Insight into the Riga Security Forum 2019

The Latvian Institute of International Affairs in cooperation with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, NATO Public Diplomacy Division, and Embassies of Poland and Canada in Latvia on September 13, 2019, held the Riga Security Forum 2019.

Building on the experience of three consecutive LIIA public discussions devoted to the topical issues of NATO, Riga Security Forum aimed to gather key international policymakers, industry leaders, as well as military and civilian experts to discuss events, trends, opportunities and challenges lying ahead for the transatlantic community and NATO. In various formats, participants discussed NATO’s achievements and challenges including the Baltic States in NATO, NATO-Russia relations, the concept for transatlantic security as well as emerging threats in a transnational environment.

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The video recordings from each of the discussion please see below:

Opening and keynote address

Andris Sprūds, Director of the Latvian Institute of International Affairs
H.E.Mr. Egils Levits, President of the Republic of Latvia

Opening high-level quartet: 15 of 70: NATO and the Baltic States 

Experts:

  • James Appathurai, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, Special Representative for Central Asia and the Caucasus, NATO
  • Heinrich Brauss, former Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning, NATO, Senior Associate Fellow, DGAP
  • Tomasz Szatkowski, Poland’s Representative to NATO, former Deputy Defence Minister
  • Valdis Zatlers, President of Latvia from 2007 to 2011

Moderator: Mr. Ali Aslan, international TV presenter and journalist

Global discussion: Transforming Security Governance 

Experts: 

  • Ian Anthony, Director of the European Security Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute 
  • Kristīne Bērziņa, Senior Fellow in the Alliance for Securing Democracy, German Marshall Fund of the United States
  • Long Jing, Deputy Director of the Center for European Studies of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies
  • Jānis Sārts, Director at the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence

Moderator: Ms. Elizabete Vizgunova, Researcher at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs

Regional discussion: Baltic (In)Defense Ability? 

Experts:

  • Jānis Kažociņš, National Security Adviser to the President of Latvia, Secretary of the National Security Council
  • Henning Riecke, Head of the Transatlantic Relations Program, DGAP
  • Sven Sakkov, Director at the International Centre for Defence and Security, ICDS

Moderator: Mr. Māris Andžāns, Senior Researcher at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs|Associate professor at Riga Stradiņš University 

Debate on NATO and Russia

Experts:

  • Sergey Markedonov, Leading Researcher of the Euro-Atlantic Security Center at the MGIMO Institute for International Studies
  • Wolfgang Richter, Senior Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, SWP
  • James Sherr, Senior Fellow, Estonian Foreign Policy Institute/ICDS | Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House
  • Viljar Veebel, Researcher at the Baltic Defence College

Moderator: Mr. Ali Aslan, international TV presenter and journalist

Transatlantic discussion: Transatlantic (In)Security Link: A Partnership in Flux?

Experts: 

  • Deborah A. McCarthy, Visiting Fellow at the Finnish Institute of Foreign Affairs; former U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania
  • Christian Mölling, Research Director at DGAP
  • Eric Povel, Programme Officer, Afghanistan, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, NATO Public Diplomacy Division
  • Patrycja Sasnal, Head of Research, Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM)

Moderator: H.E. Mr. Kevin Rex, Ambassador of Canada to Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania

Cartoonist, illustrator, animator Mr. Gatis Šļūka

Pictures from the event please see here.

Piano accompaniment during the event by Mr. Aigars Paulis

The whole team of the Latvian Institute of International Affairs expresses our utmost gratitude to our partners, speakers, moderators, colleagues and all participants!

See you next year!

Publicēts 17. septembris, 2019