Erdogan Asks Albania to Join Fight Against Gulen Movement

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Plus, Czech anti-vaxxers blamed in singer’s death, vole infestation in Mongolia, and more.

The Big Story: Erdogan Addresses Balkan Issues

What happened: After meeting in Ankara yesterday with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized the need for Belgrade’s support for Bosnia’s territorial integrity, RFE/RL reports. Turkey said that recent secessionist initiatives of Bosnian Serb legislators were “wrong, dangerous” and has offered to mediate in the crisis, which some fear could reignite ethnic conflicts in Bosnia. Erdogan said that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik, and other regional officials had voiced support for his mediation offer.

More context: The day before, Erdogan addressed Albanian lawmakers and said he expected Tirana “to take immediate measures” against the movement led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which he said posed a threat to Albania’s security, Euractiv reports. Turkish officials refer to Gulen’s network as the FETO movement, for Fethullah Terrorist Organization, and accuse Gulen of directing a failed military coup in 2016. Erdogan also visited the northwestern town of Lac, the site of a new Turkish-funded complex with 522 apartments that cost 42 million euros and was built to house the victims of the 2019 earthquake.

Worth noting: Erdogan also weighed in on the Russia-Ukraine crisis while in Albania, AFP reports. Erdogan warned Russia against invading Ukraine, which he called a “powerful” country with international friends. “I don’t see Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a realistic option because it is not an ordinary country,” said Erdogan.

News from the Regions

Central Europe and the Baltics

The son of a Czech folk singer who deliberately got coronavirus lashed out at anti-vaxxers, blaming them for his mother’s death, Czech Radio reports. Musician Jan Rek wrote on social media that his mother Hana Horka, a member of Asonance, one of the oldest folk groups in Czechia, died after deliberately getting infected with COVID-19 in order to gain immunity and avoid vaccination. Rek, who is vaccinated, accused members of the Czech anti-vaccination community, whose posts Horka shared on social media, of being responsible for his mother’s death. “It is sad that my mom trusted strangers more than her own family,” Rek wrote, adding that he shared the experience of his mother’s unnecessary death to persuade people about the importance of getting the shots.

European Parliament members have sent a letter to the OSCE asking for a full-scale mission to be sent to monitor Hungary’s upcoming elections, Politico reports. The signatories of the letter from “five political groups and from 19 different countries” expressed “the concern that the elections might not be held to the highest democratic standards.” The letter also mentioned the 2018 elections in Hungary, when a limited OSCE mission found that “intimidating campaign rhetoric limited space for substantive debate and diminished voters’ ability to make an informed choice,” adding that government information campaigns had “significantly compromised” the candidates’ ability to compete fairly.

Southeastern Europe

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and his North Macedonian counterpart Dimitar Kovacevski agreed to cooperate on bettering their bilateral relationship, Euronews reports. “We have promised each other that we will use new energy to improve our relations with respect,” Kovacevski said at a joint press conference yesterday after a meeting with Petkov in Skopje. He added that another joint meeting is scheduled for next week in Sofia with the aim of forming cooperation groups to work on subjects in the areas of trade, infrastructure, European integration, education, culture, history, and the economy. Kovacevski also noted that Bulgaria has agreed to call its neighbor “North Macedonia” in bilateral communications, a step forward given Sofia’s past reluctance to do so, when it considered the name to have implied territorial aspirations toward Bulgaria.

A former policeman in Romania has found international recognition as a wildlife photographer, RFE/RL reports. Eduard Florin Niga’s microscopic images of ants earned him a spot on the National Geographic list of “Best Animal Photos of 2021” published last month. A book featuring his photographs, entitled Ants: Workers Of The World, came out last year. Niga estimates that he has around 40,000 images of about 4,000 specimens of various insects. He says that, after ants, his favorite insects are tiger beetles, which first caught his eye in childhood. Niga says his photographic process “involves stacking hundreds and hundreds of images, because the depth of field is so narrow.”

Eastern Europe and Russia

The Kremlin has been decreasing its diplomatic presence in Ukraine, bolstering fears that Russia is planning an invasion of the country, The New York Times reports. A senior Ukrainian security official said that Russian diplomatic staff have been leaving both the embassy in Kyiv and a consulate in the western city of Lviv, while diplomats at two other Russian consulates have been told to prepare for departure. Earlier this month, around 48 people, mostly the children and wives of Russian diplomats, boarded buses headed for Moscow, the anonymous official said. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said yesterday that its embassy in Kyiv was functioning normally despite “the provocations and the aggressive behavior of local radicals” against Russian diplomats and their families.

The Caucasus

Armenia has taken steps towards restoring its railway links to Azerbaijan, Eurasianet reports. Following the war in the fall of 2020, the peace deal between Baku and Yerevan required Armenia to provide Azerbaijan with rail passage across its territory to the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, located between Armenia, Turkey, and Iran. While Azerbaijan held up its end of the bargain and began railway construction in February 2021, the Armenian side is still a work in progress and, according to Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, is expected to take three years. Azerbaijan’s President Ilhan Aliev, however, set a tighter deadline last month after talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels. “The railroad from liberated territories to the Armenian border must be ready by the end of 2023,” Aliev said.

Borderlands

Turkey announced today that it reached a currency swap deal with the United Arab Emirates worth $5 billion, Reuters reports. The agreement is for three years with the possibility of extension, according to the central banks of both countries. In addition to boosting the ailing Turkish economy, the deal heralds closer ties between the two countries, which found themselves at odds over the 2011 Arab Spring revolutions. However, economists are dubious that the deal would strengthen the Turkish lira, which fell by 44% last year. “We do not see the swap agreement as a meaningfully positive development as it only boosts the headline gross reserve series but does not add to the (central bank) hard currency reserves,” Goldman Sachs said in a statement.

