With less than 2 months till the Latin American Tour and with three more rounds of elections in my backyard, there’s more pressure on my time than ever. The first two episodes of the Khmer Tour are now out, while in the background I’m working at the next Podcast, all while hunting intra-South-American flights to navigate less than 3 months ago. It’s… crowded.

And amid this, I just got the 200th (?!) message asking when I’ll do X country. So why not explain why and when that will (not) happen? So, without further ado:

The criteria

The following don’t have to be met simultaneously, but at least some will have to be met for me to consider – especially if I’m going to involve y’all.

• Accessible and free enough. Some countries are simply inaccessible – like Algeria. The procedure to get in is so much of a headache that it’s simply not worth bothering. Then there are countries that are somewhat accessible but simply not free enough – like Turkmenistan or North Korea. By “free enough” I mean be able to walk around and talk to people. It doesn’t have to be a liberal democracy (I’ve done 4 autocracies in a row in the last 2 years and this year I’ll do a hybrid regime and an underdeveloped dangerous democracy) – but it has to be free enough that I don’t have to ask for approval every 3 minutes.
• Tolerable levels of danger. Well, this one is subjective. I went to Ukraine several times since the beginning of the war – but it’s Ukraine. A place that I know really well and know how to navigate in any circumstance. Meanwhile, in theory, Iraq these days is less dangerous than Ukraine. But, in practice, I wouldn’t do Iraq today, even though I’d really like to (more on that later).
• Past totalitarian experience or present authoritarian experience. Self explanatory – almost all in the last decade fit this one.
• Reasonably priced. Of course, this is relative, but resources aren’t infinite either. And that includes time, not just money. For instance, a trip to India may really not be too expensive, but it would require 2 months at the very least. That’s a “price” too steep. Alternatively, I’d have to settle for a casual and common type of thing which would last less but would also defeat the purpose. Every series like this is meant to intentionally go where most don’t (and not just geographically).
• Preferably less touristy. Where everyone goes, I don’t want to go. Sometimes that’s unavoidable, but most of the time it’s easy. If one wants touristy stuff, this isn’t the place.
• Is or has been in the news recently. Sweden 2020 and Ecuador 2024 fit this one nicely. Sometimes the opportunity arises to go beyond the headlines in a way most can’t or won’t.
• Preferably next to a country I’ve never been. Whenever there’s two countries involved, one of them has to be a country that I know and have been to in the past. The reason is simple: Escape route. See 20 tips for solo travelers. This is particularly important for places that are far away from Europe and far away from a friendly embassy. If things go rough, it may be impossible to fly back to Europe on a whim (even if budget is available), but running to the neighboring country is usually possible even in the most dire circumstances. Ideally, I must know the neighboring country to a certain extent.

There are also some smaller ones that may tilt the balance but, by and large, the criteria above is how I make the decision.

And this makes it easy to list what’s possible in the future.

What I hope to be possible soon

Myanmar. The junta there is losing ground in the civil war. I’m seriously hoping to be able to do Myanmar in 2026. It will make for one hell of a series of stories (especially after you hear the Khmer Series). The recent history of Burma/Myanmar is, politically speaking, crazy. In a way that very few other places can compare.

Vietnam. Ideally, in conjunction with Myanmar. Some issues about Vietnam are/will be discussed in the Khmer Series – but the logical conclusion will be getting there. However, I wouldn’t go just to ‘Nam. But ‘Nam as backup while exploring post-junta Myanmar? Sign me up!

Iraq. I was just going to settle for Iraq for 2024 but in August 2023 the security situation went insane again. Quite unfortunate because Baghdad is one of the ancient cities of the world and it’s so full of stories that nobody is telling. Besides, the politics of Iraq is in itself fascinating to study. If things don’t improve by the end of the decade, I’ll probably try some surrogate – like paying for some of the contacts to show up in Türkiye or something. We’ll see what happens.

