Anton Shekhovtsov
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PhD, senior fellow at the CEU in Vienna, author of books “Russia and the Western Far Right” & “Russian Political Warfare”, @Dem_Integrity, columnist @EUObs
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Articles by Anton Shekhovtsov
La tecno-oligarchia ruba il nostro futuro
La tecno-oligarchia ruba il nostro futuro 9 min lettura In un ormai famoso esperimento comportamentale del 1953, i neuroscienziati James Olds e Peter Milner impiantarono degli elettrodi in aree specifiche del cervello dei ratti, dando agli animali la possibilità di stimolare autonomamente quelle aree premendo una leva.
Antichrists and Empires
American venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin are arguably two of the most famous illiberal political thinkers who are – to various degrees – accepted as legitimate participants of international political discussions beyond the narrower illiberal milieus.
Russia’s faith in ‘error-free’ killer robots and global divisions expose the moral vacuum in AI warfare
In the current attritional phase of the Russian-Ukrainian war, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or simply drones) of various types are responsible for 70-80 percent of all casualties and injuries on both sides. The logic of attrition and the growing use of UAVs have created a self-perpetuating cycle.
Russia, the Vanishing Adversary
On 16 July 2026, President Donald Trump delivered a prime-time address to the nation on the security of American elections. The occasion was the release of a large tranche of declassified intelligence records – gathered, as he explained, by the White House Government Transparency Task Force he created in May, reviewed by the staff of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and vouched for by his intelligence agency chiefs. Donald Trump deliver ing the address on 16 July 2026.
America's Anti-EU Turn
Talking to the BBC six months after the Brexit referendum, American consultant Theodore “Ted” Malloch prophesied – with undissembled anticipation – that the Euro currency could collapse within the following 18 months. Malloch was an enthusiastic supporter of Brexit, but the outcome of the referendum in June 2016 infused him with hope that not only the UK but also many other European nations would leave the EU. Both the fact and timing of Malloch’s interview with the BBC were not routine.
Techno-Oligarchy and the Theft of Tomorrow
In a now-famous behavioural experiment of 1953, the neuroscientists James Olds and Peter Milner implanted electrodes in specific areas of rats’ brains, giving the animals the ability to stimulate those areas themselves by pressing a lever. Every time they did so, the mechanism would deliver a small electrical charge, triggering the release of an organic chemical that would later be given the name “dopamine”.
Lo stress test dell’Europa per il 2027: Mosca, Washington e l’estrema destra
Lo stress test dell’Europa per il 2027: Mosca, Washington e l’estrema destra 5 min lettura Il tuo browser non supporta l’audio. L’anno prossimo, diversi paesi dell’UE, che rappresentano oltre la metà della popolazione dell’Unione, terranno elezioni nazionali con voto popolare diretto: Estonia, Finlandia, Francia, Grecia, Italia, Polonia, Slovacchia e Spagna.
African News Agency : Welcome
[Published: Thursday June 18 2026] Europe’s 2027 elections will show if the EU dares to call out US interference By Anton Shekhovtsov, VIENNA, 18 June. - (ANA) - Next year, several EU countries representing more than half of the EU population are due to hold national elections by direct popular vote: Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and Spain.
Europe’s 2027 Stress Test
Next year, several EU countries representing more than half of the EU population are due to hold national elections – presidential or parliamentary – by direct popular vote: Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and Spain.
Europe’s 2027 elections will show if the EU dares to call out US interference
Next year, several EU countries representing more than half of the EU population are due to hold national elections by direct popular vote: Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and Spain. Considering today’s geopolitical upheavals and recalibrations of the international alliances, it would hardly be an exaggeration to assume that foreign interference will mark the conduct of the elections in all of the above-mentioned countries.
The Techno-Oligarchy’s First “Holocaust”
A conventional story tells us that, after the Third Reich lost the Second World War, the Western allies made a convincing case about the Shoah – the Nazi programme aimed at eradicating the Jews from across its empire – and yet many so-called “ordinary Germans”, including “ordinary soldiers”, would not believe it.
Weaponising the Far Right
This article is based on my report to the performative panel “Angriff. Playbooks und Technologien der Machtübernahme” (Attack: Playbooks and Technologies of Power Seizure), held as part of the 12-part event series “Zeit der Monster” (Time of Monsters) at the Austrian Museum of Military History on 28 May 2026. The “situation room” of the second episode of the “Zeit der Monster” series.
