On the occasion of his official visit to Germany and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will deliver a keynote address at the Hertie School to lay out his vision for a greener, safer and freer Europe.
Just over a year has passed since Russia invaded Ukraine. This event marked a watershed moment, or as it was put by the German Government, a “Zeitenwende” which prompted almost every European country to rethink their foreign and energy policies. In his keynote address, Prime Minister Kristersson will not only remind European countries to stand with Ukraine and spell out the crucial role of German and Swedish support for Ukraine. He will also argue that modern Europe was built on the principles of free competition, common rules and a level playing field – ideals that stand in contrast to the developments of the last fifteen years. To move forward, Europe needs to build the foundations for a more competitive and greener European economy.
Agenda:
- 11:00 am: Welcome and opening remarks by Cornelia Woll, President of the Hertie School
- 11:05 am: Keynote address by Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden
- 11:30 am: Moderated Q&A with Luuk van Middelaar, Founder of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics and Professor of EU Law at Leiden University
- 12:15 pm: End of event
This is a public event free of charge, but you need to register for access. Please bring a piece of Identification upon entering.
Speakers
Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden
Ulf Hjalmar Ed Kristersson (born 29 December 1963) is a Swedish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Sweden since October 2022. He has been the leader of the Moderate Party (M) since October 2017 and a member of the Riksdag (MP) for Södermanland County since 2014 and for Stockholm County from 1991 to 2000. He previously served as Minister for Social Security from 2010 to 2014 and as Chairman of the Moderate Youth League from 1988 to 1992.
Luuk van Middelaar
Luuk van Middelaar (1973) is a political theorist and historian. He is Professor of EU Law at Leiden University and a political commentator for NRC Handelsblad. The author of the prizewinning book The Passage to Europe, more recently he has published Alarums & Excursions: Improvising Politics on the European Stage (2019) and Pandemonium (2021), all available in multiple languages, as well as Le Réveil géopolitique de l’Europe (2022) in French. Van Middelaar published his first book Politicide in 1999. He was also the chief speechwriter and a close advisor to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy (2010-2014), and is a member of the Dutch Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV). In 2022, he founded the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics.
Cornelia Woll
Prof. Dr. Cornelia Woll is President of the Hertie School and Professor of International Political Economy. Woll came to the Hertie School in 2022 from Sciences Po in Paris, where she had served in many roles since 2006, including President of the Academic Board, Professor of Political Science, and Co-Director of the Max Planck Sciences Po Center. She has been a visiting professor at Goethe University Frankfurt and Harvard University. Woll holds a habilitation in political science from the University of Bremen (2013), a bi-national PhD from Sciences Po and the University of Cologne (2005), and an MA and a BA in international relations and political science from the University of Chicago.
