Last week a news story circulated that there was a company near Munich whose products were being delivered via Slovakia and Hong Kong to Moscow, where they were presumably used to build weapons despite the EU sanctions. For many experts, this is not surprising. I wasn’t surprised either because I follow this topic through my work with the non-governmental organization NAKO. Unfortunately, it is obvious that Russian weapons or drones made with European components are being used against Ukraine.
At the same time, I notice in those around me that it is becoming more difficult to talk about such news. I hear more and more often that people have a lot of pity for Ukraine, but there are now so many economic problems here that need to be solved. Continuing to support Ukraine is therefore becoming increasingly difficult.
To be honest, I can definitely understand that. I live in Bavaria myself and I see how much electricity costs and how expensive food has become. The cost of child care has also increased. And parents who have to work need a daycare center. I don’t entirely agree with the argument that Germany actually had nothing to do with the war. I do think that it is our shared responsibility to prevent export bans from being circumvented. This could be achieved through civic engagement by talking about it and thus bringing the topic into public discourse.
NAKO is also researching how EU sanctions are being circumvented in favor of weapons production. I have been working there for many years and am now working for them again as an editor. As a NAKO representative, I was invited by the German-Ukrainian platform “Kyiv Talks” last week to speak at the Ukrainian Free University in Munich. The university is a private university in exile that has been based in Munich since 1945. Since 1978 it has been a university with the right to award doctorates and habilitations.
So there I had the honor of expressing my two most important theses. First, the sanctions against the Russian defense industry are effective and reduce Russia’s military effectiveness. Secondly, you have to talk to the manufacturers of goods that come to Moscow via detours. They should recognize the importance of verifying the identity of customers and supply chains.
A new rocket attack on Kiev showed why this is all so important – on the very day I spoke at the university. More than 50 people were injured, including many children. A friend’s apartment was destroyed, but luckily she and her daughter survived.
Emiliia Dieniezhna, 35, fled from Kiev with her then four-year-old daughter Ewa Pullach near Munich. She works on a voluntary basis for the non-governmental organization NAKO, whose goal is to fight corruption in Ukraine. She also teaches German to Ukrainian refugee children. She writes a weekly column for the SZ about her view of events in her home country from Munich.