Secretary-General of the European Parliament: Europe's Response to Russia's War on Ukraine

Klaus Welle, Secretary-General of the European Parliament
Moderated by Serhii Plokhii, Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History; Director, HURI

Hybrid Event

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Klaus Welle, Secretary General of the European Parliament, will talk about the politics of Russia's war on Ukraine and of Europe's response to date - looking at why President Putin launched the war, what he hopes to achieve both in Europe and in shifting the wider geopolitical balance, how the war is already changing the institutions and policies of the European Union, and what the implications are for the future of Transatlantic relations. After opening remarks, he will be happy to take questions on the Ukraine war and other aspects of contemporary European politics.

About the Speaker

Klaus Welle has been Secretary General of the European Parliament, a key administrative post in the European Union political system in Brussels , since 2009. He previously served as chief of staff to the President of the European Parliament, as Director General for EU Internal Policies in the Parliament's administration, and as Secretary General successively of the (center-right) European People's Party (EPP) transnational political party and of the EPP political group in the European Parliament. Mr Welle started his career as a banker and then became head of European and foreign policy at the headquarters of the CDU party in Germany, working closely with then Chancellor Helmut Kohl. He is also a visiting professor in European politics at KU Leuven University in Belgium.

Moderated by: Serhii Plokhii, Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History in the Department of History at Harvard University and Director of Harvard's Ukrainian Research Institute