CEE crime, spy and somewhat appalling politics roundup (Feb. 23, 2024)
When it comes to appalling political news, Russia managed to supersede all, as this week marked still more politically-charged murder both at home and abroad with the continued resonance of the killing of long-time dissident and thorn-in-Putin’s side, Alexei Navalny, as well as that of defector-pilot Maxim Kuzminov in Spain.
Clearly, the world is more familiar with Navalny, who was revealed to have died on last Friday on Feb. 16 at one of Russia’s toughest prisons in Yamalo-Nents in Western Siberia. He had allegedly had suffered from both malnourishment and mistreatment and collapsed after “not feeling well.”
Some have since argued that his death was an accident—that this was bad timing for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had scored Putinesque points during a highly criticized interview with US former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson. And those persons may well be right. But it is still murder. For let us remember the Navalny poisoning, which undoubtedly left its mark on Navalny’s health. Then his unfounded jailings, multiple prison sentences, never-ending trips to isolations cells.
Let’s not forget that all of this contributed to the death of a man who simply would not be cowed.
Which is murder just the same.
And only four days later came the murder of the pilot/defector Kuzimov. Which has led some to believe that Russia this week was trying to send a message. As if the bombing of civilians in Ukraine were not enough… but again this would have been a message to Russian both at home and abroad. For nothing gains spy and intrigue headlines quite like political murder—or the mysterious death of a Russian defector abroad.
In fact, Kuzminov made Ukrainian war history back in August when he defected with a Russian helicopter, and he became much hated back in Russian when it was learned that not only had he delivered a helicopter to Ukraine, but also two unwilling Russian airmen, who were shot while resisting Ukrainian forces upon landing.
Russian bloggers would have you believe that he was doomed from that very moment—and perhaps the truth is that they do not understand just how self-damning such statements ring. While the jokes ring in the West (and quietly even in Russia) about suicides of businessmen and generals (and let’s count Putin’s chef, Evgeniy Prigozhin, here as well), murders abroad go back to… 1918 and Fyodor Kokoshkin, an representative in the first ever Russian Duma.
Of course, the murder of Nicholas II, Czar of Russia (and his family) followed soon after, but what often goes forgotten is that killings abroad continued through the 20s and 30s arguably every few years since into the 80s, including everyone from former White Army generals to journalists to even heads of state (think Afghanistan and Krygystan).
And if Parisian lore is to believed (not to mention cold-war legends in Vienna), various minor writes poets and artists—even the destitute-on-a-park-bench type—simply did not make it out of the 30s alive.
So no, as some in the press might have you believe, political murder did not begin with Alexander Litvinenko, the FSB defector who died from polonium-210 poisoning in Lond in 2006 (which happened to be preceded by the attempted killing of Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko in 2004).
And no, they have not slowed down either, with the 2013 hanging of Boris Berezovsky in the UK; the mysterious death of Russian Today founder Mikhail Lesin, in Washington DC in 2015 and the 2019 assassination by gunshots to the head of Georgian Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin (but at least this time the assassin, Vadim Krasikov, an alleged FSB agent, was caught and sent to prison… for life.
So maybe Russian bloggers were right. Kuzminov was found shot to death near Villa Joyosa on Spain’s east coast on Monday, Feb. 19. He had been living in Spain under a new identity. According to Ukrainian intelligence, he had recently asked a former spouse to meet him—and likely given away his location along the way.
Only months ago Russian FSB Director Serbei Naryshkin had called Kuzminov a “moral corpse” and expressed doubts that he would live long enough to face trial.
So yeah, maybe Russian bloggers were right.
And they just happened to endorse murder along the way.
Now off to the “local” news.
Albania
Protestors have typically had enough. Which also describes Albanian protestors who went so far to bombard Albanian government buildings with Molotov cocktails on the anniversary of the fall of the wall in Albania on Feb. 20, 1991. At that time, Albanian opposition (and sanctioned by the US for ties to organized crime) opposition leader Sali Berisha.
Now (and the irony here has many levels) protestors were enraged by Berisha’s house arrest, blaming current long-time Prime Miniter Edi Rama—and these protestors claimed that Rama has ties to corruption… and also organized crime.
And meanwhile, Berisha’s fate hangs in the balance, as he awaits formal charges from the prosecutor…
Or maybe he doesn’t.
Appalling crime news in Albania would be nothing without a cocaine bust, and yes still more Albanian cocaine traffickers were arrested in raids in Italy, with seven arrested and possibly another 18 facing charges. The gang is suspected of trafficking large amounts of various narcotics, with Italian anti-mafia police cooperating with Special Prosecutor's Office of Tirana (SPAK) and Interpol to seize 39 kilograms of cocaine, 34 kilograms of heroin, 55 kg of hash and 68 marijuana as well as “thousands of euros” along the way.
