Thus, the core challenge today is to go beyond geopolitics-loaded discourses and focus on practical opportunities and challenges to pan-European integration processes.

The conference will work on the assumption that a way to greater pan-European integration goes through cross-border cooperation and synergies that result gradually from such mutually beneficial cooperation. To that end, the Minsk Dialogue expert group will prepare a report with an overview of current academic and policy discussions about pan-European integration processes and ideas on how to move these discussions onto a more pragmatic level. The report will be presented at the conference and guide discussions during the conference sessions.

The event will run in parallel with the high-level official conference on pan-European integration processes co-organised by the Government of Belarus and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Conference Objectives

  • To examine ways to advance pan-European integration processes by facilitating cross-border cooperation in various areas of mutual interest (economic growth and business opportunities, security challenges, and energy infrastructure).
  • To discuss conceptual frameworks for advancing pan-European integration.
  • To promote informed discussions about pan-European integration processes and challenges in the media.

Format

Four sessions in the form of panel discussions, all open to the media. Experts, academics and diplomats are invited as participants.

Organisers and Sponsors

The conference is organised by the Minsk Dialogue Track-II Initiative (Belarus) in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Germany) and the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (Austria-France), and supported by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), and the French and Austrian Embassies in Belarus.

Agenda

9.30-10.15

Opening ceremony, welcoming remarks

Evgeny Shestakov

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Belarus

Tatyana Valovaya

Member of the Board – Minister in Charge of Integration and Macroeconomics, Eurasian Economic Commission

Margot Klestil-Löffler

Alternate Secretary General, Central European Initiative, Austria

Andrea Wiktorin

Head of Delegation, Ambassador, Delegation of the European Union to Belarus

Peter Jankowitsch

Board Member, Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe, Austria-France; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Austria

Wolfgang Sender

Country Director Belarus, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Germany

Yauheni Preiherman

Head, Minsk Dialogue Track-II Initiative, Belarus

10.15-11.15

Session 1. Presentation of the expert report, discussion about its key concepts and recommendations.

Christian Bluth

Project Manager, Bertelsmann Foundation, Germany

Roza Turarbekova

Assistant Professor, Belarusian State University, Belarus

Elena Korosteleva

Professor of International Politics, University of Kent; Director, Global Europe Centre; LSE Dahrendorf Professorial Fellow, UK

Moderator

Yauheni Preiherman

Head, Minsk Dialogue Track-II Initiative, Belarus

11.15-11.45

Coffee break.

11.45-13.00

Session 2. Panel discussion Economic Growth and Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure.

Peter Havlik

Senior Economist and former Deputy Director, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, Austria

Alena Semak

Assistant Professor, Belarusian State University, Belarus

Hrant Kostanyan

Researcher, Centre for European Policy Studies, Belgium; Senior Key Expert, College of Europe Natolin, Poland

Irina Tochitskaya

Academic Director, IPM Research Centre, Belarus

Moderator

Florent Marciacq

Charge de mission, Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe, Austria-France; research associate, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

13.00-14.00

Lunch.

14.00-15.30

Session 3. Panel discussion Mutual Security: a Pan-European Security System as a Solution to Cross-Border Challenges?

Haidemaria Gürer

Head, Department of Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, Central Asia, The European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, Austria

Lessya Karatayeva

Chief Researcher, Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan

Martin Vukovich

Deputy Director, “Dialogue-Europe-Russia”; Former Ambassador to Russia, Austria

Andrei Skryba

Researcher, Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, Higher School of Economics, Russia

Dzianis Melyantsou

Senior Analyst, Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, Belarus

Moderator

Wolfgang Sender

Country Director Belarus, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Germany

15.30-16.00

Coffee break.

16.00-17.30

Session 4. Panel discussion Ways to Intensify Cross-Border Economic Exchange and Improve Mutual Competitiveness.

Michael Angerer

Regional Manager, Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Austria

Natalia Kondratieva

Scientific Secretary, Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia

Tony van der Togt

Senior Research Fellow, Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations, Netherlands

Julien Vercueil

Director, Department of International Trade, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations, France

Moderator

Daniel Krutzinna

Managing Partner, Civitta; Supervisory Board Member, Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus, Belarus-Germany

17.30-18.00

Closing remarks.