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Program

THE THEMES
The event will be divided into four discussion panels where high level politicians, private sector leaders, senior representatives from key international organizations and academics will discuss the geostrategic relevance of the Caspian region and the South Caucasus for Europe. Each panel will consist of cca. five speakers and a discussion moderator. An interactive discussion with other participants will follow the initial discussion.

The four panels, incorporating the relevant themes are:

  • Europe's geostrategy and energy security: The relevance of the Caspian Basin for Europe
  • Political dynamics in the Caspian region: present challenges and the future
  • European Neighbourhood Policy: defining the end game
  • Economic trends in the Caspian basin
More information on the four thematic areas: please download document

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FINAL LIST OF PARTICIPANTS (Open document)

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Day 1 * Sunday, August 27  

10:00 Registration

  

17:30-18:15 Opening of the Forum
*Welcoming Address*: H.E. Dr Dimitrij Rupel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia >

*Opening Statement*: H.E. Mr Janez Janša, Prime Minister of Slovenia >

Opening Statement: H.E. Dr Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan

18:15-20:00 Panel 1

 "Europe's geostrategy and energy security: the relevance of the Caspian Basin for Europe"

Moderator: Dr Bobo Lo, Head of the Russia & Eurasia Programme, Chatham House, London
  1. *H.E. Mr. Mohammed S. Barkindo*, Secretary General of OPEC, Vienna > speech (3MB)
  2. Mr Vagit Alekperov, President of OAO LUKOIL
  3. Mr Marko Kryžanowski, Chairman of the Board, Petrol d.d.
  4. Mr Christoph Rühl, Deputy Chief Economist, British Petroleum, London
  5. Mr Bruce Jackson, President of the Project on Transitional Democracies
  6. Mr Carl Bildt, Chairman of the Kreab Group, former Prime Minister of Sweden
  7. Mr Markus Lyra, Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, EU Presidency

20:30 Dinner

 hosted by H.E. Dr Dimitrij Rupel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia and by H.E. Mr Andrej Vizjak, MA, Minister of the Economy of Slovenia
Grand Hotel Toplice
Day 2 * Monday, August 28  

9:30-11:30 Panel 2

 "Political dynamics in the Caspian region: present challenges and the future"

Moderator: Prof. Dr. Gareth Winrow, Bilgi University, Istanbul
  1. H.E. Dr Dimitrij Rupel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, former OSCE Chairman-in-Office
  2. H.E. Mr Ján Kubiš, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic, former EU Special Representative for Central Asia
  3. *H. E. Mr Andrej Ivanovich Denisov*, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation > speech (2,2MB)
  4. Senator Pierre Chevalier, Special Envoy of the Belgian OSCE Chairmanship
  5. Mr Robert Simmons, Deputy Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Security Cooperation and Partnership
  6. Mr Matthew J. Bryza, Minsk Group Co-Chair, US-State Department

12:00-14:00 Keynote & Lunch

 "Political reform and development sustainability in the South Caucasus"

14:00-16:00 Leisure time


  

14:30-15:30 Parallel workshops


organized by the Institute for Strategic Studies Ljubljana
Workshop A: "Civil sector and political transition in the South Caucasus"
Workshop B: "Crisis in the Middle East and impact on stability in the Caspian"
Location: IEDC - Bled School of Management

16:00-18:00 Parallel panels (3/4)

 "European Neighbourhood Policy: defining the end game"

Moderator: Mr Borut Grgič, Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies, Ljubljana
  1. *H.E. Dr Benita Ferrero Waldner*, EU Commissioner for External Affairs > speech (3MB)
  2. H.E. Mr George Baramidze, Vice Prime Minister/State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration
  3. H.E. Mr Vartan Oskanian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia
  4. H.E. Mr Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan
  5. *H.E. Mr Petras Vaitiekunas*, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania > speech (3,6MB)
  6. *H.E. Mr Peter Semneby*, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Council of the European Union > speech
  7. Dr Dmitri Trenin, Director of Studies at the Carnegie Moscow Center
  8. *Dr Kemal Kirisci*, Jean Monnet Professor at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey > (speech)


"Economic trends in the Caspian region"

Moderator: Ms Zeyno Baran, Director, Eurasia Program, Hudson Institute
  1. H.E. Mr Aigars Štokenbergs, Minister of Economics of Latvia
  2. H.E. Mr Jean Lemierre, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  3. *H.E. Mr Paolo Garonna*, Deputy of the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) > speech
  4. Mr Osman Saim Dinç, Chairman of the Board and President, Turkish Petroleum Corporation
  5. *Ms Arabela Militaru*, Assistant Manager, London Stock Exchange > speech (PPT, 3MB)
  6. Dr Brenda Shaffer, Research Director, Caspian Studies Program, Belfer Center, Harvard University

18:00 - 18.30 Coffee Break

 Coffee Break

18:30 - 19.15 Closing of the Bled Strategic Forum

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS
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