Hans van den Berg

WB advisor, analyst & author/diplomatic content & context consultant {ret.).
Upcoming project: MK political instability since 2015, and recent stabilization.

[Hans van den Berg @bipdirector]

@MeAgainstRebels @MiRo_SPD The road to hell is paved with good intentions. It was not just perception but rather genuine endemic corruption, next to other issues like the judiciary, the economy, the emigration of youth, SDSM pro-BG, and what not that made DUI/SDSM lost general, and later local, elections.

[Hans van den Berg @bipdirector]

@franckelbers North Macedonian is incorrect, even though also MinisterPetrova uses it against all conventions & international agreements, e.g. Prespa. Language, identity, citizenship is Macedonian. The latter can also be "citizen of the Republic of North Macedonian" but never North Macedonian.

[Hans van den Berg @bipdirector]

In the process the Bulgarians deliberately use offensive/incorrect expressions like 'North Macedonians' instead of the internationally agreed (as per 'Prespa' etc) 'Macedonians' or 'Citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia'. New BG GOV (8 elections in a row) = pro-RUS/anti-MK.

[Carl Bildt @carlbildt]

Secretary of War Hegseth 🇺🇸 avoids both the NATO Defence Ministers meeting and the Munich Security Conference. I guess he sees Caucasus as safer territory for him. Probably true. https://t.co/yamxPaJh0Z

[AlexandruC4 @AlexandruC4]

Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz: "I have left X. That network is a place of hate.
We are not vassals of Elon Musk or Trump"

[Dow @mark_dow]

Anyone in international finance in New York in the 2000s knew the Russians were laundering their oil windfall money thru Trump. Both Eric and Don Jr even said so publicly. This is the foundation of why Trump is pro-Russia.

That Russia, in 2016, coordinating with the Trump campaign, did everything it could to get Trump elected, just reinforced the relationship.

Now the Ukrainian people are paying for it.

[Iuliia Mendel @IuliiaMendel]

The minimum wage in Ukraine is currently €173 — the lowest in all of Europe.
Luxembourg leads with almost €3,000 a month.
📊 Eurostat data

[NXT EU @NXT4EU]

Denmark has ordered 226 fully automated trains from a Siemens & Stadler consortium.

The fleet will create the world's largest open railway system with autonomous trains.

Ready in 4 years. The future is build in Europe 🇪🇺

[Euromaidan Press @EuromaidanPress]

Russia killed more civilians in 2025 than any year since the full-scale invasion — all under Trump's "peace process."

Deaths up 31% from 2024. 147 drones per night. Both rounds of Abu Dhabi talks accompanied by massive strikes on civilian infrastructure.

"Why has Trump's year of negotiations been the deadliest for civilians? Why did Putin not allow himself such strikes under Biden — but totally destroys peaceful cities under the supposedly 'strong' Trump?" — Nobel laureate @avalaina

The talks gave Russia exactly what it needed: diplomatic cover to escalate while the West hesitated to act. https://t.co/DuWxauQdmx

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Probably one of the most interesting coincidences in modern history.

[Balkan View @BalkanView2025]

🌍 Trump’s “Board of Peace” brings Balkan voices to the table: Nickolay Mladenov from Bulgaria joins, along with Albania and Kosovo, while Greece and Croatia decline, and other Western Balkan states are left out.

#Balkans #PeaceBoard #TrumpDiplomacy #Mladenov #Kosovo #Albania #Greece #Croatia #InternationalRelations #MiddleEastPeace

https://t.co/0TRQ2O1jH7

[Intermarium 24 @intermarium24]

🇪🇺🇵🇱🫂🇺🇦 Representatives from over 40 countries have confirmed their participation in the World Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine, which will take place in Gdańsk

[Math Files @Math_files]

When Albert Einstein moved to Princeton, his wild hair and simple clothes often made him look like an absent-minded worker rather than a world-famous scientist.

One day, he was even mistaken for an electrician. Someone asked him to fix a faulty light bulb socket.

With a playful smile, Einstein quietly repaired it and said nothing about who he really was.

Only after the job was done did he reveal his identity—leaving the staff red-faced and speechless.

But this was not the first time he enjoyed a good role reversal.

In the early days, when his theory of relativity had just begun to make headlines—especially after the 1919 solar eclipse proved him right—Einstein was invited to speak across the world. Yet few people knew what he looked like.

On one trip in the United States, he admitted to his driver that he was tired of repeating the same lecture again and again.

The driver, who looked a bit like him, joked, “I’ve heard your talk so many times, I could give it myself.”

Einstein laughed—and then agreed.

At the next conference, the driver went on stage as “Professor Einstein,” while the real Einstein sat quietly in the back.

The driver delivered the lecture perfectly. No one suspected a thing.

Then a proud professor in the audience stood up and asked a very difficult question.

Einstein prepared to step in and confess the trick. But before he could rise, the driver calmly replied, “Sir, your question is so simple that even my driver, sitting at the back, can answer it.”

All eyes turned. Einstein stood up, gave the correct answer, and saved the day. Later, the two men shared a hearty laugh.

Whether this story is true or just a charming legend—sometimes told about another great scientist, Max Planck—it carries a clever lesson.

Anyone can memorize a speech and repeat it smoothly. With practice, almost anyone can give a lecture that sounds impressive.

But that does not mean they truly understand the subject.

Psychologists call this “chauffeur knowledge.” It is the kind of knowledge that knows the words, but not the meaning.

It shines on the outside—but inside, it may be empty.

Einstein, of course, had the real thing.

[David Frum @davidfrum]

Years ago, I described Trump's definition of his job as "President of the white people of the Red States of America."

[Inna Sovsun @InnaSovsun]

Instead of pressuring Russia to stop its bloody war against Ukraine, the United States reportedly negotiated a $12 trillion economic cooperation deal with Moscow.

If confirmed, the so-called “Dmitriev Package” means not containment of aggression, but complicity — effectively joining the sponsorship of Russia’s terrorist war against Ukraine and helping kill Ukrainian children.

[MAKS 26 🇺🇦👀 @Maks_NAFO_FELLA]

🇬🇷A colonel in the Greek Air Force has been arrested for spying for “one superpower, which is an enemy of the US.”

The spy was considered one of the best specialists in electronic systems, he participated in the modernization of Patriot systems and the development of reconnaissance aircraft.

[NXT EU @NXT4EU]

While America is crumbling, Europe is rising!

Infrastructure across the EU is rapidly improving, with many amongst the best in the world!

Proud to be European 🇪🇺

[Mario @PawlowskiMario]

This is exactly what commies and nazis did👀

[Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @rshereme]

Russia is freezing Ukrainians to death.

First, they tried to exterminate Ukrainians in 1930s by famine. And even thought millions have died, Ukraine survived. Then they tried to subjugate Ukraine by military force. Ukraine didn’t fall.

Now, they are trying to commit genocide against Ukrainian people by freezing them to death.

The photo shows Kharkiv’s energy plant, destroyed by russian missile. Ask a result, people have to electricity, no heat, no water.

If are still trying to stay “out of politics” to justify russia’s genocide then you are just as guilty as the russians who commit these atrocities. History will not be kind to you.