The 50th Munich Security Conference was held from 31 January to 2 February 2014. [1] At the event, more than 400 international guests attended, including 20 Heads of State and Government, [2] 50 foreign and defence ministers and 90 government delegations. [3] Joachim Gauck was the first German Federal President to ever deliver the opening speech. [4]
In his speech, Gauck called for a new German foreign policy, together with a stronger foreign policy commitment from Germany, which would show a greater self-confidence and take on more responsibility. [5] The President referred to the Federal Republic as "the best Germany we have ever had". [6] The country should not hide behind its historic guilt. In addressing the federal government, he pleaded with it "not to flee from threats". [7] Instead, Germany should "decisively and substantially stand up" in the defence of their own values. Finally, the President urged Germans to correct their own self-image. The previous six decades of the Federal Republic as a free and stable nation should justify the Germans having "trust and confidence" in themselves. Gauck called it a requirement for Germany to be "reliable for their partners" in the world. [8]
A dominant theme of the conference was the violent clashes between government and opposition in Ukraine. At the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State John Kerry promised the Ukrainian opposition support from the West. [9] The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Western countries of assisting the violent uprising in Ukraine which was getting out of control. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on the other hand, accused Russia of violating Ukraine's rights to a free choice of alliances. [10] Ukrainian politician Vitali Klitschko accused the Ukrainian government during a panel discussion of responding with acts of terror and violence to the demands of the opposition. [11] Klitschko called for economic sanctions against those responsible for the violence. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara dismissed the allegations that his country's political policies were directed against Europe. Since Ukraine is geographically part of Europe and also carries a very close relationship with Russia, Koschara warned, it should not be faced with the decision of "Europe or Russia". The Foreign Minister also declared that Ukraine had already met key demands of the opposition. [12] His claims that the violence in Ukraine started from terrorists was countered by Klitschko who distributed a collection of images of the protests in Ukraine to panel participants and spectators. [13] During the conference, Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, started a mediation initiative, inviting members of the Ukrainian parties in conflict and the Foreign Ministers of important EU countries to participate. [14] During the conference, Swiss Federal President Didier Burkhalter, in his capacity as OSCE Chairman, pointed out again an existing offer of mediation of the OSCE to the conflicting parties in Ukraine. [15] Zbigniew Brzezinski, Leonid Kozhara, Vitali Klitschko, Leonid Slutsky, Irakli Garibashvili, Traian Băsescu and Štefan Füle participated in a panel discussion regarding the situation in Ukraine. [16]
The panel discussion on the history of the Security Conference to mark the 50th anniversary had attendances from former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who both had participated in the first Internationale Wehrkundebegegnung in 1963. Attendances in the discussions also included the former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the former German Federal Minister for Special Tasks Egon Bahr, former British Foreign Minister David Miliband and the acting Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. [17] [18] During the discussions, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing pointed out that the number of major wars has decreased while the level of violence, the risk of new threats such as terrorism or cyber-attacks and the number of refugees [17] have increased worldwide. In combination with this, the former French President justified the military interventions of his country in Africa. [19]
Henry Kissinger also shared the assessment of an increasingly complex global security situation, which hampered the development of "coherent strategies". [17] The former US Secretary of State cited Sino-Japanese territorial conflicts that could lead to military conflict. Kissinger pushed that Europe in turn was very "reluctant to military conflicts" [20] and was sometimes too "hesitant" in the fight against violence, a criticism that Giscard d'Estaing already accused Europe of and linked it to "discouragement". Recalling the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, Kissinger warned however to be cautious that the decisions of military intervention should not be influenced by a "moment of rage", if willingness is not given to such wars to "endure to the end". [19]
Egon Bahr emphasized the risks of new, hard-to-find threats such as cyber-attacks on power grids and other infrastructure facilities. These threats had even made the US vulnerable and revealed an existing inability to defend themselves against them. Bahr further demanded a policy of deterrence analogous to that of the days of the nuclear threat. Asked about the future of NATO, Bahr, Kissinger and Giscard d'Estaing all expressed their conviction that NATO would still exist in ten years' time. [20]
Former German Chancellor Schmidt said Europe was decreasing in importance. Schmidt stated that the consequences of global population growth were crucial for the continent's future. Europe will make up only seven percent of the world population in 2050, while in 1950 more than one in five people had lived in Europe. [20] According to Schmidt, the Europeans overestimated their global significance. [21] The former Chancellor critically regarded global urbanization, which leads to the "big urban masses", who were "easily led astray" by the temptations of modern media. [20] Schmidt called the "power of the financial manager" another threat which despite the recent financial crisis was unabated. [17] The current European Union policy, Schmidt described as a future hazard: "If the EU continues the way that it is, in ten years' time NATO will still be there, but maybe not the EU." [20] David Miliband described a decline of classical foreign policy and attributed this to the fact that the electorate increasingly placed regional and national issues at the centre of importance. [17]
