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Professor Nenad Stojanovic: Nationalist politics might cause new conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina

 The political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina still contains of nationalistic tensions since the war in the 90s, because of the ruling partys continuation to operate a nationalistic agenda.

”The thing that should worry us the most is when we see that some of these policies are proto-fascist, because they advocate the ideology of “blood and soil”. And such an ideology has always proved disastrous for humanity, including the peoples in whose name it was implemented,” Stojanovic said.

The discussion must be about eliminating discrimination and reforming the electoral system, abolition of the House of Peoples at the state level, but also at the entity level, because of the unclearness to the inhabitans what they are for. The national interest can be protected within the House of Representatives.

“The international community, and especially the European Union, is still important because it represents a support for at least those residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina who are aware that the policies of certain ethno-national leaders can lead them into new conflicts”, Stojanovic finished.

 

EU will play a fundamental role in the prosecution of Putin’s crimes

The illegal invasion of Ukraine has resulted in huge international condemnation and a call for accountability for the brutal actions made by Vladimir Putin.

”Of all Ukraine’s partners, however, the European Union is best poised to ensure maximum possible accountability, and it can do so by backing a special war crimes chamber within the courts of Ukraine”, Honorary Chairman for Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation and former prime minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt states.

Some national authorities have worked many years to investigate the wave of crime cases by Russia from 2014–2022, but with lacking results. The EU is now observing this carefully.

”This month, the EU Commission proposed strengthening Eurojust’s mandate to include collection and preservation of evidence in Ukraine, and this initiative could form the nucleus for a future court’s prosecution office”, Bildt says.

As mentioned above, the possibilities to bring justice to the Ukrainian people are several, and thankfully, the support from EU is already massive.

 

Victory Day speeches from Zelenskyy and Putin

 

On Victory Day, May 9, both president Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin talked more about the present than the past. Both of them insisted that their respective enemies today were the heirs of the Nazis, and they gave their promise that their countries would succeed in what both of them said was a defensive war they had been forced to fight.

The main difference, however, was that for most people existing beyond the reach of Russian state television, Zelenskyy’s arguments were probably a lot more convincing. Putin has under a long period of time used his May 9 speeches to draw parallels between the second world war and the present day, and this year was nothing new, except for the intensification of the speech, when his army at the same time was fighting a new war.

The West was “rewriting history”, Putin complained, ignoring the fact that his regime has done more than any other in Europe to dismantle free historical inquiry about the war years. 

One of the telegrams Putin sent on the occasion was a message to the Ukrainian people, wanting them to have “good health, success and a long life”. A short while after the speech, air raid sirens sounded again in Kyiv.

Concerning explosions in Transnistria

Early on April 25, as Easter was celebrated in Moldova, several explosions were heard in the separatist region of Transnistria. According to officials in the separatist region, the explosions were heard at the state security ministry building.

Moldovan president Maia Sandu has convened a meeting of Moldova’s supreme security council after the explosions. They have raised great concern in the country, as the United States previously has warned for several false-flag operations in Moldova.

In a statement released by the Moldovan foreign ministry, the government of Moldova stated ”The aim of today’s incident is to create pretexts for straining the security situation in the Transnistrian region.”

 

Emmanuel Macron wins France’s presidential election

The French presidential election on Sunday resulted in a victory for the incumbent president Emmanuel Macron. After the voting stations closed, Macron got 58,5% of the votes, making him the first French leader to be reelected in 20 years, whilst Marine Le Pen got 41,5 %, which is the far right’s best finish in a French presidential election.

Macron’s victory offers continuity for France and another five years of political stability for EU at a time when allies rely on Paris to take a leading role in confronting some of the world’s biggest challenges, especially the war in Ukraine. A Le Pen presidency would have fundamentally changed France’s relationship with the European Union and the West.

Vladimir Kara-Murza still detained in Russia

Russian opposition leader, and longtime partner of the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, Vladimir Kara-Murza is facing a trial in mid-June as Russian authorities have declared him a foreign agent.

Kara-Murza, who worked closely with Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov until his assassination 2015 and has survived two poisoning attempts himself since then, was detained last week and sentenced to 15 days in jail for disobeying police orders. Russian courts have now stated that they intend to prosecute him in mid-June for allegedly spreading false information. The Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation calls for his immediate release.

 

Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation chairman calls for immediate release of Vladimir Kara-Murza

International media reports that Russian opposition politician, academic and long time partner of the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, Vladmir Kara-Murza, has been detained outside his home in Moscow. The detention of Kara-Murza happened immediately after he publically called the Putin regime a “regime of murderers”. Kara-Murza has previously survived two poisoning attempts.

The chairman of the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, Peter Egardt, has issued the following statement:

“I call for the immediate release of Vladimir Kara-Murza, and all other political activists that have been jailed by the Kremlin as they have protested the illegal war in Ukraine. The detention of Kara-Murza shows that the Kremlin is afraid of free speech, the opposition and ultimately the people’s longing for democracy and freedom in Russia”.

Regional Policy Forum: Political will in the battle against corruption is crucial

Last week in Skopje, the Regional Policy Forum discussed the subject ”The Fight Against Corruption: The Western Balkans in Focus”. The panel agreed on the importance of battling corruption of the Western Balkan countries. The Head of Unit DG NEAR for Thematic Support – Rule of Law, Governance and Security, Allan Jones explained that the EU is putting much more focus on raising the awareness of corruption in different sectors – whether education, customs, transport or energy. He also made the point that this requires political will which is essential for combating corruption.

But how then can the Euro-Atlantic partners help the Western Balkans in this battle?

The president of the Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis – Skopje, Marko Troshanovski answered that ”The immediate start of accession of North Macedonia and Albania is an imperative, but also a credible prospect of EU enlargement of the region, as well.” According to Troshanovski, a lot of evidence points out that countries perform better when being under political pressure.

He also believes that the European Commission and the European Council should include the region in the EU rule of law mechanism as soon as possible. 30 billion euros were made on disposal to the region on a 7 year period through the EU economic and investment plan, which, as he says, is a huge amount of money that will enter the region.

US Warns Chinese Official on Support for Russia in Ukraine War

The national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi met in Rome, with the Biden administration increasingly concerned that China is using the Ukraine war to advance Beijing’s long-term interest in its competition with the United States.

Sullivan was seeking clarity on Beijing’s posture and was warning the Chinese anew that assistance for Russia would be costly for them, mainly to help Russia avert sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Western allies.

“The national security adviser and our delegation raised very clearly our concerns about the PRC’s support to Russia in the wake of the invasion, and the implications that any such support would have for the PRC’s relationship not only with us, but for its relationships around the world,” the State Department spokesman Ned Price said, using the initials for the People’s Republic of China.

New campaign launched against Russian forces

The Biden administration has launched a new campaign with the purpose to document potential war crimes committed by Russian forces who invaded Ukraine. 45 out of the 57 member states in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) defied Russia and its ally Belarus by approving plans to dispatch a team of OSCE experts to document potential war crimes.

Since the Russian invasion began late last month, several documented instances of Russians targeting residential areas inside Ukraine has occurred, including schools and hospitals, with bombs, missiles and artillery. Russian forces have also been accused of using cluster munitions and thermobaric rockets, both forbidden under international arms treaty regimes.

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