Ukraine

The Visegrad Group — comprising the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia — has been declared dead, barely alive or at least unconscious a number of times due to disagreements on a wide range of issues such as democratic values, rule of law, European Union as well as foreign policy in a broader sense.

The Ukrainian government has introduced a range of policies aimed at supporting families and promoting the well-being of children, including measures to increase access to healthcare, education, and childcare, as well as support for maternity and paternity leave.

Accepting Russia\'s presidency of the UN Security Council is the worst thing the international community can do. This situation should be treated as an opportunity to start a serious discussion on the reform of this institution, which apparently no longer fulfills its role. To put it bluntly, it\'s time to kick Russia out of the UN Security Council.

The war caught Ukrainian customs in the process of reform. Before the war, the customs service in Ukraine was reformed in several stages. Some results have been achieved, although the main challenges, corruption, and inconsistent regulatory enforcement, still need to be overcome.

In this episode, we talk about how the war in Ukraine has changed French foreign and security policy in Europe, what are the prospects for Ukraine to join the EU and NATO, and whether the center of power in the EU has shifted to the East

Estonia\'s e-Governance Academy (eGA) is leading a digital transformation project in Ukraine that will improve the efficiency, security and access to public services for citizens and businesses. The project will develop services for the government e-service app Diia, improve data exchange between registers and service providers and further develop eID infrastructure.

While work on Estonia\'s newly drafted National Security Concept began before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) says that the changed security situation has made its adoption all the more pressing.

Everyone should understand the meaning of the word \"cost\". You can try avoiding expenses, but costs will still come, one day. What is happening in Georgia now is very much about neglecting the meaning of the word \"cost\" by politicians, mainly in the West. However, costs cannot disappear through wishful thinking. Current decision makers may try to hide from them, but they may return at a higher rate.

We pay too little global attention to what is happening in China. The Communist Party persistently continues the policy of a restrictive lockdown in response to COVID for over 2.5 years. Funnily enough, this policy is probably an ideal dream for many opinion leaders in Poland, given their position just a few months ago. But seriously, in the Chinese authoritarian system, this sanitary regime is more violent than anywhere else in the democratic world.

In this episode, we talk about experiencing the first days of the Russian invasion in Ukraine as a journalist, changing social moods, resilience of the Ukrainian fighters, possible scenarios for the end of the war, and about why it is crucial for the West to support the Ukrainian cause.