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- By RFE/RL
Former U.S. President George Bush, Who Presided Over End Of Cold War, Is Dead At 94
George Bush, the 41st president of the United States, has died at the age of 94.
"America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world. My friends, we have work to do."
With those words, made during his inaugural address in 1989, Bush ushered in a term during which he would preside over the end of the Cold War.
His single term in office would coincide with the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and usher in an era of the United States as the world's lone superpower.
Bush entered into a war with Iraq -- which had invaded neighboring Kuwait -- that would later come to be known as the "first" Gulf War, and forged a new strategic partnership with Russia that would include a major reduction of their respective stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
Bush’s wide-ranging resume included being a decorated World War II veteran, oilman, head of the Central Intelligence Agency, a two-term vice president, ambassador to the United Nations and China, father of a president, and a confessed broccoli hater.
Bush was also the United States' oldest living former president when he died.
"Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died," his son, former President George W. Bush, said in a statement released on Twitter by a family spokesman.
"George H.W. Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for," his son said.
World Leaders Pay Tribute
In a statement posted on Twitter on December 1, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump said they "join with a grieving nation to mourn the loss" of Bush.
"Through his essential authenticity, disarming wit, and unwavering commitment to faith, family, and country, President Bush inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service -- to be, in his words, 'a thousand points of light' illuminating the greatness, hope, and opportunity of America to the world," the president and first lady said.
The U.S. flag at the White House was at half-staff on December 1.
"America has lost a patriot and humble servant," former President Barack Obama said in a statement, voicing gratitude "not merely for the years he spent as our president but for the more than 70 years he spent in devoted service to the country he loved."
Bush, Obama said, possessed "the qualities that make this country great. Service to others. Commitment to leaving behind something better. Sacrifice in the name of lifting this country closer to its founding ideals."
Former President Bill Clinton praised Bush for his "great long life of service, love and friendship."
In a statement issued early on December 1, Clinton, who defeated Bush in the 1992 presidential election, said he was always struck by Bush's "innate and genuine decency" and by his devotion to his wife Barbara and his family.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Bush had been a "true partner" in working to bring an end to the Cold War, in comments quoted by Interfax on December 1.
"We had the opportunity to work together during the era of great changes. It was a dramatic period, which required everyone to be tremendously responsible. Its outcome was the end of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race," Gorbachev was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called Bush "a distinguished man…who served his country for his entire life."
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also expressed his and the Russian government's "deepest condolences" over Bush's death in posts on Twitter and Facebook.
Medvedev noted "Bush's great personal contribution to developing friendly relations between the Russian Federation and the United States, as well as his genuine interest in our country, its history and culture. We will cherish the memory of this outstanding man."
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said that "in navigating a peaceful end to the Cold War, he made the world a safer place for generations to come."
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas paid tribute to Bush as one of the architects of his country's reunification in 1990.
Maas said in a statement that "we are mourning a great statesman and a friend of Germany."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called him "a true friend" of the German people who "gave us his trust and support."
U.S. Congressional leaders announced that Bush will lie in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building.
A state funeral will be held at Washington's National Cathedral on December 5. The White House announced that President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump would attend the ceremony.
Political Lineage
Bush was born in Massachusetts in 1924 to a prominent family headed by his father, banker and U.S. Senator Prescott Bush.
The younger Bush would continue the family's political lineage, serving twice as vice president under Ronald Reagan before becoming president himself, and fathering George W. Bush -- president from 2001 to 2009 -- and Jeb Bush, a two-term Florida governor who unsuccessfully ran to be the Republican Party’s candidate for president in 2016.
Bush was educated at elite schools and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942. At 18, he was the youngest Navy flier at the time, and would go on to fly 58 combat missions as a torpedo bomber pilot in the Pacific theater.
On one of those missions, in 1944, his squadron came under heavy Japanese antiaircraft fire. With his plane ablaze, Bush managed to release his bombs and attempted to return to an aircraft carrier before he was forced to bail. He was rescued after floating at sea for four hours, and won a Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery in action.
After his military service, Bush attended and graduated from Yale University. He married Barbara Pierce in 1945, and about that same time entered the oil business in Texas. It was not until two decades later that he would enter politics.
He was married to Barbara for 73 years, the longest marriage of any U.S. presidential couple. His wife -- considered one of the most popular first ladies in U.S. history -- died in April 2018.
Bush lost two bids for a Senate seat and won one in the House of Representatives before attracting the attention of President Richard Nixon, who named Bush to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Nixon's successor, President Gerald Ford, named Bush as CIA director in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.
