Lawyers, guns and money
A military contractor, a millionaire, and a passionate democrat — all in one person. Thousands of missing babies, harsh winters, and troubles for OnlyFans creators in Slovenia.
Howdy,
Welcome to Balkan Brew — the newsletter that brings you the freshest news from the Balkans every Friday morning. Hope you’ve had a great week!
ON OUR MINDS RIGHT NOW. Protests against the government in Serbia are picking up steam, with more and more students joining in — and they’re already achieving some results. While Syria isn’t technically part of the Balkans, we’re keeping a close eye on it too. The uncertainty about how things will unfold there is stressful for many. For many, that is, but not for Turkey, which has been the most important power supporting the rebel side.
In this week’s issue: we’re diving into the world of a military contractor, who is also a millionaire, and a passionate democrat too. Then an untold story from Yugoslavia, and Moldova’s winter struggles. We’ll also deal with the perils of TikTok — and OnlyFans.
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Lawyers, guns and money
Last Friday, Romania’s Constitutional Court dropped a bombshell by canceling the Presidential elections. The decision came just before the planned runoff between nationalist Călin Georgescu and pro-European Elena Lasconi.
PUT(IN) THE BLAME ON. The reason? Concerns over Russian interference, which might have given Georgescu an edge.
WAIT UNTIL SPRING, ROMANIA. The entire process will need to start over, with new elections likely happening in the spring.
NOT SO PEACEFUL. Things got tense right after the elections were called off. Romanian police arrested 20 men on their way to Bucharest armed with guns, machetes, and knives — apparently planning to “disrupt public order and peace.”
MEET POTRA. Among the arrested was Horațiu Potra, a guy with quite a résumé. He’s a former French Legionnaire, a military contractor in the Democratic Republic of Congo (with other Romanians), and earlier this year, he even tried to run for mayor of Mediaș, in Transilvania.
DO I KNOW YOU? Potra bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Evgenij Prigožin, the former leader of Russia’s Wagner Group.
PERSONAL STASH. When police raided Potra’s properties, they stumbled upon a cool €2 million in cash — in various currencies, no less.
THE MISSING LINK. Local media claim several of the arrested men, including Potra, have ties to Georgescu. Allegedly, they even met with him last Saturday (that is, shortly before packing for Bucharest).
OBJECTION. Potra’s lawyer insists his client had just “landed in Romania from Congo” and was simply “heading home to see his wife and young kids”.
DOING MY PART. As for Potra, he says he was just “on his way to Bucharest to vote.”
The missing babies of Yugoslavia
In 1990, at a hospital in Slovenia (back then part of Yugoslavia), medical staff told Dragana Naumoski that her son died shortly after birth. Fast forward 31 years, and she found out the same baby was likely adopted by another family.
YOU'RE NOT ALONE. Her story mirrors those of about 100 other Slovenian mothers who were told their babies died — but they never got to see their bodies.
THE SLOVENIAN SOCIETY FOR LOST CHILDREN. Thanks to their efforts to demand the truth, the Slovenian government set up a commission in July to look into the matter.
BROKEN RECORDS. On Wednesday, the commission revealed they’ve found “numerous errors — incomplete and repeatedly corrected records, and discrepancies in dates” in the cases they’re investigating.
A YUGOSLAV PHENOMENON. Slovenia isn’t the only country where this has happened. Estimates suggest that around 10,000 babies were stolen for adoption across Yugoslavia between the 1960s and 1980s with the help of medical staff.
Wintertime troubles
At Balkan Brew, we can’t quite agree on whether we like winter or not. One thing, though, seems pretty clear: in Moldova, the next winter might be pretty tough.
WINTER IS COMING. Moldova is about to declare a state of emergency in the energy sector in the coming days, due to fears that Gazprom might stop supplying gas to its breakaway region, Transnistria.
IN A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP. Until recently, Moldova was totally dependent on Russian gas imports. Gazprom would transport its gas to Transnistria, which would then use it to generate energy and sell it to the rest of the country.
BUT. The gas is transported through Ukraine, thanks to a memorandum signed between Ukraine and Gazprom, which will not be renewed at the end of the year.
LIGHTS OUT. Moldova has gradually reduced its dependency on Russian gas, but after the memorandum expires, it’s still possible that it will face rising energy prices and potential blackouts, as it did back in 2022.
TROUBLE IN TRANSNISTRIA. This is a potential disaster for Transnistria, which is entirely dependent on Gazprom and Russian gas. On top of that, Transnistria relies heavily on selling energy to Moldova to sustain its public finances. The standoff might lead to “a humanitarian crisis in Transnistria”, according to the Moldovan government.
IN OTHER NEWS.
Romania and Bulgaria will officially join the Schengen Zone at the start of the new year.
Serbia has imported over 20 International Mobile Subscriber Identity Catchers — wireless tools that intercept communications from all mobile phones in an area. The use of these tools isn’t regulated by law.
The European Environment Agency’s annual report revealed that 10,700 people died prematurely in Greece in 2022 due to air pollution. If you want to check out how other countries of the region are performing, here’s the full list (spoiler: it doesn’t look good).
ONLYFANS HERE WE COME. No, we’re not launching a Balkan Brew OnlyFans account — though it would probably help our wallets. But that’s pretty much what the Slovenian government has told OnlyFans creators. Slovenia’s tax authority has obtained data on platform earnings and reminded creators to declare any… “forgotten” past income by the end of the year.
AND FINALLY. Kids are ending up in hospitals, and it’s all thanks to TikTok!!!1!!!11! The latest TikTok trend, the "Superman Challenge," has landed at least 17 minors in hospitals in North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, with several more cases popping up around the region.
Now, we get it, it’s scary news. And while we’re not old enough to remember when Public Enemy #1 was novels (that’s right), we’re young enough to recall when the villains corrupting impressionable kids were violent Japanese anime or those weird 2010s emo bands. Yes, social media can be harmful, but let’s not trivialize these issues.
And that’s a wrap for this week! Thanks for sticking with us. Got comments or suggestions? Just reply to this email, and we’ll read it and get back to you. Enjoyed it? Share it with friends and family.
We’ll see you next week, and don’t try the Superman Challenge.
BB