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Kristof Bender

@kristofbender.bsky.social
1K followers 444 following 524 posts

For a strong & democratic Europe. Balkans, Moldova, Ukraine. Asylum policy, HR Deputy chair European Stability Initiative (ESI), Europe’s Futures @iwm.at kristofbender.eu, www.esiweb.org

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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
2000 pupils, 70% with a „migration story“, but hardly any leave this school in Hesse without a school-leaving certificate (as Germans say). Very interesting and encouraging piece why this school is so successful (in German). It should be replicable. www.zeit.de/2026/42/bert...
zeit.de
Bertha-von-Suttner-Schule: Hat diese Brennpunktschule in Hessen die Lösung für die Bildungskrise?
Migranten mit schlechtem Deutsch, Kinder mit schlechten Aussichten – aber ein großer Teil besteht das Abitur. Wie die Bertha-von-Suttner-Schule das geschafft hat
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 27/09/2026
Google finally updated some of its satellite images of Gaza and my god, it's horrific. The entirety of Rafah has been demolished. The majority of Khan Younis is in ruins. Entire towns completely leveled and erased of the map.
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#Salzburg
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Interesting map! In Europe: Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Bosnia, North Macedonia and Turkey. 4 out of 6 from SEE!
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Borders can be moved. They can also be made invisible. In the Western Balkans, Europe has a choice about which path to take. A process to join Schengen for the WB would give a welcome boost to EU credibility. It would also contribute to lasting peace in the region. balkaninsight.com/2026/09/25/b...
balkaninsight.com
Bringing the Balkans into Schengen: a Win-Win Scenario for Europe
Inviting Western Balkan countries into Europe’s borderless travel area would ease their frontier disputes and revive EU credibility at the same time.
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Right move! balkaninsight.com/2026/09/24/b...
balkaninsight.com
Bosnia Dismisses Two Soldiers for Glorifying Ratko Mladic
Defence Ministry terminates contracts of two soldiers who honoured the legacy of convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 24/09/2026
‘Shiber and Bonnefous were respectable middle-class women who had no history of challenging the authorities. But confronted with the Vichy regime and the Occupation they felt they had to act.’ Daniel Lee on women of the French resistance. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Daniel Lee · Night and Fog: Women of the Resistance
Etta Shiber’s account of life in Nazi-occupied Paris shows a vivid domestic world seldom seen in comparable memoirs....
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Die EU sollte den Westbalkanstaaten einen Fahrplan für den Beitritt in den Schengen-Raum anbieten. Wäre ein nötiger Schub für die Glaubwürdigkeit der EU. Und Grenzen unsichtbar zu machen würde helfen, Grenzstreitigkeiten zu überwinden, und zu dauerhaftem Frieden beitragen. www.nzz.ch/meinung/gren...
nzz.ch
Der Westbalkan und die EU: Grenzen unsichtbar machen, statt sie zu verschieben
Trotz der Ambition, auch die Sprache der Machtpolitik zu beherrschen, tut sich die EU schwer damit, in ihrer unmittelbaren Nachbarschaft Einfluss auszuüben. Das betrifft vor allem den Westbalkan, wo s...
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The Economist @economist.com · 23/09/2026
Individual incidents may appear random, but as a whole they show a pattern of disruption and intelligence gathering. They are calibrated to be large enough to have an impact while remaining below the threshold that would prompt a NATO military response
bit.ly
Russia’s grey-zone attacks on Europe are growing more brazen
The Europeans will have to start fighting back
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Henry Foy @henryjfoy.ft.com · 23/09/2026
So it's official. EU sanctions on Russia are no longer only for the benefit of Ukraine's existential fight against Moscow's invasion - they are now currency for EU capitals to trade for prisoners. Welcome to the Brussels bazaar.
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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 22/09/2026
A UN fact-finding mission has claimed that a Feb. 28 missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, Iran, that killed more than 150 people likely constitutes a war crime. Bellingcat was the first to identify the weapon that hit the school as a US Tomahawk missile.
youtube.com
Video Analysis Shows Two Waves of Bombings in Iran Elementary School Strike
YouTube video by Bellingcat
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 21/09/2026
four more years! four more years! 🥳 www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
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Anton Shekhovtsov @shekhovtsov.substack.com · 21/09/2026
A journalist asked what I thought about the elections in Russia. I said that elections in Russia would be a great thing, and I look forward to seeing them.
