Are the justice systems of European states being hijacked by the USA? The case of the Tate brothers in Romania, who were allowed to leave the country under U.S. pressure, suggests this might be the case. Spoke to German-born Romanian politician Dominic Fritz about this. Background: Fritz was born and grew up in Germany, but moved to Romania in 2019, where he was elected mayor of Timișoara, the country’s third-largest city. He was re-elected in 2024. He is also the first vice chairman of the liberal opposition party Save Romania Union (USR).

„NATO did the wrong thing in the Kosovo war, because it bombed Christian Serbs to help Muslim Albanians, whereas it should have been the other way around.“ In a nutshell, this is what the far right in Europe or Alt-Right in the US say about NATO bombing Serbia in 1999. While this narrative is wrong in many ways (it is a cliché that the Yugoslav wars of dissolution were primarily about religion) in the case of Kosovo, there is another aspect that does not fit into this perspective:

The protesting students in Serbia receive a lot of attention and support, including from world famous pop icons such as Madonna or Yanis Varoufakis. However, one segment of Serbian society has received little attention: pensioners.

https://x.com/yanisvaroufakis/status/1886827293504389314

As in all of Europe´s aging states, the age cohort of 60+ is of particular numerical and political relevance in Serbia. They make up nearly 30% of the population, 36% of eligible voters, and even 40% of those who actually do go out and vote regularly.

The protest movement in Serbia is remarkably leaderless. Serbian students are the driving force behind the protests, but there is not a single name that could be clearly associated with leading the protests. A thread on Serbia. ⬇️ The leaderlessnes of the protests so far makes it impossible for the government's media to pursue their usual tactics. In recent years, whenever a rival emerged who seemed to even remotely threaten the power of Serbian president Vučić, the script was always the same:

Russia-bashing is en vogue, and for good reasons: Russia is a terror and mafia state, capable of any evil. However, not everything that goes wrong in the Western world can be blamed on Russia. Take the example of Romania. In Romania, a highly corrupt local elite of so-called National Liberals, self-proclaimed Social Democrats and a president desperately looking for a new post, attempted to manipulate the presidential election. When their gamble failed, the perpetrators cried: "Russia is to blame!"

Romania: Supported by a compliant judiciary, the power triangle of outgoing President Klaus Iohannis, the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) attempts to undermine the results of a democratic election because they disapprove of the outcome. One of the narratives this triangle relies on: “It’s all Russia’s fault.” Indeed, there should be a thorough investigation into how Călin Georgescu, the winner of the first round of the Romanian presidential election, financed his evidently very successful TikTok campaign.

Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, German money, Russian gas, and Ukraine - a (very long) thread based on Angela Merkel's memoirs and my article on this topic today in Frankfurter Allgemeine/FAZ: Germany's Russia policy in recent decades was hypocritical and dishonest. In her memoirs, Angela Merkel now claims that other actors also had their hypocritical and dishonest moments – especially Poland, Ukraine, and the USA.

Some remarks on Moldova, where pro-European president Maia Sandu might lose power in the elections on Nov. 3rd. True, Russia has influenced the elections in an unprecedented way – but that is only one side of the story. Mediocre governance and broken promises are the other. Russian involvement – not only, but mainly via the fugitive criminal oligarch Ilan Șor – was unprecedented. Colleagues from the investigative paper (yes, there is a print version) Ziarul de Gardă managed to infiltrate the network and describe how it works:
moldovamatters.substack.com/p/election-upd…

"Many (of you) Germans are great at drawing exactly the wrong lessons from the Holocaust - the ones that are most convenient for you and that cost you nothing."

This is a story not only, but also, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Hamas terror of October 7. ⬇️ A while ago I traveled to the Polish city of Wrocław, to attend a bar mitzvah to which I was invited. It was the first bar mitzvah in my life, I was really looking forward to this event - but it turned out completely different than I expected.

Deutschland will „europäische Lösungen“ in der Migrationspolitik & kritisiert asylpolitische Alleingänge, die es aber ständig selbst unternimmt. Zum wachsenden Unmut der EU-Partner. Ein Beispiel: Der deutsche Sonderweg beim Umgang mit abgelehnten Asylbewerbern. (Ja, ein 🧵) Das gibt es in dieser Form in keinem anderen EU-Staat: Deutschland zahlt selbst letztinstanzlich abgelehnten Asylbewerbern, die das Land eigentlich verlassen müssten und ausreisefähig sind, Sozialleistungen. Das ist sozusagen eine Prämie für den Rechtsbruch des Dableibens.

