World

BELGRADE — Serbians headed to the polls on Sunday in elections that will likely see populist President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling party extend its rule, as the strongman promised stability and vowed to curb inflation after months of protests. 

Even though Vucic will not be on the ballot in Sunday’s parliamentary and local elections, the contest will nevertheless be largely seen as a referendum on his government. 

Vucic’s right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has a double-digit lead over the leading opposition coalition, according to a latest poll by Ipsos.

But the SNS faces hard-fought municipal races in the capital Belgrade, particularly from the loose coalition of opposition parties and candidates running under the “Serbia Against Violence” banner. 

The movement was formed in the wake of back-to-back mass shootings earlier this year that spurred hundreds of thousands to take to the streets. 

The rallies quickly morphed into anti-government protests that lasted months. 

Vucic has repeatedly dismissed his critics and the protests as a foreign plot, warning that Serbia would be directionless without his leadership. 

“It’s not about me leaving power, but about them destroying everything,” he told supporters at a recent rally. 

“It would take us 20 years to fix everything... That’s why we’ll beat them more convincingly than ever.”

Vucic was omnipresent in the run-up to the vote — plastered on billboards and skyscrapers and the focus of wall-to-wall coverage on news channels. 

Muzzled media 

Like many countries across the globe, Serbia has been battered by double-digit inflation. 

To blunt the hard edges of rising prices ahead of the polls, Vucic unleashed a barrage of state spending — increasing pensions and handing out cash to the elderly.

The president has also vowed to double average monthly salaries in the coming years, while also upping pensions. 

Vucic has used his more than a decade in power to consolidate control over the levers of power, including de facto control over the media.

The president called the snap elections in November, the latest example of how governments under his rule rarely serve out their term — a move critics say is designed to keep the opposition off balance. 

The contest comes less than two years after the last round of presidential and parliamentary polls, which saw Vucic and the SNS tighten their grip on power. 

Polling stations opened at 06:00 GMT and close at 19:00 GMT, with unofficial results due later in the evening.

N’DJAMENA — Polls opened in a Chadian referendum on a new constitution on Sunday, with the vote seen as a key step towards elections and the return of civilian rule promised, but postponed, by the ruling military junta.

A large section of the opposition and civil society in the central African country are calling for a boycott. 

They argue the plebiscite is designed to pave the way for the election of the current transitional president, General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, and the continuation of a “dynasty” begun by his late father 33 years ago following a coup.

The “yes” camp seems assured of victory after a well-financed campaign by the ruling junta against a divided opposition, which has faced arrest, intimidation and threats for more than a year.

The capital N’Djamena has been plastered with posters championing a “yes” vote to bring in a constitution for a “unitary and de-centralised state”.

It is not very different from the constitution that the military repealed in 2021, enshrining a regime in which most of the power is concentrated in the head of state.

The opposition, which advocates federalism, backs the “no” vote.

The “yes” camp retorts that a unitary state is the only way to preserve unity, while federalism would encourage “separatism” and “chaos”. 

President Deby was first to place his vote in one polling station in N’Djamena, not far from the presidential palace.

“Each ballot placed in the ballot box is a further step towards stability and prosperity for our country,” he said, after voting.

Polls will close at 5pm local time (1600 GMT).

Provisional results are scheduled to be published on December 24, with the Supreme Court due to validate them four days later.

‘Deby dynasty’

The two main platforms of parties and civil society organisations hostile to the junta have called for a boycott, hoping a low turnout will delegitimise a leader whom they accuse of perpetuating a 33-year “Deby dynasty”. 

Where they can find space, they have put up posters with the words “Stop the referendum” and a big red cross.

They are hoping a low turnout will undermine the credibility of the referendum, which is “purely and simply legitimising the dynasty that they want to impose on us”, said Max Loalngar, coordinator of one of the groups, Wakit Tamma.

He was speaking to AFP by telephone from a country of exile that he declined to name.

Some advocates of a boycott were dismissive of both sides.

“They’re all the same, whether they’re campaigning for ‘yes’ or ‘no’. They’ve shared the money out between themselves,” Badono Daigou for the GCAP opposition platform told a rally.

