Forum Ukraine: Building resilience for the future
On the 4th of May, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs arranges a half-day conference on lessons from Ukraine and ways forward to strengthen European resilience.
Over a year has passed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and more than nine years since the illegal annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas.
As the fighting continues, there are important experiences and lessons to be learned in order to improve Europe’s resilience and civil defence. The Ukrainian ability to maintain the continuity of vital societal functions, such as the supply of water, power, food and health care, has been impressive. The same goes for the capability to withstand extensive cyber attacks and propaganda campaigns. NGO’s, companies and local communities have been important contributors to the country’s capacity to defend Ukraine’s freedom and national sovereignty.
What lessons can be learned from the war in Ukraine in general, and especially Ukraine’s whole-of-society resilience? How can the EU member states support Ukraine’s acute needs, as well as provide long-term support for Ukraine’s integration into the EU? And how can Sweden and the EU collectively contribute to the recovery and reconstruction process, enabling a peaceful and sustainable future for Ukraine?
The event gathers Ukrainian, Swedish and other international speakers and consists of keynote speeches and panel discussions. The conference is moderated by Cecilia Malmström, former EU Commissioner and senior fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).
Programme
Central European Time (CET)
12:45 Welcome and introduction
Charlotte Petri Gornitzka – Director General at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency
Jakob Hallgren – Director of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs
Cecilia Malmström – moderator, Former Commissioner of Trade and Home affairs for the European Commission and senior fellow at the American think tank, Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
13:00 Keynote speech from the Government of Ukraine
Ukraine’s EU Candidacy process and international support needed in terms of economic recovery and reconstruction
Olha Stefanishyna – Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine
13:15 Keynote speeches
Lessons from Ukraine – strengthening European resilience
Carl-Oskar Bohlin – Minister of civil defence, Sweden
Janez Lenarčič – Commissioner for Crisis Management, European Commission
13:55 Panel discussion
Crisis leadership and communication: mobilizing a will to defend
Yulia Kazdobina – Head of the Ukrainian Foundation for Security Studies and former advisor to Ukraine's Information Policy Minister on Crimea-related issues in 2016-2019
Oleksandr V Danylyuk – Associate Fellow at Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and former Chief Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine
Ivar Ekman – Analyst at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) and former radio host at Swedish Radio
Hanna Stjärne – CEO of the Swedish public service television company (SVT)
14:40-15:00 BREAK
15:00 Securing Ukraine’s cyber security and digital sovereignty
Liam Maxwell – Director, Government Transformation at Amazon Web Services
15:10 Panel discussion
Ukraine’s civil defence and mobilizing the whole of society – drawing lessons to strengthen resilience
Daria Kaleniuk – Executive Director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) in Kyiv
Hanna Hopko – Chairwoman of Foreign Affairs Committee of Ukrainian Parliament, 2014–2019, founder and chair of the board of National Interests Advocacy Network (ANTS)
Dan Sjöblom – Director General, the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority
Igor Chervak – Country manager at Lantmännen Axa, Ukraine
16:05-16:20 BREAK
16:20 Keynote speech
Support for Ukraine – priority for the EU Presidency
Jessika Roswall – Minister for EU Affairs, Sweden
16:25 Panel discussion
The future support for Ukraine – economic recovery, reconstruction and the EU integration process
Andrius Kubilius – Former Prime Minister of Lithuania and member of the European Parliament
Andrii Plakhotniuk – Ukraine’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden
Torbjörn Becker – Director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics
Fredrik Wesslau – Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies and former Deputy Head of the EU Advisory Mission in Ukraine
17:05 Keynote speech
Olha Stefanishyna – Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine
17:20 Closing remarks
Cecilia Malmström
Charlotte Petri Gornitzka
Jakob Hallgren
17:30 End of the conference