‘We don’t feel safe’: Serbians lash out after fatal roof collapse


By AFP
November 6, 2024

Thousands have protested following last week's accident 

 - Copyright AFP Jim WATSON
Ognjen ZORIC

For years, Serbia’s leaders boasted of launching a building spree across the country that had touched off a new era of prosperity in the Balkan country.

But following the deaths of 14 people after a roof collapsed at a train last week, a new tide of anger has been unleashed at authorities. That public ire has largely focused on reports of alleged short cuts made with building projects, reports that have left many with a new sense of vulnerability.

On Tuesday evening, more than 20,000 protestors rallied in the city of Novi Sad outside the train station where the fatal incident occurred. Many in the crowd chanted “Prison, prison!” while waving signs that read: “How many more dead children?”

“We’ve been unhappy as a people for a very long time,” Djordje Mitrovic, 30, told AFP at the rally. “We don’t live well. We don’t feel well… And now we don’t feel safe either.”

Amid mounting public pressure, the country’s Construction Minister Goran Vesic resigned Tuesday, citing his ministry’s oversight of development projects.

Vesic refused, however, to “accept the guilt for the deaths of 14 people”.

The central railway station in Novi Sad underwent three years of renovation that was completed in July, though Serbia Railways said the collapsed outdoor roof had not been part of that work.

The construction was handled by a Chinese consortium comprising China Railway International Co. Ltd and China Communications Construction Company Ltd.

The authorities have vowed to investigate.



– ‘Land of cranes’ –



After years of war in 1990s followed by attempts to kickstart Serbia’s economy, the Serbian Progressive Party led by President Aleksandar Vucic was elected into office more than a decade ago, promising a new era of stability in the country.

In the decade that followed, the promised renewal was most visible in the string of projects Vucic and the party launched across the country — including bridges, roads and a massive waterfront development in the capital Belgrade.

Vucic often boasted of transforming Serbia into “a land of cranes”.

But following the fatal accident in Novi Sad, analysts have warned that Vucic’s political trump card is now at risk of turning into a liability.

“When a part of a building that stood for 50 years collapses shortly after renovations, the safety of newly constructed, extended, and restored public structures becomes a matter of common sense,” sociologist Dario Hajric told AFP.

After the roof’s collapse, people have taken to both streets and social media questioning the safety of several new projects set to open in the coming years — including an underground metro network and bridge in Belgrade.

“Today, as we walk around the city, we have to consider whether something might fall on our heads,” opposition figure Stevan Babic told reporters.

“It is a direct result of corruption, rigged tenders, and crony connections,” added Ana Oreg, a member of parliament and Novi Sad resident.

– ‘Accountability’ –

Vucic visited Novi Sad late Tuesday shortly after the protest, insisting that the government has taken all necessary steps to punish those responsible for the railway station tragedy.

“No one will escape accountability if they made a mistake,” Vucic vowed.

Since the accident, prosecutors in Novi Sad have questioned over 50 individuals, including Vesic and officials from Serbian Railways.

The prosecutor’s office has also gathered documents as part of its investigation into what caused the disaster and who might be responsible.

Ultimately however, the transparency of the probe may serve as the true litmus test when it comes to regaining public trust.

In findings published earlier this year, Transparency International warned that Serbia was “witnessing a democratic decline, with its autocratic government using special laws to limit transparency in large-scale projects”.

Many observers are worried that officials will now duck responsiblity for the train station accident.

“The authorities don’t need the truth but rather a version of reality in which they bear no blame,” said the sociologist, Hajric.

Keir Starmer and David Lammy build special relationship with Donald Trump

Labour is cosying up to the global far right figurehead

Keir Starmer and David Lammy are cosying up to Donald Trump to keep in with US imperialism (Picture: Keir Starmer on Flickr)

By Tomáš Tengely-Evans
Wednesday 06 November 2024

SOCIALIST WORKER Issue

Labour prime minister Keir Starmer and foreign secretary David Lammy fell over themselves to congratulate Donald Trump on Wednesday.

Starmer congratulated Trump on an “historic election victory”—and said he was looking forward to working with the president-elect in the coming years. “As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise,” he said.

Lammy posted on X, “Congratulations to Donald Trump on your victory. The UK has no greater friend than the US, with the special relationship being cherished on both sides of the Atlantic for more than 80 years.

“We look forward to working with you and JD Vance in the years ahead.”

Number 10 briefed journalists that Starmer would welcome Trump visit to Britain.

Lammy has previously praised vice president-elect JD Vance. “We share a similar working class background with addiction issues—and we’re both Christian,” he said in the summer.

Those remarks came just after far right Vance said Britain could be “the first truly Islamist country that will get nuclear weapons”.

When Lammy was trying to get on under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, he knew how to make the right noises to appeal to grassroots members. He had called Trump a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath” and “a tyrant in a toupee”.

What’s behind Starmer, Lammy and Labour cosying up to Trump, a figurehead for the global far right?

It stems from the Labour Party’s commitment to the British state—and its role as a junior partner to the US since the end of the Second World War.

The right and left of the Labour Party is committed to “Labourism”, the idea that what happens in parliament is most important to winning changes rather than working class struggles.

While the party may articulate working class people’s aspirations, it aims to take the reins of the British state and rule in the “national interest”. There is no such thing as a national interest between bankers, bosses, landlords and working class people.

But if you want to deliver reforms through the capitalist state, you have to prove that you’re a “responsible” manager of the system. It’s the politics of “nation” over class, which infects that Labourite tradition and trade union bureaucracy.

This means cosying up to the British state and bosses’ interests—and to the US.

It’s why Labour backs Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. It’s why the Labour Party has always supported Zionism even before Israel’s creation in 1948, in the hope that it would be an outpost in the Middle East.

And it’s why Lammy shook hands with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, giving Israel the green light to escalate its slaughter in Gaza.

As Lammy said, “The truth of our relationship is that it is a special relationship. We saw how special it was over the skies of Israel and Jordan where our militaries came together to stop those missiles falling on those two countries.”

What Lammy refers to was dangerous escalation in the Middle East between Israel and Iran, not some finest hour. And, more to the point, why does the US have a base in Jordan? Why does Britain have bases in Cyprus which allow it to fly missions over the Middle East?

Lammy’s only worry is that Trump wants too much of a “go it alone” strategy, which focuses on China at the expense of the Middle East and Ukraine.

But he’s hopeful that, by sucking up to the far right bigot, he can influence him. “There is a lot of rhetoric from Trump, but look at the action,” he says. “He was the first to give javelin missiles to Ukraine after 2015. He talked about withdrawing from Nato, but he actually increased troops to Nato.

“In a grown up world, in the national interests of this country, we will work as closely with him as we can and we will seek to influence him where we disagree.”

