Questioning initiatives in European defence In a telephone conference, we asked Dipl-Ing, Major General (ret), Reinhard Wolski, Moderator of The Berlin Security Conference, to take a stand on some of the developments in the EU’s security and defence policy and major armament developments. Nannette Cazaubon: General, the EU High Representative and Vice- President of the European…
Contribution in missile technology to the EU’s strategic compass Interview with Thomas Gottschild, Managing Director of MBDA Deutschland GmbH and Executive Group Director Strategy MBDA, Schrobenhausen The European: Mr Gottschild, MBDA was created in 2001 after the merger of missile systems companies from France, Italy and the UK, later followed by enterprises from Germany and Spain.…
The European Union is continuing efforts to develop own defence capabilities in cooperation, adapting structures and creating financial instruments for security and defence. Although European armaments cooperation is still in its infancy, the groundwork has been laid for drones, future air combat systems and ground combat systems – but they all involve political and technological risks. OCCAR: a centre…
by Jean-Louis Gergorin and Léo Isaac-Dognin, co-authors of “Cyber, la guerre permanente” (Editions du Cerf, 2018), Paris A year ago, we voiced our concerns regarding the exponential rise of ransomware attacks, and over the impunity enjoyed by certain cybercriminals – modern pirates sometimes more akin to corsairs – in the countries from which they conduct their…
A European Security Council provides the basis for re-engagement by Robert Walter, President of EuroDéfense-United-Kingdom, London The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the apparent continuation, under President Biden, of “America First”, and of course Brexit, provide a critical challenge for Europe and the strategic defence of our continent, our values and our interests. The reaction in…
The world is too complex for every country to adhere to the same political recipes by Vladimir A. Chizhov, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, Brussels Though relations between Russia and the West have always been a complex story of ups and downs, one should not forget that from the outset we have been…
by Dr Ronja Kempin, Senior Fellow at EU/Europe Research Group, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin For a long time, the German federal government, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, found it difficult to discuss Europe’s “strategic autonomy” in the Common Foreign Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Representatives of the outgoing government avoided…
The EU has to shoulder more responsibility for security and order in its near abroad by Christian Schmidt, former German Federal Minister, President of the German Atlantic Association and High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo The 2020 US election marked an important change in transatlantic relations. Contrary to his predecessor, President Joe Biden sees the EU…
The failure of the NATO concept in Afghanistan Interview with General (ret) Harald Kujat, former German Chief of Defence and Chairman NATO Military Committee, Berlin The European: General Kujat, in politics, a thin line separates victory from defeat. Any military intervention has to be carefully weighed up and armed forces should only be engaged if, on…
by Camille Grand, Assistant Secretary General, Defence Investment, NATO, Brussels We face a challenging security environment marked by systemic competition from assertive powers, instability near Europe’s borders, terrorism, cyber-attacks, disinformation, and much more. This year, NATO leaders took the decisions needed to strengthen our Alliance in light of these threats and to prepare it for…