Against the background of the massive tensions in the Ukraine crisis, the Munich Security Conference starts this Friday. Among the most prominent speakers over the next three days will be Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. For the first time since 1991, Russia is not represented by an official delegation.
The opening statement was given by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “There is no alternative to diplomacy,” he said, referring to the Ukraine crisis. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her US colleague Antony Blinken will speak in the afternoon on Friday. Several other federal ministers are also coming to Munich: Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, Development Minister Svenja Schulze and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir. In this blog you can see the most important speeches live.
Around 30 heads of state and government are taking part in the world’s most important meeting of experts on security policy, as well as more than 80 ministers. The event in the luxury hotel Bayerischer Hof takes place under strict Corona conditions. Instead of the usual more than 2000 participants, this time only 600 are admitted. They all have to be vaccinated and take a daily PCR test.