On 12 August 2026, the Rio School on Global Governance, Democracy and Human Rights was honored to welcome Dr. Ragnar Weilandt, Lecturer at the University of Malta’s Institute for European Studies. The course is held by the FGV Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme and directed by Prof. Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida.

In his lecture, moderated by Prof. Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida, Dr. Weilandt discussed the geopolitics of Eastern Europe. He began by detailing Russia’s historical role in the region, presenting it as a colonial power that never decolonized or engaged with the legacy of this colonial period, which continues to shape the future of the region. Then, he conducted an overview of the dissolution of the USSR, after which the first priority of the former members was to get rid of Soviet colonialism by ensuring it never happened again, so they joined the West through NATO. In this sense, Dr. Weilandt challenged the Russian framing of West-East relations, which includes myths like EU and NATO “enlargement”, the West encroaching into Russia’s sphere of influence, and that Ukrainians and Belarusians do not have an identity separate from the Russian one.

In the second half of the lecture, Dr. Weilandt analyzed the current political scene of Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. Despite becoming independent, the three countries have continuously suffered from Russian interference in their domestic affairs. The issues include electoral manipulation, land annexation, armed attacks, and ethnic tensions. The lecture’s conclusion was that, because of the war in Ukraine, the EU has become more open towards enlargement by actively considering the inclusion of countries like Moldova and Georgia, which contradicts the narrative that the EU is trying to expand. Eastern European countries have been willing to join the West to protect themselves, and the EU has realized that, to ensure its own security, it also has to ensure the security of its neighbors.

We extend our sincere thanks to Dr. Weilandt for this engaging and informative session. We look forward to further collaboration.