Event program:
10:00 – 10:15 | Opening remarks
- Marian Majer, State Secretary, Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic
- Urban Überschär, Director for Czech Republic and Slovakia, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
10:15 – 11:15 | Panel 1: The old and new actors: The end of Multilateral disarmament?
In the midst of the pandemic, several crucial arms control pursuits have been postponed, including the 10th Review Conference for the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). But many keep on being at the centre of the attention. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) expires in 2021 and experts are already warning of potential arms race. At the background, the indications of increasing budgets appear not only in the U.S. and Russia, but also in China and India. For the first time in over 40 years, the world is facing the long-forgotten security risk: no arms control regime with a potential of arms proliferation.
Panel 1 speakers:
- Ambassador Rüdiger Bohn, Deputy Federal Government Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control, Federal Foreign Office, Berlin
- Alicia Sanders-Zakre, Policy and Research Coordinator, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
- Tytti Erästö, Senior Researcher, SIPRI Nuclear Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Programme
- Raluca Csernatoni, Visiting Researcher, Carnegie Europe, Brussels
11:15 – 11:30 | Short Break
11:30 – 12:30 | Panel 2: Arms control: Stance of the new Slovak government
Conventional arms control is politically and militarily relevant also for Central Europe and Slovakia. Although for Slovakia, arms proliferation and their control seem to be faraway matters, its security implications are beyond relevant. With the new government in Bratislava, strongly supporting NATO’s crucial role in defense and security, it is, however, not clear, what arms control solution or type of a dialogue with relevant actors it prefers. Although a number of past declarations to uphold international initiatives aimed at preventing the illegal acquisition of hazardous materials and goods or export controls of military products, including guns, were agreed upon, stepping beyond proclamations is lagging. In the context of the enlarging attempts for European strategic autonomy, many new waters will have to be explored.
Panel 2 speakers:
- Tomáš A. Nagy, Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic
- Rastislav Križan, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic
- Mikuláš Turner, Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic
