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European Defence & Security Summit 2024

17 April

Brussels

Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a major war continues to rage and military experts are warning about the possibility of Russian aggression against other European states within this decade. At the same time, the Hamas terror attack of 7 October has kicked off another major crisis in the Middle East.

Given the growing security threats and uncertainties about the outcome of the forthcoming US elections, it is now essential that Europeans intensify their efforts and bring their cooperation to an unprecedented level. The European elections, the start of a new Commission mandate and the preparation of the next Multi-annual Financial Framework will mark important milestones on this path.

Previous edition speakers

Josep Borrell
EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Vice-President of the European Union
Olesksii Reznikov
Minister of Defence, Ukraine
Thierry Breton
EU Commissioner for Internal Market
Greta Monika
Tučkutė Vice-Minister of Defence, Lithuania
Admiral Rob Bauer
Chair of the NATO Military Committee
Margaritis Schinas
Vice-President of the Commission for Promoting our European Way of Life
Micael Johansson
President and CEO, SAAB AB
General Claudio Graziano
Chairman, Fincantieri SpA
Radka Konderlová
Director General for Industry Cooperation, Czech Ministry of Defence
Carl Bildt
Co-Chair of the ECFR, Former Swedish Prime Minister
Joanneke Balfoort
Director of Security and Defence Policy, EEAS
Olivier Lemaitre
Secretary General, Eurospace
Anna Samsel van Haasteren
Deputy Head of Unit for Space, Innovation, Start-ups, Economics, DG DEFIS
Willem van de Voorde
Belgian Permanent Representative to the EU
Andrea Nativi
Vice-President, Leonardo ASD Chair Cyber Task Force
François Arbault
Director for Defence Industry, DG DEFIS
Kris Peteers
Vice President, European Investment Bank
Carine Claeys
Special Envoy for Space, EEAS
Simon Mordue
Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the European Council
Admiral Eugenio Díaz del Río
Commander of the European Maritime Force
General Tom Middendorp
Chair, International Military Committee on Climate and Security
Major General André Denk
Deputy Chief Executive, European Defence Agency
Yevhen Gavrilov
General Director, Antonov
Dr. Mira Milosevich
Senior Analyst, Elcano
Donato Martínez Pérez de Rojas
Vice-President, Defence of Navantia
François Heisbourg
Special Advisor,FRS Senior Advisor, IISS
James Appathurai
Deputy Assistant Secretary General of Emerging Security Challenges, NATO
Christiane Kirketerp de Viron
Head of Unit for Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy, DG CONNECT
Giorgio Mosca
Vice-President, Leonardo ASD Chair Cyber Task Force
Deborah Allen
BAE Systems Group Director ASD Chair Task Force Green Defence
Vice Admiral Jan de Waard
National Armaments Director, the Netherlands
Dr. Xavier Pasco
Director of the Fondation pour la Recherce Stratégique
Jan Pie
Secretary General, ASD Europe
Diego De Ojeda Garcia-Pardo
Head of Unit, Secretariat General of the European Commission
Christos Econonmou
Deputy Director for Sea-basin Strategies, Maritime Regional Cooperation and Maritime Security, DG MARE
Oleksandra Ustinova
People’s deputy of Ukraine

Russia has already lost the war. Ukraine just hasn’t won yet.

Josep Borrell
HR/VP of the European Union, at the European Defence & Security Summit 2023

"We have a capable defence industry in Europe - we need to do a lot more together and create more sovereign capability. We are too dependent on the US and the transatlantic link.”

Micael Johansson
CEO, SAAB Group, at the European Defence & Security Summit 2023

"We believe that this conference is more important than ever before. We are living through a turning point, a change of paradigm with enormous challenges for citizens, politicians, armed forces and defence industry.”

Jan Pie
Secretary General, ASD, at the European Defence & Security Summit 2023

“The consequences of a war with Russia are so far-reaching, that it is not a simple black-and-white discussion.”

Adm. Rob Bauer
Chair of the NATO Military Committee

Check the 2024 Agenda

Our mission statement

Our mission is twofold: we aim to bring politics and business together in order to provide them with an opportunity to debate and pursue their common goals, giving a voice to all sides of the debate. The other priority of EBS is to provide European institutions with a platform where they can place their top priorities in the spotlight and advance the development of new pieces of legislation through discussion with a variety of actors and stakeholders.

Arnaud Thysen
Director General

They trust us

Among other: