Eastern Frontline
The Eastern Frontline podcast is hosted in the European Parliament by the Eastern Frontline Group (EFG), an alliance of 43 MEPs from 13 EU countries. Each episode, policymakers and experts discuss Europe’s most urgent security challenges, as well as the social, psychological, and human dimensions of resilience. .The podcast is produced in partnership with The Parliament Magazine.
Eastern Frontline
Resilience Beyond the Battlefield: Prof. Ilse Derluyn on Ukraine’s Psychological Future
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In this episode of the Eastern Frontline Podcast, MEPs Reinis Pozņaks and Virginijus Sinkevičius speak with Prof. Ilse Derluyn about the hidden side of resilience.
The discussion explores the long-term challenges Ukraine and Europe must prepare for — covering the mental health of youth, the post-war reintegration of veterans, and the role of diaspora. Prof. Derluyn warns that winning the war is only the beginning — healing society will take generations.
She discusses why:
- Veteran reintegration will be a decades-long challenge, requiring therapy, jobs, and community dialogue.
- Children and youth will carry war trauma alongside the scars of COVID. Mental health must be a pillar of Ukraine’s recovery.
- Different survival choices (fight, flee, freeze) are normal — but can fracture cohesion.
- Diaspora and returnees will bring both skills and tensions — policies are needed to manage reintegration.
- Post-war “blame cycles” are inevitable. Societies need mechanisms to evaluate mistakes without tearing themselves apart.