M100 SC 2023: Between Ambition and Disarray – The Future of Democracy

24 April 2023. On Thursday 14 September, the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium will take place for the 19th time in the Orangery of Sanssouci Palace. Under the title “Between Ambition and Disarray – The Future of Democracy”, we invite 60-70 representatives from politics, media and academia from all over Europe and beyond to a constructive, cross-sector discussion on the perspectives of a free, democratic Europe in the face of a new world order and the role of the media.

We want to discuss why, for the first time since 2004, there are more autocratic than democratic states in the world, the weaknesses but also the strengths of democracy, its future prospects and the role of the media. Read more about the concept here.

Sayyara Mammadova: How Kremlin-affiliated Telegram channels spread disinformation worldwide

31 March 2023. “Fifty-six pro-Kremlin Telegram channels, divided into three networks of similarly named accounts are spreading pro-Kremlin narratives to users worldwide, including in Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. The channels purport to share ‘truthful’ information, but are actually conduits that help pro-Kremlin narratives reach people in other languages.” This is one of the findings of a comprehensive study by Azerbaijani journalist, and research assistant at Atlantic Council’s DFRLab Sayyara Mammadova, who participated in M100YEJ last year, and her colleague resident fellow at Atlantic Council’s DFRLab Nika Aleksejeva.

read more Sayyara Mammadova: How Kremlin-affiliated Telegram channels spread disinformation worldwide

Alexandra Borchardt: EBU report on climate journalism

30 March 2023. Over the past eight months, M100 advisory board member Prof. Dr Alexandra Borchardt and her two co-authors Katherine Dunn and Felix M. Simon from Oxford University have produced the new EBU Report 2023. Title: “Climate Journalism that works. Between knowledge and impact“. For the study, Alexandra Borchardt and her colleagues interviewed numerous editors-in-chief, media executives and academics worldwide who are researching the topic of climate communication, and present eleven case studies with innovative projects from a wide range of editorial offices, such as Planet A from Deutsche Welle or AFP’s “Future of the Planet” Hub.

read more Alexandra Borchardt: EBU report on climate journalism

George N. Tzogopoulos: The War in Ukraine and Europe’s Choice

29 March 2023. As long as the conflict in Ukraine persists, predictions about its future evolution are hard to make,” writes Dr George N. Tzogopoulos, lecturer and Director of EU-China Programmes at CIFE in his recent paper “The War in Ukraine and Europe’s Choice”: “While European unity has been impressive since 24 February 2022, tensions lurk beneath the surface. The Baltic countries and Poland feel vindicated in their diachronic assessment of Russia and push toward a more muscular EU stance, which is not necessarily endorsed by other member states. Recently, President Macron appeared milder when he said that ‘Russia must be defeated but not crushed’.” (…)
In strategic parlance, the continuation of the war in Ukraine brings the EU to an awkward position, says Tzogopoulos, outlining three scenarios for an end to the war: “A victory for Kyiv, a victory for Moscow, and a stalemate where conflict would occasionally continue, and stability would be fragile.

read more George N. Tzogopoulos: The War in Ukraine and Europe’s Choice

Save the Date: 14 September 2023

26 March 2023. Date and venue for 2023 are set: the 19th M100 Sanssouci Colloquium will take place on Thursday 14 September at the Orangerie Sanssouci in Potsdam under the title “Between Ambition and Disarray –  The Future of Democracy”.
This year we are again inviting around 80 experts from the media, academia and politics from many parts of Europe and beyond to discuss reasons for the strengths and weaknesses of democracy and the influence of the media in various Strategic Working Groups. The conference will end with the presentation of the M100 Media Award.
The week before, 20 to 25 young journalists from all over Europe will discuss at the M100 Young European Journalists Workshop how to report on climate change – and what this means for democracy.
Details will follow shortly.

Manifesto for “peace”, but without Ukraine. Fact-Checking of Russian lies in Europe

21 March 2023. Viktor Sholudko, Alina Tropynina and Kyrylo Perevoshchykov fact-checked the so-called “Manifesto for Peace” by Alice Schwarzer and Sarah Wagenknecht for the Ukrainian organisation VoxUkraine and allowed us to publish the text on the M100 website. You can find the original version here.

