Russia

In August 2022, the production recovery in Ukraine continued, but the dynamics of the indicators of the economic conditions indicate a possible slowing down of the recovery trend in 6 months perspective. This is indicated by several important factors.

Hundreds of tones of dead fish have recovered from the Oder river. First dead fish were spotted already in late July. In early August, some anglers and local politicians from Lower Silesia alarmed regional authorities. There was no reaction. The mass die-off was detected when locals came across thousands of fish corpses near the village of Widuchowa on 11 August.

In this episode, we talk about EU foreign policy, the European response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, why the EU Council should turn to majority voting on foreign policy, and how to adapt EU institutions to the tasks ahead in light of the prospective enlargement.

In recent weeks, the topic of Russian travel into the European Union has become the subject of public debate in Estonia and Finland. Many Russians are taking advantage of the fact that the Finns lifted the pandemic restrictions this July as the opening of the Finnish-Russian border is an opportunity for them to use Finland as a transit point to other European countries.

Ukraine’s manufacturing sector suffers war losses, but most industries keep optimism about the future. However, manufacturers that secure the basic human needs (food, clothing, and shoes) demonstrate the best production and recovery results.

The war in Ukraine put many Eastern European countries, among them Hungary, in the hot seat. With the Western world providing strong financial and military support for Ukraine and emphasizing the unlawfulness of the invasion, the allies of Russia must reassess their relationship with Moscow.

In its 2021 survey, the NESG found several misunderstandings and issues as to why would Georgian producers or importers prefer Russia to the EU. The reasons are mostly emotional and not based on factual realities (like cheaper prices in Russia or language-related problems).

The civic legislative initiative “Legal abortion without compromises” was rejected by the Sejm. The draft law assumed legalization of abortion in Poland up to the 12th week of pregnancy. After this period, termination of pregnancy would be possible in the case of a threat to the life and health of the mother.

In this episode, Leszek Jażdżewski talks with Gerald Knaus about the enlargement policy of the European Union, new potential EU members, the \"New Cold War\", and the future of the European project.

In recent weeks, a new disinformation narrative has become prevalent: sanctions against Russia are not working, Russia has become even stronger, and sanctions are essentially Europe\'s economic suicide. This narrative is spread by pro-Kremlin disinformers.