Juliette Bretan
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Poland and Central Eastern Europe, politics and culture.
Researcher, writer, and broadcaster on Poland, East-Central Europe, and Britain. In @newsweek, @prospect_uk, @theipaper etc. Teaching at Cambridge.
Articles by Juliette Bretan
German Weakness Means America Will Turn to Poland as NATO’s Powerhouse (B2)
The AfD’s win in the Saxony-Anhalt election in eastern Germany, with 43.8 percent of the vote, is as much a major moment for the other nations of NATO as it is for the country where the elections took place. And Poland in particular.
Gdynia and the dream of a maritime Poland
The penultimate point in Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points for peace negotiations to end the First World War was the most idealised of its goals. It called for an independent Polish state to be created, and not, as the eminent Polish-American historian Piotr Wandycz notes, resurrected – and certainly not ‘based on historical principles’, mapped on to the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that had been erased from the European map in 1795. This would be a new Poland.
Poland has long been vital for Britain’s security
Starter for ten: why did Britain declare war on Nazi Germany 87 years ago this month? If you answered ‘to defend Poland as a result of a British-Polish alliance’, you’d be partly right. I’ll get to that in a minute, but first let’s think about the roots of that decision. After all, what a remarkably strange decision it was to ally with Poland. Britain had neither diplomatic ties nor longstanding friendship nor geographic closeness to the country, nor much appetite for acquiring any closeness to it.
Inside Putin’s growing threat to the Baltics
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Inside Putin's growing threat to the Baltics
Speculation has reached fever pitch that Vladimir Putin could order an attack against Nato states on Russia's western border. US intelligence assessments warn the Russian president could be weighing a test of Nato's resolve by launching a limited attack on alliance territory, with the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – the most probable targets.
Inside Putin’s growing threat to the Baltics
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Bretan: sukcesy AfD to problem dla NATO. Sojusz może uratować Polska
Najlepszy wynik skrajnie prawicowej partii w Niemczech od czasów II wojny światowej pojawia się w momencie narastających obaw przed rosyjską dywersją i wojną hybrydową w całej Europie — w tym po niedawnych atakach na lotnisko Leipzig/Halle we wschodnich Niemczech i pożarach w fabrykach w Estonii i Polsce. Zwrot Niemiec na prawo może oznaczać zagrożenie dla bloku, który stara się bronić przed Władimirem Putinem i chronić Ukrainę. AfD nie tylko osłabia Niemcy, lecz także jest partią prorosyjską.
Bretan: sukcesy AfD to problem dla NATO. Sojusz może uratować Polska
Najlepszy wynik skrajnie prawicowej partii w Niemczech od czasów II wojny światowej pojawia się w momencie narastających obaw przed rosyjską dywersją i wojną hybrydową w całej Europie — w tym po niedawnych atakach na lotnisko Leipzig/Halle we wschodnich Niemczech i pożarach w fabrykach w Estonii i Polsce. Zwrot Niemiec na prawo może oznaczać zagrożenie dla bloku, który stara się bronić przed Władimirem Putinem i chronić Ukrainę. AfD nie tylko osłabia Niemcy, lecz także jest partią prorosyjską.
To defend against Russia, the UK must reimagine Europe
The United Kingdom faces two defence challenges. The first is financial. After decades of underinvestment, rebuilding military capability is essential. But the second challenge is intellectual. Britain has long underestimated Eastern Europe as a source of strategic knowledge, treating it primarily as a region that requires reassurance. This is based on outdated thinking, which has made the UK slow to adopt defence measures used widely in Eastern Europe.
Dwindling US Support Isn’t Ukraine’s Biggest Problem - Poland (B2)
Four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western interest in supporting the Ukrainian war effort is fading. News from the front line now rarely reaches Western headlines, and military aid, especially from the U.S., is diminishing. U.S. military help to Ukraine fell by 99 percent in 2025, compared with the annual average for 2022-2024, according to the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker.
The next European country in Trump’s sights for a MAGA makeover
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Defence spending alone isn’t enough to prepare for war
The Nato summit this week has once again raised questions about its members' approaches to defence, in an increasingly threatening world. There are again calls for nations to meet their 5 per cent of GDP spending target on defence – especially from Donald Trump, who has long criticised European nations, and particularly Western European nations, for not doing enough to defend their own states.
Is Vladimir Putin on the brink of taking war into space?
