The EESC's annual seminar for civil society communicators, taking place in Zagreb on 24-25 November, will zoom in on the impact on the EU of the war in Ukraine, addressing three thorny issues.

"Geopolitical turmoil at Europe's door: the perspective of civil society" will focus on three key aspects of the war:

• EU enlargement: Will the war change the course of EU enlargement? How prepared is Ukraine, now a candidate country, to join the EU? How fair is this special treatment towards candidate countries that have been waiting in Europe's lobby for years? And how does the prospect of a European geopolitical community fit into all this?
• Energy: as the EU turns its back on cheaper Russian gas and oil and European industry and workers come under strain, what can EU countries do to help people weather the storm? Will they be tempted to revert to highly polluting coal or will this speed up a green transition? Can the EU lead its countries out of this crisis as successfully as it did with COVID-19?
• Communication: one of the key weapons in this war, communication is making use of all the new potential made available by technology. How are the opposing sides using it? Who is winning on this front and how is the EU copying with the new wave of disinformation?

Top speakers include renowned French-Russian journalist, writer and historian Galia Ackerman, journalists Tim Weber, specialist on online disinformation and creator of BBC online, Regis Genté, co-author of the book "Volodymyr Zelensky: in the mind of a hero", and Dušan Gajić, author of the documentary "The Graduates" on the identity crisis triggered in Serbia by the war.

The seminar is part of the "Connecting EU" series, now in its 16th year, which aims to offer a platform where press and communication professionals from civil society organisations can network while discussing current issues of common interest affecting Europe. It brings together EESC members and other EU representatives, partner organisations from Member States, journalists and researchers to debate the hot issues of the day.

The full programme will be available shortly on the EESC's website. The event is by invitation only, but a few places are available for interested stakeholders. To obtain an invitation please write to: pressofficers@eesc.europa.eu.(dm)