When peace no longer counts - war in Ukraine

11:00 - 11:30 When International Law is Questioned: Russia's Attack on Ukraine The inviolability of borders, the prohibition of aggressive war and the prohibition of the threat and use of military force in international relations are pillars of the existing international legal order. As a member of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe, Russia has recognized this order and has entered into corresponding legal obligations. Therefore, Russia's actions in Ukraine cannot be justified by pretextual arguments or by referring to previous violations of international law by other states. Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Norman Weiss, Human Rights Center of the University of Potsdam.

11:30 - 12:00 Post-Soviet Life After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, there was a great sigh of relief because this process was largely peaceful. These days, Russia is trying to turn back time by invading Ukraine. In this dramatic situation, it is worth asking how the last 30 years have actually gone. For this we need to better understand what happened in the 1990s in Russia, but also in Ukraine. Lecturer: Dr. Jan Claas Behrends, Leibniz Center for Contemporary History Research, curator of the exhibition "Post-Soviet Lifeworlds".

Followed by: Opening of the exhibition "Post-Soviet Lifeworlds - Society and Everyday Life after Communism" at the Wissenschaftsetage Potsdam.