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Eastern European success is no happy accident
Like a pink-clad human piston, Dara stormed onto the Eurovision stage last month to give a rousing rendition of her Bulgarian pop song, Bangaranga, all flinging limbs and acrobatics and fur-topped, fingerless, leather-pink gloves.
The player the Nazis recognized: Alojszy Ehrlich and the golden age of Polish table tennis | Article
Ehrlich played throughout Europe and moved to France in the 1930s, although he continued to play the sport for Poland. As Osiński notes, he also played in Cairo in 1939, after being invited by King Farouk I to become the official coach of the Egyptian team. The same year, war broke out in Europe, and Ehrlich, Osiński says, wanted to go to India to play practice matches, but could not sail.
Dwindling US support isn’t Ukraine’s biggest problem—Poland is | Opinion
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Farage, take note – MAGA is the kiss of death
Juliette Bretan With their historic win against a 16-year Viktor Orbán government,Péter Magyarand his opposition party Tisza will spell a seismic shift for Hungarian politics – and one which was almost unimaginable a few years ago. Orbán headed a staunchly right-wing and nationalist party, rejecting EU policies regarding migration and LGBTQ rights, and instead forging close ties withVladimir Putin.
To understand the world today, read books from 100 years ago
Scoop was based on Waugh’s personal experience as a foreign correspondent - Hulton Archive Just prior to being brusquely stripped of all of his clothes in a college prank and subsequently sent down from Oxford, the feckless Paul Pennyfeather – the protagonist of Evelyn Waugh’s novel Decline and Fall (1928) – attends a meeting of the League of Nations Union, for a talk on “plebiscites in Poland”, which he finds “most interesting”.
Elegy for Humberside Airport
Built in the 1840s to enable the first Earl of Yarborough, Charles Anderson Pelham, to survey his estate – and to celebrate his planting of 12 million trees there – the eponymously-named Pelham’s Pillar, svelte and stylish in Portland stone, and 128 feet up, veers into view for a moment when travelling towards the Humber in northernmost Lincolnshire.
“A Sign of This”: The Unopened Letters of Heritage
In my coalescing, melting-pot family – with roots in Eastern Europe, Europe, and in Britain – I learnt the Polish word for heart before I knew the word for hello. And I write this with emphasis on the ‘I learnt’: my linguistic roots in Eastern Europe are virtually non-existent in our family.
Eliot’s “Polish plains”
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Estonia’s language and culture are becoming battlegrounds for independence from Putin’s Russia Original
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are once again feeling under threat from their larger neighbour, Russia. Throughout the 20th century the Baltic states had to fight Russia for their very existence. Now the legacy of this recent history looms large over contemporary regional geopolitics. The Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have reignited fears in all three countries.
Europe's contested borders by BMW
Bowling down the highway between Vilnius and Kaunas late one evening last week in a 1990s BMW E34 5 series – the car’s broken parts deftly duct-taped up before departure – and to the sound of second-hand cassette mixtapes of Whitney Houston and Canadian synth-pop, there was time for one more, last-minute geopolitical detour.
T.S. Eliot, Post‐War Geopolitics and ‘Eastern Europe’
Digressing from decidedly prosaic themes in a letter to his mother in December 1919 – a lingering cold, Christmas plans and a vague New Year's resolution of writing ‘a long poem I have had on my mind for a long time’ – to include a rousing, two-pronged critique against American apathy towards global peacemaking, and the complicated reconstruction of new nation-states, T.S. Eliot pulls no punches at the state of post-war Europe: The peace treaty seems to be held up indefinitely in America.
Strawberry buns at The End of the World Café: thoughts on the Polish-Russian border
Strawberry buns at The End of the World Café: thoughts on the Polish-Russian border The border between Poland and the Russian Oblast of Kaliningrad has an especially eerie resonance in these troubled times. There’s a kind-of coffeehouse geopolitics at play in Krynica Morska, the last town in Poland before the Kaliningrad Oblast, the westernmost federal subject of Russia, which sits between Poland and Lithuania.
“I Saw the Other Side of the Sun with You”: Female Surrealists from Eastern Eur — APOFENIE
by Juliette Bretan I’m looking at a letter written over 80 years ago, in tidy cursive, which has been placed among copies of journals, diagrams, photographs, and pamphlets on a black table at the center of the ‘Female Surrealists from Eastern Europe’ exhibition at Cromwell Place in London.
