Geopolitics - what is going on in the world

[GurjantGnostic]

4 hours ago, Premi5 said:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-58984103

Hugo Carvajal: Spain to extradite Venezuela's ex-spy chief to US

Published

2 hours ago

Share

Related Topics

• Venezuela crisis

IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS

Image caption,Mr Carvajal was arrested in Spain last month after he had been in hiding for nearly two years

Spain's high court has ruled that Venezuela's former spy chief, Hugo Carvajal, should be extradited to the United States.

Mr Carvajal faces charges of drug trafficking and collaborating with Colombia's Farc terrorist group.

But he could also have incriminating evidence against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a major adversary of the United States.

Mr Carvajal fell out with Mr Maduro and fled Venezuela for Spain in 2019.

Mr Carvajal has repeatedly denied having any links to drug traffickers or the Marxist Farc rebels, and said the charges against him are politically motivated.

The Spanish high court ruling follows an interior ministry decision to refuse Mr Carvajal asylum. However, that process has yet to be completed as Mr Carvajal can appeal.

The extradition could also be delayed by another court case Mr Carvajal may have to testify in.

It involves alleged illegal financing from Venezuela of Spain's left-wing Podemos party.

• Country profile: Venezuela
• Venezuela crisis in 300 words

Mr Carvajal, 61, nicknamed "El Pollo" (The Chicken), was arrested in Spain last month after he had been in hiding for nearly two years in the wake of an earlier Spanish court decision which backed his extradition.

The US and the government of President Maduro have been at loggerheads for years, with the US imposing tough sanctions on Venezuela.

Who is Hugo Carvajal?

Gen Carvajal was the head of Venezuela's military counter-intelligence from July 2004 until December 2011, when Hugo Chávez was president of the country.

Farc isn't perfect but they were 1000 times better than the colombian government. 

Did you all catch what happened to farc when they finally disarmed? Not just to them but colombia as a whole?

If he's guilty of that stuff so is our secretary state, the cia, all sorts. 

You'd think an intel troop of that caliber would have meandered into a country with no extradition by now. 

[Premi5]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-erdogan-orders-10-ambassadors-declared-persona-non-grata-2021-10-23/

 

ISTANBUL, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he had ordered the foreign ministry to declare 10 ambassadors from Western countries 'persona non grata' for calling for the release of philanthropist Osman Kavala.

Kavala has been in prison for four years, charged with financing nationwide protests in 2013 and with involvement in a failed coup in 2016. He denies the charges.

In a joint statement on Oct. 18, the ambassadors of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand and the United States called for a just and speedy resolution to Kavala's case, and for his "urgent release". They were summoned by the foreign ministry, which called the statement irresponsible.

"I gave the necessary order to our foreign minister and said what must be done: These 10 ambassadors must be declared persona non grata at once. You will sort it out immediately," Erdogan said in a speech, using a term meaning that a diplomat is no longer welcome in the country.

 

[Premi5]

Bosnia is in danger of breaking up, warns top international official
Exclusive: high representative says threat by Serb separatists to create their own army risks return of conflict

The international community’s chief representative in Bosnia has warned that the country is in imminent danger of breaking apart, and there is a “very real” prospect of a return to conflict.
In a report to the UN seen by the Guardian, Christian Schmidt, the high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that if Serb separatists carry out their threat to recreate their own army, splitting the national armed forces in two, more international peacekeepers would have to be sent back in to stop the slide towards a new war.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...eaking-up-warns-eus-top-official-in-the-state

[proactive]

7 hours ago, Premi5 said:

Bosnia is in danger of breaking up, warns top international official
Exclusive: high representative says threat by Serb separatists to create their own army risks return of conflict

The international community’s chief representative in Bosnia has warned that the country is in imminent danger of breaking apart, and there is a “very real” prospect of a return to conflict.
In a report to the UN seen by the Guardian, Christian Schmidt, the high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that if Serb separatists carry out their threat to recreate their own army, splitting the national armed forces in two, more international peacekeepers would have to be sent back in to stop the slide towards a new war.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...eaking-up-warns-eus-top-official-in-the-state

The hypocrisy of the west in totally astounding with the case of Bosnia. The west was happy to see the disintegration of Yugoslavia, a multi-ethnic state and for Croatia, Bosnia and Slovennia to break away and become independent and YET they want to save the unity of Bosnia, a multi-ethnic state and the Serbs from forming their own state or even joining Serbia. If splitting Yugoslavia was fine, then why attempt to save Bosnia from disintegrating? 

 

[Premi5]

11 hours ago, proactive said:

The hypocrisy of the west in totally astounding with the case of Bosnia. The west was happy to see the disintegration of Yugoslavia, a multi-ethnic state and for Croatia, Bosnia and Slovennia to break away and become independent and YET they want to save the unity of Bosnia, a multi-ethnic state and the Serbs from forming their own state or even joining Serbia. If splitting Yugoslavia was fine, then why attempt to save Bosnia from disintegrating? 

