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.

With its annual enlargement report, published on 8 November, the European Commission recommended the start of accession talks for Ukraine. Good news, indeed, but Kyiv’s path towards full EU membership remains long and difficult. 

The first obstacle in sight is a possible veto from Budapest. In this edition, we’ve collected comments and analysis about the Hungarian government’s current campaign against the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine, and on the other EU countries’ views on the issue. Endemic corruption and the fragile state of the Ukrainian economy, according to the European press, further complicate Kyiv's dream of membership.

Meanwhile, almost two years since Vladimir Putin upscaled the war, the Russian aggression on Ukraine is taking a heavy toll on the mental health of millions of Ukrainian citizens, who are experiencing uncertainty, anxiety, anger, apathy, but also survivor’s guilt. 

Many among them, writes Forbes Ukraine in an article we translated this week into English, have decided not to wait for the end of the war to look for psychological support. New technologies, apps and start-ups are coming to their help - but for a fee.

Have a good read.

Francesco Martino
Editor of this week's edition

At least 15 million Ukrainians will be in need of psychological help after the war, estimates the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. The World Health Organisation puts the figure at 9.6 million. However, it is not necessary to wait for the war to end, as it is now more convenient and accessible to maintain mental health via online services. 

At least three new enterprises have become popular since the start of the full-scale invasion: Rozmova, Mindly, and pleso. Forbes Ukraine examined their business models and calculated how much it costs to sustain psychological health amid the war in Ukraine. 

The article was written by Anastasiia Neseniuk and translated for n-ost by Tetiana Evloeva.

Hungary

Hungary opposes Ukraine's EU accession 

Hungary's foreign minister Péter Szijjártó says the EU accession talks with Ukraine are not timely because Ukraine is not yet suitable for membership and the country "could bring war to the bloc" (Kyiv Independent). However, according to Népszava, a daily newspaper critical of the Hungarian government, it is unrealistic to refer to Ukraine's accession to the EU as if it were in the near future: "These statements are aimed at the domestic public, and of course to appease the Kremlin, since the start of negotiations on membership is far from being a candidate for membership," says an opinion piece. (Népszava)

Hungary would block not only Ukraine's accession to the EU, but also EU aid to Ukraine. An analysis looks at the EU's options for overcoming Hungarian vetoes, saying that the EU can bypass the Hungarian veto through bilateral agreements or using the institution of so-called enhanced cooperation. "Hungary is testing the EU's creativity, while the perception persists that the Hungarian government is a linchpin of EU processes and a servant of Moscow's interests," reads an analysis in a weekly newspaper critical of the government. (Magyar Hang)

If Budapest does wield its veto against aid to Ukraine, two EU officials said the EU had a way to circumvent this, by asking each individual EU government to set up its own aid package with Kyiv. However, the strategy of bypassing Hungary cannot be applied to a decision on whether to start or not EU accession negotiations with Kyiv. (Reuters)

Italy

A century of regression: the environmental cost of war

La Repubblica gathers countries’ views on Ukraine’s future EU membership and the necessity of a unanimous vote, since EU members like Hungary could exercise their veto. According to the Italian PM Giorgia Meloni "entry can only take place at the end of the war" while there also has to be "a constructive approach to the admission of the Balkan countries" like Albania, with which Meloni has recently signed an agreement to build migrant centres (La Repubblica). On this subject, the Institute for International Political Studies published a chart about differences in GDP and population among EU members and the candidate countries. (ISPI)

"If the war in Ukraine ended now, it would take 100 years for the ground to return to its pre-conflict condition," states an article by online newspaper Huffington Post, illustrating how the impact of the war is not only humanitarian. The environment is also a victim. The amount of casualties and damage does not stop with military operations, the author explains. It is evident that bombs kill people and destroy infrastructures. What is not considered enough is the pollutants and heavy metals they release onto the ground, the fires they cause and the devastation of natural habitats. This also affects biodiversity. (Huffington Post)

"My Russia is now Mordor" reads an editorial by Vera Politkovskaja, daughter of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, whose assassination in 2006 in Moscow is believed to be a contract killing. This editorial is about the responsibilities Russian citizens have for the invasion and, on the other hand, about the discrimination Russian people are experiencing in Europe: they are expelled from universities, their properties are seized, even if they are not criminals nor affected by sanctions. Their bank accounts are closed, and it is hard for them to obtain a Visa. "They are doctors, journalists, computer experts, musicians and people with other backgrounds who have one thing in common: they criticise their power machine and what happens in Russia," she explains. (La Repubblica)

