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WUB Hub conference

EU Integration Prospects for Ukraine and Belarus: Assessing the Future


28th June 2024, 11:00 - 19:00 BST

RUSI - Royal United Services Institute, 61 Whitehall SW1A 2ET

About the Conference

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine brought severe security, political and societal challenges to eastern Europe, demanding a constructive response from the European Union, the United Kingdom, and others.

The invasion has hastened Ukraine’s EU accession prospects, while the Belarusian democracy movement has made a clear choice in favour of an EU future. The Warwick Ukraine-Belarus Hub’s high-profile international conference on 28 June 2024 in London will bring together decision-makers, officials and scholarly experts to advance the crucial debate on both countries’ futures.

The conference will be a special opportunity for participants to exchange novel ideas, challenge existing thinking, and advance the key strategic discussions. It will showcase novel research and facilitate network-building. We are glad to invite you to this unique event.

For more information about the research we do at the Warwick Ukraine-Belarus (WUB) Hub, please visit here.

Conference Agenda

[agenda subject to change; the below lists confirmed speakers as of 20 June 2024]

11.00 - 12:00 Emerging opportunities to unite Ukrainian and free-Belarusian efforts to work towards a joint European future: in conversation with John Smith Fellows

Moderator: Artem Shaipov, John Smith Trust Fellows' Council

Palina Brodik (online)

Kateryna Musiienko

Maryia Sadouskaya-Komlach

Yuliya Shaipova

12.00-12.45 Networking Lunch

12.45 - 13.15 Keynote Speeches

Virginijus Sinkevicius, Commissioner of the European Union (online from Brussels)

Katarina Mathernova, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine (online from Kyiv)

Franak Viachorka, Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Elena Korosteleva, Professor of Politics and Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick  

13.15 - 14.45 Panel 1- Ukraine’s Pathway to the EU: Challenges & Opportunities

Moderator: Paul Hansbury, Research Fellow, University of Warwick

Kataryna Wolczuk, Professor of Politics, University of Birmingham

Vlad Mykhnenko, Associate Professor, St Peter's College, University of Oxford

Iva Merheim-Eyre, Project Manager, Habitat for Humanity International 

Maryna Yaroshevych, European Integration Programme Director, Ukrainian Prism

Andrius Kubilius, Member of the European Parliament

14.45-15.00 Coffee Break

15.00-16.30 Panel 2 - Belarus’s Prospects for EU Integration: Challenges & Opportunities

Moderator: Victoria Leukavets, Stockholm Centre for East European Studies

Alena Kudzko, Vice President for Policy and Programming, GLOBSEC

Hanna Liubakova, Non-residential Fellow at the Atlantic Council

Victor Shadurski, Professor and formerly Dean of IR Faculty, BSU (in exile)

Dzianis Kuchynski, Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Alesia Rudnik, Director, Center for New Ideas

16.30-16.45 - Comfort Break

16.45-17.45 VIP Roundtable - Ways forward for Ukraine and Belarus: Building on the Past Lessons

Moderator: Elena Korosteleva, University of Warwick and Tatsiana Chulitskaya, Senior Researcher IIRPS and WUB-hub Research Fellow

Hanna Shelest, Security Studies Programme Director, Ukrainian Prism

Franak Viachorka, Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Miriam Lexmann, Member of the European Parliament

Dirk Schuebel, Special Envoy for the Eastern Partnership, European External Action Service

17.45-18.00 Closing remarks: Elena Korosteleva, Paul Hansbury and Tatsiana Chulitskaya

18.00-19.00 Networking Reception

Registration Now Closed (9:30am 27.06.24)