Bojan pancevski biography examples

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Bojan Pancevski is the Germany Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, based in Berlin. He is a native of North Macedonia. Before writing for the WSJ, he was covering Europe at large as The Sunday Times’ EU Correspondent in Brussels, from 2009 on. Previously, he was based for the same newspaper in Vienna and Berlin, covering Central and Eastern Europe. He also is a book author and has been selected for the 2016 European Press Prize shortlist with ‘The FIFA scandal’.

He has extensively focused on EU affairs, European politics and diplomacy, migration, terrorism and German politics.

In this third episode of the Brussels Report Podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses with him the European Commission’s track record on vaccine procurement, what to expect from Germany’s parliamentary election later this year and the effect on Germany’s EU policies as well as the political situation in Central and Eastern Europe.

Russian Subversion, Coercion, and Sabotage throughout Europe

January 2025 No Comments

Speaker: Bojan Pancevski (Wall Street Journal) with Guest Host Jack Gaines (One CA Podcast)

Date: 24 January 2025

Speaker Session Summary

SMA hosted a speaker session with Bojan Pancevski (Wall Street Journal) with Guest Host Jack Gaines (One CA Podcast) as part of its SMA EUCOM Speaker Series.    

Russian aggression below the threshold of warfare in Europe has increased exponentially since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to Mr. Pancevski, this aggression even surpasses levels seen during the Cold War under the Soviet Union. For example, the Russian Chief Intelligence Office (GRU) engineered a small device that was placed in an electric massage tool frequently sold on Amazon, capable of igniting a magnesium mixture that is extremely difficult to extinguish. A German-based shipping company, Dalsey, Hillblom, and Lynn (DHL), narrowly avoided disaster when several of these devices caught fire before being loaded onto planes. Mr. Pancevski stressed that had these devices been shipped, they could have downed multiple planes, if not dozens, including commercial aircraft carrying civilians. He described this attack as retaliation for US and NATO military assistance to Ukraine. 

In addition to such acts, Russia has intensified sabotage and espionage efforts in the Baltic Sea, a region of strategic importance Russia and European Union members. Mr. Pancevski highlighted numerous incidents of Russian spy ships mapping out strategic infrastructure on the seabed, including data cables, power cables, and natural gas pipelines. Russia’s activities are not limited to surveillance; it is actively attacking this infrastructure by dragging anchors over cables and pipelines. These attacks have become increasingly frequent, prompting limited reprisals. For example, in December 2024, Finland detained a Russian vessel that cut a critical power

VIENNA—Inside a stately art nouveau building in central Vienna, special-forces officers armed with submachine guns guard the home of Christo Grozev , an investigative journalist whose Academy Award-winning documentary exposed the Kremlin’s attempt to kill opposition leader Alexei Navalny .

Two years ago, Austrian intelligence and U.S. law enforcement warned Grozev that Russian President Vladimir Putin ’s spies were plotting to kill him. After living with his family for two decades in Austria, the Bulgaria-born Grozev fled to the U.S. in 2023. Now, when he returns to visit his family, who remained behind in Vienna, he receives a degree of state protection that rivals that of Austria’s chancellor, officials say.

The failed murder plot is one of a series of incidents that show how Vienna has emerged as Russia’s new espionage hub in Europe after capitals there expelled 600 spies posing as diplomats in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

Dozens of these spies have since resurfaced in Austria, intelligence officials there say. In the past two years, the number of Russian state employees in Austria swelled to over 500 from 300 to 400, over a half of whom are diplomats and administrators, according to intelligence officials. Up to a half of them operate as spies, Austrian intelligence officials estimate.

Last year, neighboring Germany closed the Russian consulate in Munich, which German officials said was hosting a number of spies. The Russian staff simply relocated to Salzburg, an Austrian city across the border to the east, Austrian intelligence officials say.

Vienna is now a base for Russian clandestine operations, including financing and logistical support for murder, sabotage and recruitment across Europe, as well as industrial espionage and influence operations, according to over a dozen Austrian, Eu