The issue of Europe’s common security was the main theme of the Prague conference promoted by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Mikhail Gorbachev, at the proposal of the President of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, the Fondazione Italiani, the New Policy Forum and The Iron Curtain Foundation. The conference “European common security after the Cold War” was opened by a video message by the former president of the USSR, who expressed his concern over the present situation in the Old Continent, which is being targeted by tensions also from outside the EU. In order to overcome the present phase, Mr Gorbachev said, it is necessary to re-establish a global agenda capable of providing common solutions to the challenges of the 21st century by setting up a working group of experts capable of translating into practice the pan-European common security project.
The Conference was also attended by the Italian Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Aldo Amati who, in his contribution, underscored the importance of dialogue in this particularly delicate international scenario in order to tangibly and resolutely address problems like the EU’s common defence policy and terrorism. When speaking of the migration crisis, the Italian diplomat said that it “must be managed at European level, adopting as quickly as possible operational decisions on the proposals contained in the ‘Migration Compact’.”
Angelo Schiano, the president of Fondazione Italiani, said that the meeting was aimed at enabling international experts from all of Europe, including Ukraine and Russia, to debate the issue of security, off official records, and to analyse and promote common solutions to submit to institutional decisionmakers. Roberto Savio, the President Emeritus of the Inter Press Service (IPS), illustrated the current geopolitical scenario, which is strongly threatened by its unmanageability and by nationalisms, while Andrei Grachev, the Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the New Policy Forum, concluded by underlining the crucial importance of keeping open the dialogue with Russia.
Present at the conference were also Ambassador Stefano Stefanini, former Diplomatic Adviser to the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, the Permanent Representative of Italy to NATO, and Lord David Owen, member of Britain’s House of Lords.