That’s what Labour’s grown up politics means—slaughter abroad and making working class people pay for it at home.

Let’s build working class struggles and the Palestine and anti-war movements where our strength lies—we can expect more war from Labour.
Labour’s special relationship with the US

Here are just a few examples of Labour governments backing murder for the sake of the “special relationship” with the US:

1949: The Labour government allows the US to set up permanent military bases in Britain and was key in setting up the warmongers’ alliance Nato.

1950: The Labour government sends British troops to fight in Korea, a proxy war between US imperialism and Russian imperialism.

Over 1,000 British soldiers—and three million Koreans—died. As the historian John Newsinger writes, “The only reason for this military commitment was to maintain the ‘special relationship’ with the US.”

1951: US Democratic president Harry Truman and Clement Attlee’s Labour government overthrow the democratically-elected Iranian government. The CIA and MI5 toppled the liberal Mohammed Mosaddeq, who’d nationalised British oil interests, and installed the Shah as an absolute monarch.

1964-70: There’s a myth that Harold Wilson, the then Labour prime minister, is the “man who kept us out of Vietnam”.

The Labour government didn’t send troops to Vietnam. But that was only due to the strength of the left and the Vietnam solidarity movement in Britain, which mobilised mass demonstrations in 1968.

Wilson said as much to US president Lyndon B Johnson in a telegram in 1967. “I would like you to understand our political situation here,” he said. “For two years, whether with a majority of three or a majority of a hundred, I have been able to hold my party.

“On the Thursday before (Soviet premier) Alexei Kosygin’s visit I had a hostile vote of 68 on a resolution specifically demanding that Her Majesty’s Government should associate itself with (a UN) appeal to you to stop the bombing unconditionally.

“The vote would have been much larger if I had not made a short personal appeal not to rock the boat.”

1999: In the 1990s the West intervened in the bloody civil wars in the former Yugoslavia.

Nato—led by Labour’s Tony Blair—launched a vicious bombing campaign lasting 78 days against Serbia.

General Joseph W Ralston, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was pleased with the policy. He said in September 1999, “Despite the weight of bombs dropped, Serbian civilian casualties were amazingly light, estimated at less than 1,500 dead.”

2001: The US’s real chance to assert its might came after the terror attacks of 9/11, when the US, Britain and Nato launched an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban.

After 20 years, at least a ­quarter of a million killings and trillions of pounds spent on military assaults, the Taliban overthrew the Western-backed government.

2003: Tony Blair lied to make sure Britain joined the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that murdered over a million people.

The Western invasion was an attempt by the US to send a signal to rival powers, such as China, that it was still top dog in the world.

Iraq was the only time a substantial number of Labour MPs rebelled against war—138 voted to delay the invasion, 84 voted against war.

Once again, that was due to the mass movement against the war organised through the Stop The War Coalition.

 

Foreign accents protect people from being judged for bad grammar – study

University of Birmingham

Speaking with a foreign accent mitigates the impact of making grammatical errors, depending on the personality type of the listener, a new study has found.

New research from the University of Birmingham, with collaboration from Cardiff University and the University of Novi Sad (Serbia), has examined how ‘acceptable’ people find grammatical errors they hear, factoring in whether the speaker has a foreign accent or not, and the personality of the listener.

The study, published today (24th September) in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, found that in most cases people tend to be more tolerant towards someone with a foreign accent for making grammatical errors, unless they themselves have specific personality traits, e.g. they are highly conscientious.

Professor Dagmar Divjak, Professorial Research Fellow in Cognitive Linguistics and Language Cognition at the University of Birmingham, who led the research, said: “With English being spoken globally and diverse multicultural communities at home, we can expect to speak to people from different parts of the world for whom English is not their first language. This can lead to deviations from the perceived ‘standard’ in conversations, such as foreign accents or grammatical errors, being negatively received and leading to snap judgements about individuals. However, not a lot of research has been done on accent and grammar at the same time. Our research has found that those with foreign accents were not as harshly judged as native-accented people for making grammatical errors. And we found an interesting effect of listener personality.”

The researchers asked 60 first language British English speakers, 30 men and 30 women, recruited in Birmingham, to listen to 40 recordings of short passages in English, with or without grammatical errors in either a British or foreign accent. The poor grammar versions had different types of article errors, such as the omission or overuse of definite and indefinite articles (“the” or “a/an”) or the substitution of one for the other as in “I enjoy Edinburgh Fringe Festival” or “We celebrate the Christmas” or “We exchanged the wishes”. The 40 passages were read aloud by two British and two Polish speakers, one female and one male, at a natural speed.

The participants were then asked to rate on a scale of 1-100 how the language sounded to them, 1 being ‘this is not how I would express myself in English’, and 100 being ‘this is pretty much how I would put it myself’, and how easy it was to understand the speaker, 1 being ‘very difficult’ and 100 ‘very easy’. The participants also filled out a questionnaire to report their personality traits in terms of conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and neuroticism.

The research found that the article errors were more detrimental in the British accented speech than in the Polish accented speech.

Dr Hui Sun, at the time postdoctoral researcher on the study and now Lecturer in Language and Communication at Cardiff University said: “This could be because grammatical errors in native-accented speech are more unexpected and so more salient to the listeners. It is worth noting that most speech samples, including those with errors, were rated as easy to understand. We also found that the personality traits of the listeners had an impact on the acceptability ratings. For example, we found a clear linear effect of conscientiousness: the more conscientious you are, the less acceptable you find foreign-accented speech, regardless of the presence of grammatical errors. Other personality types showed a more complex, nonlinear pattern.”

Petar Milin, Professor of Psychology of Language and Language Learning at the University of Birmingham added: “This research has found that first-language English speakers are accepting of grammatical errors when the speaker audibly hails from another part of the world. This shows that British people make exceptions for those who may be learning the language, as long as they can understand the meaning of what is being said. Overall, our participants from Birmingham were very tolerant, which could be expected as the city contains a diverse community of people from different parts of the world. The study demonstrates a level of kindness and understanding from our participants which is a real positive to take away.”

The researchers say that these findings could have real-world applications, such as the way English is taught as a second language and understanding how we, as individuals, make judgments based on accents in situations like job interviews.

Professor Divjak concluded: “Our findings could influence how English is taught to people wanting to learn it as a second language for interactive purposes, with less focus on the fiddly specifics of grammar and more emphasis on effective expression. It also underscores the importance of self-awareness, as first-language listeners’ evaluations of foreign-accented speech could have negative consequences, especially in high-stakes situations such as academic admissions, job interviews, and immigration interviews. It is important to raise their awareness of the role personality plays in these evaluations which may help first language speakers with their communication with, and appreciation of, foreign-accented speakers.”    