Bosnia
If there is a week of relative calm in the Balkans, just check the doings of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina President Milorad Dodik (and yes, he’s sanctioned by the US too). On Wednesday, Feb. 21, Dodik journeyed to Kazan, Tartarstan to meet with… Russian President Vladimr Putin. Reportedly, Dodik assured Putin he would remain true… red, resist sanctions and generally just kind of pal around. And yes, we’ve used this phrase before… but he's kind of always doing that.
Estonia
Estonia is all but renowned for having a top-flight spy service. Which means that a Meduza story released Feb. 20 noting that 10 were apprehended in a suspected “hybrid operation” to stress out Estonians comes as no surprise. The 10 are believed to have been under the guidance of the Russian special services, and they include dual citizens, Russians and Estonians. And what were they up to?
Well, they vandalized memorials, broke the car windows of Estonian Minister of the Interior Lauri Laanemets and a journalist back in December.
That kind of thing.
Really.
Czech(ia)
With the Ukraine in dire straights and running short of both men and ammunition, the US bogged down in partisan battles—and with the EU failing to deliver so far even half of last year’s promised million artillery shells—leave it to smaller players to step in. This time it’s Czech President and former military man Petr Pavel, who has claimed that he has located no less than 800,000 shells for the Ukrainian army. They would come from both South Korea and Africa and would cost approximately USD 2 bln.
Which sounds simple. Only there is constant resistance. From Europe. Pavel supposedly made his “discovery” clear in order to push the EU (read France) to vote through the cash—but the EU (again, read FRANCE) wants the ammo to be locally produced.
But lest anyone forget, the EU is on schedule to deliver only 52 percent of the promised one million shells to Ukraine by March. Which means that up until now… that is less than half. And Yours Truly would not bank on 52 percent by the end of March either.
Meanwhile, ABC News quoted a “senior US official” as stating that late March will be “crucial” for Ukraine, and that without serious aid, Ukraine will phase “catastrophic” ammunition shortages. Combine this with reports of Iranian ballistic missiles on the way to Russia for use against Ukraine, and now both consistent and efficient production of artillery shells by Russia, and soon Pavel, France, the EU and the US may find there that whatever they do manage to scrounge will lack a final destination.
And in this case “return to sender” will have a different meaning indeed.
But at least Pavel tried.
Czech farmers have now joined Polish, Romanian, Latvian, Slovak, etc. farmers in protests over cheap Ukrainian grain and other goods. Czech farmers apparently saw no point in driving all the way to the border so they drove all the way to Prague instead. More on this in a minute in the Polish section.
The Czech National Center Against Organized Crime (NCOZ) announced raids across the Czech Republic to break up a hospital corruption ring, which resulted in the arrest of 10 suspects, ranging from a hospital manager to the medical supply company bosses to those managing public tenders. In truth (and you may have heard Yours Truly speak on this matter), medical equipment is a historical sector when it comes to bribes and further nastiness, with the sin of this being that it indirectly (or directly) shorts health budgets and thus costs lives.
So yeah, medical sector bribery is murder, folks.
The investigation was also spearheaded by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and accusations ranged from illegally whittling out competition to illegally passing information to passing “commissions” equal to 10 percent of contracts to public officials. And since the items involved included operating tables, ventilators and defibrillators, well, yep…
Let’s say it again.
That’s murder, folks.
Hungary
Last month Turkey agreed to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession bid. This surprised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban so it looks like he will begrudgingly do the same. This is the same Orban who has said in the past that Sweden “lies” about its democracy.
Erm…
Yeah. Ok.
All’s well that ends well, I guess.
Latvia
Latvian MPs became the first EU country to ban imports to agricultural products from Russia and Belarus on Feb. 22.
Yes, read that again.
Latvia became the first EU country to ban Russian and Belarussian agro products on Feb. 22.
That means this year… 2024
Yet the EU cannot sort the Ukrainian grain border impasse.
And with regard to tough EU sanctions on Russia…
What the hell?
And read the fine print. The ban is for Latvia only. Russian and Belarussian agro products will keep being sent through Latvia to the EU.
Why? Because Latvia is a small country. And it hardly used them anyway.
Lithuania
As of March 1 Lithuania will close another two border crossings with Belarus in order to reduce “security risks.” It will also stop Russians from using the Lithuanian route to hop in and out of Kaliningrad. Lithuania has in the past attempted to restrict Russian shipments (and and travel) to Kaliningrad, and while Russia practically went ballistic on this point two years ago (play on words—no exaggeration intended), it was the EU that forced Lithuania to allow rail shipments—even of sanctioned materials.
Because it’s all Russia, we guess.
But oh those EU sanctions have teeth. They have teeth, I say.
