The Workshop on European Issues 2026, organised by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung at Villa La Collina in Cadenabbia, Italy, on 16–19 July 2026, brought together 21 experts, academics, and practitioners from 12 countries representing politics, security, business, academia, and European affairs. Over four days, participants explored key challenges facing Europe, including security, demography, artificial intelligence, competitiveness, enlargement, and the EU’s geopolitical role. Moving away from traditional panel formats, the workshop was structured around collaborative, AI-supported scenario-planning exercises and working groups aimed at developing practical and actionable policy responses to future European and global developments. Elena Lazarou participated as part of the security team, alongside a dedicated team of security and defense specialists, inter alia from the German and Swedish Armed Forces; The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, Netherlands; Elcano Royal Institute, Spain; the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Zryw Foundation, Poland.
