Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS)

Viktor Orbán steht im Fokus des Bildes und sieht den grade sprechenden Donald Trump mit ernstem Blick an.

Shortly before the parliamentary elections in Hungary, the ruling Fidesz party is trailing behind the opposition party Tisza in the polls. To secure his re-election, Prime Minister Orbán is counting on support from US President Trump. However, it is not clear whether Trump can provide the necessary boost.

Ukraine’s resilience in the face of Russian aggression is no myth. But there has been a tendency to portray it as something immutable and monolithic. A new report looks at how resilience manifests in specific contexts and offers advice for strengthening it in the present and harnessing it for recovery.

Eine ältere Frau sitzt in einem schlecht beleuchteten Zimmer auf einem von zwei Betten und sieht aus dem Fenster.

About 4.6 million internally displaced Ukrainians have been sidelined in the ongoing peace negotiations between Ukraine, Russia, and the US. They are going to be severely affected no matter the outcome of the talks and should be listened to.

Belarus is a co-aggressor in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Yet Aliaksandr Lukashenka projects an image of himself as an anti-Putin – releasing political prisoners and sending conciliatory signals to the West. This balancing act is not without risks.

On 24 Feburary 2022, Russia began the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Our online dossier gathers relevant information in the form of videos, podcast episodes, publications and assessments of our experts in the media.

ZOiS Spotlight 5/2026

The individual projects of ZOiS are currently divided into five research clusters.

New KIU Format ‘To the point’

The Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) – Berlin (KIU) has launched a new format ‘To the point’, where Ukraine focused researchers discuss current questions and developments from two contrasting perspectives in an engaging, accessible way.

The Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) offers researchers the opportunity to undertake longer residencies as part of external funding programmes (e.g. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Erasmus+, Max Weber Program, DAAD, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships). These stays are intended to forge lasting connections and further the internationalisation of research at ZOiS. In addition to working on their own projects, visiting researchers enter into an intensive dialogue with ZOiS researchers and are encouraged to present their research findings at the ZOiS colloquium.

Roundtable Osteuropa is a podcast by the Centre for East European and International Studies. Scholars of ZOiS and their guests discuss their research of Eastern Europe. We consider events in politics and society, while also trying to shed light on lesser-known issues – with insights from sociology, political science, geography, social anthropology, literary studies and theology.

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