Details

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

THE FUTURE OF TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS:

TURNING A NEW PAGE ON ENHANCED COOPERATION AMID NEW SECURITY CHALLENGES

December 07, 2021

PROGRAM                                           (DRAFT!)

(EASTERN EUROPEAN TIME)

10.00 – 10.15 – Opening of the Conference

- Yordan Bozhilov – President of Sofia Security Forum

- Thorsten Geissler – Director, Sofia Office, Konrad Adenauer Foundation

- Colonel Orlin Nikolov – Director, NATO CMDR COE

10:15 – 11.15 High-level Panel “Transatlantic relations in the dynamic security environment”

Moderator: Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director, Head, ECFR Sofia

Speakers:

- Ambassador Adam Sterling, the Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor at EUCOM

- Mr. Apruzzese, Ministry of Forces, France (TBC)

- Mr. Sebastian Carr - Head of Europe and Canada in the Euro-Atlantic Security Directorate, UK

-   Mr. Andris Pelšs, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Latvia

Q&A

11:15 - 11:30 - David van Weel, Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, NATO (video-address)

11.30 – 11.45 – Coffee break

11:45 - 12:45 – High-level Panel: “The transatlantic link and the Black sea security”

- Amb. Todor Churov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria

- Dautn Nikolaescu, State Secretary, Ministry of foreign affairs of Romania

- Amb. Sedat Önal, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey

12:45 - 13:45 Lunch

13:45 - 15:15 – European strategic autonomy: what implications for the transatlantic relations.

Moderator: Dr. Monika Panayotova, Vice President of Sofia Security Forum, former Member of the European Parliament and Member of the Bulgarian Parliament, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Bulgarian Chairmanship of the EU Council’s Presidency.

Speakers:

Bruno Tertrais, Deputy director, The Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS)

Elena Lazarou, Acting Head of the External Policies Unit of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS)

Roland Freudenstein, Vice President of GLOBSEC, Head of GLOBSEC Brussels

Marie Brethous, Associate Analyst in charge of the Transatlantic Relations and EU-NATO affairs portfolio at the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)

Q&A

15:15 - 15:30 – Coffee break

15:30 - 16:50 Transatlantic Relations in the Big Picture of Great Power Competition

Moderator:  Plamen Tonchev, MERICS European China Policy Fellow & Head of Asia Unit, Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER), Greece

Speakers:

Charles Powell, Director, Elcano Royal Institute

Tara VARMA, Head of office & Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)

Prof. Emilian Kavalski, NAWA Chair Professor, Complex Systems Lab, Centre for International Studies and Development, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland

Q&A

16:50 – 17.00 – Technical break

17:00 - 18:30 The future of the Transatlantic relations:  Turning a New Page on Enhanced Cooperation Amid New Security Challenges

Moderator: Ambassador Elena Poptodorova, Vice President of the Atlantic Club in Bulgaria, Director for Euro-Atlantic Affairs and the 3SI

Speakers:

Ambassador Cristian Diaconescu, Member of the Scientific Council of New Strategy Center, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania

Ambassador Alper Coşkun, Senior Fellow, Europe Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

TBD

Q&A

18.30 – Closing the conference and cocktail reception