DRAFT AGENDA

November 30, Day 1

10:00-10:30 Official opening

·         Nikolai Bozhilov, Chairman, the Centre for SouthEast European Studies (confirmed)

·         Nickolay Mladenov, Bulgarian Minister of Defence (invited)

·         Rumyana Zheleva, Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs (invited)

·         John Ordway, Charge d’ affaires, US Embassy (invited)

10:30-12:30 SESSION 1 Security governance in the Wider Black Sea Region: actors and visions

Moderator:

·         Todor Tanev, Sofia University (confirmed)

Speakers:

·         Zoltan Martinusz, Director, Directorate for Western Balkans region, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Directorate-General E - External and Political-Military Affairs, General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union (invited)

·         John Rose, Director, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies (invited)

·         Sergei Markedonov, Head of the Inter-ethnic relations department, Institute for Political and Military Analysis, Moscow (invited)

·         Senior representative of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (tentative confirmation)

12:30-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 SESSION 2 Building a stronger security architecture in the Wider Black Sea Region – national expectations and approaches

Moderator:

·         Plamen Pantev, Sofia University (invited)

Speakers:

·         Temuri Yakobashvili, Minister of Reintegration, Georgia (invited)

·         MG Hayk Kotanjian, Head, Institute for National Strategic Studies, Armenian Ministry of Defence (tentative confirmation)

·         Valeri Ratchev, Bulgarian Ministry of Defence (invited)

·         Igor Munteanu, Executive Director, Institute for Development and Social Initiatives, Moldova (confirmed)

·         A view from Ukraine

·         Leila Alieva, Center for National and International Studies (CNIS), Azerbaijan (tentative confirmation)

15:30-16:00 Coffee break

16:00-17:30 SESSION 3 NATO’s expeditionary operations and territorial defence: striking a balance in the new Strategic Concept

Moderator:

·         Vladimir Shopov, Open Society Foundation (confirmed)

Speakers:

·         Jamie Shea, Director of Policy Planning, NATO (invited)

·         Fergus Carr, University of Portsmouth (invited)

·         Marcel de Haas, Senior Researcher, Clingendael Institute (invited)

·         Todor Tanev, Sofia University (confirmed)

December 1, Day 2

09:00-10:30 SESSION 4 Today’s Capabilities in Tomorrow’s Operations: Improving the Crisis-management Toolkit

Moderator:

·         Jeffrey Simon, National Defence University (invited)

Speakers:

·         Velizar Shalamanov, NC3A (tentative confirmation)

·         Nick Witney, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations (invited)

·         Liviu Muresan, Executive President, EURISC Foundation (tentative confirmation)

·         Jakob Hedenskog, FOI (invited)

10:30-11:00 Coffee break

11:00-12:30 SESSION 5 The Wider Black Sea Region in 2020: Planning for the future

Moderator:

·         Todor Tagarev, Bulgarian Ministry of Defence (invited)