Dimitar Bechev
@DimitarBechev
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Director of the Dahrendorf Programme @stantscollege Senior Fellow @Carnegie_Europe Author: Rival Power:Russia in Southeast Europe &Turkey under Erdoğan (Yale)
Oxford, England
Joined March 2009
No agreements are possible given the current starting positions. Such chronic paralysis—both verbal and physical—is perhaps unprecedented in the history of diplomatic relations since the post-Stalin era. https://t.co/28NCoWtiQA
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I am sure there are countless examples with Polish, Czech, Slovak, Serbo-Croat etc.
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Among the consequences of Ukrainian migration to Central and SE Europe is the cross-pollination btw Ukrainian and Russian and local Slavic languages. Just came across an example by a Russophone Ukrainian from Primorsk (Zaporizhiya) living in Sofia. "Жду на спирке" (остановке).
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Алло, Адольф Алоизович? Это Рузвельт беспокоит. Тут Сталин звонил, просил какой-то «лендлиз». Как думаете, давать им его или нет? — Ни в коем случае, Франклин Джеймсович! Это не повлияет на ход войны! — Ну, ладно, так и сделаю, всего хорошего! — Привет Элеоноре Эллиотовне!
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A programme on Algerian pop music. Gotta love Bulgarian National Radio.
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Tens of thousands of White Russians found refuge in Bulgaria in the 1920s. Including one Prince Nikolai Trubetskoy, founding father of Eurasianism, who taught at Sofia University. Russia should be thankful to Bulgaria, as well as Turkey and Serbia, for hosting White emigrés.
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Incidentally, today is the 110th anniversary when Russian ships bombarded Varna. Less than three years later, in March 1918, Bulgaria as well as Turkey were signatories if the Brest Litovsk Treaty which saw Russia capitulating to the Central Powers.
@DimitarBechev That is why Putin should think twice about flying over Bulgaria. These traitors will never miss an opportunity to once again "thank" Russia for their country's existence.
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If he crossed Bulgarian airspace it would be a historical twist. Not allowing Russian transport planes in 1999 to supply and bring reinforcements to the paras in Prishtina airport was what brought Bulgaria into NATO in 2004.
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What I am curious to see is which route Putin picks to fly to Budapest. I guess via Turkey and Serbia.
Trump says he is going to meet Putin in Budapest. Looks like we are back to where we were before Alaska – the US is backing down from attempts to get tougher on Russia and back Ukraine more in favor of a so far illusory peace deal
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Sharaa does an Erdoğan. Fighting Russia('s proxies), then coming to the table to bargain with Putin.
Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa, meeting Putin in Moscow, confirmed Syria will uphold existing agreements with Russia, securing Moscow’s two main military bases, Reuters reports. He highlighted bilateral ties, seeking to redefine relations. Damascus wants guarantees Russia won’t
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Serbia's semiauthoritarian setup has failed to respond to popular demands for safety & the rule of law. Support or neglect from the EU will not fix Vučić's legitimacy deficit: It is not up to EU officials whether he survives in power, says @DimitarBechev. https://t.co/ner9GYQi7Y
carnegieendowment.org
The Georgian and Serbian leaders’ pivots away from the path to EU accession show the bloc’s waning appeal. To keep EU enlargement on track, Brussels should focus on candidate countries that are...
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We are increasingly feeling Russia’s hybrid threat all across Europe: drones over airports, sabotage in the Baltic Sea, airspace violations on NATO’s eastern flank. We are responding – calmly, but resolutely. @AussenMinDE in Sofia 🇧🇬 1/5
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Representing Russia?
Okay I'm going to need someone to explain to me why Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA, is at the Gaza ceasefire summit in Sharm
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Re-reading a 2021 Valdai piece that claims Russia is "a reference point against which [21st century] Western identity was built". This is a frequent, delusional Russian claim - the West really wasn't interested in Russia in the 00s and 2010s.
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Glorious thread.
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1970s are back.
Lavrov was asked why Russia was not invited to the Gaza Peace Summit, even though it played the role of the mediator in the conflict. From Lavrov's answer, it follows that Russia was not invited at all, and the decision was influenced by the United States: "I can only note that
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Takaichi Sanae is now the leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, but the collapse of the LDP’s coalition with Komeito casts a cloud over her chances of becoming Japan’s first female prime minister. Read the latest analysis by @RobertAlanWard: https://t.co/Y46FBVpUgb
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