Ethiopia. I’ve been there several times but exploring Ethiopia more deeply is something I’ve been craving for a long while. And finally, when the opportunity was clear,… a civil war broke out. The security situation right now is still pretty bad. Sure, not extreme, but I don’t have a known country around. Ethiopia is the known country. I was hoping to connect with Djibouti (with the CCP clown train) and maybe dabble a bit into the stories of the Yemeni refugees there. The potential for greatness of such a series is self-evident. Hopefully I live long enough to actually make it.

Senegal. This place is rarely in the news. Mostly because it doesn’t fit the stereotype. Senegal had a profound constitutional crisis last year and throughout the first months of 2024. But, unlike most others in the region, the (previously thought of as) fragile democracy survived. And that is one of the reasons it’s politically interesting here. The bottom-up struggles to keep the balance of power is not the kind of story you expect to hear from West-Africa.

Mali. This was under consideration for 2025 but then Wagner PMC showed up in Mali. And then more Islamist separatists. And then more clusterfuck. So… for now… Mali will have to wait. At least in terms of exploring with a camera.

El Salvador & Guatemala. This will probably be 2026, tbh. El Salvador is in the news for its eccentric but so far really effective president and Guatemala is also a story of a country that cleaned itself up but whose story didn’t shine through the news. They’re well connected to each other and it’s doable.

Argentina. Ideally, I’d do Argentina in 2027 or 2028. After all, the reason people write to me to do Argentina is the Milei administration. Well… in politics the effects are not immediate. It would make for a more comprehensive story (positive or negative – we don’t know yet) if a bit more time passes. Javier Milei has been in power for just 8 months. Let’s give him time before making any pronouncements.

Chile. In the past, Chile had a reputation of being expensive. But… not anymore. The Pinochetian history alone makes it worthwhile, but also the current politics of Chile is full of quirks that the global news barely scratched the surface on. Hopefully this one will be possible – though I admit it’s not a priority.

Indonesia. Almost 12 million people visited Indonesia in 2023. Almost 95% of them went to one single place – Bali. But Indonesia is also the largest Muslim country in the world. 1 in 7 Muslims in the world is Indonesian. As the biggest demographic player in dar al Islam, Indonesia’s recent history is key to understanding where the Islamic civilization is heading towards. And that matters given that it’s the fastest growing religion and will remain so for the rest of the century.

Bosnia. Not a priority, but one day I’ll have to do this. The politics of Bosnia is a level of clownery even most Europeans have no idea of.

What I’d love, but won’t happen

In Romania there is a say: Beautiful country, too bad it’s inhabited/governed. Well… there are quite a few of those in the world.

Iran. That’s a place I won’t explore with a camera as long as the Islamic Republic exists. But should that fall, forget about the lists. I’m in the next flight to Tehran!

Russia. Haven’t been there in a long while. And I doubt I’ll go anytime soon. But if not for the insane federal government, there are several portions of Russia that are in fact beautiful and have great local stories. The area round Lake Baikal would be great to visit without the current regime. Left to their own devices, the people there can be quite lovely. And their stories… oh man… their stories. I could just leave the camera on and chat for a few hours with a few locals over some booze. Without the censorship and fear, such a thing would make for mindblowing videos. Same thing: if the current iteration of russia goes out… I’m heading there.

DPRK. Self-explanatory. If the regime in Pyongyang falls, I’m there soon after. It won’t be cheap, but it will be history. Realistically, I have more chances at doing Russia than DPRK. But let’s hope I’m wrong 🙏🏻

Sudan and South Sudan. The politics of that region is even crazier than Myanmar. But, unlike Myanmar, there’s a slim chance I’ll live long enough for these two to be good enough for visiting.

Venezuela. In fact, if the Maduro regime had fallen this week, I would’ve switched Ecuador for Venezuela right now. That didn’t happen so… Venezuela will have to wait. Still,… doing an immediately post-communist country is something that I hope to live long enough to do. The Chavistas have been in power for about the same amount of time as Ceaușescu so… it’ll be pretty comparable.

