Czech PM regrets communist past on Velvet Revolution anniversary

AFP – Bangkok Post, 17 NOV 2019

Babis is facing calls to resign over allegations of graft and that he was once
a communist secret agent. He denies the claims

PRAGUE - Billionaire Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis expressed remorse over his communist past on Sunday at a ceremony in Prague celebrating 30 years since the Velvet Revolution toppled communism in then-Czechoslovakia.

The populist mogul, who was a Czechoslovak Communist Party member in the 1980s, paid tribute to the 1989 peaceful uprising that ushered in democratic reform to the former Soviet satellite.

His comments come after a quarter-million Czechs flooded central Prague on Saturday, in demonstrations to mark the anniversary that saw protesters demand Babis resign over allegations of graft and that he was once a communist secret agent. He has strongly denied the accusations.

"As you surely know, I was a Communist Party member. I'm not proud of that," Babis said at a ceremony attended by the prime ministers of Hungary, Poland and Slovakia and by German parliament speaker Wolfgang Schaeuble.

He said he "wasn't as brave" as Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright elected the president of Czechoslovakia in 1989, and thanked those behind the Velvet Revolution protests.

"I'm standing here today as the prime minister elected in a free, democratic election, and therefore I want to, at least now, express my gratitude and humility," said Babis, whose minority government now relies on the tacit support of Communist party lawmakers to survive in parliament.

Graft allegations

Babis took office after his ANO (YES) party won the 2017 general election, campaigning on an anti-corruption ticket in the EU and NATO country of 10.6 million.

The fifth wealthiest Czech according to Forbes, Babis himself now faces a string of graft allegations and a conflict-of-interest probe by the European Commission centred on Agrofert, his sprawling farming, media and chemicals holding.

He is also tagged as an agent in secret police files from the 1980s. He has strongly denied knowingly cooperating.

ANO still tops opinion polls with around 30 percent support, but the scandals have stoked a public outcry against Babis.

On Saturday the CTK Czech news agency quoted Interior Minister Jan Hamacek as saying some 250,000 people had rallied at Letna park -- the site of some of the biggest 1989 rallies -- matching a similar protests against Babis in June.

Toppling Soviet rule

Thirty years ago the Velvet Revolution saw unprecedented demonstrations and a general strike end four decades of Soviet-imposed totalitarianism in the former Czechoslovakia, just weeks after the Berlin Wall crumbled.

On November 17, 1989, Communist police brutally crushed a students' march, sparking a student strike and the creation of an opposition movement which then negotiated the Communist Party's departure from politics.

In late December 1989, Havel, then the opposition leader, was elected president of Czechoslovakia, which went on to peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.

The neighbours joined NATO and the EU, with Bratislava also joining the eurozone in 2009.

N.Macedonia PM calls for snap election after EU snub

Yahoo – AFP, Robert Atanasovski with Sally Mairs in Belgrade, October 19, 2019

The name change was to unblock EU talks, but it didn't, courtesy of France
(AFP Photo/Robert ATANASOVSKI)

Skopje (Republic of North Macedonia) (AFP) - North Macedonia's prime minister on Saturday proposed a snap election after the EU blocked the start of membership talks, scrambling what had been the key policy goal of his administration.

After hours of heated wrangling, European Union leaders on Friday could not agree on opening Skopje's accession negotiations, chiefly because of opposition from France.

The move triggered a wave of anger and disappointment, not just in North Macedonia and Albania -- whose bid was also put on hold -- but among EU officials and leaders who had lobbied hard to open the talks.

"We are victims of the EU's historic mistake," Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said in a televised address, echoing the words of European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker a day earlier, who appeared deeply apologetic for the decision.

"This is what I'm proposing: organising quick snap elections where you, citizens, will decide the road we are going to take," Zaev said. He would meet with the president and other political leaders on Sunday to discuss the next steps, he added.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said the EU had made a 'historic
mistake' in blocking the start of accession talks (AFP Photo/OLIVER BUNIC)

"I have no date, all options are open, we will agree on that all together," he added.

'Give me a mandate'

In his address, Zaev said he shared the "anger and disappointment" of the people. But he asked them to give him another chance to keep fighting for the membership bid.

"I love my country, so I am asking people to give me a mandate to continue along this path."

Zaev and his Social Democrats came to power in 2017, ousting the right-wing party of former strongman Nikola Gruevski, who had dominated the country for a decade.

Since then, his government has poured all of its political capital into putting North Macedonia on a path to EU membership.