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The Economist @economist.com · 21/09/2026
China’s young people are struggling in a brutal job market that has upended people’s expectations of what it takes to succeed in the country bit.ly/4xZltgl Photo: Qilai Shen/The New York Times/Redux/Eyevine
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Paula Erizanu @paulaerizanu.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Drones violating Moldovan airspace have become more and more frequent over the past few days. On Saturday, a drone exploded in the centre, and another flying object was recorded in the northeastern region of the country last night www.zdg.md/stiri/o-dron...
zdg.md
O dronă a survolat R. Moldova. Spațiul aerian a fost restricționat în zona de nord a țării
Serviciul operații aeriene al R. Moldova informează că la data de 21 septembrie 2026, ora 00:17, sistemele de supraveghere din dotare au detectat în spațiul aerian național traversarea neautorizată a ...
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
In 1995 more than 8000 Bosnian Muslims were killed by Serb forces around Srebrenica. Tens of thousands of their descendants returned. Yesterday evening I passed the downtown mosque in Zvornik. No one was there, but all doors were unlocked. I could just walk in. Unimaginable in many other countries.
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 18/09/2026
The west must hurry to catch up with Ukraine on AI combat ft.trib.al/BTglEx8
ft.trib.al
The west must hurry to catch up with Ukraine on AI combat
Technological innovations mean that the terms of military conflict have changed — forever
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Europe 2026.
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Oliver Das Gupta @oliverdasgupta.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Servus Österreich 🇦🇹 Die radikal rechte #FPÖ feiert nun Jörg Haider - große #Heuchelei. Herbert Kickl und seine Kader wollen vergessen machen, wie übel sie #Haider vor seinem Unfalltod geschmäht haben - rassistisch, homophob und als nicht mehr ganz bei Trost. Eine Auswahl: #Thread 1) „Türken-Jörg“
OTS
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22.03.2006, 12:01:04 / OTS0133 OTW0133
Vilimsky: "Türken-Jörg" macht sich einmal mehr zur obersten Lachnummer in Österreich!
FPÖ kann ohne Haider wieder ehrliche Politik in rot-weiß-rot machen und steigt von Umfrage zu Umfrage
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The Russian House in Berlin may lose its treaty basis for operating as a cultural institution, but the Russian Federation’s property title will be much more difficult to terminate, argues Bernhard Knoll-Tudor in @verfassungsblog.de. Thorough legal analysis: verfassungsblog.de/closing-with...
verfassungsblog.de
Closing Without Closure
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
What is true about the stories of "sniper safaris" in besieged Sarajevo? Allegedly, "tourists" payed a lot to be allowed to shoot from Serb positions on civilians. In a 10-minutes documentary, BIRN and @artefr.bsky.social show that evidence is scarce and contradictory. www.arte.tv/en/videos/12...
arte.tv
Sarajevo: Were there really sniper safaris? - Watch the full documentary | ARTE in English
"Human safaris" carried out during the Bosnian War in the mid-1990s. During the siege of Sarajevo, wealthy Europeans are alleged to have paid to shoot at civilians from Bosnian Serb sniper posts. Thes...
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Paula Erizanu @paulaerizanu.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Chilling polls in Romania: far right AUR scores 39,7%, centre left PSD: 18,7%, centre right PNL: 16,3%, centre right USR: 9% in opinion polls amp.dw.com/ro/aur-e-la-...
amp.dw.com
Sondaj INSCOP: AUR e la 40%. PSD și PNL nu au împreună atât
AUR conduce detașat în preferințele românilor pentru parlamentare, cu aproape 40% din voturi, potrivit celui mai recent Barometru INSCOP Research. PSD și PNL ocupă următoarele poziții, la mică distanț...