What’s unlikely but doable

India. I get a query about India at least 5 times a year. Doing India would require 2 or 3 months. Not only because it’s a huge place, but also because over the years I worked with a lot of fine Indians and if they’d find out I stepped foot in their country and didn’t make contact with them, they’ll be upset. But the cost of doing India right is simply too high and will remain too high for many years to come. Even if all the expenses were to be covered, being on the other side of the planet for 3 months is a hard ask. I’d do it. But… not now.

Brazil. Navigating Brazil is crazily expensive. With the cost of doing 3 weeks in Brazil I can do something bigger, nicer and more profound somewhere else. Including somewhere else in Latin America.

Saudi Arabia. Maybe after 2035 😂. Let’s just leave it at that.

China (PRC). Seriously, stop querying me about this. It ain’t happening. Unless this happens. Though even then I’d be reluctant. Too big of a place.

Of course, I didn’t cover everything but, by and large, that’s the thinking process right now. Of course, all of it could change depending on so many factors – from sudden political change, outbreak (or stopping) of a war and, of course, the opinions of the Donors’ Circle.

So… to honor the title…

O’zbekiston-Tojikiston 2025

The Central Asia Series brought more diverse and far more interesting feedback than I expected. Meanwhile… I ran out of footage for quite a few other stories and facets.

So… since I now know the place, why not finish the story?

The idea is to hit what I missed in Uzbekistan – namely Khiva, Nukus (Karakalpakstan), Andijan and Namangan. The latter two being of interest as the intellectual origin of several Islamist groups, the political point of origin of the Karimov regime and the current focal point of bilateral economic development with… Tadjikistan.

Tadjikistan has gotten in the news lately for allegedly banning the hijab. But… not really. It’s… quite a bit more complicated. Still… to get to videotape in practice what an attempt at Kemalization looks like in a Persian(!) nation… that’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Financially, this should be viable fairly easily. Logistically… er… I’ll figure something out, as always. The language barrier will be an issue too. But, by and large, getting back to Central Asia is just good policy at this point, all things considered.

Also, it will be quite relevant to see how the unfolding of Russia’s war will have changed things by next autumn. Not just to test hypotheses/predictions but also to see the effects. I betcha they’ll be noticeable. Especially in the north-east of O’zbekiston and in Dushanbe.

Oh… and Tajikistan may have a new leader by then. Who knows? Maybe I catch the inauguration.

Either way, there’s more stories in these two countries that I haven’t had the chance to tell. And given your feedback, I’ll head out to find ways to tell them.

So… yeah. That’s a rough estimate on what calculations are going on in the background when making such decisions. I’m not complaining. It’s a good problem to have. After all, it will soon be 10 years (!) of the Sofa. That in itself is a good problem to have.

But what I am saying is that every time I’m being asked “when X country/place” the answer is… well… it’s a bit more complicated than that. So I just provided the basics of the process. Hopefully that clears things up a little bit.

So… with that said, I’ll head back to work. In the meantime, please consider supporting the Colombia-Ecuador tour. I’ve gotten all the flights but it’s still in doubt all the objectives on the list are doable, given the current state of the fundraiser. Every dollar counts!

See ya soon.

We are at the 8th edition of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) summit held in Bucharest. This article will be updated as events unfold.

At this edition it is expected for Greece to be formally approved as a full member. Additionally, this edition will feature the extraordinary participation of representatives from Moldova, Ukraine, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Türkiye.

Contrary to rumours, Moldova will not be approved as a full member of the Initiative just yet. There are however hopefuls that Ukraine will be invited this year with a view to be formally approved next year.

In the following hours and days, we will strive to offer you as many details as possible (especially those ignored by bigger media) concerning the Intermarium/Three Seas Initiative.

Update 15:52 The delegations have started to arrive at the Cotroceni Palace (the seat of the Romanian Presidential Administration). It has been confirmed that President Zelenskyy of Ukraine will address the Summit through an online link.

