Warsaw – ESI at the Philanthropy East Forum 2022

Gerald Knaus with Ewa Kulik from Batory Foundation and Oana Despan from Commit Gobal . Photo: TechSoupEurope. 

ESI’s Gerald Knaus was invited to participate in the KoneKtor – Philanthropy East Forum  “Resilience in times of crisis”. The Forum was an opportunity to examine resilience from different perspectives, as well as policy actions and their impact on democracy.

Together with Ewa Kulik from Batory Foundation, Gerald discussed these challenges in the light of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. He also gave a presentation on the refugee crisis caused by the war and possible solutions, such as an airlift for Ukrainian refugees.

In addition, Gerald explained how EU membership for neighbouring democracies outside of the EU is now urgent to avoid further Russian aggression. He argued that a credible accession process needs to be put back on the table for the Western Balkans but also for Ukraine and Moldova.

• ESI proposal: “Open EU Single Market to the Balkans”
• ESI: An airlift 2022 for Ukrainians
• MDR, Migration expert: number of refugees will rise in winter (Radio interview with Gerald Knaus) , 15 September 2022
• Institut für Europäische Politik, #7 UkraineMEMO: Ukraine's EU accession - a project for this generation (Podcast with Gerald Knaus) , 8 September 2022