High-Level Dialogue on
Peacemaking Efforts and Shrinking Diplomatic Space:
Where and what is Dialogue in the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy?
Brussels, 30 January 2025, 9h00-14h00 (including lunch reception)
As geopolitical tensions continue to rise while spaces for dialogue continue to shrink, both civil society and diplomacy are left with less room for manoeuvre. What does this mean for EU’s peacemaking?
With new EU leadership in place and a new Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 agreed by the European Council, both with clear messages about how peace is seen through a security and defence lens, what and where are the spaces for dialogue to prevent, resolve and manage crisis, and what do they look like? As traditional and formal channels to address tensions in Europe and globally are increasingly strained and undermined, what can, and should, the EU do to preserve existing spaces for dialogue and create new ones? How can these efforts feed into the EU’s investment in building a strong and secure Europe (as well as a renewed multilateralism) and pursuing “efforts to promote global peace, justice and stability, as well as democracy, universal human rights and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all international fora”?
These are some of the questions that we will consider in CMI’s 2025 Brussels High-Level Dialogue, notably by exploring ways in which to navigate a fragmented geopolitical environment where the EU’s political engagement is increasingly limited by sanction regimes, unconstitutional changes of governments and contested electoral situations in partner countries, as well as by faltering multilateralism. We will consider different, and sometimes unconventional, dialogue and mediation formats and methods, as well as new mediation and dialogue partnerships and focus areas. We will also take into account the challenges of using new formats without undermining the existing channels, and how to connect new formats and actors with existing structures and institutions in a way that becomes mutually reinforcing. We will also consider how to work with different partners – like- and non-likeminded – in a way that balances rather than weighs interests against values and explore how values and norms can be leveraged as part of the solution, rather than the problem.
AGENDA
08h30-09h00
Registration and Welcome Coffee
09h00-09h15
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Ambassador Janne Taalas,
CEO, CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
Ambassador Weronika Frydryszek,
Representative of Poland to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the Council of the European Union and Deputy Head of the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU
09h15-09h45
Keynote exchange on Dialogue Spaces, Peacemaking and the EU as a Global Peace Actor
The EU’s political and diplomatic engagement face two related challenges. First, strained political relations with a number of partners around the world – both new and old, like and non-likeminded – are seriously undermining the extent to which the EU can remain actively engaged in many of the most serious conflict settings of today. Second, with multilateralism and the rules-based international order under serious strain and questioning, international and regional organisations are struggling to effectively address longstanding and new challenges to international peace and security. Where does this leave the incoming EU leadership and the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy when it comes to the EU’s commitment to peace and peacemaking through dialogue and multilateralism?
Ambassador Pavlo Klimkin,
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh,
Assistant Minister of the United Arab Emirates for Political Affairs and Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for UN and EU relations
Moderator: Renata Dwan, Senior Advisor, CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
09h45-11h00
Panel on Opportunities for Dialogue: Pragmatic and Value-based Partnerships for Peace
As the EU is increasingly facing threats in, and thus shifting much of its attention to its immediate neighbourhood, spaces are opening up for other actors to gain ground and influence at the expense of stability and international cooperation. What is, and what can, the EU do to both preserve and open up new spaces for dialogue in this reality, notably as a way to make, as well as to build and maintain, peace? With increasingly strained resources and shrinking diplomatic space, on what and who should the EU focus its attention in order to make a difference for peace in this geopolitically strained reality – geographic and thematic priorities? What partners and partnerships should be considered and how can the EU pursue partnerships that are both pragmatic and value-based?