Cambridge British-Polish Cultural Symposium
About this event 8 hours 30 minutes Mobile eTicket The Cambridge British-Polish Cultural Symposium is a one-day event, bringing together leading academics, journalists and public figures to debate relations between Britain and Poland over the last 100 years. As part of discussions, panellists will explore ideas of British-Polish identity and community, alongside media representations.
An unlikely artistic alliance: the wartime Britons who saved and celebrated German art
February 1944 was a period of cautious optimism about the outcome of the Second World War. The Allies were gradually progressing on the Eastern Front, as well as into the Italian mainland, beginning their assaults on German and Italian fortifications around western Italy. Plans to create a second front in western Europe later that year — the Normandy landings, or D-Day — were in place.
Germany / The 1920s / New Objectivity / August Sander, Centre Pompidou review - expansive and thought-provoking
Across the sixth floor of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, framed by its spectacular floor-to-ceiling windows, a sprawling, multidisciplinary exhibition is currently on show, devoted to works by the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) movement, active in Germany in the 1920s.
Documenting Drugs: The Artful Intoxications of Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz
In pursuit of Pure Form, the Polish artist known as “Witkacy” would consume peyote, cocaine, and other intoxicants before creating pastel portraits. Juliette Bretan takes a trip through Witkiewicz’s chemical forays, including his 1932 Narcotics, a genre-bending treatise that warns of the hazards of drugs while seductively recollecting their delirious effects. Scroll through the whole page to download all images before printing. Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Self-Portrait, 1938 — Source.
Bruno Schulz’s X–ray Aesthetics: Anxiety, Titillation, Exposure - Lost Modernists
In a letter to his friend, Romana Halpern, in mid–February 1938, Polish–Jewish author Bruno Schulz tried to assuage her concerns about an unidentified sickness from which she was suffering: “I am worried by what you tell me about your illness.
Tracing the trailblazing lives of Poland’s first feminist activists
“Women believe blindly, love, devote themselves to others, raise children, amuse themselves… hence they live up to everything the world demands of them.
How one high schooler’s Facebook beauty brand is saving survivors of domestic abuse in Poland
All pastel pink backgrounds and pen-and-ink flowers, the Facebook page for Rumianki i bratki (“Chamomiles and Pansies”) is a shrine to soft-toned beauty brand aesthetics. “We are a newly-established company dealing in the creation and sale of natural cosmetics”, the first, sunflower emoji-studded post reads. On sale are a plethora of immaculately packaged cleansing masks, make-up removers, soaps, and balms. But appearances can be deceiving. In fact, Rumianki i bratki isn’t a beauty site at all.
Polish resort town offers biodegradable ashtrays in "Beach Without Butts" campaign
A seaside resort on Poland’s Baltic coast has introduced biodegradable ashtrays to be used on its beaches as part of a campaign aiming to dissuade tourists from discarding cigarettes and increase awareness of the harmful effects of littering. Cigarette butts are the most common litter found in the sea, and Polish coastal resorts spend millions of zloty each year from their local budgets to clean up beaches.
First ever gay dating show to air in Poland
Poland’s first ever gay dating show will be aired later this year. Broadcaster TVN says it hopes the programme can help to “change stereotypes” in a country that has in recent years been ranked as the worst in the EU for LGBT people following a government-led anti-LGBT campaign. The show will be a Polish version of Finding Prince Charming, in which a group of suitors compete over one bachelor.
The glittering nightlife and thriving culture of interwar Warsaw
By Juliette Bretan With its illustrious theatres, revolving dance floors, and cutting-edge cinemas, the social world of interwar Warsaw was as glitzy as it gets. Already nicknamed the “Paris of the North”, Poland’s capital in the interwar period saw its traditional architecture complemented by the city’s first skyscrapers – including the Art Deco style Prudential building – neon lights, film studios, and expanding transport networks. However, the outbreak of war brought this all to an abrupt halt.
Warsaw activists propose largest open-air cafe in Poland
Activists have announced a proposal to transform an area of downtown Warsaw into the largest open-air café in Poland. The plans would see the area around Plac Zbawiciela become a promenade during summer weekends, with restaurant tables on the streets, food trucks, and local business stands.
Polish city offers free boat rental in return for removing rubbish from river
The Polish city of Gdańsk is offering free boat rentals to people who agree to collect rubbish from the river during their trip. The ekoKajak campaign, organised by the Gdańsk Sports Centre (GOS), a municipal body, offers customers a choice of kayaks, pedal boats or a rowing boat, which can be rented for a period of two hours on the Motława river. To qualify, people must then collect a minimum of thirty litres of rubbish per boat during their trip.