World’s oldest man dies three weeks short of 113th birthday

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Coronavirus: Latest Global Developments

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Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

Pandemic ‘Nowhere Near Over’

The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says. “With the incredible growth of Omicron globally, new variants are likely to emerge,” he warns.

Separately the WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan warns against the notion that the pandemic becoming endemic would mean the disease was no longer dangerous.

Johnson Denies Lying In ‘Partygate’

United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Boris Johnson “categorically” denies claims by his former chief aide that he lied to parliament about a Downing Street party held during a strict lockdown.

Catalonia To Lift Curfew

Catalonia will on Friday lift a COVID-19 curfew imposed just before Christmas but other social distancing measures will remain in force in the northern Spanish region.

UN COVID-Free Help For Tonga

The United Nations (UN) says it will try to maintain Tonga’s COVID-free status in the relief effort after a volcano eruption and subsequent tsunami that hit the Pacific Island nation.

Britain Moves To Ease Restrictions

Scotland says it is easing coronavirus restrictions as case numbers continue to fall from record levels. Wales also begins lifting curbs and England says it will likely do so next week.

Oil Demand To Overcome Omicron

Global demand for oil is expected to remain “robust” in 2022 and overcome short-term disruption caused by the Omicron variant, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) says.

French Schools Chief In Hot Water

France’s education minister faces calls to resign after it emerges he had announced a strict COVID testing protocol for students while on vacation on Ibiza.

Big Cats Get COVID

Three lions and two pumas in South Africa fell ill with coronavirus and the clues point to infection by their handlers, some of whom were asymptomatic, a new study finds.

Vaccines Safe During Pregnancy

Studies of pregnant women found the two most widely used COVID vaccines Pfizer and Moderna pose no risk to mothers or babies, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) says.

Anti-Vax Folk Singer Dies

Anti-vax Czech folk singer Hana Horka has died after she deliberately contracted COVID to obtain a health pass that would have allowed her to visit the sauna and theatre, her family says.

More Than 5.5 Million Dead

The coronavirus has killed at least 5,543,637 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Tuesday.

The United States (US) has recorded the most COVID deaths with 851,730, followed by Brazil with 621,166, India on 486,761 and Russia 322,678.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to COVID-19, the WHO estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

Kamala Harris hits back at ‘gossip’ that she could be replaced on 2024 ticket

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Kamala Harris has hit back at the “gossip” suggesting that she could be replaced on the 2024 Democratic ticket.

NBC reporter Craig Melvin asked the vice president: “Are we going to see the same Democratic ticket in 2024?”

“I’m sorry, we are thinking about today,” Ms Harris responded. “I mean, honestly, I know why you’re asking the question because this is part of the punditry and the gossip around places like Washington, DC.”

“Let me just tell you something,” she told Today. “We’re focused on the things in front of us. We’re focused on what we need to do to address issues like affordable child care, what we need to do to ensure that…”

“So there have been no conversations about 2024?” Mr Melvin cut in.

“The American people sent us here to do a job and right now there’s a lot of work to be done,” Ms Harris said. “And that’s my focus, sincerely.”

New York Times opinion writer Thomas Friedman suggested in a column published on Tuesday that President Joe Biden should replace Ms Harris on the ticket with anti-Trump Republican Liz Cheney, the Wyoming House representative and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Mr Friedman noted that Israel’s current coalition is “the most diverse national unity government” in the country’s history.

“Is that what America needs in 2024 — a ticket of Joe Biden and Liz Cheney? Or Joe Biden and Lisa Murkowski, or Kamala Harris and Mitt Romney, or Stacey Abrams and Liz Cheney, or Amy Klobuchar and Liz Cheney? Or any other such combination,” he wrote.

Political scientist Steven Levitsky told Mr Friedman: “We should be ready to talk about Liz Cheney as part of a blow-your-mind Israeli-style fusion coalition with Democrats. It is a coalition that says: ‘There is only one overriding goal right now — that is saving our democratic system.’”

“There’s been some talk about a Biden-Cheney ticket, perhaps, in 2024. Did you read that article?” Mr Melvin asked Ms Harris.

“I did not. No, I did not. And I really could care less about the high-class gossip on these issues,” Ms Harris said.

Story continues

She told the Wall Street Journal last month that she hadn’t discussed the 2024 ticket with Mr Biden, and added that she didn’t know if Mr Biden is going to run for re-election. Mr Biden has said that he does plan on running again.

“I will tell you this without any ambiguity – we do not talk about nor have we talked about re-election, because we haven’t completed our first year and we’re in the middle of a pandemic,” she said.

Ms Harris was asked directly if she thinks Mr Biden will run again.

“I’ll be very honest – I don’t think about it, nor have we talked about it,” she said.

“If I’m in the health I’m in now — I’m in good health — then, in fact, I would run again,” Mr Biden, 79, said last month. He would be 86 at the end of a second term.

A poll conducted in December by Politico and Morning Consult found that Ms Harris would get the support of 31 per cent of Democrats in a possible presidential primary.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had the support of 11 per cent, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren had the backing of 8 per cent.

Ms Harris has an average approval rating of 39.1 per cent, according to RealClearPolitics, while Mr Biden averages 42 per cent.