55th Munich Security Conference

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Defense Ministers Williamson and von der Leyen during the 55th MSC

The 55th Munich Security Conference (MSC 2019) took place from February 15 to 17, 2019 at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich . The more than 600 participants included heads of state and government from over 35 countries, 50 foreign and 30 defense ministers, other representatives from the fields of politics, the military, the defense industry, business and science, and members of international intergovernmental and civil society organizations.

greeting

As a greeting, the chairman of the conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, presented the event under the motto "The Great Puzzle: Who Will Pick Up the Pieces". The question was also discussed in the Munich Security Report , the annual publication accompanying the event. Ischinger described "a reorganization of central building blocks of the international order", which was shaped by a new era of great power rivalries between the USA , China and Russia as well as a certain leadership vacuum in the "liberal world order". He had previously highlighted the importance of multilateralism in today's world and in this context called the European Union "alive and kicking".

Opening statements

Federal Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and the British Defense Minister of the United Kingdom Gavin Williamson spoke at the opening . Both politicians advocated increased European defense cooperation . Williamson referred to growing global dangers and made it clear that the NATO partners must continue to cooperate closely despite Brexit , since NATO is essential to protect the citizens. Von der Leyen spoke of a "return of competition from great powers" that also affects Germany and Europe . She said that she would work for closer military cooperation between the EU and the UK even after Brexit .

subjects

The Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono at the 55th MSC

The main topics of the conference included "the self-assertion of the European Union, transatlantic cooperation and the possible effects of a new era of great power competition". In the case of European security, the defense expenditure of European NATO members was once again an explicit topic. The topics of the speeches were the security situation in the Sahel zone , Eastern Europe , South-Eastern Europe in the Middle East and Syria ; Control, proliferation, disarmament of nuclear weapons , as well as trade barriers.

International cooperation

During a panel discussion on the future of defense alliances, Japanese Foreign Minister Tarō Kōno called for greater international cooperation to protect the international order: "If the US can no longer act alone as a police officer, Japan , Europe and other like-minded countries must increase the burden-sharing." Other participants in the discussion also expressed doubts as to whether cooperating Central Powers can prevail over the rival goals of the great powers .

The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Sarif criticized the US demand for Europeans to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran and urged the European states to do more to preserve the agreement.

Nuclear Intermediate Range System Treaty (INF)

Another focus of the conference was the INF contract . The speeches by Vice President of the United States Mike Pence and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear that the failure of the INF Treaty can hardly be prevented. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described the consequences of a failure of the INF Treaty as "very serious". In order to save the treaty, some participants expressed the hope that China would take part in the negotiations on intermediate-range nuclear systems , but this was rejected by Chinese foreign policy leader Yang Jiechi , as China refused to "multilateralize the INF treaty for the Asia-Pacific region" . India made a similar statement . Chancellor Merkel warned against "blind arming" when the INF Treaty failed.

Transatlantic Relations

In the case of transatlantic relations, observers spoke of "rifts between the USA and Germany". These were also made clear in the speech by Vice President Mike Pence, who defended US policy and called on European states to give the US more support in the conflicts with Iran or the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg emphasized in his speech on the importance of multilateral structures and transatlantic cooperation. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel also emphasized the importance of international cooperation: "We must not just smash it". Positions were divided within the US delegation. Former US Vice President Joe Biden was very critical of the current President's policies: "This will pass! We'll be back!"

Climate change and security

For the first time since the conference was founded, the topic of "climate change and security" was included in the main program of the event with a panel discussion. The German climate researcher Hans Joachim Schellnhuber warned urgently about the consequences of climate change . Bunny McDiarmid, co-managing director of Greenpeace , explained the European Fridays for Future movement to the audience and said: "We have school children who march on the streets because they do not believe that politicians act quickly enough." The Secretary General of Amnesty International , Kumi Naidoo , warned: "Nature does not negotiate." US government officials did not take part in the discussion. However, former US Secretary of State John Kerry sat in the audience and said that politics was currently committing "a consensual suicide on our planet".

Attendees

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh Hasina Wajed during the 55th MSC

Among the heads of state and government who attended were Chancellor Angela Merkel, Presidents Petro Poroshenko from Ukraine , Abd al-Fattah as-Sisi from Egypt , Aschraf Ghani from Afghanistan , Klaus Johannis from Romania as well as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh , Hasina Wajed , and the Emir from Qatar , Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani .

For the US delegation included US Vice President Mike Pence, spokeswoman for the House of Representatives , Nancy Pelosi , the daughter of the US president, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner .

Other guests included Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, EU Foreign Affairs Representative Federica Mogherini , NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, IMF Chief Christine Lagarde , Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Sarif, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Alhakim , British Defense Minister Gavin Williamson and his French colleague Florence Parly , Yang Jiechi, as a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China responsible for foreign policy, and the Nobel Peace Prize winners Tawakkol Karman and Beatrice Fihn .

