Analysis: Isaac Herzog’s visits to Albania and Serbia underscore Israel’s expanding ties with the Balkans amid global isolation due to its war on Gaza.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog concluded a historic first visit to Albania last week, following a similarly significant trip to Serbia, where both countries agreed to pursue a free trade agreement.
The Western Balkans occupies an important place in European geopolitics due to its strategic position as a bridge between East and West. This region, which includes countries such as Kosovo and Albania, has a rich history as a crucial crossroads for trade and cultural routes that connect Europe with Asia and the Middle East. Its ethnic and cultural diversity, coupled with its turbulent history, has made the Western Balkans a significant arena for geopolitical influences from major powers.
Documents obtained by BIRN show that EU Frontex officers deployed to Bulgaria’s border with Turkey are being intimidated into silence in the face of pushbacks and brutality against migrants and refugees, prompting warnings that the agency’s credibility is on the line.
The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia have learned how to play the West. To restore credibility, the EU and the United States should draw clear red lines and respond firmly when these are crossed.
The promise of EU membership was once the silver bullet for resolving all territorial and security issues in the Balkans. That is less and less the case these days. And there is no better proof than the continuing drama involving Kosovo and Serbia.
The relations between Turkey and Greece have never been normal. The legacy of Mongol Turkish conquest of Greece in the fifteenth century poisons all connections between Turks and Greeks. The Greeks remember their Turkish oppressors like other barbarians who invaded their country. They fought hard and long to free themselves from the tyranny of the Turks. Moslem Turks, however, remember they live on land they stole from the Greeks. They also remember their empire in Southeastern Europe and the Middle East and want to recreate it.
He said that the Ukrainian Conflict was a “red pill” for him and elaborated on the ten ways in which it opened his eyes to reality.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban elaborated on the global systemic transition and his country’s grand strategy within it during a lengthy speech at the Balvanyos Free Summer University and Student Camp over the weekend. The over 11,000-word English transcript was published on Monday, which the present piece will summarize for the reader’s convenience. It began with him reaffirming that it’s his Christian duty to promote peace and mocking the EU for its Orwellian “war is peace” mantra.
Bislim Zyrapi, former Chief of KLA General Staff, after testifying for three weeks at the war crimes trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three co-accused, admitted several prosecution points but also confirmed some of the defence’s stances.
Entrenched divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina have hampered EU and U.S. efforts to build functional institutions and integrate the country into Western clubs. Dysfunctionality in turn provides fertile ground for meddling by Russia, which appears to have won the battle for the hearts and minds of Bosnian Serbs.
Northern and Eastern European countries will not send any ministers to Hungary during the country’s EU presidency in protest against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s solo trip to Moscow.
Orbán has been widely criticised by EU member states and institution leaders for his recent ‘peace missions’ to Moscow, Beijing and Florida, and his case was on the agenda at the Conference of Presidents on Thursday (11 July).
Driven by economic difficulties, European public opinions have taken increasingly skeptical positions on migrants and asylum seekers in recent years, an extremely visible phenomenon in “front line” countries such as Greece and Cyprus