The arrests of Kosovo policemen today took place along a route in the north which usually isn’t covered by Prishtina authorities — ie a route used for smugglers or those wishing to avoid Kosovo border controls — making the details difficult to discern atm. Security experts on the Kosovo side have claimed for months that Serbian policemen have permeated Kosovo territory through precisely these routes. These aren’t the main roads that lead in or out of the country, but anyone who’s been to the north often enough knows them.

So the long-anticipated agreement (and its accompanying annex discussed for over 10 hours today) between Kosovo and Serbia will not be formally signed by the parties, and rather be injected into the respective EU membership negotiation frameworks of the two countries.

https://twitter.com/zanacimili/status/1637219035094851586

In many ways, this is similar to agreements reached after the 2013 Normalization Agreement (which was a bilateral one between Kosovo & Serbia). The EU was the main guarantor and what ended up happening was that both sides chose to implement only the parts that suited them.

The statements that came from the Kosovan and Serbian sides, respectively, after the meetings held in Brussels today were some of the most bizarre I’ve heard in years, so after going over all of them several times I thought it’d be worth comparing them all in a thread 🧵: First, the statement from EU High Rep for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell:

“For the sake of transparency… we put forward a proposal that could have avoided this risky situation [with license plates] which [Serbian president] Vucic accepted and [Kosovo PM] Kurti did not.”

Calling someone a “murky” journo goes beyond (possibly) disagreeing with their work. It’s an attempt to discredit the best foreign journo Ukraine has ever had based in its country and could be a sign for everyone else to shut up. Ukrainian colleagues who know Chris need to react.

https://twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1577162323688816642

We’ve all tried our best to amplify Ukrainian voices (and journos) since February, and some of us have done it for longer. If you think someone’s reporting could be better, then go and write a reported piece on it — don’t just share baseless accusations online.

Bizarre messages coming from Serbia as @EuroPride parade faces likely ban days before it was scheduled.

Serbian president Vucic: I have LGBT co-workers & family members

Vucic's father: Goes to the right-wing anti-pride rally

PM Ana Brnabic: Nobody is stopping you from marching I say likely because the Ministry of Internal Affairs said they "banned the route" and not the parade per se, *but* that could mean the parade per se has been banned if they don't get another route approved or manage to overturn the decision in time 🤷‍♀️
euronews.com/2022/09/13/ser…

By creating a fantasy where Russia is losing due to domestic enemies instead of superior Ukrainian forces, right-wing Russians resort to a “stab-in-the-back” conspiracy not unlike what Germany used against Jews after WWI.

A superb read by @Alexey__Kovalev
foreignpolicy.com/2022/09/12/rus… "Western war experts cite Twitter accounts by pro-war Russians documenting the unfolding rout of Russian positions in the Kharkiv Oblast almost in real time because Ukrainian sources are several days behind in their statements in an attempt to preserve operational secrecy...

There isn’t a conflict or escalation brewing in Kosovo atm. Kosovo Serbs set up roadblocks towards two main border crossings with Serbia in the north, in opposition to a move by the 🇽🇰 gov’t whereby Serbian citizens need special certificates when entering the country. #calmdown

https://twitter.com/goncharenkoua/status/1553798565037805568

Since Serbia doesn’t recognize Kosovo, 🇽🇰 citizens need special “temporary documents” while residing in the country. PM Albin Kurti recently announced that Kosovo would reciprocate by demanding the same from Serbian citizens. The decision enters into force tonight.

According to preliminary results by the election commission, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic leads with around 72% of the vote. If this holds, there won’t be a second round of presidential elections.

A thread on key points and misconceptions 🧵:
voanews.com/a/serbians-vot… First, there’s the peculiar decision by the election commission not to announce any final turnout % tonight — after calling the elections “a celebration of democracy.”

This after much talk today about protests breaking out due to many irregularities.
rs.n1info.com/izbori-2022/ri…

Is it though? Calling atrocious crimes genocide (just because it’s the worst war crime) only makes it harder for civilians to feel like justice has been served if perpetrators get charged with (what is now being perceived as) the *lesser* charge of crimes against humanity.

https://twitter.com/ozkaterji/status/1510523204435169289

The bar for something to be declared a genocide under international humanitarian law is so, so high. Throwing it around before facts can be established just makes it inevitable that the victims’ families will be disappointed.

