Security Conference opens with Ukraine and China but no Russia

On Friday, the German city of Munich will host its annual security conference, bringing together top politicians, defence specialists and contributors to both sides of the war in Ukraine. Russia will not be represented.

Last year's edition of the annual Munich Security Conference. © AP - Michael Probst

Moscow has not been invited to this year's Munich Security Conference (MSC).

"We didn’t invite official representatives from Russia because we don't want the Munich Security Conference to serve as a podium for Russian propaganda," says Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, MSC's Chairman, speaking in an interview with Politico.

This year's Munich Security Report, a publication that coincides with the conference, laments that "the world’s liberal democracies are awakening to the challenges posed by autocratic revisionists" in countries like Russia, China and North Korea.

Map showing NATO's expansion in Europe since its creation in 1952. Countries in green, orange and yellow were in the Soviet sphere of influence before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Countries in blue are NATO's original members. © Patrickneil, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The MSC was founded in 1963 by a former German resistance fighter, Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist Schmenzin, with the aim of preventing global conflict.

Initially, only representatives from Western countries took part, but since 1999, the conference has welcomed political and military delegates from Central and Eastern Europe as well as from India, Japan and the People's Republic of China.

This year, as the first anniversary of the Ukraine invasion approaches, there is no place for the Kremlin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin during his speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007, the moment Russia marked its distance from the West. © DMITRY ASTAKHOV / POOL / AFP

Russia's invasion of Ukraine took place just a week before the 2022 Munich Security Conference, and the war will obviously be at the centre of discussions this year. 

According to the official website, the idea behind the Munich conference is not to "lecture or ignore one another". Guests are instead encouraged to "engage with and learn from each other".

Common ground?

"We will have a very strong US executive and legislative delegation, German, Ukrainian and European participation," according to Heusgen, with US Vice-President Kamela Harris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the EU Presidency taking part.

Heusgen points to the presence of a substantial Chinese delegation lead by China's State Councillor Wang Yi, chief of Beijing's diplomacy.

"China is watching very carefully what happens with Ukraine," according to Heusgen. "I'm very happy that the Chinese agreed to attend Munich and that we keep them in discussions. Let’s see if we can’t find some common ground for foreign policy."

• France and China have 'same objective' on peace in Ukraine
• Western allies and Japan unite to face threat posed by China, Russia

Before heading to Munich, Wang was in Paris where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron, after which both "expressed the same objective of contributing to peace in accordance with international law".

The Elysée Palace said that Macron would address the MSC and discuss how to “ensure Russia’s defeat” in Ukraine as well as future “mechanisms” to uphold peace in Europe.

Travel disruption

Meanwhile, it is not clear how many of the participants will actually reach the MSC.

Over 700 passenger flights will be cancelled at Munich airport on Friday, the first day of the conference, as the result of a strike by ground and security staff.

Air traffic at the airports of Frankfurt and Munich were already hampered earlier this week as a result of what was described as " a major IT outage caused by construction work".