Back in Tirana, where the only constant in the skyline is Mount Dajt in the background

Watching James Rubin testify in The Hague today in the trial of Hashim Thaci reminds me of how extraordinarily capable US diplomats and State Department employees used to be — no matter what you think of his/Clinton’s relationship with the KLA.

On Monday, Peter Thiel begins a secret four-part Antichrist lecture series in San Francisco. What the hell is going on? Why all this bible doom talk? I talked to an Antichrist historian & a theologian about this outbreak of tech apocalypse hype: www.thenerdreich.com/peter-thiel-...

reading Nick Fuentes' Wikipedia page, due to The News, and I mean I just don't think these are words that should be put together in that order, in the context of a person who is relevant to current affairs

Some prescient observations from twenty years ago (Paul Ginsborg’s ‘Silvio Berlusconi: Television, Power and Patrimony’, 2005)

Geuzenbond leader Thomas D., arrested last week on terror and weapons charges, has been evicted from his Erp residence - the group's clubhouse. The second person who lived there has been named as *another* one of the three individuals we identified in our Feb 2024 @bellingcat.com article

Geuzenbond has (finally) confirmed in a statement that their leader Thomas D. was the individual arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist offence and weapons charges last week (I’m not resharing here). The organization identifies him themselves as “Thomas”, for what it’s worth.

Serbian protests turned violent this week, with even President Aleksandar Vučić acknowledging that a long-running standoff with his opponents has entered “the phase of beatings,” in a TV interview last night.

Putin said “Trump says the war wouldn’t have started if he was in power, and I can confirm that.” Right — as if he hadn’t personally ordered the invasion, but was merely swept along by some cosmic force beyond his control. Give me a break

I swear, Putin rambling on about WWII and visiting WWII monuments over and over again — and I say this as someone obsessed with Eastern European history — is getting really fucking old

“Next time in Moscow.” When Putin says it, in English, it suddenly sounds like the most ominous phrase in the English language

asked if he'll "commit to not killing any more civilians," Putin smirks and says something that you can't hear above the total chaos of the pool spray

I hate this cursed feeling when, yet again, the fate of me and my people is being decided by some old man across the ocean who has nothing to do with my country.

In the Netherlands, a 24-year-old man from Erp was arrested yesterday in Badhoevedorp, near Amsterdam, on suspicion of preparing a terrorist offense. The suspect is believed to be a member of Geuzenbond, a far-right group we wrote about last year @bellingcat.com www.rtl.nl/nieuws/binne...

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s battered post-war political system could lose its villain after the country’s election body stripped pro-Russian separatist politician Milorad Dodik of office and banned him from political activity for at least six years today.

Man, I can’t remember the last time I went through someone’s mentions and ended up liking almost every response disagreeing with them

Stark warning from the AFP journalists association "Since AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and prisoners in our ranks, but none of us can recall seeing a colleague die of hunger" www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-ea...

A searing and exquisitely written piece by @julianborger.bsky.social from Srebrenica as Bosnia marks the 30th anniversary of the genocide today. The rawness of the grief and pain is felt in every line 💔 www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Heartbreaking www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/o...

At a recent Oval Office event Trump invoked Serbia and Kosovo again, claiming he’d just defused an “imminent” war — a conflict so stealthy that literally no one in Kosovo, Serbia or the wider Balkans knew it was taking place.

Armenia’s Pashinyan and his fight with the Apostolic Church has gotten so bad that they’re accusing him of “not really being Christian” because he’s “circumcised.” So naturally Pashinyan does the mature thing and proceeds to offer the bishops a *live demonstration* www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Thousands of miles away from the Israeli airstrikes raining down on Iran, the Iranian hacker group Homeland Justice is chipping away at the digital infrastructure of a southern European country.

Looking for new people to follow on this website bc I miss the old Twitter. Send me your recommendations for: • Journalists • Eastern Europe experts • Journalists focusing on Eastern Europe • EU/Brussels bubble nerds • People thinking about the future of European defense • Anyone you really love

I appear to have written about Melania Trump being chopped off at the ankles. The statue of her in her Slovenian hometown, Sevnica, that is. In the course of writing I realised just how many Wes Anderson films I'd seen. And how many of them involve an unlikely heist. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Might start monetizing my Eurovision instincts next year

Before everyone goes into conspiracy theories, here is the occam's razor reason.

I had been toying with an article on Israel, Eurovision, and why the whole thing goes beyond one show and into the entire future of public service broadcasting in the country and is therefore a bit complicated. But to be honest, this basically explains it really quickly: youtu.be/hx5FTDI00bA?...

YAAAAY AUSTRIA WON! #Eurovision

Okay, everyone, the fuck? Malta 8 points? The fuck? The fuck? The actual fuck? #ESC #ESC2025 #Eurovision

What in the holy Eurovision voting chaos is this?

Italy giving 10 points to Espresso Macchiato (a song making fun of their culture) and 12 to the UK (a country they claim has no culture) is… classic Italy. #Eurovision

Ukraine just gave 12 points to getting German Taurus missiles #Eurovision

It really should be Austria, Latvia, or Albania — but don’t listen to me, I also thought Zuppi was going to be Pope so my prediction ability clearly sucks #Eurovision

Fun fact, the dress the Albanian singer is wearing is inspired by a famous (and slightly creepy) legend from their hometown, Shkodra albania360.com/things-to-do...

None of the cultural landmarks in San Marino’s performance are actually *in* San Marino #Eurovision

Greece is a little too much “ancient hatreds” for my taste, iykyk #Eurovision

Germany’s entry has that *classic* Euro-club techno vibe mixed with German chaotic summer party energy #Eurovision

Latvia checks all my boxes: women, vaguely folksy Eastern European vibes and just the right amount of weird #Eurovision

Scott always has the best Eurovision takes — I seriously look forward to them every year

The Prince of Persia vibe meets southern Serbia is peak Balkans #ESC2025 #Eurovision

Malta was one of my favorite early ones for *obvious* reasons… and I also want it to win lol

The Austrian song is so hauntingly beautiful — which makes me think it won’t win — but it absolutely should #ESC2025 #Eurovision

Honestly Roger Federer was one of my teenie crushes and I would LOVE a Roger Federer pillow. #ESC2025 #Eurovision

I love that the most DEI-packed event ever is being broadcast on TV screens and into living rooms across the the entire continent — a fleeting, very sparkly distraction from the general bleakness of these times #ESC2025 #Eurovision

I legitimately thought the Swiss hero they were referring to in the intermission song was Calvin, not William Tell 😂 #ESC2025 #Eurovision

The song isn’t all that but it’s gotten the stuffy clerical types upset in Croatia and we always love that #Eurovision #ESC2025

I have no jokes for Albania because it’s one of my favorites #Eurovision #ESC2025

I think San Marino’s entry is going through an identity crisis #Eurovision #ESC2025

Live-posting about Eurovision is probably the only thing that’ll lift my spirits. While I’m sure it’s better over on Twitter I’m trying my best not to head over there *grumbles in why did Elon Musk have to ruin everything*