“The result is a foregone conclusion. The ‘yes’ vote will win.”

Mahamat Deby, 37, was proclaimed transitional president by the army in April 2021, following the death of his father Idriss Deby Itno, who was killed by rebels on his way to the front line of the fighting. 

Deby senior had ruled Chad, the second-least-developed country in the world according to the United Nations, with an iron fist for more than 30 years.

When he took power, his son promised elections after a transition period of 18 months and made a commitment to the African Union not to stand in them. 

But 18 months later, his regime extended the transition by two years and authorised him to run in the presidential election, now scheduled for the end of 2024.

Opposition repressed 

On the anniversary of the 18-month transition — October 20, 2022 — between 100 and 300 young men and teenagers were shot dead in N’Djamena by police and military, according to the opposition and national and international NGOs.

They had been peacefully demonstrating against the two-year extension of the transitional government. 

More than 1,000 others were imprisoned before being pardoned, while dozens more were tortured or disappeared, according to NGOs and the opposition.

Most were supporters of prominent opposition figure Succes Masra, a longtime opponent of the Deby dynasty.

Yet in late October, Masra signed a reconciliation agreement with the regime and went into exile, from where he has been encouraging his followers to vote “yes” on Sunday.

Since what has come to be known as the “Black Thursday” crackdown, demonstrations have been systematically banned and many opposition leaders have fled Chad in fear for their lives.

“For there to be any legitimacy, the opposition parties and their activists must feel free to meet and campaign,” Human Rights Watch said in October.

“Otherwise, there is a risk that the referendum will be seen as a means of transforming the transitional government into a permanent one”.

PARIS — Global consumption of coal reached an all-time high in 2023, the IEA energy watchdog said on Friday, as Earth experienced its hottest recorded year.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that nations would burn even more coal this year than in 2022, the previous record for consumption of the key source of planet-warming gases.

Scientists say greenhouse gases will need to be cut almost in half this decade to meet the world's targets of limiting global heating and avoiding catastrophic impacts on the Earth's climate.

The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said earlier in December that 2023 will be the hottest on record after November became the sixth record-breaking month in a row.

The IEA said, nevertheless, that after peaking this year, worldwide coal consumption was expected to start declining in 2024, as renewable power generation from solar and wind continues to expand.

Its latest forecasts were published two days after the conclusion of the United Nations climate negotiations (COP28) in Dubai, where nearly 200 countries reached a deal that the world should be "transitioning away from fossil fuels" to limit global warming.

It was the first time in the 28-year history of the annual climate negotiations that all fossil fuels were mentioned in an accord.

The disruption in the Earth’s climate has contributed to an increase in the intensity and frequency of storms, droughts and lethal wildfires around the world.

Asia powering coal use 

The IEA said consumption of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, rose by 1.4 per cent in 2023 to a record 8.5 billion tonnes, as increases in China, India and Indonesia outweighed sharply falling demand in Europe and the United States, the IEA said.

“We expect to see a trend emerging of declining worldwide coal demand, starting in 2024,” the Paris-based energy watchdog said, as renewable power generation from solar and wind continues to expand.

The appetite for coal is strongest in Asia, it said. Consumption in China alone grew by 220 million tonnes or 4.9 per cent in 2023, while in India it grew 8 per cent and in Indonesia by 11 per cent.

Elsewhere, coal use fell 23 per cent or by 107 million tonnes in Europe, while in the United States it dropped 95 million tonnes or by 21 per cent, largely due to weakening industrial activity and an ongoing shift away from coal-fired generation towards renewables.

The IEA said it was difficult to forecast demand in Russia, currently the fourth-largest coal consumer, because of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and forecasts for Ukraine were equally uncertain.

While the IEA predicted a decline in coal in power stations, it said its use in heavy industries like cement production was expected to continue at high levels.

Paradoxically, the high demand for coal in Indonesia’s mining sector stems from its booming industry in extracting and refining nickel for use in electric car batteries.

China remains the world’s largest user of coal, responsible for half (54 per cent) of all coal burned worldwide.

