Dimitar Bechev
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dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev
@dimitarbechev.bsky.social
1.8K followers 1K following 110 posts

Director of the Dahrendorf Programme
St Antony's College, Oxford and Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe
Author: Rival Power: Russia in Southeast Europe and Turkey under Erdoğan (Yale)

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Political science 77%
Sociology 10%
Posts Replies Media Videos

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · 22h
Isn't it renamed back to Stalingrad?!
wartranslated.bsky.social WarTranslated (Dmitri) @wartranslated.bsky.social · 22h
Ukrainian drones hit Volgograd overnight, sparking a fire near the Lukoil refinery.

Reposted by Dimitar Bechev

wartranslated.bsky.social
WarTranslated (Dmitri) @wartranslated.bsky.social · 22h
Ukrainian drones hit Volgograd overnight, sparking a fire near the Lukoil refinery.

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · 2d
I wonder how a similar tweet about Poland or Estonia might fare ;)

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · 2d
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...
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
x.com

Reposted by Dimitar Bechev

delfoo.bsky.social
Stanimir Dobrev @delfoo.bsky.social · 2d
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.

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · 15d
On the photo - the Kairos, an oim tanker from Russia's shadow fleet hit by an Ukrainian drone. Turks dragged it into Bulgarian waters.
dimitarbechev.bsky.social Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · 17d
Ahtopol (Agathoupolis), Bulgaria. Photo by Borislav Kamilov

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · 17d
Ahtopol (Agathoupolis), Bulgaria. Photo by Borislav Kamilov

Reposted by Dimitar Bechev

erikaschlager.bsky.social
Erika Schlager @erikaschlager.bsky.social · 17d
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?...
Hungary’s 2026 Elections Stakes and Challenges
YouTube video by The German Marshall Fund of the United States
youtu.be

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Albert Weale, Dimitar Bechev

szabolcspanyi.bsky.social
Szabolcs Panyi @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social · 20d
Voice of the Kremlin, Dimitriev means.

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Nov 17
@ecfr.eu

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Nov 17
We just published a paper on Europe-China by @jankaoertel.bsky.social

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

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Nov 14
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?

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Nov 14
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.

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Dimitar Bechev

bellingcat.com
Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · Nov 14
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...
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.
www.bellingcat.com

Reposted by Dimitar Bechev

biepag.bsky.social
Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) @biepag.bsky.social · Nov 7
🔔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
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...
carnegieendowment.org

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Nov 6
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...
Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Oct 31
“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.

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Oct 31
Thanks for the heads-up ;)

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Oct 31
Charles King writing more than 20 years ago. The Black Sea: A History (Oxford UP: 2004), p. 4.

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Oct 31
Up there with the historic Delors one.
anandmenon.bsky.social Anand Menon @anandmenon.bsky.social · Oct 31
Say what you want about them, they do a great headline.

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Oct 31
Netflix is on it.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, David Underdown, Kathleen Kennedy , and 1 more

garius.bsky.social
John Bull @garius.bsky.social · Oct 31
The last survivor of the Crimean War died in 2004.

"Timothy" spent 40 years in the Navy. After retirement, having moved in with the Earl of Devon, she revealed she was a girl.

She would wander round his garden wearing a sign that said. "My name is Timothy. I am very old. Pease do not pick me up".
Picture of a venerable naval tortoise with a sign tied to her shell

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Oct 31
The closing chapter in my forthcoming book The Scramble for Europe: Russia, China and Turkey Challenging Regional Order discusses rearmament @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
sophiepedder.bsky.social Sophie Pedder @sophiepedder.bsky.social · Oct 31
Our cover this week

“Europe should take heart and recognise its own strength. Its military budget is already four times larger than Russia’s; its economy is ten times larger. Far from shying away from a financial contest with the Kremlin, Europe should embrace it—and win the war”

Reposted by Dimitar Bechev

wartranslated.bsky.social
WarTranslated (Dmitri) @wartranslated.bsky.social · Oct 31
Indian Oil Corp resumed buying Russian crude purchasing five cargoes from non-sanctioned entities for December delivery despite US pressure to stop, while other major Indian refiners paused purchases after sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Reuters reports.
www.reuters.com/business/ene...

Reposted by Daniel W. Drezner, Dimitar Bechev

christopherjm.ft.com
Christopher Miller @christopherjm.ft.com · Oct 31
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...
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
www.ft.com

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Oct 31
Another meaning in Bulgarian would be horse trader. Biser (meaning Pearl) Dzhambazov is a bit of all three I suppose.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...
Putin’s Minions: How Russia Spies (Ep 1)
Podcast Episode · The Rest Is Classified · 27/04/2025 · 33m
podcasts.apple.com

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Oct 31
Listened to an old episode on
@restisclassified.bsky.social
on Russia's Bulgarian spy ring in the UK. At some point,
@gordoncorera.bsky.social & D. McClosley
struggle with the surname "Dzhambazov".It actually comes from the Persian jānbāz /جانباز (veteran) -> Turkish cambaz (daredevil/acrobat)

dimitarbechev.bsky.social
Dimitar Bechev @dimitarbechev.bsky.social · Oct 31
For my part, I've been angling for setting up a sultanistic regime in Abingdon-on-Thames.

Reposted by Dimitar Bechev

sophiepedder.bsky.social
Sophie Pedder @sophiepedder.bsky.social · Oct 31
Our cover this week

“Europe should take heart and recognise its own strength. Its military budget is already four times larger than Russia’s; its economy is ten times larger. Far from shying away from a financial contest with the Kremlin, Europe should embrace it—and win the war”

Reposted by Dimitar Bechev

anandmenon.bsky.social
Anand Menon @anandmenon.bsky.social · Oct 31
Say what you want about them, they do a great headline.