Aleksander Kwaśniewski et Joseph Deiss (2016)

On Thursday 25 February 2016, the Foundation organised a European Conference on the campus of the University of Lausanne. It focused on Europe and the Eastern Neighbourhood Policy.

• Programme of the conference

Around Pat Cox, President of the Foundation, former President of the European Parliament and of the International European Movement who hosted the event, Mr Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Mr Joseph Deiss spoke.

After the opening of the event by Pat Cox, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of the Republic of Poland from 1995 to 2005, presented some general considerations on the theme of the Conference before engaging in an exchange with the President of the Foundation. These included the historical perspective and the notion of inspiration and hope that the European Union represented for the countries of the East, as well as the importance of the desire to stabilise the EU’s eastern neighbourhood. For Mr. Kwaśniewski the current key to reading the Eastern Neighbourhood Policy lies mainly in relations between Ukraine and Russia. The challenge for Europe is to find a way to manage this conflict and to continue to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty, implement reforms and eradicate corruption.

The continuation of the Conference took the form of a discussion between Pat Cox and Aleksander Kwaśniewski, addressing the theme of Russia and the tools it is using to “become once again the great force it was” according to Aleksander Kwaśniewski The focus was on the EU and its history of dialogue, peace and democracy and the Russian reality which does not perceive the existence of a “win-win” policy, but only that of the winner or loser. Pat Cox then raised the issue of the EU’s economic sanctions against Russia and their limits. He then also discussed the opportunities that the crisis between Ukraine and Russia can represent for Europe, in particular by increasing cooperation with Russia. But is Russia ready to accept the sovereignty of Ukraine? Or even a Ukraine as an EU member country?

After these exchanges, it was the former President of the Swiss Confederation and the United Nations General Assembly, Joseph Deiss, who took the floor to bring the Swiss perspective to the Conference theme. As a first step, he presented a reminder of Switzerland’s contribution to the cooperation policy towards the East with the billion for “Ostkooperation”, which has expanded to reach an amount of 1.3 billion. He also highlighted Switzerland’s action in the negotiations related to the Ukrainian conflict, in particular with the personality of Federal Councillor Burkhalter, who was President of the Confederation and the OSCE. Then Mr Deiss addressed the major challenges facing Europe, beginning with governance. He pointed out that what makes a country rich is good institutions. Demography and migration represent a second challenge for Europe. Indeed, in a current migration crisis, Mr Deiss recalled that the European Union, like Switzerland, is in a natural demographic deficit, hence the importance of reflecting on the challenges of migration as a whole. He then mentioned the risks of protectionism which is increasing day by day in the Union, particularly with regard to free movement. Just as we can observe within Europe a growing populism that also worries Mr Deiss, who ended his speech with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: “Character, in the long term, is the decisive factor for the life of an individual as well as for that of a nation”.

Before President Cox ended this Conference, which brought together nearly 350 people, a question-and-answer period between the public and the speakers took place.

• Read the note by Mrs Jacqueline Grapin, The European Institute, Washington

Opening by Pat Cox, President of the Foundation