Foreign Digest: Syria, Kosovo and Moldova

Syria: Israeli airstrikes against Iranian forces and the terrorists they support have become routine. There have been thousands over the last nine years to defend Israel. Syria has fired a thousand missiles at the Israelis, to little effect, leading Iran reportedly to provide better air defenses to Syria. Islamist Iran, the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, supports the Syrian regime of tyrant Bashar Assad during the Syrian Civil War that began in 2011, which has killed more than half a million people and forced millions to flee. Assad sponsors terrorism by being a conduit for Iranian support and by harboring terrorists. The Iranians and Syrians back the Lebanese Shi’ite Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. The Russian Federation has also been backing Assad with military forces. They have targeted bombing on civilian areas, including hospitals and first responders they falsely call “terrorists.” Kosovo: Kosovo has applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, prompted by concerns about the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Kosovo’s independence in 1999 from the former Yugoslav Republic of Serbia has not been recognized by some States, including Serbia, which also aspires to NATO membership. But Serbia is a longtime ally of Russia, the defense against which is the purpose of NATO. Serbia, which has been ambivalent about Russian aggression, should not be allowed into the alliance. Moldova: Moldova has applied to join the European Union, as former Soviet Republics continue to look to Europe and the West, instead of Russia, especially after the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The Russian Federation stations troops in a breakaway part of Moldova, along the Ukrainian border, against Moldovan wishes. Moldova has been forced to be neutral and avoid joining NATO, but it can continue to improve relations with Europe and the West.