Bucharest Security Conference, the largest international conference in Central and Eastern Europe that addresses the most recent security developments and evolving threats on the Euro-Atlantic frontier and NATO’s decisions to respond to them

Bucharest Security Conference,

the largest international conference in Central and Eastern Europe that addresses the most recent security developments and evolving threats on the Euro-Atlantic frontier and NATO’s decisions to respond to them

October 2019, the fourth edition INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL

Main focus: Projecting stability /NATO partnership/

Common threats for member states and patner states

 „ WE ARE NATO ” 

Every day, NATO Allies work and train together to keep our citizens safe. Through partnership and cooperation, NATO has secured peace and freedom for 70 years.

“Our security environment has deteriorated and it does that at an exponential pace. Probably we were not paying enough attention to a number of threats and we are confronted not with linear developments, but rather with a series of breakthroughs” ( Vice-president of the European Parliament )

Romania’s Strategic Partnership with the United States & Canada and its NATO membership represents the foundation for the alliances towards peace and security in the region. Over the recent years, we have witnessed recent history, which required the revision of all military doctrines, including those of NATO. Asymmetric war, terrorist threats, hybrid war, migratory waves that assaulted Europe, cyber attacks – all of these forced NATO to rethink its structures and strategies. This adaptation to new threats and security environments also required a reorganization of the Romanian Armed Forces; transformation of the General Army Staff into the Defense Staff that includes new Commands and Headquarters is part of adapting national Defense to new security challenges. In this complex configuration, NATO and the US Partnership remain the only real, functional options for Romania’s border security.

With special participation of DEFENCE UNLIMITED (www.defenceunlimited.com)

The Message of the Founder:

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President-CEO

“In an era of complicated interests and multiple global crises, the need for an integrated security idea and the concept of delivering integrated solutions that serve the interests of customers is emerging.”

• The Road to the 2019 London Summit: NATO Adapting to the Realities of its 7th Decade of Existence
• Keynote speakers: Development in Eastern and Central Europe, Lessons Learned and the Road Forward
• (Plenaries) Regional Development: Economy, Infrastructure, Security in Eastern and Central Europe
• NATO’s Deterrence and Defence Posture – Is it Up to the Magnitude of Security Challenges
• How to Project Stability in our Eastern Neighborhood and in the Western Balkans?
• Responses to Hybrid Threats and Resilient Societies
• European Defence – How to Identify Coherent Solutions in Times of Strategic Transition
• Romania-Poland Strategic Partnership and its Role in the Region
• Approaching New Threats to Liberal Democracies (Fake News, the Impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution and AI)
• The Challenges of Enhancing Stability in the Cyber-Space and Outer-Space
• Street Protests and Civic Mobilization – Current Challenges to Social Resilience – Views from Civil Society
• The role of Think Tanks & Universities Network

Romania is an important Member State of this Alliance – and it is not just me saying this. US Secretary of Defense James Mattis says that, by the voice of Thomas Goffus, who recently came to Bucharest. Goffus was one of those who prepared the NATO summit in Chicago and supported the concept of securing Baltic air space. And he is a very experienced man, being the deputy assistant to the US Secretary of Defense on issues related to the European Union and NATO. It should be noted that over the past two years, the Romanian army has received an impetus for its restructuring, through the General Staff remodeling and reorganization program, and its transformation into the Defense Staff; also by the setting, after the Warsaw Summit, of the Multinational Brigade in Craiova, an extremely important element for the Eastern part of the Alliance. Also, all the experience gained by Romanian soldiers in the theaters of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan proves its validity – and that is because Romania has participated this year in one of NATO’s most important exercises in the Eastern area, „Saber Guardian 2017”. And here we are telling your radio listeners what this is all about: there were 25,000 troops from 22 countries, with over 3,000 technical means. Romania alone participated with 8,000 soldiers and 1,000 technical means. So we’re talking about impressive figures: 70 train sets, 400 car convoys, 50 air racing and shipping.

