The Sunday Show: Education Reform Row, Germany Votes, Czarist Sex Scandal, International Anti-Corruption, Zapad War Game

✅ Education Reform Sparks International Controversy

Ukraine has passed a new education law. By many accounts, the reform has much to offer — higher salaries for teachers, more local control of schools, and curriculum improvements. It was also developed with the active participation of civil society and incorporates input from the public. But one aspect of the law is causing controversy: language. The bill wouldrequire all students to study in the Ukrainian language after the fourth grade and would eliminate minority language schools. This has sparked conflict with the country’s neighbors, who are concerned for their co-ethnics in Ukraine. It has also provoked debate within Ukraine among teachers, parents, and even students.

Igor Samokhin,

Education policy analyst, CEDOS think tank

✅ Trump Between Russia and Ukraine

The first eight months of Donald Trump’s presidency have been a turbulent time for U.S.-Russia relations. Trump campaigned promising better relations with Moscow, and many other politicians and officials worried he would be soft on Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, facing accusations of collusion with the Kremlin, Trump has found himself unable to break with the broader political consensus against Russia and in support of Ukraine. Still, much remains unclear. Hromadske spoke with former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul to get his perspective on Trump’s Russia and Ukraine policy.

Michael McFaul

US Ambassador to Russia (2012-2014), Professor at Stanford University

✅ Historical Film Shakes Russia To Its Spiritual Core

Scheduled for release next month, the Russian film Matilda tells the story of Czar Nicholas II’s premarital love affair with Polish ballerina Matilda Kschessinska. On the surface, it seems like any other interesting film based upon a well-documented historical fact. But some Orthodox Christian believers feel the film is blasphemous because the last Czar and his family were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Now, some are even turning to acts of terrorism to express their discontent. Russian journalist Mikhail Fishman explains why this is an unprecedented event in modern Russia.

Mikhail Fishman

Anchor on TV Dozhd, Former Editor-in-Chief of The Moscow Times

✅ Germany Goes To The Polls

Today Germany elects Bundestag. There are high chances that Angela Merkel will stay as a German chancellor for another 4 years, yet the coalition might be changed. Merkel is the strongest opponent of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Germany plays a crucial role in Russian-Ukrainian negotiation in Normandy forum. Her opponent Martin Schulz... Former chancellor from this party Gerhard Schreder is working for Gazprom. At the same time, Martin Schulz who was a former head of the European Parliament has his own relations with Ukraine. It was him who set up special mission Cox-Kvasnevsky to deal with imprisonment of former UA prime-minister Tymoshenko. We talked to to discuss the future of the relations

✅ Inside Russia And Belarus’ Zapad 2017 War Games

Earlier this week, Russia and Belarus concluded their “Zapad 2017” military exercises. Though officially termed “defensive,” the war games sowed fear throughout Eastern Europe. Belarus’ neighbors worried that Russia could use the exercises to launch an attack. Finally, Belarus invited international observers and journalists to quell fears. Hromadske managed to get accredited for Zapad 2017 and now takes you inside what may be the largest war games since the end of the Cold War.

✅ Leaving the EU, Not Ukraine

The 2016 British referendum on exiting the European Union — known as Brexit — was widely regarded as a blow against EU unity and a bad omen for Ukraine’s support within the bloc. But Alan Duncan, the United Kingdom’s Minister for Europe and the Americas, says that his country will continue to support its Ukrainian partners even once it leaves the EU.

Alan Duncan

UK Minister of State for Europe and the Americas

✅ The Man Who Jailed 150 Corrupt Officials

In 2007, Spanish prosecutor Carlos Castresana went to work as the United Nations-appointed Commissioner Against Impunity in Guatemala. In the course of his anti-corruption work in the South American country, he put 150 corrupt officials in jail. Hromadske sat down with Castresana last week during his visit to Kyiv to find out how to uproot entrenched corruption in Ukraine. According to him, it may not be as difficult as it looks.

Carlos Castresana
Spanish supreme court public prosecutor, anti-corruption expert

✅ Eastern Europe: As Illiberal Forces Grow, So Do Tensions

Both Poland and Hungary, key countries in the Eastern European region, are led by governments that have a fraught relationship with democratic values. This, alongside the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum and the refugee crisis, has placed increasing strains on the European Union. What does this mean for the EU? And in what direction is Eastern Europe heading? Hromadske spoke with Wojciech Przybylski, editor-in-chief of Visegrad Insight, to find out.

Wojciech Przybylski

editor-in-chief at Visegrad Insight