons factories churn out arms 24 hours a day, the nation’s security apparatus is equally industrious, jailing activists and trying to intimidate leading exiled cultural figures critical of the war. These include a beloved detective novelist, Grigory Chkhartishvili, who is famous for a series of historical whodunnits written under the pen name Boris Akunin.

The famed detective novelist Grigory Chkhartishvili, who writes under the pen name Boris Akunin, has spoken out against the Russian war in Ukraine from exile and has been placed on a list of individuals classified by Moscow as terrorists or extremists. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images)
One of Russia’s most popular novelists, he wrote a series of books about a fictional Russian detective in imperial times, the handsome, brave and incorruptible Erast Petrovich Fandorin, whose only flaw is a misfortune in gambling.

Chkhartishvili, 67, who left Russia in 2014 after Putin illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea and is based in London, is a strong critic of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and continues to call for aid for Ukraine.

“Terrorists declared me a terrorist,” he wrote Monday after Russian authorities designated him a terrorist. He added that Russia had “fallen under the power of criminals” and warned that even darker times lie ahead.

“A seemingly minor event, the banning of books, the declaration of some writer as a terrorist, is in fact an important milestone,” Chkhartishvili wrote. “Books have not been banned in Russia since Soviet times. Writers have not been accused of terrorism since the Great Terror.” He was referring to Stalin’s brutal 1930s purges in which millions of people were shot or sent to the gulag prison camp system. ....

 

I've enjoyed his books very much -- terrific winter reads.

[3CityApache]

Hilarious chain of events in Polish state media, especially TV, after their management was sacked by the new government. PiS representatives try to occupy state TV headquarters, claiming the're defending freedom of speech and such bullshit, after eight years of transforming it into a propaganda tube.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67772070

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

2 hours ago, 3CityApache said:

Hilarious chain of events in Polish state media, especially TV, after their management was sacked by the new government. PiS representatives try to occupy state TV headquarters, claiming the're defending freedom of speech and such bullshit, after eight years of transforming it into a propaganda tube.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67772070

Let me guess… this is the equivalent of Fox, Newsmax, and OAN claiming they are the true defenders of “free speech” and calling them on their horseshit is opposing “free speech”?

[Padraig]

3 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Let me guess… this is the equivalent of Fox, Newsmax, and OAN claiming they are the true defenders of “free speech” and calling them on their horseshit is opposing “free speech”?

Its kind of intriguing.  There doesn't seem to be an argument about this network's previous existence as a propaganda machine.  The important point is that it was the "right kind" of propaganda.  And this political party deserves to have a channel to spout their propaganda.  The fact that the state funded is not particularly relevant either.  Their "truth" is correct and it needs to be heard unsullied by other viewpoint.  Ethics in journalism is for losers.

Its a scary mindset.  Best of luck to Poland.

(At least, that is how it is been reported here).

[TheLastWolf]

Elections for a lot of major global players next year

[A Horse Named Stranger]

On 12/22/2023 at 2:36 PM, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Let me guess… this is the equivalent of Fox, Newsmax, and OAN claiming they are the true defenders of “free speech” and calling them on their horseshit is opposing “free speech”?

Not exactly. Faux News was/is not state media (private media they can act like the GOP propaganda all they like). Think of it as the BBC turned into Fox News by appointments.

[Zorral]

Russia Sees a Western Hand Behind Serbian Street Protests

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/25/world/europe/russia-us-serbia-street-protests.html

Quote

 

.... Previously peaceful street protests in Belgrade over what the opposition says was a rigged general election on Dec. 17 turned ugly on Sunday after protesters tried to storm the capital’s City Council building and were met by volleys of tear gas from riot police officers.

The Russian ambassador, in a television interview, said there was “irrefutable evidence” that the “riot” had been incited by the West. This echoed claims by Serbia’s strongman leader, President Aleksandar Vucic, that his government had come under attack from outside forces seeking a “color revolution,” a term coined by Russia to describe popular revolts that it invariably dismisses as Western conspiracies. ....

.... Protests against the election continued on Monday. A demonstration led by university students attracted only a modest turnout but blocked traffic on a central Belgrade street to government headquarters. ....

 

 

[Padraig]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

Russia Sees a Western Hand Behind Serbian Street Protests

Sure.  The West dared say there were serious election irregularities.  Russia avoids such excitement.

[baxus]

There are very few things in life I'd love more than Serbia finally telling Russia to fuck off. I can't stand every single of our governments licking their boots and presenting it as trying to balance between the East and the West.

