For the panel on the "Future of Europe in the Light of the Russian War Against Ukraine” in Graz we expect around 80 participants in the audience and an online audience. It is a public event at the town hall and the opening of a two-day conference on “Changing Societies-Dimensions of Europeanisation” that is hosted by the University of Graz and its Field of Excellence “Dimensions of Europeanisation” in cooperation with Arqus. Participants will include researchers at the university including current “Scholars at Risk” researchers from Ukraine as well as an interested public. After the discussion there will be reception hosted by the mayor of Graz.
The panelists have been invited to share their perspectives on what the war in Ukraine means for Europe and reflect on the different responses in Europe to the Russian aggression. Florian Bieber, the director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, will moderate the panel and address the panelists with specific questions. Topics we would like to explore:
- Has the war really been a “Zeitenwende” (turn of an era) for Europe?
- How and why have many Western European political and intellectual elites “forgotten” European wars since 1945?
- How do we need to de-colonize not just the history of Eastern Europe, but also European discourses about its East?
- How could and should the EU change in light of this experience, both for itself, but also towards Ukraine?
The panel participants are:
- Fabian Zuleeg, the director of the influential think tank European Policy Centre in Brussel. He will be reflecting on the meaning of war for the European Union.
- Velina Tchakarova, the director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy. Her expertise include global security issues as well as the cooperation between Russia and China.
- Vedran Dzhic from the Austrian Institute for International Affairs will reflect on the importance of the war for the Balkans, but also on why the war in former Yugoslavia is often "forgotten".
- Olesya Khromeychuk, director of the Ukrainian Institute in London, is a historian and will reflect on what Europe means for Ukraine and how the (Western) European gaze often ignores countries like it.
This debate will also be available via livestream and recorded.
