The horrific scenes in San Diego unfortunately recall the Christchurch mosque massacre. Hate - whether Islamophobia, antisemitism, racism or bigotry of any sort - left without sanction, or worse actively platformed, inevitably beget violence. We must all choose a better way.

Last week we learned of the sudden departure of C. Schmidt as BiH's High Rep. Like every aspect of his tenure, Schmidt’s exit from BiH is mired in controversy & international intrigue. Kenan Efendic & I debate his tenure on the latest Balkanomnicon episode. Streaming now. 👇 rss.com/podcasts/bal...

Christian Schmidt gibt das Amt als Hoher Repräsentant in Bosnien und Herzegowina auf. Sehr interessante Überlegungen zur politischen Gemengelage in BiH, internationalen Perspektiven und zur bisherigen u zukünftigen Ausgestaltung des Postens.

NEW: On a ‘emergency’ episode of Balkanomnicon I discuss with @odgovor.bsky.social’s Kenan Efendić the implications of Christian Schmidt’s resignation as @OHR_BiH. The episode is now streaming on the Odgovor YouTube channel, and/or wherever you stream your media. rss.com/podcasts/bal...

The UK’s @theguardian.com making an explicit link between HR Schmidt’s resignation and the gas pipeline project fronted by Joe Flynn and Jesse Binnall in Bosnia, and their (in)direct links to Kremlin-backed secessionist Dodik via his US lobbyist Michael Flynn. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

And there it is: Bosnia and Herzegovina’s High Representative Christian Schmidt is resigning, local and European media confirm, in part under mounting U.S. pressure to vacate the post.

If the present diplomatic chatter out of Sarajevo is true about what may be announced later today, then both Bosnian and EU officials would do well to review this @odgovor.bsky.social column from late April, lest the interests of both fall wholly wayside. odgovor.ba/article/15115/

The entire Bosnian Serb secessionist delegation which met with Putin today in Moscow was under US sanctions until Oct 2025. A couple million in lobbying dollars spent on Mike Flynn, Rod Blagojevich et al, and they’re sanctions-free — with not an iota of political moderation.

My conversation with Dr. Robin Brooks on her 20+ years in the US Foreign Service is now playing on the official @odgovor.bsky.social YouTube page, or where ever you stream your pods. Visit the official Balkanomnicon page to review all listening options: 🌐 balkanomnicon.com

A beautiful evening in Zurich. I’m looking forward to presenting at the launch conference of the Institute of Slavic and Eastern European Studies at the University of Zurich, and discussing my book “The Bosniaks” with the Bosnian Students & Academics Association.

Once you understand that chief purpose of the Dayton Agreement was to appease the regimes in Belgrade and Zagreb, which had orchestrated the aggression against Bosnia, you quickly realize that the ‘dysfunction’ of the country’s post-war regime is not a bug but a feature.

Due to some cosmic coincidence beyond my divination, I have received an outpouring of emails in recent days from readers of 'The Bosniaks' and all have offered profuse (and methinks unwarranted!) praise for the book. Whatever the cause, my thanks to you all! www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-bos...

Dr. Robin Books spent 21 years as a US Foreign Service Officer, including a posting as Special Advisor for Europe to VP Kamala Harris. She reflects on her experiences and the evolution of US foreign policy on the next episode of Balkanomnicon. Begins streaming on Friday.

We’ve made explaining students’ First Amendment rights into an easy and fun study plan. Check out our Know Your Rights University resources and watch episode 1 now at aclu.org/_kyr_u ✏️

What an incredible and shameful headline for Judson University. But this is what happens when you allow an arms dealer to buy-off your school's credibility to fete a Russian-backed secessionist, genocide denier, and hate monger. abc7chicago.com/post/elgins-...

The Sarajevo govt has truly played a bad hand in the worst possible way. Awarding a major pipeline contract to what is, in effect, a US shell company was always going to end badly. If anything, kudos to the EU for articulating the consequences clearly. www.dw.com/en/how-a-con...

