In her political guidelines presented on 18 July 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen identified defence as a priority. The preparation of a White Paper on the future of EU defence aims to launch a broad consultation on the establishment of a Union framework for defence investment needs and critical defence capabilities as well as funding options. The Commissioner for Defence, Industry and Space, Andrius Kubilius and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, have been tasked with producing this paper and will present it on March 19th.

This public event seeks to bring core ideas on current and future military doctrine, future force concept and military capabilities’ development as seen by Ukrainian experts.

The following questions and topics will guide the discussion:
1. Future battlefield through Ukrainian Prism: what factors are gaining weight?
2. The world of unmanned systems: what approaches to integration into the armed forces are optimal?
3. Triangle price-quality-time: best practices for adaptation.
4. Best practices in financing defense procurement.

Programme

9:30-10:00: Welcoming coffee and registration of participants

10:00-10:15: Opening remarks

• Pol De Witte, Director-General of the Egmont Institute
• Hennadiy Maksak, Executive Director, Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”

10:15-11:00: Expert panel

Moderator: Marc Thys, Lieutenant-general (retired), Senior Associate Fellow Egmont Institute

• Yurii Buhai, Head of Analytics, Reform Support Office, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
• Bruno Lete, Defence Policy Director in the Private Cabinet of the Belgian Minister of Defence
• Lesia Orobets, founding director,  NGO Price of Freedom (Ukraine)
• Giuseppe Spatafora, Research Analyst, EU Institute for Security Studies

11:00 – 11:30: Q&A Session and Conclusions

(Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)