“Inaugural” First German Breakfast Debate in Kyiv – done!
The transition of power in Germany, this year’s German EU Council Presidency and the forthcoming Normandy summit in Berlin give reason to reflect on the future of Ukrainian-German relations. Ukrainian experts and officials together with our special guest German Ambassador Anka Feldhusen discussed these issues today at the First German Breakfast Debate “Ukrainian-German relations: is there room for improvement?”.
The event has become the first one in the series of German Breakfast Debates in Kyiv, which will be further organized by the new Europe Center in partnership with the Institute for European Politics on the regular basis. The Germany Breakfast Debates are the continuation of the series of Ukraine Breakfast Debates, which has been held by the Institute for European Politics in Berlin since 2017. The German Breakfast Debates initiative aims to discuss the views of German experts and decision-makers on events in Ukraine and Germany, as well as to establish a professional dialogue between experts from both states.
Today Dr. Katrin Böttger, Director of the Institute for European Politics, and Ljudmyla Melnyk, Research Associate of the institute, launched the event with the welcoming remarks. The discussion was moderated by Alyona Getmanchuk, Director of the New Europe Center.
On the first Breakfast Debate the participants covered the wide range of issues:
- This year’s German EU Council Presidency, thirteenth in a row, and the opportunities for Ukrainian-German relations in this context.
- Reforms process in Ukraine, key among which, according to Ms. Feldhusen, are the decentralization and judiciary reforms.
- Political transformation s in Germany, transit of power in Russian Federation and Normandy summit in Berlin, planned for April 2020.
- Economic cooperation, which should be paid more attention to, especially in the context of creating a more attractive investment climate in Ukraine.
- As well as traditional Nord Stream 2, sanctions against Russian Federation and ecology.
Find the photo report from the event here.
The Germany Breakfast Debates is a unique format, taking place in Kyiv on the regular basis. It is the continuation of the series of Ukraine Breakfast Debates, which has been held by the Institute for European Politics in Berlin since 2017. The Germany Breakfast Debates initiative aims to discuss the views of German experts and decision-makers on events in Ukraine and Germany, as well as to establish a professional dialogue between experts from both states.
This event is part of the new project “German Ukrainian Researchers Network” (GURN). GURN aims at establishing a German-Ukrainian expert network, strengthening expertise in policy analysis and promoting joint cooperation projects. GURN is conducted in close cooperation with the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP, Berlin) Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF, Kyiv), the think tank development and research initiative think twice UA (Kyiv) and is kindly supported by the Federal Foreign Office.
