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Heinrich Böll was one of the most important writers of the post-war period. In a chronicle with pictures and documents of the time, we recall his life phases, writings and interventions.

 On the second day of the European History Forum, four closed group discussions were held with participants from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. The aim of the discussions was to contribute to the deconstruction of the myths of heroines and their memory.

The aim of this year's forum was to initiate an analysis of war and post-war history, examining the role played by women from all countries that participated directly or indirectly in the war. Scientists from Central, South and South-East Europe came together from Central, South and Southeast Europe came together in two fish tanks to exchange different perspectives on the topic.

"Different wars: National History Textbooks on the Second World War" - this was the title of a travelling exhibition by the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum. It toured 22 cities in the EU and Russia over the last four years. It showed how current textbooks for secondary schools depict the Second World War in Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic. The short film accompanying the exhibition will be released on 7 May.

The looming economic crisis in Italy threatens the livelihoods of the population and liberal democracy. Nevertheless, the northern EU states have refused Europe-wide financing and credit programmes.

The new coronavirus is not only catapulting us out of our everyday lives, but dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic also shows us the EU's inability to act in times of crisis. Not only are people stranded at airports and railway stations, but in recent weeks the hope that Europe will pull together has also been stranded.

The three countries of the South Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, have so far dealt with the corona crisis relatively well, as they started early to close state institutions and shut down public life. The governments of the three countries’ were aware of the threat that their health systems could collapse because of a rapid increase of infections.

With only three day notice, South Africa went into full lockdown on the night from 26 to 27 March. What happened in the three days leading up the lockdown is highly impressive. Instead of everyone following the instinct of making provision for themselves, neighbourhood solidarity networks sprang up spontaneously.

Benjamin Netanyahu could not even win the third election held within one year. Now, he is using the coronavirus crisis to profile himself as an indispensable statesman and secure his power – to the detriment of Israeli democracy. 

Nigeria stands at the very brink of its own COVID-19 epidemic. However, the country has been in the grips of serious crisis for weeks: the collapse in oil prices has led to brutal budget cuts and provokes a recession in the country, which depends heavily on oil exports. The timing could not be worse in view of the forthcoming pandemic challenges.

President Vladimir Putin is facing the greatest challenge of his political career: the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Russia is expected to peak in the next few weeks. Johannes Voswinkel, Head of our Moscow office, reports on timid action, an unexpected crisis manager and the fears of breaking into the reserves.

Erik Marquardt got a first-hand impression of the inhuman conditions in the Moria refugee camp, where more than 20,000 people live in the most miserable conditions. An outbreak of coronavirus would be devastating. In order to draw more attention to this issue, he has co-created the Leave no One Behind campaign.

The corona pandemic has reached Syria. Anna Fleischer, Program Coordinator for Syria, explains why the virus could hit the country extremely hard and above all endanger those imprisoned.

The coronavirus crisis is leading to massive social distortions in the US. It is increasing the existing structural inequalities and discriminations in the US economy and society.

For the highly indebted developing countries, the corona pandemic accelerates the debt crisis. An interview with Barbara Unmüßig from the Board of the Heinrich Böll Foundation about the latest developments.

With low testing rates, but rising numbers of infections, Myanmar’s government is virtually flying blind trying to get on top of Covid-19 with a lockdown. The collapse of clothing exports to Europe has led to a sharp rise in unemployment, while armed conflicts continue, mostly in Rakhine State, and critical coverage of it has become a criminal offence.

The film “They Also Had Dreams. Dagestan Women Tell about Their Lives” is dedicated to Aishat Magomedova, who devoted her life to the betterment of Dagestani women. 

The SARS pandemic in 2003 still lives vividly in the memory of Hongkongs citizens. Therefore, the Hongkongers responded quickly when the first cases of COVID-19 appeared. What did the city learned about crisis management? Which impact did the collective memory has regarding the virus spreading?

In this dossier, you will find articles, including numerous infographics, on game changing technologies, policies, and concepts: new driving technology and e-Mobility, multimodality and flexible public transit, the transformation of the automotive sector, the politics transportation in the EU transportation policy and solutions for sustainable tourism.

The old arms control framework between Russia and the West does not work any more. The erosion of central arms control treaties has led to new tensions between NATO and Moscow. A new approach aimed at reducing tensions in Europe must take into account that central geopolitical coordinates have changed, and that new weapon technologies are rendering the old arms control paradigms obsolete.  

For the Ukrainian energy sector, the beginning of the year was marked by the “Ukrainian Green Deal” proposal developed by the Ministry of energy and environmental protection. According to the Ministry’s vision for 2050 presented draft Green Energy Transition concept, Ukraine is set to step on the energy transition pathway and actively develop energy efficiency measures, phase out fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy sources (RES). But when it comes to near-term plans, further investments of public funds in nuclear and gas projects are still being considered by the government.

President Bolsonaro’s irresponsible approach to the coronavirus crisis has led to conflicts, also within the government. Meanwhile, civil society organisations are distributing food in poorer districts.

A bigger internal market, greater trade in goods and more infrastructure mean greater economic power. The EU wants to hold its own against China from a position of strength.

Three trends will shape the evolution of Germany’s most important industrial sector: electrification, digitization and networking within a new mobility system. Policymakers, manufacturers and customers are beginning to understand this.

People who combine different means of transportation in everyday life can organize their mobility with great efficiency. Ideally, all the building blocks of such a “multimodality” fit together.

The path going forward is clear: For road vehicles, electricity and alternative fuels will soon replace gasoline and diesel. The climate protection potential of this move is high, but some problems still need to be solved along the way.

With a series of digital measures introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Morocco is creating a trade-off between ways to provide rapid support and the parallel development of digital control.

The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 disease has brought about an extraordinary situation. Although the past decades have brought numerous challenges like terrorism or the climate change, the global spread of a disease for which there is neither a cure nor vaccination available is something that political leaders have no experience in tackling.

The Hungarian Parliament passed an Act on the Protection Against the Coronavirus. It gives an already authoritarian government extraordinary, dangerous powers.