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{"id":10108,"date":"2023-01-16T21:16:47","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T21:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lossi36.com\/?p=10108"},"modified":"2023-02-01T21:33:21","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T21:33:21","slug":"lossi-36-weekly-2-news-highlights-from-central-europe-to-central-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lossi36.com\/2023\/01\/16\/lossi-36-weekly-2-news-highlights-from-central-europe-to-central-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"Lossi 36 Weekly #2: news highlights from Central Europe to Central Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"Subscribe to our Weekly<\/span><\/i> here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n In this week\u2019s newsletter\u00a0<\/strong>\ud83d\udcee: Bosnia’s Republika Srpska\u00a0<\/strong>holds commemorative holiday in defiance of Bosnia\u2019s Constitutional Court<\/strong>,\u00a0Armenia\u00a0<\/strong>refuses a\u00a0CSTO\u00a0<\/strong>military exercise, Karakalpakstan<\/strong>\u00a0activists likely to be jailed, frozen\u00a0EU\u00a0<\/strong>funds jeopardize public education in Hungary<\/strong>,\u00a0Russian\u00a0<\/strong>missile strike in\u00a0Dnipro<\/strong>,\u00a0Dozhd\u00a0<\/strong>receives a new broadcast license in the Netherlands<\/strong>,\u00a0and much more!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Former Prime Minister and current Czech presidential candidate acquitted in fraud case.<\/strong> On 9 January, Andrej Babi\u0161 was acquitted after a seven year judicial investigation into him and his former advisor Jana Nagyov\u00e1 of\u00a0misusing \u20ac2 million<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in EU funds fifteen years ago. The funds were used to construct a leisure and conference centre outside of Prague, instead of the intended small and medium-sized businesses. Babi\u0161 had been accused of\u00a0manipulating ownership<\/strong><\/a> rights for the Capi Hnizdo conference centre – part of Babi\u0161\u2019s Agrofert equity – which became subject of approval for the \u20ac2 million EU grant. The court deemed there was no evidence<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0proving what Babi\u0161 did was technically a crime. \u201cThis is good news for the entire Czech Republic, all citizens, that we live in a rule of law country and have independent justice and a court that independently ruled that we are acquitted,\u201d\u00a0Babi\u0161 expressed<\/strong><\/a>. However, the prosecution can still appeal the case. The acquittal comes just before the first round of Czech elections, where Babi\u0161 is one of the front running presidential candidates. Although, the elections are running at the same time as another financial fraud case investigation<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0into Babi\u0161, involving property purchases in France.<\/span><\/p>\n Bosnia\u2019s Republika Srpska holds commemorative holiday in defiance of Bosnia\u2019s Constitutional Court\u00a0<\/strong>ruling<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/strong>The 9 January holiday marks the date in 1992 when the Bosnian Serbs declared the founding of Republika Srpska. However, many see this date as the start of the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina that took an estimated 100,000 lives and left some 2.6 million people displaced. The country\u2019s highest court has twice ruled the holiday as discriminatory against non-Serbs living in the Serb-dominated entity. This year\u2019s parade took place in East Sarajevo, with armoured vehicles\u00a0blocking<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0the main road to Bosnia\u2019s capital, Sarajevo, located in the Federation entity. Local members of the Kremlin-backed motorcycle club\u00a0Night Wolves<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0were in attendance and flags representing Ukraine\u2019s breakaway Donetsk People\u2019s Republic were spotted. At an earlier ceremony, President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik\u00a0awarded<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Russian President Vladimir Putin with the highest medal of honour for his \u201cpatriotic concern and love\u201d for Republika Srpska.<\/p>\n Montenegro\u2019s outgoing PM names five tobacco smuggling gangs after lack of State investigation.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0During an interview for TV station Vijesti on 13 January, outgoing Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovi\u0107 named five gangs related to tobacco smuggling after the lack of investigation by the Special State Prosecutor\u2019s Office. Back on 5 September 2022, he\u00a0shared intel and documentation<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0with the Prosecutor\u2019s Office, mostly regarding their \u2018schemes,\u2019 but after none have been prosecuted, he has decided to make\u00a0names and locations public<\/strong><\/a>. \u201cSmuggling is done through the washing of containers and several teams do it. Of those teams, there are five and no one has been prosecuted. These are the Grand, Mojkovci, Nik\u0161i\u0107i, Bo\u017eaj and Ro\u017eaj clans,\u201d Abazovi\u0107 stated. He also pointed at the Grand clan<\/strong><\/a>, led by Ranko Ubovi\u0107 and Aco Mijajlovi\u0107 and part of the Bemax construction company, as the original organisers of smuggling of tobacco products, cigarettes and other illegal activities in Montenegro.