In 1980, Bush sought the Republican nomination for president but lost to Reagan. Bush was added to Reagan's ticket as vice president despite lacerating attacks on Reagan's supply-side fiscal approach to the economy labeled by Bush as "voodoo economics," and the two would go on to beat incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and serve two terms together.
During his run for the presidency in 1988, Bush famously characterized "liberal" as a word so horrible that it could not be uttered. Instead, he called his liberal opponents "the L-word." He also famously issued a campaign promise he would fail to keep when he said: "Read my lips: No new taxes."
'A New Breeze Is Blowing'
As president, Bush's devoted considerable attention to foreign affairs, especially as the Soviet Union was showing signs of collapse. Sensing the U.S.S.R.'s grip was failing, Bush enunciated a vision of the direction the world was taking after more than 40 years of Cold War.
"The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree," he said during his inaugural address. "A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on. There is new ground to be broken, and new action to be taken."
Eventually the Soviet Union did break up, and Bush worked to help bring about what he called a "new world order."
He worked to foster Western-style democracy in former communist-dominated states and integrate them into the global economy.
Despite his international successes, issues at home combined to deny Bush a second term. Most prominent was his agreement in 1990 to raise taxes in order to cut the federal budget deficit, despite his earlier pledge at the Republican National Convention.
This alienated many of his supporters while Democrat Bill Clinton, the youthful governor of Arkansas, used a sluggish economy to his advantage, portraying himself as the champion of the common man while making his opponent look as though he didn’t understand the plight or ordinary Americans.
“It’s the economy, stupid,” Clinton aide James Carville repeated over and over again until it became a mantra of the campaign and the start of Bush’s downfall.
In the end, Bush lost his reelection bid to Clinton in 1992 and became embroiled in controversy as he prepared to leave office.
Just 28 days before Clinton’s inauguration, Bush ordered clemency for six people, including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, for their role in the Iran-Contra affair that occurred under Bush’s predecessor, Reagan.
The move drew fire from many critics of the affair, which involved the clandestine sale of arms to Iran via Israel in exchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. Money from the sale was then secretly diverted to Contra rebels in Nicaragua who were fighting at a time when Congress prohibited such support.
Four of those pardoned -- Clair George, Alan Fiers, Elliot Abrams, and William McFarlane -- had been convicted or pleaded guilty to charges in the Iran-Contra affair, while Duane Clarridge, like Weinberger, had been awaiting trial.
After leaving the White House, Bush became a low-profile ex-president, refusing many speaking engagements and rarely making public pronouncements. The conservative wing of the Republican Party, meanwhile, put the blame on him for Clinton's victory and prevented him from playing a prominent role in the party.
Eventually, Bush and Clinton combined their public influence to foster social and cultural issues, and the two served as goodwill ambassadors overseas. Together, the two former presidents from opposing parties helped generate aid for the victims of the tsunami of December 2004 and for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the southern United States in September 2005.
Bush suffered from vascular Parkinsonism, a form of Parkinson's disease that forced him to use a motorized scooter or wheelchair after 2012 or so.
But Bush also remained physically active at ages when many people have long since slowed down. He made a number of parachute jumps after retiring, including to celebrate his 75th, 80th, and 90th birthdays.
He announced his final leap, on his 90th birthday in 2014, on Twitter, and pulled off the tandem jump near his beloved summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, with flying colors.
Despite gestures of goodwill and working toward helping others, Bush’s final years were tarnished by accusations late in 2017 that he sexually harassed at least seven women. Officials representing Bush issued apologies for the incidents, saying his behavior was an attempt to make light of social awkwardness posed by his own physical disability during photo sessions.
No criminal charges were filed because of the allegations.
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In Ukraine's Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian strikes on September 24 killed two people, wounded eight, and destroyed several private homes in the town of Beryslav.
Meanwhile, in the frontline Donetsk region of Ukraine, Moscow-installed authorities imposed restrictions on occupied areas, including a weekday 11 p.m.-to-4 a.m. curfew, a ban on protests and rallies, and military censorship of correspondence, online communications, and telephone calls as fighting intensified in the east and south.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
Following a stop in Poland, Zelenskiy said via social media on September 24 that he had met with in the United States with leading individuals from the business and finance sectors, including media mogul Michael Bloomberg.
The gatherings were part of a visit that took him to the floor of the UN General Assembly and before the UN Security Council in New York, as well as to crucial meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and congressional leaders in Washington and to Canada.
