By Public Affairs Office
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

ZAGREB (May 2, 2016) Dr. Sebastian von Muenchow was invited as a guest speaker at The Institute for Development and International Relations and the Hanns Seidel Foundation round table discussion on “The Main Challenges of Contemporary International Relations” April 29.

According to IRMOs website, the roundtable discussion is part of a series of discussions that contribute to the existing debate about specific themes related to the global, political and security challenges. 

Von Muechow moderated a panel discussion about the governance of small states and Croatia’s role in global affairs.  Prague’s Libor Roucek, the former Vice President of the European Parliament, was a participant in this panel.

“One main takeaway was that any further EU accession by states in southeast Europe should not be understood as an end-state in itself. Implementation of EU standards will continue far beyond accession. In this regard politicians should refrain from promises to the population, which may lead to frustration and the raise of populist movements,” said von Muechow.

He also said that there were familiar faces at the Zagreb round table event that made him feel welcomed.

“I was again glad to see how many participants were GCMC alumni, dating back to when the center first opened in the early 1990s. Since then, many have become ambassadors, department heads and alike in the Central/Eastern and South Eastern European hemisphere. Others are frequent guest lecturers in Garmisch,” said von Muenchow.