TERRORIST attacks around the globe have intensified the focus on national security. Bratislava joined the international discourse by hosting a conference on October 27 and 29 entitled "The Role of the Transatlantic Partnership in the Global Security Environment".
The view that resonated throughout the conference was that the only way to maintain NATO's leadership role in security is to strengthen the cooperation between Europe and the United States.
Ukraine's entry to NATO and the organization's relations with Russia inspired several challenging discussions. Yuriy E Fedorov, the head of the Centre for War and Peace Studies at Moscow State Institute for International Relations, said that Russia considers NATO its natural partner in security. He said that terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction is proof of escalating conflict aimed at stopping the globalization process.
Slovakia is the member of NATO that has provided the most active assistance to Ukraine in that country's drive to join transatlantic and European groupings, Volodymyr Yasnyuk, deputy head of Ukraine's Foreign Ministry for NATO issues, told the conference.
Also in attendance at the conference were Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Martin Erdmann; Guillaume Parmentier, director of the French Center on the United States (CFE) at the French Institute for International Relations; Secretary General of the Atlantic Treaty Association Troels Froling; and Jeff Gedmin, director of the Aspen Institute Berlin.
The conference was organized by the Euro-Atlantic Center, the Slovak Atlantic Commission and the NATO Public Diplomacy Division. For related story, please see interview with NATO official Martin Erdmann above.
- Beata Balogová
