Ambassador Djukic with positive forecasts for the Balkan countries - Sekulovski from ZNM urges not to hinder the work of journalists in the upcoming elections.
The former Ambassador of Serbia to Belarus and a diplomat with vast experience in diplomatic missions in Moscow, Prishtina and Sofia, Dr. Srecko Djukic is a guest in this Labyrinth. We analyzed the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping in Belgrade and Paris, but we also analyzed the current war hotspots in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as relations in the Balkans.
Diplomat Djukic expects an escalation on the front in Ukraine which will be an indicator of the direction the war will go and says that Russia receives more help from its allies than Ukraine receives from its friends in the West.
Regarding the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina, the diplomat believes that the future Special Envoy of the EU for this dialogue, who will most likely be the former President of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, will in practice achieve what the previous Envoy Miroslav Lajčak did, which is the completion of the formal framework with the Brussels Agreement and the Ohrid Annex.
As for EU expansion, Djukic says that the Union has finally realized that the membership of the Balkan states, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, is their security strategic goal and expects this to be achieved in the next mandate.
A guest in this edition of Labyrinth is the director of ZNM, Dragan Sekulovski, with whom we discussed the safety of journalists, online attacks on them, and the rights of journalists to report from polling stations. Sekulovski reminded that these are the first elections in the country where journalists have the capacity of officials.
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Analyses of conflict zones and experiences from war hotspots
A series of interviews about crisis areas and personal experiences of journalists and humanitarians - Sееma Jilani, Michael Bociurkiw, Adelin Pertisor and Giorgi Dolidze in this Labyrinth.
This week, Labyrinth in Tbilisi at one of the biggest journalism events - the ZEG Festival. We had the opportunity to talk to journalists from all over the world about the current situation in their countries. We present you a series of interviews about the countries that are currently in the global focus.
We spoke with one of the keynote speakers at the event, a doctor who has dedicated her life to treating children in the most vulnerable places in the world, Seema Jilani. We talked about the great humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes, the Gaza Strip, and how we can help people cut off from all help. Seema also shared her personal experience of what it feels like to treat her own child injured in an explosion in Beirut.
The war in Ukraine is still raging, and since the coming to power of US President Donald Trump, Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital seem to have increased. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Israel and Iran are fiercely attacking each other. We talk about the situation in Ukraine and the current hot spots in the Middle East with Atlantic Council analyst Michael Bociurkiw, who regularly analyzes for CNN and other global media.
At the event, we also had the opportunity to talk with our colleague Adelin Pertisor from the Romanian public service, who is one of the most experienced war reporters. He reported on wars in the Middle East, Africa, as well as the Balkan conflicts and had the opportunity to interview a large number of leaders, but also some notorious militants such as Željko Ražnjatović - Arkan. Of course, we also talked about the situation in Romania after the annulled elections when the Constitutional Court recognized Russian influence in the electoral process.
Since Georgia got a new pro-Russian President who imposed a series of undemocratic laws, Georgians have been protesting every day. Media freedom and civil society are under attack, and journalists and citizens are facing prison sentences. We talk to Georgian colleague Giorgi Dolidze about what is happening in his country.
Watch the full episode.
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France with a challenge to form a Government - NATO with new Declarations
Reporting from Washington and Analysis from Paris
The largest military alliance marked the 75th anniversary of its existence with a Summit whose focus is the war on European soil. The leaders of the member states gathered in the American capital to confirm the commitment to help Ukraine. Some of them used the margins of the Summit for meetings related to bilateral issues. A meeting between the Macedonian and Greek Prime Ministers did not take place, and journalists behind the scenes say that there was no interest on the part of the major powers to discuss such issues within the framework of the Summit. From the press room in Washington, we include Romanian military reporter and senior political correspondent Cristina Cileacu. In addition to the fact that the Alliance confirmed the commitments to help Ukraine, Cileacu also informed us about the other agreed strategic determinations, such as declaring China a country enabling Russian aggression. We asked Chileaku tofollow up the meetings of the Macedonian Prime Minister.
From the French capital, on the other hand, we are talking with an advisor in the French Assembly on topics related to the great upheaval that occurred during the elections. Councilor Matthias Vasquez from the ranks of Macron's party talks about the mood of the voters and the actions of the parties that led to this turn. At the moment, the main challenge facing France is the election of a prime minister, which the winning coalition seems to be having difficulty electing. Vasquez is a good expert on the Macedonian and Balkan situations, given the fact that he was previously on missions in these countries, so we used this call to ask him for his opinion on the French proposal that was imposed after the Bulgarian veto announcements.
Watch the entire show.
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Kalach: It is unlikely that Netanyahu will be arrested
Legal analysis of the decision of the International Criminal Court and the proceedings in front of the Macedonian courts.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders. What this means, who would arrest Netanyahu, and where he is safe from criminal prosecution, we talk to lawyer Yasmin Kalach. Kalach does not believe that the Israeli prime minister would travel to countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute to avoid being detained. Israel's argument that this decision equates both sides is untenable, the lawyer believes, and says that the court made such a decision because it is not selective. Meanwhile, Spain, Ireland and Norway have recognized the Palestinian state.
We also discussed the two legal processes currently underway in Macedonia: the detention of Supreme Judge Georgiev for taking a bribe, as well as the extradition of the double murder suspect Palco and the start of his trial. Watch the full analysis.
