The Balkans is witnessing another Cold War between Russia and the West

SManalysis

GCT

The Balkans is a significant transit point for gas from Russia to Europe; where the West and Russia have many geopolitical interests, and are always competing to control this critical passage.

Countries in the Western Balkans, some of which are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), such as Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Albania and Montenegro, and some, such as North Macedonia, are trying to join the military alliance, but somehow, in their interests, want closer ties with both West and Russia.

The countries of the Western Balkans, which are more inclined to join the European Union for economic benefits and high living standards, are trying to get closer to Europe and the United States. Russia, on the other hand, is using gas leverage to draw Europe and the Western Balkans.

Despite Russia’s efforts to enter the Balkans, Montenegro joined NATO last year and North Macedonia is following suit.

In any case, Western Balkans countries need Russian gas, and given that one-third of European gas is supplied by Russian company Gazprom, they cannot keep the European Union and the United States alone.

Serbia, the largest country in terms of area and population among the former Yugoslav republics, has good military relations with Russia, the United States, and the European Union. However, Serbia prefers to source his military equipment from Russia for religious and traditional reasons.

Meanwhile, Serbia has proven its allegiance to Moscow by not supporting Western sanctions against Russia and by not expelling Russian diplomats over accusations it poisoned a former Russian spy in Britain.

It should be noted that the Russian Federation also strongly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia, especially in the case of Kosovo, in all international institutions and the UN Security Council.

Russia’s rivalry with Europe and the United States in the Balkans can be considered a hot gas competition.

On the one hand, Russia seeks to sell more and build dependence on countries in the region. By supporting other projects such as the Trans Adriatic, Europe and the United States are trying to attract Balkan countries to transport gas.

Thus, it can be said that the Balkans region, in addition to being a strategic political region, is also an economically important passage for the West and Russia.

Despite Russia’s efforts to make the region dependent, seven Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro) signed an agreement in May 2017 on the joint development of the gas pipeline, which reduces dependence on Russian gas.

Nevertheless, Russia did not lag behind the United States in this competition. In October 2016, it signed an agreement with Turkey to build the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which transports Russian gas to Europe from under the Black Sea.

Cold War in the Balkans

Since the end of the Cold War between the United States and Russia, the two countries have always competed on different fronts in every corner of the globe.

The United States has expanded its political presence in the Western Balkans through bilateral political and security relations and NATO membership. It has almost fortified its geostrategic presence in the region since the Cold War and during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

Strengthening the power and expansion of NATO in Southeast Europe can be considered one of the White House’s most important actions in this regard.

On the other hand, Russia is seeking to increase its influence in the international community and take the initiative in the region.

In this regard, Moscow considers Serbia as its most potent tool and believes that Belgrade cannot claim Kosovo is part of its territory within the international law framework without Russia’s help in the UN Security Council.

Accordingly, Russia seizes this opportunity and continues its political assistance to Serbia and the Serbs to retain its significant influence in the Western Balkans.

Overall, the Balkans is a new region for the Cold War between the West and Russia. Russia’s most important concern is the expansion of NATO’s presence in the Western Balkans region and some Western Balkan countries’ membership in this military alliance.

Such an issue has caused Moscow to expand its relations with countries in the region day by day. The donation of six Russian MiG-29s to Serbia can be considered incentive packages.

Meanwhile, Europe and the United States are trying to reduce the countries’ dependence in Moscow and make fair use of NATO membership tools.

Despite Montenegro’s participation in Western sanctions against Russia, Vladimir Putin even congratulated the Social Democratic Party leader, Milo Đukanović, on winning the 2018 Montenegrin presidential election.

This shows that Moscow has not yet lost hope in the Western Balkans.

The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Greek City Times.

Amin Bagheri is an Iranian research fellow at the International Studies Association .His primary research interest lies in the international relations, political science and conflicts in the Middle East. You can see more of his work on Twitter.

North Macedonia Refuses to Cede to Bulgaria’s Requests over Start of EU Talks

SManalysis

Nov 30, 2020.

Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev has stated that Macedonians will join the European Union only as Macedonians who speak Macedonian.

Bulgaria has vetoed North Macedonia’s start of EU talks over claims regarding the country’s language and national identity. It claims that Macedonian language is a dialect of Bulgarian, and that no Macedonian minority exist in Bulgaria.

“We leave the isolation in the past because we know that Macedonia’s future is European. In that name, we continue to seek solutions. This is the only way it is European, this is the only way it is Macedonian. We will enter the EU as Macedonians who speak Macedonian!,” Zaev wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

He made the remarks following a statement by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who denied the existence of a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.

In a statement to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Borisov said he was surprised by the resolution of the European Parliament which raised the issue of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.

He stated that there is no Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, while adding that instead of having a positive debate on the neighboring country’s path to EU, “we’re moving towards a completely different debate”.

The US Assistant Secretary of European and Eurasian, Philip Reeker sent a letter to Zaev encouraging two countries on agreeing with each other to pave the way for the integration process of North Macedonia in the EU.

“We encourage you, and EU member states, to continue to solve bilateral disputes outside the EU accession process while aspirants simultaneously progress through the opening and closing of chapters,” Assistant Secretary Reeker wrote.