[kissdbyfire]

Three weeks ago:

 

Five days ago:

 

[House Balstroko]

On 12/27/2023 at 10:56 PM, baxus said:

There are very few things in life I'd love more than Serbia finally telling Russia to fuck off. I can't stand every single of our governments licking their boots and presenting it as trying to balance between the East and the West.

As long as Serbia isn’t in the EU, successive governments are likely to take that approach. Vučic just being the latest example of that. I also suspect that amongst elderly Serbs, there is still a lot of affinity towards Russia, which is viewed as a brotherly nation. Perhaps that’s changing now, as more people are seeing Russia as being unreliable (refusal to support Armenia). 

[Bironic]

The recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent by Russia, as well as the annexation of Ukrainian territory is seen by a significant part of Serbians (including people in the government) as eerily similar to the recognition of Kosovo and the breakup of Yugoslavia. Combined with an influx of anti-Putin/anti-war Russians, this has lead to a reevaluation of the Serbian-Russian relations.

Serbia for example sells weapons to Ukraine via western intermediaries, something that would have been unimaginable some time ago.

 

[House Balstroko]

1 hour ago, Bironic said:

The recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent by Russia, as well as the annexation of Ukrainian territory is seen by a significant part of Serbians (including people in the government) as eerily similar to the recognition of Kosovo and the breakup of Yugoslavia. Combined with an influx of anti-Putin/anti-war Russians, this has lead to a reevaluation of the Serbian-Russian relations.

Serbia for example sells weapons to Ukraine via western intermediaries, something that would have been unimaginable some time ago.

 

Yes, it’s clear that the relationship has somewhat changed over the decades. Kosovo will always be a sticking point for Serbs. 

[The Anti-Targ]

On 12/28/2023 at 9:58 AM, kissdbyfire said:

Three weeks ago:

 

Five days ago:

 

Hyperinflation is only caused by 2 things: supply shocks and corruption. It seems the latter is most of the reason Argentina has been experiencing hyperinflation. Maybe Milei will do something about the corruption. But maybe not.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

2 hours ago, Bironic said:

The recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent by Russia, as well as the annexation of Ukrainian territory is seen by a significant part of Serbians (including people in the government) as eerily similar to the recognition of Kosovo and the breakup of Yugoslavia. Combined with an influx of anti-Putin/anti-war Russians, this has lead to a reevaluation of the Serbian-Russian relations.

Serbia for example sells weapons to Ukraine via western intermediaries, something that would have been unimaginable some time ago.

 

Serbia were also a key player in the sanction busting by EU companies (Belgian company setting up an ammo factory in Serbia to deliver the goods to Russia). So it's not like Serbia has turned its back on Russia entirely.

On an unrelated note, wasn't growing Chinese influence not the bigger issue.

[baxus]

9 hours ago, House Balstroko said:

As long as Serbia isn’t in the EU, successive governments are likely to take that approach. Vučic just being the latest example of that. I also suspect that amongst elderly Serbs, there is still a lot of affinity towards Russia, which is viewed as a brotherly nation. Perhaps that’s changing now, as more people are seeing Russia as being unreliable (refusal to support Armenia). 

One would think that Russia is loved by elderly people but I'd say that many (if not majority) of the young people feel the same.

There's a lot of history (both real and fake/misinterpreted) between the countries and people, and a lot of people in Serbia see Russia as kind of big brother that will come to their rescue if needed.

I'm not sure that this view of Russia is changing that much. It's definitely not changing fast enough for my liking.

3 hours ago, Bironic said:

The recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent by Russia, as well as the annexation of Ukrainian territory is seen by a significant part of Serbians (including people in the government) as eerily similar to the recognition of Kosovo and the breakup of Yugoslavia. Combined with an influx of anti-Putin/anti-war Russians, this has lead to a reevaluation of the Serbian-Russian relations.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you base this on? Don't get me wrong, I'd absolutely love it if this was true, but my impression is completely different.

If anything, Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory is not frowned upon, but rather seen as "oh, you show them now what they are doing to us with Kosovo" and Western attitude to Kosovo and Ukraine situations is seen as proof of their hypocrisy.

As far as this "influx of anti-Putin/anti-war Russians", there have even been cases of these people being physically attacked by Serbian nationalists.

God, I wish you guys were right and I lived in Serbia as you describe it. It still wouldn't be great, but it would at least be moving in the right direction.

[Maltaran]

Queen Margrethe of Denmark has announced she is abdicating 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67854395

Hopefully the British royals will start following this European fashion