Moscow is trying to expand its influence on Eastern Europe by influencing the media, the policy and the civil society of several nations around Russia. While the right wing movement in European countries like Slovakia, Bulgaria and Czech Republic reaches out to the Kremlin and claims a turning away from the West, there are also countries like Ukraine that are unwantedly affected by the hard lines of Russian policy. The Polish President Andrzej Duda criticized NATO for treating Poland like a buffer zone between Russia and Germany. The panel discusses the identity formation of Eastern European countries and Slavic Nations. Is there a heritage of the "Eastern Identity", that all countries of Eastern Europe have in common and what was apart from its geographical point of reference the generalized social marker in European identity formation process?  How does the Kremlin influence national policies and cultures of Eastern European countries?

Moderation: 

Zhanna Nemtsova- Journalist, Deutsche Welle, Germany

Speakers:

Natalia Antelava- Co-Founder and CEO, Coda Story, Georgia

Ewelina Karpinska-Morek- Manager of News Section, Interia, Poland

Frank Hofmann - Correspondent, Deutsche Welle, Germany