No approaches were made towards the transatlantic conflict over NSA surveillance in Europe. The US Secretaries John Kerry and Chuck Hagel avoided any mention of this controversial subject. [22] [23] Instead Kerry advocated a "transatlantic renaissance" based on common values. [24] [25] Hagel emphasized the role of Europe as an "indispensable partner" of the United States. [26] Both ministers campaigned for the transatlantic free trade agreement TTIP. [27] [28] US Senator John McCain added in relation to the NSA spying on allies as a 'credibility problem', which the American government had to deal with in order to regain lost trust. Significant criticism of the NSA spying was voiced by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière. Throughout the discussion he called the spying on German citizens "excessive" [29] and demanded a "signal from the Americans to their closest partner in Europe". [25] De Maizière declared that the political damage caused by these surveillance measures was higher than their security benefits. [30] The Federal Minister of the Interior called the information provided by the American side completely inadequate. [31] A possible no-spy agreement with the United States provided the Minister with no great expectations. Along with Kerry and Hagel, de Maizière agreed with a continuation of negotiations on TTIP. The German MEP Elmar Brok predicted a defeat in the vote on the TTIP agreement in the European Parliament in the event that an examination and reappraisal of the NSA's activities would fail. Company representatives from Deutsche Telekom, Huawei and Microsoft demanded a binding international standard of Internet security. Thus, Deutsche Telekom CEO Timothy Höttges called for an international agreement of digital basic rights. Microsoft Vice President Matt Thomlinson announced the opening of the company's own transparency centres, including one in Brussels, where governments could check the source code of Microsoft products to ensure that they contain no backdoors for US intelligence agencies. [32]
During the conference, the two Prime Ministers from Serbia and Kosovo, Ivica Dačić and Hashim Thaçi, came together [33] and discussed the rapprochement between the two countries, which in 2013 had led to the signing of the normalization Agreement, under the moderation of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Both leaders reaffirmed their intention to seek solutions, "that advance the two nations". [34] Dačić called the convergence process as a "tightrope walk" and Thaçi referred to resisters in the population that had to be overcome before the agreement. [35]
The conference also hosted a meeting of the Middle East Quartet in which EU Representative Ashton put economic aid for Israelis and Palestinians on the table if both parties consented to a peace agreement. [36] US Secretary of State Kerry had previously referred to a failure of the Middle East negotiations as "unacceptable". [37] After the previously unsuccessful negotiations in Geneva of the Syrian civil war parties, discussions at the security conference took no further approach towards the Syrian conflict. Despite his announcement of follow-up negotiations, designated UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi stated that the international peace efforts in Syria had failed. [38] Brahimi warned of a further escalation of the situation in Syria. [39] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the parties in conflict to hold "serious and sincere" future negotiations. [40] The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif echoed the call of his country for a ceasefire in Syria, referring to the difficulties of monitoring such actions. [41]
During a debate on Iran's nuclear program, Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted on his country's right to use nuclear energy. In connection with the forthcoming international negotiations, there were "many steps" to go, the Iranian foreign minister stated. [42] Zarif called the previously reached agreements a significant beginning and assured the readiness of Iran to constructive negotiations. [43] IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano spoke of positive feedback from Iran, but said that a lot of work still had to be done. [44] Amano also pointed out that the IAEA still did not have access to all nuclear facilities and could therefore "not exclude the character of some non-peaceful Iranian activities". [45] Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya'alon warned following the debate against too much optimism and stated that Iran will continue to develop its nuclear program throughout the course of the current negotiations. [46] The fact that Ya'alon and the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, were among the audience during the appearance of the Iranian foreign minister was interpreted as a public gesture of rapprochement to Iran. [47] The Iranian nuclear program was also the subject of a meeting between Zarif and US Secretary of State Kerry. [48]
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held by Josep Borrell Fontelles.
The Munich Security Conference is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963. Formerly named the Munich Conference on Security Policy, the motto is: Peace through Dialogue. It is the world's largest gathering of its kind.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier is a German politician who became president of Germany on 19 March 2017. He was previously federal minister for foreign affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as vice chancellor of Germany from 2007 to 2009. Steinmeier was chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2016.
Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2018, as well as Federal Minister of Defence from 2011 to 2013. He previously served as Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the First Merkel cabinet from 2005 to 2009. Since 2009, he has been a member of the Bundestag for Meißen.
Mohammad Javad Zarif Khansari is an Iranian career diplomat and academic. He was the foreign minister of Iran from 2013 until 2021 in the government of Hassan Rouhani. During his tenure as foreign minister, he led the Iranian negotiation with P5+1 countries which produced the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on 14 July 2015, lifting the economic sanctions against Iran on 16 January 2016. On 25 February 2019, Zarif resigned from his post as foreign minister. His resignation was rejected by Ali Khamenei and he continued as foreign minister.
Hassan Abbasi is an Iranian conspiracy theorist and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer who heads its think-tank 'Center for Borderless Security Doctrinal Analysis'. Abbasi is primarily known for his conspiracy theories, and for delivering controversial speeches on issues including economics, history, politics and cinema.
Atlantik-Brücke is a leading private non-profit association to promote German-American understanding and Atlanticism. Founded in Hamburg in 1952, it was located in Bonn between 1983 and 1999 and is now located in Berlin.
Roderich Kiesewetter is a former Bundeswehr general staff officer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2009.
On 24 November 2013, the Joint Plan of Action, also known as the Geneva interim agreement, was a pact signed between Iran and the P5+1 countries in Geneva, Switzerland. It consists of a short-term freeze of portions of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions on Iran, as the countries work towards a long-term agreement. It represented the first formal agreement between the United States and Iran in 34 years. Implementation of the agreement began 20 January 2014.
Federica Mogherini is an Italian politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. She previously served as Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from February 2014 to October 2014, in the centre-left Renzi Cabinet. She was a Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 2008 to 2014. In 2020 she was appointed rector of the College of Europe, a post-graduate university for European studies in Bruges (Belgium) and Natolin (Poland).
This article discusses the negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran that led to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The Vienna peace talks for Syria, as of 14 November 2015 known as the talks of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), were negotiations of foreign powers that began in Vienna, Austria in October 2015 at the level of foreign ministers, to resolve the conflict in Syria, after unsuccessful previous Syrian peace initiatives.
The 49th Munich Security Conference was held from 1 to 3 February 2013. More than 400 senior politicians and business executives, as well as high-ranking military officials and security experts from 90 countries attended the event. This included over 90 delegations, a dozen heads of state, 70 foreign and defence ministers, ten US senators, five EU Commissioners, five German federal ministers and 60 members of the German Bundestag and an equal number of CEOs. Some 700 journalists were accredited for the event.
The 51st Munich Security Conference was held from 6 to 8 February 2015. Among the more than 400 participants from nearly 80 countries were 20 heads of state, 70 foreign and defence ministers and 30 CEOs of large companies. The German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen delivered the opening speech.
The 52nd Munich Security Conference took place from 12 to 14 February 2016. 600 international guests attended the event, including 30 heads of state, 70 foreign and defence ministers, directors of various intelligence agencies and 700 journalists from 48 countries.
The 53rd Munich Security Conference took place from 17 to 19 February 2017 at the Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich. With a total of 680 participants, including 30 heads of state and government, nearly 60 representatives of international organizations and 65 top business leaders, it was the largest conference to date. Prominent guests and speakers were UN Secretary General António Guterres, US Vice President Mike Pence, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Federica Mogherini, Donald Tusk and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. 700 journalists were also accredited for the event. In addition to the main events of the security conference, there were 1,350 bilateral meetings among MSC participants and delegations.
The 54th Munich Security Conference took place from 16 to 18 February 2018 at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich.
The 55th Munich Security Conference took place from 15 to 17 February 2019 at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich. Among the 600 participants were heads of state and government from more than 35 countries, 50 foreign and 30 defence ministers, other representatives from the fields of politics, the military, the arms industry, business and science, as well as members of international intergovernmental and civil society organizations.
In April 2021, more than three hours of audiotape was leaked from a seven-hour interview between economist Saeed Leylaz and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The taped conversation was connected to an oral history project, titled "In the Islamic Republic, the military field rules," that documents the work of then-president Hassan Rouhani and his government. The tape was obtained by the London-based news channel Iran International and publicized by The New York Times. Zarif did not dispute the authenticity of the leaked tape, but questioned the motive. Iran International noted that Zarif's claim was "not very credible."
Paul Ronzheimer is a German journalist and deputy editor-in-chief of Bild.
Munich Security Conference 2014 official website