The Invasion of Ukraine: Challenges for Europe and the World

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The invasion of Ukraine is probably the most important geopolitical event of the post-Cold War period, surpassing even the aftermath of September 11, 2001. For now, Russia has been placed by the international community in a position of almost total isolation, but that does not prevent what has happened, and what may still happen, from leading many to question the effectiveness of international law and current multilateral instruments.

At the same time, the European Union has reacted with remarkable cohesion, although the effectiveness of its foreign policy instruments is again being challenged. NATO, on the other hand, has been revalued in the current context, as has the relationship between the US and Europe, in a world that seemed increasingly centered on the Pacific. Although this war has made clear the need to reinforce the European Union’s military and defense components (as well as its strategic autonomy), this has not happened in opposition to NATO, but rather as a complement and reinforcement of the NATO itself.

This online conference aims to address some of these topics, discussing the impact that the war in Ukraine will have, both for different dimensions of the European integration project (from strategic autonomy in key economic sectors to the defense pillar), and in broader geopolitical terms (in the context of the relations within Europe and Russia, but also with the US, or China). The speakers have remarkable experience, in particular having held functions in the field of foreign policy that offer them a unique knowledge of the regional reality in the conflict zone, but also of its impact on the European Union and on the wider geopolitical balances.


Programme

14:00   Opening Isabel Mota

President of the Board of Trustees of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

14:15   Message from H.E. The President of the Portuguese Republic*

14:25   Keynote Speech José Manuel Durão Barroso

Chairman of the Board of GAVI – The Vaccine Alliance, former President of the European Commission, and former Prime Minister of Portugal.

14:50   Radosław Sikorski in conversation with Teresa Patrício Gouveia

Radosław Sikorski, Member of the European Parliament, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Subcommittee on Security and Defence, also chair of the Delegation for relations with the United States and Former Polish Minister of Defence and Foreign Minister.

Teresa Patrício Gouveia, Member of the Board of Trustees of the European Council for Foreign Relations, former Member of the Board of Trustees of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Government.

15:20   Catherine Ashton in conversation with José Manuel Durão Barroso

Catherine Ashton, Chancellor of the University of Warwick, former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice-President of the European Commission.

José Manuel Durão Barroso, Chairman of the Board of GAVI – The Vaccine Alliance, former President of the European Commission, and former Prime Minister of Portugal.

15:50   Alexander Stubb in conversation with Miguel Poiares Maduro

Alexander Stubb, Director and Professor of the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute and former Prime Minister of Finland.

Miguel Poiares Maduro, President of the Scientific Committee of the Gulbenkian Future Forum, Professor and former Director of the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute also holder of the VdA Chair in Digital Governance at the Católica Global School of Law and Former Portuguese Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and for Regional Development.

16:20   Message from the Portuguese Minister of National Defense*

* Testimony previously recorded on video.


BIOGRAPHIES

Alexander Stubb is the Director of the School of Transnational Governance as of 1 May 2020. He has served as Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Trade and Europe Minister of Finland (2008-2016). He was a Member of the European Parliament (2004-2008) and National Parliament (2011-2017), the Chairman of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) (2014-2016) and Vice President of the European Investment Bank (2017-2020). He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the London School of Economics, a Master’s degree in EU Administration from the College of Europe in Bruges and a B.A. in political science from Furman University in South Carolina. He worked as Adviser at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Helsinki and in Brussels and in President Romano Prodi’s team at the European Commission. He was a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges.

Baroness Catherine Ashton served as the European Union's first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy between 2009 and 2014, responsible for the creation of the European External Action Service and the oversight of 140 Diplomatic Missions and 8 military operations. On behalf of the UN Security Council, she coordinated negotiations that resulted in the nuclear programme agreement with Iran. Previously she was EU Commissioner for Trade and served as a Minister in the Departments of Education and Justice, as well as Leader of the House of Lords and President of HM Queen's Privy Council. Baroness Ashton is a Senior Policy Advisor at Chatham House and the Global Europe Chair at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington D.C. She is a senior advisor to the Geneva based mediation organisation, Humanitarian Dialogue.

Isabel Mota has been chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation since May 2017, having been a member of the Board of Directors of the same Foundation between 1999 and 2017. She is also a non-executive member of the Board of Directors of Banco Santander-Totta, since July 2015; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Maison du Portugal – André de Gouveia, the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris; Member of the Council of Portuguese Honorific Orders since 2011.

She was chairman of the Supervisory Board of Partex Holding BV (2017-2019). With a degree in Finance from the University of Lisbon (1973), she was Assistant Professor at the Higher Institute of Economics (1973-1975), Deputy Director of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Finance and Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Portugal in Brussels. As Secretary of State for Planning and Regional Development (1987-1995), she headed the negotiations with the European Union on the Structural and Cohesion Funds for Portugal.

She was also Director of the Institute for Executive Training at the New University of Lisbon (1977) and member of the General Council of Telecel Vodafone (2001-2003), having also coordinated the preparation of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development for Portugal (2004). In addition, she was a Counselor of the Economic and Social Council of Portugal (until 2016).

José Manuel Durão Barroso is a Portuguese politician and university teacher. Currently Chairman of the Board of GAVI – The Vaccine Alliance, he previously served as President of the European Commission (2004-2014) and Prime Minister of Portugal (2002-2004). Durão Barroso graduated in Law from the University of Lisbon and obtained a Master’s degree with honours in Political Science and a diploma in European Studies at the University of Geneva.

Miguel Poiares Maduro is the President of the Scientific Committee of the Gulbenkian Future Forum. Professor and former Director of the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute, he also holds the VdA Chair in Digital Governance at the Católica Global School of Law. Poiares Maduro graduated from the University of Lisbon’s School of Law and has a PhD from the European University Institute. He has been Advocate General of the European Court of Justice and Professor at the School of Law at NOVA University Lisbon, as well as Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister for Regional Development of the Portuguese Government.

Radosław (Radek) Sikorski is a Member of the European Parliament for his native Kuyavian-Pomeranian region. Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA) and the Subcommittee on Security and Defense (SEDE), he also chairs the Delegation for relations with the United States. He was Poland’s Minister of Defence (2005-2007), Foreign Minister (2007-2014) and Speaker of Parliament (2014-2015).

Maria Teresa Pinto Basto Patrício Gouveia is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). She served as Secretary of State for Culture (1985-1990), Secretary of State for the Environment (1991-1993), Minister for the Environment (1993-1995) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (2003-2004) of the Government of the Portuguese Republic. She was also a Member of the Portuguese Parliament for the Social Democratic Party (PSD), between 1987 and 2004. Patrício Goveia was President of the Serralves Foundation (2000-2003) and Member of its Executive Board since 1997; Governor and Member of the Executive Committee of the European Cultural Foundation, Amsterdam (1990-2002); President of the Council for Cultural Cooperation of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg (1985-1987); Member of the Consultative Councils of the University of Lisbon (2007-2008) and of the daily newspaper «Público» (1990-1991/2002-2003); and Member of the Council of Portuguese Honorific Orders (2001-2011). She was also a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, between 2004 and 2019.

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