The Georgian Institute of Politics is pleased to announce the launch of the REUNIR project, a Horizon Europe-funded initiative that brings 12 partners from across Europe, including Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and Serbia, for collaboration over the next three years. As a co-lead of Work Package 9, GIP will contribute to REUNIR’s research, dissemination, and advocacy activities.
Amid Russia’s prolonged war in Ukraine and growing concerns about global security, REUNIR aims to explore how the EU can enhance its foreign and security tools to support the resilience and transformation of its candidate countries. Against the backdrop of shifting priorities, divergences in defense spending, and the ever-present threat of foreign interference, this project takes a foresight approach, examining alternative futures and assessing threats to military, socio-economic, and democratic resilience.
On February 22-23, GIP took part in the REUNIR project’s kick-off event in Brussels, hosted by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS). During the meeting, participants reviewed the project’s plan, examined foresight methodology, and discussed the conceptual framework. At the project’s inaugural event, GIP presented REUNIR’s official website www.reunir-horizon.eu, together with the social media channels, and visibility materials to the REUNIR consortium partners.
Internal deliberations were followed by the online lecture by Australia’s former Prime Minister and current Ambassador to the US H.E. Kevin Rudd, author of ‘The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping’s China.’ The discussion provided valuable insights into the current challenges between the US and China and the effect of the tensions on the geopolitical landscape worldwide.
The second day of the project launch started with the REUNIR’s first public event “Staying the course towards EU enlargement in a contested neighborhood”. The roundtable discussion featured distinguished speakers who brought valuable insights to the event: Dr. Michael A. Rupp, The Team Leader for ‘Coordination of Association and Enlargement processes’, DG NEAR, European Commission; Eka Tkeshelashvili, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia; Nikola Dimitrov, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia; Christophe Hillion, Professor, University of Oslo; Zoltan Martinusz, Director, RELEX.3 – Eastern Europe and Asia, Council of the EU. The discussion was moderated by Steven Blockmans, Senior Fellow at CEPS and ICDS, also the Coordinator of the REUNIR Horizon Europe project. The event identified capability shortfalls, gauged local perceptions of the EU’s support, and offered insights into political perspectives inside the EU on neighbourhood relations.
Outlining scenarios of political developments up to 2035, REUNIR will offer evidence-based policy recommendations to mitigate malign foreign interference and strengthen the EU’s external action.
For more information, please visit: https://reunir-horizon.eu/
