Bartłomiej Gajos
PhD. Historian. I work for the Polish think-tank Mieroszewski Centre, covering Russia and Ukraine. Currently based in Brussels.
- Bergedorfer ’94: German minister blunt on NATO, Swiss expert warned on Ukraine, Polish envoy exposed Russia’s lack of goals. Putin & Kokoshin hinted post-91 borders were “unsatisfactory.” No one spoke of a NATO “promise.” I unpack the story on my Substack: bartekgajos.substack.com/p/putin-at-b...
- In March 1994, a group of politicians and experts gathered in St. Petersburg for a little-known event: the 101st Bergedorfer Gesprächskreis - a closed-door roundtable. The topic? Russia’s internal situation and relations with NATO.🧵 LINK: bartekgajos.substack.com/p/st-petersb...
- Folks, I’m cooking something for you on my Substack - dropping tomorrow. In 1994, Putin, Sobchak, Ruhe, Meyer-Landrut, and others discussed the future of Russia and its relations with the West. The protocol from Bergedorfer adds a lot to our understanding of Putin and the Russian elite.
- What came first: Russian imperialism or NATO enlargement? This isn’t your mem historian’s take that traces every war back to the Neolithic. We’re talking about formative political debates - those that shaped Putin’s worldview in the 1990s. My📜 in Nationalities Papers.🧵
- This from Navalnaya is troubling. “Crimea belongs to Ukraine, but de facto it’s in Russian hands. It becomes a complicated issue, millions of people have Russian passports… even Ukrainian authorities admit it’s complicated,”. Normalization of occupation without openly endorsing?
- A much-needed panel on Russian opposition and society at RUTA. Key takeaway: when Russian opposition leaders adapt to society as it is - imperial and apathetic in its majority - they risk replicating the regime. @ervitz.bsky.social, Franziska Davies, V. Pekar.
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- We have a new poll from the Levada on whom Russians consider the most outstanding figures of all time. Stalin remains at the top. Imagine if German officials or public praised Hitler’s strategic brilliance in 1938. Let me explain🧵