Conversations on the future of Europe in the world.
Around 30 countries and territories, stretching from Africa’s Atlantic coast to the Khyber Pass, constitute the wider neighbourhood of the European Union to the South. The area includes a number of regions and sub-regions, including the Sahel, the Maghreb, the Red Sea Region, the Levant and the Arabian peninsula. Iran and Afghanistan, whilst not in the immediate neighbourhood, are close enough to be also of consequence. Increasingly events in the southern neighbourhood are of interest and concern to European citizens. Very often the region is considered through a negative and narrow lens, associated with specific issues, such as migration, radicalisation and conflict. But interaction between Europe and this mega region are not new, and are much more complex and multifaceted. Suffice to say that of the 30 or so countries and territories in Europe’s neighbourhood south, only Saudi Arabia was never colonised by a European country in recent history.
LINKS Europe in collaboration with The City of The Hague, hosted the second in a series of events entitled ‘Conversations on the future of Europe in the world’ on Thursday, 28 October 2021,

The moderator of the event, Mr Jesse van Velzen, welcomed participants on behalf of the International office of The City of the Hague and LINKS Europe and introduced the topic: The EU and its southern neighbourhood: the need for open minds, open ears, and open eyes.

The first part of the conversation consisted of a panel discussion chaired by Mr van Velzen. The panel consisted of Dr Dennis Sammut, Director of LINKS Europe; Dr Sylvia Bergh, Associate Professor of Development Management and Governance at Erasmus University’s International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), and Senior Researcher at the Centre of Expertise on Global Governance, The Hague University of Applied Sciences; and Mr Tristan Ober, Policy Officer for Radicalisation and Polarisation at The City of The Hague.