ELN Policy Fellow Alice Billon-Galland spoke at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs’ panel discussion on “Europe’s Transforming Security Landscape and NATO” in Vienna, on 19 March 2018.

Annexation of Crimea by Russia, conflict in Eastern Ukraine, and war and turmoil in Syria and other parts of the MENA region – the security landscape in and around Europe has seen major transformation in recent years. Alongside these developments, the British decided to leave the EU and Donald J. Trump, who had raised doubts about US commitment to the security of European allies and termed “unpredictability” as his strategy of choice, assumed the presidency in the United States. Overall, the Europeans have been confronted with multiple risks, challenges, and uncertainties of different origin and type.  Against such a background, the EU undertook steps to deepen cooperation and coordination in the realm of security and defense, most prominently launching the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), and concurred with NATO on expanding ties and enhancing cooperation.

Yet, what are the wider implications of these developments for NATO? What has been and will be its role in a “changed and evolving security environment”? How will its relationship with and positioning vis-à-vis the EU evolve? Will it succeed in demonstrating the same level of adaptability it showcased after the end of the Cold War? Or, is it indeed the “obsolete” Alliance whose years are numbered?

NATO-EU Relations: More of the Same or More EU?
Alice Billon-Galland
European Leadership Network, Policy Fellow

NATO’s Partnerships: The Case of Finland 
Hannu Kyröläinen
Ambassador of Finland to Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Vienna

NATO, Nuclear Weapons, and Arms Control – Challenges, Prospects, Implications
Ulrich Kühn
Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP), Senior Research Associate

For more information on the event, click here.