Invitation

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is shaking Europe and has shattered previous notions of the peaceful and prosperous coexistence of peoples on our continent. The key term in the current debates is “turning point”, but the consequences in detail are not even close to being foreseeable yet. The search for perspectives in the face of this fundamentally changed political scenario is the central theme of this year’s WDR Europaforum.

Efforts to establish a stable “House of Europe” after the confrontation of the Cold War have failed for the time being. Valdimir Putin’s war of aggression has taken away the ground from the West’s strategy of ensuring stability through economic interdependence and cooperative political structures. The order of the day is solidarity with Ukraine and its resistance. So far, the European Union has shown remarkable unity. The defence against neo-imperialism and war, the assertion of international law, democracy and the rule of law are, of course, tasks for the long term.

If Moscow is out of the question as a partner for the time being, what should the EU’s relationship with its large neighbour to the east of the continent look like? How strong must it become militarily? What does the new confrontation mean for relations with China? How to deal with the current and future accession candidates? How reliably does the frontline position on the outside provide common ground on the inside? What will become of other pressing issues such as the climate crisis, dealing with refugees, the pandemic? With these questions in mind, the motto of this year’s European Forum is

“What next? Europe in the new geopolitical reality”.