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The following text has been machine translated from the German with no human editing.
In her speech on the state of the EU in 2025, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered a call for European unity in the face of global crises. Europe must defend its values, democracies and freedoms – in a world where many influential powers are divided or hostile to one another. This requires greater responsibility in defence, technology and energy. But there is a lack of political unity: discussions on the new financial framework, the war in Ukraine, trade issues, migration and the Green Deal have so far shown little agreement. So how can Europe remain capable of action in the face of multiple crises? Will more cooperation lead to a solution? And how willing to compromise and reach agreement are large Member States such as Germany and France, despite their own challenges?
Moderated by Prof. Dr Ulrich Brückner (member of the European Commission's EUROPE DIRECT Speakers' Pool Team), this topic will be discussed by Karoline Gil (Co-Chair of the Baden-Württemberg Regional Forum of the German Council on Foreign Relations and member of the Executive Board of the German Association for Eastern European Studies), Prof. Dr Nicolas Hubé (professor and director of the Centre Interdisciplinaire d'Etudes et de la Recherche sur l'Allemagne CIERA, Université de Lorraine) and Prof. Dr Joachim Schild (professor of political science/comparative government, University of Trier) will discuss this topic.
Uwe Conradt, Lord Mayor of the state capital Saarbrücken, will give a welcoming address at the start of the event.
The Europe Podium will discuss current issues in the Franco-German and European context from an interdisciplinary perspective.
The event is organised by the Centre for Franco-German Relations at Saarland University, the ASKO Europe Foundation, the European Academy Otzenhausen and the EUROPE DIRECT Centre of the state capital Saarbrücken, in partnership with the Cluster for European Research (CEUS) at Saarland University, the European Movement Saarland, the Goethe-Institut Nancy and the Institut d'Études Françaises Saarbrücken.
Please register by 28 January 2026 : https://forms.office.com/e/qU5xr107tc
Europe Panel:
Thursday, 29 January 2026, 6.30 p.m.; followed by drinks
Festsaal Rathaus St. Johann, Rathausplatz 1, 66111 Saarbrücken
Further information: https://www.uni-saarland.de/einrichtung/frz/aktuell/europa-podium-2026-35861.html
Contact:
Dr. Judith Lamberty
Geschäftsführerin
Frankreichzentrum – Pôle France der Universität des Saarlandes
E-Mail: judith.lamberty@uni-saarland.de