Suchergebnisse

The euphoria felt by both domestic and foreign liberal audiences following the victory of a pro-reform party in Moldova is now receding. The new Moldovan leadership has stumbled in fulfilling its main electoral promise, namely to fight corruption by effectively reforming the justice system. There is a growing realisation that justice reform initiated and conducted with Western support over the last decade, and based on the implementation of existing best practices, might not be the most effective approach considering Moldova's conditions. With corrupt courts and a public prosecutor office that is still connected to former kleptocrats, Moldova is a model weak state. A more suitable approach to justice reform would be to first establish prerequisites that would lead to the impartiality of the legal system before granting it political independence. This may also prove a more suitable model of justice reform for other Eastern Partnership countries undermined by strongmen and tycoons.

Despite what looked like tremendous efforts by the West to deter Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the Kremlin started a full-scale military invasion across the Ukrainian border from the north, east, and south. Clarifying why these deterrence efforts did not work as expected could provide useful insights for building more effective strategies to stop Russia's aggression. It would also allow for adjusting future policies of deterrence against Russia. The EU and NATO should consider their misperceptions about Russia that undermined their ability to politically and militarily discourage Russia's aggression. They also should consider what actions have fuelled Russia's misperceptions about the West and emboldened the Kremlin to launch its military invasion of Ukraine.

The ongoing military and political escalations in and around Donbas - including the increase in Russian military deployments near Ukraine's borders - represent one of the most severe security crises in Europe since Russia's aggression against Ukraine in 2014. The patterns of Russian military deployments, the structure of forces, and the types of observed military hardware strongly suggest the risk of an offensive operation rather than an exercise. Given the existing political costs, that operation is likely to take indirect forms by using the cover of Russian military proxies in Donbas. This crisis represents both a major challenge and an opportunity for the European Union (EU) to conduct practical work on developing its strategic autonomy and offer leadership in strengthening the security in its immediate neighbourhood. What should the EU do in practical terms to discourage further military escalation around Donbas, or at least increase the costs for such a development?

The Biden-Putin summit in June 2021 has brought more questions than answers. It was a highly debated move - particularly in the United States - ever since the possibility of the event was announced in April. The outcomes of the high-profile bilateral meeting are still elusive. Despite these, the summit offered a few valuable insights on United States-Russia bilateral relations as well as on how the two countries seem to perceive each other. Among them, Russia views strategic stability to be of key importance for its ability to influence world affairs. The biggest concerns of the United States include cybersecurity and reducing Russia's disruptive behaviour, which instrumentalises instability in conflicts around the world. The revelations following the summit serve as useful signals but offer few reasons for optimism with regard to the United States and Russia engaging on a solid common agenda, and more likely for them to continue pursuing opposing interests.

World media have hailed the victory of Maia Sandu in the Moldovan presidential elec­tions on 15 November. They celebrated it as a triumph of democracy and pro-Western preferences over post-Soviet cronyism, authoritarianism and Russian apologists. The reality is more complex while there are few reasons for optimism. Sandu's victory is a fragile one as the conditions that delivered it were temporary only. However, she may have unwittingly discovered how to attract voters who traditionally preferred Russia-backed candidates. The EU would benefit by learning from this accidental solution, which is of value regionwide, and deriving from it a thought-out strategy to more effectively support and protect genuine democratic transformation in Moldova and the post-Soviet area.

Die jüngste Debatte über eine mögliche Verteidigungshilfe Deutschlands für die Ukraine ist von Relevanz, was die Bemühungen angeht, den gegenwärtigen Stillstand im Minsker Prozess wie im Normandie-Format zu überwinden und einer Lösung im Konflikt um den Donbas näherzukommen. Sie betrifft aber auch weitergehende Fragen zur Rolle der Bundesrepublik in Europa und ganz allgemein in der internationalen Sicherheitspolitik. Dabei geht es um die Fähigkeit Deutschlands, sich auf Situationen einzustellen, in denen andere Länder bereit sind, Konflikte militärisch zu lösen. In diesem Sinne passt die Diskussion auch zu den Überlegungen für eine stärker geopolitisch ausgerichtete EU. Der Bundesregierung bietet sich hier ein Weg, der gewaltsamen Veränderung bestehender Grenzen aktiver entgegenzutreten und so ihrem Engagement für die Sicherheit und Stabilität Europas mehr Nachdruck zu verleihen.

The recent debate about providing military assistance to Ukraine has relevance for the efforts to overcome the current impasse in the Minsk Process and the Normandy Format in particular, and thus the search for a resolution to the conflict regarding the Donbas. But it also concerns larger questions of Germany's role in Europe, and in security policy more generally. It touches on Germany's ability to adapt to situations in which other countries are willing to envisage military solutions to existing con­flicts. In this sense, it fits into discussions about a more geopolitical EU. And it offers Berlin a way to reinforce its commitment to European security and stability by more actively resisting the redrawing of international borders.

