February

War in Europe

Russia attacks Ukraine, the Catalan government is ordered to meet a Spanish language quota and Carla Simón wins the Golden Bear

1. A Ukrainian military plane was shot down by Russian forces as they began to advance over the border into Ukraine and bringing war to Europe. The sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union failed to dissuade Putin from carrying out his threat as he ordered Russia’s nuclear arsenal to be readied.

2. The Catalan High Court gave the education department a two-month deadline to expand the subjects taught in Spanish in all schools to 25% of the total number of teaching hours. In a recent poll, 95% of Catalan speakers surveyed had said they would prefer the current immersion system to continue.

3. Catalan director Carla Simón won the Golden Bear for Best Film for her film ’Alcarras’ at the award ceremony of the 72nd annual Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in Germany. Along with Cannes and Venice, the Berlinale is one of the three most important international film festivals.

4. Following what he called a “forensic investigation”, Barça president Joan Laporta presented evidence of possible crimes during former president JM Bartomeu’s management, with illegal and disproportionate payments, which led to the disappearance of 30 million euros from the club’s coffers.

A continent of conflict

A continent of conflict.

Our main feature in this issue of the magazine analysed several potential current crises on going in Europe and what they could mean for the future of the European Union, with a special focus on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.