Ukraine

Today, the future of European nations is at stake in eastern Ukraine. If not effectively addressed, the Ukrainian crisis will pose the biggest threat the EU’s member states have experienced since 1945.

The conflict in Ukraine has shown that the EU’s energy security depends largely on strengthening its own resilience.

While Russia is redrawing the European map, Ukraine needs to move forward: A hybrid war cannot be ended with a hybrid peace and an economic crisis cannot be overcome with hybrid reforms. Changes have to be fast and radical.

On 2 February, Angela Merkel flew to Budapest to spend five hours in the Hungarian capital. This seemingly routine and uneventful flash visit was nonetheless much anticipated on the Hungarian side.

On 2 February, Angela Merkel visits Hungary. The German-Hungarian friendship has undergone fundamental changes in the recent past - and the rewriting of Germany’s Russia policy also entails reshaping its ties to Hungary.

Hannah Arendt would have found a lot to dislike about today’s Russia. But she would have loved Pussy Riot. An excerpt from the lecture of Ralf Fücks upon the occasion of the 2014 Hannah Arendt Prize.

A presentation by Ulrich Kühn (The Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy) at the conference "The Impact of the Crisis in Ukraine on the Future of Arms Control" held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic in December 3, 2014.

The most important change underway in Ukraine is not in economics or politics. What changed during the Euromaidan is the consciousness of the Ukrainian people.

Ukrainian author Jurij Andruchowytsch, jointly with numerous intellectuals, calls for solidarity with Ukraine in an open letter to the German government.

The EU cannot give up on the project of a unified and free Europe without giving up on itself. This includes the promise that all European nations on the path to becoming a democracy and constitutional state can become a member of the European Community. Ukraine is the touchstone of this promise today.

International Women's Day is celebrated in Ukraine to honour 'women's beauty'. Women of Maidan are now aiming to remind of the original meaning of the day and to draw attention to women’s issues in the country. Thus they organized a solidarity action “Women of Maidan – to Women of Crimea”.

A conversation with Mykola Rjabtschuk, a writer based in Kiev, regarding some issues that have led to heated discussions within the EU.

Most important now is that the international community responds speedily and clearly to what amounts to a Russian occupation of the Crimea and the additional threat of Russian troops being stationed in Ukraine. Europe is in no way powerless in the face of Russian actions, as Ralf Fücks and Walter Kaufmann illustrate in a ten-point plan.

On May 19th, two unknown assailants attacked an exhibition by photographer Yevgenia Belorusets at the Centre for Visual Cultural Research (VCRC) in Kiev. The artist's photoworks are dedicated to the lives of Ukrainian LGBT and Queer families, who have to deal with harassment and threats of violence on a daily basis. It's not the first time that the center, which is under constant danger of being closed down by the authorities, is a target of censorship.

The effects of radioactive contamination on biological objects are manifested on all levels of organization – from viruses to ecosystems. The most brightly such effects can be seen within the Chornobyl exclusion zone, where biological objects were critically affected by the radiation.

To modernize its national economy, Ukraine must complete the already started vital reforms in its energy sector aimed at modernization and the development of unconventional and renewable sources of energy. To shift priorities of Ukraine’s energy policy towards Green New Deal principles, the European Neighborhood Policy can play a vital role.

Ukraine has problems with explaining its situation to the international public. It is not just about the language barrier but also about the capacity to "translate" the local specifics into the internationally accepted notions of modern democratic political culture.

The EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative opens to Ukraine the possibilities of integrating into Europe and at the same time lays the potential for regional leadership. But there are risks, too.

Much of the public is deaf to the claims of President Obama that poverty and unemployment levels would be worse without the injection of stimulus money by his administration which provided tax relief and income support for millions of Americans.