"The American entrepreneurs and financiers confirmed their readiness to make large-scale investments in our country immediately after the end of the war and the receipt of security guarantees," Zelenskiy said via social media. "We are working for the victory and reconstruction of Ukraine."
As the unprovoked Russian invasion entered its 20th month, the Ukrainian military and an outside assessment suggested that Ukrainian forces were penetrating deeper into Russian defenses in their ongoing counteroffensive, especially in a crucial southern region.
Ukraine's General Staff said on September 24 that Russian drone and missile strikes had continued in the last 24 hours, and said its forces were engaged in offensive operations "in particular in the Verbove area of the Zaporizhzhya region" in the south.
A day earlier, analysts from the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said they had used geolocation and other information to conclude that "Ukrainian forces are deepening their penetration" in the Zaporizhzhya region.
Much of the latest focus of the three-month-old Ukrainian counteroffensive has been on Zaporizhzhya and its surroundings, which host Europe's largest nuclear plant at a facility captured by Russia in the early weeks of the invasion.
In Russia, officials said a drone attack blamed on Ukraine had damaged an "administrative" building in downtown Kursk in the vicinity of offices of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
But reports that a blast had struck the FSB offices, located on Dobrolyubova Street, could not be confirmed.
Kursk regional Governor Roman Starovoit said on Telegram that what he described as a Ukrainian drone had struck an administrative building downtown and "the roof was slightly damaged."
Reports on social media showed images of smoke rising over the city center and referred to multiple explosions, although RFE/RL could not immediately verify their authenticity.
Kursk is about 90 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. A drone strike there last month damaged a railway station and injured five people.
On September 23, Ukrainian military intelligence claimed a missile attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula on September 22 had targeted "a meeting of the Russian navy's leadership" and resulted in high casualties, including a group commander.
With reporting by Reuters
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Pashinian Laments Armenia's Security Arrangements; Expected Mass Refugee Influx From Nagorno-Karabakh Begins
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has told his Caucasus nation on the heels of a bruising defeat for allies in a breakaway region of Azerbaijan that while Baku and Russian peacekeepers bear responsibility for protecting ethnic Armenians there, if necessary his government "will welcome our brothers and sisters of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia with all care."
Yerevan reported on September 24 that the first several hundred refugees from the region had begun arriving in Armenia, with Nagorno-Karabakh leaders indicating that nearly all of the estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians are likely to leave for the Caucasus nation’s territory as soon as possible, saying they did not want to live under Azerbaijani control.
Meanwhile, Armenia’s Security Council said Pashinian would conduct previously arranged talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Grenada, Spain, on October 5, with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and EU chief Charles Michel also participating.
In a televised address to his nation of around 3 million, Pashinian also seemingly delivered a barb to Russia and Moscow-led efforts at regional security.
"The attacks carried out by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Armenia in recent years lead to an obvious conclusion that the external security systems in which we are involved are not effective from the point of view of the state interests and security of the Republic of Armenia," Pashinian said.
Pashinian and many Armenians blame Russia -- which traditionally has served as Armenia's protector in the region -- for failing to use its peacekeeping force to protect ethnic Armenians in Karabakh.
Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which Russia has tried to position as a counterweight to NATO, although as recently as this month its armed forces were conducting exercises with U.S. forces.
Pashinian has been on rocky political footing since overwhelming Azerbaijani forces retook much of the territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh held for decades by ethnic Armenians in a six-week war in late 2020 that led to a Russian-brokered cease-fire.
Then this week the breakaway leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh was thrashed by a lightning Azerbaijani offensive that led Baku to declare victory in returning its sovereignty to the territory.
Around the time Pashinian was addressing the nation on September 24, an adviser to the defeated leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh said virtually all of the territory's ethnic Armenians will leave for Armenia in a bitter exodus from "our historic lands."
Davit Babayan, an adviser for foreign policy to the separatist government’s de facto leader Samvel Shahramanian, told Reuters on September 24 that "Our people do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan. Ninety-nine point nine percent prefer to leave our historic lands."
He said nothing of a time frame and there was otherwise no official position on a possible mass exodus.
Calls have increased in urgency for humanitarian help from the United Nations and the international community since the ethnic Armenian separatists agreed to a Russian-brokered cease-fire after a 24-hour blitz by Azerbaijani military forces on September 19-20.
Baku has repeatedly vowed to ensure the rights of what ethnic Armenians say is around 120,000 locals but the Azerbaijani side says is around half that figure.
