Ukrainian drone "sanctions" on Ru oil continue to achieve success. This is Ukraine's path to victory.

Wow. Today the ECJ found Hungary violated EU law with its anti-gay statute, but the most revolutionary part of the decision is that the Court found that Art. 2 TEU, laying out European values, could be used as an independent legal ground in cases before the Court. curia.europa.eu/site/upload/...

Yes, similar. He was nominated by the communist successor party in 2016 but this is his new party. Siphoned off many votes from his old party and finally sent them into the grave

yeah, unbelievable gall to call asking for mutual respect with Ru "pragmatic" when Ru threatens and kills Europeans every day. I'm a big pragmatist and want the Taliban to respect women's rights.

Very! And the danger is that he sells it as “make Europe stronger” not as euroskepticism. So he might inspire similar framing in other member states.

Good question. We’ll see— my guess is he wants both!

Btw, just to emphasize because some readers got confused-- "Europe should abandon Ukr and go back to cheap Ru energy to be stronger and strategically autonomous" is Radev's line right now, NOT my opinion. This line is deeply pro-Ru and no amount of disclaimers by Radev can change that.

He’s very slippery. He claims his pro-Ru positions are pro-European; that they are in Europe’s best interest. The party title doesn’t truly matter— his manifesto is full of far right dog whistles about “moral health” of society

I think this is a common characteristic of political parties in Eastern European countries that are leaning to Russian rhetoric. Ideologically, they are a mix of left-right ideas, and in reality what defines them is populism and the appetite for corruption.

Bizarre indeed. Many chose not to see the contradiction and hope he’s anticorruption and not too Putinist.

Not what it is now and hopefully Radev can't take steps towards making it that.

Absolutely agree! I'm just relaying Radev's position.

Radev's party, called Progressive Bulgaria, should NOT be described as progressive or leftist. It's not that by a long-shot! The platform takes far-right positions on social issues, opposes renewable energy/Green Deal, and proposes tax breaks even though Bg has a 10% flat income/corporate tax.

I hadn't thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, it's a very good point. Zelensky recently said Witkoff and Kushner are convinced Ru is winning the war.

The waiver Trump signed isn’t going to do Ru much good if Ukraine keeps degrading Ru export capacity.

This is a remarkable and important step.

Ukraine, a country under full scale invasion for 4+ years, is signing deals to co-develop/produce weapons with other countries.

Saudi, UAE and Qatar are not only confident of but also banking on Ukraine being a functional nation state over the next decade.

Kind of. Just to make sure it's clear: "Europe should abandon Ukr and go back to cheap Ru energy to be stronger and strategically autonomous." is Radev's position, not my endorsement of it.

I know. I think those who did, made a mistake.

Of course not. Claiming you're pro-EU and being pro-EU are two different things. Still, claiming you're pro-EU is different from being an obstructionist euroskeptic. That's why I'm saying this is a new phenomenon. We have plenty of the latter.

Definitely not a uniquely American problem!

Radev entered politics in 2016 with Ru intelligence help. This is how Gemini summarizes the background. @ruslantrad.bsky.social

If Borisov hadn’t brought down the GERB-PP/DP govt at the rotation in March 2024, he would still be in government today. Да би мирно седяло, не би чудо видяло, as the Bulgarian saying goes. He played 3D chess and lost big time.

💯💯

He’s very careful. When he talks about new security architecture, he means with Ru instead of against Ru. He also mentioned energy in the next sentence in a veiled nod to Ru energy

The Socialists are dead. Finally. But I can't laugh since Radev isn't much better than Zarkov.

I'm hoping his pro-Ru leanings will be constrained. But I'm highly skeptical that he'll be an improvement on the status quo domestically.

My focus is Ukraine, but I do comment on major developments in Bulgaria too. I'd recommend @dimitarbechev.bsky.social and @ruslantrad.bsky.social

He's campaigned on that because that wins votes. Borisov did it too for his first 2-3 elections. My point is someone who sees Ru as a partner/role model cannot be interested in breaking up the oligarchic model; more likely, he's interested in replacing the current incumbent oligarchs with his own.

Given that he came onto the political scene w major help from a Ru regime agent, I think your friends are onto something.

Yes, except Salvini is euroskeptic and Radev will be claiming he's pro-EU