Report: Rebuilding the European security architecture

03/12/2024

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine illustrates the importance of strong social and state structures and calls for a new way of thinking about the European security architecture. This requires democratic resilience of the individual European states and the EU as a whole. As the example of Ukraine shows, the political participation of the population plays a particular importance in local democratic processes and is not limited to elections. Despite the ongoing war, martial law and existing democratic deficits, Ukraine is managing to advance reforms.

These reforms are closely linked to the reconstruction of Ukraine. An improved security situation is the first priority in order to incentivise private investment and the return of Ukrainians who have fled. By supporting the reconstruction of Ukraine, allied European states have the opportunity to invest in the overall security and stability of the European continent.

The new European security architecture is also closely linked to the enlargement of the European Union. Despite the benefits of previous rounds of enlargement, many people are critical of renewed enlargement, particularly with regard to Ukraine. Both internal disagreements and disappointments in the candidate states are slowing down the process. In particular, large member states such as Germany and France could advance EU enlargement and internal reform processes with political will and new impulses.

This report summarises the key discussion points and debates from the workshop “The future of Europe – Human security and societal resilience: How to rebuild our security architecture?”, which took place on October 10th and 11th 2024 in Berlin. The workshop was financed by the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation, supported by the Federal Foreign Office and the European Commission's CERV program and organised by the Brandenburg Institute for Society and Security (BIGS), the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP) and the College of Eastern Europe (KEW).