"The fate of our poor people will go down in history as a disgrace and a shame for the Armenian people and for the whole civilized world," Babayan said. "Those responsible for our fate will one day have to answer before God for their sins."
Azerbaijan again signaled victory in Nagorno-Karabakh while Armenia urged international help to ensure the safety of the local ethnic Armenian population in competing speeches before the United Nations General Assembly, as evacuation and disarmament efforts continue.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile used his UN appearance to say the two post-Soviet foes have "put things in order" and now it's time to build "mutual trust."
The trio of September 23 speeches came as the Yerevan-backed separatists said they were implementing the terms of the days-old cease-fire but concerns continued over the safety of tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians in the territory and with evacuations of the wounded under way.
Azerbaijan and Armenia's foreign ministers struck opposing tones in their speeches to the UN forum.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov hailed the success of his country's September 19-20 military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, as achieving the "goals of anti-terrorist measures."
"Armenia and its subordinate illegal regime were forced to agree to disarmament, liquidation of all so-called structures and withdrawal of forces from Azerbaijan," Bayramov said.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly several hours later, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan lamented Yerevan's repeated calls for greater UN activity to break a nine-month-long de facto Azerbaijani blockade of the region before the latest offensive.
Armenia's government has distanced itself from the latest cease-fire mediated by Russia's peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 20, with daily protests targeting Pashinian and his government.
Mirzoyan accused much larger neighbor Azerbaijan of pursuing a "path of war" and disregarding accepted international principles.
He said the message from Azerbaijan has been that "you can talk about peace, but we can go on the path of war, and you will not be able to change anything."
Mirzoyan said the latest casualty toll of this week's Azerbaijani actions were "more than 200 confirmed dead and 400 wounded, including civilians, women, and children." He said the fates of hundreds more remained "uncertain."
He also repeated Yerevan's "imperative" call for a UN mission in Nagorno-Karabakh "to monitor and assess the human rights, humanitarian and security situation on the ground, "with "unhindered access."
Armenia's Health Ministry announced on September 24 that ambulances were transporting 23 seriously injured individuals from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenian territory.
RFE/RL reporters said the first refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh had arrived at a humanitarian aid facility in the border village of Kornidzor on September 24. Photos showed men, women, and children gathered around Red Cross tents and other receiving areas.
Separatist authorities said Russian peacekeepers would accompany those wishing to leave the region and go to Armenia. Russia’s Defense Ministry said peacekeepers had escorted 311 refugees to Armenia by midday on September 24.
In his speech to the General Assembly on September 23, Russia's Lavrov said "the time has come for confidence-building measures between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh."
He said Russia's peacekeepers would assist, and he accused Western governments of inserting themselves unnecessarily in the Caucasus.
Lavrov said that "Yerevan and Baku actually put the situation in order."
Nagorno-Karabakh‘s ethnic Armenian separatist leaders said on September 23 said they were implementing the cease-fire, including evacuations of injured civilians to Armenia with the help of Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The separatists said that, as part of the September 20 agreement, aid was to be delivered from Armenia to Stepanakert -- the de facto capital of the breakaway region under ethnic Armenian control -- through the Lachin Corridor, for decades the main link between Karabakh and Armenia.
Also as part of the agreement, separatists said, talks would take place on “the political future” of the region, which is suffering from shortages of food, fuel, and electricity.
Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh reported that Karabakh separatists had already handed over more than 800 firearms, grenades, mortars, anti-tank guided missiles, and anti-tank missile systems, and the disarmament process would continue over the weekend.
U.S. Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who is leading a congressional delegation to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, called for international observers needed to monitor the situation and said people in Karabakh were "very fearful."
"I am certainly very concerned about what’s happening in Nagorno-Karabakh right now. I think there needs to be some visibility," Peters told reporters.
Azerbaijan has vowed to protect the rights of civilians there.
The offensive was halted on September 20 after Karabakh's ethnic Armenian leadership accepted a proposal by the Russian peacekeeping mission, although sporadic fighting has been reported.
Baku has said it envisages an amnesty for Karabakh Armenian fighters who give up their arms and seeks to reintegrate the territory's ethnic Armenian population. Some separatist fighters have vowed to continue to resist Azerbaijani control.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Pashinian in a phone call on September 23 that Washington continues to support Armenia's "sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity" and that it has "deep concern for the ethnic Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh."
During a special meeting of the UN Security Council after this week's cease-fire, council members including the United States and Russia called for peace, while Armenian and Azerbaijani officials traded barbs.
