Europadag Utrecht

Europe 80 years Peace and Security
How relevant is the Schuman Declaration after 75 years?

The Utrecht Europe Day Committee is organising its annual Europe Day Symposium on Friday 9 May 2025. Due to the radical geopolitical changes, peace and security are the main themes of this symposium. The current prosperity and well-being in Europe are thanks to the international cooperation that began with the Schuman Declaration on 9 May 1950. And security was guaranteed by our membership of NATO under the nuclear umbrella of the USA, ..... or so we believed.

But recently, the US has made it clear that after 76 years, it is high time for Europe to take care of its own security. And this while a war is raging on Europe's eastern flank. Surely we want security for all Europeans? How can we achieve this security and what political and social sacrifices will be necessary? The key question is: What kind of Europe do we want in ten years' time?

We hear and read a lot about defence, diplomacy and hybrid threats. However, security is not just about our personal safety, or ‘human security’. There is also ‘state security’ and ‘value security’. This requires a ‘whole of society approach’ with a ‘whole of government approach’.

The following five speakers will tell us more about the various aspects of the desired security structure for Europe, what is needed to achieve it and how we can realise it:

Dr. S. (Sjeng) Scheijen (Slavicist, writer, Eastern Europe Expert; Is a different, peaceful relationship with the Russian Federation possible, and how can we achieve it?;
Drs. J. (Johannes) de Jong (director of the SALLUX Foundation, the think tank of the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM), on an independent European foreign policy;
Dr. T.P. (Trineke) Palm (director of the Scientific Institute of political party ChristenUnie, lecturer at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); on Europe on the world stage: a security community serving in a changing world order;
KLTZ (SD) C.J. (Caecilia) van Peski Msc. Ma. PgD., Ministry of Defence; on the material and immaterial resilience of society;
Dr. J.E. (Jörg) Noll, associate professor of International Conflict Studies at the Faculty of Military Sciences of the Netherlands Defence Academy (KMA); on ‘Total Defense’ and ‘Whole of Society Approach’, and on EFP (Enhanced Forward Presence) in the Baltic states.

This will be followed by a panel discussion led by Prof. Dr. J.C. (James) Kennedy (Utrecht University, Modern Dutch History). There will be musical accompaniment and sandwiches and soup will be provided.
This initiative was made possible by the Utrecht Platform for Philosophy and Religion (UPLR) and other religious and secular organisations, such as Utrecht University and the University of Humanistic Studies. The symposium will be held in Dutch.