Press Releases

February 08, 2008

Munich Conference on Security Policy - from Kosovo to Asia

The 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy will focus on a wide spectrum of security-policy issues. More than 40 foreign and defense ministers and three presidents will be seeking a direct exchange of views on security policy over the next three days.

This motto of this year’s conference is, "A World in Disarray – Shifting Powers – Lack of Strategies".

"My impression is that we are facing more and more conflicts, but have fewer and fewer strategies and also less and less knowledge for handling these problems," said organizer Horst Teltschik in the run-up to the conference.

Extracts from the agenda

On Friday evening Boris Tadic, who was re-elected President of Serbia only a few days ago, will address participants at an official dinner. The conference will open on Saturday morning with a speech by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Discussion of NATO will be concentrating in particular on the Afghanistan mission.

Nuclear disarmament too is on Saturday’s agenda. Where is Russia heading? What contribution can the countries of Asia make towards the establishment of a stable global security architecture? These are the questions that will shape the course of the conference on Saturday.

Other prominent conference participants include NATO’s Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Japan’s Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, and First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Sergei Ivanov. US Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohammed El Baradei have also accepted the invitation to attend. John McCain, potential US presidential candidate, has had to call off at short notice.

The German government will be represented by Vice Chancellor and Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federal Minister of Defense Franz Josef Jung.

The "peace badge" initiated by conference organizer Horst Teltschik will also be awarded this year. "This year, the badge will not be going to a specific individual, but will be awarded to a Canadian soldier representing all the soldiers who are serving with NATO on international peacekeeping duty," Horst Teltschik announced.

The Munich Conference on Security Policy is an unofficial meeting of high-ranking individuals from the realms of politics and the media. It was originally founded by publisher Ewald von Kleist. Horst Teltschik, foreign and security policy adviser of the former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, has now been organizing the conference for ten years. A total of some 300 participants from 50 countries will be descending on the Bavarian capital for the event. Free of protocol and diplomatic niceties, participants can indulge in some straight talking at this privately organized event.

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