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On 19 September, Sophia Beiter attended the event “Young Danube Bridges” at the Collegium Hungaricum in Vienna. Organized by the regional cultural advisor from the Danube Swabian Central Musuem in Ulm, the seminar was part of the project “International Youth Encounters in the Danube Region” and aimed to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas on key issues concerning the area.
Participants from Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova came together to learn about the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. The young people, who are all learning German, presented their countries, brought some typical food from their region and gathered knowledge about the Danube region during creative games and interactive activities. Alongside the IDM, several cultural institutes and embassies of the respective countries were present at the event.
Prof. Ulrich Schneckener, IDM visiting fellow has been interviewed by Dennik N, a Slovak daily newspaper.
In the interview he has emphasized that the annexation of Crimea in 2014 did not change much in the German-Russian relations as Germany believed that security in Europe was not possible without Russia. Prof. Schneckener pointed out that Germany forgot that Putin used gas as a weapon as was the case of Eastern European countries, especially in the case of Ukraine. Ironically after the annexation of Crimea Germany’s dependence on Russian gas even increased and part of Germany’s energy infrastructure was sold to Russian firms.
The Danube Region is facing increased Russian missile strikes, posing a threat to the area’s stability, especially near the Romanian border. NATO has been briefed on the situation but found no evidence of deliberate Russian aggression against allied territories. Romania can invoke Article 4 of the NATO Treaty for consultations. Romania’s Ministry of Defense is prepared to respond to an attack on its soil, but invoking Article 5 is not automatic. Rather than blaming Romania for its proximity to targets, the focus should be on condemning Russia’s attacks and understanding their broader implications, including the weaponization of food.
Transcript:
The Danube Region has come under direct attack. Following Moscow’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal, Russian missile strikes targeting Ukrainian ports along the Danube River have significantly increased over the past weeks. The Kremlin is once again threatening the civilian population and risking the region’s safety and stability, as the attacks are happening close to the Romanian border, an EU and NATO member state.
Dylan White, the acting spokesperson for NATO, disclosed this week that Romania’s ambassador has briefed the alliance about the drone fragments that have been found. He emphasized that there is no evidence suggesting any deliberate aggression by Russia against allied territories. However, Romania retains the option to invoke Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which calls for collective consultations among member states to safeguard political independence, territorial integrity, and overall security.
The Ministry of Defense of Romania has asserted that should an attack occur on Romanian soil, the country’s armed forces are fully prepared to respond appropriately. This doesn’t necessarily mean further escalation, as some observers are suggesting. Invoking Article 5, the core of the alliance’s collective defense, is no automatism. Following an attack, the NATO state first has to decide whether or not to ask for support and the response taken is then determined by all members.
Rather than fearing an Article 5 scenario – so effectively blaming Romania for their border being too close to militarily irrelevant targets – we should ultimately be much more concerned about the Russian Federation’s continued heinous attacks, deliberately causing civilian casualties. We need to understand that Putin is taking all of these factors into account, including the further weaponizing of food against the weakest parts of global society.
On 15 September, the IDM took part in the Political Academy’s Campus Open Day. Sophia Beiter, Kamila Bogdanova and Peter Techet represented the IDM by showcasing our different formats, such as the Info Europa magazine and Policy Papers. Guests were also invited to take part in our “story one”-challenge “My Danube story”.
The evening itself featured a full programme organised by several partners of the Political Academy. Alongside booths representing a wide range of think tanks and other organisations, the approximately 150 guests could get involved in 13 content workshops, guided tours of the premises and mini exhibitions.
In a recent commentary for ED News, Sebastian Schäffer, director of the Institute for Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), addressed Germany’s dissatisfaction with the European Union (EU) and discussed the possibility of Germany leaving the Union. However, Schäffer clarified that the German government has no serious plans to leave the EU in the near future, stating that criticism of Brussels is not uncommon. Schäffer emphasized the importance of acknowledging the achievements of European integration and warned against the negative consequences of destroying the EU.
Read the whole commentary here.
The Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) hosted Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schneckener, Professor of International Relations & Peace and Conflict Studies at Osnabrück University, as Visiting Fellow in September.
On 12 September, Schneckener held a talk at GLOBSEC, Bratislava, on “Russia’s War of Aggression as ‘Zeitenwende’? Implications for European Security.” He also gave an interview for the Slovak daily newspaper “Dennik” on Germany’s Russia policy and European security and engaged in conversation on Slovak and European politics with Tomás Strázay, director of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association.
Together with Sebastian Schäffer, director of the IDM, Scheckener gave a presentation at the Political Academy in Vienna on 13 September on “Prospects for EU enlargement and security – the idea of a Greater European Council,” analysing the challenges for EU enlargement and security issues.
Giving an insight into his current research, Schneckener gave a talk followed by a discussion on “Push back Frontex? Politicizing European Border Security” at IDM on 21 September. In his talk, Schneckener distinguished the different profiles of Frontex-critical NGOs and activists and analysed their role in the politicization of the EU border force.
This may be of interest to you:
Press release (in German)
Sebastian Schäffer provided his insights on Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s recent statement during an interview. Lula declared that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, would not be arrested in Brazil during the 2024 Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, as long as he is the president of Brazil. However, Sebastian Schaeffer pointed out that Lula had already backtracked from his statement, acknowledging that the judiciary would ultimately decide.
Daniel Martínek hat mit Blick über die Lage in der Slowakei vor den Parlamentswahlen gesprochen, darunter auch, wie sich die Wahlergebnisse auf die Unterstützung für die Ukraine auswirken könnten.
Lesen Sie den Artikel hier.
Our colleague Malwina Talik was interviewed by ED News about the modus operandi of the EU asylum and migration system and the impact of migration on the EU economy.
You can read the interview here.
