Welcome to this edition of What about Ukraine?, a newsletter that helps you keep updated about what has been said recently about Ukraine in Ukraine, and in the international media.

The truck blockade at the Polish-Ukrainian border remains, and is all over the news in Europe. This week you can read an article from Liga on the conflict, offering a Ukrainian point of view from the truckers affected by the Polish protest, and a glimpse of its impact on Ukraine.

Our European press review also shares a business investigation by German Handelsblatt that reveals how Germany avoided a Russian financial attack on Gazprom Germania. It could have caused an "economic catastrophe" in March 2022. Internal demographic and political issues in Ukraine are the focus in Spanish and French news, and Hungary sees an opening for Hungarian minorities after the Ukrainian parliament amended a law on minority languages.

Bulgaria is set to release a statement asking Russia to return thousands of Ukrainian children illegally deported by the invading forces, while a Catholic newspaper in Italy shares that the Vatican "is working" with Moscow for the return of these "missing children."

Have a good read,

Sarah-Lou Lepers
Editor of this week's edition

Since 6 November, Polish hauliers, joined by farmers, have been blocking trucks from entering Ukraine at several checkpoints along the border. Slovakian carriers have also shown solidarity by setting up short-term blockades of checkpoints on their border with Ukraine. Their main demands include restoring a permit system for Ukrainian hauliers who want to enter the EU, which was suspended after the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion against Ukraine. 

Over the last few weeks, two Ukrainian truck-drivers died while standing in the truck queues to enter Ukraine, which stretch over dozens of kilometres. The blockade has also disrupted supply chains for many Ukrainian businesses. As of the end of November, the estimated losses for the Ukrainian economy were already 400 million euro, and volunteers who deliver cars, equipment and medical supplies for the army report their cargo have been stuck in the queues for weeks.

This week we suggest you dive into the atmosphere at one of the checkpoints at the Polish-Ukrainian border by reading a reportage by Kateryna Pryschepa. 

This article was originally published by Liga, a Ukrainian online-media that mainly focuses on business topics and financial analytics. After the beginning of the full-scale invasion against Ukraine, the editorial team started English version.

Translated by Tetiana Evloeva.

Germany 

Exposing the Kremlin's energy weapon

An investigation by the business newspaper Handelsblatt exposes how Germany faced the risk of a Russian-planned total blackout in March 2022. Based on insider interviews, journalists detail how the German government averted an "economic catastrophe". Two Russian managers from Gazprom’s then-local subsidiary Gazprom Germania had revealed a plan aimed at paralysing Germany’s energy infrastructure. Through a trick of shares transfer, Gazprom transferred the Gazprom Germania leadership to a company owned by a Moscow DJ, Dmitry Tseplyaev. Journalists write: "According to the Kremlin's calculations, the energy weapon was intended to break Germany's support for Ukraine." As a precaution, Berlin placed the company under trusteeship and later nationalised the business — an unprecedented event in the German economy. (Handelsblatt)

On 27 February, the Ukrainian President's office announced the formation of a unit comprising foreigners – the International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine. 20,000 volunteers from 52 countries signed up within a week. Who are these men risking their lives for a foreign land? Zeit provides a touching reportage narrating the stories of three men, German, American and Belarusian, who went to Ukraine to fight in a war that "wasn't theirs but became so". (Zeit) 

At Europa-Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), a new research centre, the Viadrina Center of Polish and Ukrainian Studies (VCPU), has opened. It focuses on the history, culture and politics of the three countries between the Rhine and the Dnipro. The VCPU unites the Center for Interdisciplinary Polish Studies and the Chair of Entangled History of Ukraine. This permanent institute signifies a new level of Ukrainian research in Frankfurt. (Tagesspiegel)

Spain

Spain honours fallen in Maidan memorial

Two new Spanish flags have been placed on the improvised memorial for the victims of the Russian invasion on the Independence Square, in Kyiv. Only the first deceased has been officially recognised by the Spanish Embassy. The body of Pau H.M., a 26-year-old Spaniard who arrived in Ukraine in March 2022 and enlisted in the International Legion, will be repatriated. The second case, M.O., killed in Avdiivka, is confirmed by different sources, but not yet by the Embassy, due to the difficulty in removing the corpse from the battlefield. (ABC)

Ukraine is suffering from those who die, and also from those who will not return from abroad. The country "suffers a demographic catastrophe that puts at risk its recovery after the war", the Kyiv correspondent for El País writes. In the last three decades, Ukraine has lost 30 percent of its population and many of those who were forced to leave by Putin’s bombardment do not plan to return. (El País)

Enthusiasm for the war effort in Ukraine has declined with the onset of winter, the lack of progress on the front line, internal political disagreements, and the decrease of international support (El Periódico). At the same time, Russia is dodging sanctions and "already makes more money from oil sales than it did before the invasion". Journalist Marc Marginedas investigates and talks to experts to explain the Russian strategy and the new routes used by his "phantom fleet" of hundreds of old tankers that manage to continue doing business. (El Periódico)

Bulgaria

Presidential veto overcome: military aid will flow to Ukraine

On 8 December, a large majority of the Sofia parliament rejected the veto placed by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on the supply of 100 decommissioned armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine, which the lawmakers had already approved. In the same session, deputies also donated new anti-aircraft missile systems to Kyiv. According to the Mediapool portal, the only result achieved by Radev – known for his pro-Russian positions – was to give more exposure to nationalist parties and to rekindle the internal political conflict over Ukraine. (Mediapool)

