Im Schatten Russlands

30 years ago the colossus Soviet Union broke up and released 15 republics into independence. Since then, they have been in search of identity.

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Die Ukraine – Zerrissen zwischen Ost und West

Ukraine: a country that wants to stand independently alongside the West and break free from Russia's shadow. In February 2022 Putin stops this process with force of arms and war.

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Das Baltikum - Brückenkopf Europas

The Baltic States chose a path towards the West. They have caught up economically and democratically and see themselves as a "bridgehead of Europe". But the region is sensitively located on the eastern border with Russia.

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Zentralasien - Zwischen Armut und Aufbruch

People here went to independence mostly involuntarily, and Soviet nostalgia still flourishes. Why is that? Labour migrants in Kyrgyzstan, nomads in the Pamir Mountains, an imam in Samarkand, a fisherman near the Aral Sea or a self-confident investor in Tashkent. They all report on unemployment and economic awakening, the effects of climate change and the search for new perspectives.

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