European support for Russian civil society as the key to a safer continent
Last week’s Czech Eastern Policy 2025 conference highlighted, for the third time this year, the need for stronger support for Russian civil society and other pro-democracy voices both inside and outside Russia. This time, it called for a strategic reframing of our relationship with Russia, for a definitive disavowal of Putin’s regime and for refusing any form of normalizing in our relationship with it, moving instead towards a partnership with pro-democratic circles and independent civil society in the broadest sense. In doing so, it emphasized the need for a more robust approach to this agenda, and a unified approach among all European countries.
September 20, 2025 - Pavel Havlíček