ENDS
 

---

Journal

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

DOI

10.1080/01434632.2024.2402489 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Article Title

L1 listeners’ evaluations of LX speech: the role of listener expectations and personality traits

Police fire tear gas at protest over deadly canopy collapse in Serbia


Protesters broke windows and sprayed red paint on the City Hall building in the Serbian city of Novi Sad on Tuesday in rage over last week’s collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station that killed 14 people

A protester attempts to throw a flare into the City Hall building during a protest in rage over last week’s collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station that killed 14 people, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

A flare burns in front of the City Hall building during a protest in rage over last week’s collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station that killed 14 people, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)


A protester paints grafitti on the City Hall building during a protest in rage over last week’s collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station that killed 14 people, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

 November 5, 2024S


NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) — Protesters on Tuesday threw flares and red paint on the City Hall building in the Serbian city of Novi Sad in rage over last week’s collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station that killed 14 people. Police responded by firing tear gas canisters.

The protesters surrounded the building in the city center, broke windows and threw stones and other objects despite calls by organizers to remain calm. Special police troops were deployed inside the building.

Serbia’s autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic said police were “showing restraint,” while warning that “horrific, violent protests are underway.”

“People of Serbia, please do not think violence is allowed,” he said on X. “All those taking part in the incidents will be punished.”

Miran Pogacar, an opposition activist, said “one glass window can be mended but we cannot bring back 14 lives. People are angry. Serbia won’t stand for this.”
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Protest organizers said they wanted to enter the City Hall building and submit their demands, including that those responsible for the canopy collapse face justice.

Some of the protesters trying to get inside the building wore masks and were believed to be soccer hooligans who are close to the populist government.


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Bojan Pajtic, an opposition politician, said he believed violence was being stoked by provocateurs, a tactic used before in Serbia to derail peaceful anti-government protests and paint the opposition protesters as enemies of the nation.

Earlier, thousands of demonstrators had marched through the city streets demanding that top officials step down because of the fatal outer roof collapse last Friday, including President Vucic and Prime Minister Milos Vucevic.

The protesters first gathered outside the railway station where they held a moment of silence for the victims as organizers read their names. The crowd responded by chanting: “arrest the gang” and “thieves.”

The protest started peacefully but some demonstrators later hurled plastic bottles and bricks at the headquarters of Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party and smeared red paint on posters of the Serbian president and the prime minister — a message that they have blood on their hands.

The protesters removed most of the Serbian national red, blue and white national flags that were apparently hung on the headquarters to prevent it from an attack. That triggered an angry reaction from the president.

“Our Serbian tri-color has been destroyed, hidden and removed by all those who do not love Serbia,” Vucic wrote on X. “Tonight, in Novi Sad, this is being done by those who tell us that they love Serbia more than us, the decent citizens of this country.”

As protests wound down later in the evening, Vucic made a surprise trip to Novi Sad and made a brief appearance before his several hundred supporters gathered outside the party headquarters.

Critics of Serbia’s populist government have attributed the disaster to rampant corruption in the Balkan country, a lack of transparency and sloppy work during renovation work on the station building which was part of a wider railway deal with Chinese state companies.

The accident happened without warning. Surveillance camera footage showed the massive canopy on the outer wall of the station building crashing down on the people sitting below on benches or going in and out.

Officials have promised full accountability and, faced with pressure, Serbia’s construction minister submitted his resignation on Tuesday.

Prosecutors have said that more than 40 people already have been questioned as part of a probe into what happened. Many in Serbia, however, doubt that justice will be served with the populists in firm control of the judicial system and the police.

Opposition parties behind Tuesday’s protest said they are also demanding the resignation of Vucevic and that documentation be made public listing all the companies and individuals involved.

The victims included a 6-year-old girl. Those injured in the roof collapse remained inserious condition on Tuesday.

The train station has been renovated twice in recent years. Officials have insisted that the canopy had not been part of the renovation work, suggesting this was the reason why it collapsed but giving no explanation for why it was not included.

The Novi Sad railway station was originally built in 1964, while the renovated station was inaugurated by Vucic and his populist ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, over two years ago as a major stopover for a planned fast train line between Belgrade and Budapest.

Thousands protest in Serbian city over fatal roof collapse

a train station roof collapsed last week killing 14 people 

By AFP
November 5, 2024


Protesters lift up red painted hands to symbolise what they say is government neglect and mismanagement 

- Copyright AFP I-Hwa CHENG

Ognjen ZORIC

Thousands of protesters, red paint and smashed windows at the city hall: The Serbian city where a train station roof collapsed last week killing 14 people was at boiling point Tuesday evening.

The deadly accident in Novi Sad struck just months after the station completed a years-long renovation.

It sparked outrage in Serbia where people have taken to the streets and social media users are demanding the resignation of government officials for what they allege is weak oversight on construction and development projects.

“I’m here because one six-year-old girl will never blow out seven candles on her birthday cake,” protester Maja Gledic told AFP.

“This little girl had a nine-year-old sister who won’t be blowing (her) ten (birthday) candles either,” the 50-year-old saleswoman said, referring to two little sisters who were among the victims.

“How many (dead) children we still have to count for this to be over?”, Gledic said barely holding back tears.

Three people, aged between 18 and 24, were seriously injured in the accident, and they were still in critical condition on Tuesday.

So far 48 people have been questioned in an investigation into the accident, according to the authorities.

Construction Minister Goran Vesic resigned earlier Tuesday, saying he made the move “as a responsible man who wants to show by personal example that in today’s Serbia there is moral responsibility due to the terrible tragedy”.

The minister said on X he was quitting with a “clear conscience”.

But, for the protesters in Novi Sad, who first gathered in font of the train station and observed a minute of silence for the victims, it was not enough.

“You are guilty!” one of the organisers told the authorities, speaking from an improvised stage.

Many held banners that read: “Crime”, with their hands painted red.

The protesters chanted: “Prison, prison!” and “Arrest the criminals”.



– ‘Victims of regime’ –



“These fourteen dead and three wounded are, above all, victims of this regime and of everything that is happening in Serbia over the last twelve years”, protester Vladimir Gvozdenovic, a 60-year-old economist, told AFP.

“This accident did not come by itself. It is the product of arrogance, impudence and thievery of this country and these authorities. Eventually, their criminal manner of running the country results in the death of people.”

For Gvozdenovic and fellow protesters, the ruling nationalist SNS party is guilty of negligence in overseeing public infrastructure construction projects that are proliferating across the country.

From the train station the protesters marched to the city hall where dozens of them threw red paint, stones, bottles and flares at the building, smashing its windows.

Police inside the building responded with pepper spray, while other protesters tried to intervene, shouting “don’t destroy our city,” in a very tense atmosphere, according to an AFP reporter.