 

Maybe because Bosnia is a 'buffer' country from Russia ? Serbia is ally of Russia

[proactive]

2 hours ago, Premi5 said:

Maybe because Bosnia is a 'buffer' country from Russia ? Serbia is ally of Russia

It was more to do with NATO and Clinton wanting to look like the saviours of Muslims.

[Ranjeet01]

The Croats, Serbs and Bosnian Muslims are essentially the same people but with different religions.

If a Bosnian muslim becomes a Catholic he/she becomes a Croat.

If a Croat becomes Orthodox, he/she becomes Serb.

Technically speaking in the same way a Punjabi Sikh, Punjabi Muslim and Punjabi Hindu can be.

The Serbs are Orthodox and the Russians are also Orthodox as well as being Slavs so they have a natural affinity.

 

[Premi5]

37 minutes ago, proactive said:

It was more to do with NATO and Clinton wanting to look like the saviours of Muslims.

Don't think so. My understanding is that they wanted to split Yugoslavia up as it was a successful 'Nation State'. The Bosnians are/were not very religious compared with most Muslims. There was plenty of inter-marrying between Bosnians and Croat and Bosnian and Serb

 

6 minutes ago, Ranjeet01 said:

The Croats, Serbs and Bosnian Muslims are essentially the same people but with different religions.

If a Bosnian muslim becomes a Catholic he/she becomes a Croat.

If a Croat becomes Orthodox, he/she becomes Serb.

Technically speaking in the same way a Punjabi Sikh, Punjabi Muslim and Punjabi Hindu can be.

The Serbs are Orthodox and the Russians are also Orthodox as well as being Slavs so they have a natural affinity.

 

My understanding, is it's not quite the same. Yes, their language is the same and culture quite similar. However, the Serbs and Croats have had their separate identities for hundreds of years, and it's not clear how they came to be. They were each under different Empires for centuries. Not the same as how we know majority of Punjabi Muslims were once Sikh or Hindu.

Because of sharing Orthodox religion, Serbs also are close to Greeks. 

[Ranjeet01]

38 minutes ago, Premi5 said:

Don't think so. My understanding is that they wanted to split Yugoslavia up as it was a successful 'Nation State'. The Bosnians are/were not very religious compared with most Muslims. There was plenty of inter-marrying between Bosnians and Croat and Bosnian and Serb

 

My understanding, is it's not quite the same. Yes, their language is the same and culture quite similar. However, the Serbs and Croats have had their separate identities for hundreds of years, and it's not clear how they came to be. They were each under different Empires for centuries. Not the same as how we know majority of Punjabi Muslims were once Sikh or Hindu.

Because of sharing Orthodox religion, Serbs also are close to Greeks. 

I know my knowledge because I converse online with a quite a few folks from the Balkans. 

The main difference is that Croats are Catholic and Serbs are Orthodox. 

There is not much difference, they are effectively the same people. 

[Premi5]

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59215769

Belarus migrants: EU accuses Lukashenko of gangster-style abuse

The European Commission has accused Belarus's authoritarian leader of luring migrants with the false promise of easy entry to the EU as part of an "inhuman, gangster-style approach".

At least 2,000 migrants are now at the Belarus border with Poland.

"Upon arrival they are being pushed to the border and forced to make an illegal entry into the European Union," said Commission spokesman Peter Stano.

Belarus's leader Alexander Lukashenko denies orchestrating the problem.

EU and Nato members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have all seen a surge in the number of people trying to enter their countries illegally from Belarus in recent months. Many are young men but they include women and children, largely from the Middle East and Asia.

Poland has seen the most arrivals, especially around its major border crossing at Kuznica.

Migrants have described how Belarusian authorities seized their phones and pushed them towards the border fence. Overnight temperatures at the border have slumped below zero and several people have already died in recent weeks.

"Nobody is letting us get in anywhere, Belarus or Poland," 33-year-old Shwan Kurd from Iraq told the BBC by video-call.......

The EU, Nato and the US all say Belarus is orchestrating the problem. Brussels accuses Belarus's disputed leader of provoking the influx in retaliation against EU sanctions, imposed after his widely discredited re-election and subsequent crackdown on mass protests....

The UN refugee agency's spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said it was very worried by the latest scenes: "Using refugees, asylum seekers and migrants to achieve political ends is unacceptable and must stop."....

 

The European Commission is now looking to extend sanctions to include "third-country airlines" involved in flying migrants to Belarus. It said it was looking at flights to Minsk from a number of countries, including Syria, Iran and Qatar as well as Russia and several North African states.

Germany on Tuesday urged the EU to "take action" to help Poland secure its borders. Lithuania has also moved troops to its border with Belarus to prepare for a possible influx of migrants.