Hamburg-Vigoni Talks – #4 The EU as a sovereign security actorwith Prof. Dr. Kirsten Schmalenbach and Prof. Dr. Ursula Schröder

1 December 2020

In the fourth Hamburg-Vigoni Talk, Prof. Dr. Kirsten Schmalenbach and Prof. Dr. Ursula Schröder focused on European security and defense policy. Kirsten Schmalenbach is a professor of international and European law at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, and among other roles, she is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for European Law at the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ursula Schröder is the Scientific Director of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH) and a professor of political science at the University of Hamburg.

The thematic emphasis of the fourth Hamburg-Vigoni Talk initially centered around the concept of strategic autonomy and its significance for sovereignty. Building on this, Kirsten Schmalenbach and Ursula Schröder specifically discussed the current situation of European security and defense policy, ultimately addressing the relationship between an autonomous European security architecture and the NATO framework.

The "Hamburg-Vigoni Talks" is a discussion format within the Hamburg-Vigoni Forum. The series aims to relate the thematic focuses of the forum - space, sovereignty, and identity - to current political topics and further promote the desired connection between politics and research. The intention is not a theoretical discussion of complex topoi but rather an accessible discussion of their actual significance in political practice.

The conversations primarily take place among the scientists from the organizing institutions of the forum and are conducted in an interdisciplinary manner. To avoid a monoperspective view, the circle of speakers is not limited to the academic field but occasionally includes individuals with practical political backgrounds.