This week on BALKANOMNICON: I speak with @cjcmichel.bsky.social about his new book “The United States of Oligarchy” and the prospects for the global struggle against kleptocracy. Listen now on @odgovor.bsky.social's YouTube channel or wherever you stream your pods: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qASO...

The fundamental premise of democracy, indeed its genius, is that we can have categorical disagreements — without having to resort to violence. Only horror follows for societies which begin to replace the thunder of the lectern with the crackling of the rifle. Peace unto us all.

BiH authorities were warned by the EU, and by every relevant energy policy expert, that a lex specialis for a US shadow company with no known employees or clients, linked to Dodik lobbyist Mike Flynn, was a disaster waiting to happen. Well, here it is. www.rferl.org/a/eu-bosnia-...

You, ignorant of the geopolitical genius that is the EU Commission, might be appalled at a Plenkovic cadre being named Bosnia desk officer. But recall these are also the people who appointed Olivér Várhelyi as Enlargement Commissioner. So, uh...hmm. odgovor.ba/article/15224

Even Schmidt has conceded his days as HR are numbered. For @odgovor.bsky.social I argue BiH leaders must now set out their own conditions for his replacement to create a pathway favorable for BiH’s strategic interests while terminating the office entirely. www.odgovor.ba/article/15115/

This week on BALKANOMNICON: I speak with @cjcmichel.bsky.social about his new book “The United States of Oligarchy” and the prospects for the global struggle against kleptocracy. Listen now on @odgovor.bsky.social's YouTube channel or wherever you stream your pods: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qASO...

"The EU risks a confrontation with Donald Trump after it sought to stall the awarding of a lucrative Balkans pipeline contract to a company fronted by his personal lawyer, documents seen by the Guardian show." Timely reporting by @tomburgis.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

🎧 Why is the far right—from Russia to Serbia to the US—so titillated by the Eastern Orthodox Church's aura of medieval-ish darkness, its crusader fantasies fueled by the iconography of “Christendom”? @jasminmuj.bsky.social & @faisalalyafai.bsky.social discuss on the @newlinesmag.bsky.social podcast

With so many conflicts happening (Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Sudan, and more) — are we in a world war / the beginnings of World War III? Analysts might scoff — but I get asked this a lot, so I put this to experts including @kschake.bsky.social and @jasminmuj.bsky.social:

"It was so horrific, the intimacy of the violence, that it was your neighbors coming to kill you. That also leaves a very particular kind of trauma that's very difficult to untangle." @jasminmuj.bsky.social joins @faisalalyafai.bsky.social on The Lede to discuss the Bosnian war shorturl.at/5vwCU

An important piece from Ben Gerstein for @justsecurity.org on the aggressive efforts of Russian-backed Bosnian Serb secessionist Dodik to court support among the international far right for his effort to destabilize Bosnia and the whole Western Balkans. www.justsecurity.org/136681/bosni...

A short excerpt from my conversation with @faisalalyafai.bsky.social of @newlinesmag.bsky.social about the intimacy of the violence committed against the Bosniak community during the Bosnian War and the Bosnian Genocide, and the long term consequences of the same.

I sat down for a long conversation with @faisalalyafai.bsky.social about my concerns with the recent international media trend of ‘de-contextualizing’ the Bosnian War but also the contrasting significance the of projects like @sniperalleyphoto.bsky.social. newlinesmag.com/podcast/the-...

“Get ready to be inspired!” at Judson University, kids.

Some 340 suspected war criminals from the Bosnian War remain at large in Croatia, Serbia et al. Of these the majority (c. 150) are actually in Croatia, an EU member state. But one pillar of the culture of state-sponsored revisionism in Zagreb and Belgrade. www.oslobodjenje.ba/vijesti/bih/...

The Kremlin-backed Bosnian Serb secessionist regime in Banja Luka has hired UK firm Morris de Corve & Associates Ltd. to advocate on behalf of its interests, with their presumed chief focus (as in the US) being the lifting of UK sanctions vs. Dodik et al. www.rtvbn.com/4090521/repu...

🇭🇺 For years, Hungary played the spoiler vote in the EU. Viktor Orbán also sought out like-minded, illiberal politicians across Eastern Europe, undercutting democracies. @jasminmuj.bsky.social walked me through how new leadership will impact Slovakia and the Western Balkans.

I spoke to @melissakchan.bsky.social about how Orban's Hungary became an existential threat to the functionality of the EU as a foreign policy actor and how he became the leading patron of other European illiberal regimes, above all in the Western Balkans. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mm-...

What you call 'anxiety' or 'the tell-tale signs of a psychological break' Bosnians simply refer to as the near-daily process of identifying increasingly more inaccessible and improbable areas of the home to deep clean.

One immediate ask BiH’s MFA and presidency should make of the new govt in Budapest is the closure of Orban’s faux “counter-terrorism center” in Banja Luka, which is no more than a liaison office for his regime’s support for Milorad Dodik’s secessionist adventurism in Bosnia.

And as we cautiously but hopefully look to a new day in Budapest, give a listen to my Balkanomnicon chat with @drilonsgashi.bsky.social, Kosovo's Ambassador to Poland; we reflect on some of the shared historical trajectories of Central Europe and the Western Balkans. rss.com/podcasts/bal...

It is very important that the scenes of euphoria in Hungary following Orban's defeat be seen and shared around the world. Because if we want to save constitutional government and liberal democracy, we must be reminded that it is, first and foremost, the best existing means for delivering joy...

One of the strangest and most disturbing moments during Orban’s long tenure was the period in 2018 during which he was repeatedly photographed - including during a meeting with Italy’s Meloni - with an enormous ethnic map of Bosnia. This coincided with a sharp uptick in his government’s support…

The trouble with repeating the success of the Hungarian opposition in Serbia, as some suggest may now occur, is that the Hungarian electorate is significantly more liberal (and has been for decades) than Serbia’s.

The single biggest, most productive policy option that becomes available to the EU with Orban out re: the Balkans is deployment of long delayed union-wide sanctions vs. Bosnian Serb secessionist Dodik. Plenkovic and Fico will object but are much weaker without Orban's support.

“Worry not, Viktor. We’ll always have Moscow.”

The larger the majority for Tisza, the more difficult it will be for Fidesz to rig the results. But there should be no question that Orban will try to rig them all the same, and use every other (extra)institutional level possible to prevent the fall of his regime.

As we await the generationally important results of the Hungarian elections, my @odgovor.bsky.social analysis proposes steps for the EU to repair the incredible damage Orban has wrought in the Balkans, including ejecting Hungarian forces from EUFOR and KFOR. www.odgovor.ba/article/14145/

I truly hope, for their own sake and the sake of all Europe, that the Hungarian people can rid themselves of the yoke of Orban’s criminal regime. But we should also expect that he and his Russian masters will attempt to prevent a peaceful transfer of power by any means available.

With selection of Zoran Stevanovic as the new president of the Slovenian legislature, the return of long-time right-wing provocateur & Dodik-Orban-Putin ally Janez Jansa to post of PM is likely imminent. It would be his fourth time in the office. Troubling. www.dnevnik.si/novice/slove...

🎙️🇽🇰 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧/𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 of Balkanomnicon, where I joined the creator and host, my friend @jasminmuj.bsky.social and spoke about my professional and personal journey to now representing #Kosova in Poland, 1/ youtu.be/guhgZKTSR7Q?...

The latest episode of my new international and Balkan affairs podcast, Balkanomnicon, is now streaming. This week: I chat with my friend Amb. Drilon S. Gashi about his remarkable journey from the Kosovo diaspora to the diplomatic service of the Republic of Kosovo. rss.com/podcasts/bal...

During Trump Jr’s visit to BiH this week, during which he spoke at an event organized by the Kremlin-backed Serb secessionist regime in Banja Luka, he also sat down for an interview with Boris Malagurski, a prominent regional conspiracy theorist, Bosnian Genocide denier and Russian media mainstay.

If Orban's Fidesz should, by hook or by crook, maintain its rule in Hungary after Sunday, imperative that major steps taken to protect security and intelligence processing ops of the EU and NATO, excising this government from the Euro-Atlantic community as much as is possible.