Timothy Snyder, right now at @IWM_Vienna: “The decision of Ukrainians to fight back against the invasion is a gift to the Western world. They gave us time to think about what we want our future to look like. I don’t even want to imagine how grim things would be if they didn’t.” Snyder: “Just like Hitler thought countries like Austria, Poland and others were invented and shouldn’t have existed in 1938, Putin thinks Ukraine is a country that shouldn’t exist… that on top of the notion that certain language speakers across the border need to be protected.”

A Soviet drone crashed close to Zagreb, Croatia around 11 pm last night.

Authorities say the transponder gave out no signals, NATO didn’t register it and no 🚨 were sounded in Zagreb. Is this how rogue drone attacks will be responded to in NATO countries? total-croatia-news.com/news/61058-zag… There are claims that the drone is actually Ukrainian and that they lost control over it. Others were quick to point out that the drone landed in Jarun, and that there’s a place called Yarun in Ukraine too.

There’s been a lot of disinfo around the ongoing Kosovo-Serbia crisis so here are a couple key developments you should keep straight 🧵:

The heads of the technical teams in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia are meeting on Wednesday in Brussels to discuss possible solutions. …according to EEAS spokesperson Peter Stano. Earlier, it was rumored/reported that Kurti and Vucic would meet in person. That still hasn’t been ruled out, but it hasn’t been confirmed either. Today, NATO/KFOR troops increased their presence and patrols in the north of Kosovo.

Today, thousands gathered in Belgrade to pay their final respects to Serbian Patriarch Irinej, who succumbed to COVID-19 on Friday. His casket was covered in plexiglass and occasionally sprayed with disinfectant.

Here's a 🧵on his controversial legacy.

edition.cnn.com/2020/11/20/eur… This comes a month after the Patriarch attended the funeral of bishop Amfilohije in Montenegro, who also succumbed to COVID.

Both are thought to be the religious arm of Serbian nationalist politics in the region, although they enjoy significant respect from average Serb citizens

This August 5th marks the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm, a military operation which ended the war in Croatia. In Croatia it is seen as a monumental victory yet in Serbia it’s a day of mourning.

This year the rhetoric around it is particularly heated, so here’s a 🧵. On Tuesday evening, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke at an event on the Serbian-Bosnian border. He said “we will never be weak again,” referring to the many Croat Serbs killed and hundreds of thousands expelled from Croatia during the operation.

Today, thousands protested in Sarajevo against an event mourning the deaths of the leaders of the Croatian WWII Nazi puppet state.

Sarajevo once again proved to be the beating heart of resistance in Bosnia and the wider Balkan region (🧵below) rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a… Background: The Nazis set up one of the most sophisticated satellite states through Ante Pavelic and the Croatian Ustasha party. When the Yugoslav partisans won WWII, the Ustasha, their armed forces, and affiliated civilians wanted to evade reprisals from the victorious Partisans

As in other parts of Europe, the issue of locals/civilians collaborating with Nazis remains a sensitive topic. While many willingly assisted the pro-Nazi regimes in their countries, many others were either left with no other option or coerced into it. Did they deserve to die? But the event organized by the Church today was not *only* about the innocent civilians. I have personally been to the annual mass supported by the same Church leaders in honor of Ante Pavelic, the Croatian fascist dictator, in Zagreb.

Mira Ricardiel's father publicly defended Andrija Artukovic, the Interior Minister of the Croatian Nazi puppet-state who personally issued racial laws that sent Jews, Serbs, communists, and Roma to their deaths. Yugoslavia sought his extradition in 1984. nytimes.com/1984/11/15/us/… I have not come across any statements made by Ricardiel herself defending such approaches or glorifying the NDH, I'm just surprised that she chooses to list her father's "survival in the Bleiburg Massacre" in a couple of her biographies found online.