50 Years “Kniefall von Warschau”. In Search of a New Progressive Ostpolitik

Online event – 8 December 2020 at 15.00 CET

“Kniefall von Warschau” was a symbolic and historic gesture that occurred during Chancellor Willy Brandt’s visit to Poland in December 1970. At a monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Chancellor Brandt unexpectedly knelt. The trip and that moment was one of the stepping stones towards a new Ostpolitik, aiming at improving relations with the Eastern Bloc while consolidating the West. It significantly contributed to easing geopolitical tensions and has become a blueprint for a paradigm of “change through rapprochement” in foreign policy.

50 years later, we again find ourselves in a turbulent situation. We face the ongoing escalation between the West and Russia. The EU has been struggling with a political crisis, best manifested by the unclear direction of further integration (Brexit) or disputes on shared values (Poland, Hungary). We also seem to lack a smart strategy for an Eastern Partnership, once a flagship foreign policy initiative of the EU. Last but not least, the transatlantic bond weakened by the last four years of the Trump administration demands immediate attention.

With a change of leadership in the US, there is a glimmer of hope that things will change. Inspired by this important anniversary, we want to seek a progressive answer to the challenges we face. What is left of Willy Brandt’s daring and dialogue-based foreign policy today? Do we need a new progressive Ostpolitik?

Please join us for a conversation with (Register here):

Aleksander Kwaśniewski, the former President of Poland,

Kati Piri, MEP and Vice-Chair, S&D Group/Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Max Bergmann, Senior Fellow/Director of the Moscow Project, Center for American Progress,

Liana Fix, Programme Director, International Affairs, Körber-Stiftung,

with the introduction by László Andor, Secretary-General, Foundation for European Progressive Studies

Welcome and conclusions: Dr. Maria Skora, DPZ / Dr. Ania Skrzypek, FEPS

Programme