On July 2-4, in collaboration with the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue, the Centre for Liberal Strategies, the European Council on Foreign Relations, and the Directorate for Security Policy of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Defence and Sports, BTD supported a roundtable discussion: “Europe at Risk: How to Frame Europe Security Risks in the Midst of the Economic Crisis?”

The event, conducted under the Chatham House rule, addressed institutional, political and economic characteristics of the crisis, the framing of European security risks against the backdrop of the economic crisis, and views from Rome and from Warsaw on the potential of the crisis as a risk and opportunity for the EU. Recurring topics included whether the crisis is the beginning of a breakdown of the postwar political order that formed the basis for European integration; the need to respond to heightened mistrust and tensions between member states or between the member states and those on the periphery; the possibility for a renewal of the global foreign policy relevance of the European project, and significance of the EU’s new vulnerability for the role of China and Russia vis-à-vis Europe; and the implications of the prolonged crisis for the enlargement and the accession prospects of the Western Balkan states.

A wide range of perspectives were presented by speakers including: Avraham Burg, Francois Heisbourg, Jan Zielonka, Torbjörn Sohlström, Jakub Wiśniewski, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Pawel Świeboda, Janusz Reiter, Gennaro Migliore, Lapo Pistelli, Lucio Caracciolo, Michele Comelli, Pietro Battistella, Heather Grabbe, Ulrike Guérot, Constanze Stelzenmüller, Georgy Ganev, Josef Janning, Mark Leonard, and Ivan Krastev.

The event was conducted as part of the “Europe at Risk” series of seminars and discussions, which aims to rationalize discussion on the current crisis and future policies of the EU.