Meanwhile, President Aleksandar Vucic pledged to punish those responsible for the violence.

“My message to them (protesters) is that the police are very restrained tonight, not only because of them, but also because of the reverence we show for the victims of the terrible tragedy,” he said in a video posted on Instagram.

Vucic pledged that “everyone who participated in this will be punished”.

The central railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, underwent three years of renovation that was completed in July, though Serbia Railways said the collapsed outdoor roof had not been part of the renovations.

Serbia train station tragedy: How Serbians are demanding accountability | DW News

Serbian protesters demand arrests after railway station canopy collapse killed 14

Brussels hopes to advance Ukraine, Moldova entry talks in 2025


By AFP
October 30, 2024

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stressed the strategic importance of the bloc's enlargement faced with the 'existential threat' from Russia - Copyright AFP JOHN THYS

The European Commission said Wednesday it hopes to move entry talks with Ukraine and Moldova to the next stage “as soon as possible” in 2025, as part of a renewed enlargement push faced with the “existential threat” from Russia.

In an annual update on the EU enlargement process, the commission also reaffirmed that Georgia’s path to joining remained “de facto” halted without a change of course from its ruling party — accused of steering Tbilisi back into Russia’s orbit.

Ex-Soviet Ukraine and Moldova opened European Union accession negotiations in June, setting them on a long — and yet uncertain — path towards membership that Russia has tried to block.

The commission said the task of screening how far laws in both Ukraine and Moldova comply with EU standards — and how much work lies ahead — was “progressing smoothly”.

Once complete, actual negotiations can begin on 35 subjects, from taxation to environmental policy — grouped under what are known in enlargement jargon as “clusters”.

For both Ukraine and Moldova, the commission said it was “looking forward to the opening of negotiations on clusters… as soon as possible in 2025” — subject to a green light from the EU’s 27 member states.

For Ukraine, the opening of talks in June marked the beginning of a protracted process that will likely take many years — and may never lead to membership.

So far, Ukraine has won plaudits for kickstarting a raft of reforms on curbing graft and political interference, even as it battles the Russian invasion.

“Ukrainians are fighting two battles at the same time,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a news conference. “One in the battlefield, a real war, and another striving to push the reforms needed to become member of the European Union.”

“We will support Ukraine on both fronts,” he said.

Moldova only narrowly voted in favour of joining the bloc in a referendum this month marked by allegations of interference by Moscow — casting a shadow over the country’s EU aspirations.

But enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi told the press conference “it is very clear that Moldova has come a long way” — citing in particular the recovery from oligarchs of tens of millions in “stolen” funds.

Kyiv and Chisinau lodged their respective EU bids in the aftermath of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has reinvigorated a push to take on new members.



– No ‘business as usual’ with Russia –



EU also granted candidate status to ex-Soviet Georgia last December — but negotiations were frozen after it passed a controversial “foreign influence law” targeting civil society, which critics said mirrored Russian legislation.

“Should there be a political will from Georgia’s leadership, we are offering a clear path for re-engagement on the way to the European Union — the repeal of the law on foreign influence,” Borrell said.

But the commission’s enlargement report also warned: “Unless Georgia reverts the current course of action which jeopardises its EU path… the commission will not be in a position to consider recommending opening negotiations with Georgia.”

Borrell said the invasion of Ukraine had made “clear that Russia is posing an existential threat to Europe now more than ever, and that European Union membership becomes a strategic choice.”

“You simply cannot maintain ties with Russia or to try to do business as usual and expect that your country will be part of the European Union,” said Borrell. “It’s one thing or the other.”

Brussels earlier this year approved accession negotiations with Bosnia and has talks ongoing with Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia.

Borrell took a swipe at Serbia, which maintains friendly ties with Moscow and has refused to sanction it for the invasion of Ukraine.

“Serbia, sooner or later, will have to align the foreign policy with European Union foreign policy. Otherwise, membership will be jeopardised,” he warned.

Turkey officially remains a candidate, having launched membership talks in 2005, but the process has gone nowhere since a crackdown on opposition groups following a failed coup in 2016

Russia eats away at territory, and Ukrainian morale

By AFP
October 30, 2024

Russia is still launching attacks on Ukrainian cities like Kharkiv - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP ALEX WONG

Didier LAURAS

Progress has been slow but it is relentless. Russia’s army has been advancing at several points along the Ukrainian war front for weeks now, gobbling up territory one village at a time.

It has cast doubt over Kyiv’s ability to stem the tide, let alone push back the advancing troops.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army has taken 478 square kilometres of territory since the start of October — its largest monthly territorial gain since the early weeks of its invasion in February 2022, according to AFP analysis of data from the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

“Russia has been on the offensive for an entire year,” said Meduza, a Russian opposition website that has been blocked by Moscow.

“Yet this past week has been one of the toughest — if not the toughest — for Ukraine’s armed forces during that time,” it added.



– Accelerated progression –



The ISW data does not point to Ukrainian military collapse in any way, “but what is the most concerning is that it’s a pattern”, said former French army colonel Michel Goya, a war historian.

“We have seen an acceleration in this progression, with the feeling that it cannot be stopped,” he added, describing a “Russian strategy of pressure everywhere, all the time, while waiting for (the defence) to crack, crumble or collapse.”

Almost every day, Moscow claims a new victory.

“None of the locations, on their own, have any great importance, but together it represents a great success for the Russian army,” said Alexander Khramchikhin, a Moscow-based Russian military analyst.

“The Russian advance, even though not rapid, shows the increasing deterioration (of the situation) in Ukraine.”



– Artillery power –



Since the start of the war, Moscow has maintained artillery superiority.

Despite Western sanctions, Russia has turned its economy into a war machine, with support from allies, headed by Iran and North Korea.

“The Russian war industry produces more weapons than Ukraine receives,” said Khramchikhin, and “more ammunition thanks to its industry and that of North Korea”.

At the start of this year, a US Congress freeze on a multi-billion-dollar aid package significantly slowed the supply of weapons to Ukraine, “while three million North Korean shells arrived in Russian depots”, said Goya.

And Moscow developed a guidance system for bombs, which it uses “by the thousands”, he said, adding that some 1,600 North Korean KN-02 ballistic missiles had pummelled Ukraine.



– New tactical approach –



Rather than capturing towns district by district, the Russian army has gone for a suffocation tactic.

“The principle is to threaten to surround the pockets that are then forced to retreat,” said Goya.

For Alexander Kots, a war journalist for the popular Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda and strong supporter of the invasion, “we refused to storm towns and villages head on, where we would have to eat up every square metre of road, every house.”

As such, Ukrainian forces “can be forced to withdraw along a long corridor that is open to fire.”



