Discussion on reconnecting Russia and the West

On May 16, the Latvian Institute of International Affairs in cooperation with partners will hold a public expert discussion on the ways to reconnect Russia and the West. You are welcome to register at http://ejuz.lv/econnect.

Over the past years, relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated, trust has virtually disappeared and cooperation in many spheres came to a halt. At the same time, there are calls for reconnecting the two sides politically, as well as in practically. The task of this discussion will be to have a pragmatic look at Russia-West relations and possibilities of their future development.
The panelists will address such issues as new strategic trends in the Euro-Atlantic space; rebuilding trust between Russia and the West and increasing communication between all stakeholders; upholding arms control regimes; as well as prospects of cooperation on practical issues such as transportation and energy.

The panelists are:

Dr. Artem Malgin, Vice-rector, MGIMO-University; Secretary, Polish-Russian Group for Difficult Matters Amb. Oleksandr Chalyi, Former First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, President of Grant Thornton (Ukraine), Member of the OSCE Eminent Persons Panel Dr. Margarita Šešelgyte, Studies Director at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of the Vilnius University Mr. Karsten Voigt, Former German-American coordinator in the Federal Foreign Office, Former President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly

The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Andris Sprūds, Director, Latvian Institute of International Affairs. The event will take place in English from 16:00-17:30 at the Astor Riga Hotel (Z.A.Meierovica 10). The project is carried out by the Latvian Institute of International Affairs in cooperation with Friedrich - Ebert-Stiftung, Nuclear Threat Initiative, European Leadership Network, Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation (a project of the German Marshall Fund) and Latvijas Dzelzceļš.