In his summary of the three-day event, which was attended by several top government officials from around the world, Heusgen called for increased European and German defense spending. “We must have the capacity to support Ukraine, but also to expand our own defense,” Heusgen said.
With regard to alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, the president of the conference called for the strengthening of the International Criminal Court. In addition, a special UN tribunal for the crime of aggression is needed. “It cannot be that the crimes committed go unpunished,” he said.
Heusgen, who chaired the security conference for the first time this year, was impressed by the “transatlantic unity” demonstrated in Munich. That and a consensus that goes further is necessary to succeed. “We have more resistance than Vladimir Putin,” he told the Russian president, referring to the Western alliance. He was also pleased with the meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s highest-ranking foreign politician Wang Yi in Munich – because the world “does not need another conflict”.
The Munich Security Conference took place for the 59th time this year. Among the attendees were French President Emmanuel Macron and US Vice President Kamala Harris. Austria was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg and Minister of Europe Karoline Edtstadler (both ÖVP). Russian government officials were absent for the second year in a row – they weren’t invited.