Scenes in central Belgrade tonight as the pro-NATO, pro-EU "Serbia Against Violence" coalition (who everyone here hates, and lost the election badly fair and square) demonstrate their enduring commitment to peace and democracy by...trying to incite a violent insurrection.
This is despite the US ambassador recognising Vucic's win. If this was happening in Washington DC, everyone involved in the nonsense would be in jail. For a very long time. As it stands, ever-tolerant and respectful Serbia will just let the NED-funded moronicity slide.
Some protesters waved EU flags (30% public support for joining, c/o Western-funded polls). Some waved flags bearing the logo of Otpor!, locally hated CIA assets who helped bring down Milosevic. Serbia Against Violence just made even more people hate them. Genius.
Dragan Bjelogrlić, actor, and one of Serbia Against Violence's most prominent members, recently gave an interview in which he blamed the party's loss on stupid peasants living outside Belgrade refusing to vote for them. Which went down well...
A prominent Serbia Against Violence activist has openly admitted staging video footage of pro-government electoral fraud, which was reported on as authentic by compliant media locally. The party *undoubtedly* engaged in fraud for their own benefit.
Of course some protesters will have legitimate grievances. As Otpor! amply demonstrated, legitimate grievances are evilly exploited by Western powers for malign purposes. Which is precisely why most Serbs completely reject the would-be insurrectionists. They know the score.
Also important to note the Serbian government, contrary to its universal characterisation in the Western media, is...pro-Western. The country has much, much closer political, economic, military and diplomatic ties with the EU/US than Russia.
@jatamanssi @Elkinsianna By contrast, I've been violently assaulted and arrested by UK police for quite literally being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and even not having ID (despite this theoretically not being a crime in the UK).
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🧵: Missed this ASTONISHING report from Feb 13th on how Germany's military is considerably *less* battle-ready than it was when the proxy war started. As a result of sending so much equipment to Ukraine, it's basically defenceless, and it will take years to rebuild what was lost.
When proxy war erupted, soon to be ousted Chancellor Scholz gave a bombastic speech about a "historic turning point" (Zeitenwende) that would mean revolutionary change in Europe, including building up Germany's military significantly. But this didn't happen. The *opposite* did.
Despite this, Germany reamins "alongside Poland...tasked by NATO with providing the bulk of ground forces that would act as first responders to any Russian attack on the alliance's eastern flank." Well, they're completely fucked if that happens, aren't they? Like instantly.
🧵: 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.
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.
🧵: Relatedly, I find effort to frame low intensity Donbas civil war Kiev was losing post-Maidan as an unadmitted Russian invasion Ukraine was winning *very* interesting. British intelligence at the forefront, obviously. It was laying foundations for what happened in Feb 2022.
Take for instance this Times article from 2016, which claims Ukraine was experiencing "the Third World War on a tiny scale" in Donbass, and the conflict exposed "secrets" of Russian military doctrine and strategy the West could capitalise on. Complete and utter fantasy.
This article resulted from visit of Ukrainian ultranationalist paramilitaries to UK, arranged by British intelligence. They met with the British Army, journalists, and politicians. Bios of these fighters suggest they were exaggerating their military records *greatly*.
🧵: Answer to this is manifold. Foremost of course, the imperial braintrust was in early 2022 extremely deluded about US/NATO power. Elements remain so today. But in many ways, a Ukrainian loss produces major potential US gains economically, politically and militarily.
On first point, in October 2022, Pentagon released a National Defense Strategy. It failed to once mention China and Russia's 'no limits' partnership, or consider the risk war with one of its major adversaries would mean war with them all, and defeat:
Then too, US officials weren't aware of extent of their defence industrial base's destruction, and enormous problems they would have replenishing ammunition, armour, vehicles and other materiel sent to Ukraine at any pace or scale. This simply wasn't considered until recently.
🧵: ASTONISHING article in TIME about how the Biden administration never had any intention or even desire to help Ukraine win, and was always just going to step away at its behest at some point. We all *knew* this but to have it confirmed is important.
Interesting passage confirming what @TheGrayzoneNews has been reporting since 2022 - the US was legitimately concerned about the proxy war escalating and avoiding that was a key objective, about which the British have consistently been - and remain - furious.
@TheGrayzoneNews Ukraninains likewise furious. Untold billions spent and sent, Washington paying salaries of *all* state workers and keeping country barely functional with 'aid' and 'stimulus', and it ain't enough. Kiev got set up for this and was always going to be betrayed. Stings, doesn't it?
🧵: Western media been frenzied den of worst imaginable takes and 'analysis' from 'journalists', pundits, officials, spooks on Russia consistently, pretty much every minute, since the proxy war started. But let's focus on just one episode - Prigozhin's 'rebellion' in June 2023.
Wagner 'rebellion' was completely irrelevant publicity stunt that resulted in nothing. Prigozhin - who many Russians hadn't even heard of - had zero public or institutional backing. There was no chance of unseating Putin, even vaguely threatening his power, or achieving anything.
However, Western mainstream collectively lost its mind over this incident. @TheGrayzoneNews collated some of the funniest, most hysterical overreactions from dickheads like McFail and @anneapplebaum, who genuinely believed civil war had erupted.