During a short but bloody war in 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured much of Nagorno-Karabakh as well as seven surrounding districts that had been controlled since the 1990s by ethnic Armenians with Yerevan's support.
Kosovo Officials Say Standoff Ends After Deadly Attack, Search On For Remaining Assailants
Authorities in Kosovo said police had regained control of territory around a Serbian Orthodox monastery complex in the mostly Serb north of the country after a tense standoff following an overnight assault by a “heavily armed” group that led to the death of one police officer and three suspected assailants.
"We have gotten this territory under control. It was accomplished after several consecutive battles,” Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla told reporters on September 24.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti earlier said that Kosovar police were in a standoff with some 30 attackers dressed in security -- or military-like -- uniforms who may have ties to the Orthodox monastery complex in the village of Banjska, where the deadly encounter began around 2:30 a.m. local time, sparking vague accusations of involvement by neighboring bitter rival Serbia.
Following the standoff, Kosovar police said earlier that three attackers had been killed and six people had been arrested, including two of the assailants and four others found to be in possession of radio communications technology and had discovered a “significant amount” of weapons, ammunition, and other equipment.”
Details remained scarce and it wasn’t immediately clear how the remaining suspected assailants may have escaped or where they were heading.
Serbian officials said President Aleksandar Vucic was scheduled to speak later in the evening.
Kurti earlier told a news conference that “there are at least 30 heavily armed people, professionals, military and police, who are under the siege of our police forces and whom I invite to surrender to our security bodies.”
He said Kosovar security authorities and prosecutors would scramble "to understand more about these uniforms."
Kurti showed images of vehicles reportedly being used by the perpetrators and said neither local Serbs in the area nor other civilians in Kosovo have "such vehicles."
An RFE/RL team said earlier that rounds of gunfire continued to echo near the scene in northern Kosovo where ethnic and national tensions appear to have erupted into violence again in a predominantly Serb region of a Balkan hot spot.
Serbia does not recognize the 2008 declaration of independence of its mostly ethnic Albanian former province, with many ethnic Serbs in Kosovo following suit while remaining dependent on so-called parallel structures that Pristina regards as illegal.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he "condemn[s] in the strongest possible terms the hideous attack by an armed gang against Kosovo Police officers in Banjska/Banjske" and said more innocent lives were in danger "in ongoing hostilities" around the monastery.
He said the EU's peacekeeping force, EULEX, was "on the ground" as a second security responder and was in touch with authorities and with NATO KFOR peacekeepers.
"The EU and its Member States repeatedly urge all actors to work to de-escalate the situation in north of Kosovo," Borrell said.
KFOR in a statement said it “strongly condemns” the attack against Kosovar police and that it “continues to closely monitor the situation in Banjska, and KFOR troops are present in the area, standing ready to respond if required.”
“The Kosovo Police, as first responder, has primary responsibility for managing the incident on the ground,” it added, while saying it is in “close and constant contact with all international stakeholders, including the EU, the Chief of Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, and with the Institutions in Kosovo.”
Earlier, Kurti said the incident was a "criminal and terrorist act."
The Kosovar Interior Ministry said authorities closed the nearby Brnjak border crossing with Serbia.
Police have closed the main road from Pristina and an RFE/RL team was prevented from approaching the scene in Banjska.
Kosovo's main hospital network said it had raised preparedness levels in at least two area facilities.
Kosovo's president, Vjosa Osmani, called it "an attack on law and order in the north of the country" and "an attack against Kosovo."
"These attacks testify once again to the destabilizing power of criminal gangs organized by Serbia, which have long since, as evidenced by attacks on KFOR members, journalists, and citizens, have been aiming to destabilize Kosovo and the region," Osmani said.
The U.S. envoy to Pristina "strongly condemned" the violence and urged that the perpetrators be brought to justice.
There was no immediate response from Belgrade to the incident or the suggestions from Pristina of indirect or indirect involvement by Serbia.
Kurti said a gunbattle had begun around 3 a.m. local time in Banjska, in the Zvecan municipality, between police and "professionals with masks and armed with heavy weapons."
Kurti blamed "organized crime with political, financial, and logistical support from official Belgrade," saying it was "attacking our state."
A Kosovar police statement later confirmed the officer's death and said the wounded person had been transferred to a hospital in Pristina with non-life-threatening injuries.
A physician at a local medical facility told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that doctors had removed grenade shrapnel from the chest and arm of the injured policemen.
Police say their officers are occasionally targeted in attacks by organized armed groups in the area.
