Niet voor het eerst dat er tanks in Amsterdam op straat staan.....[_link]

— Elly v Westerlaak (@elisabethR53) May 25, 2023

Translation:
Not for the first time tanks on the streets in Amsterdam.....

Interesting bit from newspaper article ... 17th century Golden Age mansion owned by drugs maffia protected by authorities. 😡

Elsewhere in the Vondelstraat, they take the opportunity to thwart another shady real estate dealer: Klaas Bruinsma, uncrowned king of the illegal cannabis trade, complains to the police that the squatters have 'completely demolished' his building .

A delegation of the party chairmen from the city council that will attempt mediation is ridiculed. The squatters do not trust that the municipality would suddenly want to rent the property from a speculator to accommodate refugees who live in incendiary boarding houses.

Netherlands likely to deliver F-16s to Ukraine, but decision has yet to be made [_link]

— NL Times (@NL_Times) May 26, 2023

Sad he couldn't manage a referendum on NeXit ... second best after wrecking the Middle East and retreating in chaos. Show no responsibility but double down for an inhumane solution for people left behind with total destruction of homes, villages and their way of life. Europe has no place for you ... sort it out by yourselves in the jungle.

VVD-prominent Henk Kamp over asiel: zeg desnoods internationale verdragen op. [_link] #WNL

— WNL Vandaag (@WNLVandaag) May 31, 2023

VVD prominent Henk Kamp on asylum: cancel international treaties if necessary

The number of asylum seekers that the Netherlands is waiting for "cannot be accommodated in a responsible manner", says former minister Henk Kamp in the WNL radio program Sven Op 1. As far as he is concerned, enough is enough.

"It's an unsustainable situation, and I have no patience." If no other way is possible, he therefore advises, if necessary, to renounce the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

"These treaties must not stand in the way of solving a very real problem that threatens the quality of Dutch society," says the VVD prominent.

• VVD party prominents even suggested the British Rwanda option

The Refugee Convention, drawn up by the United Nations, states that people who fear persecution because of race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or political opinion have the right to protection. States should not return people to countries where they fear persecution.

In a single generation, the xenophobes and Islamophobes represent a majority in the populist scheme of Mark Rutte & Co.

Key words | VVD | Rita Verdonk | Geert Wilders | Ayaan Hirshi Ali |  Lack of Funding | Ter Apel AsylumbCamps |

'Sapere aude'

'Rutte roept op tot meer steun, meer Patriots en meer F16-trainingen voor Oekraïne' [_link] wat is het NL belang om zo voorop te willen lopen in het steunen van Oekraïne? Waarom zo'n grote broek aantrekken?

— lex hoogduin (@lexhoogduin) June 2, 2023

Translate:
'Rutte calls for more support, more Patriots and more F16 training for Ukraine'... what is the Dutch interest in wanting to lead the way in supporting Ukraine? Why wear such big trousers?

The Shameless Farce of Boris Johnson's Attempt to Send Refugees to Rwanda | The New Yorker - June 17, 2022 |

A plane was on the runway when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) interceded. Now Britain may leave the court.

• The Protocol and the Founding Principles of the EU
• EU Court has rejected appeals lodged by Lithuania and Romania over its ruling on CIA black sites

F-16s Supported By NATO Airborne Radar!

The Su-35's advantage in BVR combat would diminish if the F-16s supplied to Ukraine come with NATO's Link 16 tactical data link network that enables all the assets on the battlefield to share the same picture.

In that case, NATO could employ its AWACS airborne radar near Ukrainian air space to provide tracking information to F-16s and guide the AMRAAMs fired by them mid-flight toward their targets.

Experts have warned that NATO AWACS platforms supporting the Ukrainian F-16s could make them active participants in the conflict in the eyes of the Russian leadership.

Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council and Former President Dmitry Medvedev warned last year that NATO personnel actively participating in the conflict will become a legitimate target" for the Russian armed forces.