That included embarking on a complicated and politically risky effort to change his country's name, which has been Macedonia ever since it emerged from former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Adding 'North' to the name was a painful compromise that resolved a decades-old argument with Greece that was seen as the major stumbling block for any future EU integration.

Zoran Zaev's government has poured all of its political capital into putting North
Macedonia on a path to EU membership (AFP Photo/Robert ATANASOVSKI)

Brussels had pushed hard for the name change and promised the Balkan state would be rewarded.

While the deal won North Macedonia an invitation to join NATO, the larger goal of starting EU talks keeps sliding towards the horizon.

"We delivered results in the reforms, we resolved the issues with our neighbours, but they (the EU) did not keep their word," Zaev said in his address.

Apart from France, all the other member states accepted that North Macedonia had made enough progress on reforms to start the negotiations.

Yet French President Emmanuel Macron refused to budge from his position that the entire accession process must first be reformed before opening the door to new members.

The issue is now on hold until next spring.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his son Dushko cast their ballot for a referendum
to re-name their country North Macedonia on September 30, 2018 (AFP Photo/
DIMITAR DILKOFF)

"This is just not fair, what France did, what the EU did," said Vladimir Kostovski, a 28-year-old in Skopje.

Velko Velinov, a 29-year-old legal assistant, shared the frustration.

"They made us change our name for zero, for nothing. Zaev did that and now he is gonna lose elections," he told AFP.

All of the Western Balkan countries aspire to someday join the European Union, but progress has been slow and is increasingly threatened by the waning appetite for enlargement among some member states.

The EU's failure to follow through for North Macedonia is a "disastrous" blow to the bloc's credibility in the region, said James Ker-Lindsay, a Balkans expert at the London School of Economics.

Germany asks Polish forgiveness 80 years after WWII outbreak

Yahoo – AFP, Anna Maria Jakubek and Stanislaw Waszak, September 1, 2019

"We want to, and we will, remember. And we will bear the responsibility that our
history imposes upon us," German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said
(AFP Photo/Alik KEPLICZ)

Warsaw (AFP) - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday asked Poland's forgiveness 80 years after Germany's attack triggered World War II while his Polish counterpart denounced Russia's recent "imperialist" aggression against its neighbours.

Poland suffered some of the worst horrors of World War II: nearly six million Poles died in the conflict that killed more than 50 million people overall.

That figure includes the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust, half of them Polish.

"I bow before the Polish victims of German tyranny. And I ask your forgiveness," Steinmeier said at pre-dawn ceremonies in the western Polish city of Wielun where Germany's first bombs fell 80 years ago.

"It was Germans who committed these crimes against humanity in Poland. Anyone calling them things of the past, or claiming that the vile rule of terror of the National Socialists in Europe was a mere footnote of German history, is passing judgement on him or herself," Steinmeier said alongside his Polish counterpart.

Polish Andrzej Duda said the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the outbreak 

of WWII will "go down in history of Polish-German friendship" (AFP Photo/Alik KEPLICZ)

The line appeared to be a reference to the German far-right, whose co-leader Alexander Gauland once called the 12-year Third Reich a "speck of bird poop" on an otherwise glorious German past.

Polish President Andrzej Duda for his part denounced Nazi Germany's attack on Poland, calling it "an act of barbarity" and "a war crime" but also hailed post-war reconciliation.

Duda later on Sunday slammed recent Russian military attacks against its neighbours as "imperialist tendencies" at state ceremonies in Warsaw attended by US Vice President Mike Pence, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, among others.

Sanctions

The Polish leader did not specifically name Russia, but referenced Moscow's actions against "Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014 that altered borders."

He urged "the leaders of Europe and the world, NATO and EU members" to guard against appeasing aggressors.

Tadeusz Sierandt, an eyewitness to the bombing of Wielun, holds a picture 

of the destroyed town (AFP Photo/Janek SKARZYNSKI)

"There must be sanctions, resolute actions, it must be obvious that any military aggression will be met with a firm reaction," Duda said.

"Closed eyes are not a good recipe for keeping the peace; it's a good way to encourage aggressive personalities, to give the green light for new attacks."

Polish authorities said they had not invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Sunday's ceremonies because of Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

"80 years after the invasion of Poland by the Nazi army, let us remember the explosion of the Second World War that devastated our Europe," French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter.

"The fight for peace and our values is more important than ever," he added.