Concerns:

• the importance of the Black Sea, let’s recall now, in a special context: Turkey is very close to Russia, Turkey has been talking very often lately about the desire to buy S-400 anti-aircraft systems from Russia.
• these days, President Vladimir Putin stopped in Ankara, about the next phase of the S-400 system acquisition.
• the Black Sea – There are a few things Admiral Stavridis said: First, NATO should strengthen its program of visits, drills and training missions in the Black Sea ports. This in fact means more frequent visits to Romania
• the US should work closely with Turkey, which really holds the Bosphorus keys. And a deepening of the partnership, of the relationship between the United States and Turkey, is already being discussed at the Pentagon.
• in addition to the Bosphorus and the Dardannells – which are, of course, included in the Montreux Treaty and in many international agreements – Turkey is now working on a parallel channel to connect the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
• in the future, that maritime channel will not be subject to these international agreements that are open to the countries bordering the Black Sea and will be a separate pathway to the Black Sea, coming from the Mediterranean.

Endeavors:

NATO and the European Union have launched a new phase of cooperation by adopting measures that support military mobility and the fight against terrorism. The talks also referred to a so-called military Schengen, to ease the rapid deployment of forces and equipment.

• Last week, NATO and the European Union launched a new and important era of cooperation by agreeing a set of concrete proposals in seven areas. There are 32 new joint proposals for greater cooperation, especially on military mobility and the fight against terrorism – two areas for which the US has vigorously advocated over the past few months. General Ben Hodges, Commander of US Army Europe, called for a so-called Schengen Military Area to prevent bureaucracy from hampering a quick military response to a possible attack. Prior to last week’s decision, General Hodges spoke in an interview about the differences between his ability to rapidly deploy forces and that of the Russian President Putin: „Putin can deploy a lot of equipment and force really fast, which caught my attention and I began to think about how we could at least reach at that speed”. Because when General Hodges wanted to move tanks and heavy armaments to Europe, he had to stop at every national and even regional border for checks, to  present a list of all the vehicles, the drivers, and what was in each vehicle. To get the crossing permit, in many of the European countries it can take weeks to do something like that.
• The US doctrine is changing, the doctrine of Europe is changing, under the pressure of President Macron. So, there is this desire that the Defense industries in European countries to collaborate in R & D programs and for this reason, the European Union will allocate € 1 billion to Research and Development for the next few years. And, for the start, there are 15 programs in which we also signed up with our options to participate in these programs that the European Union is developing.

On the one hand, the conference started from the premise that the security environment of the region evolves in the global context and requires cooperative approaches. Evolutions with an international impact such as Russia’s intentions and actions on the Euro Atlantic frontier in the East, NATO’s Forward Presence, Brexit and some new developments in the EU, including the recent Treaty of Aachen, prove that the road is open for evolutions that may change some critical characteristics of the security situation in Eastern and Central Europe. On the other hand, Russia’s subversive actions and mobilization of troops aggravates the security situation at the Black Sea Region. The frozen conflicts in Transnistria, Ukraine, Georgia are concerning not only the members from the Eastern Flank, but the entire Alliance. In this context, NATO implemented the Enhanced Forward Presence and the Tailored Forward Presence on the Eastern Flank, increased the number of exercises and welcomes regional formats of cooperation such as Bucharest 9 Format, which held its last Summit in February 2019. The central purpose of the conference is to support NATO’s efforts to project stability through NATO’s partnerships by dialogue and analysis of the security evolutions meant to increase transparency and to reinforce NATO’s posture, gathering high officials from NATO member states and partner states. The conference also promotes Trans-Atlantic security cooperation in respect with an integrated approach of new security challenges, gathering annually security experts from USA and Europe and debating emerging challenges, as the panel description will show below.

Moreover, we deal with a paradigm shift in the military field, generated by the evolution of conflict typologies in the contemporary period. On one side there is the hybrid war which requires quick and adapted response measures/means, though on the other side there is the need of adaptation, from interventions specialized on hostile environment (Afghanistan case), to classic operations (Ukraine case). What is more, the dangerous, unpredictable, and fluid security environment of the Alliance is marked by significant evolutions in the cybernetic field, making the security concerns and evolutions of the cyberspace one of the focal points of the conference.