Talked to several former and current German ambassadors about why German diplomacy in general and the Auswärtige Amt in particular must prepare for war – and support the German defense industry much more than in the past. A thread. Double standards still prevail in 🇩🇪 when it comes to questions about war and peace. Of course, Germans are for peace. But please without weapons! And for free. In public, Germans want their perfect world. The dogs of war must stay outside.

There is currently a struggle in Europe over whether Europe's youngest state (Kosovo, founded in 2008) should be allowed to join the oldest club of European democracies (Council of Europe, CoE, founded in 1949). It is also a struggle about European credibility. 🧵⬇️ Although France and Germany do not decide on the issue alone, they play a central role in the decision. That is why Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic recently visited Paris to agitate against Kosovo's membership.
rferl.org/a/vucic-macron…

Belgrade is Europe's largest city without a subway. Unfortunately, it is also Europe's largest city without a wastewater treatment plant and a proper sewage system. In Belgrade, the feces of 1.7 million people and all kinds of industrial effluents reach the Danube untreated. 🧵⬇️ In April 2022, the German Andreas Fath started an experiment. He wanted to swim down the Danube, (almost) from the source in Germany to the mouth in Romania. 2857 kilometers. (Apart from the first few kilometers, as there the Danube is too shallow for swimming).

The fictional Serbian exodus from Kosovo - how Serbian state statistics disprove a Serbian legend. A thread. The word “exodus” is, apart from the word “genocide”, a favorite term of the Serbian government, Serbian freelance nationalists & some Serbian media to describe the allegedly life threatening situation of the Serbs in Kosovo.
kosovo-online.com/en/news/politi…

In August 2022, I argued that a new war was not looming in the Balkans. That was right at the time, but now, in February 2024, this assessment should be partially revised. Bloodshed in Kosovo might be in the cards indeed. Here are the main indicators:

https://twitter.com/Andric1961/status/1554189010742001666

One of the lessons of the war in Ukraine is: If politicians talk, take them seriously. In his texts, speeches and interviews, Vladimir Putin openly announced that he thought Ukraine as an independent state (or “Anti-Russia”) had no right to exist and Moscow would act accordingly.

Interviewed Serbian opposition leader Marinika Tepić, who went on a hunger strike in protest against what the opposition and international observers say were numerous irregularities in Serbia's latest elections. Some excerpts: Marinika Tepić demands that what the opposition calls vote theft be acknowledged: “We cannot agree to the legalization of lawlessness in Serbia.” According to her, the organizer of this theft is Serbian President Vučić, “supported by parts of the police.”

In September 2000, 18 Serbian opposition parties joined forces to challenge Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević at elections. They won. Today, 9 Serbian opposition parties challenge president Alexander Vučić. Some remarks on the elections in Serbia. The most crucial difference between 2000 and 2023 is a) the economy and b) the international position of Serbia. Serbia in 2000 was economically a disaster and internationally isolated. Neither is true for today's Serbia.

On the difference between real ethnic cleansings and alleged or fake “ethnic cleansings” And why it is important that politicians of the democratic world do not remain silent when attempts are made to invent an ethnic cleansing. More precisely: On Serbia and Kosovo. Achtung: 🧵 When you listen to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, his foreign minister Dačić or his Prime Minister Brnabić & their media-mouthpieces, you could believe that Kosovo is hell on earth for Serbs living there:
b92.net/eng/news/polit…

Some thoughts on the recent bloodshed in Kosovo. When Yugoslavia violently disintegrated in the 1990ies, Serbia played a cynical game: While troops financed and sent into battle by Belgrade plundered, murdered and conquered in Croatia and Bosnia, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević pretended he had nothing to do with it.

The Western Balkan countries already know it from experience, Ukraine and Moldova are about to find out: There is no such thing as EU-enlargement anymore. The path to full membership has become an impenetrable labyrinth. There are indeed serious arguments against the admission of new members to the EU, mostly concerning its governability. French President Macon has said it many times, Belgian liberal politician Guy Verhofstadt says it here, many others say it as well:

https://twitter.com/guyverhofstadt/status/1701934189510062567

Kann man Journalismus betreiben, sich aber den Sorgfaltspflichten der Branche entziehen? Jan Böhmermann, seine Assistentin Hanna Herbst und deren Truppe scheinen zu glauben: Ja, kann man. Dazu hat das @mediummagazin nun eine interessante Recherche veröffentlicht. Der mehrseitige Text im Branchenmagazin wirkt solide recherchiert und ist es wohl auch. Kommt unaufgeregt daher. Böhmermanns Verdienste werden nicht in Zweifel gezogen. Es werden aber ua fahrlässiger Umgang mit Quellenschutz und mangelnde Fehlerkultur der Redaktion thematisiert.