“political, economic and cultural trends in the european ... · ribal al assad . founder of the...

Conference Book

The Europe Meets Russia Conference

“Political, Economic and Cultural Trends in the European-Russian Partnership”

Berlin, April 24th-27th, 2012

««

««

««««

THEEUROPE MEETS RUSSIACONFERENCE



www.culturaldiplomacy.org The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy 2

Thank you!

The ICD would like to extend its sincere gratitude to all those in the organisation

of the conference and to the entire Europe Meets Russia team including William Hernád, Elena

Afromeeva, Annelieke Madou, Yulia Shutova, Kateryna Kononiuk, Yulia Iliyna, Thibault Geron.

The ICD and all of the organisers would like to thank the participants and speakers

whose enthusiasm and participation were a vital contribution to the phenomenal success of this

exciting and vibrant international event that was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved.




Introduction

The Europe meets Russia Conference 2012 explored salient issues in the European Russian relations.

They were presented both from European and Russian perspectives and showed different points of

view. Culture, business and politics are the main spheres of cooperation between Europe and Russia.

The Europe Meets Russia Conference 2012 was part of the Young Leaders Forum (YLF), a department

within the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. YLF is predicated on the ICD’s philosophy that diplomacy

must transcend mere discussion and include practical implementation of theory for the reason that

sometimes actions speak louder than words: cultural diplomacy must show rather than tell.

Politicians and analysts from the EU and Russia explained the specifics of the relationship between

Europe and Russia and took a look into various perspectives and issues surrounding their cooperation.

The program consisted of lectures, seminars, debates and panel discussions featuring leading figures

from international politics, diplomacy, academia, civil society, and the private sector.

The following is a summary of the EMR Conference 2012. It provides key themes, information on

speakers including lecture topics and keynote interviews, and an analysis of the conference as a whole.




Speakers

Armen Oganesyan

Editor-in-Chief, International

Affairs Journal, Russia

Dr. Kristin Wesemann

Expert, Bundeszentrale für

politische Bildung

Fraser Cameron

Director, Europe-Asia Center;

former Director Europe-Russia

Center, Brussels

Ivan Alexeev

Political Attaché of the

Russian Embassy in Berlin

H.E. Amb. Aureliu Ciocoi

Moldavian Ambassador to Germany

H.E. Amb. Karl-Erik Norrman

Secretary General of the

European Cultural Parliament;

former Swedish Ambassador

The Hon. Raul Mälk

Former Foreign Minister of Estonia

Michail Kasyanov

Former Prime Minister of Russia

Kristiina Ojuland

Former Foreign Minister & Member

of European Parliament

Marc Bogaerts

Chief Choreographer, Deutsches

Fernseherballet

Ivan Alexeev

Political Attaché of the

Russian Embassy in Berlin

Rolf Schnelle

German Foreign Office

Dr. Ulrich Brückner

Jean Monnet Chair Professor of

European Studies, Stanford University

Ribal Al Assad

Founder of the Iman Foundation




Participants

Ashot Avetisyan

Anna Borovova

Maxim Dolgov

Kimberley Huizing

Alexandru Jadaneant

Tom Koritschan

Sophie Lawniczak

Konstantin Leshchenko

Andrey Makarychev

Nino Matcharashvili

Marina Merz

Maria Moskvina

Federico Permutti

Matt Sutton

Jaspers Thijs

Alexander Thomas

Ariane Van Hilten

Hannah Louise Wilson




Participant Papers

Presentations were delivered from participants as part of the EMR Conference 2012. Subjects

related to the European-Russian relations were presented by the following people:

Summaries of these papers are now exhibited on the website of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy,

and are available through the following link:

http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/culturaldiplomacynews/index.php?en_participants-papers

Conference Interviews

Interviews were conducted with the following speakers as part of the EMR Conference 2012:

· Michaeil Kasyanov

Former Prime Minister of Russia

· Kristiina Ojuland

Former Foreign Minister & Member of European eorgian Trade”

· H.E. Amb. Aureliu Ciocoi

Moldavian Ambassador to Germany

Interviews and lectures are available online at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/icdchannel

· Maxim Dolgov

“Environmental Problems of the Engine Internal Combustion”

· Nino Matcharashvili

“Russian-Georgian Trade”




Conference Summary

9:30, ICD House

Registration

10:00 Introduction and Welcome:

Mark C. Donfried

11:00 Travel Time

12:30, German Parliament Special Visit and Guided Histor-

ical and Architectural Tour

13:30 Lunch Break

14:00, Staatliche Ballet Schule & Schule für Artistik Lecture & Visit

Marc Bogaerts

16:00 Berlin Historical Walking Tour:

