🧵: For those within the Empire's inner core, the full, seismic implications of Trump's "aid" suspension may not be fully obvious. But here in the Balkans, where USAID/NED has penetrated every sphere of public, political and even daily life, the impact is absolutely monumental.
In Bosnia, all basic functions of the state were post-war forcibly outsourced to USAID, NED, Soros, etc. On top of enfeebling the local population, it created enormous opportunities for grift and corruption, which anyone who could took full advantage of.
mintpressnews.com/enslaved-nonpr…
Not every country in the region is quite so dependent, although there are entire sectors of local economies where the only employment opportunities are with USAID/NED/etc-funded orgs. And this isn't restricted to the Balkans - similar story elsewhere in the former Soviet sphere.
As mighty @sopjap and @rochowanski have recorded, in Georgia foreign civil society penetration produces significant chilling effect on the local population. People know if they say the 'wrong' things, there can be personal and professional consequences.
lefteast.org/unrest-georgia…
@sopjap @rochowanski This is, of course, all by design. Citizens forced to rely on foreign-funded and controlled entities for almost everything in the process do, learn to do, and can do almost nothing themselves. It’s imposed dependency of historic colonial systems, updated for the 21st century.
Details of US aid cuts in Balkans quite unbelievable if you comprehend how penetrated region is by USAID etc. Potentially millions of people out of work with no guarantee if the pause is genuinely "temporary" or not. And Trump admin doesn't give a fuck.
balkaninsight.com/2025/01/30/tru…
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