"Moldova’s ruling pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity has learned to anticipate and counter Russia’s moves better than almost any peer in the region. But it is struggling to effectively engage the pro-democracy swing voters, address their concerns, and demonstrate tangible benefits from Europe."

“I can't recall the far-right manifesting itself in the Netherlands in recent years in such a massive and public way as it did on Saturday…the taboo has truly disappeared. And then you get this. It's very worrying." archive.is/2025.09.22-1...

I don't think it's that complicated. You're looking at a bunch of rich people who want to be more rich

Big Bloomberg report on Russian election meddling in Moldova. Tactics include recruitment of Moldovan voters abroad, staging protest and disinfo campaigns, and (this seems like the worst one) “the use of compromising material to pressure public officials to disrupt the electoral process.”

BEYOND DOUBT: The Putin regime runs a state-sponsored program to assassinate political opponents with military-grade chemical weapons. 🧵 Navalny's death was part of it, and the Dossier Center findings suggest his 2020 poisoner finished the job in prison

Thrilled to contribute to a new report on the state of the Transatlantic relationship for ORF. In my chapter, "An American Perspective on the Transatlantic Partnership," I highlight a few likely outcomes for US-European relations given the Trump Administration's current approach. 👇

US has now applied Global Magnitsky sanctions that are intended for grave human rights violationsto the wife of Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes. Total perversion of the law.

📣 Call to CSOs in Europe: Have your say in a new COE study on civil society restrictions! 📆 DDL: September 25 More info here: www.coe.int/en/web/civil...

JUST IN: The Anti-Corruption Bureau has begun repressive proceedings against 30 more NGOs in Georgia, including an animal shelter.

You know why ethnic minorities in the UK always feel second-class as if they're never safe in this country and could be asked to leave at any time? This is why:

Just published, my piece on the U.S. Armenia-Azerbaijan deal and its prospects. There is a lot of hard work still to be done, I argue, but the shared coincidence of interests that neither country wants Russia as a guarantor has been transformative. www.foreignaffairs.com/armenia/unli...

Gotta hand it to Armenia. Small country but feisty.

“52% of all autocratization episodes become U-Turns, which increases to 73% when focusing on the last 30 years. The vast majority of U-Turns (90%) lead to restored or even improved levels of democracy” V-Dem data

Spoke with Daniel Boffey for his @theguardian.com piece today on Hunnewell Partners. Good to see the issue getting more attention. Some links to my prior reporting on the group below. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

The Trump regime is seeking "regime change in Europe" former Chatham House director Robin Niblet tells the New York Times. This American-led global far right movement is turning into the Comintern of our times, warns Dutch historian @luukvmiddelaar.bsky.social. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/w...

I’m feeling a bit chipper today. Argentina obviously has huge problems that needed to be fixed but what was especially offensive to me was how every muppet on the planet inferred that their (in many instances, vastly more functional) countries needed the Milei treatment.

Good thread.

That Trump specifically refers to what Brian de Palma made up in SCARFACE confirms what I hypothized in this piece!! prospect.org/politics/202...

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s... Article doesn't have much that's new for people following #Georgia & reading @willneal.bsky.social coverage of Imedi and Hunnewell but at least brings the malfeasance to an even wider audience.

Dear followers, I have a request for you. I'm presently back in Ukraine again, and looking to make a reporting trip out to Donbas soon. The costs of this are not low, though, and keep growing as media budgets shrink. That's why I'm asking for your help to make this trip work. /1

Far-right thugs rampage in the Hague, attacking police and the HQ of centrist party D66. While parliament condemns the threat of “fascist” antifa. Shame on every politician -including VVD ones - who spent the last year ramping up tensions to win votes. You don’t get to do that and then condemn this.

The performative absurdity of border controls on the German-French are on full display between Kehl and Strasbourg. Traffic jams on the Pont d’Europe with police controls and a tram whizzing by with passengers commuting between the two countries.

