The first panel of the conference, “Ukraine and the Allies: Keeping the Firm Rock Unity and Solidarity”, was moderated by Oana Pompescu-Zamfir, Founder and Director of the GlobalFocus Centre. The panelists were Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Guide Goldman Distinguished Scholar for Geostrategy, German Marshall Fund of the United States, Hannes Swoboda, President of the WIIW – Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, the President of the International Institute for Peace and Marko Markovec, Director and Deputy Managing Director of the European External Action Service.
Mr. Kleine-Brockhoff stressed that “the recent conflict in Israel serves as both a diversion of interests, as well as a diversion of resources” when asked about whether the West will perceive it as a related or separate issue to the war in Ukraine. He claimed that Europe should not aim towards strategic autonomy, rather it should gear towards strategic integration. Regarding Ukraine’s accession, he urged not to put importance on the exact date, but on Ukraine reaching preparedness for the EU membership. He deemed Russia’s goal for Ukraine was “to create a failed state”.
When discussing the public and state support, aimed at aiding Ukraine, Hannes Swoboda highlighted that “we cannot support Ukraine, without support from citizens, and we don’t do enough to convince citizens to support Ukraine”. He later added that it is also important to focus on supporting Ukraine for the sake of European security in general. Swoboda pointed out that it is difficult to imagine at this point what the divisions in Ukraine would look like by the end of the war.
Mr. Marko Markovec emphasised the EU‘s financial support for Ukraine, as well as the fact that the EU kept its promise in regard to Ukraine’s European perspective and the solidarity for Ukrainian refugees. The moderator posed a question whether the commencement of enlargement negotiations with Ukraine in December 2023 would deem Ukraine to be a “Trojan horse”. Markovec stressed that in 2023 for the first time, the EU enlargement package will contain reports on 10 states, including Ukraine and Moldova.