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Bled Strategic Forum: Europe’s Dependencies and the Need for a New European Patriotism
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Bled Strategic Forum: Europe’s Dependencies and the Need for a New European Patriotism

Professor Loukas Tsoukalis participated in the 2026 Bled Strategic Forum, held in Bled, Slovenia, on 31 August–1 September 2026. As part of the Forum, he took part in the panel discussion entitled “The Age of Multi-Alignment: From Rules to Power Politics”, alongside Charles Powell, Director of the Elcano Royal Institute; Grégoire Roos, Director of the Europe and Russia and Eurasia Programmes at Chatham House; Jernej Pikalo, Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Ljubljana and Samir Saran, President of the Observer Research Foundation, India.
He also contributed an article to the Bled Strategic Times, the official gazette of the Bled Strategic Forum organized by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
In his article, Loukas Tsoukalis reflects on the major global disruptions reshaping the international environment, Europe’s multiple and growing dependencies, and the challenges these pose for Europe and the European project. He argues for the need to rethink Europe’s position in a rapidly changing world and calls for a new form of European patriotism capable of strengthening Europe’s resilience, unity and capacity to act.
You can read the article here.
You can view the video of the discussion here (from 01.12:18” – 02.11:50”)
Yerevan Dialogue 2026
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Yerevan Dialogue 2026

Professor Loukas Tsoukalis, participated in the Yerevan Dialogue 2026, held on 5–6 May 2026 in Yerevan. The forum coincided with the annual meeting of the European Political Community and the first EU–Armenia summit, bringing together numerous heads of state and government. The Yerevan Dialogue 2026 opened with speeches by President Macron and Mr Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia.

Professor Tsoukalis moderated the discussion on ‘Reinforcing Democracy in the Face of Contemporary Challenges’, which was held to mark the 25th anniversary of Armenia’s accession to the Council of Europe. The discussion focused on the challenges currently confronting democracies, which include geopolitical instability, hybrid threats, disinformation, and the weakening of multilateral cooperation.

Professor Tsoukalis also participated as a panellist in a session exploring Armenia’s relationship with Europe and the prospects for further EU enlargement. The panel examined issues such as the European Union’s strategic approach to enlargement, forms of differentiated integration, and the political and geopolitical challenges affecting the enlargement process and Armenia’s position within the European architecture.

Speaker at the Centenary Conference of the Academy of Athens
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Speaker at the Centenary Conference of the Academy of Athens

Professor Loukas Tsoukalis, participated as a speaker at the centenary conference marking 100 years of the Academy of Athens, held on March 31 under the theme “Governance: National Re-hierarchisations – International Constraints.” Mr. Tsoukalis spoke in the second panel alongside Konstantinos Papanikolas, Emeritus Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Founding President of the Cyprus Institute and founding member of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, and Panos Tsakloglou, Professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business, former Deputy Minister and member of the Monetary Policy Council of the Bank of Greece, under the moderation of journalist Xenia Kounalaki.
The discussion highlighted geopolitical shifts, the technological revolution, and climate change as key factors reshaping the policy-making landscape.
Mr. Tsoukalis emphasized that a defining feature of our time is that major problems are increasingly acquiring a global dimension, while politics remains primarily a national affair. This contradiction—and the constraints it imposes—is felt more acutely by smaller countries, whose choices are more limited. Yet democracy without choices cannot exist.
He further noted that globalization is now being instrumentalized by the major powers—primarily Trump’s America—while existing rules are being dismantled and replaced by the law of the strongest.
Regarding Europe, Loukas Tsoukalis pointed out that Europeans were not prepared for such a world. The European Union is now facing an existential threat, appearing hesitant and fearful, with weak leadership at the level of European institutions and, in most cases, weak national governments.
Starting a new year at Sciences Po in Paris
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Starting a new year at Sciences Po in Paris

Another year teaching the course ‘Europe’s Coming of Age’ at Sciences Po in Paris. Many students, great interest in the challenges facing Europe today.

Europe in an era of great upheaval: Can the EU avoid being marginalized?
Καθημερινή
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Europe in an era of great upheaval: Can the EU avoid being marginalized?

Loukas Tsoukalis and Tassos Giannitsis examine strategic directions Europe must take if it is to survive in an era of profound upheaval. The authors stress the urgent need for strong, decisive and visionary political leadership, with leaders willing to take risks, fight difficult battles and win them with a view to establishing the EU as a fully-fledged political and geostrategic actor

Click to read the article.

Moderation of a closed discussion with Η.Ε. Ms. Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova
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Moderation of a closed discussion with Η.Ε. Ms. Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova

On 15 December, ELIAMEP, in collaboration with the Delphi Economic Forum, hosted a closed roundtable discussion, moderated by Professor Loukas Tsoukalis, on the occasion of the working visit to Athens of H.E. Ms. Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova.

The event was held at the Athens Club and brought together policymakers, as well as members of the diplomatic, business, and academic communities, for a substantive exchange on  foreign and security policy, hybrid and conventional threats, enlargement, defence and bilateral cooperation.

 

Speaker at the “Conference for the Eastern Mediterranean”
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Speaker at the “Conference for the Eastern Mediterranean”

Professor Loukas Tsoukalis, participated in a panel on “Conference for the Eastern Mediterranean” at the conference “The Eastern Mediterranean Is Changing”, organized by the newspaper TO VIMA, the Delphi Economic Forum, and the Hellenic Council on Foreign Relations.
Prof. Tsoukalis spoke about the Greek initiative for the Conference on the Mediterranean, which he described as welcome but very difficult to implement. He argued that we should probably keep our expectations modest.
Also speaking on the panel were Giorgos Gerapetritis, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Evangelos Venizelos, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2013–2015), and Professor of Constitutional Law at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Evangelos Apostolakis, Admiral (ret.) and Minister of National Defence (2019); Anna Diamantopoulou, President of “To Diktyo” and former Member of the European Parliament; and Ino Afentouli, Executive Director of the Institute of International Relations (IDIS). The discussion was moderated by Periklis Dimitrolopoulos, Director at TO VIMA.
Watch the video of the speech here.
Loukas Tsoukalis Speaks on “Democracy in the Face of Contemporary Challenges”
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Loukas Tsoukalis Speaks on “Democracy in the Face of Contemporary Challenges”

Professor Loukas Tsoukalis, spoke at a roundtable discussion that concluded the conference: “Democracy in the Face of Contemporary Challenges.”

The conference was organized by the Marangopoulos Foundation on Tuesday, November 25, at the Goethe Institute. The roundtable was chaired by Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou, former President of the Hellenic Republic, and featured the participation of Alexis Papachelas, Editor-in-Chief of Kathimerini newspaper; Giorgos Karavokyris, Associate Professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Law School; and Michalis Pikramenos, President of the Council of State, Professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Law School.

Speaker at the 4th Delphi Economic Forum Brussels
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Speaker at the 4th Delphi Economic Forum Brussels

Professor Loukas Tsoukalis participated in the panel discussion at the 4th Delphi Economic Forum Brussels on “European Foreign Policy in a World of Conflict”. More necessary than ever before, European foreign policy remains however more of an aspiration than a reality. Europe’s coming of age is long overdue.