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
9 years ago Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated. Nobody has been convicted of ordering her murder. @omtzigt.bsky.social & Emanuel Delia argue that much of the corruption she exposed remains unpunished and that it’s high time for Europe to pay attention again. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Nine years after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, Europe must finally address Malta’s culture of impunity | Pieter Omtzigt and Emanuel Delia
Much of the corruption exposed by this brave woman remains unpunished. Brussels must carry on her work and demand reform, say Pieter Omtzigt of the Council of Europe and campaigner Emanuel Delia
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Liam Hoare 🇺🇦 @liamhoare.com · 10/09/2026
In August, 29 percent of newly registered cars in Austria were electric. 28 percent were hybrids, and another 12 percent plug-in hybrids. The decline in both pure petrol- and diesel-powered cars in Austria is really quite stark. @selektiv.bsky.social
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
My work space today
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
What would #Austria do in the case of a Russian attack on another EU member? It could hide behind its neutrality or declare it a direct attack, which would suspend neutrality. It is a political decision. It should be the latter. And 🇦🇹 should prepare for it now. www.derstandard.at/story/300000...
derstandard.at
Und wenn der Krieg nach Österreich kommt?
An erster Stelle sollte nicht Österreichs Neutralität stehen, sondern Österreichs Sicherheit. Das ist nicht dasselbe
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Szabolcs Panyi @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
💥BREAKING: Péter Magyar's Hungarian government expels 10 Russian diplomats from Budapest for violating the Vienna Convention, foreign minister Anita Orbán just announced—the first official expulsion since the Skripal poisoning in 2018. As the 1956 graffiti on the wall said: "Russians, go home.”
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Exit poll-based estimate for elections in #Sachsen-Anhalt. No absolute majority for AfD, but BSW narrowly represented as well. This means no majority for CDU, SDP, Greens and Linke taken together. Actual results might differ considerably.
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Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Occasional reminder that there is an ICC arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes in connection with the mass abduction of Ukrainian children.
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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Canadian PM Mark Carney: I’ve met Putin in the past, multiple times. He only understands strength and directness. And the message would be simple: get out of Ukraine, give back all of Ukraine to Ukraine, end this war, which is killing more than 30,000 of your people every single month.
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Why Saxony-Anhalt Matters New ESI newsletter The German constitution provides for the opportunity to have the constitutional court examine if a party should be banned because it threatens the constitutional order. CDU should join SDP and Greens. And use it! www.esiweb.org/newsletter/w...
esiweb.org
Why Saxony-Anhalt Matters – Call to action – Dessau 1932 to 2026
Can a party, the Alternative für Deutschland or Alternative for Germany (AfD) which the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified as far-right extremist, take over a regional ...
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
“It is not part of the concept of democracy that it creates the preconditions for its own abolition … One must also have the courage to be intolerant towards those who want to use democracy to kill it.” (Carlo Schmid, SDP, 1948) Why Germany's Grundgesetz is as it is. #Saxony-Anhalt #elections
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The Economist @economist.com · 30/08/2026
Romania is not usually seen as a green pioneer. But the country’s approach to boosting its solar energy capacity could be a model for other European countries
bit.ly
Europe’s new renewable-energy champion is a surprise
Romania is leading the EU in combining solar power and batteries
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The Economist @economist.com · 29/08/2026
Donald Trump is no lame duck. Foreign governments should forget this dream and instead study mountain gorillas—and the violence of which an ageing silverback male is capable, when it senses its time is up
bit.ly
As his presidency flounders, Donald Trump is more dangerous than ever
Forget lame ducks. America’s president will defend his dominance like an ageing silverback gorilla
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Important! Germany's social democratic defence minister Boris Pistorius & Baden-Württemberg's Green PM Cem Özdemir call in a joint op-ed in @faznet.bsky.social to start party-ban proceedings against the AfD at Germany's constitutional court. Time for CDU to fall in line! www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...
faz.net
Cem Özdemir und Boris Pistorius plädieren für ein Verbot des völkischen Teils der AfD
Die NPD wurde nicht verboten, weil sie zu unbedeutend war. Das ist ein starkes Argument dafür, die AfD vom Bundesverfassungsgericht prüfen zu lassen.
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
😂😂😂
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Thorsten Benner @tbenner.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Europeans would be well advised to believe that positions like those of J. Kavanagh & Justin Logan will gain currency with post-Trump administrations regardless of whether Republican or Democrat. And act accordingly working towards taking 🇪🇺defense fully into European hands.
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Franz-Stefan Gady @hoanssolo.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
“Long-range strike is what both sides do because it’s the one domain where they can still act when the ground war is stalemated. It will likely get steadily more destructive without being decisive.”
