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The Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) hosted Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schneckener, Professor of International Relations & Peace and Conflict Studies at Osnabrück University, as Visiting Fellow in September.   

On 12 September,  Schneckener held a talk at GLOBSEC, Bratislava, on “Russia’s War of Aggression as ‘Zeitenwende’? Implications for European Security.” He also gave an interview for the Slovak daily newspaper “Dennik” on Germany’s Russia policy and European security and engaged in conversation on Slovak and European politics with Tomás Strázay, director of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association.  

Together with Sebastian Schäffer, director of the IDM, Scheckener gave a presentation at the Political Academy in Vienna on 13 September on “Prospects for EU enlargement and security – the idea of a Greater European Council,” analysing the challenges for EU enlargement and security issues. 

Giving an insight into his current research, Schneckener gave a talk followed by a discussion on “Push back Frontex? Politicizing European Border Security” at IDM on 21 September. In his talk, Schneckener distinguished the different profiles of Frontex-critical NGOs and activists and analysed their role in the politicization of the EU border force. 

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Press release (in German)

Push back Frontex? Politicizing European Border Security  

On 6–7 September 2023, the eighth edition of the Three Seas Summit and Business Forum took place in Bucharest. Romania became the first of the states participating in the Initiative to host these events for the second time, after the editions held in 2018, also in Romanian capital. Daniel Martínek, IDM Research Associate, attended the event on behalf of IDM Director Sebastian Schäffer and was a speaker at the side event “Democratic Values: Challenges and Opportunities”, co-organised by the Romanian Ministry of Education and the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), on the occasion of a new edition of the Three Seas Business Forum. Schäffer has contributed with a working paper on Austria and 3SI to the “Anticipating the 2023 Three Seas Initiative Bucharest Summit. Advancing the common agenda”. 

Martínek spoke on the panel on “Regional perspective over the 3SI challenges and opportunities” analysing issues such as societal polarisation, political fragmentation or disinformation and propaganda in the framework of the member states of the Three Seas Initiative, currently the most ambitious regional and geopolitical cooperation format in Europe. 

During the pivotal summit, Greece was accepted as the 13th member of the Initiative and the Republic of Moldova was granted the status of an associate partner after Ukraine (granted in 2022). Hundreds of guests, representatives of the business environment, experts and decision-makers attended the 3SI Business Forum to discuss strategies and investments in three main areas of the Initiative – Energy, Transportation and Digitalisation – in order to unlock the full potential of this geopolitically growing region of Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe. 

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