– Ukraine’s tired morale –



Gradually, the Russian advance has eaten away at Ukrainian morale. Kyiv is struggling to recruit, while the army’s disorganisation and corruption facilitate desertions and refusals to fight.

“Beating an enemy is killing their hope. When the sacrifice of those who die is for nothing, there is no sense in fighting on,” said Goya.

“The (President Volodymyr) Zelensky government, faced with the war weariness of the civilian population, is struggling to mobilise,” said a French military leader on the condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday, Kyiv announced a new mobilisation drive aimed at recruiting 160,000 people, faced with the fear of Russia deploying North Korean troops, in order to boost numbers by 85 percent.



– Western procrastination –



On the flip side, Russia is suffering heavy losses, experts say.

Ivan Klyszcz, from the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) in Estonia, said that at the current rate, Russia “would finish capturing the rest of the Donbas region of Ukraine after several months and at an extremely high cost.”

In the meantime, the West is procrastinating.

Zelensky’s “victory plan”, which was supposed to put him in a position of strength to negotiate, has divided allies, while the US presidential elections in November have created uncertainty.

“It seems that Ukraine will soon realise that it needs a change of course, and that relying on Western partners… will become a counter-productive strategy in the near future,” said Klyszcz.

However, the deployment of North Korean troops could provoke a sense of urgency in the West.

But “whether this urgency will translate into new pledges or enhanced support, is yet to be seen,” added Klyszcz.

US Energy Dept finalizes $2.26bn loan for Lithium Americas’ Nevada mine

ALL CAPITALI$M IS STATE CAPITALI$M

Reuters | October 28, 2024 |

Thacker Pass is projected to begin lithium production in the second half of 2026. 

(Image courtesy of Lithium Americas.)

The US Department of Energy finalized a $2.26 billion loan for Lithium Americas on Monday to build Nevada’s Thacker Pass lithium mine, one of Washington’s largest mining industry investments and part of a broader push to boost critical minerals production.


The loan, provisionally approved in March, is a key part of US President Joe Biden’s efforts to reduce dependence on lithium supplies from China, the world’s largest processor of the electric vehicle battery metal. Biden officials permitted a similar lithium project under development by ioneer last week.

The Thacker Pass project is slated to open later this decade and be a key supplier to General Motors, which earlier this month boosted its investment in the mine to nearly $1 billion.

“The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes mineral security is essential to winning the global clean energy race,” said Ali Zaidi, the White House national climate advisor.

Former President Donald Trump had permitted the mine just before leaving office. Initial construction at the site, just south of Nevada’s border with Oregon, started last year after the company won a long-running and complex court case brought by conservationists, ranchers and Indigenous communities.

With the loan now closed, Vancouver-based Lithium Americas plans to start major construction, a process that could take three years or longer. The mine’s first phase is expected to produce 40,000 metric tons of battery-quality lithium carbonate per year, enough for up to 800,000 EVs.

The project is expected to employ about 1,800 people during construction, and provide 360 full-time jobs once the mine is operational. The loan will have a 24-year term, with interest rates based on the US Treasury rate as each tranche is drawn.

“This essential loan helps us reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and secure America’s energy future,” said Lithium Americas CEO Jon Evans.

The mine’s cost had been increased from a previous estimate of $2.27 billion to nearly $2.93 billion due to higher engineering costs, an agreement to use union labor, and the company’s decision to build a housing facility for workers and their families in the remote region.

(By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Richard Chang)

Biden administration approves ioneer’s Nevada lithium mine

Reuters | October 24, 2024 | 

Rhyolite Ridge lithium project in Nevada. (Image courtesy of ioneer.)

The US Interior Department on Thursday gave final approval to ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada, the first domestic source of the battery metal to be permitted by President Joe Biden’s administration and one that will become a key supplier to Ford and other electric vehicle manufacturers.


Shares of the Australia-based critical minerals miner jumped more than 20% in New York trading on Thursday afternoon before easing down.

The approval ends a more-than six-year review process during which regulators, ioneer and conservationists tussled over the fate of a rare flower found at the mine site, a tension that exposed the sometimes competing priorities between climate change mitigation efforts and biodiversity protection.

The permit, which had been expected by the end of the year, comes amid a flurry of recent moves by Biden officials to support critical minerals production and offset China’s market dominance.

It also unlocks a $700 million loan from the US Department of Energy, as well as a $490 million equity investment from Sibanye Stillwater to fund the project.


“This is a science-based decision,” Laura Daniel-Davis, the Interior Department’s acting deputy secretary, told Reuters. “We’re trying to send a signal that there’s no topic with greater importance than addressing climate change.”

The US Bureau of Land Management, which is controlled by the Interior Department, on Thursday issued the Rhyolite Ridge project’s record of decision – essentially the mine’s permit – and said the project will “include significant protections for the local ecosystem” and help create hundreds of jobs in the rural region.

The project, roughly 225 miles (362 km) north of Las Vegas, contains enough lithium to power roughly 370,000 EVs each year. Construction is slated to begin next year, with production commencing by 2028, a timeline that would make Rhyolite Ridge one of the largest US lithium producers alongside Albemarle and Lithium Americas.

The US Geological Survey has labeled lithium a critical mineral vital for the US economy and national security.

“We’re proud to be the first US lithium mine permitted by the Biden administration,” James Calaway, ioneer’s chairman, told Reuters.

The project will extract lithium as well as boron – a chemical used to make ceramics and soaps – from a clay-like deposit. The lithium will be processed on site into two main derivatives used to make batteries, and the company said it plans to recycle half of all the water used at the site, higher than the industry average.

Ford and a joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic have agreed to buy lithium from the mine.

Endangered flower

In addition to the lithium and boron deposits, Rhyolite Ridge is home to the Tiehm’s buckwheat flower, which is found nowhere else on the planet and was declared an endangered species in 2022.

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and some other conservation groups thus oppose ioneer’s project, saying it would push the flower to the brink of extinction.

After the permit was announced on Thursday, the CBD said it plans to sue the federal government to block the project.

“By greenlighting this mine, the Bureau of Land Management is abandoning its duty to protect endangered species like Tiehm’s buckwheat and it’s making a mockery of the Endangered Species Act,” said the CBD’s Patrick Donnelly.

The Interior Department’s Daniel-Davis declined to comment on the potential litigation, but noted the changes made to the mine’s operating plan as a result of the permit review process, including new design plans and propagation efforts that included construction of a greenhouse. Department officials also released an opinion stating their belief that the mine would not harm the flower.

“We have run a transparent process,” said Daniel-Davis. “The company was willing to reconfigure its entire project to take into account Tiehm’s buckwheat.”

The death of more than 17,000 flowers near the mine site in 2020 sparked allegations of a “premeditated” attack. Ioneer denied harming the flowers. The government later blamed thirsty squirrels.