The start of EU talks for North Macedonia remains uncertain until all EU member states approve it. Link

General McInerney Confirms Treason by Foreign and Domestic Actors

SManalysis

In the United States, there are both federal and state laws prohibiting treason. It was defined in Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution. Most state constitutions include similar definitions of treason, specifically limited to levying war against the state, “adhering to the enemies” of the state, or aiding the enemies of the state, and requiring two witnesses or a confession in open court. Fewer than thirty people have ever been charged with treason under these laws.

Constitutionally, citizens of the United States owe allegiance to at least two sovereigns. One is the United States, and the other is their state. They can therefore potentially commit treason against either, or both. At least fourteen people have been charged with treason against various states; at least six were convicted, five of whom were executed. (Wikipedia)

“The Kraken” is the Military’s nickname for the 305th Military Intelligence Battalion in Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

We have all been wondering what was the meaning of this term, what was the meaning of the rumor that a server was seized in a CIA facility in Frankfurt, was the rumor that people were killed or hurt in the raid true, why is it important that Sidney Powell is trained in procedures of Military Tribunals?

WVW-TV broadcast an exclusive interview with General Mike Flynn, General McInerney and Mary Fanning on November 28th which sheds light on all of these questions. It is a must-listen for anybody who believes in the Constitution, the Republic and finding out the truth about this election.

Image Source: greeknewsondemand.com

What we are finding out is that we are facing treason in the homeland and clear interference by foreign actors – aka by the CCP, and others. The dam of closely-held secrets is breaking. The conspiring actors have been trying to hold the dam but the cracks are appearing.

The Constitution did not contemplate cyber-warfare by the CIA on America, a collaboration by media and social media in treason, treason by a major party, and unlimited cyber warfare by foreign actors, all at the same time! We are facing a Constitutional “safe harbor” deadline of December 14th, but for treason, the President and the Military will not, cannot, stand by and watch this election be stolen. The President swore an oath to protect the American people and the Constitution from all enemies Foreign and Domestic, not to give up because of an artificial deadline. Treason is a matter for a military tribunal. Sidney Powell is trained in the procedures of military tribunals. These charges will be brought to the Supreme Court of the United States, but beyond that, it can be a matter for a military tribunal.

General McInerney also disclosed that his phone has been hacked by the treasonous forces trying to subvert the democratic process in America. His warning to Joe Biden and all the forces arrayed with him was to surrender, the American people will not rest until they are brought to justice for treason.

American Thinker also published an important article (“The smartest man in the room has joined Sidney Powell’s team, Andrea Widburg) on November 28th. Widburg states that Sidney Powell in her Georgia lawsuit included the declaration of Dr Navid Keshawarz-Nia. He is a witness stating that the election was turned in favor of Joe Biden through computer fraud.

In the area of cyber-security, Dr Keshawarz-Nia is known as the most knowledgeable and smartest individual in the World. Even the New York Times described him as “always the smartest man in the room”. “In doing cybersecurity and technical counterintelligence work for the C.I.A., N.S.A. and F.B.I., he had spent decades connecting top-secret dots.” His qualifications include a B.A., M.A., and PhD in various areas of electrical and computer engineering.  Also, “I have advanced training from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), DHS Office of Intelligence & Analysis (I&A) and Massachusetts Institution of Technology (MIT).

What does Dr Keshawarz-Nia have to say? Paraphrasing the article from American Thinker:

Electronic manipulation is evident in the swing states now in dispute. The simultaneous halting of the counts in these states on the night of Nov3-Nov 4 demonstrates a coordinate effort to “engineer” the required results to ensure a Biden win. 1-2% of votes for Biden are unlawful ballots. Optical scanners were engineered to accept unverified and unvalidated ballots. Scanners were set to not keep audit records. The cryptographic key was used to alter the vote counts. It is not possible to feed 400k ballots into the counting machines in the time allotted. This points to cyber manipulation of the results. The counting machines used Chinese parts and the connections to China, Venezuela and even Cuba are beginning to emerge. The CIA Hammer & Scorecard system was used to change the vote count in swing state and the results were sent to Scytl servers associated with the CIA, in Frankfurt Germany, to avoid detection.

Image Source: theamericanreport.org

Who are we going to believe? Major General Thomas McInerney and Navid Keshawarz-Nia, or the mainstream media, Twitter, Facebook, Google and the Democratic party?

Widburg concludes that Dr Keshawarz-Nia has high confidence that the 2020 election was interfered with to the tune of 100’s of thousands of votes cast in favor of Joe Biden. Years ago, the Democrats believed that Donald Trump would be the one committing fraud. They held congressional hearings and Dr Keshawarz-Nia featured prominently in these hearings and the New York Times lauded his brilliance and ability.

It will now be difficult and embarrassing for them to refute his evidence. But the Democrats are no strangers to embarrassing themselves. It is becoming increasingly evident that many of them are complicit in conspiring, along with the CCP, the mainstream media, social media giants and even actors inside the CIA, to commit treason by subverting the election and the Constitution.

WVW-TV exclusive: Lt General Michael Flynn’s first interview since President Trump’s pardon, November 28, 2020

Andrea Widburg, “The ‘smartest man in the room’ has joined Sidney Powell’s team”, American Thinker, November 28, 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason_laws_in_the_United_States

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