Authoritarian leadership could be over in Kazakhstan, an exiled former prime minister has told Newsweek, after strongman leader Nursultan Nazarbayev's grip finally loosened.
Akezhan Kazhegeldin, Kazakh PM from 1994 until 1997, said he was optimistic of a change of guard despite new president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev taking a hardline with protesters, many of whom largely directed their anger at Nazarbayev.
On Friday, Tokayev called 20,000 demonstrators "armed bandits," and authorised his forces to shoot to kill without warning. He has so far rejected foreign calls for negotiations and authorized a Russian-led security collective to deploy in the country.
Read more at:
Exiled Ex-PM of Kazakhstan Hopes Unrest Is 'Signal for Real Change'
Showing posts with label Intervention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intervention. Show all posts
1/11/22
8/29/20
Montenegro is heading the same way as Belarus. Not enough is being done to avoid disaster - by Steven Kay
As the situation in Belarus continues to deteriorate, Europe may soon
have another electoral crisis at its periphery. In Montenegro, decades
of the same man’s rule and widespread discontent is likely soon to be
the for electoral fraud. The tiny Western Balkan nation – currently
waiting for EU membership to be besto
The West must brace for the expected if they are to prevent another Belarus. With Lukashenko, the strategy of waiting to see how things played out has gone awry. Weak statements immediately following the results allowed the former collective farm manager to believe his position was tenable. It emboldened him to crush opposition, rather than resign himself to the logic of the situation. His contempt for his people – who allegedly voted for him in vast numbers – was chilling. As he dressed himself in combat gear and gave instructions to his police to shoot, the exposure of the depth of his electoral fraud was complete.
Read more at:
Montenegro is heading the same way as Belarus. Not enough is being done to avoid disaster ǀ View | Euronews
The West must brace for the expected if they are to prevent another Belarus. With Lukashenko, the strategy of waiting to see how things played out has gone awry. Weak statements immediately following the results allowed the former collective farm manager to believe his position was tenable. It emboldened him to crush opposition, rather than resign himself to the logic of the situation. His contempt for his people – who allegedly voted for him in vast numbers – was chilling. As he dressed himself in combat gear and gave instructions to his police to shoot, the exposure of the depth of his electoral fraud was complete.
Read more at:
Montenegro is heading the same way as Belarus. Not enough is being done to avoid disaster ǀ View | Euronews
5/18/16
Russia: Nato risks nuclear war with Russia 'within a year', senior general warns - by Charlie Cooper
Nato risks a nuclear war with Russia
within a year if it does not increase its defence capabilities in the
Baltic states, one of the alliance's most senior retired generals has
said.
General Sir Richard Shirreff, who served as Nato’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe between 2011 and 2014, said that an attack on Estonia, Lithuania or Latvia – all Nato members – was a serious possibility and that the West should act now to avert “potential catastrophe”.
He has written a fictional book 2017 War with Russia, but told BBC Radio 4’s Today program the events it describes were “entirely plausible”.
General Shirreff said: “The chilling fact is that because Russia hardwires nuclear thinking and capability to every aspect of their defence capability, this would be nuclear war.
“We need to judge President Putin by his deeds not his words,” he added. “He has invaded Georgia, he has invaded the Crimea, he has invaded Ukraine. He has used force and got away with it.
“In a period of tension, an attack on the Baltic states… is entirely plausible.”
Nato members would be obliged under Article 5 of its founding treaty to come to the defence of another member if it came under attack.
General Shirreff said that Mr Putin could be persuaded into an intervention in the Baltic by a “perception” of weakness in Nato, and predicted that, as in Crimea, the Russian president would present his actions as an act of defence to protect the large Russian-speaking minorities in those countries.
Nato has already stepped up defences in the Baltic states, but General Shirreff said that it needed to “raise the bar sufficiently high for any aggressor to say it is not worth the risk."
Note EU-Digest: Anyone who believes in risking a nuclear war to achieve political gain is not only out of touch with reality, but also not fit to be a general or major political leader, and obviously also suicidal.
Read more: Nato risks nuclear war with Russia 'within a year', senior general warns | Europe | News | The Independent
General Sir Richard Shirreff, who served as Nato’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe between 2011 and 2014, said that an attack on Estonia, Lithuania or Latvia – all Nato members – was a serious possibility and that the West should act now to avert “potential catastrophe”.
He has written a fictional book 2017 War with Russia, but told BBC Radio 4’s Today program the events it describes were “entirely plausible”.
General Shirreff said: “The chilling fact is that because Russia hardwires nuclear thinking and capability to every aspect of their defence capability, this would be nuclear war.
“We need to judge President Putin by his deeds not his words,” he added. “He has invaded Georgia, he has invaded the Crimea, he has invaded Ukraine. He has used force and got away with it.
“In a period of tension, an attack on the Baltic states… is entirely plausible.”
Nato members would be obliged under Article 5 of its founding treaty to come to the defence of another member if it came under attack.
General Shirreff said that Mr Putin could be persuaded into an intervention in the Baltic by a “perception” of weakness in Nato, and predicted that, as in Crimea, the Russian president would present his actions as an act of defence to protect the large Russian-speaking minorities in those countries.
Nato has already stepped up defences in the Baltic states, but General Shirreff said that it needed to “raise the bar sufficiently high for any aggressor to say it is not worth the risk."
Note EU-Digest: Anyone who believes in risking a nuclear war to achieve political gain is not only out of touch with reality, but also not fit to be a general or major political leader, and obviously also suicidal.
Read more: Nato risks nuclear war with Russia 'within a year', senior general warns | Europe | News | The Independent
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