Europe champions renewables 

More than 60 per cent of coal burned in China is used to generate electricity and the country continues to build coal-fired power stations.

This year alone, the country has approved new projects totalling 52 gigawatts of new electricity-generating capacity.

The IEA nevertheless expects coal consumption in China to start declining, unless heatwaves and very cold spells lead to higher demand on its power plants.

Burning coal to generate electricity would decline in China to 2.8 billion tonnes, a drop of 175 million, over the period 2024-26.

In its place, the main demand for coal would come from India, at least as far as 2026, the IEA said.

In the European Union, an expansion of renewable energies, which generate very little greenhouse gas emissions, is curbing demand for coal.

In Germany, the use of ignite- and coal-powered power stations is expected to tail off significantly by 2025, the watchdog forecast, as solar and wind farms come on stream.

HELSINKI — Finland will close its eastern border with Russia, its interior minister said on Thursday, hours after reopening it following a spike in migrant crossings that Helsinki has labelled a Russian hybrid attack.

Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, will close the border on Friday at 8:00 pm (18:00 GMT) until January 14, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said at a press conference.

On Tuesday, Finland opted to partially ease the closure that had been in force since the end of November, aiming to assess whether there was still pressure on its borders.

But it cancelled the plan to ease restrictions when migrants resumed entering the country immediately after restrictions were lifted.

Two border crossing points in southeastern Finland were opened overnight Wednesday to Thursday.

The Finnish border guard said on Thursday that at least 40 people had crossed into Finland to seek asylum since the border was opened.

"The number of migrants increased rapidly and the phenomenon accelerated faster than expected," Rantanen said.

Arthur Parfenchikov, the governor of Karelia, the Russian region bordering Finland, said on Thursday on X, formerly Twitter, that "there are groups of migrants among the people wishing to cross the border."

He said that the Russian authorities checked the passports of the migrants and only found two with non-compliant documents.

"The others are allowed to pass through the checkpoint in small groups," he added.

Following an influx of migrants in mid-November, Finland closed four of its eight border crossings with Russia, before restricting passage only to the northernmost checkpoint. That too was closed by the end of November.

The Nordic country had seen nearly 1,000 migrants arrive without a visa through its eastern border crossings since August.

“The phenomenon and the threat of its expansion pose a serious threat to national security,” Rantanen said.

Finland is obliged by international law to ensure that migrants can seek asylum, and the availability of locations can only be limited in exceptional circumstances, according to Finnish legal experts.

‘Hybrid operation’ 

Helsinki has accused Russia of orchestrating a migration crisis on its border, aimed at exerting political pressure on its small neighbour.

“This is a sign that the Russian authorities are continuing their hybrid operation against Finland,” Rantanen said.

According to Finnish authorities, Russian border guards are pushing the migrants to the border.

Finland cited the influx of dozens of migrants even at its northernmost border crossing, in the Arctic region of Murmansk, immediately after others were closed as evidence of Russian involvement.

“The phenomenon is also linked to international crime,” Rantanen added.

Moscow has denied intentionally sending migrants to Finland.

“Finnish authorities are beginning to make clumsy excuses, warming up Russophobic sentiments,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in November.

Finland’s once cordial relations with its eastern neighbour soured after the invasion of Ukraine.

Anticipating that Moscow could use migrants as political pressure, Finland in February began building a 200 kilometre fence along its Russian border.

But only three kilometres of the fence are finished.

Moscow warned of “countermeasures” after Finland joined NATO in April, reversing its decades-long policy of military non-alignment.

BRASÍLIA — Brazil's senate on Thursday approved the appointment of Justice Minister Flavio Dino, a strong ally of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to a seat on the supreme court, which is often at loggerheads with the legislative branch.

Dino's nomination sailed through the Senate on a 47-31 vote, after more than 10 hours of testimony before a committee overseeing the appointment.

"I am not a personal enemy of anyone. I ate lunch with [former president Jair] Bolsonaro [and] had several meetings with him. Whoever arrives there [at the court] will receive the treatment outlined by the law," Dino said, rejecting charges he may be biased against Bolsonaro.