Background: Tito's Yugoslavia | CES at UNC |

This module provides a brief historical analysis of Yugoslavia, the key role it played as a buffer zone between the West and East during the Cold War and the consequences of this for domestic politics in Yugoslavia. Under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito, who ruled from 1945 until his death in 1980, Yugoslavia's unique geopolitical situation allowed the socialist country to maintain internal cohesion while suppressing nationalistic movements within its constituting six republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Serbia) and two autonomous provinces (Kosovo and Vojvodina).

The end of the Cold War changed the international system and its balance of powers rather drastically. Although the Cold War brought about many crises within the Western and the Communist bloc and in the third-world, it created a very stable division of power in Europe. Both the USSR and the U.S. had formed competing blocs, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, to balance each other and exert control over their half of Europe. Crises erupted sporadically within the Warsaw Pact. NATO, however, did not interfere in the internal affairs of the Soviet satellites, since the U.S. was committed to containing the USSR rather than confronting it.

In this well-balanced geopolitical environment, Yugoslavia played an essential role. Its geographic position enabled it to serve as a buffer between the two opposing blocks. Yugoslavia was a socialist state, but it did not side with either of the superpowers. Instead, it maintained its role as an independent socialist state following the uncompromised Marxist-Leninist principles. Because of its highly popular leader, Marshall Bros Tito, and his political acumen, Yugoslavia was able to maintain its independence and, at the same time, reap the benefits of the fierce competition between the two blocks.

The victory of Greek minority candidate Fredi Beleri in the Albanian mayoral election, despite his arrest, is just the tip of the iceberg. The ethnic Greek minority faces severe persecution and displacement by the Albanian government. #FreeFrediBeleri #Χειμάρρα #Μπελέρης [_link]

— Pavlos Tafidis (@Pavlos_Tafidis) May 19, 2023

US Embassy Confirms Sanctions Against Kosovo Follow the Tensions in the North [_link]

— Prishtina Insight (@PrishtInsight) May 30, 2023

Are the Dutch more Russophobic than Washington DC ... playing a leading role with the UK 🇬🇧 and Poland 🇵🇱.

Dramatic footage of violence in Zvecan between KFOR forces and protesters

'Sapere aude'

At a summit in Moldova, French President Emmanuel Macron said he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Kosovo and Serbian leaders to organize new elections in northern Kosovo as soon as possible.

Macron said that Berlin and Paris asked for election rules in the new polls to be clarified.

Protesters were demonstrating against the assumption of office by ethnic Albanian mayors after local elections that were boycotted by most Serbs, who form the overwhelming majority of the population in four municipalities in Kosovo's north.

The former president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at a trial in a special court in The Hague [_link] pic.twitter.com/bgo1VUeDNF

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 3, 2023

Once feted by Tony Blair and Madeleine Albright, Hashim Thaçi stands accused in The Hague of complicity in torture and murder | The Guardian - April 10, 2023 |

A quarter of a century ago, in the midst of the war in Kosovo and in its aftermath, senior international figures beat a path to the door of Hashim Thaçi, the Kosovo Liberation Army commander who would later become the country's most prominent politician.

Thaçi hosted the former UK prime minister Tony Blair, one of the KLA's most prominent international supporters. He met the late Liberal Democrat leader Sir Paddy Ashdown for a beer. Madeleine Albright, then US secretary of state, was a vocal admirer, and Hillary Clinton met Thaçi later when she occupied the same position.

Last week, however, Thaçi - who served as both prime minister and president of Kosovo - appeared in the dock of a Hague court alongside three prominent colleagues, all accused of war crimes committed during the conflict, including complicity in the murder of 102 people.

Trial of four top commanders of the former rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) started in The Hague | DW News - April 2023 |

The trial of four top commanders of the former rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) started in The Hague's Kosovo war crimes tribunal.

Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi stand accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Kosovo between 1998 and 2000. So far, 312 witnesses have been identified by the prosecution.