A tour of the famous sites of

East Berlin including the Berlin

Wall, the Brandenburg Gate,

and Berlin-Mitte

19:00 Welcome Group Dinner

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

9:30, ICD House

Tea, Coffee & Refreshements

10:00 Lecture & Discussion: Russia in

the Global World

The Hon. Raul Mälk

11:00 Coffee Break

11:30 Lecture & Discussion: The

Impact of Russia’s WTO Acces-

sion on EU-Russia Relations

Fraser Cameron

12:30 Panel Discussion: Political, Eco-

nomic and Cultural Trends in the

European-Russian Partnership

Fraser Cameron, The Hon. Raul

Mälk, Rolf Schnelle, Dr. Ulrich

Brückner

13:30 Lunch Break

14:00, Russian Embassy in Berlin Lecture & Visit

Ivan Alekseev

16:00 Travel Time

17:00, ICD House Lecture & Discussion: Introduc-

tion to Cultural Diplomacy and

the European Russian Relation-

ship – Leadership Initiatives

Mark C. Donfried

18:00 Social Evening Activities

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012




Conference Summary

9:30, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung


10:00 Lecture & Discussion: History

and the Responsibilities of

“Political Education” Regard-

ing Russia

Dr. Kristin Wesemann

11:00 Travel Time

11:30, ICD House Participant Paper: Environ-

mental Problems of the Engine

Internal Combustion

Maxim Dolgov

11:45 Lecture & Discussion: Growing

Challenges to the EU-Russia

Parliamentary Cooperation

The Hon. Kristiina Ojuland

12:30 Panel Discussion: Introduction

to Cultural Diplomacy and the

European

Ribal Al Assad, The Hon. Kristi-

ina Ojuland, Mark C. Donfried

13:30 Lunch Break

14:30 Participant Paper: Russian-

Georgian Trade

Nino Matcharashvili

14:45 Presentation & Interactive Dis-

cussion: Europe Meets Russia:

But where are the Meeting

Points?

Armen Oganesyan

15:30 Travel Time

16:30, Berlin Olympiastadion Special Visit and Guided Histor-

ical and Architectural Tour to

Berlin Olympic Stadium

18:00 Social Evening Activities

Thursday, April 26th, 2012




Conference Summary

9:30, ICD House


10:00 Lecture & Discussion:

Russia and Europe: Together

or Apart?

The Hon. Michail Kasyanov

11:00 Coffee Break

11:15 Panel Discussion: Political, Eco-

nomic and Cultural Trends in the

European-Russian Partnership

The Hon. Michail Kasyanov,

Mark C. Donfried

12:00 Lecture & Discussion: The Rela-

tionship Between Moldova and

the European Union and Russia

H.E. Amb. Aureliu Ciocoi

12:30 Panel Discussion: The Future

of the European-Russian

Partnership

H.E. Amb. Aureliu Ciocoi, Dr.

Ulrich Brückner, Armen Oga-

nesyan, H.E. Amb. Karl-Erik

Norrman

13:30 Farewell

Friday, April 27th, 2012




Conference Voices

“Many think Russia is far away from Europe,

a strange, alien country to the EU. Russia

is a member of the OECD and the Council

of Europe and my party believes it is a

European country.”

“Mr. Putin is using soviet-style propaganda,

using terrorist attacks to claim that Russia

is surrounded by different enemies, aiming

to rid Russia of its serenity and take its

natural resources.”

“In the future, one possibility is that Mr Putin

will continue to believe that everything in

political life is tradable, including activism

in silent contracts. But I believe we will see

more changes in the future led by young

activists. I think it is entirely possible to

consolidate the growing efforts and desires

of the growing middle class.”

The Hon. Michail Kasyanov

“With concerns over human rights in Russia,

the EP will clearly not continue with business

as usual with Russia.”

“Is a customs union with Belarus and

Kazakhstan really the way to modernization

for Russia?”

“In a G2 (US-China) world, Russia finds it

hard to be seen as one of the important poles

of a multipolar world.”

Kristiina

Ojuland

Dr. Fraser

Cameron

Raul Mälk




icd - institute for cultural diplomacy

Institute for Cultural Diplomacy

Ku’damm Karree, Kurfürstendamm 207-208, D-10719 Berlin

Tel.: +49 (0) 30 2360 768 0

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.culturaldiplomacy.org

www.icd-emr.org

««

««

««««

THEEUROPE MEETS RUSSIACONFERENCE

“political, economic and cultural trends in the european ... · ribal al assad . founder of the...

Documents