Foreign Digest: Zimbabwe, Bosnia, Italy and China

Zimbabwe: The presidential elections in Zimbabwe last week were won by the incumbent president, whose ruling far-left party has ruled the southern African State since independence in 1980. International observers and the leading opposition party report irregularities in the close vote, as is usual in Zimbabwe, which remains unfree and unrepresentative. Bosnia: The European Court for Human Rights ruled that elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina are not democratic because of the “privileged” results for certain ethnic groups. Bosnia is geographically and politically split between Croat (Slavic and Roman Catholic) and Bosniak (Muslim) and Serbian (Slavic and Eastern Orthodox) communities since the civil war ended in 1995 following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Serbia, the dominant Republic within Yugoslavia, was led at the time by a Communist tyrant who fomented extreme Serbian nationalism, which led to bloody wars and atrocities for years and which has created enduring tensions. Italy and China: The Italian Government will not renew the Belt and Road Initiative with Communist China. Under a left-right populist coalition government, Italy had been the only major industrial or Western power to sign onto the infrastructure program dubbed the “New Silk Road” that increases Chinese influence and opportunities for espionage and undermining security. But the deal was suspended under the national unity government of Mario Draghi because of security concerns and pressure from allies. The current right-wing government also cites an imbalance of benefits for China.