The 20th annual international security conference, GLOBSEC Forum 2025, took place in Prague, Czech Republic, from June 12 to 13, 2025. More than 2,000 participants from 78 countries, 260 top speakers, and 51 political delegations attended. The conference program reflected global changes in international affairs and Europe’s growing responsibility in shaping the world’s future.
The forum was opened by the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, together with Róbert Vass, the founding President of this Slovak/international organization. In his opening speech, the Czech President underscored the need for greater European responsibility in strategic issues of European security, given the changing American role in European security.
According to media reports from the conference, a central theme resonating across individual panels was the necessity to reform the current system of international relations. This reform would better reflect new geopolitical and economic challenges. Modernizing the multilateral system is no longer a matter of preference, but a necessity. The forum’s message is that Europe must be ready to act.
Against geopolitical threats and pressure on key industries, participants stressed the need for defense financing, rearmament, and investment in strategic industries, including Europe’s technological sovereignty. A crucial topic involved defining the relationship between the public and private sectors, with the private sector needing to be an equal partner of the state in implementing its policies and strengthening its economic power.
The centrality of technology stands as a key issue for future power and influence. On Ukraine, one of the main topics of the forum, participants reaffirmed its European component and the commitment to support it with investments in the defense industry and in the country’s reconstruction. They also focused on the future of transatlantic relations, strengthening Europe, and increasing defense spending. Europe must adapt to the new reality and innovate.
The discussion also covered other issues of global security, climate and energy resilience. According to Daniel Braun, CEO of GLOBSEC, the crises we face are global, as are the solutions. It is therefore essential that words translate into actions.
According to Miroslav Wlachovský, former Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, it involved three days of intensive discussions about the most serious challenges facing Europe, the collective West, the international order, and human civilization itself.