Nazi Germany's attack on Poland on September 1, 1939 came one week after Berlin and the Soviet Union secretly agreed to carve up Eastern Europe between them by signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Hitler's attacks on Poland on September 1, 1939, led Britain and France to declare 

war on Nazi Germany (AFP Photo)

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans attended a separate dawn remembrance ceremony on Sunday in Westerplatte, on Poland's Baltic coast, where a Nazi German battleship had opened fire on a Polish fort 80 years ago to the day.

'Demand compensation'

Hitler's attacks on Poland led Britain and France to declare war on Nazi Germany. On September 17, the Soviet Union in turn invaded Poland.

After the Nazis tore up their pact with Moscow, two alliances battled it out: the Axis powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan and the victorious Allied forces led by Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States.

Although it has been 80 years since the war started, there are still unresolved matters according to Poland, which says Germany owes it war reparations.

Map showing the start of the German invasion of Poland in 1939. (AFP 

Photo/Jean-Michel CORNU)

A parliamentary commission is currently working on a new analysis of the extent of Poland's wartime human and material losses.

"We have to talk about, remember and demand the truth regarding those losses. We have to demand compensation," Morawiecki said on Sunday at the Westerplatte ceremony.

When it comes to reparations, however, Berlin believes the case is closed.

US President Donald Trump had planned to attend the war commemorations but cancelled at the last minute so that he could monitor Hurricane Dorian.

"We love our Polish friends, and I will be there soon," Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday, confirming a visit was still in the offing.

King Willem-Alexander starts off the festivities. Photo: Anneke Janssen via HH

Related Articles:

Kings and World War II veterans mark the start of 75 years of freedom

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  8 - The End of War

The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?

When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.

North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning.

You'll see a fresh unification of South America sooner than not, for what is going to take place potentially this year in Venezuela. You'll see Iran changing. We have no clock. These are the potentials. These can change with free choice. These are not prophecies. This is a reality shift, dear ones, so number eight becomes the propensity not to war again. This is what Humans are going to want. This is what governments are going to want. There is a wisdom factor that will begin to happen on the planet that is grander than what you think is possible. For when you look at government, what do you think about? You see dysfunction, and there is an axiom that says the more people that try to do something together, the worse it gets. It all settles to the lowest common denominator. I'm telling you even those things are going to become old energy concepts. Instead, you're going to watch wisdom become the top potential.

I have no clock. I cannot tell you when. I can just tell you it is in the works, and there will be the seeds of it for you to observe soon - right now, in every single of the eight categories I showed you.

There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time." ….”

Netherlands, Turkey resume full diplomatic ties

Yahoo – AFP, July 20, 2018

"It's good that Turkey and the Netherlands turned the page together and that we
 have restored relations," said Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok (AFP Photo/Bart MAAT)

The Hague (AFP) - The Netherlands and Turkey said Friday they were resuming full diplomatic ties for the first time since Dutch officials barred two Turkish ministers from attending an election rally in 2017.

In a joint statement, the two countries said their foreign ministers met on the sidelines of last week's NATO summit in Brussels and "agreed to normalise the diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Turkey.

"To that extend the ministers agreed to reinstate ambassadors in Ankara and The Hague shortly," the statement said.

The Hague withdrew its ambassador to Ankara in February as relations plunged to new lows in a festering dispute that began when the Netherlands expelled Turkey's Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kayar in March 2017.

The country also barred another minister's plane from landing as both Turkish politicians sought to attend a Rotterdam rally of Dutch-Turkish citizens in favour of Turkey's April 2017 referendum, in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan narrowly won sweeping new powers.

Anti-riot police vehicles form a blockade in a sealed off area surrounding the Dutch 

embassy in Ankara on March 12, 2017 (AFP Photo/Adem ALTAN)

Erdogan at the time accused the Dutch of behaving like "fascists" in their treatment of the Turkish ministers -- comments which triggered anger in the Netherlands, occupied by Nazi Germany in World War II.

The Netherlands is home to some 400,000 people of Turkish origin, and the two countries have had diplomatic relations for some four centuries.

"It's good that Turkey and the Netherlands turned the page together and that we have restored relations," said Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok.

"The cooperation between the Netherlands and Turkey is essential on a number of issues including the fight against the Islamic State group, the risk of (jihadist) fighters returning from Syria, but also our concerns over the human rights situation in Turkey."

European countries to formalise EU defence force plan

Yahoo – News, 25 June 2018

French Defence Minister Florence Parly said the proposed new EU defence
force will include Britain

Nine EU nations will on Monday formalise a plan to create a European military intervention force, a French minister said, with Britain backing the measure as a way to maintain strong defence ties with the bloc after Brexit.

