{"id":53109,"date":"2025-10-30T14:32:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T11:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/?post_type=activity&#038;p=53109"},"modified":"2025-10-30T14:32:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T11:32:19","slug":"i-geniki-diefthyntria-tou-eliamep-sto-symvoulio-diethnon-ypotheseon-tou-sikago","status":"publish","type":"activity","link":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/activity\/eliameps-director-general-at-the-chicago-council-on-global-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"ELIAMEP\u2019S Director General at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"the-content\"><p>On 22 October 2025, Elena Lazarou participated in the panel <strong><em>\u201cEast Meets West: Europe, Eurasia, and the Shifting Geopolitical Landscape\u201d<\/em><\/strong>, hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in Chicago. The event brought together a high-level group of speakers\u2014including Alexander Cooley, <em>Nonresident Senior Fellow, Eurasia Affairs<\/em>, Liana Fix, S<em>enior Fellow for Europe, Council on Foreign Relations<\/em>, and Rachel Rizzo, <em>Nonresident Senior Fellow, Europe Center, Atlantic Council, <\/em>moderated by Leslie Vinjamuri, <em>President &amp; Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Council on Global Affairs,<\/em> to examine how the war in Ukraine is reshaping power dynamics across Europe, Eurasia, and the broader international order.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/globalaffairs.org\/\">Chicago Council on Global Affairs<\/a> is a leading US-based think tank dedicated to fostering informed debate on global issues and strengthening international cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>The speakers examined how the war in Ukraine has redrawn European and transatlantic geopolitical visions and priorities. The discussion explored diverging threat perceptions across Europe, the speed and scope of Europe\u2019s energy decoupling, developments in EU defence, NATO\u2019s credibility as a deterrent, and the future of European engagement across its neighbourhood\u2014from Georgia and Moldova to Central Asia. The conversation also turned outward to the Global South, questioning the limits of European influence and what Europe\u2019s response to shifting power dynamics should look like.<\/p>\n<p>In her remarks, Dr. Elena Lazarou, Director General of ELIAMEP, focused on the need for strategic coherence across EU member states, and for the EU to move forward taking into consideration security concerns across its member states, competitiveness challenges and the recalibration of its international relations, including with the United States.\u00a0 She emphasised that strategic autonomy does not mean isolation, but the capacity to act decisively alongside partners. Reflecting on NATO\u2019s recent commitment to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, she noted that Europe\u2019s autonomy today involves both strengthening its own defence capabilities and remaining a reliable partner to the US. She also highlighted the need to sustain commitments economically and politically, ensuring public support and policy consistency, including continued aid to Ukraine. In closing, she emphasized\u00a0 the importance of clarity of purpose and unity of action, acting with vision rather than only in reaction to crises.<\/p>\n<p>The visit was also an opportunity to lay the groundwork for future collaboration between ELIAMEP and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the full discussion <a href=\"https:\/\/globalaffairs.org\/events\/east-meets-west-europe-eurasia-and-shifting-geopolitical-landscape\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":53110,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"program":[20],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity\/53109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/activity"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=53109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}