<\/p>\n Armenia refuses to host Russian-backed CSTO military exercises.\u00a0<\/strong>The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led alliance including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan was planning for the \u201cIndestructible Brotherhood-2023,\u201d a military exercise that the Russians\u00a0announced<\/strong><\/a> was going to take place in Armenia. However, on Tuesday, it was revealed that the Armenian defence minister informed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0his colleagues from the CSTO that the military exercises would not be taking place in Armenia this year. This refusal stems from the Russian peacekeeper\u2019s failure to secure free transit along the Lachin corridor which links Armenia proper to Nagorno-Karabakh. Travel across the Lachin province has been\u00a0blocked<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0since 12 December by Azerbaijanis, posing as environmental activists claiming that Armenia has unlawful mining sites in the region. Armenia has called on Russian peacekeepers to unblock the corridor but they have been\u00a0ineffective<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in their response. The Russian inaction has led Armenia to turn towards Europe and the United States. Rejecting the CSTO exercise is perhaps the strongest shot yet against Russia.<\/p>\n Prosecutors request hefty jail sentences for Karakalpakstan activists.<\/strong>\u00a0During a court session on 11 January, prosecutors asked for prison terms of between\u00a05 and 18 years<\/strong><\/a> for 20 defendants involved in protests in Karakalpakstan in early July. Amongst the 20 facing jail time are Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov<\/strong><\/a>, a lawyer and blogger, and Lolagul Kallykhanova, a journalist and founder of the website makan.uz. Prosecutors asked for sentences of 18 and 11 years<\/strong><\/a> respectively. The two have been characterised as \u2018ringleaders\u2019 in the case, the investigations which Human Rights Watch has described as \u2018shrouded in secrecy<\/strong><\/a>.\u2019 Meanwhile, no riot police are on trial for their alleged participation in July\u2019s violence during mass protests against Karakalpakstan\u2019s changed status in Uzbekistan\u2019s new constitution.<\/p>\n EU fund freeze jeopardises Hungarian public education.<\/strong>\u00a0In December 2022, the European Commission\u00a0decided<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to withhold nearly \u20ac22 billion in cohesion funds allocated to Hungary during 2021\u20132027, on top of the\u00a0previous suspensions<\/strong><\/a> of \u20ac5.8 billion in post-COVID recovery funding and \u20ac6.3 billion under the rule of law mechanism, until it could address concerns on rule of law, academic freedom, judicial independence, and human rights protection. The funding block leaves the issue of a teachers\u2019 wage increase unresolved, leading to demonstrations<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and nationwide\u00a0week-long strikes<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0this month. Moreover, it also poses the risk of over 30 educational and cultural institutions, including\u00a021 universities operating under public trust foundations<\/strong><\/a>, losing new grants from last month onward from the Erasmus+ exchange and Horizon Europe research and innovation programs. The funding exclusion intends to guarantee \u201cthe transparent use of EU support by public interest asset management foundations<\/strong><\/a>,\u201d as many of the public trust foundations are chaired by high-ranking government officials with close links to the ruling Fidesz party. The Hungarian government ensured that current ongoing programs would be unaffected,\u00a0called<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0the European Commission’s move \u2018unacceptable,\u2019 and claimed that it would continue to coordinate with the Commission and comply with all necessary conditions. It also stated that if there is no agreement with the Commission, the Hungarian government would finance the exchange programs in 2024 and consider suing its counterpart.<\/p>\n Lukashenka regime detains another political opponent suspected of extremism. <\/strong>As\u00a0reported<\/strong><\/a> by the news outlet Zerkalo,\u00a0the Belarusian authorities detained the politician Andrei Dmitriev on 11 January. He was taken to the infamous Akrestsina Detention Centre in Minsk. Since the news emerged on private telegram channels, reports have been trying to contact the politician without positive results. Dmitriev was already detained in August 2021, though he was briefly released afterwards. In the 2020 elections, Andrei Dmitriev was one of four registered opponents<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0of the current ruler of Belarus and was the co-chairman of the liquidated public association, \u2018Tell the Truth\u2019 (\u0413\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438 \u041f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0434\u0443). According to the Central Election Commission, Dmitriev won the 1.21% of the vote during the fraud election of 9 August 2020. The Belarusian authorities\u00a0have not yet communicated<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0the reason for the arrest.