La tecno-oligarchia è più pericolosa del fascismo
La tecno-oligarchia è più pericolosa del fascismo 6 min lettura Negli ultimi anni, con l’ascesa delle Big Tech e delle loro ambizioni socio-politiche autoritarie, è diventato comune parlare di “tecno-fascismo”. È comprensibile. L’adesione delle élite delle Big Tech ad agende politiche autoritarie, il loro disprezzo per la democrazia liberale e per il processo deliberativo, la loro concentrazione di potere senza responsabilità: tutto questo invita al paragone.
Towers of Europa, by Anton Shekhovtsov
In recent years, with the rise of Big Tech and its authoritarian socio-political ambitions, it has become commonplace to speak of “techno-fascism”. This is understandable. The embrace of authoritarian political agendas by Big Tech elites, their disdain for liberal democracy and deliberative process, their concentration of power without accountability – all of this invites the comparison. And yet the term is misleading, and its inadequacy matters.
Towers of Europa, by Anton Shekhovtsov
The defeat of the Fidesz party in the parliamentary elections in Hungary has not only ended 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s illiberal rule, but has also delivered a blow to far-right networks in Europe and beyond. There are several aspects to this blow. The most obvious one is symbolic.
La sconfitta di Orbán è un colpo al cuore dell’estrema destra europea
La sconfitta di Orbán è un colpo al cuore dell’estrema destra europea 5 min lettura La sconfitta del partito Fidesz alle elezioni parlamentari in Ungheria non solo ha posto fine a sedici anni di governo illiberale di Viktor Orbán, ma ha anche inferto un duro colpo alle reti di estrema destra in Europa e oltre. Questo colpo presenta diversi aspetti. Il più evidente è di natura simbolica.
Orbán’s fall does not mean the end for Europe’s far-right think-tanks and financing
The defeat of the Fidesz party in the parliamentary elections in Hungary has not only ended 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s illiberal rule — but has also delivered a blow to far-right networks in Europe and beyond. There are several aspects to this blow. The most obvious one is symbolic.
Towers of Europa, by Anton Shekhovtsov
Hungarian parliamentary elections taking place this Sunday have been marked by various accusations of foreign interference. In fact, the far-right government of Viktor Orbán has made Ukraine’s alleged interference in the elections the central discursive element of the Fidesz party’s campaign.
European Imperium of Weights and Measures
I first visited Paris quite late in life. “Late”, of course, is a relative notion: some of my friends of roughly the same age have yet to visit the city and seem in no hurry to correct the omission. Yet my own lateness had a particular consequence, one that revealed itself in the choice of the first places I went to see. One of them was not, strictly speaking, a matter of age at all: Boulevard de Sébastopol, named after the siege of my hometown, Sevastopol, during the Crimean War.
A New Transatlantic Front against Europe
When the leadership of the German far-right party “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) appeared in Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg, on 5 March 2026 to conclude the party’s state election campaign, one figure was conspicuously absent: Markus Frohnmaier, the AfD’s candidate for the head of the state’s government. The election was important for the AfD. Although the party now often ranks as Germany’s second most popular political force, its strongest support remains in the former East Germany.
Towers of Europa, by Anton Shekhovtsov
The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The first rule of declaring a war on your opponent: you do not call it a war – you call it an “operation”. Perhaps all declarations of war follow the same pattern, yet it is nevertheless striking how similar the speeches of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump were when they announced their hostilities against Ukraine and Iran, respectively, in late February 2022 and late February 2026.
International nationalism: The MAGA movement is uniting Europe’s right-wing and pro-Russian forces against the EU Original
Доступно на русском When the leadership of the German far-right “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) appeared in Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg, on March 5 to conclude the party’s state election campaign, one figure was conspicuously absent: Markus Frohnmaier, the AfD’s candidate for the head of the state’s government. The election was important for the AfD. Although the party frequently ranks as the country’s second most popular political force, its strongest support remains in the former East Germany.
La guerra in Iran è una buona notizia per il Cremlino
La guerra in Iran è una buona notizia per il Cremlino 4 min lettura La prima regola del Fight Club è: non si parla mai del Fight Club. La prima regola per dichiarare guerra è: non parlare mai di “guerra”, ma di “operazione”. Questo schema era chiaramente visibile nei discorsi di Vladimir Putin e Donald Trump quando hanno annunciato le ostilità contro l'Ucraina e l'Iran alla fine di febbraio 2022 e alla fine di febbraio 2026.
The Iran war is good news for the Kremlin
The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The first rule of declaring war is: you do not call it a “war” – you call it an “operation”. This pattern was strikingly visible in the speeches of both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump when they announced hostilities against Ukraine and Iran in late February 2022 and late February 2026, respectively.
