Abstract:
The paper is an attempt to show how the operations of modern Russia on the international arena aim at restoring the status quo ante, as shown in the example of the war with Ukraine. In the 1990s, we witnessed a weakening of the international position of Russia – the successor to the USSR. In the 21st century, on the other hand, Russia’s policy towards its neighbours, and in the future perhaps also more distant countries, has become aggressively driven by imperialistic goals. From the very beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict (a hybrid war, or a subliminal war), Russia’s aim was to destabilise the situation in southern and eastern Ukraine in order to disconnect these areas from the country or to turn them into occupied territories, or establish a quasistate there. This occurring in the immediate vicinity of the V4 states, it would directly affect the security of those countries as well. A properly coordinated, comprehensive action needs to be taken by the EU, involving measures of peacekeeping, monitoring, state-building as well as financial and humanitarian aid with the strategic aim to stabilise the situation in Ukraine.