German Canadian Conference 2015 “Foreign and Security Policy”

As the de facto capital of the European Union and NATO, Brussels was the appropriate venue for this year’s German-Canadian Conference on foreign and security policy. From April 15 to 18, challenges arising through terrorism as well as energy security, hybrid warfare and cyber security were discussed. The German and Canadian conference participants from the fields of politics, business, journalism and science talked about possible strategies of European-Canadian cooperation and drew comparisons between the two sides.

Among the guest speakers were Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, MEP (ALDE), Jonathan Parish, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning, Dr. Jamie Shea, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, Dr. Peter Boehm, Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, Helga Schmid, Deputy Secretary General & Political Director, European External Action Service, and Kerry Buck, Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security and Political Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada.

The conference was hosted by Alan Bowman, Deputy Head of Mission, Mission of Canada to the European Union, Ambassador Reinhard Silberberg, Permanent Representative of the German Republic to the European Union, Michael Hinterdobler, Head of the Bavarian Mission to the European Union, Ambassador Martin Erdmann, Permanent Representative of Germany to NATO, and Dr. Marc Jan Eumann, State Secretary for Federal Affairs, Europe and Media of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The German-Canadian Conference is carried out in cooperation with the Atlantik-Bruecke Canada.