The force, known as the European Intervention Initiative and championed by French President Emmanuel Macron, is intended to be able to deploy rapidly to deal with crises.

A letter of intent is due to be signed in Luxembourg on Monday by France, Germany, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain and Portugal, French defence minister Florence Parly told the newspaper Le Figaro.

The initiative involves "joint planning work on crisis scenarios that could potentially threaten European security", according to a source close to the minister, including natural disasters, intervention in a crisis or evacuation of nationals.

It would be separate from other EU defence cooperation, meaning there would be no obstacle to Britain taking part after it leaves the bloc.

"This is clearly an initiative that allows the association of some non-EU states," the French minister said.

"The UK has been very keen because it wants to maintain cooperation with Europe beyond bilateral ties."

Twenty-five EU countries signed a major defence pact in December, agreeing to cooperate on various military projects, but it is not clear whether Britain would be allowed to take part in any of them after it leaves the bloc.

The EU has had four multinational military "battlegroups" since 2007, but political disagreements have meant the troops have never been deployed.

Paris hopes that by focusing on a smaller group of countries, its new initiative will be able to act more decisively, freed from the burdens that sometimes hamper action by the 28-member EU and 29-member NATO.

Italy had originally shown interest in the proposal. The new government in Rome "is considering the possibility of joining" but has not made a final decision, Parly said.

Greece, Macedonia sign historic deal to end name row

Yahoo – News, Vassilis KYRIAKOULIS, Saska Cvetkovska, 17 June 2018

The name change was agreed on in talks between Greek Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras, seen on the right, and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev, both of
whom were at the signing ceremony

Greece and Macedonia on Sunday signed a historic preliminary agreement to rename the small Balkan nation the Republic of North Macedonia, ending a row that has poisoned relations between the two neighbours since 1991.

"This is a brave, historic and necessary step for our peoples," said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

"We are here to heal the wounds of time, to open a path for peace, fraternisation and growth for our countries, the Balkans and Europe," he said.

"Our two countries should step out of the past and look to the future," said Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

"By signing the agreement... we have really moved mountains," he stressed.

But as the two countries' foreign ministers signed the deal Greek protesters clashed with riot police, who beat them back with tear gas near the small village of Pisoderi, 25 kilometres (16 miles) away from the ceremony.

Six policemen and six protesters were injured, police said, as around 500 demonstrators waving Greek flags tried to approach the signature ceremony.

The accord aims to start unravelling one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes, which began 27 years ago with Macedonia's declaration of independence but whose roots date back centuries.

"The time has come again to sing happy songs in the Balkans," Tsipras said, moments before the document was signed by the foreign ministers.

Greece's northern province of Macedonia was the cradle of Alexander the Great's 

empire and is a source of intense pride for modern-day Greeks

Zaev and several of his ministers arrived by speedboat at the picturesque fishing village of Psarades under a sunny sky, on the southern bank of Lake Prespa, one of the natural boundaries between the two countries.

Tsipras and Zaev embraced on the village dock and were treated to a standing ovation by gathered dignitaries.

UN under-secretary-general for political affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, longterm UN negotiator Matthew Nimetz, EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini and EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn were on hand, snapping pictures with their smartphones.

Nimetz, who turned 79 on Sunday, and was given a birthday cake, has been trying to broker a solution since 1994, first as a US envoy and subsequently on behalf of the United Nations.

But it was the election of Zaev in 2017, replacing nationalist prime minister Nikola Gruevski, that proved crucial.

An economist and former mayor of Strumica, Zaev made a rapprochement with Greece a priority to secure his country's membership of the European Union and NATO, blocked by Athens for years.

After the signature, Tsipras crossed over to the Macedonian side of Lake Prespa for lunch, becoming the first Greek prime minister to visit the neighbouring state.

Since 1991, Athens has objected to its neighbour being called Macedonia because it has its own northern province of the same name, which in ancient times was the cradle of Alexander the Great's empire -- a source of intense pride for modern-day Greeks.

Protest rallies against the name change took place in both countries

The two premiers, born just months apart in 1974, have bucked strong hostile reactions at home to push ahead with the agreement.

Accusations of treachery

Tsipras has been accused of treachery by Greek hardliners, and on Saturday defeated a vote of censure against his government amid protests and clashes with police outside parliament.

In Macedonia, President Gjorge Ivanov plans to exercise a one-time veto option to block the deal that the nationalist opposition has called a "capitulation".

The Macedonian parliament is scheduled to start debating the agreement the coming week.