The press core is tensed about the drone scandal. It is expected that this situation will eat up a higher amount of time during the summit.

Update 15:56 The Administration seems determined to protect itself from the fallout. The press core has just been announced that only one question per country delegation will be allowed at the Heads of State press conference.

Update 16:18 “If it is confirmed that a Russian drone fell in Romania at the border with Ukraine, then this is inadmissible and it constitutes a grave issue to the stability and sovereignty of Romania and NATO. As mentioned before, these attacks on civilian infrastructure are war crimes in and of themselves. The fact that they also take place in the proximity of the Romanian border keeps us alert.” – Klaus Iohannis

Update 16:22 ”Ukraine will be granted associated status in the 3SI. Ukraine will now be closer to us and will be eligible for further investments and reconstruction efforts.” – Klaus Iohannis

Update 16:26 President Zelenskyy’s link не работает.

Update 16:29 “We welcome our Greek friends as the 13th full member of the 3SI. Today we also welcome our Ukrainian and Moldovan friends as associated states and they should know that they can count on us.” – Klaus Iohannis

Update 16:34 President Zelenskyy addresses the plenary of the 3SI summit.

Update 16:40 President Zelenskyy’s feed is unintelligible.

The Russian branch of the Austrian company Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI / Райффайзен Банк) continue to offer financial assistance to Putin’s regime and advantageous loans to Putin’s enforcers on the occupied territories in Ukraine.

On Twitter, the bank defended itself that it is merely following the orders laws in force in the country in which it is located (archive link in case it gets deleted).

The page about the reduced-rate loans offered to the armed forces (see photo) is pretty explicit and it says that among the conditions to getting a loan is “the borrower is doing military service in the Russian Armed Forces under a contract or is in military service for the troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation […], subject to its participation in a special military operation on the territories of Ukraine, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic“.

The law the bank is referring to is Law №377/2022 approved in October 2022 that provides for deference of payments, reduced rates for loans and extended grace periods for those engaged in Russia’s war of aggression and for their families.

It’s not the first time

The Austrian bank is accustomed to bowing to any demands by the Putin regime. In 2017, Raiffeisen was the only Western bank to help the Russian government provide passports and identity documents to those requesting them in the separatist regions.

Half of the profit made by the Raiffeisen group was made in Russia last year and Raiffeisen also assisted the Russian government in late 2022 with the conscription efforts.

In 2021, Raiffeisen Bank assisted the Belarussian government as well in its effort to violently crackdown on those who dissented to Lukashenka’s regime.

Under Romanian PM’s signature, the government blocks the increase of prison sentences for sexual predators and sends the proposed bill to the Romanian Constitutional Court (RCC), because it discriminates against pedophiles!

The Romanian Parliament passed a month ago a bill that increases sentences for pedophiles, so that they would no longer be able to escape justice. The same law states that statute of limitations would no longer expire for those who raped, or sexually abused children. It is a discriminatory treatment, says the government, which petitioned the Constitutional Court, thus blocking the enactment of said law. The petition will be analyzed by the RCC on September 30^th.

Currently, those who commit sexual acts with underage minors face a minimum sentencing of only 2 years in prison, in Romania, even though the victims can be very young, sometimes under the age of 13. The court can also decide commuting the sentence and the perpetrator would not spend a day behind bars.

If the victim is between 13 and 15 years old, the minimum sentencing is only one year! Punishment is between one and five years and many of the sexual predators receive a time served sentence, as shown in an investigation published by Libertatea, in recent years.

Those sentenced would furthermore be sent to community service in schools or in orphanages, meaning they would still be around children.

On June 30^th, 2020, the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the Parliament) voted on a bill that amends the Criminal Code and increases such sentences, so that all sentences are custodial.

A few days before the Romanian president could sign it into law, the government filed a motion against the bill to the RCC for “raising some constitutionality issues”.