The Agenda follows up the recent contradictory and confused seria statements made by Iulian Fota, former Security Advisor of the Presidential Administration, at the MONITORUL APARARII Security Conference including his own vision and approach regarding private thoughts and concerns upon the Russian Federation upcoming military strategies and security policies in Europe as well as Turkey’s recent military operations and the continuously offensive in Syria, and the future leveraging relationship with NATO, and especially, with the US.

Participaton and guests: Vasile Secăreş ( former and founder Rector of SNSPA, former Chief of Staff, Presidency of Romania, Chair of the Board , EximBank), Remus Pricopie (Rector of www.snspa.ro),  HRH Prince Radu of Romania, Jonathan Eyal, Teodor Meleșcanu (President f the Romanian Senate), Oana Lungescu (NATO Spokerperson), Gabriel Leș, Ramona Mănescu (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Romania), Brig. Gen. Cristian Bizadea (Deputy Director f the Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI),  H.E. Cyryl Kozaczewski (Political Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland), H.E. Ambassador Sorin Ducaru (Director, SATCEN C), Mugur Isărescu (Governor, the National Bank of Romania), Florin Georgescu, Daniel Dăianu (President , Romanian Fiscal Council), Ana Maria Mihăescu (Former IFC Regional Manager),  Nicolae Dănilă (Chairman of the Board of Directors, FIRST BANK), Boyko Noev, Oana Lungescu, Viorel Ardeleanu (Director General, Ministry f Foreign Affairs, Romania), CDR Juan Ozores Massó (NATO Integration Unit),  Rosen Rusev (Honorary Consul of Bulgaria), Péter Balázs (Director, Center for European Neighborhood Studies Hungary) Sven Sakkov (Director of International Centre of Defence and Security, Estonia),  Gen. Mihail Ionescu (Director of ISPAIM Romania, “Russia between EU and China, new perspective”), Miruna Butnaru-Troncotă (Lecturer, SNSPA), H.E. Mihai Gribincea (Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova in Romania), Maj. Gen. Carlos Branco (IPRI-NOVA Portugal), Iulian Chifu, Alina Inayeh (President GMF Romania), Dan Sultănescu, Constantin Ionescu (Head of Integrated  Intelligence Office, Presidential Administration, Romania), Shaul Kimhi (Tel Hai Academic College, Israel), Corina Rebegea, Datuna Rakviashvili ( Head of the National Resilience Center, Tbilisi, Georgia),  Krzysztof Kaminski (President, Warsaw Institute, Poland), Nad’a Kovalčíková (Alliance fr Securing Democracy, Belgium), Radu Magdin, Mădălina Teodorescu (Vice President, First Bank), H.E. Ovidiu Dranga, Gen. Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă ( Chief of the Romanian General Staff), Maj. Gen. Iulian Berdilă ( Commander HQ MND-SE),Magdalena Szuber-Zasacka (Chargee d’affaires a.i. Embassy of the Republic of Poland to Romania),  Janusz Zakręcki ( President, General Director PZL Mielec a Lockheed Martin Company), Dr.Sorin Dobircianu (http://defenceunlimited.com/dr-sorin-dobircianu/), Alina Bârgăoanu, Brig Gen Mircea Mîndrescu, Col. Constantin Spȋnu, Dan Tita (EuroTotal Com), Razvan Andrei Panaite (Biotech Industries), Bret Schafer (Analyst and Communication Officer,  Alliance for Securing Democracy, GMF, Washington D.C., USA), Vasile Victor Aileni, Mădălina Neacșu, John Cappello (Senior Fellow FDD, USA), Adrian Victor Vevera, Shota Gvineria (Lecturer, Baltic Defence College, Estonia), Adrian Gheorghe, Alvaro Oleart (Ph.D. Researcher, Postdoctoral at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Vera Tika (Senior Researcher Analyst, Research Institute for European and American Studies, Greece),  Toma Cȋmpeanu (http://zivac.ro/despre-zivac/), Philipp Raab (Civic Activist, Germany),   Gustav Spät (Civic Activist, Germany),  Andrei Lutenco (Center for Policy and Reform, Republic of Moldova), Luca Ciubotaru, Adrian Severin, Viorel Ardeleanu (Director General, Department for Strategic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romania) etc. (Dumitru Sorin).