Garcevic Speaks at European Horizons Conference
Ambassador Vesko Garcevic, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was a panelist at a European Horizons Conference at Yale University on March 31, 2018. The event was organized by the student think tank European Horizons from the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University, the European Parliament and the Schwarzman Scholars.
The panel on European Security was moderated by United Sates Ambassador and Senior Fellow at the Jackson Institute Rosemary Di Carlo, who was recently appointed the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. The panel included prominent speakers such as the former Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Yuriy Sergeyev, former Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Bakradze and senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation Gene Germanovich.
Examining the major challenges for the Common European Defense and Security Policy, Amb. Garcevic discussed relations between the European Union and NATO, and EU military capabilities including efforts to establish a European army. While he underlined the need for the EU to play a more autonomous role in the field of defense, Amb. Garcevic posed a question about the character of a possible EU army and how it would compliment with NATO. While supporting the more robust EU defense posture, many EU members don’t support trajectory that may challenge the existing NATO structure.
Particular attention was given to security challenges emanating from Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Georgia, and the Balkans) and the role of Russia in the European affairs. Against this backdrop, the panelists underscored the relevance of the Euro-Atlantic bond and continuing intensive cooperation between the U.S. and Europe.
During his diplomatic career, Amb. Vesko Garcevic dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School.