Poland checks for Indian variant after nun returning from India tests positive and dozens infected
Poland is checking to see if it has its first confirmed case of the Indian variant of the coronavirus following reports that a Catholic nun returning from India tested positive for the virus and possibly caused the infection of dozens of others. Three Missionaries of Charity convents in Warsaw and Katowice have now reported mass outbreaks among nuns and homeless people cared for by the religious congregation, which was founded by Mother Teresa in 1950.
World's first pregnant Egyptian mummy discovered in Poland
The world’s first pregnant Egyptian mummy has been discovered in Warsaw by a team of Polish scientists using radiological scanning. The mummy, which dates back to the 1st century BC, was transported to Poland in the early 1800s, and is currently in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. Recent testing by researchers working on the Warsaw Mummy Project found that the embalmed woman was around 28 weeks pregnant when she died.
Long lost nineteenth-century maps for blind children rediscovered in Kraków
Several long lost maps created for blind and visually impaired children in the nineteenth century have been rediscovered in the Polish city of Kraków. The “unique” maps, which were believed to have gone missing from the Centre for the Blind and Visually Impaired several years ago, were rediscovered by chance in the centre’s library. They are now set to be preserved and made into an exhibition.
Mural honours "forgotten" female fighters on Warsaw Ghetto Uprising anniversary
Poland today marked the 78th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, with a particular focus this year on the “absolutely essential” but often overlooked role played by women in what was the largest act of Jewish resistance in German-occupied Europe during the Holocaust. A range of commemorative events took place – with President Andrzej Duda among the senior officials to participate – and sirens sounded across the city at noon.
Polish coal plant was EU's biggest CO2 emitter in 2020
Three Polish coal power plants were among the top ten biggest emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the European Union last year, up from two in 2019. Bełchatów power station in central Poland once again topped the ranking as by far the bloc’s biggest single emitter. Six of the remaining nine places in the list, which was compiled by climate think tank Ember based on EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) data, were taken by German coal power plants. The final spot went to an Austrian steel plant.
March of the Living Holocaust commemoration held at virtual Auschwitz amid pandemic
This year’s March of the Living, an annual commemoration in which Holocaust survivors and thousands of others walk silently between Auschwitz and Birkenau, has been conducted online due to the coronavirus pandemic. A special 3D virtual march was created featuring parts of the traditional route at the former German Nazi concentration and death camp that was located in occupied Poland. Among those to participate were Israeli president Reuven Rivlin.
One of Europe's largest Roman-era pottery production sites discovered in Poland
Archaeologists have announced the discovery of the largest known Roman-era pottery production site in Poland, dating back 1,700 years. The area has been linked to the Przeworsk culture, which is part of an Iron Age archaeological complex stretching over central and southern Poland. The site, near the village of Wrzępia in the southern Małopolska Province, was first discovered in the 1990s after numerous fragments of pottery vessels were unearthed in a field.
“Wars welcomes you”: the 70-year-old Polish dining cars that have become an institution
By Juliette Bretan For hurried business travellers, hungry families and railway aficionados alike, the familiar sight of a maroon-and-gold “Wars” (pronounced “varse”) restaurant car – and the hearty smells of traditional Polish fare transported within – is a welcome part of train journeys in Poland.
Polish cities name public spaces after women amid abortion protests
A number of Polish cities are naming more public spaces after women, a trend that has been given greater momentum by recent female-led protests against a new near-total ban on abortion. Places including Kraków, Olsztyn and Tarnów have moved to name streets, squares and city transport after famous women in recent months, and they were this week joined by the capital, Warsaw.
Boom in rooftop urban beehives in Polish cities
The latest set of beehives are being installed on a rooftop in Kraków, as part of a scheme to create urban apiaries in the city. Similar projects have sprung up in other municipalities around Poland, with bees providing environmental benefits as well as honey for locals. In 2017, the Pasieka Kraków (Kraków Apiary) scheme was launched to facilitate the creation of hives on buildings across the city.
Long-term Covid sufferers treated in ancient Polish salt mine 135m below ground
A spa 135 metres below ground in an ancient Polish salt mine is helping COVID-19 sufferers recover from the long-term effects of the virus. The UNESCO-listed Wieliczka Salt Mine near Kraków, which has operated since the 13th century and today is one of Poland’s best-known tourist attractions, has long been also used as a rehabilitation spa for people with breathing problems.
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