The 55-year-old former judge and federal governor will fill a vacancy on the 11-seat supreme court left by retired justice Rosa Weber, who stepped down in September.

Dino's ascension to the court was not assured given resistance from allies of Bolsonaro, the far-right leader who left office at the end of 2022.

Bolsonaro’s camp resents Dino’s leading role in the administration’s response to the riots that rocked Brasilia on January 8, when thousands of the former president’s supporters invaded the presidential palace, Congress and supreme court buildings.

The rioters were calling for a military intervention to oust Lula, a week after he took office following a polarising election win over Bolsonaro in October 2022. More than 1,000 were arrested, with the first defendant sentenced to a heavy 17-year prison term in September.

With Dino, the high court now has only one woman among its 11 members and not a single Afro-Brazilian even though they comprise 56 per cent of the population.

CARACAS — The presidents of Venezuela and Guyana met on Thursday in the Caribbean for talks that analysts say could "de-escalate" tensions but will do little to resolve their countries' long-standing — and now reheating — territorial dispute.

A short video from the Venezuelan government showed its leader Nicolas Maduro and Guyana's Irfaan Ali sitting down to discuss Caracas's claim on oil-rich Essequibo, which makes up more than two-thirds of neighboring Guyana.

The meeting is taking place in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines after months of escalating discord that has raised fears in the region of a potential conflict over the remote area of 160,000 square kilometres.

Maduro's government held a controversial referendum on December 3 in which 95 per cent of voters, according to officials in the hard-line leftist government, supported declaring Venezuela the rightful owner of Essequibo.

He has since started legal maneuvers to create a Venezuelan province in Essequibo and ordered the state oil company to issue licenses for extracting crude in the region — moves Ali branded as a "grave threat to international peace and security."

The two leaders have voiced sharply opposing views of the talks.

Maduro has hailed the meeting as a way to directly address the territorial controversy, promising on Thursday on arrival that Venezuela would "defend our rights".

Ali has said he will not discuss the border dispute and insists it should be resolved at the International Court of Justice, whose jurisdiction is not recognised by the Venezuelan government.

“I’m taking in the facts with me,” Guyanese media quoted Ali as saying ahead of the talks.

‘Nothing substantive’ 

Prior to the meeting Maduro and Ali met separately with representatives of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc.

“I think nothing substantive is going to come out in terms of the territorial claim, since Guyana’s position is that there are no bilateral talks on the issue, because that is in the International Court of Justice,” Sadio Garavini di Turno, former Venezuelan ambassador to Guyana, told AFP.

He said a best-case scenario would be a joint statement in which both sides commit “to lower the escalation” and agree that “they are going to continue talking to lower tensions”.

Guyana has taken the case to the UN Security Council and approached military “partners”, including the United States, which has carried out joint military exercises in Essequibo.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, invited to the talks at both sides’ request, has backed a peaceful solution and warned Maduro against “unilateral measures that could escalate the situation”.

Brazil, which borders both countries, has also reinforced its troops around the area.

“If this meeting is going to be useful to talk about eradicating the idea of going to an armed conflict, then I welcome it,” Ramon Escovar Leon, a lawyer specialised in international litigation told AFP.

Oil, a point of conflict 

The decades-old dispute intensified after ExxonMobil discovered oil in Essequibo in 2015, helping give Guyana — which has a population of 800,000 — the world’s biggest crude reserves per capita.

The Venezuelan government’s anti-imperialist rhetoric has seen it accuse Ali of being “a slave” of ExxonMobil.

On Monday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told reporters there could be talk of “cooperation in oil and gas matters”.

Gil cited the Petrocaribe agreements, under which Venezuela supplies crude oil at preferential prices to Caribbean countries, and gas deals with Trinidad and Tobago.

He said these were “concrete examples” that “could serve as a basis for future agreements with the Cooperative Republic of Guyana”.

The row has other South American nations on edge.

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay issued a joint declaration calling for “both parties to negotiate to seek a peaceful solution”.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned the situation was potentially explosive.

“The biggest misfortune that could hit South America would be a war,” he wrote on social media.