Zvecan is one of four mostly Serb municipalities where unrest erupted in May after boycotted elections and attempts by Pristina to forcibly seat ethnic Albanian local officials.
Local Serbs sometimes block roads and carry out other acts of defiance against Kosovar authorities in the northern areas.
In a statement, the Kosovar police said three rapid-response units "encountered resistance from several different positions" while responding to the discovery around 2:30 a.m. local time of two unmarked heavy trucks that were blocking a bridge that leads to Banjska. It said they were fired on "with an arsenal of firearms, including hand grenades."
Western officials mediating talks with Serbia and Kosovo have signaled frustration since negotiations this month, which also involved Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, failed to achieve a breakthrough on normalization.
Those talks are part of a decade-long U.S. and EU diplomatic push toward formalized relations and to repair some of the wounds from bloody internecine wars in the 1990s, after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
In May and June, Kurti ignored outside warnings and tried to forcibly install four mayors in mostly Serb northern municipalities following boycotted by-elections to fill posts vacated by protesting Serbs.
The resulting tensions erupted into violence that injured dozens of NATO KFOR peacekeepers and some ethnic Serb protesters.
The U.S. ambassador to Kosovo, Jeff Hovenier, said on social media that he "strongly condemn[s] the orchestrated, violent attacks on the Kosovo Police" and stressed the Kosovo Police's "full & legitimate responsibility for enforcing the rule of law in Kosovo."
He added that "the perpetrators must & will be held accountable and brought to justice."
Kosovar authorities identified the slain police officer as Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku.
"His murder should be translated into an even greater commitment in the fight against gangs, illegal structures, crime, and terrorism, which threaten the security of citizens and the constitutional order," Kurti said.
Russian Foreign Minister Says Ukraine Peace Plan, UN Bid To Revive Grain Deal 'Not Realistic'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on September 23 that Ukraine's proposed peace plan as well as the latest UN proposals to revive the Black Sea grain initiative were both "not realistic."
"It is completely not feasible," Lavrov said of Kyiv's 10-point peace blueprint. "It's not realistic...but at the same time, they say this is the only basis for negotiations."
Lavrov added during a news conference at the UN' headquarters in New York that Moscow left the Black Sea grain initiative because promises made to it -- including removing sanctions on a Russian bank and reconnecting it to the global SWIFT system -- hadn't been met.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly earlier on September 23, Lavrov didn't discuss his country's war in Ukraine, but accused the West of "doing everything they can to prevent the formation of a genuine multipolar world order" and of "trying to force the world to play according to their own self-centered rules."
Lavrov also recapped some historical complaints and alluded to Western aid for Ukraine., but he didn't delve into the current fighting while addressing the assembly.
Click on the links to read the original stories by Reuters and AP.
About 90 Russian Men Seeking To Avoid Conscription Back Home Granted Asylum In Germany
About 90 Russian men have been granted asylum in Germany in their bids to avoid military conscription back home, the Interior Ministry in Berlin said on September 23. Some 3,500 men have applied for such status, with 1,500 applications having so far been decided upon with either acceptance or rejection, officials said. German courts decide on refugee status based on whether a person would face particularly severe penalties at home because they are members of a group of people who are discriminated against, and not solely on the desire to avoid conscription. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, click here.
- By dpa
German Politician Warns Against Rise Of Right-Wing Populism In EU, Citing Hungary, Poland, Italy
European Parliament Vice President Katarina Barley warned on September 23 against the rise of antidemocratic movements in Europe. "Democracy and the rule of law can no longer be taken for granted in the European Union," Barley said at a party conference for Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) in Berlin. She is an SPD member. Hungary, she said, was already no longer a democracy. "We see a similar development in Poland," she said. Democratic rights were also being curtailed in Italy, she added. The European Commission, she noted, was in danger of tilting to the right.
Polish PM Tells Ukraine's Zelenskiy 'Never To Insult Poles Again'
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy not to "insult" Poles, maintaining harsh rhetoric toward Kyiv after the Polish president had sought to defuse a row over grain imports. Poland last week extended a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv's relationship with a neighbor that has been one of its staunchest allies since Russia invaded Ukraine. Zelenskiy angered Poland when he told the UN General Assembly that "political theater" around grain imports was only helping Moscow. "I...want to tell President Zelenskiy never to insult Poles again, as he did during his UN speech," Morawiecki told an election rally late on September 22. (Reuters)
To read the original story by Reuters, click here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/polish-president-says-ukrainian-grain-row-wont-significantly-affect-relations-2023-09-22/
- By Reuters
Zelenskiy Meets Sudanese Leader, Discusses Russian Paramilitaries
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on September 23 that he held an impromptu meeting in Ireland's Shannon Airport with the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and that they discussed Russian-funded armed groups. "We discussed our common security challenges, namely the activities of illegal armed groups financed by Russia," Zelenskiy said. He thanked Sudan, which is in the midst of a deadly civil war, for its support of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Russia's Wagner mercenary group has operated in Ukraine throughout Moscow's invasion. Western diplomats have said the group is also present in Sudan.
