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Two Far-Right Terms Make A Wrong: In 2013, Marian Kotleba, 37, a far-right, former school teacher turned Slovakia’s most notorious political extremist, was elected governor of Banska Bystrica, the country’s sixth largest city. It was the biggest electoral shock anyone could remember in the twenty years since Slovakia split apart from Czechoslovakia and became an independent nation. It was shocking because Kotleba worshipped that period in which Slovakia was a WWII Nazi puppet state; he loved to don the uniform worn by its troops who had helped round up thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. And it was shocking because tranquil Banska Bystica had become the first place in modern Europe to have elected a person widely regarded as a neo-fascist to a major office. After four years the electorate was fed up with Kotleba’s populist politics and handily voted him out of office. Now he’s back, and running for president. (Guardian)
Pence Gives Europe A Peace Of His Mind: On Thursday Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a Middle East peace conference in Warsaw attended by 60 countries, including both Gulf Arab states and Israel. Iran, Russia and the Palestinians were absent. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the conference a “historical turning point” for an alliance against Tehran. European powers, who oppose the Trump administration’s 2017 decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, were openly skeptical of a conference excluding Tehran. France and Germany declined to send their top diplomats, while British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt left before Thursday’s main events. The vice president accused European powers of undermining Washington’s crack down on Iran by trying to break US sanctions against Tehran, and called upon them to follow Washington and exit the agreement. “The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us,” Pence said. (Reuters)
Additional read: “Mike Pence chides US allies at Warsaw summit on Iran: Vice-president tells event that EU mechanism to facilitate trade with Iran is ‘ill-advised’.” (Guardian)
Old Habits Kill Rebels: French analysts are sharply critical of President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to come to the aid of Chad’s longtime autocratic ruler Idriss Deby. France’s foreign minister defended airstrikes against Chadian rebels earlier this month that destroyed 20 rebel pickup trucks and stopped a rebel advance, saying Deby himself asked for France’s intervention. Every French president for decades has repeatedly proclaimed the end of French interference in Africa, and Macron is no exception. His government was outraged recently when Italy’s populist leaders mocked France for what they called the perpetuation of its colonial relationship with Africa. (NYT)
Additional read: “‘It’s Not Getting Better’: Nigeria Braces for Election Day as Frustrations Boil.” (NYT)
30 Killed In Suicide Car Bombing: Kashmir, now a Muslim-majority belt in the north of the Indian subcontinent, is the most militarized region in the world. It lies on both sides of the border between India and Pakistan, split in two after the subcontinent gained independence in 1947. Since 1990, Indian-administered Kashmir has been fully occupied by the Indian armed forces to quell pro-independence insurgencies. Following the occupation intense communal violence occurred, leading to the departure of Hindu Kashmiris from the region and giving rise to a period of civil conflict and oppression that continues today. Just after 3pm on Thursday, on a busy highway outside the state capital of Srinagar, dozens of Indian paramilitaries were killed in the first suicide car bombing in the disputed region of Kashmir in nearly 20 years. Over 30 people were killed. (Guardian)
Additional read: “‘This Land Is Meant Only for Saffron. Without It, It Means Nothing.’ Saffron fueled Kashmir’s local economy and culture for centuries, but its days might be numbered.” (Eater)
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