Europe

Only three weeks after taking office—and before meeting with the German foreign minister—Maia Panjikidze came to an expert talk at the DGAP to clarify the new government in Tbilisi’s foreign policy priorities. Her most important message: Georgia seeks a connection to the EU and NATO and hopes for reconciliation with Russia. However, the re-opening of diplomatic relations with Russia will remain impossible as long as Russia continues to occupy Georgian territory.

In what way is the past significant for the present? What is Germany’s remembrance culture? What are the tasks of the Federal Commissioner for the Files of the State Security Service of the former GDR? What role do Germany’s political foundations play at home and abroad? Participants in the 4th International Diplomats Programme explored these and other questions at their program day in Berlin on November 8, 2012.

EU Commisar Stefan Füle calls Moldova “the Eastern Partnership’s most dependable model student.” The challenges and progress made during the transformation process in Moldova – which has drawn closer to the EU – were at the center of the second EU-Moldova Forum. In addition to high-ranking experts from politics, business, and academia, the discussion also included Moldovan Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca, Justice Minister Oleg Efrin, and Economics Minister Valeriu Lazar.