Speakers
Head of the Security Unit at the Clingendael Institute
Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council
Fellow at the Belfer Center and Center for European Studies at Harvard
Director of Istituto Affari Internazionali
Moderator
Europe Editor at Radio Free Europe
“Ukraine is Europe” (Україна це Європа) is a slogan popularised during the Euromaidan Revolution of 2014. Since then, Ukraine has not only talked the talk but walked the walk, albeit stumbling, through both the corridors of power and the battlefield trenches. In 2008, during the NATO Bucharest Summit, Allies promised that Ukraine and Georgia will join NATO but have done very little to move their membership forward. Since 2022, NATO has been divided, with some Allies supporting Ukraine’s aspirations and others standing firmly against them. The EU accession is a long and cumbersome technical and legal process that Ukraine needs to take seriously. Is Kyiv still on track? In Ukraine, Euro-Atlantic integration symbolises the country’s safe and secure future, which can only be achieved through NATO and EU memberships. However, from Türkiye and the Balkan states to Georgia, there are many cautionary tales of what slow progress means for democracy. What are the costs of overpromising and underdelivering for long-term security and political stability in Europe and in Ukraine?