The accord still needs to be approved by Macedonia's parliament and then pass a referendum.

The Macedonian constitution must also be revised by the end of the year, before Greece's parliament is called to ratify it.

On Sunday, some 5,000 people marched against the name deal in Bitola, in southwestern Macedonia, an event organised by the main opposition VMRO-DPMNE party.

"Macedonia was hit by a hurricane today, and that hurricane has a name -- Zoran Zaev," VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski told the crowd. He reiterated that his party would not support any constitutional bid to change the country's name.

The one-hour protest held under slogan "Child North Macedonia -- Father Tsipras, Mother Zaev" ended peacefully.

'Brave steps'

Tsipras' domestic critics say he has bargained away Greece's diplomatic advantages -- the power of veto over EU and NATO accession -- for a deal that could backfire.

'Butcher of Bosnia' found guilty of genocide, jailed for life

Yahoo – AFP, Jan Hennop and Jo Biddle, 22 November 2017

The trial for Ratko Mladic, dubbed the "Butcher of Bosnia," was the last
before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

UN judges on Wednesday sentenced former Bosnian Serbian commander Ratko Mladic to life in prison after finding him guilty of genocide and war crimes in the brutal Balkans conflicts over two decades ago.

But the man dubbed the "Butcher of Bosnia" was not present in court to hear the verdict, having been dragged out of the courtroom after loudly accusing the judges of "lying". And his son and lawyers told reporters he planned to appeal.

Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found Mladic guilty on 10 counts including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity such as murder and deportation. But he was acquitted of one charge of genocide in certain municipalities.

About 100,000 people were killed and 2.2 million displaced in the 1992-1995 war when ethnic rivalries tore Yugoslavia apart.

Judges said "ruthless" Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic's command carried out "mass executions" and showed "little or no respect for human life or dignity."

"For having committed these crimes, the chamber sentences Mr Ratko Mladic to life imprisonment," presiding judge Alphons Orie said as applause broke out in the public gallery.

He added that the crimes were "amongst the most heinous known to humankind".

A smiling Mladic, 74, who once left a trail of fear across Bosnia, gave a thumbs-up as he entered the courtroom in The Hague dressed in a grey suit and red tie.

But in dramatic scenes he was later ordered to be removed, after accusing the judges of lying, when they refused to adjourn the hearing because of his high blood pressure.

"They are lying, you are lying. I don't feel good," he shouted, as two UN security guards hustled him into a nearby room to watch the rest of the verdict.

Relatives of people killed in the Bosnian war celebrated Ratko Mladic's 

conviction for genocide at a memorial cemetery near near Srebrenica

Tears in court

Wednesday's verdict was long awaited by tens of thousands of victims across the bitterly divided region.

Dozens gathered early outside the courtroom, many clutching photos of loved ones who died or are among the 7,000 still missing.

It was an emotional day for victims, some of whom sobbed in the gallery as the judges recalled brutal scenes of rape and murder. In Srebrenica there were tears of joy.

"Mladic will die in The Hague! I'm so happy that justice has been done!" said Nedziba Salihovic, who lost her husband, father and son in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

The court found Mladic guilty of genocide in that northeastern town, where troops under his command slaughtered almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

The killings, in which the victims were marched away, shot in the back and dumped in mass graves, was one of the darkest episodes in the conflict, and has been called the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II.

Mladic "intended to eliminate the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica by killing men and boys and forcibly removing the women, young children and some elderly men," Orie said.

Munira Subasic, president of the Mothers of Srebrenica association, said she was "partially satisfied" with the verdict.

"It's more than for (Radovan) Karadzic. But they didn't find him guilty for the accusation of genocide in some villages," she said.

Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in March 2016 for similar charges, including the Srebrenica genocide. He is appealing the sentence.

Edin Halilovic, 18, whose grandfather died in Srebrenica, said it had been important to attend the hearing. "My generation, and future generations, must never forget what happened to our families."

Profile of Ratko Mladic

Milestone for justice

Chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz said the verdict was a "milestone" for the court and for international justice.

Mladic's was the last genocide trial before the tribunal before it closes its doors on December 31, having indicted 161 people since it was set up in 1993.

Praising the victims as the only "true heroes," Brammertz insisted it was not a verdict against the Serbian people.

"Mladic's guilt is his and is alone," he said.

Mladic was also found guilty of having "personally directed" a 44-month campaign of sniping and shelling in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, in which 10,000 people died.

And he was convicted for taking more than 200 NATO military personnel hostage.