In addition to Chancellor Merkel and Defense Minister von der Leyen, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas , Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz , Economics Minister Peter Altmaier , Health Minister Jens Spahn and Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner took part in the conference for the German Federal Government .

French President Emmanuel Macron canceled because he wanted to deal with domestic political problems in connection with the yellow vests movement , as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .

Awards ceremonies

The Ewald von Kleist Prize , which is awarded annually at the conference, went this year to the Prime Minister of Greece , Alexis Tsipras , and North Macedonia , Zoran Zaev , for agreeing on the name dispute between the two countries. For the first time, the John McCain Dissertation Award was presented during the conference for outstanding research on security issues.

Side events

The main conference was accompanied by numerous side events, including the Munich Young Leaders Program by MSC and the Körber Foundation , and other events on the topics of climate change and security, which was organized by the United Nations Environment Program, energy security , cybersecurity , health security and international threats.

rating

In the opinion of conference leader Wolfgang Ischinger , it was one of the most important conferences in recent years, as it had become clear that the international system is extremely threatened. In his opinion, the most important speech by far came from Angela Merkel. A negative tendency can be observed that the conflicting parties used the conference to present their position, but did not want to discuss with each other what was originally the strength of the conference.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Why the Munich conference should be called the Insecurity Conference. handelsblatt.com, February 15, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c Munich Security Conference: Topics, participants and further information. Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , February 13, 2019, accessed on the same day.
  3. ↑ a b Macron does not meet Merkel. Macron participation canceled. tagesschau.de, February 7, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Wolfgang Ischinger: 'European Union is alive and kicking'. dw.com, February 8, 2019, accessed January 1, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Munich Security Report 2019. The Great Puzzle: Who Will Pick Up the Pieces? securityconference.org, January 23, 2019, accessed January 1, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Munich Security Conference: The world as a puzzle and imagination. Global order is falling apart. dw.com, February 11, 2019, accessed January 1, 2020 .
  7. ↑ "Irritating Enthusiasm": German security expert criticizes Trump harshly. focus.de, February 11, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Europe and the debate about a new Ostpolitik. Security situation in Europe unstable. deutschlandfunk.de, February 14, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b c d e Celebrities and many problems. Tense global political situation. br.de, February 14, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  10. ↑ a b Trump sends daughter Ivanka to the security conference. Morgenpost.de, February 15, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  11. ↑ a b c d e Sailing together or going under. Multilateralism. tagesschau.de, February 17, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Warning of an armaments spiral. The world doesn't get any safer. deutschlandfunk.de, February 16, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  13. ↑ a b Security Conference celebrates High Mass for Europe. The message is clear. n-tv.de, February 15, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  14. ↑ The struggle of the great powers is back. Europe is missing a star. zeit.de, February 15, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  15. ↑ a b Munich Security Conference 2019. Agenda. securityconference.org, February 2019, accessed January 4, 2020 .
  16. ↑ France's nuclear weapons are supposed to protect the EU. Termination of the INF contract. n-tv.de, February 9, 2019, accessed January 4, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Participation of Foreign Minister Kono in the Munich Security Conference. emb-japan.go.jp, February 17, 2019, accessed January 4, 2020 .
  18. ↑ a b c Munich Security Conference 2019. Overview. securityconference.org, February 2019, accessed January 4, 2020 .
  19. ↑ a b c d Those were the most important points. zdf.de, February 17, 2019, accessed on January 4, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Iran accuses USA of possession. faz.net, February 17, 2019, accessed January 4, 2020 .
  21. ↑ a b c What will be remembered from the Security Conference 2019. Rifts between the US and Germany. handelsblatt.com, February 17, 2019, accessed January 4, 2020 .
  22. ↑ a b What will be remembered from the Security Conference 2019. handelsblatt.com, February 17, 2019, accessed January 9, 2020 .
  23. ↑ The day began with a smile from Ivanka - but a little later the tone turned rough. focus.de, February 23, 2019, accessed on January 4, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Macron stays away from the Munich Security Conference. Defense tensions. heise.de, February 14, 2019, accessed on January 4, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Climate change and the collapse of the world order. Climate change topic in the main program. dw.com, February 17, 2019, accessed January 4, 2020 .
  26. ↑ Ivanka Trump comes to the Munich Security Conference. handelsblatt.com, February 8, 2019, accessed January 12, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Macron cancels appearance with Merkel. Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 7, 2019, accessed on February 14, 2019.
  28. ↑ Benjamin Netanyahu is not coming to Munich - but to Warsaw. Zeit Online , February 10, 2019, accessed February 14, 2019.
  29. ↑ The Sunnyboys dr security conference. faz.net, February 17, 2019, accessed January 9, 2020 .
  30. ↑ Friend of frank words. Mike Pence pays tribute to John McCain. sueddeutsche.de, February 15, 2019, accessed on January 9, 2020 .
  31. ↑ Munich Young Leaders at the Munich Security Conference. koerber-stiftung.de, February 14, 2019, accessed on January 9, 2020 .
  32. ↑ Phoenix Wolfgang Ischinger in the phoenix daily talk, 02/18/19