Discussants:
Luigi di Maio,
EU Special Representative for the Gulf Region
Ambassador Abderahman Salaheldin,
Former Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt for Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs
Ambassador Liberata Mulamula,
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of Tanzania
Richard Atwood,
Executive Vice President, International Crisis Group
Moderator: Ambassador Belén Alfaro, Senior Adviser, Cabinet of the Secretary of State of Foreign and Global Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation
11h00-11h30
Coffee Break
11h30-12h45
Panel on Opportunities for Engagement: Navigating Geopolitical Divides for Peace
The challenge of shrinking spaces for dialogue is also about the actors that are excluded but also those, who do not want to be included. How can the EU stay engaged in fragile and conflict settings where the main actors are under sanctions or have taken power through unconstitutional, illegal or violent means? Or with actors who do not want to engage with the existing formal multilateral structures? How can the EU work with partners – states, international and regional organisations and independent actors – in a complementary manner where they help bridging this gap, and help pursue partnerships that are both pragmatic, and value-based? Can messaging and communication strategies help engaging without legitimizing and if so, how? What other tools could be used to this end?
Discussants:
João Cravinho,
EU Special Representative for the Sahel region (TBC)
Ambassador Joanna Wronecka,
Former UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon
Ambassador Mohamed Ibn Chambas,
AU High Representative for Silencing the Guns, Chair of the AU High-level Panel for Sudan
Afag Nadirli,
Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation
Moderator: Marta Martinelli, Nonresident scholar, Carnegie Europe
12h45-13h00
Wrap-up and Closing Remarks
Ambassador Guillermo Ardizone García,
Permanent Representative of Spain to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the Council of the European Union
Hanna Klinge,
Deputy CEO, CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
13h00-14h00
Lunch Reception
SPEAKER’S BIOGRAPHIES
Ambassador Belén Alfaro – Senior Adviser, Cabinet of the Secretary of State of Foreign and Global Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation
Ambassador Belen Alfaro is currently Senior Advisor on Preventive Diplomacy, Mediation and Dialogue for the Vice Minister for Foreign and Global Affairs in Madrid. Before taking up her current office, she was Ambassador to the State of Qatar from 2018 to 2022, and Ambassador at large for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and for Intercultural Dialogue between 2011-2018.
Amb. Alfaro has had experience in multilateral affairs at the United Nations and the European Union. In 2006 she moved to New York as Minister Counsellor for Political Affairs at the Mission of Spain to the United Nations. Previously, in 1993 she was Senior Adviser to the Vice Minister for the European Union and in 1997 she was appointed Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Spain to the European Union in Brussels.
Her early career saw her in diplomatic postings as Head of Service at the Human Rights Office in Madrid and in 2002 moved to Islamabad, taking up office as Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Spain to Pakistan. Back in Spain, in 2004 she held office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Senior Adviser in the Department for Foreign Policy with the Middle East and North Africa.
Ambassador Guillermo Ardizone García – Permanent Representative of Spain to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the Council of the European Union
Guillermo Ardizone García is Spain’s Permanent Representative to the Political and Security Committee of the European Union since 2024. A graduate in Law, he entered the diplomatic career in 1990. He was assigned to the Spanish diplomatic representations in Israel and to the European Union. He has been second in command of the Spanish embassies in Lebanon and Guatemala. He was Deputy Director General for the Middle East and in 2006 he became a Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the European Union. During the presidency of Mariano Rajoy, he was appointed ambassador of Spain in Guinea, a position he held until 2014.
Since then, he has held various positions within the Ministry, including Deputy Director General for Foreign Policy for the Middle East and Deputy Director General of the Office of Diplomatic Information.With the change of government in 2018, he was assigned to the Spanish Embassy in Tunisia, as its head of the Embassy. He was subsequently Director General of Foreign and Security Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2022-2024).
Richard Atwood – Executive Vice President, International Crisis Group
Richard Atwood is the International Crisis Group’s executive vice president. Together with Crisis Group’s president, he is responsible for much of the organisation’s direction and day-to-day management. He hosts its weekly flagship podcast, Hold Your Fire!. He has worked for Crisis Group since 2009, serving also as interim president, chief of policy, New York director and research director.
Before Crisis Group, he worked for some fifteen years across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Latin America for the UN and other organisations. He also serves as a member of the UN’s Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group.
