The seventh Ukraine Breakfast Debate took place on Thursday, 3 May 2018, on the topic of “The EU-Ukraine-Russia Energy Triangle: Nord Stream 2, energy security, and reforms in Ukraine”.
On 12 April 2018, the Open Society European Policy Institute, together with the Foreign Policy Centre, organised an event on the spreading and export of illiberal values by authoritarian regimes towards their neighbours and opponents abroad.
The sixth Ukraine Breakfast Debate took place on Thursday, 05 April 2018 on the topic of “Open Data – how do the collection of data and free access to them influence the reform process in Ukraine?” with Vladyslav Herasymenko, analyst at the think tank Texty.org.
On 20 Mach 2018, the Civic Synergy project held a discussion “External dimension of the Platforms’ activity: how to cooperate effectively with the EU institutions and civil society”.
The fifth Ukraine Breakfast Debate took place on Tuesday, 20 March 2018 on the topic of “Six security scenarios for Ukraine: Options and strategies for a future embedding of Ukraine in the international political system” with Dr. Andreas Umland.
On 13 February 2018, a roundtable “UN Peacekeeping Mission: Opportunities and Risks for a Safe Peace” was held in Kyiv.
Projections for 2017 and 2018 show a growth of the Russian GDP to 1.7% and 1.8% due to overlapping trade recovery, macroeconomic stability and rising oil prices. Nevertheless, the economic progress of the Russian economy masks many vulnerabilities.
While think tanks certainly benefit from the new digital era to increase their visibility, they encounter new political and information disruptions, like the threat of disinformation or the rise of populism. In this context, they will be able to use the tools brought by the digital era and to counter the challenges it creates.
Over the past years, the EU and the United States have enlarged the funds supporting the role of the civil society in the democratisation process of Eastern Europe countries and the Western Balkans. However, this process has been impeded by the social and political unrest in these countries.
In the current industrial and information era, cybersecurity is considered as a major issue as we witnessed in 2017 with the WannaCry or Petya attacks. The EU works on many fronts to enhance cyber resilience but needs a stronger support from its member states.