U.S. Senator Leads Delegation To Armenian-Azerbaijan Border, Calls For International Monitors In Karabakh
U.S. Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who is leading a congressional delegation to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, called on September 23 for international monitors to be sent to observe conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh, the mostly ethnic-Armenian breakaway region captured by Baku after a lightning military strike. "I am certainly very concerned about what’s happening in Nagorno-Karabakh right now. I think there needs to be some visibility," Peters told reporters. The U.S. Embassy said the group will meet Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other officials "to discuss U.S.-Armenian relations and the impact of Azerbaijan's recent military actions on the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh." To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, click here.
- By Reuters
Blinken Suggests Iran Is Not A Responsible Actor In Its Nuclear Program
Iran's decision to bar some UN nuclear inspectors suggests it is not interested in being a responsible actor when it comes to its atomic program, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on September 22. "We tried to work indirectly with Iran as well as with European partners and even Russia and China to see if we can get a return to compliance with the Iran nuclear deal ... But Iran couldn't or wouldn't do that," Blinken told reporters. On September 23, the head of the International Atomic Energy (IAEA) condemned Tehran's move to bar multiple inspectors assigned to the country. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.
Former Wagner Fighter Reportedly Detained In Norway Near Russian Border
Norwegian police on September 22 detained a former fighter for Russia's private mercenary force, the Wagner group, along the Scandinavian country's border with Russia, according to the Barents Observer. Andrei Medvedev fled to Norway from Russia after fighting with Wagner in Ukraine and had stated his willingness to provide testimony related to war crimes he said had been committed by the now-deceased Wagner head, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The Norwegian authorities had not yet made a decision on Medvedev's asylum request. Just hours before his detention, Medvedev reportedly told a journalist he feared being extradited to Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
- By AP
Pakistani PM Claims Possibility Of Coming Elections Being Manipulated By Military Is 'Absolutely Absurd'
Pakistan’s interim prime minister said he expects parliamentary elections to take place in the new year, dismissing the possibility that the country’s powerful military would manipulate the results to ensure that jailed former premier Imran Khan’s party doesn’t win. In an interview with the Associated Press on September 22, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said it was the Election Commission that is going to conduct the vote, not the military, and Khan appointed the commission’s chief at the time. The commission has announced that the elections will take place during the last week in January, delaying the vote that was to be held in November. To read the original story by AP, click here.
Ukrainian Military Claims Russian Navy Commanders Killed In Sevastopol Attack; De Facto Crimean Authorities Say Fresh Attack Thwarted
The Ukrainian military says that a missile attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula on September 22 targeted "a meeting of the Russian Navy's leadership" and resulted in high casualties, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stopped in Poland on his way back home after his major diplomatic push in the West.
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"The details of the attack will be revealed as soon as possible and the result is dozens of dead and wounded occupants, including senior fleet commanders," the Ukrainian military said on September 23.
In comments to Voice Of America, Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov claimed the attack, in which at least one cruise missile struck the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters, killed "at least nine people" and that 16 were injured, including high-ranking officers.
"Among the wounded is the commander of the group, Colonel-General [Oleksandr] Romanchuk, in very serious condition. The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General [Oleg] Tsekov, is unconscious. The number of casual military servicemen who are not employees of the headquarters is still being determined," Budanov was quoted as saying in VOA's September 23 report.
Romanchuk commands frontline forces defending Russian-occupied parts of southeastern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region and was promoted to the rank of colonel-general in 2023, according to VOA. Tsekov was identified as the commander of coastal forces of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet.
RFE/RL was not able to verify Budanov's or the Ukrainian military's casualty claims.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram on September 22 that five cruise missiles involved in that day's attack had been shot down. The ministry claimed that one Russian soldier was missing, after having earlier reported the death of one soldier.
Moscow has not issued updated information regarding casualties or commented on the Ukrainian military's claims that a meeting of Russian naval commanders was targeted.
RFE/RL's Crimea.Realities, a regional outlet of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, reported early on September 23 that a powerful explosion was heard in Sevastopol, prompting air-raid warnings.
