Ukraine

What if Russia had hit Poland with missiles? -An assessment under the law of use of force –

 415 total views

On November 15, numerous news reports surfaced regarding a claimed Russian missile hitting a village in Przewodów, Poland, close to the Ukrainian-Polish border, killing two people. Let us assume for the sake of a thought experiment, that conclusive evidence would have emerged––which in fact did not––regarding the origin of the missile hits, and Russia is identified as the perpetrator of the attack.

The reason why the American legislation must not abandon Ukraine

 467 total views

United States party politics continue to place a high priority on foreign policy, and more specifically, subsidizing Ukraine. The House minority leader, as well as one of the leading Republicans in Congress, recently told the media, “I think people are going to be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine.”

The EU and the Western Balkans: it is a complete impasse?

 353 total views

In her annual State of the Union Address, Ursula von der Leyen named the countries which have to join the European Union as soon as possible. Among them, President von der Leyen highlighted Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The potential candidacy of these three post-Soviet states is naturally enhanced by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on the EU’s immediate border. On the other hand, the Western Balkan (WB) countries – who had waited long for EU membership – only mentioned by the European Commission (EC) President as an unspecified block. This tells a lot about the EU’s own commitment to this region.

The prohibition on the use of force is still breathing

 485 total views

From time to time, especially in the midst of an ongoing armed conflict, commentators point out, that international legal principles and norms are guiding principles at best, and the most important rules, such as the general prohibition on the use of force, which is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the United Nations’ Charter and customary international law, possibly with a peremptory character are ineffective.

Invade Ukraine to make Russia great again?

 530 total views

In the light of the current Russian invasion in Ukraine, we should keep our eyes on the East. International political and economic alliances have always been essential for nation states to ensure stability and foster prosperity. Regional economic and military alliances became inevitable after World Wars, especially for Europe where interdependence of states was higher than e.g. in the USA.