The High Level Petersburg Dialogue between Russia and Germany: Introducing an Arctic Panel

For the first time in the tradition of the High Level Meetings between Russia and Germany in the well established Petersburg Dialogue organized by the Adenauer Foundation a partner also to the EU Arctic Forum, a special panel on the Arctic was introduced and opened by Steffen Weber, Secretary General of the EU Arctic Forum. Also for the first time Norwegian participants were invited to this special forum.

“The future of German-Russian-Central Asian Energy, Foreign and Security Policy” – 5th Future Forum Wackerbarth 6-8. June 2012

Following the tradition of high level meetings in the Petersburg Dialogue established by President Putin and former Chancellor Schröder, this years meeting from June 6 to June 8 brought together a group of about 40 politicians, scientists and entrepreneurs on “Perspectives of German-Russian, Central Asian Partnership on energy security, foreign policy” at the beautiful castle of Wackerbarth near Dresden. Since 2008, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation organized the forum in cooperation with the Petersburg Dialogue Association and the Center for social conservative policies of the German-Russian Forum.

For the first time the Petersburg Dialogue included a special panel on the Arctic, which was opened by Steffen Weber of the EU Arctic Forum, and for the for the first time Norwegian participants were invited to this special forum.

The President of the Saxon State Parliament, Dr. Matthias Roessler together with the Parliamentary Forum of Central and Eastern Europe, welcomed the participants from Germany, Russia, Norway, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan with the words “A better place than Saxons could not have be given for such a future forum on these issues, said the President of the Parliament, because Saxony has always been a bridge between the West and the East of our common continent of Europe.”

Steffen Weber, Secretary General EUAF and Jens Paulus, Director Europe and North America Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation

Four panels addressed the questions of the Eurasian Union in relation to the EU-Russia partnership, of security challenges for Europe and Central Asia as well as energy resources and the consequences of energy policy in Germany. On this year’s anniversary event, a particular focus was on the commodity sphere of the Arctic which was one of the truly hot topics of the meeting.Participants included leading politicians and state officials from Russia and Germany, both on federal and regional level, CEO’s and business association leaders, academics from several institutes and think tanks and NGO’s from Russia, Germany, Central Asian countries and Norway.

Prof. Rudolf Dolzer, Deutsch-Russisches Rohstoff Forum, Dr. Matthias Rößler, President of the Parliament of Saxony, Steffen Weber, Secretary General EUAF, Klaus Jürgen Hedrich, fmr state secretary, Klaus Georg Wellmann, MP, Vice Chair of the CDU/CSU group on foreign affairs

An introductory information on European and German interest and engagement in the Arctic, by Steffen Weber of the EUAF can be read in the recent issue of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Auslandsinformation, available both in German and English.