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Yeah, but the EU has not formally acknowledged Kosovo since a few of its' member states also do not recognize it. Kosovo gets significant support from some EU member states and it is pretty clear that acknowledging its' independence will be a condition of Serbia's membership, but the EU is forced to be mostly neutral on this issue.
A worrying trend. I have also read that the government likes to demonize media that belong to foreign investors since those tend to be independent and thus critical of the government. A popular is the German Springer group that owns a newspaper.
Hungary already did that and it ended up in colossal failure, not because it has anything good but the execution or timing is bad. It is just fucking bad...
Why do they want to follow a failure that is inherently bad and wrong? I already know the answer to that question, but it is still mind-boggling. They want to go authoritarian without actually becoming one (I know that Poland is kinda already becoming one, but officially it is still a democracy, albeit a really flawed one.) and pissing off the EU, but all they are going to get is another financial and social disaster. Heck, wanting to become authoritarian is already a problem. Those old and middle-aged people suffer from some simultaneous age crisis and everyone else have to suffer for it...
I'm not as witty as I think I am. It's a scientifically-proven fact.
And that's it, folks! The EPP has officially had enough of Fidesz' shit and voted to introduce a new rule that allows entire groups who are suspended/expelled from the EPP to be suspended in the EP fraction as well, blocking them from exercising their rights as EP MPs.
On Sunday, Fidesz openly threatened to quit the EPP if this goes through. Earlier today it went through, so as of one hour ago Fidesz officially declared that they're leaving the EPP's fraction, effective immediately.
Edited by amitakartok on Mar 3rd 2021 at 12:28:34 PM
"You can't fire me, I QUIT!"
So, the new question is whether they join ECR or ID. Though it'd also be funny if Jobbik joined the EPP (though it might be too soon for that).
Edited by Ramidel on Mar 3rd 2021 at 2:35:32 AM
Remember that rule of law legislation thing Hungary was trying to sink in December by threatening to veto the EU's budget in retaliation, but for which a compromise was eventually reached in that it will not enter force until the EU investigates the Hungarian govt's grievances with it?
EU says they might start applying it to Hungary as early as next week, to which the Hungarian govt officially announced that they're taking the law to court to get it withdrawn because they absolutely will not let it stand.
The EU also announced that they're passing a declaration to announce the EU as an "LGBT-welcome zone", in obvious response to the Polish government having done the opposite back during elections which resulted in 100 municipalities declaring themselves "LGBT-free zones".
Edited by amitakartok on Mar 11th 2021 at 3:29:42 PM
Seems like with there being no migrants to demonize due to the pandemic, Fidesz' propagandists found their next topic to push: DK insisted a few months ago that no Covid vaccine not yet given the green light by the EU's medicinal authorities (Sinopharm in particular) should be used because "it'd be little better than human experimentation".
Which the propagandists are interpreting as the entire opposition being anti-vaxxer and deliberately wanting as many people to die in the pandemic as possible in order to increase their election chances next year. And now that the head of the DK got his vaccine dose yesterday, Fidesz is calling him a hypocrite in addition to anti-vaxxer (when in truth the whole opposition is openly telling people to go vaccinate themselves because this is a life-or-death matter).
An incident that gained some attention in Germany and apparantly quite a lot in Hungary, German soccer club Hertha BSC has fired its' Hungarian goalkeeper coach for his inflammatory remarks against LBGTQ and migrants.
https://hungarytoday.hu/zsolt-petry-sacking-reactions-fidesz-freedom-of-opinion/
Edited by Zarastro on Apr 9th 2021 at 10:43:23 AM
Vice News interviews Irma Baralija from Mostar, a member of the Naša stranka (Our Party), which welcomes Bosnians from all ethnicities and religions. The party is the first one (which I know) that wants to challenge the perception of voting for the Bosnian parties that center on Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs.
It also looks at the High Representative office established after the Dayton Accord.
Edited by Ominae on Apr 24th 2021 at 1:13:12 AM
Best of luck to her. East Europe certainly need a break and someone different from the usual fascist or fascist-esque groups.
In other news, pressure from the EU has finally gotten the Hungarian govt to annul a controversial law from the Soros Scare several years ago forcing NGOs to declare how much foreign funding they receive in order to be publicly listed as such.
Also, Fidesz is still pushing the "opposition is anti-vaxxer" narrative on full blast, having even started a cold-calling propaganda campaign to that end.
Edited by amitakartok on Apr 24th 2021 at 3:15:09 PM
In her case, it's to break the status quo since Bosnia being divided according to ethnic lines is not doing the country any good.
According to a recent poll and statistical analysis, Fidesz is now more right-wing than Jobbik and in the past 3-4 years, the percentage of Fidesz voters who self-identify as radical has doubled while Jobbik's decreased. A demographic group of hardcore nationalists has also appeared for whom Hungary's independence from foreign influences is more important than pandemic control, national welfare and democracy (though at the same time, there's a roughly equally-sized group of hardcore federalists who take the opposite stance and consider our obligations towards the EU as highest priority).
