“I think it is recognised throughout Europe that wiw has very special expertise in the field of Eastern and especially Southeastern Europe.”
“wiiw has had and continues to have great importance for research on Central, Eastern and Southeastern European countries.”
“The institute has contributed a great deal and also provided important discussion points and valuable information at the European level on these countries’ competitiveness and the impact of their integration into the European economy.”
“I think wiiw shares with the Peterson Institute and other leading think tanks the ability to find the sweet spot of expertise in the real world.”
“The most exciting question will be how Europe deals with Russia. Now everything is drifting apart. But in the long term, Russia’s geopolitical opportunity is so great that the issue must be open.”
“With Russia, too, there have been repeated attempts over the last three decades to put economic relations at the forefront. But the approach of change through trade has failed.”
“The concept of change through trade is certainly outdated. The world in the recent months has changed, Europe has completely changed and will not go back to what it was before.”
“Every institute needs money that is only used for work that the researchers want to do out of curiosity. And we need that here.”
“I don’t feel constrained by the need to acquire projects, that’s just our business model. We also try to get long-term projects where we can deal with the future-oriented topics that we find important.”
“You get to choose of course to write your proposals on topics which you are interested in. So it does not mean that just because it is project-based work that it is not something that is not falling in your core interest.”
“As in the past, it is important to ensure the broadest possible basis for funding in the future. The subsidy providers are crucial for our success on the research market. We have a broad spectrum of clients including European institutions, German foundations, international organisations, but also private clients.”
“It’s a time of great reckoning, that is clear, and I think the main order of the day is now resilience. So, for the European Union and European policy makers, a lot of work on resilience and rectification is in front of us.”
“The policy system has certainly over the last decades neglected the European neighbourhood. By neglecting the neighbourhood or not paying enough attention, we lose our main constituency.”
“I hope that the institute will continue to renew itself as it has done so far, because we cannot stand still. There are always new challenges, also from ecology, sustainability, climate change.”
