Mogherini and Niinistö to attend 2017 Lennart Meri Conference
The annual Lennart Meri Conference in May will bring visits of Finnish president Sauli Niinistö as well as the European Union’s foreign policy high representative Federica Mogherini, among others.
The conference is arranged by the International Centre for Defense and Security in Tallinn, and this year’s motto is “Darkest before dawn? The war on trust and how to win it”. The conference has become one of the leading meetings on defense and security in Europe, and the guest list is usually impressive.
Among others, Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid, Finnish president Sauli Niinistö, EU foreign policy high representative Federica Mogherini, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta, Italian EU affairs minister Sandro Gozi, Georgian prime minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Turkish deputy prime minister Mehmet Şimşek, Lithuanian defense minister Raimundas Karoblis, NATO deputy secretary general Rose Gottemoeller, and former Indian minister of foreign affairs Kanwal Sibal will participate in the conference.
In addition to politicians and members of think tanks around the world, civic activists from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine will also participate, along with journalists Michael Weiss (The Daily Beast, Foreign Policy, CNN) and Ahmed Rashid (Daily Telegraph, Far Eastern Economic Review, Wall Street Journal, The Nation, Daily Times).
Vice president of the Ford Media Center, Stephen Biegun, and writer and journalist Sarah Kendzior (Globe and Mail, De Correspondent, and others) will talk about the new U.S. administration’s approach to foreign policy.
The conference will discuss the future of the European Union, the influence of populism on democracy, Russia’s growing belligerence in the information and cyber areas, the continuing conflict in Syria, and China’s increasing influence.
The conference will begin on May 12 in Tallinn’s Radisson Blu Sky Hotel and last until May 14.
Editor: Dario Cavegn