13 June 2022
Serbia on Hold
Since 3 April 2022, when elections at all levels were held, Serbia has been on hold. Two months after the elections, only the President of Serbia has begun to serve his regular mandate, while the official results of the parliamentary elections are yet to be proclaimed, the new composition of the National Assembly is yet to be convened, and the new government is yet to be formed. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which occurred at the beginning of the election campaign, added to the already tense political situation. Continue reading >>
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31 May 2022
Jenseits der Oligarchen
Die von der Europäischen Union beschlossenen Russland-Sanktionen haben auch in Deutschland erhebliche Defizite bei deren Umsetzung offengelegt. Mit dem Ersten Gesetz zur effektiveren Durchsetzung von Sanktionen vom 23. Mai 2022 sollen in einem ersten Schritt vor allem kurzfristig behebbare Lücken beim Auffinden sanktionierten Vermögens geschlossen werden. Es erscheint nicht übertrieben, das Gesetz als Beginn einer weitreichenden Veränderung des deutschen Sicherheitsrechts zu begreifen. Doch obwohl die Stoßrichtung des Sanktionsdurchsetzungsgesetzes im Grundsatz zu begrüßen ist, mangelt es dem Gesetz an einer klaren strategischen Zielsetzung und einem rechtlich stimmigen Regelungskonzept. Continue reading >>
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13 April 2022
Peace and Security for Ukraine and Europe are not Created on the Drawing Board of the West
Viewing Ukraine as an object rather than a subject of negotiations is not an unfamiliar pattern of international security policy. It goes hand in hand with the dangerous tendency to turn Russia’s ‘Near Abroad’ ultimately into a ‘buffer zone’ even in Western political and academic discourses. This pattern has been at work in the course of the annexation of Crimea and the armed conflict in Donbas over the past eight years. Continue reading >>09 April 2022
“A Voice Crying in the Wilderness”
This post will reveal the history of Ukraine's continuing warning to Europe, and in particular to German authorities about the security dangers of the violent Russian regime and politics. It will demonstrate how the ignorant and weak reaction of German politics to these threats (given the prevalence of economic interests over security and European values) indirectly supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and how the Russian regime abused European languidness and neutrality to launch a large-scale war in Europe. This blogpost is not so much about condemning the mistakes of European politicians, but about suggesting ways to solve these problems, taking into account the experience with obvious mistakes. Continue reading >>
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02 March 2022
It’s Not Propaganda If It’s True
The first casualty of war is the truth. Putin’s reasons for the invasion, like his claims of genocide in Donbas, are abstruse and lack any basis in reality. Rather than addressing the West, this national propaganda is meant to convince the Russian people of the necessity of war. Is there a possibility to correct misinformation by communicating directly to the Russian people in Russian? Continue reading >>
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28 February 2022
Wirtschaftssanktionen gegen Russland und ihre rechtlichen Grenzen
In der Dynamik der letzten Tage wurden von den USA, der Europäischen Union und anderen Staaten Sanktionen gegen Russland beschlossen, die als „beispiellos“ und „verheerend“ bezeichnet wurden. Russland spricht von „illegitimen“ Sanktionen und droht gar mit atomarer Abschreckung. Tatsächlich stehen die erlassenen Wirtschaftssanktionen auf sicherem rechtlichen Boden. Sie sind in einem gewissen Maß sogar Voraussetzung dafür, dass der Boden des Völkerrechts nicht wegbricht Continue reading >>15 September 2021
Court without a Head
On 16 October 2021, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine will celebrate its 25th anniversary. The Court’s anniversary falls in the middle of a constitutional crisis of unprecedented scale and with no clear prospects of solution. Continue reading >>
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04 March 2021
Pandemic and Fragile Government: A Year of COVID-19 Fatigue and Disorder in Ukraine
The pandemic has exposed all the weaknesses and shortcomings of the Ukrainian health protection system, which has been on a periphery of the national reforms agenda for many years. In many regards, the Ukrainian way to protect the population against infectious diseases remains ineffective and fragmented and based of outdated Soviet-time approaches and methods. To date, Ukraine is one of the unfortunate leaders among European countries in confirmed Covid-19 cases and coronavirus death tolls. There is still no clear national strategy on how to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 in Ukraine is in place. The President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine forecasted the terms of vaccination under the WHO COVAX initiative. However, detailed arrangements are far from being in place. Continue reading >>
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27 April 2020
Response to COVID-19 in Ukraine: Legal Pragmatism or Constitutional Outbreak?
All legal measures limiting human rights in response to COVID-19 adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine are made pursuant with respective clauses of two specific legal acts: the Code of Civil Protection of Ukraine (art. 16) and Law “On the protection of the population from infectious diseases” (art. 3). The said legislation empowers the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as a key body in the protection of the population against infectious diseases with a broad margin of appreciation. However, more importantly, is that the Ukrainian Constitution envisages a restriction on certain rights and freedoms if these restrictions are prescribed by law in the interests of protecting the health of the population. Ukrainian think tanks and NGOs express deep concern on unconstitutionality of limitations of human rights caused by the Government’s measures to fight COVID-19. Continue reading >>
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