I woke up this morning to the news of a naval mine explosion in a Romanian beach resort. The same beach resort my children and I visited one week ago. Apparently, the mine hit one of the many piers in Costinesti, an otherwise modest resort, but nevertheless overcrowded. Only sheer luck made it that no one was injured in the explosion of the mine that made its way to our waters from nearby Ukraine. There was just one guy who complained of ear problems as he was walking in the area when the mine went Kaboom!
Picture taken one week ago in Costinesti. The explosion happened on a pier to the right of this place, close to one of the biggest hotels in the resort.
These piers are rather crowded. By day you have the bimbos taking selfies, while in the evening families take a walk on the piers as there’s little to do in this place if you’re not a fan of exceedingly loud and tasteless music. When we were there one week ago we also took a short walk on the pier, close to the one where the mine went off today. The obsessive mother in me was quite rattled by the whole story as it could have been us on the pier when the bloody mine went off. News reports suggest that there might be another mine in the waters, but as the sea is very agitated today the navy was unable to deploy any ship to search the area. No one knows whether it was a Russian or Ukrainian mine, by the way.
Picture taken two years ago, after sunset, showing tourists on the pier. Not much of a photo, I know, but it was meant for the family album to record a time when we were not allowed to travel abroad as we were not vaccinated.
However, this post is not about my personal worries, but about my indignation that the news was buried in a few hours. Back when I was a journalist that would have been huge. A mine exploding so close to our shores at the height of the tourist season? You’d have reporters on the ground collecting eyewitness testimony and asking ordinary people whether they feel safe enough to continue their vacation or are they heading home. Especially as mainstream “military analysts” tell us such incidents are to be expected and what can you do? Obviously, we’re talking about highly-paid analysts who do not spend their holidays in one of the cheaper local resorts, but far away on a quiet beach in Thailand or the Maldives. No skin of theirs in this game.
The explosion this morning was probably caused by the high waves reported all along the Romanian coastline. Several people drowned today in various resorts because of the high waves and that was perfect for those trying to bury the explosion incident. Instead of talking about what happened, who is responsible, how long is this war going to be, local mainstream media switched to the agitated waters and authorities warning tourists to stay away from the sea. Tragic as they may be, stories of people drowning are not uncommon. Every single year a number of tourists will drown. Not nearly as newsworthy as a sea mine going off on our shores.
Remember the hysteria with the Chinese spy balloons? The world media would talk of nothing else for days although nobody knew for certain what was actually going on.
As you may or may not be aware. Romania is part of NATO so any act of war against our territory could be a trigger for the famous collective defense Article 5. A couple of weeks ago there was a drone explosion quite close to a Romanian village on the Danube. Ukrainian ships have been increasingly using the Danube for their grain trades which kinda explains why the Russians sent a drone there. I’m not exactly sure why the news about the explosion in Costinesti was buried. My guess is such an event brings the war much closer than it already is and people might start asking why are we part of those propping the failing and corrupt Ukrainian regime? The much-touted “spring offensive” which got bumped to summer was a miserable failure. Even the mainstream media acknowledged that. As we’re heading into autumn with rains and muddy terrains there’s no hope of the tide turning. Already some are hinting that maybe next year the Ukrainian army (or what’s left of it) will drive the Russians away. Or, who knows, maybe in 2025?
In the meantime, billions more will find their way to the pockets of those supplying weapons to Ukraine. Also, other mines may find their way to the shores of Romania or Bulgaria and with some luck maybe kill a few innocents.
I am reminded of the Ukrainian drone that somehow made it's way to Hungary last year, IIRC. If the mine that exploded in Romania was Ukrainian, the fact that NATO is continuing to violate it's aegis and whole libraries of law by arming and inciting war in the Ukraine, use of weapons like cluster munitions (apparently only crimes against humanity when our victims are using them), or propping up a vicious, fascist regime in the Ukraine might reduce the eagerness of the populations being robbed to pay for it.
Invoking Article V against the Ukraine would leave NATO defending against it's own depredations, much like most Western governments today criminally oppressing and censoring their own people in order to subject them to experimental GMO jabs for pharmaceutical corporations that surely don't scrimp on campaign donations to relevant politicians.
Thanks!
Don't make me laugh! There is a Romanian minority living in the Ukraine and they don't have any rights whatsoever. Before the war, the issue was always a sore spot in our relations with Ukraine, but now our leaders have decided we're staunch supporters of the Zelensky regime. He can do no wrong so no one is to mention our brothers living there. Or the fact that the Ukraine is destroying the Danube Delta we share to make way for their ships. The story made headlines a couple of months ago, but only briefly. And those raising the alarm were branded conspiracy theorists.
I remember the drone incident you mentioned and again it was downplayed. Or remember the missile or whatever it was that hit somewhere in Poland, killing one farmer? They blamed it on Russia at first to hide the fact that the Ukrainians were responsible. Yes, that was an attack on a NATO country too, but who cares anymore? Oh, and earlier in the war there was an incident with two Romanian military planes that went down under very suspicious circumstances also in the coastal area, near the US military base. I remember that night as everybody was scared such an incident could lead to a really big war and we'd get front seats to that.
I'm glad no one was hurt this time. That's scary and, not surprisingly, didn't show up at all on the news here in America. Listening to Robert Kennedy speak on the campaign trail has opened my eyes to how much this entire thing is just a proxy war between the US and Russia. So many innocents are caught in the crossfire. Kennedy is against the war and, if elected, vows to end it. I just don't see how the establishment will allow that to happen. This war machine we have here feels like a runaway train at this point. So many of us feel powerless to change it because the defense contractors are so deeply embedded in the government and the media. Groups are waking up here, thanks to independent media, but there aren't many tools at our disposal to change things.
It's very sad to hear an American talk like that. I wish I could say you could change something with your vote next year, but we both know that it is not the case.
Yeah, it pains me to say it but in these past few years the veil has been lifted and the systemic corruption has been exposed. I hope we've almost hit rock bottom. Kennedy is saying all the right words but I have a feeling the Democratic party will make it all but impossible for him to win. It seems like the DNC is cueing up Gavin Newsome and will probably instruct Biden to step aside. His reason will be "to spend more time with his family" or "health concerns" or something like that. The American people are getting completely fed up with choosing between the lessor of evils.
Newsome?! Great! So all the country can be like California! My sister is in California and she's not happy at all...
He would be an absolute disaster for not only our country but for the entire world.
My brother is in Romania right now for his honeymoon. He just married a Romanian-born woman. He probably is nowhere near that resort, but it makes the news hit closer to home for me.
Wow! I am sure your brother is nowhere near that place as it is not a place fit for a honeymoon! Everything seems to be fine now and the authorities are still downplaying the incident, to the point there is no official confirmation it was a mine, although there was undoubtedly an explosion.
I was just reading an article in The Wall Street Journal decrying the fact that Westerners are tired of supporting this war. Once you tell them that other European countries and people may be at risk of becoming collateral damage that certainly would not improve their mood.
Nice to hear from you and congrats to your brother!