Europe Direct invites you: Online event on the war in Ukraine

Europe Direct Bocholt invites you to an online event in cooperation with the Europe Direct Centres Duisburg and Steinfurt as well as the Europa-Union Duisburg Mülheim Niederrhein, the German-British Society Niederrhein and the Europa-Union Bocholt on Tuesday, 14 March from 7 pm.

The topic

On 24 February 2022, the Russian army invaded Ukraine. Just two weeks later, the then Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett travelled to Moscow for negotiations. The subject of the talks was the attempt to initiate a peace process. After the talks failed, the war escalated, particularly on the Russian side. The Butsha massacre is just one example of this. In view of these developments, it seems hard to imagine peace.

Eleven months later, on 25 January, the Western alliance decided to support Ukraine with battle tanks. Almost in the same breath, Ukraine demanded fighter jets. On 3 February, Putin responded in Volgograd during a speech commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad with a nebulous threat that also left open the use of nuclear weapons. The door to diplomacy seems to have been slammed shut.

However, the increasing escalation is having an impact on public opinion: 45 per cent of Germans are against the delivery of German battle tanks.

The discussion

Against the backdrop of current developments, a number of questions arise: Have the latest developments started an irreversible spiral of escalation?

Does Putin's political fate depend on the outcome of the war and how should this be assessed? Are peace negotiations illusory at this point in time or would they even be detrimental to Ukraine? Or should talks be sought right now in order to prevent "even worse"?

The speakers

Prof Dr Ulrich Brückner from Team Europe in Germany, the EU Commission's pool of speakers, and political scientist Siebo Janssen will discuss these and other questions. The event will be moderated by Jochen Leyhe.

Registration
The event is free of charge and will take place as a video conference via Zoom. Please register briefly and informally via the following e-mail address: europe-direct(at)bocholt(dot)de

You will receive the access link shortly before the event.

We look forward to hearing from you and answering your questions!

For this event, Europe Bocholt is cooperating with the Europe Direct Centres Duisburg/Lower Rhine and Steinfurt, the Europa-Union Duisburg/Mülheim/Oberhausen (Lower Rhine) e.V., the Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft Niederrhein e.V. and the Europa-Union Bocholt e.V.