(By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

USGS Finds Enough Lithium to Meet Annual Demand Nine Times Over

By Alex Kimani - Oct 27, 2024

The USGS reported a lithium discovery the size of nine times the global lithium demand by 2030.

The U.S. relies on imports for more than 25% of its lithium.

The deposits are mostly concentrated in one spot, limiting the area impacted by mining.



The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment's Office of the State Geologist have discovered a vast lithium reserve containing more than nine times the International Energy Agency's projection of global lithium demand for electric vehicles in 2030. A relic of an ancient sea that left an extensive, porous, and permeable limestone geologic, the Smackover Formation extends under parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, and could contain between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves.

"Our research was able to estimate the total lithium present in the southwestern portion of the Smackover in Arkansas for the first time. We estimate there is enough dissolved lithium present in that region to replace U.S. imports of lithium and more. It is important to caution that these estimates are an in-place assessment. We have not estimated what is technically recoverable based on newer methods to extract lithium from brines," said Katherine Knierim, a hydrologist and the study's principal researcher.

The USGS estimates there is enough lithium brought to the surface in the oil and brine waste streams in southern Arkansas to cover current estimated U.S. lithium consumption. The U.S. relies on imports for more than 25% of its lithium.


Source: USGS


The Smackover Formation is the latest among a series of large lithium discoveries made by the USGS in recent years. Last year, USGS fortuitously discovered lithium deposits bigger than Bolivia's salt flats, home to the world's biggest lithium reserves. While the discovery itself was not news, a new study published in the journal Science Advances estimates that the McDermitt Caldera, a volcanic crater on the Nevada-Oregon border, harbors 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium deposits, nearly double Bolivia's 23 million metric tonnes at the upper range.

"If you believe their back-of-the-envelope estimation, this is a very, very significant deposit of lithium. It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply and geopolitics," Anouk Borst, a geologist at KU Leuven University who was not involved in the study, has told Chemistry World.

The caldera is estimated to have formed approximately 16.4 million years ago after a massive magma eruption. The lithium is deposited in a uniquely lithium-rich illite over 600 feet deep. To sweeten the deal further, the deposits are mostly concentrated in one spot, limiting the area impacted by mining.

"They seem to have hit the sweet spot where the clays are preserved close to the surface, so they won't have to extract as much rock, yet it hasn't been weathered away yet," Borst has told Chemistry World.

One small conundrum for the burgeoning U.S. lithium industry: although the McDermitt Caldera's lithium is locked up in clay, meaning mining costs are likely to be cheaper compared to mining spodumene deposits, extracting lithium from clay has never been done commercially. Bolivia has tried unsuccessfully for years to commercially produce lithium using its state-owned firm. It's the reason why industry experts remain skeptical about the real value of Mexico's newly nationalized vast lithium deposits because the country's lithium is found mostly in clay.

A few months later, the U.S. Department of Energy discovered a massive lithium deposit beneath California's Salton Sea, holding an estimated 18 million tons of lithium. According to the DoE, with expected technology advances, the Salton Sea region's total resources could produce more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, worth up to $540 billion and enough to support over 375 million batteries for electric vehicles (EV)—more than the total number of vehicles currently on U.S. roads.

"Lithium is vital to decarbonizing the economy and meeting President Biden's goals of 50% electric vehicle adoption by 2030," said Jeff Marootian, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

"This report confirms the once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a domestic lithium industry at home while also expanding clean, flexible electricity generation. Using American innovation, we can lead the clean energy future, create jobs and a strong domestic supply chain, and boost our national energy security," the DoE declared.

The Salton Sea lithium deposit appears to be a real goldmine. After all, the DoE has revealed its Known Geothermal Resource Area (KGRA) has about 400 megawatts (MW) of geothermal electricity-generation capacity currently installed but has the potential for up to 2,950 MW. The DoE notes that the combined subsurface geology and geothermal activity in the Salton Sea's KGRA result in high concentrations of lithium, among the highest concentrations of lithium contained in geothermal brines across the globe.

However, the DoE acknowledged that the United States currently has limited capabilities to extract, refine, and produce domestically sourced lithium. Indeed, the country typically imports nearly half of the lithium it consumes, almost all coming from Chile and Argentina.

Lithium Bear Market

These massive lithium finds are probably not the kind of news that lithium bulls will be celebrating, with the lithium price selloff showing no signs of abating. Lithium carbonate prices fell to CNY 71,500 ($10,042) per tonne in October, the lowest level since March 2021, as the overcapacity for electric vehicle batteries in China continues to drive lower asking prices for inputs across the supply chain. Aggressive subsidies by the Chinese government have not been helping matters, helping trigger a large wave of oversupply of EV batteries and driving carbonate prices 23% lower so far in the current year after an 80% plunge in 2023. Market players have predicted that global supply will soar by nearly 50% in 2024. Chile has already signaled it will double output over the next decade, while China is expanding lithium projects in Africa.

Recently, mining giant Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) announced an all-cash $6.7 billion deal for Arcadium Lithium Plc (NYSE:ALTM), good for a hefty 90% premium to the Oct. 4 closing price. Both company boards unanimously approved the merger, with the deal expected to close mid-2025. Arcadium Lithium was formed in January 2024 following the US$10.6 billion merger of equals between U.S.-based Livent and Australia's Alkem. The acquisition is seen as a major win for Rio Tinto, with the company having struggled to get traction in the lithium market after its Jadar project in Serbia ran into local opposition. This means that Rio Tinto now owns the world's third-largest lithium reserves, behind only Corporacion Minera de Bolivia, also known as COMIBOL, and SQM (NYSE:SQM).

Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

Georgia's jailed ex-president says Putin's Russia is not ready for a new 'hot' war

DAVID BRENNAN
Sat, October 26, 2024 a

Georgia's Saturday parliamentary elections have been cast by all parties as an era-defining moment for the country's 3.8 million people.

For one of the country's best known men, the results of the election could mean the difference between incarceration and freedom.

Former President Mikheil Saakashvili, 56, has been jailed since 2021 on charges of abuse of power and organizing an assault on an opposition lawmaker -- charges he contends are politically motivated.

"My imprisonment is purely political and everyone knows that," Saakashvili told ABC News in an interview conducted from his prison cell via intermediaries. "Once the politics changes, it will be finished."

PHOTO: In this Sept. 23, 2008 file photo President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili addresses the 63rd annual United Nations General Assembly meeting at UN headquarters in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images, FILE)More

MORE: War or peace? Russia’s wrath hangs over Georgia elections

Saturday's election will pit the Moscow-leaning Georgian Dream government against several pro-Western opposition parties, among them the United National Movement party founded by Saakashvili in 2001.