But defence lawyers have denounced the trial as "political".

"This sentence is unjust and contrary to the facts and we will fight it on appeal to prove that this judgement is wrong," his son Darko Mladic told reporters.

"Mladic will die in The Hague! I'm so happy that justice has been done!" Srebrenica survivors hail life sentence handed to the "Butcher of Bosnia" https://t.co/lVxRESh4iA pic.twitter.com/Hsjbkmdo0W

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 22, 2017

German veteran leader, EU visionary Kohl dies

Yahoo – AFP, Hui Min NEO, June 16, 2017

Tributes are flooding in from world leaders for former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl

Germany's longest serving post-war leader Helmut Kohl, the father of national reunification and an architect of European integration, died Friday at the age of 87.

Kohl helped a Germany that was split during the Cold War between a capitalist west and a communist east make the traumatic transition to a unified democracy.

The towering figure of European contemporary history also worked with France's Francois Mitterrand to shape the European project and pushed Germans to part with their cherished Deutschmarks in favour of the single European currency, the euro.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a moving tribute to her mentor, declaring that "Kohl changed my life decisively".

Merkel, who grew up in the communist German Democratic Republic, said that thanks to him, she, "like millions of other people, could leave a life of GDR dictatorship and enter into a life of freedom".

"All that has happened in the past 27 years from then until today would have been unimaginable without Helmut Kohl," said Merkel, dressed in black.

"It will be a while before we will truly be able to measure what we have lost with his passing," Merkel said, adding that she was "personally thankful that he was there".

"I bow down before his memory," said Merkel, who described Kohl as a "great German and great European".

Germany's longest serving post-war leader Helmut Kohl, shown here with Soviet 

president Mikhail Gorbachev, has died

Tributes also poured in from abroad, with former US president George H.W. Bush hailing "one of the greatest" post-war leaders, and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker honouring him as the "very essence of Europe".

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev underlined Kohl's role in ending the Cold War, noting that "he was without doubt an exceptional personality who left his mark on German, European and international history".

Kohl, Gorbachev said, had demonstrated "a deep interest for Russia" and had helped bridged East and West as he "warned the West against taking on a contemptuous attitude towards Russian interests".

'True friend of freedom'

Kohl died peacefully in his bed at home in Ludwigshafen, in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, said the Bild newspaper, adding that his wife Maike Kohl-Richter was by his side.

Mourning his mentor and friend, Juncker said: "Helmut Kohl filled the European house with life -- not only because he built bridges to the west as well as to the east, but also because he never ceased to design even better blueprints for the future of Europe."

Bush, describing Kohl as "a true friend of freedom", said: "Helmut hated war -- but he detested totalitarianism even more".

Kohl worked closely with French president Francois Mitterand to shape the

European project and cement Franco-German reconciliation

"Working closely with my very good friend to help achieve a peaceful end to the Cold War and the unification of Germany within NATO will remain one of the great joys of my life," added the former US president.

France's President Emmanuel Macron posted on Twitter a picture of Kohl standing with the late Mitterrand, saying: "An architect of united Germany and Franco-German friendship: with Helmut Kohl, we have lost a great European."

- 'Mantle of history' -

Born into a Catholic family on April 3, 1930 in the industrial city of Ludwigshafen, Kohl studied history and political science and rose quickly through the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, his ever-smiling first wife Hannelore, with whom he had two sons, by his side.

He became chancellor of West Germany in 1982 and as the Cold War ended with the Berlin Wall coming down in November 1989, he moved to "grab the mantle of history," as he later said, forging a political stature commensurate with his towering height.

Kohl persuaded Bush to accept a larger, reunified Germany, and convinced Gorbachev to withdraw troops from East Germany.

His vision was for a reunified Germany that was at the heart of an enlarged European Union and a staunch NATO member.

Merkel lauded his contribution to German and European integration in 2012, on the 30th anniversary of his becoming chancellor, declaring that Europeans were "united in our luck" thanks to Kohl's efforts.

'Don't close doors on Britain'

Kohl considered Konrad Adenauer -- West Germany's visionary first chancellor, who allowed the nation to make a fresh start after World War II -- as an ideological forefather.

Mentor to Merkel, Kohl was later ousted by his protege, who urged their party to drop the self-declared "old warhorse" when he became embroiled in a campaign finance scandal in 1999.

Key dates in the political career of #HelmuthKohl - the father of German reunification and an architect of European integration pic.twitter.com/2RjjUbemmK

— AFP news agency (@AFP) June 17, 2017