Visit to the Federal Chancellery and discussion with Alexander Wallau, Head of the Division of Bilateral Relations with the States of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.

Visit to the Federal Chancellery.

At the Konrad Adenauer House, Ruben Schuster, Head of Office for Foreign Relations of the CDU, provided information on the party's assessments of current foreign and domestic policy developments.

In the Bundestag, the group toured also the Reichstag dome.

Visit the Federal Press Conference and meet with Ute Welty, Member of the Executive Board.

Klaus Giering, Head of Communication and Inter-Institutional Relations Unit at the European Commission, discussed with the participants current EU communication strategies.

Visiting the KAS European Office in Brussels.

Patrick Voller, Secretary of External Relations of the EPP (left), spoke about current political developments within and beyond the EPP family.

The group had the opportunity for an in-depth exchange on the topic of professional work with media and journalists both in Berlin and Brussels. Discussion with Adelheid Feilcke, Director of Programs for Europe at Deutsche Welle.

Interview with Florian Nehm, Head of EU Affairs, Sustainability, Ideas Management at Axel Springer Publishing.

Tour through the Axel Springer headquarters in Berlin.

The participants from nine countries had the opportunity to exchange views with experts, members of parliament and journalists on current topics in politics and political communication as well as to gain deeper insights into institutional press and communication work.

In Berlin, the programme included visits to the Federal Chancellery, the Bundestag, the CDU Federal Headquarters (Konrad Adenauer House), the Federal Press Conference, Deutsche Welle and the Axel Springer publishing house. First, Frank Priess, Deputy Head of the Division of European and International Cooperation, welcomed the group at the KAS headquarters. Further, in the Federal Chancellery, the group had a discussion with Alexander Wallau, Head of the Division of Bilateral Relations with the States of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the South Caucasus. At the Konrad Adenauer House, Ruben Schuster, Head of Office for Foreign Relations of the CDU, provided information on the party's assessments of current foreign and domestic policy developments. In the Bundestag, the group toured the Reichstag dome and exchanged views with Melanie Meyer, Head of Office of MdB Peter Beyer (CDU). All discussions focused on EU enlargement and the role of the Western Balkans, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, and the crucial role of professional political communication in times of disinformation and anti-European narratives. During the visit to the Federal Press Conference and during the discussion with Ute Welty, Member of the Executive Board of the Federal Press Conference, the participants were introduced to the principle, history, impact and specifics of the Federal Press Conference.

In Brussels, the programme continued with visits to the headquarters of the European People's Party (EPP), the European External Action Service (EEAS) and, of course, the KAS Europe Office, where Head of Office Hardy Ostry welcomed the group. Jasna Jelisic, Head of the Western Balkans Task Force of the EEAS, and Klaus Giering, Head of Communication and Inter-Institutional Relations Unit at the European Commission, discussed with the participants current EU communication strategies, strategies to curb anti-European narratives and Russian propaganda, as well as how professional political communication can be used to raise awareness and bring the EU enlargement process and the challenges faced by the Western Balkan countries closer to the citizens.

Patrick Voller, Secretary of External Relations of the EPP, spoke about current political developments within and beyond the EPP family. While Thomas Gutschker, Correspondent in Brussels for EU, NATO and Benelux for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, also gave his assessments on EU enlargement, Ukraine and NATO.

The group had the opportunity for an in-depth exchange on the topic of professional work with media and journalists both in Berlin and Brussels. They met with Adelheid Feilcke, Director of Programs for Europe at Deutsche Welle (DW) and expert on the Western Balkans, and Alexandra von Nahmen, DW Correspondent, in Brussels.