Welcome and Introduction:
HANNES SWOBODA, President of the IIP and former MEP
Speaker:
DANIEL HAMILTON, Director of Global Europe Program at the Wilson Center (via video conference)
CLARISSE PASZTORY, Deputy Head of the OSCE presence in Albania,
former Head of EU Liaison Office, Erbil, Iraq (via video conference)
BRUNO MAÇÃES, Senior Advisor, Flint Global, London; former Europe Minister of Portugal
LEJLA VISNJIC, Secretary General of the Socialist Youth Austria
Moderation:
MARIA MALTSCHNIG, Director of the Karl-Renner-Institut
Content:
The undignified withdrawal of NATO from Afghanistan and the takeover by the Taliban will also have severe repercussions for Europe and its security. The threat of islamist terrorism may further rise. Many more Afghans will try to flee from the Taliban regime to neighbouring countries, but also to Europe. The events made also clear – yet for another time – that the EU lacks strategic autonomy and depends on US capabilities and leadership. When Washington acts against European interests especially on peace and security matters, the EU often lacks the will and means to pursue its own foreign and security policy. Even apart from the crisis in Afghanistan, the European security system has been facing difficult times and major challenges: armed or frozen conflicts in the EU’s Eastern and Southern neighbourhood, global migration crisis, systemic terrorism, pervasive cyber threats, and the conflict between Russia and the Western states. The downward spiral in the European Security Architecture is also reflected in the crisis of the OSCE whose decision mechanisms are far too often paralysed. What are the lessons of the recent events and of the major challenges for the EU, OSCE, and NATO?