Ukraine is not a burden for Europe — it’s a chance for Europe.
Today, European security is unthinkable without Ukraine. Ukraine has the strongest army in Europe, a dynamic defense industry, and citizens with vast military experience.
The real question is: to what extent does Europe itself understand the threat posed by the new authoritarianisms? And to what extent does it realise that helping Ukraine is, in fact, a matter of its own survival?
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Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.
Guest: Yevhen Hlibovytskyi, a prominent Ukrainian intellectual and director of the Frontier Institute.
Frontier Institute: frontier.pro-mova.com/en
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Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine.
Listen on various platforms: li.sten.to/thinkinggg
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CONTENTS:
00:00 Yevhen Hlibovytskyi, Ukrainian intellectual and director of the Frontier Institute.
02:04 Has the dynamic shifted, making Ukraine a supplier of security to Europe rather than just a recipient?
07:49 Is the acute 'need' driven by war a stronger motivator for entrepreneurship and creativity than peacetime opportunity?
10:25 Why is the historical understanding of the Russian threat still proving ambivalent in some Central and Southern European countries?
15:01 Should the European Union transform into a geopolitical union by adding a military security component to its integration?
22:36 Is the Ukrainian governance model inherently more resilient because of civil society?
27:59 Why is Europe failing to find the necessary political will to take decisive action on Russian assets, sanctions, and information warfare?
30:31 Is the perception of Ukraine as a 'burden' outdated?
35:03 What about NATO?
43:48 What long-term economic and demographic impacts will follow if the current threat isn't addressed?