Montenegro
Ah, remember our favorite IT-genius-gone-bad-and-stuck-in-Montenegro? Well, if it’s not the infamous Do Kwon, then we don’t know who on earth it could be? Only he is unlikely to remain in Montenegro much longer, as the US wants him, and when it comes to mega-bitcoin-style disasters.
Which means Do Kwon is now on the verge of being extradited to the US.
For those that don’t know the story, Do Kwon founded Terraform Labs and was behind the tragically failed TerraformUSD (and the wipe out of about USD 45 bln in market capitalization in one week back in May 2022).
Soon after Do Kwon was on the lamb, hunted by South Korea, the US and… Singapore. He slipped up, however, and was caught in Montenegro with fake documents, and thus began a battle to prevent extradition, which for a time Do Kwon’s lawyers appeared to be winning.
Looks like that run is just about over, however.
Poland
When it comes to the international scene, Poland has been all about trucks on the border, Polish farmers, a promise to do something about the impasse, etc. True, other farmers from other countries have joined in, but in short, the story goes as follows. Poland, under the former Law-and-Justice (PiS) government was all out for Ukraine… until elections drew near and Polish farmers protested cheap Ukrainian grain. The new KO-coalition government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised to solve the impasse—and seemed to manage this for about a day. Now—although Tusk has refused a theatrical meeting on the border with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he has promised to solve the predicament, and he has moved to add border crossings to “critical infrastructure” in order to make sure that humanitarian aid and military aid can be delivered to Ukraine without delay.
That said, a head-to-head with Zelensky is probably still in the works. Stay tuned.
When it comes to the local scene, it’s drug bust after drug bust. Poland continues to be used as both a transit country and destination country for cocaine. But be patient, brothas and sistas. More on that next week.
Romania
Romania has been somewhat quiet in terms of appalling political news recently, but hey, there is always time to catch up. And according to the Romanian Insider, the Romanian anti-corruption agency, the DNA, has launched an investigation into the doings of National Liberal Party (PNL) First Vice-President Iulian D., who allegedly requested a bribe of close to EUR 10 mln (and received ROM 16 mln along the way). Living beyond his means appears to have tipped off the DNA, as not only did he rent a luxury apartment, but his wife also drove a…
Lamborghini worth a quarter-of-a-million USD.
Low profiles. They mean something.
Meanwhile, Moldovan Prime Minister has accused the head of the Romanian AUR party, George Simion of attempting to “undermine” Moldovan stability. Simion is also currently banned from entering Ukraine.
That’s the thing about war—kind of lets you know who your friends are.
Slovakia
February 21 was the six-year anniversary of the murder of Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his partner Martina Kusnirova, the pair having been shot to death by hit men in their home in Veľká Mača, in Western Slovakia in 2018.
And what has changed? Well, a few governments, but otherwise nothing good. Robert Fico is back as prime minister, again leading a SMER coalition, the media is reporting legal threats and pressure on journalists, and a few thousand Slovaks in Bratislava protested Fico, calling for the Teflon leader to be thrown in jail. Meanwhile, as highlighted in last week’s rundown, SMER pushed through legal “reforms” to reduce sentences for not only corruption, but also rape.
Now that’s legacy talking, eh?
Whether or not the reforms will actually be placed on the books will be clear March 15.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have appealed the sentence of Jan K. (or the lack of) in the Kuciak case. The appeal has hit the Supreme Court, but don’t get your hopes up. Even though the actual murderers for hire have pointed directly or indirectly at the oligarch, who is in prison on other charges, Jan K. has managed to be deemed innocent again and again—and appeals in Slovakia are based on technical issues and not necessarily the merits of the case.
Various press organizations responded to the anniversary, all condemning the strains on justice in Slovakia. This included the International Press Institute, which stated that “as we remember Ján and Martina, we are alarmed by increasing threats to the rule of law and media freedom in Slovakia, in particular relating to the lack of accountability for crimes, the diminished protection of public watchdogs and the stark erosion of democratic institutions” adding that it calls on the Slovak authorities “to fulfil their obligation to protect freedom of media and expression and to ensure full justice for Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová’s murders and that it encourages “the EU institutions to take a firm stance in order to prevent the erosion of democracy in the country.”
Organizations that signed onto the statement include:
ARTICLE 19 Europe
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
International Press Institute (IPI)
Investigative Centre of Ján Kuciak (ICJK)
OBC Transeuropa (OBCT)
Free Press Unlimited (FPU)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
And no, they can’t all be wrong.
Meanwhile, no Ukrainian war update today. It’s ugly, depressing, and the Ukrainians are falling back while fighting valiantly on assorted fronts. In short, they need weapons and western support, or all may soon be lost.
That’s the only message that counts.
Otherwise, have a great and intriguing weekend. And if you need true insight or investigative work in the region, find the appropriate contact information at www.cddi.pl.
Photo of Alexei Navalny by Mitya Aleshkovskiy, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.