Plus, the Serbian language is back at the University of Kosovo, Moldova buys gas from Poland, and more.

The big storyRussia snubbed in Scythian gold decision

What happened: The Amsterdam Court of Appeal decided today that Ukraine is the rightful owner of a collection of Scythian treasures dating from the 2nd century BC. Which were loaned to the Allard Pierson museum in Amsterdam, reports the Moscow Times. The museum exhibition “Crimea: Gold and the Secrets of the Black Sea” opened in February 2014. One month later, Russia annexed the Black Sea Peninsula of Crimea to Ukraine.

More context: The elements, called Scythian gold, are still in the Netherlands on loan from four museums in Crimea and one in Kiev, according to RFE / RL. “The Allard Pierson Museum is no longer obliged to return the pieces to Crimean museums, ”said the decision, adding that“ the rights of the Ukrainian state, based on the law on museums, take precedence ”.

To note: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the decision as a “long-awaited victory”, reports RFE / RL. “The ‘Scythian gold’ will return to Ukraine. We will always find what is ours. After “Scythian gold”, we will [get back] Crimea, ”Zelenskiy tweeted.

News from the regions

Central Europe and Baltic States

• European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer criticized recent comments by Polish Prime Minister and stated that there is “no room for rhetoric referring to warAmong EU partners, reports AP. Mamer was responding to a recent Financial Times interview where the Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the EU of calling for Warsaw with a “gun pointed at the temple” while urging Brussels to drop threats of punishments against Poland. On whether Warsaw would use its veto power in a retaliatory measure to block legislation, Morawiecki said: “If they start on third world war, we will defend our rights with all the weapons at our disposal. The EU and Poland disagree on a number of issues, such as the independence of the judiciary, which has led to the suspension of EU funds for the resumption of the coronavirus pandemic in Poland.

• Slovakia introduced a Control system that emulates traffic lights in order to publicly show the progress of its national recovery plan, Euractiv reports. The system is designed to measure whether Bratislava meets the landmarks required for the country to access EU payments. The LEDs – red, orange, and green – indicate progress in a particular area. Red signifies a major threat to the implementation of reforms, as in the current state of reforms in the university management system. Green signifies successful reforms. Most projects are listed in orange, which means there is still work to be done. The general manager of the Recovery plan section at the Ministry of Finance, Livia Vassakova, said that the new system will be updated monthly.

South Eastern Europe

• The Serbian language is back to the program of the University of Pristina, the main public university in Kosovo, reports BIRN. Balkanistic is the name of a newly launched educational program at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Pristina which offers students the opportunity to study both Albanian and Serbian. “It is not only the scientific aspects of languages ​​in the Balkans, but also cultural, historical and literary aspects,” said the dean of the Faculty of Philology. Lindita Rugova. Linguistic divisions in Kosovo have widened over the past two decades. While Albanian and Serbo-Croatian were the official languages ​​while Kosovo was part of Yugoslavia, the latter became the only official language in 1989 and will remain so until the war of 1998-99. After the 2001 war, Albanian and Serbian became the official languages, but each was used to the exclusion of the other depending on whether the region is majority Serbian or majority Kosovar Albanian.

Eastern Europe and Russia

• A tribunal in Russia recently handed down some of the harshest prison sentences ever handed down for being a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religion, reports the Moscow Times. Russia deemed the religious denomination “extremist” in 2017, leading its members to face criminal prosecution, harassment and intimidation. The Russian commission of inquiry reported on Monday that a southern court Astrakhan The region has found four Jehovah’s Witnesses guilty of organizing and participating in “extremist” activity, carrying 3.5 years in prison and three eight-year prison terms. Last Friday, a court in the city of Crimea Sevastopol sentenced Jehovah’s Witness Igor Shmidt to six years in prison for organizing “extremistActivities. In oral argument for the trial, Shmidt said: “You will not hear that Jehovah’s Witnesses use violence and cruelty against anyone, as Jehovah’s Witnesses call it,” according to one statement by representatives of religion in Russia.

• The Moldovan government announced yesterday that it has purchased one million cubic meters of natural gas from Poland after failing to renew his gas contract with Russia, RFE / RL reports. This is the “first purchase of gas from alternative sources” in the history of independent Moldova, according to a government statement. The purchase “will test the possibility of importing gas from alternative sources and balance the low pressure in the natural gas supply system,” the statement added. Last week, moldova parliament approved a emergency state after Chisinau failed to achieve a new gas deal with Russia, its traditional supplier. At this moment, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita said a number of Moldovan politicians had negotiated with European countries to find alternatives to Russian gas.

The Caucasus

• Armenia franc ombudsman disagreed with the Department of Defense on his claims that Azerbaijan is increasing its military presence in the Armenian province of Gegharkunik, reports Eurasianet. The Armenian ministry refuted that of Arman Tatoyan statements as “obviously exaggerated” and “detached from reality”. The Armenian opposition, meanwhile, came to Tatoyan’s defense. “While we hear from Europe that human rights defender Arman Tatoyan is a senior official of ‘status A’ with exceptional public confidence – which for us does not even need proof – the secretary of the Security Council is quick to call her a “counterrevolutionary” and one-sided, “Opposition MP Lilit Galstian wrote on Facebook. Since last fall’s conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Central Asia

• a opposition activist from Turkmenistan threatened with expulsion in Turkey has started a hunger strike, reports RFE / RL. The Bulgaria-based Turkmen Helsinki Foundation (THF) said that Akhmet Rahmanov began the hunger strike on October 22 after being placed in a Turkish deportation center in request from Turkmenistan. “I hope to draw the attention of the international community to the massive violations of human rights of Turkmen citizens in the country and abroad,” Rahmanov said of his hunger strike. Another Turkmen opposition activist living in Turkey, Kamil Abulov, was also detained and placed in a deportation center, his wife told THF. Abulov’s wife, who was not identified in the report, also said that Turkish police informed her that the Turkmen government is asking Ankara to stop and expel a total of 28 Turkmen citizens.

Borders

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defused a potential diplomatic crisis over threats expel ambassadors of 10 countries for their support of an imprisoned dissident, reports AP. “We believe that these ambassadors, who have fulfilled their commitment to Article 41 of the Vienna Convention, will now be more careful in their statements,” Erdogan said in televised remarks. Several diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, tweeted about their respect for Article 41, which enumerates the duties of diplomats to respect the laws of the host state and not to interfere in internal affairs. Last week, Ankara summoned the ambassadors of 10 countries, including Germany and the United States, after calling for the release of jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala.