balkans
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an 10 26 // riots eu
'Fair to say' Kushner-Ivanka Trump resort in Albania is 'dead': reporter
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10 26 Balkans - Wikipedia
Balkans (/ˈbɔːlkənz/ BAWL-kənz, /ˈbɒlkənz/ BOL-kənz[1]), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions.[2][3][4]^ The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria.[5]^ The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish Straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined.[6]^ The highest point of the Balkans is Musala, 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria.
The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808,[7]^ who mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant mountain system of southeastern Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. In the 19th century the term Balkan Peninsula was a synonym for Rumelia, the parts of Europe that were provinces of the Ottoman Empire at the time. It had a geopolitical rather than a geographical definition, which was further promoted during the creation of Yugoslavia in the early 20th century. The definition of the Balkan Peninsula's natural borders does not coincide with the technical definition of a peninsula; hence modern geographers reject the idea of a Balkan Peninsula, while historical scholars usually discuss the Balkans as a region. The term has acquired a stigmatized and pejorative meaning related to the process of Balkanization.[6][8]^ The region may alternatively be referred to as Southeast Europe.
The national borders of the Balkans are, due to many contrasting definitions, widely disputed, with no universal agreement on its components. By most definitions, the term encompasses Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (only the area south of the Sava and Kupa rivers), mainland Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania (only Northern Dobruja), Serbia (only the area south of the Danube river), and East Thrace in Turkey. However, some broader definitions also include the remaining territories of Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia (in a limited or partial sense, though sources do not specify regions). Additionally, some definitions include Hungary and Moldova due to cultural and historical factors. The province of Trieste in northeastern Italy, whilst by some definitions on the geographical peninsula, is generally excluded from the Balkans in a regional context.
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FLAMINGO REVO
DISCOVER ISLAND FROM YACHT ROTHSCHILD; NATURE SANCT; VILLAGE GRABBED BY MAFIA
8 26
The Atlantic
The Trump Family Sparks a Revolution in Albania
Jul 23, 2026A luxury development planned by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump has spurred anti-corruption protests.
Yahoo Finance
Ivanka Trump 'found' a Mediterranean island. Now a $1.4B resort plan ...
Jun 23, 2026Albanians have started a "flamingo revolution," but there's a long history to Trump and Kushner's development plans.
observer.co.uk
How Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner sparked the 'Flamingo ...
How Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner sparked the 'Flamingo revolution' The US president's daughter and his son-in-law are behind a $5bn project that would build on an unspoiled stretch of Albania's coast - but opposition is growing
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AN 10 26
Sources inside the White House say Trump and company are "panicking" as his administration masterminds jump ship for more lucrative jobs elsewhere, says the Daily Mail.
“Susie Wiles summoned her top advisers to her West Wing office just after 8.15 am Friday for a crisis meeting as a wave of stories about Trump allies cashing in on their access threatened to swamp the White House,” reports the Daily Mail, and the president's chief of staff was “panicked,” said a source familiar with the meeting. Wiles and the administration are still coming to grips with the political and media fallout from two of the president's top political lieutenants taking profitable paydays with foreign entities.
Additionally, Daily Mail said anxiety was building around reports about Wiles’ own daughters' pro-Russia foreign lobbying work, according to two sources familiar with the mood in the building.
The Daily Mail's sources relay that the White House was “blindsided last week” after reports that Chris LaCivita and James Blair, Trump's trusted political hands, had spent the October 4 weekend in the Balkans, advising a Putin-aligned government that was claiming election victory. Reports claim the men traveled to Republika Srpska, a self-governing part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There they "consulted" on voting issues ahead of Sunday's election for the nationalist party.
Trump was infuriated at the news LaCivita and Blair — the leaders of Trump's political operation for the 2026 midterms — were out of the country “scoring handsome consulting fees” with just weeks to go before November and Republicans fighting for their lives to preserve House and Senate majorities.
According to the Daily Mail, White House sources say Wiles “first met with her policy right-hand Walker Barrett before assembling other top White House aides, including Megan Bauer, head of Cabinet Affairs, for the early-morning powwow.”
When contacted, White House spokespeople described the meeting as just the 'usual' Friday morning meeting, but an administration official said Trump was 'furious,' and the president has been desperately “working the phones, calling allies to ask how he should handle the embarrassing disclosure about LaCivita and Blair.”
The Daily Mail adds that the White House declined to describe the nature of the conversations she had with staff that Friday.
