ex-Yugoslavia

US to seek dismantling of International Criminal Court

The US will launch a diplomatic campaign aimed at dismantling the International Criminal Court, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced. In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Rubio wrote that the US will work alongside allied governments to take the Court apart "brick by brick, if necessary," using all tools at the government's disposal. He said the campaign's message to other governments will be a choice of "sovereign states over globalism," and pledged that the administration will protect US service members from ICC jurisdiction. (Photo: Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons)

Podcast: Trump to The Hague! III

In Episode 325 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to make the case—political, legal and practical—for sending Trump to a jail cell at The Hague to face war crimes charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Actual precedent refutes the conventional wisdom that this demand is "unrealistic." Serbia's long-ruling strongman Slobodan Milosevic died in a cell at The Hague while awaiting trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, while Philippines ex-president Rodrigo Duterte is currently in a cell at The Hague awaiting trial before the ICC. The Court just confirmed that it has jurisdiction in the Duterte case despite the Philippines' withdrawal from the ICC. Contrary to the dogma of "American exceptionalism," such an outcome for Trump is within the realm of possibility. (Photo: Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons)

Burma begins defense in ICJ genocide case

Burma began its defense before the International Court of Justice in the ground-breaking genocide case brought by the Gambia, rejecting all allegations of genocide against the Muslim Rohingya minority. The case opened in November 2019, when the Gambia brought proceedings against Burma under to the Genocide Convention. In 2020, Burma was ordered to halt and prevent all genocidal acts against the Rohingya. The Gambia's case against Burma is the first instance in which a state not affected by the facts at issue has brought proceedings under the Genocide Convention. The case serves as important precedent for South Africa's application against Israel, which charges that Israel's actions against Palestinians amount to genocide. (Photo: VOA via Jurist)

Serbia: harsh repression as protests mount

Europe's top human rights official raised concerns that Serbian authorities are using violence and arbitrary arrests to break up protests against President Aleksandar Vučić's populist government. The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty especially decried "the arrest of children, as well as the number of students being charged for criminal offenses or hospitalized for the treatment of injuries." Serbian police have recently escalated their use of force to dismantle street blockades and curb large-scale nationwide protests denouncing the government and demanding snap parliamentary elections. (Photo: VOA via Wikimedia Commons)

Israel anti-Semitism confab embraces fascism —yes, really

The Zionist-fascist convergence under Bibi's regime is getting too blatant even for the habitually pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League, whose leader stayed away from a supposed "International Conference on Combating Antisemitism" held in Jerusalem under auspices of the Israeli government, headlining Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu—and also featuring several figures from the European and American xenophobic (and even anti-Semitic!) far right. (Image via frgdr Blog. Hebrew lettering in background spells names of places in Europe where Jews were exterminated.)

Serbia: protesters occupy birthplace of republic

Tens of thousands of students protested in the Serbian city of Kragujevac, demanding justice for the victims of the November 2024 railway disaster. The protest and street occupation, which lasted 15 hours and marked the culmination of a four-day student march on the city, was symbolically named "Let's Meet on Sretenje." Kragujevac was the first capital of the modern Serbian state, where the Sretenje (Candlemas) Constitution was adopted on Feb. 15, 1835. The date, which also marks the first Serbian pro-independence uprising in 1804, is still commemorated in Serbia as Statehood Day. Protests have been mounting for months, with growing demands for the resignation of President Aleksandar Vučić—who portrays the campaign as a foreign-fomented "color revolution." (Photo of January Belgrade protest: Emilija Knezevic via Wikimedia Commons)

Mass protest against lithium project paralyzes Belgrade

Tens of thousands filled the streets of Belgrade following weeks of protests in cities and towns across Serbia to demand a ban on lithium mining in the country. Protesters blockaded the city's two main railway stations, leading to several arrests. President Aleksandar Vučić accused the anti-mining movement of attempting to topple the government in a "color revolution." The protests mobilized after Vučić's government signed an agreement with the European Union calling for multinational mineral giant Rio Tinto to move ahead with the Jadar Valley lithium project in the west of the country. (Photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

De-escalation on Kosovo-Serbia border —for now

Kosovo reopened its main border crossing with Serbia following calls from the international community to de-escalate rapidly rising tensions between the two countries. Serb protesters removed barricades along the crossing following a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. An order issued by Vučić days earlier to increase the Serbian army's combat readiness was also revoked. However, Vučić insisted that Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, is still a part of Serbia. Tensions have risen in Kosovo's north between minority Serbs and majority Kosovar Albanians over recent political developments, most notably Kosovo's plan to phase out Serbian-issued license plates. NATO maintains around 4,000 "peacekeepers" and support staff in Kosovo. (Photo: Marco Fieber via e-International Relations)

The Yezidis, ‘esotericism’ and the global struggle

In Episode 156 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg discusses Peter Lamborn Wilson's last book, Peacock Angel: The Esoteric Tradition of the Yezidis. One of the persecuted minorities of Iraq, the Yezidis are related to the indigenous Gnostics of the Middle East such as the Mandeans. But Wilson interprets the "esoteric" tradition of the Yezidis as an antinomian form of Adawiyya sufism with roots in pre-Islamic "paganism." Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel, the divine being revered by the Yezidis as Lord of This World, is foremost among a pantheon that ultimately traces back to the Indo-European gods. Wilson conceives this as a conscious resistance to authoritarianism, orthodoxy and monotheism—which has won the Yezidis harsh persecution over the centuries. They were targeted for genocide along with the Armenians by Ottoman authorities in World War I—and more recently at the hands of ISIS. They are still fighting for cultural survival and facing the threat of extinction today. Weinberg elaborates on the paradox of militant mysticism and what it means for the contemporary world, with examples of "heretical" Gnostic sects from the Balkan labyrinth. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo via Kurdistan Source)

Podcast: Russia, Ukraine & the Reichsbürger cult

In Episode 155 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes stock of the accusations that the coup conspiracy by the ultra-right Reichsbürger cult in Germany was Russian "hybrid warfare." The plausibility of this claim reveals the degree to which far-right forces around the world today look to Moscow for tutelage and sponsorship. Volodymyr Zelensky's historic Congressional speech was dissed in the most vulgar terms by Tucker Carlson—whose comments were avidly promoted by RT, the official Russian state propaganda outlet, as per explicit instructions from the Kremlin. This same RT similarly promotes Putin-shilling voices of the "tankie" pseudo-left. Our rightist enemies are enthused by the genocidal regimes of both Syria's Bashar Assad (backed by Russia) and the Argentine generals of the 1970s (backed by the US). They've rallied around Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, as well as the neo-Ustashe in Croatia. It is only confused "leftists," indoctrinated by campism and accustomed to seeing everything in terms of geopolitics, who fail to recognize the fascism on both sides—and get taken in by fascist pseudo-anti-fascism. Despite the left's obsessive fixation on the Azov Battalion, reactionary forces around the world are looking to Putin as their great leader—not Zelensky. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo via EU Political Report)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: against Chomsky’s genocide complicity

In Episode 120 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg invites the enmity of his comrades on the left with a long-overdue deconstruction of the increasingly sinister, genocide-abetting politics of Noam Chomsky. In relentless sycophantic interviews, Chomsky inevitably opposes a no-fly zone… Read morePodcast: against Chomsky’s genocide complicity

Europe

Bosnia re-balkanizing?

The US administration on Jan. 5 imposed sanctions on several Bosnian officials and a TV station for alleged corruption and for trying to destabilize Bosnia & Herzegovina. Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik, his adviser and former president of Bosnia’s High Judicial… Read moreBosnia re-balkanizing?