Zbigniew Brzezinski, a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, will deliver a major speech at the GLOBSEC security forum, to be held on April 18 through 20 in Bratislava, Slovakia. In particular, as the Slovak Atlantic Commission’s director of press relations Petra Netryova told The Day, Brzezinski will cover in his speech the Visegrad Group and the wider Central European region’s new role at a time when Europe experiences a crisis, the traditional defense ties are being weakened through austerity measures, Europe loses its competitive advantages and emerging economic powers are challenging the West’s global leadership. “Both our region and the entire Europe are in dire need of a new strategic vision for these difficult times, as we are too focused on the daily management of the crisis’s consequences and thus often forget about more strategic vision. I find it difficult to imagine a better person than Zbigniew Brzezinski to inspire us to look for it,” the forum’s founder and secretary general of the Slovak Atlantic Commission Robert Vass stated. Meanwhile, president of the Slovak Atlantic Commission Rastislav Kacer noted that “Central Europe should play a special role at a time when Europe is experiencing a major transformation.” For the first time in the forum’s eight-year history, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski will join his Visegrad Group colleagues to discuss strategy for the region and ways to strengthen its political influence in Europe.
Thus, ministers of all Visegrad Group nations will take part in this year’s forum. “When combined, the Visegrad Group’s votes in the EU bodies equal voting power of France and Germany combined. But we have not been able to fully use the potential born from our cooperation in the Visegrad Group framework. I would like to see the presence of the chief Polish diplomat as an indication of his country’s serious attitude not only to the GLOBSEC, but to the Visegrad region, too,” Kacer added. Moreover, Sikorski took the leadership responsibility, deciding to assume joint chairmanship of this foremost foreign policy event in Central Europe with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Slovakia Miroslav Lajcak.
“We have got the absolutely most fortunate constellation of events. Poland is now holding the presidency of the Visegrad Group, very recently it has agreed to lead the first regional battle group, its foreign policy aims to strengthen the Visegrad ties more than ever before. Energy and defense cooperation are just two of the many topics to be discussed at the forum. We are pleased that Central Europe is trying to be a strong player in Europe, this is what the GLOBSEC has encouraged us to do over all these years,” Vass stressed.
According to him, the main objective of the forum’s founding eight years ago was to establish Bratislava as a focal point of the Atlantic strategic thinking map. “Our ambition was to create a platform for Central Europe to express its interests and increase its influence in European and transatlantic debates. The presence of a dozen foreign ministers, prime ministers and presidents along with 600 more high-level participants is a proof that the world is not only going to Central Europe to hear its voice, but is seeing the GLOBSEC as a platform for strategic political debate,” Vass added.
It should be noted that the forum’s invited speakers’ list includes also the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara. The Day’s reporter will be present at the Bratislava forum, providing our readers with latest news about developments at the GLOBSEC, the forum which is already being compared with the prestigious conferences in Brussels and Munich.
