Europe

While political and public concerns about the reliability of Russian gas supplies have been driving the debate about the EU’s energy security for several years, the conflict in Ukraine and the European Commission’s proposal to establish an energy union have furthered it significantly. In order to discuss the latest developments, the DGAP and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom invited a panel of experts to assess the EU’s current energy security prospects.

Politische Entscheidungsträger, Verwaltungsbeamte und Think-Tank-Analysten aus der Region trafen vom 29. bis 30. Juni in Berlin zusammen, um Zukunftsszenarien zur Reform der öffentlichen Verwaltung zu entwickeln.

Public administration constitutes a vast area for reform in the countries of the Western Balkans. Political leaders have committed themselves to creating a professional, depoliticized, transparent, and service-oriented public sector – a requirement that also ranks highly on the EU’s priority list for future member states. But will reform efforts succeed in the long run? And what might public administration in the Western Balkans look like in ten years?

Fighting in Eastern Ukraine in recent weeks has put the international spotlight back on the bloody conflict. At the same time, potential resolution to the confrontation between Russia and the West is hindered by the potential upgrade of Russian nuclear forces and the deployment of additional NATO troops in Eastern Europe. What effect will these roadblocks have on the implementation of the Minsk agreements? How can the transatlantic allies support Ukraine in its reform efforts and help safeguard its sovereignty? Will Western sanctions pressure Russia into using its leverage in the region to resolve the conflict?