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Attacks inside the EU, some attempted, others carried out, are on the rise. They are not only an issue of security. They impact society, nurturing insecurity and fear. Uncountered this is dangerous. High time to stop shying away from the question of what we want to achieve - for Ukraine & for us.
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The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 26/08/2026
“As it happens, my own family by marriage also has World War II–era ties to Amrum. This story, like Akin’s film, has elements of a German volksmärchen.” —J. Hoberman
nybooks.com
Ghosts of Amrum | J. Hoberman
The story of Amrum—a German movie about the last days and immediate aftermath of World War II as experienced by a twelve-year-old boy on the isolated
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euobserver — EU news that matters @euobserver.com · 26/08/2026
As Iceland’s elites quietly bankroll a fiery ‘no’ campaign, a veteran pro-EU economist warns they are using money, fear and Kremlin-style talking points to shut down even the right to negotiate with Brussels.
euobserver.com
[Interview] Oligarchs could hijack Reykjavík’s EU referendum, Icelandic professor warns
As Iceland’s elites quietly bankroll a fiery ‘no’ campaign, a veteran pro-EU economist warns they are using money, fear and Kremlin-style talking points to shut down even the right to negotiate with Brussels.
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
How close are Austria's FPÖ and the Identitarian movement? An investigation by @derstandard.at reveals documents showing close ties between the youth organisation of the FPÖ and the Identitarians. Is the FPÖ in breach of Austria's constitution? (in German) www.derstandard.at/story/300000...
derstandard.at
Geheime Dokumente belegen Pakt zwischen FPÖ-Jugend und Identitären sowie braune Umtriebe
Die FPÖ-Jugend nutzt die identitäre Tarnorganisation "Aktion 451" als Kaderschmiede, während dort "Arierknochen" vermessen werden. Whistleblower packen aus, die FJ reagiert empört
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 25/08/2026
"I was not shocked that he helped somebody. My shock is that he was murdered. And no one has given us the complete truth or anyone has been held accountable. And it's been 7 months! ... there was more effort in vilifying him than pursuing justice" -- Alex Pretti's parents
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 21/08/2026
Ukraine is requesting approval from Elon Musk to use Starlink-equipped drones against ballistic missile launchers up to 200km inside Russia as it struggles to counter intensifying missile and drone strikes. ft.trib.al/KfOL5xw
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Interesting! The Kremlin‘s back and forth, eventually blocking Jabloko’s participation in the upcoming Duma elections in September suggests the Kremlin fears a strong shift against the war among the population, writes @cathyyoung63.bsky.social. www.thebulwark.com/p/the-real-d...
thebulwark.com
The Real Danger of Russia’s Fake Elections
The anti-war, anti-government sentiment was apparently more than Putin bargained for.
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Franziska Davies @efdavies.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Today, Russia‘s youngest political civilian prisoner turns 24. He has been held in captivity since June 2022 when he was illegally abducted from his home in Ukraine. #StandWithUkraine #CrimeaIsUkraine
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Big tech & far right: 'US campaigning expertise was already professionalising Europe’s far right, he added. Sellner is developing “customer relationship management” software to mobilise what he claimed were about 100,000 pro-remigration activists across Europe.' giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Remigration binds Maga to Europe’s far right
Once-taboo idea of mass expulsions returns to European nations after Trump embrace
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The Economist @economist.com · 19/08/2026
Shortages of munitions are common in wartime, especially in big, attritional wars. Yet America is running short after a brief war against a medium-sized power. What if it had to fight mighty China? bit.ly/45BXTd3 Photo: Reuters
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
More evidence of how anti-government protestors were paid and votes bought by Ilan Shor's network at the last #Moldovan presidential elections and EU referendum: evidenceofabsence.substack.com/p/pay-to-ple...
evidenceofabsence.substack.com
Pay to PLEI
Reconstructed GPS logs from an A7 server prove Moldova's protestors were paid, and AI checked that they showed up and what they shared online.
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Kristof Bender @kristofbender.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Jeffrey Ladish, former Anthropic researcher: “A couple of years where things get hacked, a lot of companies get destroyed.” Eventually, he argues, systems will be more secure as companies and governments adapt their networks to AI hacks. That's not reassuring! giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
AI hasn’t gone rogue. It’s worse than that
Recent cyber attacks reflect what the technology was trained to do but safeguards are falling short
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