Government argues from “the perspective of the perpetrator”

Besides increased sentences, the new bill would remove the statute of limitations on rape and sexual abuse of minors, similar to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

This means that child rapists and those who sexually abuse children would be held responsible anytime, regardless how much time has passed, from perpetrating such acts until they are caught, judged and found guilty.

“Such regulation could raise problems as per art. 16 of the Constitution (i.e equal rights)” the government claims.

Quote from the petition written by the Romanian Government, addressed to the RCC:

“Discrimination between persons who committed equally serious felonies could be instituted, in the sense that no objective reasoning could be identified in choosing which crimes would have their statute of limitations removed.”

“The chosen legislative solution seems arbitrary and discriminatory against persons who commit child rape or sexual acts with a minor” argues the government in their petition to the RCC, signed by Romanian PM and president of the National-Liberal Party, Ludovic Orban.

The government admits that “crimes against freedom and sexual integrity have a certain specific and that, because of the trauma induced to the victims, in many cases a considerable amount of time passes since the victims could bring their grievances to the attention of the authorities”, but criticizes the removal of the statute of limitations “from the perspective of the perpetrator”.

Quote from the petition written by the Romanian Government, addressed to the RCC:

“ From the perspective of the author of the infraction, applying a different treatment compared to other perpetrators of equally harsh infractions is disputed.”

 And why would such crimes such as rape and sexual assault against a minor be without statute of limitations, asks the Government, if other offenses exist that “are proven to have a similar effect over the victim” (human trafficking, trafficking minors, pimping, sexual assault, child pornography) are still with a statute of limitations?

Romanian Constitutional Court in 2013: “It is a sign of respect for the victim’s fate”

Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes were stripped of their statute of limitations in 2012, through a bill introduced by Sever Voinescu, former PD-L deputy, now editor-in-chief of “Diverta” magazine, supported by Monica Macovei, former justice minister.

“The exception was raised when a man convicted to six years for attempted murder, fled the country, thus evading his sentence.”

 The RCC rejected the plaintiff’s arguments.

“The right to live represented the supreme value in the hierarchy of human rights”, outlined the RCC in Decision 511/2013, which rejected the application by the accused, challenging the constitutionality of the law.

From RCC Decision 511/2013:

The memory of such acts do not get washed away with the passage of time, outlined in the regular framework of a statute of limitations, and the reaction from the community constitutes a conscious duty as well as a sign of respect for the victims’ plight.

 “Judicial security means for a citizen, first of all, the protection of trust” opined the RCC judges. “In situations where judicial security contradicts equity, it is, first of all, the attributes of the lawmaker to decide in favor of one of the parties.”

When these offenses had their statute of limitations removed, the minimum sentencing for 2^nd degree murder was 15 years.

The same minimum sentencing was applied to those found guilty of piracy, extensive destruction, violations of handling nuclear or other radioactive substances, compromising state interests, leaking of classified information that would endanger national security, etc., yet no one filed a complaint that such a discrimination in treatment existed between criminals.

In case of rape, if the victim is an adult, the general statue of limitations is 8 years after the crime took place.

If the victim is a child, the statute of limitations is 10 years.

For sexual act with a minor, when the victim is between 13 and 15 years, the statute of limitations is 5 years. If the victim did not yet turn 13, then the statute of limitations is 8 years.

When the victims are minors, the statute of limitations starts running from the day they turn 18.

What does the bill that the government contested it to the RCC contain

The bill, proposed by independent lower house MP Oana Bîzgan and voted by the Parliament, contained the following:

