Annual Council Meeting 2023

The Annual Council Meeting 2023 took place on 7-8 June in Stockholm

– , Berlin time (CEST, UTC+2)
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a turning point in European history. More than one year into the war, it is high time to go beyond crisis management mode and have a more long-term strategic look at how Europe can build the capacity and the global coalitions which are necessary to defend European interests in the world.

The Annual Council Meeting 2023 in Stockholm offered both a very timely opportunity to discuss how Europeans have met the challenge of a war on its soil, and a strategic outlook at how Europe should handle the polycrisis of dire economic straits and global ripple effects as a result of the war. As such, the ACM served as an important reality check in which European decision-makers and opinion-shapers get to frankly exchange their ideas of the challenges and opportunities underlying this polycrisis.

Agenda

Wednesday, June 7

  • 13:30 – 13:45
    • Opening remarks and framing
      • Lykke Friis, Co-Chair, ECFR
  • 13:45-14:00
    • ECFR Insights: Keeping America close, Russia down, and China far away: How Europeans navigate a competitive world
      • Jana Puglierin, Head of the Berlin Office and Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR
  • 14:00 – 15:00
    • Panel I: The power of control: Economic coercion in the future global system
      • Carl Bildt, Co-Chair, ECFR
      • Arancha González Laya, Dean, Paris School of International Affairs
      • Jim O’Brien, Head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination, Department of State, United States
      • Jovita Neliupšienė, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania
      • Moderated by Jakob Hanke Vela, Brussels Playbook Author, POLITICO
  • 15:00 – 15:45
    • Break
  • 15:45 – 16:15
    • ECFR Insights: A conversation on the Turkish elections
      • Sinan Ülgen, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe
      • Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, Associate Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR
  • 16:15 – 17:30
    • Break (Policy Salons)
  • 17:30 – 17:45
    • ECFR Insights: Tribal Wars: the foreign policy of a polarized power
      • Jeremy Shapiro, Research Director, ECFR
  • 17:45 – 18:45
    • Panel II: Foreign Policy of a Polarized America: What the 2024 US Presidential Election could mean for Europe and the world
      • Alexander Soros, Chair, Open Society Foundations
      • Alexander Stubb, Professor & Director, European University Institute
      • Alexander Velez-Green, former National Security Advisor to Senator Josh Hawley
      • Nathalie Loiseau, Member of the European Parliament
      • Moderated by Majda Ruge, Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR

Thursday, June 8

  • 8:55 – 9:00
    • Video Message to ECFR’s Council by Javier Solana, former High Representative for Common, Foreign and Security Policy
  • 9:00 – 10:00
    • Panel III: What the next world order could look like
      • Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Pakistan
      • Alexander Gabuev, Director, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
      • Vera Songwe, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution (virtual)
      • Dong Wang, Professor, School of International Studies, Peking University, China
      • Moderated by Mark Leonard, Director, ECFR
  • 10:00 – 11:40
    • Break (Policy Salons)
  • 11:40 – 12:40
    • Panel IV: Shielding tomorrow: support to Ukraine against Russian aggression and the future of European defence
      • Pål Jonson, Minister of Defence, Sweden
      • Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister, Ukraine (virtual)
      • Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Moldova
      • Ulrike Franke, Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR
      • Moderated by Camille Grand, Distinguished Policy Fellow, ECFR
  • 12:40 – 13:30
    • Panel V: Can democracy survive the polycrisis?
      • Adam Tooze, Professor, Columbia University
      • Moderated by Mark Leonard, Director, ECFR
  • 13:30 – 13:50
    • Keynote speech
      • Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden
      • Introduced by Carl Bildt, Co-Chair, ECFR

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