Ukraine, Gaza take centre stage at Munich Security Conference

The annual Munich Security Conference, nicknamed the "Davos of Defence", is underway. Over the next three days, more than 60 heads of state and 85 government officials are gathered in southern Germany to discuss the world's most pressing security concerns.

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Munich Security Conference in Germany, on 16 February 2024. © AP - KAI PFAFFENBACH

Ukraine, Gaza and dozens of topics that threaten global security are packed into a dense agenda, details of which were released just hours before the opening of the conference on Friday.

Global hotspots, such as Israel's war with Hamas and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, will be tackled extensively.

Gaza will features during several discussions on the "de-escalation challenge" in the Middle East, featuring speakers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, followed by a conversation with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

This is followed on Sunday by a town-hall meeting on the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations, where the Palestine Authority's Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh will lock horns with Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli minister of foreign affairs.

'Ukraine in the world'

Ukraine will feature prominently during a panel on the country's recovery plans and a conversation on "Ukraine in the world" featuring its President Volodymy Zelynsky, followed by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg's thoughts on Ukraine's future.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, centre, arrives for the opening session of the Munich Security Conference in southern Germany, on 16 February 2024. © AP / Matthias Schrader

A roundtable on filling Europe's defence production gap will likely tackle the EU's military help to Ukraine, and the knock-on effects on member states' domestic military stockpiles.

Other panel discussions will cover global power blocs, the US, China, Russia and the EU.

Two sessions will highlight the place of the world's two most powerful countries: "The role of the US in the world", with US Vice-President Kamala Harris as speaker, and "China's global ambitions", featuring China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Remembering Navalny

A talk by Russian dissidents Irina Shcherbakova – founder of Memorial, a human rights organisation banned in Moscow – and Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of murdered opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, is likely to focus on the death of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, reported on Friday by Russian prison authorities.

• France says Navalny paid with his life for resisting 'oppression'

His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, was already in Munich for the conference and received a standing ovation as she made a defiant appearance despite the announcement.

Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, attends the Munich Security Conference on February 16, 2024, the day it was announced that Navalny was dead. © Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters

A possible European "defence union" will be discussed with EU president Ursula von der Leyen and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is also a candidate for NATO's next secretary general.

Possible EU expansion will be tackled in a separate panel with speakers from Georgia and Ukraine as well as Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron.

• Shaping the future: What's at stake in the 2024 EU elections?

Other topics on the agenda include food insecurity, disinformation (with Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa), climate change, water security, corruption and artificial intelligence.

Fears of climate change, migration, terrorism

Ahead of the conference, organisers published the latest Munich Security Index, which aims to gauge the public's mood on security issues in several countries.

According to this year's index, people seem to be worrying less about the war in Ukraine. "The threat from Russia and related risks still rank considerably higher than in 2021, but compared to last year, they have dropped in the risk index," according to the report.

The Munich Security Index, a part of #MSCReport 2024, is now live.

Powered by research from @KekstCNC, the Index tracks global risk perceptions across 32 parameters to provide insight on how countries see an increasingly volatile world.

Full Index here: https://t.co/RmlErj1dIg pic.twitter.com/PfonKchaxa

— Kekst CNC (@KekstCNC) February 12, 2024

"Meanwhile, perceptions of non-traditional risks remain high," it says. 

"People around the world continue to be most concerned about environmental threats, while risk perceptions of mass migration as a result of war or climate change, Islamic terrorism, and organised crimes have heightened," according to the poll.

Security surrounding the venue of this weekend's conference is high, with Munich city police expecting some 20 different demonstrations protesting the meeting and its participants.