Luigi Di Maio – EU Special Representative for the Gulf region
Mr Luigi Di Maio has been appointed as EU Special Representative for the Gulf region since 1 June 2023. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy from September 2019 to October 2022. In 2022 he was President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. From June 2018 to September 2019, he held the positions of Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Minister of Labour and Social Policies. From March 2013 to March 2018, he was Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies and a Member of the European Union Affairs Committee in the 17th Italian legislature.
During his mandate as Foreign Minister he chaired, among others, the G20 Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting, the G20 Trade Ministers meeting, the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Afghanistan, the June 2021 plenary Ministerial Meeting of the International Anti-Daesh Coalition, as well as the first Mediterranean Ministerial Dialogue on the Food Security Crisis in June 2022. He was the chair of three annual editions (2019, 2020, 2021) of the MED Dialogue Conference aiming to develop a positive agenda for the wider Mediterranean region, at a time of pandemic and political and economic transition, based on multilateralism as a strategy for conflict resolution.
Renata Dwan – Senior Advisor, CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
Renata Dwan is an independent consultant and Senior Advisor to CMI. Renata has had a diverse and distinguished career at the United Nations, serving as Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and, most recently, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology. She led major UN-wide policy initiatives on peace operations and countries emerging from conflict as head of policy and best practices in the Department of Peace Operations and worked in UN missions in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Mali and Syria.
Outside the UN, Renata’s policy experience includes Deputy Director of Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Programme Director at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and as a Special Advisor to the European Union Council Secretariat on civilian crisis management. Renata, who is Irish, holds D.Phil and masters’ degrees in International Relations from Oxford University. She has published widely on conflict management issues
Ambassador Weronika Frydryszek – Representative of Poland to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) and Deputy Head of the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU
Weronika Frydryszek is a career diplomat and civil servant. She joined the Polish Foreign Service in 2006. Before taking up the current post of Poland’s Representative to the Political and Security Committee, she was head of the Foreign Policy and External Action Unit at the Polish Permanent Representation to the EU (from 2018). She also represented Poland in the Council Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Her previous posts in the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs include Head of the Policy Coordination Unit in the Common Foreign and Security Policy Department / Political Director’s Office, senior policy expert on the European Neighbourhood Policy, Relex coordinator and policy officer for EU relations with the Middle East and North Africa region. During her posting to Germany (2007, 2008-13) she was in charge of foreign and security policy at the Embassy of Poland in Berlin. She also served as an exchange diplomat in the German Foreign Office (Europe Department). Prior to joining the Foreign Service, she had worked in the government administration responsible for the management of EU funds in the Wielkopolska region of Poland (Poznań). She studied at the Faculty of Law and Administration of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan and at Otto-Friedrich University in Bamberg, Germany, where she majored in European law, economics and culture. She is a post-graduate of the Diplomatic Academy of the Polish MFA.
Ambassador Mohamed lbn Chambas – African Union High Representative for Silencing the Guns and Chair of the AU High-level Panel for Sudan
Dr. Mohamed lbn Chambas is the African Union (AU) High Representative for Silencing the Guns and head of the AU High-Level Panel on Sudan, the group of eminent persons mediating the Sudan conflict. He is a Ghanaian national who previously served as the Under Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) from 2014-2021, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN-AU Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).
Additionally, he is a former Secretary General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and former President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission.
Ambassador Pavlo Klimkin – Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Pavlo Klimkin owns a MS Degree in physics and applied math from Moscow physical-technical institute, Aerophysics and space research faculty. Between 1991 and 1993, he worked in the Ukrainian academy of sciences, Ukrainian welding research institute as a researcher. In 1993, Pavlo Klimkin joined the Department of arms control and disarmament of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, focusing on nuclear disarmament, ABM and START-1 treaties and non-proliferation regimes. In 1997, he started to work in the Embassy of Ukraine in Germany.
Between 2000 and 2004, he took on different MFA positions on nuclear safety, energy security and EU affairs. In 2004, he was appointed Minister-counsellor in the Embassy of Ukraine in the United Kingdom. Between 2008 and 2010, he worked as Director-general for EU affairs, at the MFA of Ukraine, and in 2010 was appointed Deputy foreign minister, Head of Ukrainian Delegation for negotiating EU-Ukraine Association agreement. In 2012, he was appointed Ambassador of Ukraine in Berlin. Pavlo Klimkin served as Foreign Minister of Ukraine between 2014 and 2019. Pavlo Klimkin is also a member of advisory boards in the Come back alive and Renaissance foundations.
