REDEMOS participated in the 2024 Belgrade Security Conference

REDEMOS participated in the prestigious 2024 edition of the Belgrade Security Conference, held in Belgrade from 18 to 20 November 2024. As part of its involvement, REDEMOS organised a high-profile panel debate entitled “War and Democracy: Political Development in Eastern Europe in Light of Russian Aggression”, moderated by Professor Tobias Schumacher, Deputy Coordinator of REDEMOS. 

The panel featured an esteemed lineup of speakers, including Ms Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, President-elect and National Leader of Belarus, who opened the discussion with a virtual keynote address. The other panelists were Mr Adrian Balutel, Chief of Staff of Moldova’s President Maia Sandu; Mr Thomas Hacker, Member of the German Parliament), Ms Iryna Krasnoshtan, Programme Director at the International Center for Ukrainian Victory; and Mr Giorgi Oniani, Deputy Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia.

The discussion explored the state of democratic development in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood amidst the challenges posed by Russia’s ongoing aggression and full-scale war on Ukraine. Professor Tobias Schumacher reflected on both the progress achieved and the setbacks encountered since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, offering insights into how the EU and EU member states’ democracy support can be enhanced to become more effective and sustainable. 

Panelists emphasised that democratic development in Eastern Europe continues to be extremely fragile and remains under constant threat, requiring recalibrated support from the EU and its member states. They stressed the need for support actions to be context-specific, tailored, more tangible, and more sustainable to address the region’s multi-layered challenges. 

Building on the keynote address by Ms Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Professor Tobias Schumacher concluded with a reminder of the inevitability of the security-democracy nexus, asserting that democracy cannot be sustained and consolidated without a robust security framework.

To gain deeper insights into this pivotal discussion, we invite you to watch the full panel debate in the embedded video below.