Green visions on peace and security
Growing from pacifist roots, European Greens’ stances on security and defense have always been marked by strong commitment to détente, diplomacy, disarmament, and non-proliferation, and a notion of security that goes far beyond military defense or the nation state. Yet the values and principles that underline the green vision do not always translate into clear and shared policy positions.
As security discourse has shifted further to conservative, hard power frames, it is important for Greens to be critical yet credible voices on military and defense questions, without losing sight of the political ecology values at our core. There is also a need for frank discussion on the historical, geographical, and national sensitivities that shape our thinking. This session invites experts and participants to reflect on a green vision on defense and security for Europe in the coming years and beyond.
Speakers
Joanna Kaminska – Committee on Foreign Affairs in the European Parliament
Joanna Kaminska works currently as an advisor in mediation and dialogue facilitation in the mediation team of the European Parliament. Her major area of work in Ukraine and the support for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Between 2019 and 2022 she was a Foreign and Security advisor to the President of the European Parliament David Maria Sassoli on foreign affairs, in particular on Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Russia, Nordic, Arctic and Baltic strategies, as well as on security and defense. Prior to advising the President, she was a Foreign Policy Advisor at the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the European Parliament, where she advised the Members of the European Parliament on the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, energy security and the European Neighbourhood Policy, in particular EU relations with the Eastern Neighbours.
Anne Xuan Nguyen – Researcher, GRIP
Anne Xuan is a researcher at the Groupe de Recherche et d’Information sur la Paix et la Sécurité (GRIP). She holds a master’s degree in Security, Peace and Conflict studies from the Free University of Brussels, and a PhD in political science from the Free University of Brussels. Working more broadly on security and environmental issues, she specializes in conflict-related pollution and its remediation.
Laurent Standaert- Political Director of the Green European Foundation
Laurent Standaert leads the Green European Foundation’s team as a Political Director. He was previously the Political Director of Ecolo -Green party in Belgium- and Editor-in-chief of the Green European Journal. Before joining the Green European movement, he worked on international affairs, development, and gender issues as well as on decentralisation for the United Nations and for governmental and non-governmental organisations in West Africa and Europe. Laurent studied anthropology in London and business management in Brussels and Warsaw as well as philosophy in Leuven. He is a proud father of one and belongs to rare crowd of people working in the EU bubble who was born and raised in Brussels.
Moderator: Kaja Pavlinić – President of Sustainable Development Forum Green Window
Kaja Pavlinić is the president of Sustainable Development Forum Green Window, a mentor within the Clinton Global Initiative University initiative, and a Climate Pact Ambassador. She has more than 4 years of experience in the IT industry and over 10 years in managing and organizing projects focused on youth and civil society. She currently lives and works in Croatia.