Bulgaria plans to sell all equipment intended for its never-built Belene nuclear power plant to Ukraine. At the moment, according to Bulgarian energy minister Rumen Radev (namesake of the Bulgarian president), negotiations are ongoing, and a Ukrainian delegation is expected to inspect the reactors by next January. According to the Investor.bg portal, Ukraine is trying to upgrade its energy infrastructure, severely damaged by Russian attacks, while Bulgaria is trying to recover the funds spent on a project launched 40 years ago, but never completed. (Investor.bg)

Bulgaria is one of thirty subjects, states and international organisations, which has established a coalition to support the return of Ukrainian children illegally deported by the Russian Federation from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. At the moment, according to Kyiv, around 20,000 Ukrainian minors have been forcibly transferred to Russia: many have been subjected to a change of identity or have been illegally adopted. As Radio Darik reports, the Bulgarian government is already ready to sign a declaration for the return of minors together with other members of the coalition. (Darik Radio)

Italy

Vatican cooperation with Russian commissioner wanted by ICC

The Ukraine war has been dropped from the European public debate, details an episode of the radio program Tutta la città ne parla, which focuses on how the full-scale invasion has disappeared from the news since 7 October. "How could war between Israel and Hamas influence the course of the war in Ukraine?" the host asks. In researcher Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti’s opinion, the war in Gaza "is greatly weakening Zelensky's bargaining power abroad". (RaiRadio3)

Italian PM Giorgia Meloni remembered that "it would be a mistake to take a step backwards" in Ukraine. Western support is necessary to allow Ukraine to be militarily competitive, Meloni says. (Ansa) At the EU foreign affairs Council, the Italian Minister Antonio Tajani "gave a favourable opinion on the start of negotiations with Ukraine for EU membership". (Ansa) Also, Repubblica reports on how the EU tries to save Ukraine from Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán's blackmail. (Repubblica)

"Moscow is working with the Vatican on the return of missing children," reads an article in the Catholic newspaper Avvenire. Papal envoy Cardinal Zuppi leads a diplomatic mission which seems to have worked with Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, to find the deported children. However, Lvova-Belova has a pending arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, precisely for the illegal deportation of children. (Avvenire) The Russian commissioner had also denied that deportation took place: "We house them. [...] And I wouldn’t call them Ukrainian children". (Repubblica)

Hungary

Hungarians in Ukraine ask Orbán to support EU accession

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has repeatedly stated that he will veto the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine at the EU summit starting on Thursday. French President Emmanuel Macron tried to persuade him one-on-one in Paris and even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met him in Argentina over the weekend. However, the situation remains uncertain before the summit. Under discussion is also Hungary's access to EU funds, which the EU froze over rule of law concerns. This factor could play a role in the evolution of the situation. (Portfolio)

The Hungarian Democratic Alliance of Ukraine, one of the most important advocacy organisations of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, has called on the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to support Ukraine's accession to the European Union. (Hvg) Orbán responded by writing to the organisation that it is not timely for Ukraine to start EU accession negotiations, because these have not been properly prepared by the European Commission. (Hvg)

After the Ukrainian Parliament amended the law on minority languages such as Romanian, Slovakian and Hungarian, most subjects can now be taught in Hungarian language in Ukrainian schools in the Transcarpathian region, west Ukraine where a significant Hungarian minority lives. The previous law stated that schools should increase the number of subjects taught in Ukrainian. (Népszava) The Hungarian government’s excuse for Ukraine’s lack of readiness for EU membership include the need for legislation on minority languages. Even though Ukraine has passed this law, representatives of the Hungarian government said they were still not satisfied with the newly amended legislation (Szabad Európa)

France

Delay in financial support: a challenge for Ukraine authorities

An editorial in conservative daily Le Figaro analyses the delay in US and EU latest financial support to Ukraine. It is seen as a challenge for the Ukrainian political authorities, who do not appear as united as in the first months of Russian full-scale invasion (Le Figaro). Another article tackles the fact that Ukrainian losses are not shared publicly, and thus have become a catalyst for fake news about Ukraine (Le Figaro). Also, Le Monde dedicated a piece to the "growing rivalry" between Zelensky and his commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who’s large popularity could be seen as a threat to the Ukrainian President's leadership. (Le Monde)

The blockage of Ukrainian trucks on the Polish border has remained in the news for weeks. Polish truckers and farmers have denounced the "unfair competition" from Ukraine, where EU laws don’t apply. As the movement is now spreading to Slovakia and Hungary, an article by Mediapart highlights the Polish government’s passivity towards those responsible for the blockade, and presents the humanitarian, military and economical impact it has on Ukraine. (Mediapart)

Ukrainian cinema professionals are now fighting Russia, and a longform by Ariane Chemin, one of Le Monde’s biggest reporters, pays them tribute: "In a vertiginous mise en abyme, the Ukrainian film world finds itself at war, sometimes after having predicted and announced it in documentaries, often after having acted it out."  The director Oleg Sentsov and the cameraman Iaroslav Pilounski, who now flies military drones, are among many movie professionals now in the military, and more than 70 members of the ‘Cinema family’ have been killed. (Le Monde) 

The French National Library (Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF) has launched a season of conferences about Ukraine, "Affirming and the birth of a nation", which are all available online to stream. (BnF)

The Europe-Ukraine Desk curated this newsletter. This week's edition has been composed by our team all over Europe: Marika Ikonomu, Kornelia Kiss, Katarina Kukla, Sarah Lou Lepers, Oksana Mamchenkova, Francesco Martino, Antonina Rybka and Fermin Torrano.
Michael Bird was our proofreader. 

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