Thaci was the political leader of the KLA before and during the 1998-99 Kosovo war, which broke out between the forces of Serbia and Montenegro and the KLA Kosovo Albanian rebel group. Veseli was the head of the group's intelligence service; Krasniqi was its spokesman; and Selimi was among the general staff.

The Yugoslav government labeled the KLA a terrorist organization and took relentless action against its members.

[...]
It eventually also brought NATO's intervention to end the conflict, though NATO's own bombing campaign remains controversial. The KLA and the armed resistance against the Serbian units gained more and more support from broad sections of the Kosovo Albanian population during this period, when Thaci became the KLA's political spokesman. 

In June 1999, the UN passed a resolution and Serbian units withdrew from Kosovo. Thaci and other KLA representatives formed an interim government, and the UN installed the interim administration mission, UNMIK.

Four men part of a 'joint criminal enterprise'

The indictment includes charges of unlawful imprisonment, torture, murder, crimes against humanity, enforced disappearances and persecution of hundreds of civilians and people who did not want to take part in the fighting. These crimes allegedly took place between March 1998 and September 1999 in various places in Kosovo, but also in northern Albania in the municipalities of Kukes and Cahan.

"The victims included persons suspected of being opposed to the KLA and later the Provisional Government of Kosovo," the indictment read. These victims are said to have included members of the Serbian, Roma and Ashkali populations, Catholics, civilians allegedly collaborating with Serb authorities as well as Albanians who merely supported other parties perceived as anti-KLA, and or simply did not join or support the KLA.

Kosovo's new president and Pristina-Belgrade final negotiations | @EuroTrib - Feb. 28, 2006 |

'Sapere aude'

A Ukrainian tennis star has been booed at the French Open after a moment of handshake drama against a Belarusian opponent.

[_link]

— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) May 28, 2023

French Open: 'I don't respect her': Kostyuk hits out at Sabalenka and French Open crowd | The Guardian - video |

'Sapere aude'

• Havoc At Serbia-Albania As Match Interrupted By Flag-Carrying Drone
• EURO 2016 Qualifier: Serbia v Albania: Drones, flags and violence in abandoned match | BBC - Oct. 14, 2014 |

VDL: War on Russia grows a united Europe ... German arrogance and utter stupidity ... no more war! Peace ☮️

The NATO proxy war on Russia will be part of Europe for decades to come unless the U.S. and its Western alliance intend to get boots on the ground and move on St. Petersburg, Moscow, Crimea and Georgia to occupied Black Sea ports and Russia to the Urals.

Creating a DMZ buffer zone for a peaceful Eastern Frontier.

Need an EU martial law and war economy with a leading Generalissimo Borrell at the front ...

'Sapere aude'

Join us Sunday night on Maverick News for a deep dive into what really happened to #RFKJr's father, Sen. Robert F. #Kennedy, on the 55th anniversary of his assassination.

Our guest is author @lisapease, expert on the RFK case.

June 4th from 6-8 p.m. Eastern.
Save the date! [_link]

— Lori Spencer (@RealLoriSpencer) June 2, 2023

A book review ...

Author of "A Lie Too Big to Fail: The Real History of the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy"

'Sapere aude'

I recently helped my Mom divest of nearly all her belongings to move into assisted living. She had 90+ years of stuff.

"You can't take it with you." Stop accumulating. I'm getting rid of a few things daily from my own life. I feel happier with each divestiture. [_link]

— Lisa Pease (@lisapease) June 3, 2023

Asylum policy causing division, in-fighting in Prime Minister Rutte's VVD party [_link]

— NL Times (@NL_Times) August 22, 2022

Prime Minister Rutte still committed to reduce influx of asylum seekers [_link]

— NL Times (@NL_Times) June 3, 2023

Ook @mirjambikker weigert de werkelijke oorzaak onder ogen te zien.[_link] #immigratie #vluchtelingen

— Ronald van Keekem (@Z06Ronald) June 1, 2023