The 59th

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC), formerly Munich Conference on Security Policy, is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Germany, since 1963. Over the past four decades the Munich Security Con ...

(MSC 2023) took place from 17 to 19 February 2023 at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. The conference was dominated by the ongoing

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and his

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

were discussed by most of the speakers but he was not invited and did not attend. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that the world was tense and fractured as the West also faced confrontation with China and a

global South Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global South broadly com ...

"often dismissive of perceived Western hypocrisy and not always persuaded by the West’s moral indignation over the invasion of Ukraine". Director of the

Central Foreign Affairs Commission The Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, commonly called the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, is a commission of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that exercises general ...

Office of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP)

Wang Yi Wang Yi ( zh, s=王毅, p=Wáng Yì; born 19 October 1953) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who has been serving as Director of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission Office since January 2023, and ...

announced his peace initiative for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On the same day US Vice President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

urged China not to arm Russia, while she announced that the US "has determined Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine." US Secretary of State

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...

was adamant that "Any peace has to be consistent with the principles of the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the United Nations (UN). It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, UN system, including its United Nations System#Six ...

." Newly minted German Minister of Defence

Boris Pistorius Boris Ludwig Pistorius (; born 14 March 1960) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has been serving as Federal Minister of Defence in the governments of successive Chancellors Olaf Scholz and Fri ...

witnessed unity which gave him hope about the events in Ukraine:

Mikhail Khodorkovsky Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (, ; born 26 June 1963), sometimes known by his initials MBK, is an exiled Russian businessman, Russian oligarchs, oligarch, and Russian opposition, opposition activist, now residing in London. In 2003, Khodork ...

and

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

were invited along with several other guests to discuss "Russia Reimagined: Visions for a Democratic Future". During multiple panel discussions, Vice President of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Francia Márquez Francia Elena Márquez Mina (born 1 December 1981) is a Colombia, Colombian human-rights and environmental activist, feminist, lawyer and politician who is the 13th and current Vice President of Colombia since 2022. She was born in Yolombó (vill ...

and Foreign Minister of Brazil

Mauro Vieira Mauro Luiz Iecker Vieira (born 15 February 1951) is a Brazilian diplomat serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil since 1 January 2023 under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Vieira occupied the same office between 2015 and 2016 duri ...

concurred in their condemnation of the Russian aggression, but also stated their opposition to a further militarization of the conflict. Márquez called for a new world order, centering life and not militarisation, while Vieira stated that it is necessary to work step by step towards a negotiated settlement in the Russo-Ukrainian war. At a panel on Iran and the

Women, Life, Freedom Woman, Life, Freedom (, (), ) is a popular political Kurdish slogan used in both the Kurdish independence and democratic confederalist movements. The slogan became a rallying cry during the protests which occurred in Iran as a response to the ...

protests the son of the deposed Shah, Reza Pahlavi, was invited to share his vision for the future of Iran. The

International Business Times The ''International Business Times'' is an American online newspaper that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on business and ...

comments that he has no experience, and is trying to "pluck the fruits of others labor".

References

External links

Munich Security Conference 2023
– official website {{Authority control Munich Security Conference 2020s in Munich February 2023 in Germany 2023 conferences