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Research has become more limited, complicated and less accessible due to the pandemic. However the situation also offers opportunities to discover topics and methods new and connect worldwide with other researches.

European economic governance is too complex for a sufficient democratic legitimacy.

If elections for the European Parliament were more consequential the democracy would be strengthened.

The Covid-19 pandemic in Kyrgyzstan will not lead to improvements for flexible work structures or in the health sector. Florian Coppenrath, who is conducting field research on rap music in Bishkek, discusses his experiences and observations on how the pandemic unfolded in 2020.

While Georgia only had few Covid-19 cases during the first wave in 2020, universities particularly struggled in their transition to online teaching. Prof. Kornely Kakachia discusses the effects of the pandemic on different sectors and reactions by the government and society.

If EU citizens were more politically involved the democracy was strengthened.

Young citizens from the member states of the EU Council Presidency have developed ideas for the German EU Council Presidency. They focused on migration, foreign and climate policy and proposed a European Citizens' Assembly.

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the German government´s programme for the EU Council Presidency. Given the abundance of challenges, Germany should follow a two-pronged approach that includes not only urgent problems but also fundamental questions.

The Youth Ideas are the result of intensive discussions about young people's views on current challenges in the fields of asylum and migration policy, foreign policy, climate policy and the future of Europe.

In March 2020, Tajikistan held its perhaps most disappointing parliamentary elections since its independence, argues Bruce Pannier, as the leading opposition party was banned. The presidential elections in autumn 2020 are hence paved for President Rahmon’s hold on power.

For non-recognised states, the road to internal and external statehood is long and complicated. The paper presents the ‘Peace Index’ as an assessment method for statehood, using the examples of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria.

The EU strongly connects security and development issues in Central Asia, argues Karina Turan. The paper focuses on the guiding paradigms of the EU’s new Central Asia strategy within the scope of the security-development nexus.

In 2019, Uzbekistan announced its intention to join the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). At the same time, the country formally re-opened WTO accession after negotiations had stalled. Jamshid Normatov discusses how these two integration projects relate to each other.

Although the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is an economic organisation, the Kremlin`s motivation to draw Uzbekistan into this structure is political. Jasur Salomov analyses current developments and possible advantages and disadvantages of Uzbekistan’s potential membership.

What does European resilience mean? How can the EU's green goals be implemented despite the pandemic? More than 40 experts discussed these and other questions. The focus of the discussion was on the prospects for cooperation.