"The Year After"

Image credit: Arne Müseler / arne-mueseler.com / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Our brand new columnist Anton Shekhovtsov , who serves as director of the non-profit organisation Centre for Democratic Integrity, wrote a particularly interesting debut column this week on the future of Ukrainian-Russian relations.

In it, Shekhovtsov analyses the considerations that should go into thinking about a future past the atrocious war Russia inflicted upon Ukraine.

I'm not going to summarise the whole op-ed ––?you should most definitely read it for yourself –– but Shekhovtsov argues that, difficult as that it may be, Ukraine should be thinking about how to "make Russia a safe neighbour."

Aside from acquiring nuclear weapons, which is pretty much off the table, and joining Nato, which it should join, while at the same time realising that it's "unwise for Ukraine to perceive Nato membership as the ultimate security arrangement."

"Let me put this bluntly", he writes, "it is irresponsible to make the lasting existence of the Ukrainian nation conditional upon the existence of an organisation that may or may not survive conceivable and yet inconceivable environmental, political or technological crises of the future."

Instead, Ukraine should "invest financial, human, intellectual and network resources into fostering, strengthening and consolidating those elements of Russian political culture that reject subjugation of the Ukrainian nation and support equitable cooperation with the Ukrainian state."

In the column Shekhovtsov takes a wider view, less focused on the threats and developments of the day, to think about what should be done not only for Ukraine's sake, but stability in the region in the long term –– once the Russian menace has been pushed back.

It's a refreshing take that offers some handles for hope, rather than the persistent doom-loop the media is continually presenting.

Again, well worth a read. And very happy to count Shekhovstov among our illustrious rank of columnists. Looking forward to his next contributions.

In other news, my colleague andrew rettman obtained a letter sent by Eurovision News, a subsidiary of the European Broadcasting Union, to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to invite him to an "unprecedented international interview".

Lavrov, as you may or may not know, is one of Putin's rabid proponents of the war and a serial liar. Two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, he told UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss that Russia had no plans to invade Ukraine –?although some have argued that he was actually in the dark until the invasion took place.

Rettman also reports that Lavrov said "When we look at the actions of the current German leaders, who are the children of WWII German officers and members of the SS, we have to say ... many people in the current German administration have inherited Nazi genes. It is a fact," in a Russian TV interview in May.

Definitely someone to give room for an 'unprecedented international interview', meant to broadcasted across national broadcasters such as ARD, BBC, France Télévisions, ITV, RAI, TRT, TVE, and ZDF, right?

Rettman also saw a letter that was circulated and signed by "Members of the EBU Staff", expressing their concern about how "EBU is willingly offering Russia a podium for its war propaganda."

While EBU confirmed the letter sent to the Russian Foreign Ministry, they denied knowledge of staff having reached out them with concerns.

Read it.

Now,?onwards?to the news you should not have missed this week.

But not before I share a vacancy we have for an Engagement Editor to lead our membership expansion. Interested??Check it out here.

Migration

EU data protection chief launches Frontex investigation

Partially based on reporting done by our own Nikolaj Nielsen , the EU's data protection supervisor (EDPS) has launched an investigation into Frontex ?"automatically exchanging the debriefing reports with Europol without assessing the strict necessity of such exchange."

Read it.

Climate

Adapting to Southern Europe's 'new normal' — from droughts to floods

The first thing rain washes away is the memory of the drought, Elena Sánchez Nicolás writes in her excellent analysis of the abnormal weather patterns afflicting Southern Europe –– you've undoubtably seen the reports on both droughts and flooding. With a year that's already heading towards another heat record, with the summer still ahead of us, Europe should be preparing for the 'new normal'.

Read it.

Rule of Law

MEPs pile on pressure for EU to delay Hungary's presidency

In a bid to pose questions around Hungary's upcoming EU presidency next year, MEPs adopted a non-binding resolution that "questions" if Hungary is fit to hold the presidency to put pressure on Member States. Eventually, it's up to the European Council to decide. Eszter Zalan details what's going on and what's next for Hungary's presidency.

Read it.

Green Economy

IEA: World 'comfortably' on track for renewables target

Wester van Gaal reports on a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report, which has some very good news when it comes to the world's generation of energy from renewable sources.

Read it.

Work

EU clashes over protection of workers exposed to asbestos

Parliament, council and commission are arguing over what acceptable levels of asbestos exposure should be, and when to actually implement these new requirements while the "material is responsible for?around 90,000 deaths in the EU?each year," Paula Soler Rodriguez writes.

Read it.

Africa

Want to stop forced migration from West Africa? Start by banning bottom trawling

The EU could be a global leader in marine sustainability and significantly reduce forced migration, if only it would challenge those who profit from ransacking African resources –– the companies that use bottom trawlers for fishing.

Read it.

As always, thank you to all new subscribers to this newsletter, and my various inboxes are open for feedback, suggestions, tips, leaks, ideas and gossip. And don't forget to?become a member?(or?subscribe to our daily newsletter) to support our work.

See you next week,

Alejandro