Among the UNM's priorities, if it wins power as part of a pro-Western coalition, will be to free Saakashvili.

The campaign has been fraught with allegations of meddling and political violence on behalf of GD. The opposition is hoping to mobilize a historic turnout to defeat what they say are GD efforts to undermine the contest.

"The only recipe for tackling election meddling is erecting the wall of mass turnout at the ballot box," Saakashvili said.

People power has proved a serious problem for GD in recent years. Mass protests defeated the government's first effort to introduce a foreign agents registration law -- which critics say was modeled on Russian legislation used to criminalize Western-leaning politicians, activists and academics -- in 2023.

The government pushed the legislation through again in 2024 despite renewed and intense demonstrations.

Opponents credit GD founder, former prime minister and Georgia's richest man -- Bidzina Ivanishvili -- as the mastermind behind what they say is the government's authoritarian and pro-Moscow pivot, though the billionaire does not hold an official position.

Saakashvili said Ivanishvili -- who made his fortune in Russia after the Soviet collapse -- and the GD party "will go as far as it takes" to retain power this weekend, "but the question will be once they lose the elections if the government structures follow the orders from the oligarch," he added, referring to Ivanishvili.

PHOTO: Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili attends the final campaign rally of the ruling Georgian Dream party in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 23, 2024. (Giorgi Arjevanidze/AFP via Getty Images)

Ivanishvili and his party are framing the vote as a choice between war and peace. A new Western-led government, they say, will put Tbilisi back on the path to conflict with Russia, reviving the bloodshed of the 2008 war that saw Moscow cement its occupation of 20% of Georgian territory.

"It is straight from the Russian playbook," Saakashvili said of the GD warnings. "Blaming victims for aggression against them. As far as we are concerned, real security and peace is associated with being part of Euro-Atlantic structures, and European Union membership is within reach." Georgia received EU candidate status in 2023.

The latest polls suggest that GD will emerge as the largest party, but will fall significantly short of a parliamentary majority. A grand alliance of pro-EU and pro-NATO opposition parties, though, could get past the 50% threshold to form a new governing coalition.

"Polls are a very treacherous thing in authoritarian systems," Saakashvili said. "Moldova's recent example shows that polls get compromised by mass vote buying, and surely that will be the case in Georgia."

"On the other hand, those that say to pollsters that they are voting for the government very often don't say the truth," he added.

PHOTO: A man holds a Georgian flag during an opposition rally ahead of the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 20, 2024. (Shakh Aivazov/AP)

Saakashvili's 2021 imprisonment marked the nadir of a 20-year political rollercoaster. Saakashvili went from the much-loved leader of Georgia's pro-Western Rose Revolution in 2003 to being vanquished by President Vladimir Putin's Russian military machine by 2008.

By 2011, Saakashvili's government was itself accused of violently suppressing protests, with the president soon also embroiled in human rights and corruption scandals.

Constitutionally barred from serving three consecutive terms, Saakashvili left Georgia after the 2013 presidential election and in 2018 was convicted in absentia on abuse of power and other charges.

A Ukrainian citizen -- his citizenship was revoked by President Petro Poroshenko in 2017 before being restored by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2019 -- Saakashvili went on to serve as governor of the Odessa region from 2015 to 2016. Zelenskyy appointed Saakashvili as the head of the executive committee of the National Council of Reforms in 2020.

Saakashvili returned to Georgia in October 2021 as the country prepared for local elections. He was arrested and detained by police.

His domestic and international allies have repeatedly condemned his imprisonment, raising concerns of his ill treatment and subsequent ill health. U.S. and European Union officials have also urged Tbilisi to do more to ensure Saakashvili's fair treatment.

PHOTO: Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili appears in court in Tbilisi, Georgia on Nov. 29, 2021. (Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters/Pool/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, FILE)

He has been hospitalized while in prison -- once due to a hunger strike -- and his gaunt appearance during a 2023 video conference court hearing prompted Zelenskyy to summon the Georgian ambassador in Kyiv to complain.

Saakashvili broadly blames Putin for his current situation. But he believes Moscow is not necessarily in a position to prevent a pro-Western pivot in Tbilisi.

"In 2008, the war happened after the West had sent a clear sign of weakness by refusing the NATO accession for Georgia and Ukraine," Saakashvili said.

"If there is no hesitation this time, Russia is so stuck in Ukraine that it has no motivation to create a new hot war elsewhere."

"We have no other choice," he responded, when asked about the risks of perturbing the Kremlin. "The only other alternative is going back," he said, "living in the Russian sphere of influence."

As to his own plans if indeed he is freed, Saakashvili described himself as "a regional rather than purely Georgian leader."

"I will help any next non-oligarch government with transition by advice," he added, but said he will not seek any official position of power.

"And of course, I am a Ukrainian national and it is my duty to stand by Ukraine."

PHOTO: Supporters of Georgia's pro-Western and pro-European Union opposition groups hold a rally ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 20, 2024. (Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters)

EU leader denounces Russia's 'hybrid war' aiming to destabilize Western Balkan democracies

Associated Press
Updated Sat, October 26, 2024


European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen listens to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a news conference at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference after talks with Montenegro's Prime Minister Milojko Spajic in Podgorica, Montenegro, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Montenegro's Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, right, shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Podgorica, Montenegro, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday denounced Russia's hybrid attacks against democracies, saying the European Union is fighting daily to debunk misinformation.

Von der Leyen was in Kosovo as part of a trip this week to aspiring EU member states in the Western Balkans to assure them that enlargement remains a priority for the 27-nation bloc.

Von der Leyen denounced Russia's efforts “to destabilize these democracies,” adding that Brussels works to unveil propaganda “to the benefit of a whole region.”

“It is possible for us to stand up with the truth and with transparency and with very clear messaging. So here we are really countering a hybrid attack that Russia is leading against democracies,” she said at a news conference in the capital, Pristina.

Von der Leyen came to Kosovo from neighboring Serbia, which has close ties to Russia and has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

She did not mention the 13-year-old EU-led dialogue to normalize ties between Serbia and its former province, Kosovo, instead focusing on EU efforts to develop the region's economy.

Kosovo-Serbia ties remain tense, even 25 years after NATO’s 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 that ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which left about 13,000 people dead, mainly ethnic Albanians. Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008, which Belgrade has not recognized.



Last year EU officials offered a 6-billion-euro (about $6.5 billion) growth plan to the Western Balkan countries in an effort to double the region’s economy over the next decade and accelerate their efforts to join the bloc. That aid is contingent on reforms that would bring their economies in line with EU rules.

The Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications for EU membership. The countries have been frustrated by the slow pace of the process, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has propelled European leaders to push the six to join the bloc.

The Commission on Wednesday approved the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following a green light from EU member states. That was a key step to allow payments under the growth plan upon completion of agreed reform steps.

