#24February. 2022 will be for Ukraine what 1940 is to Britain: the year that defines the nation to itself and to the rest of the world, for decades ahead. 5 reads + 1 listen on 1 year of #ukrainewar:
1. My report & conclusions from recent trip to Kyiv: spectator.co.uk/article/the-ne… 2. My Substack newsletter, including photos illustrating the above:

timothygartonash.substack.com/p/ukraine-afte…

As a long-time admirer of democratic Germany, I have been deeply depressed and dismayed this week by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's refusal to allow German Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine. [long bitty Twitter thread here but full post on timothygartonash.substack.com] Here are just a few ways in which Scholz's policy is weak, contradictory, inconsistent, historically insensitive, morally problematic, disingenuous and counter-productive... (But apart from that, absolutely fine...)

1. Will @Twitter be Musked? Should people who care about free speech, democracy & Twitter be worried about @elonmusk taking it over? Yes. (First quick thoughts – thread) 2. There is something intrinsically worrying abt the rules for one of contemporary democracy's most important public spaces being set by one man. A J Liebling 'freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one'. aka the Zuckerberg problem.

1. 'Be not afraid!' Joe Biden quotes John Paul II in his speech in Warsaw. More than 40 years ago, the Polish Pope gave that advice. It took another 10 hard years for Poland to become free, 25 for it to be secure in the West (EU+NATO).

#StandWithUkraine 2. Now Ukrainians are practising that 'be not afraid!', with even more impressive courage in the face of Putin's outright terror - & winning a similar place in the world's memory - one that made it natural for Biden to refer back >40 years to #Solidarity, Lech Walȩsa, etc

Last-minute question to EUropean friends, from someone who strongly supports the EU, abhors Brexit and deplores @BorisJohnson:
Are you really sure you have got the balance right between.... [short thread] 1. Not insignificant strategic risk of UK future potential unfair advantage in accesssing single market (tho' only for goods, w many de facto possible asymmetric countermeasures towards 80% of UK economy that is services) and, on the other hand....
on.ft.com/2W1ESwT

1. For non-Russian speakers here is an unofficial translation (h/t our Dahrendorf Scholar Ellen Leafstedt) of Alexei Navalny's @navalny @teamnavalny quite remarkable (and humorous - see 8.) Instagram post about his recovery. [thread of single text] 2 "Let me tell you how my recovery is going. It is already a clear path, though not a short one. All my current problems are trivial ones, like the fact that the phone in my hands feels as useless as a stone, and that anytime I pour myself some water it turns into a whole scene

'EU: from in the Rutte to en route.' Joking apart, the deal is a big achievement. Strange way to run a continent, but reaching consensus in Europe has always been difficult. My 5 1/2 immediate, first-reaction questions (& tentative answers)... [thread] politi.co/3g0q6yV Q1. Will enough funds reach the right places in hard-hit south European economies fast enough to avoid worsening N/S divide in Eurozone & soaring Salvini-style Eurosceptic populism? (Tentative A: probably yes, just about.)

1. The #Harpersletter on free speech is excellent: carefully worded, thoughtful, important. I would wholly subscribe to it. One point where we should dig deeper, though, is the extent to which this is an inter-generational conflict... (short thread)
bit.ly/2O7Ybk3 2. In many of these cases, it's a new generation (roughly <30, ie born post-1989) who are driving the outrage. Older liberals like me must stand up for vital importance of free debate & tolerance, as #Harpersletter does, but also listen to understand what's behind this protest...

#euco #article50 extension decision was tough but rational. UK now has <3 weeks (until April 12, emergency summit pencilled in for April 10) finally to make up its mind. Parliament must now take control. Options, in diminishing order of *desirability* imho...thread follows./1 1. vote for Kyle-Wilson amendment, accepting her deal subject to 2nd 'confirmatory'referendum, then ask EU for longer extension, agreeing to hold European elections in UK...
2. revoke article 50 and start all over again.../2