Ariel Rusila's Conflicts [Ex-BalkanPerspective]

X-mas news from Bosnia were a bit confusing. The directors of Sarajevo’s day-care centres, kindergartens and pre-schools banned Santa. I personally detest Santa – especially its Coce version – but if someone likes him it’s up to them. More serious however is if this event reflects something more about today’s society in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The reason to ban Santa was according officials that the capital is predominantly Muslim and Santa Claus is not part of the Muslim tradition. Locally Santa is known as Father Frost who has given out presents to generations of Bosnian kids in kindergartens and other institutions and even during communist rule. After ban some multi-religious group of parents demonstrated in Sarajevo saying that Santa/Father Frost should be seen as a Bosnian tradition. During last months some small but alarming events – related to intolerance and rise of radical Islam - have took place in Bosnia-Herzegovina such as following examples: On August 2008 The Croatia Lib...

A big part of EU Aid for reconstruction projects of Kosovo has been wasted due criminal activities, corruption, frauds and mismanagement reports German daily Die Welt on 18th Dec. 2008. As base of this claim are the investigations conducted by the EU Anti Fraud Office (OLAF), UN investigators and the Italian Financial Police. More than 50 cases of financial embezzlement was found - most of them in energy sector. In twelve of these cases there is proof of criminal liability. According to EU data roughly 2.3 billion euro have been granted for Kosovo as aid since 1999, after the NATO bombing of Serbia. Some 400 million euros has been wasted for energy projects. According to the alleged reports, EU funds that had been destined for Kosovo’s energy sector, were misappropriated by UN officials in Kosovo, in conduit with local politicians. Whatever the reasons the results are humble at best - after eight years investments power cuts are still part of daily life in Kosovo. While most of the 2.3...

Earlier I wrote about political rights, citizen liberties and press freedom in Balkans (" Freedom in Balkans ") . To travel from one country to other is a fundamental freedom restricted however more or less depending about which passport the traveler holds. In practice traveling especially nowadays is restricted because lack of money but I limit this article only formal visa restrictions. Visa restrictions play an important role in controlling the movement of foreign nationals across borders. They are also an expression of the relationships between individual nations, and generally reflect the relations and status of a country within the international community of nations. Visa restrictions also are reflecting the political situation of the time e.g. some 20 years ago citizens of Yugoslavia could travel relatively free, but the breakup wars changed situation completely. The Henley Visa Restrictions Index Henley & Partners is a firm specialized in international imm...

Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic has left Monday 15 th Dec. 2008 for Paris to submit the country's formal application for European Union membership to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Same time Holland is still blocking implementation of suspended Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) agreement Serbia regardless of an essentially positive report on Belgrade’s cooperation with ICTY as well almost fulfilled conditions for candidate status. The government of Montenegro decided on previous Thursday 11 th Dec. to officially submit the bid to France, current holder of the EU presidency. "By taking this step, Montenegro commits itself to the accession process and the building of a united Europe which is a strategic goal in which the founders of the European Community invested their vision and commitment," the government press office said in a statement. (BalkanInsight.com 15.12.2008) Serbia progressing On 5 November 2008 the Commission adopted its...

Recently I was searching some information about Transnistria - aka Pridnestrovie - and found a probably official web-portal of this not recognized state. Originally Transnistria called my attention first because its quite ready statehood elements without outside recognition, second because of changed circumstances in respect for international law after Kosovo unilateral declaration of independence and thirdly because I predicted that Trandnistria could be the next tinderbox of separatism between Georgian conflict and coming troubles in Ukraine. In any case my bet is that in western Europe here is lack of wider knowledge over Transdnistria and therefore I copy here Ten things you maybe didn't know about the place. Of course one can have some reservations due the reason that material is from "official" web-sites; however if you go to original source you can have more information about every point, compare it to other information available and make your own conclusions...

On 14 th Nov. 2008 a bomb planted at the office of the European Union Special Representative was detonated in Pristina, Kosovo. Three officers of Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) – Foreign Intelligence service of Germany – were arrested. The three agents - despite protestations from Berlin and the BND of their innocence - spent 10 days in detention. The case created tensions between Germany and Kosovo's local government and nobody seems to know how the case developed so far in public. Today doubts concerning the culpability of the BND agents seemed to have been cleared. The previously unheard of ‘Army of the Republic of Kosovo’ (ARK) had accepted responsibility for the bomb attack. Laboratory tests had shown no evidence of the BND agents’ involvement. In addition, a television report had aired quoting a police report that allegedly said that the Germans had in no way been involved. (Source Welt-Online ) Now the agents are free and the Kosovo government has expressed its regret...

In my last week article “ Quadruple Helix … ” I shortly hinted to financial connection between Wahhabi organizations and international terrorism. I also pointed historical and social link between organized crime groups and political leaders and the international dimensions of system which I called as Quadruple Helix model . Today I was reading news from Axis Eurasian Secret Services Daily Review and one of them popped to my eyes immediately related to my earlier – maybe a little bit provocative – article. I quote: Russian special services have managed to find out the name of one of organizers of the last month's terror attacks in Mumbai, India, news agencies are reporting. According to Director of Russia's Federal Anti-Narcotics Service Viktor Ivanov, drug baron Dawood Ibrahim was directly involved in the incident. "The gathered inputs testify that infamous regional drug baron Dawood Ibrahim had provided his logistics network for preparing and carrying out the Mumbai t...

Political freedom is usually described as the absence of interference with the sovereignty of an individual by the use of coercion or aggression. Often word “Liberty” - the condition in which an individual has the ability to act according to his or her own will - has been connected to freedom and social anarchists see negative and positive liberty as complementary concepts of freedom. Freedom House is an independent nongovernmental organization based in USA that supports the expansion of freedom in the world. Freedom House’s definition of freedom is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The Declaration includes freedom of religion, expression, and assembly; freedom from torture; and the right to take part in the government of his or her country. With these limitations – US organisation and definition of freedom – the survey anyway tells something also about Balkans. Global perspecti...