On 15-17 February 2023, the REDEMOS project consortium held its Kick-Off Conference in Trondheim, Norway, hosted by NTNU, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
During the first day (16 February 2023), the REDEMOS consortium convened and discussed the outline of the project, its work plan and visual identity, and the establishment of the project’s communication channels. Additionally, the consortium discussed ethical issues as well as the institutional architecture of REDEMOS.
In the framework of the conference, a public event was held on the second day (17 February), mirroring key topics addressed by REDEMOS and structured around the three following discussion panels, benefitting from the expertise of well-known speakers from academia and the world of practice:
Panel I: Reflecting on a decade of EU democracy support in the eastern neighbourhood: the good, the bad and the ugly
Moderator: Mădălina Dobrescu, Principal Investigator & Coordinator, REDEMOS, Department for Historical and Classical Studies (IHK), NTNU, Trondheim
Kataryna Wolczuk, Professor of East European Politics, University of Birmingham
Tracey German, Professor in Conflict and Security, King’s College, London
H.E. Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process, OSCE, Vienna
Panel II: What does the war in Ukraine mean for the EU’s democracy support agenda in the eastern neighbourhood?
Moderator: Amelia Hadfield, Dean International & Head of Department of Politics, University of Surrey
H.E. Ambassador Dirk Schübel, EU Special Envoy for the Eastern Partnership, European External Action Service, Brussels
Stanislav Secrieru, Senior Analyst, European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), Paris
Franziska Smolnik, Deputy Head of Research Division Eastern Europe and Eurasia, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin
Panel III: The quest for influence: third actors as alternative norms providers in the eastern neighbourhood
Moderator: Georgina Wright, Senior Fellow and Director, Europe Program, Institut Montaigne, Paris
Igor Gretskiy, Research Fellow, International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), Tallinn
Jyrki Kallio, Senior Research Fellow, Finnish Institute for International Affairs (FIIA), Helsinki
Stefan Fröhlich, Professor for International Politics and Political Economy, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
These debates were preceded by a keynote address by H.E. Ambassador Dirk Schübel, EU Special Envoy for the Eastern Partnership.
The event attracted up to 65 participants and during its course, experts’ opinions were exchanged on the abovementioned issues, generating highly pertinent and thought-provoking discussions both among the panelists and the audience.