<\/p>\n Russian missile strike in Dnipro.\u00a0<\/strong>On 14 January, Ukraine\u00a0was shaken<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by another massive wave of Russian attacks. They\u00a0targeted<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0power infrastructure in the Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, and Kyiv regions. Tragedy struck in Dnipro, where a Russian missile\u00a0destroyed<\/strong><\/a> a section of a nine-story apartment building, with at least 20 people killed and 73 wounded (based on the information provided<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on 15 January). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u00a0stated<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that \u201cdebris clearance is still ongoing\u201d and that is why \u201cit is not yet known how many people are under the rubble.\u201d It was confirmed that the apartment building in Dnipro\u00a0was hit<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by one of the five Kh-22 cruise missiles that were fired from five Tu-22m3 Russian long-range bombers on the same day. Since 24 February, Russian forces\u00a0have launched<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0more than 210 such missiles at Ukraine, and Ukraine has no weapons capable of shooting down the missiles (like Patriot PAC-3 or SAMP-T).<\/span><\/p>\n Dozhd receives a new broadcast licence.<\/strong>\u00a0The major opposition media outlet is\u00a0relocating<\/strong><\/a> its broadcast and editorial operations to the Netherlands, where it already had a smaller presence<\/strong><\/a>, from Latvia. Dozhd began\u00a0broadcasting<\/strong><\/a> in the Baltic country, as well as Georgia, in July 2022, following its ban in Russia four months previously. The Latvian regulator rescinded<\/strong><\/a> the channel\u2019s European broadcast licence in December following several violations<\/strong><\/a> of Latvian law, including depicting Crimea as belonging to Russia and referring to the Russian army occupying Ukraine as \u2018our army.\u2019 The decision to strip Dozhd of their ability to broadcast sparked international debate. Defending the liberal Russian channel were \u2018free press’ advocates<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and those who\u00a0recognize<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0the channel\u2019s value in reaching Russian audiences, while many others supported Latvia\u2019s right to apply their own laws within their borders. Dozhd\u2019s relocation will likely ease their job, as they will be further removed from the legacies of Russian imperialism.<\/p>\n Shuffle in Russian military command.<\/strong> Last Wednesday, 11 January, <\/span>Putin ordered a\u00a0reshuffle<\/strong><\/a> in military command\u00a0as Valery Gerasimov was brought in to direct command of the war effort, replacing Sergei Surovikin. If the name sounds familiar, that could be because of the \u2018Gerasimov Doctrine\u2019, a document that he was thought of to have written, and that was used to explain Russia\u2019s \u2018hybrid wars.\u2019 Mark Galleotti, who coined<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0the term, later admitted it was an oversimplification and was harmful to Western understanding of Russia\u2019s military tactics. The replacement of Surovikin is however a significant step in the war. It shows a commitment to a long haul strategy, argues\u00a0Galleotti<\/strong><\/a>, who is a prominent academic in the field of Russian military studies. Moreover, it could be an indication of a spring offensive being prepared, as Gerasimov needs military victories to save his army career.<\/span><\/p>\n Thank you to this week’s contributors:<\/strong> Megan McCullough, Ariadna Mane, Sarah Fairman, Thapanee Tubnonghee, Adriano Rodari, Bart Alting, Autumn Mozeliak,\u00a0Kirsty Dick,\u00a0Vira Kompaniiets, & Harold Chambers\u00a0<\/em>\ud83d\udc98<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Subscribe to our Weekly here. In this week\u2019s newsletter\u00a0\ud83d\udcee: Bosnia’s Republika Srpska\u00a0holds commemorative holiday in defiance of Bosnia\u2019s Constitutional Court,\u00a0Armenia\u00a0refuses a\u00a0CSTO\u00a0military exercise, Karakalpakstan\u00a0activists likely to be jailed, frozen\u00a0EU\u00a0funds jeopardize public education in Hungary,\u00a0Russian\u00a0missile strike in\u00a0Dnipro,\u00a0Dozhd\u00a0receives a new broadcast license in the Netherlands,\u00a0and much more! \u2b50\ufe0f This week’s special Former Prime Minister and current Czech presidential […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-10108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2b50\ufe0f This week’s special<\/b><\/h3>\n
Autumn Mozeliak<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\ud83c\udf3a In the Balkans…<\/b><\/h3>\n
\u26f0\ufe0f In the Caucasus…<\/b><\/h3>\n
\ud83d\udee4 In Central Asia…<\/b><\/h3>\n
\ud83d\ude83 In Central Europe & the Baltics…<\/b><\/h3>\n
\ud83c\udfe2 In Eastern Europe…<\/b><\/h3>\n
\ud83c\udf32<\/span> In Russia…<\/b><\/h3>\n