Security and defence

The invasion of Ukraine has shocked Japan. The country participates in the sanctions against Russia. Still, people in Japan look at the war in Europe against the backdrop of security threats in their Northeast Asian region, says Akira Kawasaki, a peace activist with the Japanese NGO Peace Boat. He sees opportunities for civil society action even under current war conditions.

More reports about rapes by the Russian army against the Ukrainian girls and women who are arriving in Slovakia have been exposed. In the meantime, the Slovak parliament is discussing proposals on banning abortion for women without permanent residency. This cynical targeting of Ukrainian girls and women is disturbing, says Denisa Nešťáková.

As Germany moves away from Russian energy imports, new dependencies on fossil energies must be avoided. The potential alternative from energy-saving, renewables and European cooperation offers excellent opportunities in the short, medium and long terms. But this will require new, green energy partnerships built on a new foundation of values.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine tragically continues with brutal shelling of civilian targets, escalating into a humanitarian catastrophe. At the forefront of all this is the masculinity of war which caused these horrors in the first place, and which allows for ignoring the voices of Ukrainian women at all levels.

The UK government has used its response to the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to distance itself further from the EU, says Ros Taylor.

Some have labelled Russia’s war against Ukraine “the world’s first crypto war.” That might be overstating matters, but cryptocurrencies are certainly having an impact on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The ongoing suffering of the civilian population in Ukraine has led to calls for the EU, or individual Member States, to stop imports of Russian gas. The economic consequences of such a step would be very severe in the short run. But there is another way, more gradual, which would minimise economic disruptions. The EU should simply impose a special import tariff on Russian gas. Repost courtesy of EUIdeas.

With the EU’s ongoing purchase of Russian energy resources, the regime that is responsible for the current barbaric war in Ukraine is guaranteed a constant cash flow.  Proponents of an embargo want to maximise the economic and financial pressure on Putin and withdraw financing from the Russian war machine.

The primary goal must be to stop the war of aggression on Ukraine launched by Russia on 24 February 2022. The sanctions of EU and NATO countries are currently in contrast to the dependence on Russian raw material and energy supplies. Hundreds of millions of euros flow from Germany to Russia every day, counteracting the effect of the sanctions. This should now be an incentive to reassess the costs of more radical fossil fuel exit scenarios in the shortest possible time under crisis conditions.

6 April 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the outbreak of the Bosnian War - the first war in Europe after World War 2. The reality in Bosnia and Herzegovina to this day is a succession of increasingly severe crises. The current war of aggression on Ukraine fuels the risk of destabilisation. The EU must support civil society and progressive parties in the country instead of continuing to seek deals with secessionist forces that deepen ethnic divides, dismantle the state and put peace at risk. On the 30th anniversary after the start of the war, we bring together positions of Bosnian civil society on German and European policies.