The GLOBSEC Forum is considered one of Europe's leading platforms on foreign and affairs. This year’s edition, which took place under the theme “Taming the Storm”, took place for the first time in the Czech capital Prague, after having been located for several years in the Slovakian capital Bratislava. The forum was opened by the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, followed by a speech from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Other attendees included numerous heads of state and government, several defence and foreign ministers, as well as parliamentarians from European countries, South Korea, Australia, the Arab world and the USA. Representatives of NATO, the European Union (EU), journalists, civil society organisations and the industry and technology companies also took part. Discussions centred on the Russian war against Ukraine and other threats posed by Russian aggression, topics such as the role of artificial intelligence and drones in armed conflicts, cooperation of the political West with the Global South, the future of liberal democracies, international terrorism, armaments, European policy issues, hybrid threats and many more.
The East African delegation consisted of Ahmed Abdi Koshin, Secretary of the Somali Defence Committee and Member of the Somali Federal Parliament, Fredrick Lusuli Ikana, Member of Parliament in the Kenyan National Assembly and Member of the Defence, National Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee, General Robert Kariuki Kibochi, retired General of the Kenyan Army and Chief of Defence Forces of the Kenyan Army until 2023, and Raymond Muyuni, Head of Current Affairs at Nation Media Group – Uganda and co-founder of the African Institute for Investigative Journalism. Together with Dr Susanne Conrad, Policy Advisor for Rule of Law and Security in Sub-Saharan Africa from the KAS headquarters in Berlin, and Gregory Meyer, Project Manager and Research Associate at RP SIPODI East Africa based in Uganda, the delegation contributed as speakers in various discussions at the GLOBSEC Forum. With their valuable perspectives and input in the discussions and on the main stage, the four African speakers as well as the KAS representatives Dr Susanne Conrad and Gregory Meyer actively contributed to the discussions.
General Robert Kibochi shared his expertise in one of the main discussions on “What the West Gets Wrong in Engaging with the Global South”. Furthermore, Ahmed Abdi Koshin stood out as the exclusive speaker at the discussion on “Understanding the Enemy, Reducing the Threat: How to Face Terrorists in Africa”. In addition, Fredrick Ikana spoke at the side session “Bridging Perspectives: Global South in Focus”, while Raymond Mujuni provided valuable input in the panel discussion on “Protecting Press Freedom: Media Resilience amid Growing Threats”. As participants in the panel discussions on “War on Words: How to Communicate Ukraine?” and “Beyond the Battlefields: Building Global Partnerships for Global Crises”, the East African delegation and KAS representatives enriched further exchange.
Prior to the conference, the delegation took part in a three-and-a-half-day dialogue programme organised by the KAS Offices Czech Republic and Slovakia, headed by Tomislav Delinić. The programme aimed to foster political exchange between East African representatives and Czech and European sides. In the course of this programme, the delegation held political talks with the Deputy Minister of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chief of the Military Staff of the President of the Czech Republic, the Director of the Defence Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence, the Czech Government's Special Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, the Head of the Department for International and European Affairs in the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy at the Czech Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as representatives of the Czech think tank Afripoli, Charles University in Prague and Forum 2000, which is founded by the late Czech President Václav Havel.
About this series
The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, its educational institutions, centres and foreign offices, offer several thousand events on various subjects each year. We provide up to date and exclusive reports on selected conferences, events and symposia at www.kas.de. In addition to a summary of the contents, you can also find additional material such as pictures, speeches, videos or audio clips.