H.S.H. Hereditary Prince Alois von und zu Liechtenstein and Foreign Minister Dominique Hasler at the Munich Security Conference

Vaduz (ots) -

At the Munich Security Conference (MSC), the highest-ranking representatives of global foreign and defense policy met from February 17-19, 2023, to exchange views on current security issues. Liechtenstein was represented for the first time by H.S.H. Hereditary Prince Alois von und zu Liechtenstein, who attended the conference together with Foreign Minister Dominique Hasler.

The Munich Security Conference, which has been held since 1963, is one of the world's leading platforms for security issues, bringing together more than 400 high-ranking decision-makers from politics, the military, the Economic Affairs Division, the media and civil society every year. As a result, the Ukraine war, which is coming to an end immediately after the conference, and the changing global security situation as a result were also the main topics of the conference. The transatlantic partnership and the increasingly close cooperation between the U.S. and the EU on security issues formed the basis for a number of panel discussions and side events.

The Liechtenstein delegation also used the conference for a number of bilateral working meetings, including with the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, the President of Slovenia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, and think tanks and representatives of civil society. At the MSC, relations with Germany were also strengthened through talks between Foreign Minister Hasler and Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and Federal Minister for Development and Economic Affairs Division Svenja Schulze. The talks focused on European security policy and the role of European states as members of international organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Also discussed were the current impact on Europe of the war in Ukraine, global migration flows, and the current tense situation with regard to basic foodstuffs and raw materials for energy production.

Also prominently discussed at the MSC in connection with the war of aggression on Ukraine were the crime of aggression and questions about the establishment of an international tribunal. Liechtenstein has been advocating for decades for the observance and strengthening of international criminal law and was able to hold numerous discussions with like-minded states and interested circles in this regard.