WwB’s Founder and Chair Dr. Edit Schlaffer and Executive Director Laura Kropiunigg attended the European Forum Alpbach 2023, taking place from 30 August to 2 September with the theme “Bold Europe”. On 1 September, Edit Schlaffer spoke during the session “Time for a ‘Zeitenwende’ in Austria?”. Other speakers included Franz Stefan Gady (Founder and CEO of Gady Consulting), Beate Meinl-Reisinger (Co-Founder of NEOS), Jana Puglierin (Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and Head of its Berlin office), and Michael Zinkanell (Director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, AIES). The session was moderated by Matthew Karnitschnig (POLITICO’s Chief Europe Correspondent).
Session Description:
The war in Ukraine has caused many European countries to fundamentally rethink their security and defence policies. Finland and Sweden have decided to abandon their decades-long policy of non-alignment and to join NATO. Germany has announced a “Zeitenwende”, a historic turning point, for German defence policy and a special fund of 100 billion euros for the German Armed Forces. Austria has also decided to increase defence spending and to develop a new security strategy. What should the cornerstones of this new strategy look like and how should Austria adjust its security policy in light of the changed geopolitical framework? To kick-off the debate, the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES) will present the findings of their new study on Austrian security policy.