Here is an in-depth privacy and security guide by @fightforthefuture.org that goes beyond the basics, answering questions about VPNs and how to run an anonymous blog. There are also quick references but I recommend reading the 43-page PDF. www.turnoffyourphone.org

The past week has shown us something scary — the concrete and specific outlines of a durable authoritarian state in America. Here's what this state would look like, and the precise policy levers Trump is pulling to get there from here. www.vox.com/politics/462...

If true, we might as well bury the concept of rule of law conditionality. The EU cannot keep letting itself be blackmailed by Orbán into unfreezing funds withheld over rule of law violations in exchange for lifting his veto, unless it truly wants to lose all credibility as a guardian of EU values

ICE has a new contract with Magnet for its mobile forensic extraction tool Graykey techcrunch.com/2025/09/18/i... For travellers entering the US 🇺🇸, be prepared for possible device seizures. I spoke about this to CBC The Current @mattgalloway.bsky.social a while back here: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

#Moldova The NGO Promo-LEX has uncovered a new network of fake TikTok accounts spreading disinformation about Moldova, often using AI-generated images.The hashtag used by the network (#alegmoldova) has amassed over 1.3 million views in just 72 hours. promolex.md/retele-masiv...

The far-right majority in the Dutch parliament (BBB-FvD-JA21-PVV-SGP-VVD) has just designated “Antifa” a terrorist organization. This is a dark day for Dutch democracy and the final nail in the coffin of the VVD as a serious liberal democratic party.

Russians say the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s show feels familiar. Here’s what became of the country’s TV comedy shows that dared to criticize the Putin administration. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

"“influence operations” is an utterly inaccurate term to describe what is happening in Moldova...Russia and its proxies are sowing the ground to reject the results of the elections [should the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity secure a majority]" By @laurathornton.bsky.social

To be fair, they may sign a peace agreement sooner than Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Who could possibly have predic…. Oh!

Academia dot edu licensing agreement says it can use your likeness and voice and publications in any manner they want, world wide.

Excellent testimony & recommendations from @gmfus.bsky.social @danielhegedus.bsky.social at the U.S. Congressional @tlhumanrights.bsky.social hearing on “Laws Regulating Foreign NGOs: Human Rights Implications” — touches on Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu4B...

I recently found this site with a list of government accounts in general, including eu: govsky.org

“Like and subscribe” government is a great way to think about it

That's next hour sorted

For EU nerds, helpful list of all EP Committees now on Bluesky:

Strong argument for moving Bluesky's data infrastructure to the EU

Feel like you’re going mad watching fiction become fact, anti-fascism become fascism, hate become love, and aggression become respect under Trump? Now you know how it feels to have spent 20 years studying Russia. And guess what? It only gets more crazy.

Shame on Downing Street for going along with this. So much for being committed to a free press

I'm going with "no"

You know things are rough when the AAUP's advice on how to use social media is just "set all your accounts to private."

I’m not saying Britain has gone entirely batshit crazy but a Reform councillor in Wales has just stormed out of a local Torfaen Council meeting in Gwent because it failed to acknowledge the killing of a man in America. In other news, Britain has gone entirely batshit crazy.

I wrote something bloggish about the resemblance between the CHP and the Democratic Party, as two parties that see themselves as systemic at a moment when the system is trying to destroy them: nateschenkkan.substack.com/p/against-th...

Here is a statement from foundations, including those that were threatened by the White House a few days ago: medium.com/@uniteinadva...

⚡️Germany shifts stance on frozen Russian funds, now supports use for Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. Berlin's previously cautious position on seizing the assets has shifted, partly due to fears that if the U.S. withdraws aid to Ukraine, the burden will fall disproportionately on Berlin.

NYT reported in Aug. that long-time Putin aide Dmitri Kozak — the only senior Kremlin official to speak openly (not publicly) against the Ukraine war — had “lost power” to Kiriyenko. Today, RBC reports that Kozak has resigned and will explore retirement as a businessman. www.rbc.ru/politics/17/...