Former German Chancellor Scholz:
We were an engineers’ country. Now we’re a lawyers’ country.
Other countries… build a national railway system in 20 years.
We cannot build a commuter line in 20 years.
What the mayor forgets to mention is that nobody in Azerbaijan wanted the Armenians to leave. He similarly disregards the fact that Karabakh is internationally recognised Azerbaijani territory and that Azerbaijanis were cleansed from this territory 30 years prior.
Today marks the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. As we honor the 1.5 million Armenians murdered by the Ottoman Empire across modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Armenia, we must refuse to let history repeat itself.
In 2020, the military forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey attacked the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh. In 2023, Azerbaijan expelled over 100,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, continuing the genocidal campaign that had begun over 100 years prior.
On this day of remembrance, we reaffirm the right of the Armenian people — and all people — to freedom, safety, and self-determination.
In conclusion, the mayor instrumentalises the Armenian Genocide for a cheap political game, in some ways similar to how Israel lobbyists have used the history of the Jewish diaspora. In my view, this vastly reduces his credibility to speak on such issues.
BREAKING: Viktor Orbán quits Hungary's parliament after 36 years – confirming my earlier scoop that he's planning a longer US trip this summer, where heads of the Orbán business empire – his daughter and son-in-law – already live, and where he could seek refuge from prosecution.
Imagine going out on a date thinking you might meet the love of your life and instead it’s some sleaze ball trying to pimp you out and turn you into a prostitute.
This culture is degenerate.
I read a lot of lazy, half-baked takeaways on the Bulgarian elections today. Rumen Radew is a pragmatic centrist politician and I have worked for him in numerous caretaker governments. We had extremely good cooperation with the institutions of the European Union, received some serious funding under the Bulgarian RRF for the delivery of important milestones, including in the area of justice and anti-corruption, we welcomed President von der Leyen in Sofia for the opening of the ICGB gas connection with Greece, continued the preparation on the forthcoming euro adoption and entering the OECD, among many other things.
Rumen Radev is being cast as "pro-Russian" or a "Bulgarian Orban,' but he’s closer to a moderate nationalist. He’s arguing for limited normalization with Russia (not unlike Milanovic in Croatia).
Bulgaria is heavily dependent on the EU, so his room for manoeuvre would be limited. And given the country’s revolving-door politics, any government is likely to be unstable, so there’s only so much he can actually do.
@TomasZdechovsky Given the EU's and more specifically the EPP's longstanding tacit support for the political corruption in Bulgaria, my sympathies have their limits. Magyar and Radev hopefully both embody a new type of politics for Central and Eastern Europe. Sovereignist and free of corruption.