The security expert Christian Mölling expects a preliminary decision on the further course of the war in Ukraine soon. Mölling says on Friday in the stern podcast “Ukraine – the situation” that a new wave of offensives and counter-offensives by the warring parties is imminent. “In the last few weeks we have reached a point where the path that can be taken is decided,” explains the research director of the German Society for Foreign Relations. It will be seen whether Ukraine can take a direct and steep path to success – or whether it lacks the opportunity to do so.
He was not very optimistic about the country’s prospects for rapid accession to the European Union. “The formal admission procedure won’t work out anytime soon,” he says of the government’s desire to join the Union in just two years.
Mölling emphasizes that EU membership alone does not guarantee security. In addition, it is difficult to speed up the process because other states have long had candidate status. “When you open this box, you’re met with a flood of unsolved problems,” he says.
However, it is important to have an eye on how Ukraine can be protected from renewed aggression after the war. To do this, the “weak points of the European security order” would have to be addressed in the entire region – from the Western Balkans to Moldova to Ukraine.
Mölling accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of wanting to stir up fear in his own population. He is referring to Putin’s appearance at the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the victory at Stalingrad, where the former dictator Stalin was celebrated as a victorious general. Mölling says that Putin and his power apparatus “basically threaten society with Stalin.” This is how pressure should be generated. “Russian society is being isolated from Western values in order to keep them under control.” At the same time, the recourse to the success over Nazi Germany serves to bring the people together. Mölling: “One looks for the unifying bond, also the unifying bond between the violent state and its society.”
