@ScrollingLeaves
ScrollingLeaves
*@thereisonlyoneofme
*
Its hard to believe that all this is happening again after the last World War
Yes, and what is happening and the powerlessness against it makes it difficult to believe in anything again.
This really needs to be caveated with in Europe genocide has happened many times since WW2
Yes, you are right.
Its happened in Europe in the 1990s. Can we please not forget one too? Its getting very depressing how there is this vacuum of memory / general knowledge over it on these threads.
Indeed the US put sanctions on a number of people yesterday over Bosnia following an uptick in efforts to undermine Bosnian democracy. This was quickly followed by the UK doing the same and making a symbolic point to go further that the Dayton Agreement...
This follows Serbia making a point of importing anti aircraft weapons the day before.
I'm a long term follower of Jamin Mujanovic on twitter who is excellent on Bosnia and the principles of democracy (in the same vein of Zelensky)
Jasmin Mujanovic @jasminmuj
The UK’s decision to impose sanctions on secessionist actors in Bosnia is a transformative moment, not for just the UK-BiH relationship, but for BiH’s position w/in the new European security paradigm. The normative weight of what the Johnson govt has done cannot be overstated.
That is not to undersell significance of the U.S. “first mover” role. It’s fair to say if there had been no U.S. sanctions vs. Dodik in 2017 already, the UK may well not have acted here either. But the UK didn’t just become first state to join the American blacklist vs. Dodik.
The UK actually expanded the U.S. sanctions by adding Cvijanovic, the RS entity Pres. That’s a “first mover” initiative all of its own. Whitehall did something, in other words, the U.S. has not done. Folks really need to be appreciative of how significant that is for UK-BiH ties.
Sarajevo now has three tasks: I. double down on this historic breakthrough in the UK. Organize routine visits to the UK, and likewise organize visits by leading UK officials & community ldrs to BiH. Some of that is happening, but work to expand it maximally.
II. Make a comprehensive accounting of every key figure in UK Parliament, civil service, academic & civil society communities who helped deliver this breakthrough & make sure they are acknowledged in BiH — formally and w/ maximum pomp.
III. Finally, when next interacting w/ other European officials, play up the significance of UK’s leadership here. Several EU govts are on record as saying they were considering sanctioning Dodik. Ask them clearly: U.S. & UK have acted — why haven’t you? Press the advantage. /x
I post this here although its not entirely relevant to Russia - you really don't need to know who these people are, because it offers a fascinating incite into how the UK is leading in terms of diplomacy and sanctions and how its working with the US and others which is relevant to Russia. (Note: its not always the UK doing the leading - far from it, at times we too are hesitant. Poland and others like the Czechs are also doing it to effectively egg everyone on too - and Zelensky has seen how targeting this is effectively making a competition between countries to do the right thing / send aid)
He has also made a another very relevant point from his understanding of Bosnia to whats happening in Russia thats really important:
Jasmin Mujanovic @jasminmuj
I warned a few days ago that atrocity glorification would co-exist w/ atrocity denial in the context of Russia's aggression in Ukraine, as it has viz the Bosnian Genocide. And here it is. Paint by numbers horror.
Xena @xenasolo
Pro-russian telegram channels are posting samples of Bucha Massacre-themed merch. It says “Bucha Massacre: we can do it again” (we can do it again/repeat is a popular rus slogan often used in the context of WWII — for instance, “we reached Berlin once, we can do it again”).
People in the comments are ecstatic and continue comparing Ukrainians to pigs. Someone is asking “Where can I buy one?”
If you are familiar with Nazi propaganda and the dehumanisation of the jews, this is very very similar.
There is a pattern we can see and understand. We haven't forgotten it from WWII. I'd argue many never learned it in the first place. Genocide is something that only happened in WWII, or happens in places where people are all uncivilised anyway and 'what, Bosnia is in Europe, its not really Europe is it'? in the minds of far too many.
Its symptomatic of ideological supremacy. That makes it significant in the context of war. There is demonising your enemy and then there is dehumanisating your enemy. The two serve different propaganda and motivational purposes.