May marks the 10th anniversary of the biggest enlargement in the EU's history including 10 new member states, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe. This "unification" of Europe has been depicted as a great success in terms of democracy and stability.
However, recent events in Ukraine have shown that parts of Europe still struggle for democracy. Tensions between the East and the West have been revived, with the EU supporting Ukraine's transition and promoting democratic reforms and Crimea becoming part of Russia. Has Ukraine turned into an EU-Russia battleground? What dilemmas are the EU facing today? How does the Ukraine crisis affect the EU's relationship with Russia?
Former President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek will hold the open lecture:
Crisis in Ukraine: What implications for the European Union, for Eastern Europe and for the relationship with Russia?
Time: Monday 2 June 2014, 10:00-11:30
Place: Aud. 7, Eilert Sundt House (Faculty of Social Sciences), Blindern campus
Jerzy Buzek is Member of the European Parliament (EP) (Group of the European People's Party). He is former President of the EP and former Prime Minister of Poland. Buzek can thus provide unique insights into what the current crisis in Ukraine means for Eastern Europe, what kind of dilemmas the European Union is currently facing, and how the crisis affects the EU's relationship with Russia.
At the end of the lecture, the floor will be opened for questions from the audience.
Welcome by Prof. Bjørn Erik Rasch, Vice Dean for Education, Faculty of Social Sciences.
