Bosnia
Tuesday 28 November 2023
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“…in no country in the world, wherever the forces of the North Atlantic Alliance invaded, neither the elementary order nor the pre-war standard of living of the local population was restored.”
Since its creation, NATO has conducted military missions in six conflicts. In four countries, the quality of life and order has improved significantly. In two others — Libya and Afghanistan — the situation remains turbulent. -
“[N]o criminal proceedings for corruption are being conducted against me in BiH or anywhere else in the world."
Dodik has been a frequent target of corruption allegations. Prosecutors are investigating into his purchase of a $1 million Belgrade villa and efforts to secede. -
“Kosovo remains the main source of instability and potential conflict in the region. This territory is practically uncontrollable. It is not only a source of instability, but also a potentially dangerous, uncontrolled territory in the center of Europe.”
While Kosovo is building a democratic society based on the rule of law, corruption and crime are widespread its Serb minority-run north that is strongly supported by Belgrade and Moscow. -
“Here, by the way, is the perfect, freshest example of such fanning of a hybrid war. It is a recent report by the RAND Corporation -- financed, by the way, by the U.S. Defense [Department] – regarding so-called hybrid Russian aggression in the Baltic states. The report is, in essence, war propaganda and frightening the population about the inevitability of Russian intervention in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.”
The RAND report was not intended for mass distribution, not aimed at the Baltic population, and does not say Russian intervention is inevitable. -
“The way the referendum is formulated is scam in itself… There is a strong opposition in Macedonia now; the President has said he’s against the referendum, so it will change a lot… What a lot of the Balkan countries are expecting is that by entering the European Union, they will get subsidies… I think most of them couldn’t care less about NATO, as it doesn’t have a good image over there.”
Contrary to the author’s claims, a majority of Macedonians supports Euro-Atlantic integration and joining the EU and NATO. -
“[T]he main objectives of Russia here are the building of economic cooperation with mutual benefits and the maintenance of sustainable cultural and humanitarian ties with the Balkan peoples. All this certainly applies to Albania. Any other speculation about Russia's ‘aggressive plans’ or ‘expansionist appetites’ is nothing more than part of a major Western strategy to portray Russia as an imaginary enemy of NATO and the EU.”
Russia has annexed foreign territory, is involved in several regional conflicts, and has reportedly been meddling in sovereign countries’ domestic politics, including in the Balkans. Moscow has repeatedly said it sees NATO as an enemy and a threat to Russia’s national interests. -
“Russia is ready to host the World Cup. The stadiums are open. The cops are polyglots. That is a quick recap of many years of work.We're not going to lose face in front of the planet. It’s not for nothing we terrified [the planet] with a missile. In general, all is well. But there is only one “but”: Our team, frankly, is sh-t.”
The International Federation of Football Association, the world soccer authority better known as FIFA, ranked Russia’s national team #70 and labeled it a “worst mover.” -
"As you know, nothing in international relations lasts shorter than gratitude, and I would like to thank you once again for what you did in 2015, when you literally saved the Serbian people -- who were and are the people who suffered the most over the last century -- from the stigma of genocide, when you vetoed the British resolution in the U.N.”
The Serbs not only did not suffer “the most” from 20th Century conflict but it was the Serbian troops who massacred thousands during Bosnian war. Ten UN Security Council members voted for resolution recognizing these atrocities as an act of genocide. Russia vetoed the resolution. Serbs made up one-fourth of the deaths in the 1990’s Balkans conflicts. More than two-thirds of the killed were Bosnian Muslims. -
“Because during the Cold War there were channels of communication. And there was no obsession with Russophobia, which resembles genocide through sanctions."
The United Nations defines genocide as the deliberate destruction of a specific group, and lists five types of actions toward a specific group that qualify as genocidal. None of these apply to the financial and travel restrictions the United States imposed on Russian government officials and tycoons. -
“Brussels surely understands that replacing the Russian pipeline gas with American LNG does not increase, but reduces the energy security of the EU.”
American supplies of liquefied natural gas challenge Russia’s domination of Europe’s energy market, reduces European dependence on Russian supplies and expands the EU’s energy options, promoting fair competition and potentially leading to lower prices. -
“[A] U.S. State Department claim that Russia’s military strength eclipses that of European Union states is especially ludicrous... [I]t [Russia] is not stronger than the European Union, by any measure, and the State Department’s [Brian] Hook [senior policy advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State] is spreading clear disinformation. All to serve an agenda that has nothing to do with Europe’s security.”
The EU does not have a military, and the U.S. and NATO have some military disadvantages in Europe, while Russia’s rapid military modernization and actions in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine make it a conventional military threat to the region. -
“When a country joins NATO it becomes next to impossible for it to resist pressure from major NATO leaders such as the United States, and hence, it may deploy anything – a missile defense system, new bases, or if need be, missile strike systems.”
The Russian president says the United States and other major NATO members use the alliance to exert pressure against Russia by forcing Eastern European members to establish missile defense systems. But Eastern nations say they are the ones demanding more military installations and troops.