The severe war situation in the East of Europe has brought a new security dynamic in the region and in Europe in the weeks. Despite great diplomatic efforts towards a peaceful outcome, president Putin’s swift full-scale military invasion into Ukraine led to the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security since the Second World War. The outcome of the war will have an impact on, and may even transform, the face and scope of the Alliance, as well as the future of European security.
NATO and the EU stepped up their support for Ukraine, with additional military equipment, financial assistance and humanitarian aid. This support is meant to reassure their unwavering commitment to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. As NATO’s Eastern Flank has come together and showed its resolution for a transatlantic approach, in addition to military and political solutions for dealing with the security situation at the borders, civil societies’ roles proved to be critical and timely.

Eastern Europe has been for quite a long time the playground of illiberal tendencies and hybrid war, where disinformation and propaganda have played critical roles in the rise of populism and extremism. During crises and wars, extremist discourses flourish through propaganda and it is essential for NATO and the EU to enhance their strategic communications capabilities to address the narratives undermining the transatlantic unity and solidarity.

The debate aims to take stock of the situation as it would have developed by the time of the event and to offer women experts a much-needed voice and visibility in security matters, showcasing their opinion on the current and future state of European security and of transatlantic relations in the context of the war in Eastern Europe.