France

War will not stop at the borders of former Soviet republics

The weekly newspaper L’Express dedicated its front page to Ukraine, with a quote from Olena Zelenska: "Don’t forget Ukraine". President’s Zelensky’s wife was on an official visit to France on 8 and 9 November, for the inauguration of the Ukrainian Institute in Paris, and to fundraise. In her interview, she called on readers not to forget soldiers are fighting in the trenches "whose freedom is also ours”. Zelenska stated that Putin will not stop at the borders of former Soviet republics: "Empires want to grow by nature. They only stop when arrested." (L’Express)

Explaining the war in Ukraine by Russia goes beyond borders, former French Chief of the Defence Staff, François Lecointre, blames western democracies for "candidly believing that war was archaic," and thus slowly reducing the investment in their armies (except the US). Lecointre states that after years of disinvestment, France was among the first countries to start reinvesting in its military power after a wave of domestic deadly attacks in the mid 2010s. Nevertheless he believes it doesn’t make France "a nation and an army ready to engage, over three months, in a war like Ukraine." One reason for this lack of readiness is that France ended military service in 1995. (Le Monde)

The Polish, French and Ukrainian documentary about the  war in Ukraine Pierre Feuille Pistolet (Stone, Paper, Gun) is mentioned in the French press as a "poignant behind-the-scenes look” (Telerama), "astonishing" and a "must-see" (France Inter). The Polish director, Maciek Hamela, shares in an interview to the weekly M Le Mag that when Russia launched its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 he felt "a feeling of despair and uselessness at the same time, of being reduced to a spectator in the story". He then decided to volunteer as a van driver, to help evacuate Ukrainian refugees to Poland. During six months, he drove and filmed 400 refugees in his van, and edited 150 hours of footage to produce this 80 minute documentary. (M le Mag)

Germany 

First Western journalist revealed to have received funds from Russia’s elite

A ZDF investigation (and part of global media research project Cyprus Confidential) reveals that journalist and Russia expert Hubert Seipel received a sponsorship of 600,000 euros from a Putin-linked oligarch, Alexej Mordashov, for his 2021 book on Russia's political landscape. Cypriot financial service providers show how sanctioned Russian oligarchs use the country as a gateway to the European Union. This is the first Western journalist revealed to have obtained substantial funding from Russia's elite. (ZDF)

Recent discoveries related to the attack on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea suggest the participation of a Ukrainian special forces commander Roman Chervinskyi. According to the investigation by Der Spiegel and the Washington Post, he played a key role in the explosions in September 2022. The findings align with a previous reconstruction of the sabotage by ZEIT journalists. (Zeit Online)

Florian Hassel, Ukraine correspondent at Süddeutsche Zeitung, criticises the EU Commission's focus on enacted laws rather than actual changes when considering EU membership of Ukraine. His main concern is corruption: "In Ukraine, too, laws are being passed and new institutions such as anti-corruption prosecutors' offices or special courts are being established," he writes, "but the fundamental evil of corruption, which permeates the entire state at all levels, has not substantially changed." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

The main prize at the Cottbus Film Festival went to Ukrainian director Anna Buryachkova. Her film depicting 1990s post-Soviet Kyiv, Forever Forever, received a prize of 25,000 euros. The jury granted the award for a "captivating coming-of-age story, authentically and poignantly portraying the upheavals of the Eastern Bloc in the 90s." (RBB)

Spain

Fog: Russia's partner in Avdiivka battle

How does Russia advance in the Eastern front-line city of Avdiivka if it has lost hundreds of armored vehicles and thousands of men in the last month? Ukrainian soldiers from different brigades on the ground reveal how: Ukrainian inferiority in ammunition, greater Russian experience digging trenches, different conceptions of life, and fog, which protects Russian air superiority. (El País)

Many consider the Kyiv counter-offensive to be over until the end of the spring due to the current defensive battles in Eastern Ukraine and the muddy trenches around the 1,000 kilometres front. But the latest troop movements could indicate otherwise. Ukraine is crossing more and more armoured vehicles to the eastern occupied bank of the Dnipro River and El Mundo asks a big question: Is a Ukrainian military breakthrough in the south possible before the end of the year? (El Mundo)

Away from mud, rifles, and death is Pedro Díaz, an alleged Spanish military volunteer in Ukraine who was close to creating an international conflict. The 27-year-old announced at the end of September that he was leaving the Ukrainian front line after one and a half years due to a serious wound. Ten days later, Hamas attacked Israel and Tel Aviv began a heavy bombing campaign in Gaza. Diaz claimed then to work as a mercenary for the Israeli Armed Forces, and was the first evidence of Private Military Companies' presence in this war. The problem: his worldwide shared story, used as propaganda in the Russian and Arab world, was fake. (El Confidencial*).

*This article was authored by Fermin Torrano, Europe-Ukraine Desk’s Media Network Manager for Spain

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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