Riga Security Forum 2025. Podcast sessions

Panel discussion: "Built to Win: Sustainable, Smart, Innovative, and Secure? " during the Riga Security Forum 2025 season closing event.

Guests: Dr. Artis Pabriks, CEO MilTech, Head of Northern Europe Policy centre; Gavin Wilde, Nonresident Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Senior Researcher, LIlA; Jānis Karlsbergs, Head of the Board, Latvian Transatlantic Organisation; and Donata Ketleryte, Researcher, Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC), Lithuania.

Moderator: Dr. Liene Briede, Vice-Rector for Innovation, Riga Technical University.

The Riga Security Forum 2025 is made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Latvian Institute of International Affairs, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Baltic States, Riga Technical university, the Embassies of Poland and Korea in Latvia and Latvian Transatlantic Organisation (LATO). Our media partners for the forum are the Latvian unified news portal lsm.lv and Delfi.lv.

Keynote Panel "Present and Pressing: Challenges and Latvian Security Policy" during the Riga Security Forum 2025 season closing event.

Guest: Prof.Dr. Andris Sprūds, Minister of Defence of Latvia

Moderator: Dr. Kārlis Bukovskis, Director, Latvian Institute of International Affairs.

The Riga Security Forum 2025 is made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Latvian Institute of International Affairs, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Baltic States, Riga Technical university, the Embassies of Poland and Korea in Latvia and Latvian Transatlantic Organisation (LATO). Our media partners for the forum are the Latvian unified news portal lsm.lv and Delfi.lv.

Prof. Dr. Tālis Juhna with Keynote Speech "Techno-Human and Security" during the Riga Security Forum 2025 season closing event.

The Riga Security Forum 2025 is made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Latvian Institute of International Affairs, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Baltic States, Riga Technical university, the Embassies of Poland and Korea in Latvia and Latvian Transatlantic Organisation (LATO). Our media partners for the forum are the Latvian unified news portal lsm.lv and Delfi.lv.

📍This episode explores a central question: how has Russia’s destructive war in Ukraine fundamentally reshaped Europe’s security order, strategic assumptions, and political priorities? The discussion examines how the scale of military devastation, economic coercion, and societal targeting has forced European states to rethink deterrence, defence industrial capacity, and long-term relations with Russia.

The discussion features Aliona Hlivco- Ukrainian-British political scientist; Founder & CEO of St. James's Foreign Policy Group and Juris Ulmanis- National guard; Volunteer in Ukraine; Author. Moderator: Dr. Sandis Šrāders- Board Member, Latvian Transatlantic Organisation, Senior Researcher, Latvian Institute of International Affairs.

📍This episode explores a central question: can Polish–Baltic cooperation in the defence industry move beyond political alignment toward a durable, strategically relevant partnership? The discussion examines how shared threat perceptions, accelerated defence spending, and urgent industrial needs are driving cooperation, while also assessing the practical limits posed by scale, regulation, and competition within Europe’s defence market.

Guest: Malgorzata Darowska- EU Affairs Coordinator, WB Group.

Moderator: Dr. Artis Pabriks, Chairman of the Board, MilTech; Director, Northern Europe Policy Centre.

📍This episode interrogates a central question: can the United States realistically continue acting as Europe’s primary security pacifier, or are growing domestic pressures and political uncertainties forcing a rethink of its long-standing role? The discussion explores how shifts in the U.S. political priorities, questions about sustained defence commitments, and ongoing debates over European burden-sharing are reshaping expectations on both sides of the Atlantic.

Guest: Jason C. Moyer- Nonresident Fellow, Atlantic Council of the United States.

Moderator:  Mārtiņš Vargulis - Director, PowerHouse Latvia; Lecturer, Riga Stradiņš University.

📍This episode interrogates a central question: will Europe be sufficiently prepared to address the security challenges facing the Baltic region before it is too late, or are structural delays creating vulnerabilities that may prove difficult to reverse? The discussion explores how European states interpret the military and hybrid threats posed by Russia, how they assess the effectiveness of NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, and whether allies share a coherent understanding of required defence investments.

Guest: Dr. Viljar Veebel- Expert of Baltic security, University of Tartu and European Council on Foreign Relations.

Moderator: Uģis Lībietis- Head of the News Department, Latvijas Radio; Researcher, Latvian Institute of International Affairs.

📍This episode interrogates a central question: do Europe and the United States perceive contemporary security threats and global responsibilities in comparable ways, or are their strategic outlooks increasingly diverging? It further asks how both sides interpret challenges such as Russian aggression, China’s systemic rise, and emerging technological vulnerabilities, and what these differing assessments mean for defence planning. Finally, the discussion considers whether current debates on burden-sharing, European strategic autonomy, and NATO’s evolving mandate reflect converging expectations- or widening transatlantic asymmetries.

Guests:
Latika M. Burke: Journalist & Author covering geopolitics, national security, and defence; Writer-at-Large for The Nightly via The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC, and 2UE Radio;
Dr. Sandis Šrāders: Senior Researcher, Latvian Institute of International Affairs; Board Member, Latvian Transatlantic Organisation.

Moderator:
Sigita Struberga: Secretary General, Latvian Transatlantic Organisation.

📍 In this episode, we turn our attention to Ukraine. The experts examine Europe’s readiness to fully support Ukraine — politically, militarily, economically, and societally — as the war enters a protracted phase. We explore whether Europe’s defence structures, industrial capacities, and political will are equipped not only to continue providing assistance, but also to prepare for Ukraine’s long-term integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures.

Guests: Amb. Juris Poikāns — Special Envoy for Ukraine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia; Elizabete Elīna Vizgunova-Vikmane — Associate Researcher, Latvian Institute of International Affairs.

Moderator: Sintija Broka-Kovalevska — Senior Researcher, PowerHouse Latvia; Head of the Middle East Research Program, Latvian Institute of International Affairs.

📍 In this episode, we turn our attention to Georgia and the broader South Caucasus region — a crossroads of geopolitics, democracy, and security. We explore the shifting political landscape of the South Caucasus — from democratic reforms and civic movements to external pressures from powerful neighbours and global actors. Through insightful analysis and regional perspectives, this episode examines how the idea of democracy continues to evolve in the South Caucasus — not as a finished project, but as an ongoing struggle for legitimacy, freedom, and identity.

Guest: Nino Kalandadze, Executive Director of the Chavchanadze Center for European Studies and Civic Education. Moderator: Dr. Sandis Šrāders, Senior Researcher, LIIA, Board Member, LATO.