Dimitar Bechev

At the last open crossing, Ukrainians flee Russia’s annexation A checkpoint in Belarus provides a path from occupied territories back to Ukraine

Phenomenal journalism in my own publication here, reported from a Ukrainian border crossing where people fleeing occupied territories can get back into government-held Ukraine

www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

Europe isn't strong and united enough to be in the top league along with US and China. But it is more consequential than what is commonly believed. In a turbulent world, it is a partner of choice for nearly everyone. My take.

What’s Behind the EU-India Lovefest?  - Atlas Think Center “The paradox about the European Union’s position in the world is that it is both a giant and a dwarf.” Nearly two decades later, this verdict by Kishore Mahbubani still rings true. The Singaporean lum...

What’s Behind the EU-India Lovefest?  by @dimitarbechev.bsky.social

atlasthink.org/whats-behind...

Swim! Definitely swim!
Looking forward to being back in Oxford this Tuesday. Please join us in conversation w/ @dimitarbechev.bsky.social & @Richard Youngs @St Antony's College or just come say hi.

The Rachman & Rahman doctrine.

This is a very good point. The November 2025 US National Security Strategy never mentions the Arctic at all. The idea that it's a genuine security priority for the Trump administration is not credible.

The art of the deal

Hvala puno ;)

BBC World Service - Weekend, 17/01/2026 GMT A review of the week with the latest news.

I'll be on BBC World Service
's The Weekend for the next three hours, commenting on world affairs. It's also my 51st birthday.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

To honour brave Iranian protesters, I will be sharing Persian words that we commonly use in Balkan languages. Sindzhir (chain) - from the Farsi zanjīr زنجير (through the Turkish zincir) Break those sindzhirs!

He didn't have Pashinyan's number ....

President Bardela might be singing a different tune one day.

Inside ‘Operation Absolute Resolve,’ the U.S. Effort to Capture Maduro

"The CIA team moved about Caracas, remaining undetected for months ...The intelligence gathered about [Maduro] daily movements — combined with a human source...& a fleet of stealth drones ...— enabled [CIA] to map out minute details about his routines." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/u...

Isn't it renamed back to Stalingrad?!

I wonder how a similar tweet about Poland or Estonia might fare ;)

Dimitar Bechev on X: "Every time I come to Spain I'm reminded of what a success story Europe is. https://t.co/tSB9NI1hlz" / X Every time I come to Spain I'm reminded of what a success story Europe is. https://t.co/tSB9NI1hlz

The pleasures of X: I tweeted that every time I come to Spain I'm reminded that Europe is a success. But "Europe" and "success" inevitably triggers bots, algorithms and the like to push the opposite line. Which then boosts the original post's visibility. x.com/DimitarBeche...

We have a first in a long time Russian industrial output is declining. After industrial output in October 2025 jumped due to one time factors to 3,1% in November 2025 there was a 0,7% decline compared to November 2024.

On the photo - the Kairos, an oim tanker from Russia's shadow fleet hit by an Ukrainian drone. Turks dragged it into Bulgarian waters.

Ahtopol (Agathoupolis), Bulgaria. Photo by Borislav Kamilov

YouTube video by The German Marshall Fund of the United States Hungary’s 2026 Elections Stakes and Challenges

From @“gmfus.bsky.social : Hungary’s 2026 Elections: The Stakes and Challenges. Information, insights, analysis.

Worth watching every second, but key food-for-thought for me:

youtu.be/swZ36J4g4KA?...

Voice of the Kremlin, Dimitriev means.

@ecfr.eu

We just published a paper on Europe-China by @jankaoertel.bsky.social

www.sant.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/u...

What is ironic about a great power like Russia is the persistent status insecurity and need of recognition by the US and Europe. If you really parted ways with the West and are fighting for a multipolar order what do you care how people in the West see you?

Just read another book which boils down the discussion of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine to "oh God, why are Americans so Russophobic!?" Won't name names but some people in academia are beyond redemption.

Building on Ruins: The Russification of Mariupol, One Apartment Block at a Time - bellingcat Bellingcat has identified 23 multi-storey housing complexes being built in occupied Mariupol and advertised for sale to Russian citizens.

Streets have been renamed, Ukrainian monuments removed, and murals painted over. Bellingcat investigates how apartment blocks in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol have been demolished to make way for a new Russian suburban utopia… www.bellingcat.com/uncategorize...

How the Western Balkans Can Contribute to European Defense The Western Balkans’ defense industry offers Europe a chance to strengthen its security. But to become net contributors, governments across the region must modernize their militaries, attract investme...

🔔BiEPAG member @dimitarbechev.bsky.social
for @carnegieeurope.bsky.social

"The #WesternBalkans are on the path to become a net contributor to EU security, but much more needs to be done.

The 3 NATO members - Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro - should lead the way.

tinyurl.com/29cd6fj7

Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis - Wikipedia

Amazing. The architect and urban planner who built Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, was born in Bulgaria. Constantinos Doxiadis came from a Greek family in Stenimachos (Assenovgrad) in 1913, moving to Greece two years after.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constan...

Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin Budapest summit axed following Moscow memo Russian foreign ministry’s maximalist demands for ending Ukraine war led US to scrap planned meeting

New: Trump cancelled his Budapest summit with Putin after a Russian memo to Washington holding firm to hardline demands on Ukraine was swiftly followed by a tense call between Rubio and Lavrov. Moscow would not negotiate.
w/ @maxseddon.bsky.social @a-mackinnon.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/d665...

“The fate of China, whose maritime gates have for a century been sagging under the pressure of the West and are now being battered down by Japan, will largely be determined by what happens at the inland gates that open toward, or from, Central Eurasia and Siberia.” Owen Lattimore in 1935.