On February 10, the “Manifesto for Peace” petition appeared on the Change.org platform, it has already been signed by more than 748,000 people. The authors of the appeal are Germans Alice Schwarzer and Sahra Wagenknecht. And although the vote does not reflect German public opinion – a citizen of any country can support the petition – it is another reminder that Russian “peace” is loved not only in Moscow, but also in some European cities.

read more Manifesto for “peace”, but without Ukraine. Fact-Checking of Russian lies in Europe

How Germany got Vladimir Putin so wrong

18 March 2023. Prof. Dr Wolfgang Ischinger joined the advisory board of the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium at the beginning of the year. On the sidelines of this year’s Munich Security Conference, Georgian journalist Vazha Tavberidze, who has participated in the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium several times, spoke with him for the Georgian service of Radio Free Europe (RFL/RL) about the development of Germany’s Russia policy and why Berlin got Vladimir Putin so wrong (interview in the original).

RFE/RL: Let’s start with a historical retrospective and this seminal speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2007 at the Munich Security Conference. Many now view the speech as a de facto reopening of the Cold War. Do you believe that? And, if yes, why was it not seen like that back then?

read more How Germany got Vladimir Putin so wrong

One year war against Ukraine

24 February 2023.

“Our love of life and freedom is stronger than their hatred.”
Wladimir Klitschko in his 3rd letter from Kyiv, 13 February 2023.

Today marks the anniversary of Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine, which violated international law. For a year now, the people of Ukraine have been resisting the massive, brutal, unjustifiable invasion, which has already cost tens of thousands of victims. After this year of suffering, death, terror and devastation, we have asked some of our Ukrainian alumni to send us personal retrospectives of this year of war that has fundamentally changed their lives and those of their families and friends on 24 February 2022.

Following you will find texts by Ukrainian journalists Olesya Bida, Anastasiia Ivantsova, Olga Konsevych, Olena Kuk, Roman Melnyk, Olha Novikova, Anna Romandash and Olesya Tytarenko.

In addition, the Slovakian human rights journalist Sara Cincurova writes on her reporting experiences in Ukraine, and Sergej Sumlenny, former head of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Kyiv, on his aid tour to Izum and Kyiv.

Olesya Bida: As if each day could be the last

Olesya Bida was an editor at the independent Ukrainian medium hromadske.ua, founded in 2014 during the Maidan Revolution. She was a participant of M100YEJ in 2016.
Twitter: @OlesyaBida

That night I couldn’t get sleep. It was nearly 5 a.m. when I heard strange and very loud sounds. Now when the war has been going on for almost a year, it’s a normal thing to wake up not from the alarm clock but from the sounds of the missile attack.

That night was different and I really couldn’t realize what had happened. In a minute my husband Dmytro switched on a video with Putin’s speech. We’ve understood that the full-scale war has started.

read more Olesya Bida: As if each day could be the last

Anastasiia Ivantsova: Fight against Russian propaganda

Anastasiia Ivantsova is a fact checker at VoxCheck, which is part of the independent analytical platform VoxUkraine. VoxCheck checks whether politicians use correct facts and context, exposes lies and manipulation, and debunks Russian propaganda, especially the most common misinformation about Russia’s war in Ukraine. She participated in the M100YEJ in 2016 and the M100 Colloquium in 2022.
Twitter: @tsovkan

This year has changed a lot for us. Of course, Russia’s war against Ukraine began back in 2014. But this tragedy was invisible for many – including foreigners – until February 24, 2022. We understood what real fear for one’s life is. When, for example, artillery shells your city, or you hear the whistling of a rocket over your own house.

The only thing that hasn’t changed during this year is the Russian propaganda, which we are bombarded with as often as with the rockets. And, as a fact-checking organization, our team had to deal not only with threats to their lives but also with informational threats. I won’t be able to tell you how the entire country lived during this period, but I will tell you about my three main memories of this war as Kyivan and fact-checker.

read more Anastasiia Ivantsova: Fight against Russian propaganda