Thread by @FreedomFriesInc

Brief thread: The Republic of Serbia

Two current world news stories this week reminded me of Serbia's recent history of civil unrest and war:

>The first #SeditiousConspiracy charges filed in relation to 1/6.

>Novak Djokovic's twice cancelled Australian entry visa.

The first 1/6 seditionist charged with sedition invoked former Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević as the loser of the 2000 presidential election, who was overthrown by a violent uprising.

Except that he would have been on the side of Milošević.

Novak Djokovic is a highly successful tennis champion, who has brought shame upon his native Serbia by repeatedly and brazenly mistreating Australians during a severe Covid wave.

AU affects the pandemic in nearby NZ, so I have real skin in the game.

theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan…

Novak committed immigration and other fraud at various times in the months leading up to the events in AU. This contributes to the AU federal government being well within it's rights to cancel his visa & deport him, which entails an automatic 3 year ban on entering the country.

It's become vitally important for AU to ensure no special treatment for foreign VIPs. AU citizens have a right of return. Many of them are still trying to exercise this right and are hampered by the bottleneck caused by the ups and downs of the pandemic. The outcry has been loud.

There are many causes of the various wars among the states of the former Yugoslavia since the fall of the Soviet bloc (early 1990s.)

Ethnic nationalism & religious bigotry are high on the list of causes. An estimated 90% of Serbians are "Christian," mostly Eastern Orthodox.

In the small "breakaway republic" of Kosovo an estimated 97% of people are Muslim. 97 is also the number of countries that currently recognize the independence of Kosovo. Serbia is trying to somehow gain EU membership while still pretending to own Kosovo. Good luck. /sarcasm

The 1/6 seditionists and hangers-on have something in common with the tennis player and the rogue state. Inadequate respect for the rule of law and the rights of others.

In each example, guardians of the truly free and peaceful countries stood firm. And we always will.

The current state of the world is a much needed reminder of the Age of Enlightenment.

Modern civilization, liberty, human rights, and science depend upon a sufficiently educated population. In recent decades, our standards have dropped. The fault is on both sides.

Education is much more than formal schooling.

We all have the choice every day to become more educated, or not.

Those too young to remember the 1990s Balkan wars would do well to learn about them. They're relevant to 2022.

A healthy democracy is something to strive for and protect. The public are at a disadvantage when cult leaders and politicians (often the same thing) are able to brainwash and gaslight the public to a large extent like right now.

Self-education is the answer, IMO.

This 2014 blog made the case for democracy at a time before the violent far right GQP "came out."

I found it when searching for the quote "democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” -Churchill

END

blogs.fcdo.gov.uk/petermillett/2…