Despite what looked like tremendous efforts by the West to deter Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the Kremlin started a full-scale military invasion across the Ukrainian border from the north, east, and south. Clarifying why these deterrence efforts did not work as expected could provide useful insights for building more effective strat­egies to stop Russia's aggression. It would also allow for adjusting future policies of deterrence against Russia. The EU and NATO should consider their misperceptions about Russia that undermined their ability to politically and militarily discourage Rus­sia's aggression. They also should consider what actions have fuelled Russia's mis­perceptions about the West and emboldened the Kremlin to launch its military invasion of Ukraine. (author's abstract)

The euphoria felt by both domestic and foreign liberal audiences following the vic­tory of a pro-reform party in Moldova is now receding. The new Moldovan leadership has stumbled in fulfilling its main electoral promise, namely to fight corruption by effectively reforming the justice system. There is a growing realisation that justice reform initiated and conducted with Western support over the last decade, and based on the implementation of existing best practices, might not be the most effec­tive approach considering Moldova's conditions. With corrupt courts and a public pros­ecutor office that is still connected to former kleptocrats, Moldova is a model weak state. A more suitable approach to justice reform would be to first establish pre­requisites that would lead to the impartiality of the legal system before granting it politi­cal independence. This may also prove a more suitable model of justice reform for other Eastern Partnership countries undermined by strongmen and tycoons. (author's abstract)

The Biden-Putin summit in June 2021 has brought more questions than answers. It was a highly debated move - particularly in the United States - ever since the possi­bility of the event was announced in April. The outcomes of the high-profile bilateral meeting are still elusive. Despite these, the summit offered a few valuable insights on United States-Russia bilateral relations as well as on how the two countries seem to per­ceive each other. Among them, Russia views strategic stability to be of key im­portance for its ability to influence world affairs. The biggest concerns of the United States include cybersecurity and reducing Russia's disruptive behaviour, which in­stru­mentalises instability in conflicts around the world. The revelations following the summit serve as useful signals but offer few reasons for optimism with regard to the United States and Russia engaging on a solid common agenda, and more likely for them to continue pursuing opposing interests. (author's abstract)

The ongoing military and political escalations in and around Donbas - including the increase in Russian military deployments near Ukraine's borders - represent one of the most severe security crises in Europe since Russia's aggression against Ukraine in 2014. The patterns of Russian military deployments, the structure of forces, and the types of observed military hardware strongly suggest the risk of an offensive operation rather than an exercise. Given the existing political costs, that operation is likely to take indirect forms by using the cover of Russian military proxies in Donbas. This crisis represents both a major challenge and an opportunity for the European Union (EU) to conduct practical work on developing its strategic autonomy and offer leader­ship in strengthening the security in its immediate neighbourhood. What should the EU do in practical terms to discourage further military escalation around Donbas, or at least increase the costs for such a development? (author's abstract)

World media have hailed the victory of Maia Sandu in the Moldovan presidential elec­tions on 15 November. They celebrated it as a triumph of democracy and pro-Western preferences over post-Soviet cronyism, authoritarianism and Russian apologists. The reality is more complex while there are few reasons for optimism. Sandu's victory is a fragile one as the conditions that delivered it were temporary only. However, she may have unwittingly discovered how to attract voters who traditionally preferred Russia-backed candidates. The EU would benefit by learning from this accidental solution, which is of value regionwide, and deriving from it a thought-out strategy to more effectively support and protect genuine democratic transformation in Moldova and the post-Soviet area. (author's abstract)

Die jüngste Debatte über eine mögliche Verteidigungshilfe Deutschlands für die Ukraine ist von Relevanz, was die Bemühungen angeht, den gegenwärtigen Stillstand im Minsker Prozess wie im Normandie-Format zu überwinden und einer Lösung im Konflikt um den Donbas näherzukommen. Sie betrifft aber auch weitergehende Fra­gen zur Rolle der Bundesrepublik in Europa und ganz allgemein in der internationalen Sicherheitspolitik. Dabei geht es um die Fähigkeit Deutschlands, sich auf Situa­tio­nen einzustellen, in denen andere Länder bereit sind, Konflikte militärisch zu lösen. In diesem Sinne passt die Diskussion auch zu den Überlegungen für eine stär­ker geo­politisch ausgerichtete EU. Der Bundesregierung bietet sich hier ein Weg, der gewalt­samen Veränderung bestehender Grenzen aktiver entgegenzutreten und so ihrem Engagement für die Sicherheit und Stabilität Europas mehr Nachdruck zu verleihen. (Autorenreferat)