On 9 and 10 July, the Centre for Liberal Modernity organized the inter­na­tional confer­ence “EU Enlarge­ment — a geopo­lit­ical necessity and the next steps for the EU candidate states” with its partner orga­ni­za­tions in Tbilisi, Georgia.

As a result of Russia’s constant attacks on its energy sector, Ukraine suffers an ongoing severe energy shortage. Power outages are a daily occur­rence. This makes life difficult for the popu­la­tion, endangers...

The Ukrainian energy system is at the brink of collapse. Expert Oleksandr Vizir makes concrete proposals and outlines a plan to save the energy infra­struc­ture of the country. Measures include rapid devel­op­ment of new gener­a­tion capac­i­ties as well as control­ling state energy companies.

In Gaza, the Israeli army is currently fighting Hamas, while at the same time the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah in the north is at the brink of esca­la­tion. Is there a two-fronts war ahead for Israel? Till Schmidt talks with political scientist Matthew Levitt.

Despite clear polls and massive protests, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still in office. Richard C. Schneider on the exhaus­tion of the people in Israel, possible scenarios for the end of the governing coalition — and why Netanyahu is playing for time. 

Despite Chan­cellor Scholz’ Zeit­en­wende, Germany’s actions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine have been dominated by hesitancy. The govern­ment often acts only when the situation on the battle­field is dramatic – or waits for decisions from Wash­ington. Berlin seemingly hopes for an eventual ceasefire. But this only raises the threat of an “eternal provi­sional arrange­ment”, similar to the Cold War-era division of Germany, writes Nico Lange.

While Russia is preparing for a long war, the West remains hesitant and divided. At this year’s confer­ence Russia and the West, partic­i­pants urgently called for a new European policy versus Moscow....

How does Ukraine view the Ukraine Recovery Confer­ence and the results of EU elections? Why did Mustafa Nayyem resign as head of the State Agency for Restora­tion and Infra­struc­ture? Marieluise Beck in conver­sa­tion with Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, member of the Verkhovna Rada and Chair of the Committee of Ukraine’s inte­gra­tion into the European Union.

Despite the far-right’s gains, the overall picture remains mixed: signif­i­cant losses on the one hand, record results on the other — including for new far-right parties. Europe expert Nicolas Startin on difficult alliances, the voting behaviour of young people and the future of the Green Deal.