Hanna Klinge – Deputy CEO of CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
Hanna Klinge is the Deputy CEO of CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation since May 2021, prior to which she served as Acting Executive Director of the Foundation. Ms Klinge joined CMI in January 2018 as the Advisor to the Executive Director and the principal lead on strategic partnerships. Hanna Klinge’s background is in international relations, primarily in managing strategic partnerships, large scale projects and people. Prior to joining CMI, Ms Klinge worked as Country Director at the British Council Finland leading its work in Finland. The broad institutional portfolio included several international capacity building programmes, policy dialogue initiatives, and publications.
Ms Klinge has specialized in social development and innovation, equality and inclusion issues, and social enterprise. Ms Klinge has studied and worked in Greece, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland. She holds an Executive Master in International Negotiation and Policy-Making from the Geneva Graduate Institute, a MA in Cultural Studies and Social Sciences from Helsinki University and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK).
Marta Martinelli – Nonresident scholar, Carnegie Europe
Marta Martinelli is a non-resident scholar at Carnegie Europe where she researches the EU’s role in addressing forgotten conflicts and perceptions of EU’s initiatives from non-European countries. Her fields of expertise include human rights, democracy, peacebuilding, and gender.
Before joining Carnegie, Martinelli was Senior Director of Programs at the Center for Civilians in Conflict where she managed teams and projects focused on the protection of civilians in conflict zones and the promotion of International Humanitarian Law. Prior to this she spent over a decade at the Open Society Foundations as head of the EU external relations team, acting Deputy Director and senior Africa policy officer working on human rights, elections with integrity, just climate transition and security governance. Previously, Marta was an advisor for the European Union CSDP mission for Security Sector Reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Between 2005-2009 she advised the peacebuilding taskforce of the Belgian Directorate General for Development. Martinelli was awarded the Bernheim Chair in peace and conflict studies at the Free University of Brussels and has held teaching assignments at the Institute of International Sociology in Gorizia (Italy), at the UNESCO Chair for Peaceful Conflict Resolution and Human Rights in Bujumbura (Burundi) and at Egmont Institute in Brussels. She has collaborated extensively with EU and UN agencies particularly on security sector governance and fostering civil-military dialogues.
She has served on the Boards of Save the Children, Brussels, the European Institute of Peace, and EURAC. She currently serves on the Board of Commission Justice et Paix and the Belgrade Center for Security Policy. She is also an active member of Women in International Security.
Ambassador Liberata Mulamula – Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of Tanzania
Ambassador Liberata Mulamula is a Tanzanian diplomat and Member of Parliament with a distinguished career in international relations, diplomacy, and governance. She has served in key roles, including as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of Tanzania. Prior to her ministerial role, Ambassador Liberata Mulamula held several high-ranking diplomatic positions, including serving as Tanzania’s Ambassador to the United States and as the Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
She is a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Eminent Persons’ for the 2020 Peacebuilding Architecture and of the sixth Advisory Group of the Peacebuilding Fund.
Afag Nadirli – Expert at the Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation
Afag Nadirli is an expert in conflict transformation and non-formal education, bringing over 11 years of experience in civil society engagement. She holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in International Relations and European Studies and has completed a specialized certification in Conflict Resolution and Negotiations.
Afag has contributed to a range of prominent international and non-governmental organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (UNDPPA), and the Azerbaijan National Committee of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly. Currently, she is a member of the Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation, an independent, non-political organization committed to fostering sustainable peace and rebuilding relationships in conflict-affected societies. Afag’s expertise spans project design and coordination and youth-focused initiatives. She has conceptualized and facilitated numerous training programs and cross-divide dialogue projects for emerging professionals, both nationally and internationally. Her core areas of focus include conflict analysis and transformation, exploration of conflict narratives, and the promotion of critical thinking. She has also actively participated and lead numerous community dialogues in different frameworks including CMI organized dialogues.
Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh – Assistant Minister of the United Arab Emirates for Political Affairs and Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for UN and EU relations
Her Excellency Lana Zaki Nusseibeh is the Assistant Minister for Political Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, at the rank of Minister by Federal Decree on 21 December 2021. Her Excellency served as the UAE Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from September 2013 until April 2024. In January 2023, she was made Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, with responsibility for relations with the European Union, and with the United Nations in New York and Geneva. During her tenure in New York, she managed the successful UAE campaign to become an elected member of the UN Security Council for the 2022-23 term, and served on the Council as the UAE representative.
Her Excellency is a relentless advocate for role of women in the promotion of peace and security. She was the President of the UN Women Executive Board in 2017 and led the UAE in working closely with UN Women to launch the Arab Women Military and Peacekeeping Programme in the UAE in 2019. She served as Vice President of the UN’s 72nd General Assembly and was a Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform in the 72nd, 73rd, and 74th sessions. Prior to her appointment as Permanent Representative to the UN, Her Excellency established the Ministry’s
Policy Planning Department in 2009 and served as its first Director for three years. From 2010 to 2011, she also served as the UAE Co-Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, as well as of the Advisory Board of The London School of Economics’ Middle East Centre.
Ambassador Abderahman Salaheldin – Former Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt for Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs
Ambassador (Ret.) Abderahman Salaheldin, Ph.D., is a four-decades veteran-Egyptian diplomat who turned academician after retirement. As a visiting professor-of-practice, he teaches international relations and foreign policy at Badr University in Egypt. He continues to be involved in Track II diplomacy on regional issues. He also lectures regularly at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic institute, participates in academic and policy-oriented seminars in American, European and Egyptian universities, and writes some opinion articles in Arabic and English.
Before his retirement in 2018, Ambassador Salaheldin served twice as the Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs. He was also the Ambassador to Türkiye and to the Czech Republic. He spent 17 years of his diplomatic career in the United States (Washington, New York, and San Francisco).
In 2020, he obtained his Ph.D. in Political Science at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. The dissertation was titled “Egyptian foreign policy and The Arab Spring: A Case study of Egyptian policy toward Türkiye and Palestine”.
Ambassador Janne Taalas – CEO, CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
Dr. Janne Taalas has served as CEO of CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation since May 2021. His leadership builds on 25 years of international experience in multilateral dialogue, crisis management, and peace mediation efforts. Most recently he was Special Envoy to 2020 Afghanistan Conference. Prior to this, he served in various roles, including as Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador of Finland for Cyber Diplomacy, Ambassador of Finland to Rome, and as the Director of Policy Planning for the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Dr. Taalas holds Ph.D. and M.Phil. degrees from the University of Oxford (St Antony’s College), Master Degrees in both Economics and Social Sciences from the University of Jyväskylä, and a University Diploma in Development Studies from the University of Kent.
Ambassador Joanna Wronecka – Former UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon
Joanna Wronecka, the Polish diplomat has spent much of her decades-long career in northern Africa and the Middle East. Recently, she has served as the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (2021-2024) and the Permanent Representative of Poland to the United Nations in New York (2017-2021), including during Poland’s membership in the Security Council (2018-2019). When in New York, she was asked by the United Nations General Assembly with reviving negotiations on reforming the Security Council to expand it to include new members (2019-2021).
She previously served as Under Secretary of State for Arab and African countries, development cooperation and Polish – United Nations relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland (2015-2017); Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation to Jordan (2011-2015), Ambassador of Poland to Morocco (2005-2010), Ambassador of Poland to Egypt (1999-2003), as well as non-resident Ambassador of Poland to Mauretania (2006-2010), and Sudan (2000-2003).
She further served as the Director of the Secretariat of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (2003-2005), Director of the Africa and Middle East Department (1998-1999) and Deputy Director of the United Nations Department at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1996-1998).