Also, in the past weeks, Fidesz has been funneling gigantic amounts of state property, both funds and property, into private hands. In particular, just last week they passed a law that handed over financial control of nearly all state-owned universities and colleges to foundations led by curators whom future governments cannot dismiss before their nine-year tenure is up unless the law is annulled, which will require a supermajority. Just earlier this week, Orbán explicitly said that the curators will be chosen according to their ideological beliefs to prevent the curriculum from being infiltrated by ideas like gender politics.
And it's not just the universities. Literally hundreds of billions's worth of property is being funneled out of state control. According to multiple political analysts, Orbán is preparing for losing the 2022 elections by ensuring financial security for Fidesz and the means to have fingers in a lot of pies even without parliament.
Darn, there goes my old "fascists for democracy" joke. Fun while it lasted.
A video on Muslims living in the Balkans. Croatian Muslims are seen as a model for the country.
For Muslims in Serbia.... it's a problem from after the Yugoslav Wars.
In the name of being honest
BBC: Belarus 'diverts Ryanair flight to arrest journalist', says opposition.
The opposition Nexta channel on Telegram said its ex-editor Roman Protasevich had been detained.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda accused Belarus of an "abhorrent action" and demanded his release.
Belarus state media said the plane had been diverted because of a bomb scare.
Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was beaten by Alexander Lukashenko last year in presidential polls widely denounced as rigged, also demanded Mr Protasevich's release.
Since August's election the 66-year-old Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, has cracked down on dissenting voices, with many opposition figures either arrested or, like Ms Tikhanovskaya, fleeing into exile.
In the UK, Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, said that "forcing an aircraft to land to silence opposition voices is an attack on democracy".
The diversion of Flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday was carried on the flightradar124 website, showing the plane turning east to Minsk shortly before it reached the Lithuania border. Ryanair has not yet responded to a request for comments.
Russian media quoted the Minsk airport press service as saying the plane had made an emergency landing following a bomb scare.
Belta, the state-owned news agency in Belarus, said Mr Lukashenko had personally given the order for the plane to land at Minsk following the bomb alert, and that a MiG-29 fighter jet had been despatched to accompany the Ryanair plane.
Nexta said no bomb was found on board and the passengers were searched, after which Mr Protasevich, 26, was detained.
In a series of tweets, Ms Tikhanovskaya accused the Belarus government of forcing the plane to land to arrest Mr Protasevich, who she said faced the death penalty as he has been categorised as a terrorist.
She said Mr Protasevich had left Belarus in 2019 and covered the events of the 2020 presidential election with Nexta, after which criminal charges were filed against him in Belarus.
Western leaders have backed Ms Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory in the election before she was forced to leave Belarus for Lithuania. She had become a candidate after her husband was jailed and barred from running.
Tens of thousands of protesters thronged the capital Minsk for months last year, furious at Mr Lukashenko's declaration of victory. There have been numerous cases of police brutality and some 2,700 prosecutions this year alone.
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
"Diverts" as in "Send a Mig-29 into foreign (EU) airspace to basically force the plane to divert to Minsk"
And if that sounds like an act of war to you, *it is*.
"You can reply to this Message!"
Is it an act of war when the wounded parties won't treat it as such?
Right now, they're mostly talking about sanctions.
Yes, in the same way punching someone in the face is still assault even if the victim chooses not to press charges.
Edited by Kayeka on May 23rd 2021 at 7:10:03 PM
A procrastination in of itself
Whoes airspace did they enter and what the hell were their air-defences doing during this?
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
In the name of being honest
The Flightradar24 link shows the plane being in Belarusian airspace when it was turned back, just FYI.
A procrastination in of itself
That would make more sense, as I don’t see Belarus sending aircraft all the way across Ukraine to Romania, nor do I see Poland responding to Belarus military aircraft entering Poland by doing anything other than intercepting and potentially shooting them.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
That's a lot of flack to catch and levers to pull just to get one journalist in shackles, Lukashenko...
Guy is really full Bond villain now, with tactics like that.
Tikhanouskaya should probably not be in Vilnius if he is willing to do stuff like this....
Analysts are putting the Belarusian KGB as the planners that nailed Roman Protasevich with the supposed bomb threat.
The plane was suppose to head to Lithuania, but the Belarusian fighter jet got called in when the plane was almost entering Lithuanian airspace while it was exiting Belarusian airspace.
Edited by Ominae on May 24th 2021 at 8:50:48 AM
The EU has agreed to sanction Belarus over the incident and will also direct airlines not to use Belarussian airspace going forward. The US is assessing whether to do the same at the moment.
Who wants to hit private media across the face? Our Polish gov.
I don't know all the details, but under pretenses of COVID (I wish I could explain the slightest lick of sense of it) the government is planning to additionally tax private media of all kinds: TV, radio, the internet, you name it. Various open letters point out that this move will not only heavily favour public media (which has long been a propaganda tube, and received a hefty bonus not too long ago), but drive smaller media to ruin. (while the big outlets are presumably going to be hurt, but not to that extent, as is usually the case)
To protest that, most private media outlets have closed down for 24 hours. The few that haven't are either far-right rags or cannot afford to close down. The opposition, as is the case, is happy to lambast those small, oftentimes local, media rather than, you know, oppose this stupid tax wholesale.
We'd seen this happen in Hungary; a 50% tax on private media ruined most outlets there all the way back in 2014. Looks like we're next.
grah