International Symposium "UKRAINE AND THE BALTIC: THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE"

The international symposium is organised by the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University, in partnership with the University of Latvia and the British Embassy in Riga.

Ukraine and the Baltic region share nearly a thousand years of interconnected history, most of which is about geopolitics. In the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, many of the lands of the present day Ukraine formed part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and later – of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. From the eighteenth century, both Ukraine and the eastern Baltic were ruled by the Russian Empire. Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians fought hand in hand in the uprisings of 1830-31 and 1863 against the Russian rule. After the First World War, the modern Ukrainian and Baltic nations sought independence. By 1922, however, only the Baltic republics had been recognized as sovereign states by the key western powers. The western part of Ukraine with Lviv became part of Poland, while eastern Ukraine with Kyiv was incorporated into the newly created Soviet Union. The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states after the Second World War brought Ukraine and the Baltic together again, this time – as republics of the Soviet Union.

In 1991, with the breakup of the Soviet Union, the three Baltic states and Ukraine became independent republics with market economies. While Ukraine joined the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were the only former Union republics to attain full NATO and EU membership in 2004. Since the early 2000s, however, Ukraine has increasingly followed the example of the Baltic states and actively sought Euro-Atlantic integration, finding, unsurprisingly, its most ardent supporters on the Baltic coast. Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and again in 2022 brought Ukraine and the Baltics even closer. This symposium brings together leading scholars and practitioners of international relations to discuss the diverging and converging paths in the past, present and future of Ukraine and the Baltic.

Regarding participation in the symposium as a listener, please contact asoc. prof. Toms Rostoks (toms.rostoks@lu.lv) by March 3rd 5PM.