On the morning of September 23, Russian authorities in Crimea confirmed that Sevastopol had again come under attack.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of the Ukrainian peninsula seized by Moscow in 2014, said that preliminary information indicated that Russian air defense forces had shot down a missile and that debris had fallen along the shore of Sevastopol Bay.
In a follow-up Telegram post, Razvozhayev declared that the "missile danger is clear."
On September 22, following the attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters, Razvozhayev had denied reports by multiple Telegram channels that thermal power plants near Sevastopol had been struck in a Ukrainian missile attack.
Razvozhayev alleged that Ukrainian media were "trying to sow panic among citizens" by reporting the attacks.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted naval facilities in Crimea as its counteroffensive in the east and south of the country grinds on.
As Kyiv continues to defend its military strategy amid Western criticism, a commander of Ukraine's Tavria force fighting in the Zaporizhzhya region told CNN on September 22 that Ukraine had made a breakthrough near the rural settlement of Verbove.
“On the left flank [near Verbove] we have a breakthrough and we continue to advance further,” Oleksandr Tarnavsky said.
"Not as fast as it was expected, not like in the movies about the Second World War,” he said, but “the main thing is not to lose this initiative [that we have]."
Verbove is part of the Surovikin Lines -- triple-layered defenses named for the Russian general who ordered their construction last year to thwart any Ukrainian effort to breach and try to outmaneuver Russian forces along a 1,200-kilometer front line.
On September 23, the Ukrainian military said Russia had launched 15 Iranian-made Shahed drones against Ukraine's frontline forces in the Zaporizhzhya region and in the neighboring Dnitropetrovsk region to the north.
In the southeastern Kherson region, officials said on September 23 that at least one person had died and three were injured due to Russian shelling, which hit residential, medical, and educational buildings over the previous day.
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy stopped in Poland on his way back to Ukraine on September 23 amid a simmering feud with Warsaw, which has been a major diplomatic ally in the war with Russia, taking in refugees and providing arms to Kyiv.
Tensions have risen between the two nations after Kyiv sharply criticized Warsaw when it extended its ban on Ukrainian grain products to protect Polish farmers from falling prices.
At the UN General Assembly in New York, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that "I want to tell President Zelenskiy that he must never insult Poles again, as he did the other day during his appearance at the United Nations."
Zelenskiy attempted to ease tensions when he made a stopover in Poland after his trip to the United States and Canada.
"I believe that all the challenges on our common path are nothing compared to the strength that exists between our peoples," Zelenskiy said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
Zelenskiy handed out awards to a journalist who helped transport wounded children to Polish hospitals and to a man who had assembled a medical team to help wounded soldiers near the front line, according to Reuters.
He did not appear to meet with Polish officials.
With reporting by Reuters
- By AP
Cracks In Western Wall Of Support For Ukraine Emerge As Eastern Europe And U.S. Head Toward Elections
Once rock-solid, the support that Ukraine has gotten from its biggest backers for its fight against Russia is showing cracks. Political posturing in places like Poland and Slovakia, where a trade dispute with Ukraine has stirred tensions, and Republican reticence in the United States about Washington’s big spending to prop up Ukraine’s military have raised new uncertainties about the West’s commitment to its efforts to expel Russian invaders more than 18 months into the war. Still, from Washington to Warsaw, where the military cost and capabilities of helping Ukraine are at issue, officials are playing down talk of a rift. To read the original story by AP, click here.
- By dpa
Woman In Iran Arrested After Head Scarf Protest
An Iranian woman has been arrested after protesting against the compulsory wearing of head scarves, the Norway-based human rights group Hengaw reported on September 22. The engineer, Zeinab Kazemi, was reportedly taken from her home by security forces a few days ago. She had previously received a suspended sentence of 74 lashes on probation. In February Kazemi threw her head scarf on the floor at an event in order to protest against the decision of an engineering association not to admit her to the board because of an ill-fitting head scarf. Members of parliament introduced a new head scarf bill just this week.
- By RFE/RL
Russian-Installed Leader Of Crimea Denies Strikes Hit Power Plants
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of the occupied Crimean Peninsula, denied on Telegram on September 22 that any thermal power plants had been struck in a Ukrainian missile attack. Multiple Telegram channels had reported that several explosions were heard in an area close to a thermal power plant in the city of Sevastopol in Ukraine’s Russia-annexed Crimea after the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet was struck earlier in the day. Razvozhayev alleged that Ukrainian media were "trying to sow panic among citizens."
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