Europe’s Defence in Debate
Mapping the Europe-Wide Discourse on Defence Policy Amid Eroding Transatlantic Relations
Montag, 23.03.2026
| 17:30 Uhr |
Bus Shuttle from Wunstorf train station for travelers by plane, individual shuttles will be organized |
| 18:15 Uhr |
Arrival and Check-in |
| 18:30 Uhr |
Welcome Dinner |
| 19:30 Uhr |
Welcome Adress & Introduction Thomas MÜLLER-FÄRBER, Protestant Academy Loccum |
| 19:40 Uhr |
KICK-OFF PANEL | „Zeitenwende 2.0“? How Europe’s Security is Perceived Across the Continent in Times of Growing US-Estrangement Yevhen HLIBOVYTSKY, Director of Frontier Institute and Supervisory board member at Suspilne (Ukrainian public service broadcast), Kyiv Tuomas ISO-MARKKU, Senior Research Fellow, The European Union and Strategic Competition Program, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Helsinki Helga KALM, Deputy Director and Head of the Foreign Policy Program, International Center for Defence and Security (ICDS), Tallinn Martin LAMMERT, Lieutenant Colonel, Future Analysis Unit, Bundeswehr Planning Office, Berlin |
| 21:00 Uhr |
Informal Get Together |
Dienstag, 24.03.2026
| 08:30 Uhr |
Breakfast |
| 09:30 Uhr |
PANEL | 2029 – Or Even Earlier? How is a Potential Westward Aggression by Russia Discussed Across Europe? Tobias CREMER, MdEP (Social Democrats), Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Security and Defence, European Parliament, Brussels Lesia OGRYZKO, Director of the Sahaidachnyi Security Center and visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Kyiv Witold RODKIEWICZ, Senior Fellow, Russian Department, Centre for Eastern Studies, Warsaw |
| 10:45 Uhr |
Coffee & Tea Break |
| 11:00 Uhr |
PLENARY INTERJECTION | What’s in the Polls? Mapping the Topography of the European Defense Discourse Pawel ZERKA, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Vence |
| 11:45 Uhr |
PLENARY INTERJECTION | Peace Ethics revisited? What do Protestant Churches in Germany say about Security Policy and Defence? Dirck ACKERMANN, Protestant Chaplaincy for the Bundeswehr and Co-Author of the Ethics Memorandum of the Evangelical Church in Germany (issued Nov 2025), Berlin |
| 12:30 Uhr |
Lunch |
| 13:20 Uhr |
Sight Seeing Tour Monastery (Meeting Point at the Reception) |
| 15:00 Uhr |
Coffee & Cake Break (at the Dining Hall) |
| 15:30 Uhr |
PLENARY INTERJECTION | Beside and Beyond “Zeitenwende”: What other Security- & Peace-related Issues are Urgent – Now and in the Future? Lorenzo CONTI, Senior Policy Officer, European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), Brussels Simone WISOTZKI, Project Leader at the Research Department International Security, and Board Member at Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Frankfurt |
| 16:30 Uhr |
Coffee & Tea Break (Bistro) |
| 16:45 Uhr |
BREAKOUT SESSION (Part 1) | Crucial Issues for Current and Future Public Discourse on Defense Policy in Europe |
| - |
Forum 1 | Conscription Reloaded: How is Military Service Debated in European Societies? Andrea ELLNER, Senior Lecturer in Civil-Military Relations & Ethics, Department of Defence Studies, Kings College, London Vassilis NEDOS, Diplomatic and Defense Editor, Kathimerini Newspaper, Athens Julia WEIGELT, Journalist, Expert for Security Policy, Co-Host of the NDR Podcast “Streitkräfte & Strategien“, Hamburg Moderation: Lukas MENGELKAMP, Researcher, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH), Hamburg |
| - |
Forum 2 | All for One, and One for All? How is the Discourse about Defence Solidarity and Leadership Across Europe in Times of Eroding US Commitment? Jacopo BARIGAZZI, Senior Defense Correspondent at POLITICO Europe, Brussels Tobias CREMER, MdEP (Social Democrats), Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Security and Defence, European Parliament, Brussels Marcin TERLIKOWSKI, Head of Research Office, Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), Warsaw Moderation: Thomas MÜLLER-FÄRBER, Protestant Academy Loccum |
| 18:30 Uhr |
Dinner |
| 19:30 Uhr |
LITERARISCHER ABEND | „Der stille Krieg - Wie Autokraten Deutschland angreifen“ (partly in German) Reinhard BINGENER & Markus WEHNER, Journalisten, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zei-tung und Autoren des Buches „Der Stille Krieg“ (Beck 2025), Erfur/Hannover |
| 21:00 Uhr |
Informal Get Together *invited ** preliminarily confirmed |
Mittwoch, 25.03.2026
| 08:15 Uhr |
Invitation to Morning Prayer |
| 08:30 Uhr |
Breakfast |
| 09:30 Uhr |
BREAKOUT SESSION (Part 2) | Crucial Issues for Current and Future Public Discourse on Defense Policy in Europe |
| - |
Forum 3 | Guns vs Butter? How is the Financial Part of Europe’s Defense Reforms Discussed Oliver CUSWORTH, Senior Policy Officer, EIB Security and Defence Office, European Investment Bank, Luxembourg Simone EHRENBERG-SILIES, Head of Geo-Tech Politics Program, Institute for Innovation and Technology (iit) and Senior Consultant VDI/VDE Innovation, Berlin Ester SABATINO, Research Fellow for Defence and Military Analysis, Berlin Office, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Berlin** Moderation: Thomas MÜLLER-FÄRBER, Protestant Academy Loccum |
| - |
Forum 4 | Citizens’ Security IQ: Which Strategic Concepts Do We Need to Discuss Publicly and How? Tobias FELLA, Senior Researcher at the Berlin office of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH), Berlin Michael KNIEPEN, Head of Division, Strategy & Integrated Security, German Ministry of Defence, Berlin Roderick PARKES, Researcher, NATO Defence College, Rom Moderation: Thomas MÜLLER-FÄRBER, Protestant Academy Loccum |
| 11:00 Uhr |
Coffee & Tea Break (Bistro) |
| 11:15 Uhr |
OUTLOOK TALK | In Search of a Vision for European Defence Volodymyr DUBOVYK, Senior Fellow with the Democratic Resilience Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), Odessa Pavlo KLIMKIN, Co-Founder, Center for National Resilience and Development and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014-2019), Kyiv** Wolf-Jürgen STAHL, Major General and President of the Federal Academy for Secu-rity Policy, Berlin |
| 12:30 Uhr |
Farewell Lunch |
| 13:15 Uhr |
Bus Shuttle to Wunstorf train station * invited ** preliminarily confirmed |