Days earlier, Trump claimed he saw no conflict with LaCivita and Blair’s off-site money-making, but sources say behind the scenes “that tenor had changed,” with the turmoil handing Democrats fresh ammunition just as early voting begins and the party’s grip on Congress appears slippery, Republican operatives told to the Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail says representatives for LaCivita, Blair was and Jared Kushner were contacted for comment, but failed to respond in time for the Wednesday article.
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beast
Updated Oct 09, 2026 10:46AM EDT—Published Oct 09, 2026
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ daughter has been pictured at a Bosnian gun range beside an ally of Vladimir Putin.
Katie Wiles traveled to the semi-autonomous region of Republika Srpska, where she met with interior minister Željko Budimir, according to an image shared by conservative Albanian-American activist Evi Kokalari and verified by CBS News.
The image, in which Wiles holds a rifle, appears to be a screenshot of one of Wiles’ Instagram Stories. Wiles captioned it “mostly work + some serious fun!” and added the Republika Srpska handle. Kokalari claimed the picture was taken in August.
Katie Wiles holds a rifle next to Željko Budimir, the interior minister of the semi-autonomous Republika Srpska administration.
@evikokalari/X
Budimir (left) and Dodik (second from left) attend a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin in April 2025.
In December 2025, Putin awarded Budimir the Pushkin Medal for strengthening ties between Serbs and Russians. The two had previously met at the Kremlin that April.
Republika Srpska is led by 67-year-old Milorad Dodik, the region’s former president. Though removed from office last year for failing to adhere to Bosnia’s 1995 peace accords, Dodik retains considerable influence. He has formed a close connection to Russian dictator Putin, and, according to foreign agent registration (FARA) filings seen by CBS, paid U.S.-based lobbying firms to rub elbows with Trump associates.
Two top outside advisers to Trump, Chris LaCivita and James Blair, visited Bosnia and Herzegovina last week to help Dodik’s party campaign, the New York Times reported
Trump Humiliates MAGA Aides Busted Helping Pro-Putin Regime
Katie Wiles is a partner at D.C.-based political lobbying firm Continental Strategy, which earlier this year registered to lobby for the region she visited. A spokesperson told CBS that Wiles spent two days in Republika Srpska in mid-August “with a U.S.-based company who was invited to do a feasibility study in the region.”
“Wiles provides strategic communications support to this U.S. company and has done so for over two years,” the spokesperson added. “Wiles has not spoken with any United States Government official regarding Srpska.”
Putin meets with Dodik at the Kremlin in April, 2025.
The company’s name is unclear. Continental Strategies did not immediately respond to CBS or the Daily Beast when asked
Katie Wiles’ bio on the firm’s site appears to have been taken down.
A White House official told the Daily Beast that Susie Wiles, 69, “does not discuss work matters with her daughters.” Wiles’ other daughter, Caroline, is also a consultant. Caroline worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign and transition team, and was aiming to land a role in the White House until she reportedly failed an FBI background check, forcing her to find another job in the Trump administration.The White House says Susie Wiles does not discuss work matters with her two daughters, who are in the consulting business.
Despite the White House’s claim that Susie and Katie Wiles don’t disclose their work to each other, they have interacted with similar types of people from the Balkans.
Last month, according to CBS, Susie Wiles met with Dodik ally Željka Cvijanović, a former president of Republika Srpska and a current member of the three-person presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Katie Wiles did not set it up, a White House official told the network. Instead, it was Alejandro Garcia, who is also a partner at Continental Strategies.
The firm’s spokesperson told CBS that Garcia, a former deputy political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign, attended election day in Bosnia—Oct. 4—“but no other member of the team was present.”
“Garcia is the sole person who has interacted with the United States government regarding Srpska, and his contacts have all been meticulously tracked to be reported in accordance with FARA requirements,” the spokesperson said.
Trump Humiliates MAGA Aides Busted Helping Pro-Putin Regime
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s decision to lift sanctions against Dodik has drawn scrutiny. House Democrats say the administration did so to help AAFS Infrastructure & Energy, a U.S.-incorporated company run by Joseph Flynn, the brother of Trump ally Michael Flynn, and Jesse Binnall, a former personal attorney to Trump. After the sanctions were removed, Dodik’s party, which had opposed the company’s proposed gas pipeline in the region, changed course and passed legislation clearing the way for the over $1.5 billion project.
A White House official told CBS that the administration lifted sanctions to prevent regional instability.
“This is yet another example of President Trump’s pragmatic, farseeing foreign policy that has prevented disasters on perennial issues that his predecessors so often stumbled into,” they said.
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