The lands between the Baltic and the Black Seas are once again at the forefront of securing democracy and freedom in Europe. This time around, the threats are more diverse and ambiguous than the Soviet tanks of the past. Our adversaries, primarily Russia and increasingly China, continue their attempts at subverting our democratic institutions and societies. Their toolkit ranges from now-familiar disinformation campaigns to cyberattacks, from political warfare to corruption, as they use economic leverage, energy dependence, and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities to coerce, bribe, or corrupt business and political elites.
Canada and its allies need to pay closer attention to this region, which can be seen as a canary in the coal mine for the security and prosperity of Europe and by extension the transatlantic community, including Canada. We need to ensure the resilience of democratic societies in the region, confront and counter our adversaries’ attempts at subversion, and deal with intra-alliance challenges to secure our societies, ensure our prosperity, and defend our values.
This panel brought together notable experts to discuss what Canada is doing, could do, and should do to meet these challenges to the eastern flank of the transatlantic community.
Speakers
- Roman Waschuk, former Ambassador of Canada to the Ukraine
- Jill Sinclair, Canadian Representative to the Ukraine Defence Reform Advisory Board
- Christian Leuprecht, Munk Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute
- Marcus Kolga, Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute
