I am honored to have been able to take part this week in the Warsaw Security Forum, that annual context of foreign and security policy dialogue where we feel, as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated, that “We are all part of the eastern flank.”

Opened by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Ukrainian President Zelensky, the forum gave me the opportunity to meet both old and new friends and collaborators, especially enjoying the gathering with my fellow Romanians who represent us with dignity and professionalism in regional and European debates regarding the future of continental security architecture (in particular Romanian women – a necessary addition to ensure the utmost rigor!).

Among all the meaningful moments of this week, I most valued the opportunity to participate in the roundtable organized by the Ditchley Foundation on the European Union’s relations with China.

Beyond the heated debates between Europeans and Americans, one necessary conclusion emerges: the Union lacks a strategy for managing its complex relationship with Beijing. The tripartite approach toward China (defining this actor in relation to the EU as simultaneously a cooperation partner, an economic competitor, and a systemic rival) is generous conceptually, but it cannot substitute for a precise strategy that would indicate in what proportions, and in which sectors, China is considered a partner, a competitor, or a rival.

I introduced into the discussion another dilemma to watch in the immediate future: the role of China in Ukraine, in light of the proposal that Beijing might send peacekeeping troops (a proposal suggested by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and not yet commented upon by the White House), as well as its willingness to be involved in the reconstruction project. A necessary question remains: could Beijing’s involvement in post-war Ukraine keep Moscow from instrumentalizing a new conflict in the region within just a few years, or would such involvement be impossible for Euro-Atlantic allies to support, given the decisive assistance that China provides to the Russian Federation’s war machine, combined with Beijing’s ambitions to consolidate complex interdependencies with Europe, which in a few years could limit our policy autonomy in asserting ourselves in bilateral dialogue?

I was also honored to listen to the last legitimately elected president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, tirelessly presenting the Georgian people’s vocation to be part of the great European family and thus to free themselves from under the yoke of the Russian Federation. The West’s lack of responsiveness in its relationship with Georgia over the past decade is unacceptable and a key source of insecurity in our Black Sea region.

Congratulations to the amazing team at Casimir Pulaski Foundation for another memorable event!