La tecnocrazia americana, l'estrema destra e la battaglia per il futuro dell'Europa
La tecnocrazia americana, l’estrema destra e la battaglia per il futuro dell’Europa 10 min lettura La pubblicazione, nel 2025-2026, di gran parte dei cosiddetti Epstein files ha rivelato l'esistenza di una rete mondiale di personalità del mondo politico, finanziario, accademico e di altro tipo che hanno avuto contatti con Jeffrey Epstein per un motivo o per l'altro.
American Techno-Oligarchy, the Far Right, and the Battle over Europe’s Future Original
The public release, in 2025-2026, of a large portion of the so-called “Epstein files” related to American convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has revealed a world-wide network of political, financial, academic and other prominent figures who communicated with him for one reason or the other.
What a New Soviet Spy Monument Reveals about Russia’s Wars
The removal of monuments honouring particular historical figures from European public spaces likely tells us more about ourselves, European societies, than about the figures commemorated. In much of Western and Northern Europe, countries with colonial pasts have chosen to dismantle sites that glorified or normalised that past, as colonialism has come under broad moral condemnation across the West, particularly over the last decade.
Towers of Europa, by Anton Shekhovtsov
The political term “far right” has three aspects: “right”, “far”, and their combination. It is useful to understand the meaning of the “right” as part of the political distinction between Left and Right with a reference to the issues of equality and inequality. Humans are simultaneously equal and unequal, but people on the political Left believe that humans are more equal than unequal, while people on the political Right think otherwise.
Il piano di Orbán per sopravvivere alle prossime elezioni parlamentari
Il piano di Orbán per sopravvivere alle prossime elezioni parlamentari 4 min lettura Di solito ci sono diversi segnali che indicano quando i leader di uno Stato intendono rimanere al potere, se non per sempre, almeno abbastanza a lungo da garantire ricchezza e influenza ai propri discendenti.
Towers of Europa, by Anton Shekhovtsov
There are usually several signs when state leaders intend to stay in power, if not forever, then at least long enough to secure wealth and influence for their descendants. They undermine checks and balances, manipulate freedom of the media, weaken the rule of law, suppress civil society, and distract population by artificially manufactured crises or polarising social conflicts. But all these measures are invisible ones.
Il futuro dell'Europa - Valigia Blu
Il futuro dell’Europa 2 min lettura Il ministro degli Esteri italiano Antonio Tajani ha affermato che l'Italia sostiene l'adesione dell'Ucraina all'UE, ma che i Balcani occidentali hanno la precedenza, poiché rappresentano una priorità. Se intende davvero dire che, prima di un'adesione dell'Ucraina all'UE, il blocco deve ammettere – e finalizzare il processo di adesione – di paesi come la Serbia e la Bosnia, allora nutro dei dubbi sul fatto che l'Ucraina diventerà membro dell'UE in tempi brevi.
Towers of Europa, by Anton Shekhovtsov
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani says that Italy supports Ukraine’s accession to the EU, but that the Western Balkans come first, as they are a priority. If he truly means that, before Ukraine can join the EU, the bloc needs to admit – and finalise the process of admission of – countries such as Serbia and Bosnia, then I have doubts that Ukraine will become an EU member any time soon. Towers of Europa, by Anton Shekhovtsov is a reader-supported publication.
Lo que un monumento a un espía revela sobre las guerras en Rusia
La retirada de monumentos que honran a determinadas figuras históricas de los espacios públicos europeos probablemente nos dice más sobre nosotros mismos, sobre las sociedades europeas, que sobre las figuras conmemoradas.
Lo que un monumento a un espía revela sobre las guerras en Rusia
La retirada de monumentos que honran a determinadas figuras históricas de los espacios públicos europeos probablemente nos dice más sobre nosotros mismos, sobre las sociedades europeas, que sobre las figuras conmemoradas.
L'unico baluardo contro l'oligarchia necropolitica in ascesa è l'Europa
L’unico baluardo contro l’oligarchia necropolitica in ascesa è l’Europa 4 min lettura Lo stratega politico russo Vladislav Surkov ha ammesso una volta che le istituzioni democratiche importate in Russia dall'Occidente dopo il crollo dell'Unione Sovietica erano in gran parte cerimoniali.
The Rise of Necro-Political Oligarchy
Russian political strategist Vladislav Surkov once admitted that the democratic institutions Russia imported from the West after the collapse of the Soviet Union were largely ceremonial.
Anton Shekhovtsov (@shekhovtsov)
The Russian fake news story about Ukraine’s alleged attack on Putin’s residence near Lake Valdai appears to have been a spontaneous response to reports of a positive outcome from the Trump-Zelensky meeting at Mar-a-Lago last Sunday. The Kremlin had clearly hoped that the meeting would go awry. In an attempt to contribute to such an outcome, Putin held a phone conversation with Trump shortly before the latter met Zelensky, obviously to predispose the US president against Ukraine.
