Europe

„Ich bin überzeugter Föderalist“ – mit diesen Worten brachte Kurt Beck, Ministerpräsident von Rheinland-Pfalz, seine Einschätzung der Bedeutung regionaler Autonomie auf den Punkt. Die Besonderheiten des deutschen Föderalismus waren eins der Themen der Studienreise des 7. Diplomatenkollegs nach Rheinland-Pfalz und Hessen.

The young middle class that is protesting against Putin knows the Soviet Union only from history books and takes a liberal stance toward Europe. Nevertheless, the idea of Russia following its own path is opposed to an orientation toward the West. How is the history of Russia evaluated in Eastern and Western Europe? Does Russia’s future lie in Europe or in the Eurasian Union? Young experts from Russia and Central and Eastern Europe tackled these questions during the St. Petersburg Dialogue.

Putin and Medvedev’s decision to switch positions has been accepted by the Russian middle class – but massive fraud during the Duma elections in December was the last straw. Thousands took to the streets, with almost 100,000 gathering in Moscow’s Sakharov Center. Is Russia experiencing its own “Arab Spring,” or are the protests ebbing away to a Russian winter? Ponomarev and Cherkessova do not expect a radical upheaval, but they do foresee the gradual development of an active civil society.

Welche Ziele verfolgt die neue dänische Regierung? Welche Pläne hat sie für die EU-Ratspräsidentschaft? Wie gut sind die Beziehungen zwischen Deutschland und Dänemark? Diese und weitere Fragen diskutierten die Teilnehmer der „Botschaftermatinée“ am 18. Januar 2012.

The young Balkan republic needs Europe and hopes to join the European Union – the guest from Pristina came to state his country’s case in Berlin. But the Union would also be missing something without Kosovo. Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj, CDU parliamentarian Roderich Kiesewetter, and British Labour MP Denis MacShane discuss how to ease the conflict with Serbia and how regional cooperation and EU integration can succeed.

From 1940 to 1941, diplomat and author Ivo Andrić was head of mission for the Yugoslav embassy at Rauchstraße 17 in Berlin. He later received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961. The DGAP commemorated these historic events with an evening centered on a reading of Andrić’s “The Bridge on the Drina,” which was followed by a presentation of “How The Soldier Repairs The Gramophone,” by German-speaking Bosnian author Saša Stanišić, and a discussion on the present situation in the Western Balkans.