• Sexual acts committed by an adult unto a child, that did not turn 14 years old is punished by imprisonment from 5 to 12 years. If the victim is between 14 and 16 and the perpetrator is an adult, the punishment is between 3 and 10 years. Sexual acts with a minor are not prosecutable if the difference between perpetrator and victim is not bigger than 3 years.
• Rape is punishable with imprisonment from 5 to 10 years (currently, it is only from 3 to 10 years) and if the resulting crime induced bodily harm or endangered the life of the victim, then the offense is punishable with imprisonment from 7 to 12 years (currently, it is only from 5 to 12 years)
• If the victim is a minor place under protection, foster care or guardianship of the perpetrator or is a family member/cohabits with the perpetrator, then the punishment is imprisonment from 7 to 15 years(currently, it is only from 5 to 12). If the offender was previously convicted for the same crime, the punishment is imprisonment from 7 to 15 years.
• Those who commit sexual assault on minors and were repeat offenders for a similar offense, the punishment is from 5 to 12 years.
• The limits of the punishment are expanded by a third for those who commit statutory rape of a minor, sexual corruption of minor and recruiting minors for sexual purposes, if the deeds are perpetrated by 2 or more persons or by one person that has committed a similar crime before.
• For trafficking minors, the punishment is from 5 to 10 years (currently, it is from 3 to 10 years)

The Liberal Government opposed increased sentencing from the very beginning

The government filed an amendment in the Judicial Committee from the Chamber of Deputies, asking to rescind excessive punishment of adults who commit sexual acts with minors.

An exemption should made for the cases where the victims aged between 14 and 16, the government demanded. Because “the regulation of the aggravated circumstances of the act of committing a sexual act with a minor, when the perpetrator turned 18, changes the type of the offense as understood in the eyes of the law only to cases where the perpetrator is a minor that is criminally liable and the age difference exceeds 3 years.” argues the government. A minor that is criminally liable, in the Romanian law is any minor over the age of 16 and also minors aged 14 to 16 who are deemed fit to stand trial by a panel of psychologists.

The government feared that most child abusers, being adults, should be included in the aggravated form of the offense, which provides heftier penalties. The Judicial Committee rejected the executive’s amendment.

Article translated from Libertatea.

More than 99% of the votes have been counted and the new nationalist Vox Party has increased the most comparing to the previous election.

In 2016, only 47,182 people voted for Vox. Last night, 2,673,828 had voted for the so-called “far-Right” Vox Party. This translates into 24 seats in the new Congress of Deputies for the party founded in 2013.

On the other end of the spectrum, Partido Socialista Obrero Español gained the most votes (though not a majority) and, perhaps most importantly, recovered some of its lost ground. In the recent past, PSOE, the mainstream Left, had been losing votes to the far-Left – the Iranian-Islamist funded PODEMOS. It would seem that helicopterable left-wing voters have been turning back to the mainstream Left – which will get 123 seats (out of 350).

Unido PODEMOS supports the abolition of the monarchy and the withdrawal of Spain from NATO – and will get 42 seats in the new Congress.

PSOE clearly has the first shot at governing but it remains to be seen with whom shall they build the coalition. PSOE and the far-Left Podemos do not have enough seats together to form a majority. Local pundits are speculating that they’ll team up with the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and a few independents in order to avoid teaming up with the Republican Catalan Left which, although closer ideologically to both PODEMOS and PSOE – it demands Catalan independence vote in exchange for its support – an issue which indeed collapsed the previous PSOE government and triggered these snap elections.

On the Right, the biggest shock was Partido Popular (PP- the mainstream Right) who will only get 66 seats (down from 137 in the previous election). Essentially, PP was humiliated being accused, not without reason, by non-Leftist voters of all stripe of failing to effectively oppose the increasingly radical Leftist bloc.

Most of the votes lost by PP have either went to the so-called “far-Right” Vox or to the centrist Ciudadanos (Cs – The Citizens) – a political party whose ideology is unclear at best or a globalist gobbledygook at worst.

Vox Party has an interesting story, especially after it came to light that it, too, just like PODEMOS, has some Iranian money behind it, albeit by a dissident group which opposes the current regime in Tehran.

Nevertheless, the official propaganda in the Cathedral Media will run in the next few days multiple articles lamenting that a “racist, sexist, Islamophobic, bigoted… [insert leftist slur here]” has dared to be elected in the Spanish Parliament.