On the Death of Denis Kapustin, Commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps
The Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) reported today, via its Telegram channel, that its founder and commander, Denis Kapustin, was killed during a combat mission overnight. Despite its name, the RDK is a unit fighting on Ukraine’s side against Russian forces. It operates as part of the International Legion subordinated to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
From Moscow to MAGA
Markus Frohnmaier, a German far-right politician, attended and was honoured at a MAGA-aligned gala in New York, where he called for a formal alliance between American and German nationalist movements and portrayed it as a threat to “liberal elites” and a hope for the “free world”. He also met a senior US State Department official and echoed US criticism of Europe’s political trajectory.
Beyond the €120 Million Fine on X Original
For those following the European Commission’s protracted investigation into X (formerly Twitter) over potential breaches of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the €120 million fine issued to the platform has come as little surprise. What is surprising, however, is the scope of X’s breaches of the DSA identified by the Commission. Thanks for reading Towers of Europa, by Anton Shekhovtsov! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Let us briefly look at the investigation process.
Richard Balfe’s Path to Pro-Kremlin Alignment
An evening in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, 2015. A white-haired gentleman walks out to dinner with his companions, including a young blonde woman. As they make their way along the street, three masked men in camouflage step out of the shadows. They block the group’s path and announce, with deliberate menace, “Filatov is our mayor, so leave peacefully, or it will be worse for you”. None of the baffled diners carries any sign or symbol that might link them to politics.
Listen: Belgium’s austerity measures trigger the largest national strike in years
Belgium entered its second day of a coordinated, three-day strike on Tuesday, as unions protest against the government’s sweeping austerity plans. The action began yesterday, when trains and public transport walked off the job. The national rail operator managed to run only one or two out of three trains, while several Eurostar services between Brussels and Paris were cancelled.
Moscow’s 'peace plan' as an instrument of war
Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote in an EUobserver column that “discussions on ending the Russian-Ukrainian war have intensified following Donald Trump’s landslide victory in the US presidential election”. To read this story, log in or subscribe Enjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a member for as low as €1,75 per week.
Uncovering Ex-Reform UK Wales Leader's Russian Links
Yesterday, on 21 November, former Reform UK Wales leader Nathan Gill wassentenced to 10.5 years in prison after admitting to taking up to £40,000 in bribes in exchange for pro-Russian interviews and speeches while serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). I first encountered Gill’s name in January 2020.
Η Ευρώπη χάνει τον πόλεμο που… δεν βλέπει
«Ο ρωσικός στρατός διαθέτει μεγαλύτερη στρατιωτική δύναμη από οποιονδήποτε άλλο στον κόσμο, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των ενόπλων δυνάμεων των ΗΠΑ», καυχήθηκε ο στενός συνεργάτης του Πούτιν, Νικολάι Πατρούσεφ, σε συνέντευξή του στα ρωσικά μέσα ενημέρωσης. Η εκτίμησή του για τη δύναμη των ρωσικών ενόπλων δυνάμεων μπορεί να προκάλεσε έκπληξη στην Κίνα και την Ινδία, τις μεγαλύτερες ενεργές στρατιωτικές δυνάμεις στον κόσμο, ακολουθούμενες από τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες.
No Tomahawks for Ukraine - no Budapest for Putin
The unexpected call between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin – a call that was likely initiated by Moscow – is yet another Russian ploy in a series of successful psychological operations aimed at delaying, degrading, and disrupting US actions that would serve Ukraine’s interests.
No Tomahawks for Ukraine - no Budapest for Putin
The unexpected call between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin – a call that was likely initiated by Moscow – is yet another Russian ploy in a series of successful psychological operations aimed at delaying, degrading, and disrupting US actions that would serve Ukraine’s interests.
Europa verliert den Krieg, den es nicht sieht
„Die russische Armee verfügt über eine größere Militärmacht als jede andere auf der Welt, einschließlich der US-Streitkräfte“, prahlte Putins Berater Nikolai Patrushev in einem Interview mit russischen Medien. Seine Einschätzung der Stärke der russischen Streitkräfte mag in China und Indien, den weltweit größten aktiven Militärmächten – gefolgt von den Vereinigten Staaten – für Stirnrunzeln gesorgt haben.
The Kremlin’s New Contractors
Over the past two decades, Western state security and intelligence services have increasingly purchased information products from commercial organisations. Private firms provide rapid access to large volumes of open-source data, offer specialised expertise in areas such as cybersecurity, regional analysis, and information monitoring, and enable governments to expand capacity without permanently enlarging their own bureaucracies.
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