The annual Kiel Security Conference serves as a high-level platform for dialogue among policy makers, military leaders, experts and civil society representatives on pressing international security challenges.
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine remains the most significant and direct challenge to Europe’s security and continues to reshape the continent’s strategic environment. Beyond the battlefield, Russia has intensified hybrid operations across Europe – including cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, sabotage, and persistent threats to critical infrastructure – identified as top‑tier risks for the EU in 2026.
The maritime domain has become particularly vulnerable. The Black Sea remains a focal point of military confrontation, blockades, and attacks on civilian shipping, with direct repercussions for regional and global security. At the same time, hybrid operations, threats to critical undersea infrastructure, and the use of shadow fleets keep destabilizing the Baltic Sea. New geostrategic pressure is also emerging in the Arctic and the High North. Russia is expanding its military footprint and hybrid threat activities in the region, while China is increasing its presence through dual‑use research, military‑civil fusion initiatives, and strategic economic engagement.
Simultaneously, Europe faces additional global risks that compound its security environment: a potential U.S. retrenchment from its role as Europe’s primary security guarantor, the rising likelihood of a China–Taiwan conflict with direct implications for European stability and mounting cyber vulnerabilities and disinformation threats. These developments highlight Europe’s increasing exposure to extra‑regional crises.
Against the backdrop of these converging challenges – and shifting U.S. security priorities – European countries must accelerate efforts to build credible deterrence and defence against Russia as the primary threat, while strengthening resilience against hybrid, cyber, and infrastructure‑related risks and enhancing their capacity to respond to global crises.
