Lennart Meri Conference 2026 will take place on 15-17 May 2026
Side event with Open Estonia Foundation
For three decades, Europe chose comfort over clarity on Russia. The cost of that choice is a full-scale war on European soil. To deal with this threat, Europe needs to end wishful thinking. Outside the Kremlin walls, heavily fortified with authoritarianism and imperialism, dissenting voices try to make themselves heard. Can any one voice speak for them all? Who represents the real Russia today, and who can speak in its name? Most importantly, who should we listen to? The Russia challenge calls not for appeasement, managed coexistence, or negotiated accommodation, but a fundamental reckoning with the brutal nature of the regime. What does the Kremlin truly want? Why does the west misread Moscow? And what should a new Russia strategy built on realism look like?
Co-founder of the Free Russia Forum
Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University