Zoya Sheftalovich

A candid conversation with Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency, on Europe’s race to stay competitive in space.

A candid conversation with Janne Kuusela, Permanent Secretary at Finland’s Ministry of Defense, on Europe’s evolving security architecture, deterrence on NATO’s eastern flank and the lessons Finland brings to the current geopolitical era.

A candid exchange with Katarína Mathernová, the European Union’s Ambassador to Ukraine, on Europe’s long-term commitment to Ukraine, the future of reconstruction and security, and the geopolitical stakes of the war for the EU.

Featuring Keynote Remarks from Hanno Pevkur, Minister of Defence of Estonia

As the European Commission advances its efforts to rebuild the European defence architecture, a comprehensive approach is being pursued that spans policy, industry, technology, and financing. While urgency and political momentum have increased in response to a deteriorating security environment, progress remains uneven across Member States. Persistent structural, political, and industrial constraints continue to raise questions about the EU’s ability to translate ambition into readiness and preparedness.

• How far is urgency genuinely shaping defence decision-making at the EU level, and what obstacles continue to slow or fragment implementation across Member States?
• Have recent initiatives moved EU defence industrial cooperation beyond political declarations, particularly in terms of joint procurement, contracts, and supply-chain resilience?
• Are new financial instruments, including SAFE, delivering resources at the speed and scale required, or does the ramp-up of funding and project implementation remain insufficient?

Executive Summary

Minister Pevkur's keynote framed the session's central argument with precision: Europe has made a real strategic shift since 2022, but it has not yet converted urgency into operational readiness, and the distinction matters because deterrence is measured in stockpiles, production lines and command structures rather than in declarations. The panel that followed was candid about the structural obstacles to closing that gap. Rob Murray's framing of finance as a fundamental component of deterrence resonated well. Janne Kuuseła offered Finland's perspective: a country that has maintained serious defence for decades because of its 1940s near-death experience, now a NATO member for three years, learning from allies while contributing hard-won knowledge about sustained high-readiness defence under existential threat. The session's closing audience poll finding that European citizens regard hybrid warfare, not conventional military attack, as their primary security concern, prompted a direct response from Minister Pevkur: Russia's strategy is to separate Europeans from each other, and unity is the answer.

Livestream Link:  https://youtube.com/live/O2JS3JpQ0Ao?feature=share

The approaching climate crisis and the green technologies adapted to fight it change the foundations of global industries. Likewise, the dual shocks caused by the mass use of tariffs by Washington and large-scale subsidies by Beijing have deeply transformed the questions of European economic statecraft. In an age of climate transformation, weaponized interdependencies and pressing competition challenges, a comprehensive European industrial policy is no longer an if but a how. This conversation will discuss the implications of climate transition and American and Chinese dual shock on the future of the European industry and how European policymakers can leverage regulatory tools to pursue twin aims of economic resilience and competitiveness.

A candid conversation with Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the future of Europe’s security architecture, the transatlantic alliance and the geopolitical challenges reshaping the continent.