www.dennikn.skFRIDAY 19 JUNE 2015

The Juncker Cur-se could be the Wests epitaph. The former head of government in Lu-

xembourg (now running the European Commission) bemo-aned Europes feebleness in economic reform. We know what to do. We just dont know how to get elected after weve done it.

If things looked bad when he said that in 2008, they are wor-se now. The war in Georgia dis-played the Kremlins aggressive mindset but also Russias mi-litary weakness. Few people then believed that Vladimir Putin would be able to mount a sharp strategic challenge to NATO in the Baltic states.

NATO has reluctantly mo-ved on contingency planning

and prepositioning. But the gap between alliance capabilities and those of Russia is wide-ning not shrinking especially if you take nuclear weapons, space, new-generation conven-tional, cyber and propaganda weapons into account.

Europes leaders are wor-ried, quite rightly, about other things. The problems of the tiny Greek economy have be-en allowed to balloon into an international financial crisis. Everyone knows what is ne-eded: debt relief plus real re-form. But nobody seems able to negotiate it.

The Middle East looked bad in 2008. It is far worse now, with Syria, Yemen and Iraq in chaos. The tides of migrants fleeing abominable conditions in countries such as Eritrea, or simply wanting a better life than quite well-run pla-ces such as Senegal can offer, overwhelms Europes fraying solidarity.

The real lesson in the dread-ful mess of 2015 is that Euro-pes internal problems cannot be fixed without much stronger government at home and abro-ad. The euro zone, if it is going to survive, needs to become a transfer union, with transfers of money in one direction and of sovereignty in another.

Similarly, the chaos to the south and east requires vigoro-us European interventionpo-

litical, economic and military. It could happen: with 500 million people and a nearly $20 trillion GDP Europe is the biggest and richest place in the world. In conjunction with Americas mi-litary might, the EUs economic heft makes it an equal partner in an alliance that could run the world.

True, neither the European public, nor the policy-makers, are remotely ready for such steps. But what is the alternati-ve? It is not the status quo, but the destruction of the Europe-an economic and security order so laboriously built up over the past six decades, with poverty, instability, misery and war, not just in the European neigh-bourhood, but in Europes he-artlands. Globsec has much to discuss.

The real lesson in the dreadful mess of 2015 is that Europes internal problems cannot be fixed without much stronger government at home and abroad.

Leaderless World

The eurozone needs to become a transfer union, the chaos to the south and east requires vigorous European intervention. It could happen, but neither the European public, nor the policy-makers are ready for such steps

British Prime Minister David Cameron will come to Slovakia for the first time. He will attend the global conference on foreign policy and security in Bratislava. Besides him, five more prime ministers, six presidents and almost a thousand participants will attend this years GLOBSEC. Do not miss David Camerons keynote speach at 13:00 on Friday at Kempinski hotel. FOTO - TASR/AP

Bigger mission

Dear GLOBSEC friends, it is my great honour and pleasure to

welcome you on behalf of the whole GLOBSEC team to the tenth jubilee Bratisla-va Global Security Forum, GLOBSEC 2015.

It has been a decade since we organised the first edi-tion of this conference.

Since then, Europe and the world have changed tremendously and we have faced one of the most dyna-mic decades in history. The mission to bring peace, free-dom and security to Europe is not yet finished.

GLOBSEC has developed against the background of this exceptionally dynamic period. It has become an indispensable forum for sharing new ideas and for-mulating answers to the challenges that we face.

It is up to all of us to transform the debates into political actions and stra-tegies. You, the GLOBSEC community, are crucial in this endeavour. Use the three day conference to the maximum, spread our deba-tes beyond the walls of this venue and translate them into action.

Dear friends, welcome to Bratislava, welcome to Cen-tral Europe and enjoy every minute of GLOBSEC 2015.

INSIDE

Andrei Zubov - How can we solve the Cri-mean problem? Page 2

What should you see? Ambassador Rastislav Ker recommends which panels are most interesting for him this year at Globsec. Page 2

Best quotes of GLOBSEC Page 2

10 years of GLOBSEC: How do you remember it? Page 3

Timothy Snyder - Interview about the Russian challenge with Yale historian. Page 4

Interview Timothy Snyder

There will never be Maidan on

Red Square Page 4

EDWARD LUCASThe Economist

ROBERT VASS Founder of the GLOBSEC Forum