Von der Leyen's trip concluded with a visit to small Montenegro, a NATO member state which is seen as the first in line for EU membership. Von der Leyen praised Montenegro's effortson the EU path, saying “we are now closing one chapter after another.”



Montenegro's government is a cohabitation between pro-EU and pro-Russian factions. Von der Leyen urged unity in the divided nation to achieve progress toward EU membership.

“I want to assure you that, like in my first mandate, enlargement will be at the top of the political agenda for the next five years," said von der Leyen. “We have now all the necessary tools, all the necessary instruments in place, so let’s make it happen, let’s make it a reality, and work towards this common goal.”

___

AP writer Predrag Milic contributed from Podgorica, Montenegro.

EU leader praises Serbia for its advances in EU membership bid despite growing Russian influence

DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Updated Fri, October 25, 2024

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, left, shakes hands with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after a news conference at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday praised the Serbian president for meeting her and other European Union leaders instead of attending a Russia-organized summit of developing economies held earlier this week.

Serbia has close ties to Russia and has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. In a telephone conversation Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said EU candidate Serbia would maintain its stance on sanctions, notwithstanding EU and other Western pressure.

However, despite Putin's invitation, Vucic did not attend a three-day summit of the BRICS group of nations, led by Russia and China, which took place in the Russian city of Kazan earlier this week. Leaders or representatives of 36 countries took part in the summit, highlighting the failure of U.S.-led efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Vucic sent a high-level delegation to the meeting, but said he could not attend himself because he had scheduled meetings with von der Leyen and Polish and Greek leaders. There are fears in the West that Putin is plotting trouble in the volatile Balkans in part to shift some of the attention from its invasion of Ukraine.

“What I see is that the president of the Republic of Serbia is hosting me here today and just has hosted the prime minister of Greece and the prime minister of Poland. That speaks for itself, I think," von der Leyen said at a joint press conference with Vucic.

“And for my part, I want to say that my presence here today, in the context of my now fourth trip to the Balkan region since I took office, is a very clear sign that I believe that Serbia’s future is in the European Union," she said.

Vucic said he knows what the EU is demanding for eventual membership — including compliance with foreign policy goals — but did not pledge further coordination.



“Of course, Ursula asked for much greater compliance with EU’s foreign policy declaration," he said. “We clearly know what the demands are, what the expectations are.”

Von der Leyen was in Serbia as part of a trip this week to aspiring EU member states in the Western Balkans to assure them that EU enlargement remains a priority for the 27-nation bloc. From Serbia, von der Leyen will travel to neighboring Kosovo and Montenegro.

Serbian media reported that von der Leyen refused to meet with Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic because of his talks Friday with a high-level Russian economic delegation, which was in Belgrade to discuss deepening ties with Serbia. Vucic will meet the Russian officials on Saturday.

In Bosnia on Friday, von der Leyen promised support for the deeply split Balkan country which is struggling with the reforms needed to advance toward EU membership.

The Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications for EU membership. The countries have been frustrated by the slow pace of the process, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has propelled European leaders to push the six to join the bloc.

Bosnia gained candidate status in 2022. EU leaders in March agreed in principle to open membership negotiations, though Bosnia must still do a lot of work.

“We share the same vision for the future, a future where Bosnia-Herzegovina is a full-fledged member of the European Union,” said von der Leyen at a joint press conference with Bosnian Prime Minister Bojana Kristo. “So, I would say, let’s continue working on that. We’ve gone a long way already, we still have a way ahead of us, but I am confident that you’ll make it.”

Last year EU officials offered a 6-billion-euro (about $6.5 billion) growth plan to the Western Balkan countries in an effort to double the region’s economy over the next decade and accelerate their efforts to join the bloc. That aid is contingent on reforms that would bring their economies in line with EU rules.


The Commission on Wednesday approved the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following a green light from EU member states. That was a key step to allow payments under the growth plan upon completion of agreed reform steps.

However, Bosnia's reform agenda has still not been signed off by the Commission.

“The accession process is, as you know, merit-based … we do not look at a rigid data but we look at the merits, the progress that a country is making,” said von der Leyen. "The important thing is that we have an ambitious reform agenda, like the other five Western Balkan countries also have. We stand ready to help you to move forward.”

Long after a 1992-95 ethnic war that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless, Bosnia remains ethnically divided and politically deadlocked. An ethnic Serb entity — one of Bosnia's two equal parts joined by a common government — has sought to gain as much independence as possible.

Upon arrival in Bosnia, von der Leyen on Thursday first went to Donja Jablanica, a village in central Bosnia that was devastated in recent floods and landslides. The disaster in early October claimed 27 lives and the small village was virtually buried in rocks from a quarry located on a hill above.

Von der Leyen said the EU is sending an immediate aid package of 20 million euros ($21 million) and will also provide support for reconstruction later on.

—-

AP writer Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade.

'We will do our best to accelerate our European path,' Serbia's Vučić says

Euronews
Fri, October 25, 2024 at 10:44 AM MDT



European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade on Friday to discuss Serbia's path toward the European Union.

“Europe remains strongly committed to the European future of Serbia,” von der Leyen said after meeting with Vučić.

"In times of conflicts and wars and turmoil, being a member of the European Union is a promise of peace and prosperity, and it is a promise that we can deliver together," she added.



The Commission President was in Serbia as part of a trip this week to aspiring EU member states in the Western Balkans, aiming to reassure them that EU enlargement remains a priority for the 27-nation bloc.

Earlier on Friday she visited Bosnia where she promised support for the troubled Balkan nation as it struggles with reform needed to advance toward membership in the European Union.

The Western Balkans countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications for EU membership.

The countries have expressed frustration over the slow pace of the process; however, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has prompted European leaders to encourage the six nations to join the bloc.

Related
'Without Serbia EU is not complete,' Polish PM Donald Tusk says

Last year EU officials offered a €6 billion growth plan to the Western Balkan countries in an effort to double the region’s economy over the next decade and accelerate their efforts to join the bloc.

That aid is contingent on reforms that would bring their economies in line with EU rules.

Vučić on Friday said Serbia would "give our best" to "accelerate" its path to joining the EU. Serbia became an EU candidate country in 2012.

The Commission on Wednesday approved the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following a green light from EU member states. It was a key step to allow payments under the growth plan upon completion of agreed reform steps.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reviews the honor guard with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a welcome ceremony at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen smiles during a joint news conference with the President of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borjana Kristo in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik attend a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a joint news conference with the President of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borjana Kristo in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Members of the Bosnian Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic, left, Denis Becirovic, center and Zeljko Komsic, right, pose for a photo with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, prior to the start of their meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference after talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives at a news conference after talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS