Free Republic

A group of university students on Friday launched a 24-hour blockade of a main street in Serbia’s capital during New Year’s holiday rush as protests continued in the troubled Balkan country after reports of irregularities that marred a recent election. ... The rally on Saturday is expected to draw thousands of people as political tensions are running high over the Dec. 17 ballot and subsequent incidents and arrests of opposition supporters at a protest last weekend. Populist President Aleksandar Vucic has accused the opposition of inciting violence with an aim to overthrow the government under instructions from abroad, which opposition...

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced on Saturday that the EuroPride festival won’t be held in Belgrade as scheduled on September 12-18 due to the “significant crisis in Kosovo.” The head of state didn’t announce a total cancelation, but only that the LGBT event can’t be held next month. At the same time, Vučić said he’s “not happy about” the decision to cancel EuroPride, “but we can’t do it all at once,” reports Politico. “Of course this jeopardizes minority rights and that is a problem for us, but at this moment the state is pressured by all kinds of problems,”...

Less than 25 years after American and NATO intervention ended a brutal war in the Balkans, one party to the conflict is swaggering and boasting over its new military hardware. Serbia on Saturday publicly displayed a Chinese anti-aircraft missile system, according to The Associated Press. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the missiles give Serbia a “powerful deterrent” against all threats. “We will no longer allow [ourselves] to be a punching bag for anyone,” Vucic said after the display, according to the AP. The wire service interpreted that comment as a reference to the 1999 bombardment of Serbia in 199 after...

Republican governors issue orders to stay home giving them a new and different name but first.... "We discussed with each other whether our rights can be taken by an order from a governor or an agency, and if they can be, what good are our rights?" Ammon Bundy spoke those words Friday following a Thursday night meeting in Emmett, Idaho in response to the "stay at home" order issued by Idaho's Republican Governor Brad Little.... In Iraq the United States has deployed two Patriot missile batteries and is expected to eventually deploy at least four.... The Saudi-led coalition staging air...