CONFERENCE AGENDA

 

 

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE


“PREPARING NATO AND THE ALLIES TO THE FUTURE CHALLENGES”


October 27, 2020

 

PROGRAM OF THE CONFERENCE      


(EASTERN EUROPEAN TIME)

 

 

 Working language: English

 

 

 

 

9:30 - 12:00           PANEL 1: NATO in the next decade: Providing peace and security in a challenging security environment
9:30 – 10.00  Opening remarks from the organizers
  •  Yordan Bozhilov – President of Sofia Security Forum
  •  Colonel Orlin Nikolov - CMDR COE Director
  •  Flotilla Admiral Boyan Mednikarov – Rector, Naval Academy
  •  Thorsten Geissler – Director, Sofia Office, Konrad Adenauer Foundation
  •  Nicola de Santis, Head of Public Diplomacy Engagements, NATO PDD

 
10:00 - 11:00 

 

Panel-discussion with:

 
  • Constantin Popov – Chairperson of the Defense Committee, Bulgarian Parliament (TBC)
  • Atanas Zapryanov - Deputy Minister of Defense, Bulgaria
  • MG Tsanko Stoykov- Deputy Chief of Defense, Bulgarian Armed Forces
11:00 - 11:45

 

Panel-discussion with Mr. Mircea Geoană, NATO Deputy Secretary General (confirmed)
11:45 - 12.00

 

Q&A        


12:30 - 14:00         PANEL 2. NATO’s key tasks in the dynamic security environment. Non-military non-traditional risks and threats to NATO and the member-states. Shall NATO adopt new roles?

 

Moderator:  Vessela Tcherneva, Head of ECFR Sofia Office 

 

Keynote speech: Dr. Neil Melvin, Director, International Security Studies

Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies, United Kingdom

Panelists:

  •  Mark Prouse, Deputy Director, Energy Resilience & Emergency Response, UK 
  •  Dr. Matthew Rhodes, Professor of National Security Studies, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, USA
  •  Dr. Alessandro Marrone, Director Defense Program, Instituto Affari Internazionali, Italy
  •  Dr. Kleanthis Kyriakidis – Assistant Professor and the Program Chair for Business Administration in Security and Strategic Studies at the American University in the Emirates

 

14:15 – 15:45         PANEL 3.  Providing NATO with new capabilities in the new technological environment.

  

Moderator: Velizar Shalamanov, Chairman of The Board at NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency)

 

Keynote speech: MR. BRYAN WELLS, CHIEF SCIENTIST, NATO (confirmed)

 
   Panelists:
  •  Col Luca GUARAGNO, Branch Chief of Force Capability Branch (ForceCap) – EEAS, EU
  •  Dr. Michael Wunder, Head of Department, Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics - FKIE
  •  Hubert  Saur (Col ret.), Operational Advisor, Airbus Defence and Space

16:00 – 18:00         PANEL 4. Anticipating the future.  How to prepare NATO and Allies to meet the future risks and threats.

 

Moderator: Colonel Orlin NIKOLOV, BGR-AF, DIRECTOR of NATO CMDR COE

 

Keynote speech: Rear Admiral John W. Tammen, Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategic Plans and Policy, Headquarters Supreme Allied Command Transformation
 

Panelists:

  •  Kyle King, Managing Director, Capacity Building International, LLC “Building Resilient Societies Through Emergency Management”
  •  COL Alin Bodescu, PhD – Training Manager in the European Union External Action/European Security and Defence Colleague

  •  Dr. Triantafyllos Karatrantos, The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
  •  Dr. Andrea Gilli, Senior Researcher, NATO Defense College (invited)
  •  COL Jarosław Mokrzycki, Director of the Doctrine and Training Centre of the Polish Armed Forces

The conference program and speakers can be find here.
 
 
 

 

Ø Constantin Popov, Chairperson of the Defense Committee, Bulgarian Parliament (TBC)

Ø Atanas Zapryanov, Deputy Minister of Defense, Bulgaria

Ø MG Tsanko Stoykov, Deputy Chief of Defense, Bulgarian Armed Forces

 

Events

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