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.

Understanding Aleksandar Vučić: On the difference between journalists and soccer fans. A thread. On July 1, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) ran an editorial on the situation in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia & the Balkans in general. The same day a source informed me that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić was quite upset about the text and would publicly respond next morning.

On the current situation in the Balkans: The EU is threatening sanctions against the Kurti government in Kosovo, but not against Serbian leaders Vucic and Dodik. This is absurd, mildly put. But there seems to be an explanation for Western leniency towards Belgrade. Serbia’s president Vucic had his thugs attack NATO-soldiers in Kosovo and the reaction of the West is close to zero. Milorad Dodik, Putin’s closest ally in Europe, announces that he longer recognizes the Constitutional Court of BiH. But no word of sanctions from the EU.

What was the biggest war crime in Europe after World War II? And why could the perpetrators evade justice? On a crime that went unpunished. And on the man who was politically responsible for it but is still being celebrated today as a hero by many “progressive forces.” When asked about the biggest massacre in Europe after WWII, most people probably think of the genocide of Srebrenica. For good reasons: More than 7000 Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) were killed around Srebrenica by Serbian forces in July 1995. Not even Russians in 🇺🇦 surpassed this.

The victory of Prime Minister Mitsotakis in the elections in Greece is impressive and mostly well deserved. But there are some dangers as well. In the current atmosphere, it might not be long before Athens starts falsifying statistics or doing other tricks again. Here is why: On a crucial issue for Greece, the economy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis convinced most Greeks that he is the right man in the driving seat. The Greek economy has grown solidly for years now, outperforming other Euro-Zone members.
ekathimerini.com/economy/119539…

Is the war crimes trial against Kosovos former president Thaçi in essence a trial against NATO or could it turn into one? This is what his American lawyers claim. I will get to that later. What one can say for sure is: Whatever the verdict may be, it will leave lasting marks. First a word about Hashim Thaçi's defense team. It is impressive. His enemies would probably say: Hashim Thaçi secured the best defense stolen money can buy. But one can also say: Kosovo as a state invests a lot in this trial, for very understandable reasons.

Not sure whether he is a subscriber like his predecessors Angela Merkel and Gerhard Schröder are, but it is reassuring to know this German Chancellor also values solid journalism: Olaf Scholz in Frankfurt at the FAZ congress today. (Mr. Schröder seems to have not understood what he read in F.A.Z., and look at him now. This is where you end up for misunderstanding F.A.Z.)

Vorweg zur Klarstellung: Dies ist ein thread zur Verteidigung von Christian Schmidt (CSU). Die von ihm geleitete Kolonialbehörde OHR sollte umgehend und ersatzlos geschlossen werden. Sie passt nicht mehr in unsere Zeit und schadet Bosnien-Hercegovina. Klarstellung II: Dies ist auch kein Angriff auf die Idee des öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunks, im Gegenteil. Kenne dort tolle Kollegen, liebe das Auslandsjournal.Keine Ahnung, ob es unbedingt ARD und ZDF sein müssen, aber an sich ist gebührenfinanzierter Rundfunk wichtig & prima.

So grateful to learn from others what I am. If you go by nationalistic morons, I am anti-Serb, anti-Croat, anti-Bosniak, anti-Yugoslav, anti-Greek and anti-Turkish all in one. I never react to those attacks, but do find them entertaining: Here, for example: Anti-Croatian. (And anti-Tompson)
hkv.hr/hrvatski-tjedn…

Als Parteimitarbeiter der Grünen steht @Krstorevic nicht im Verdacht, den CSU-Mann Christian Schmidt schützen zu wollen. Wenn er dennoch Kritik an der @janboehm Sendung zu Schmidt übt (link am Ende dieses 🧵), so deshalb, weil die Sendung zwar lustig, aber krass fehlerhaft war. Bosnien-Hercegovina taucht kaum je in der deutschen Debatte auf. Es ist heikel für das Land, wenn die deutsche Öffentlichkeit, ob durch Satireshows oder Offene Briefe, derart falsch über informiert wird. Tendenz allein hilft der Sache nicht, macht sie eher schlimmer.

Heute vor 25 Jahren starb Ernst Jünger – trotz seiner Widersprüche und widrigen Seiten einer der wichtigsten deutschen Autoren des 20. Jahrhunderts. Dazu ausnahmsweise mal ein halbprivater thread, auch über meine Generation. Oder vielleicht über meine Generation. 1992. Einer unserer Lehrer am Gymnasium stand weit rechts – also provozierte ich ihn, indem ich mir dieses Motiv der besetzten Hamburger Hafenstraße auf ein T-Shirt drucken ließ, das ich immer trug, wenn er unterrichte. Das Bild hängt heute neben meinem Schreibtisch.

The former ambassador of Kosovo in Berlin sharply criticizes the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti in an article for the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung". A summary of some key arguments will follow here: Former ambassador Beqë Cufaj mentions the idea proposed by Berlin and Paris of resolving the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo based on the model of the German-German treaty from 1972, saying: “Kosovo must accept this solution.”