As NATO concluded its July meeting in Washington, D.C., focusing on Russia’s war in Ukraine, Western security, and defense spending, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation marked National Captive Nations Week with our annual Captive Nations Summit. This summit was held at the Victims of Communism Museum on Thursday, July 11 from 3:00 – 6:00pm.
This year, as the NATO alliance convenes in Washington, the fate of frontline Europe still hangs in the balance. From the Baltics, to Belarus, Ukraine, and the Caucasus, a new Iron Curtain has emerged as formerly captive nations are standing up to the Kremlin, as Ukraine fights for its very existence. And while NATO was formed as a bulwark against communism in Europe at the onset of the Cold War, the alliance now faces a similar threat. Will the free world continue to stand against the Kremlin’s revanchist aims, or will we once more enter an age of captive nations in Europe?
VOC’s Captive Nations Summit focused on former captive nations that have joined NATO’s united alliance, Russia’s ongoing aggression toward its neighbors, and the future for a free Ukraine. We aim to continue the conversations from the NATO meeting with two expert panels and a reception.
Welcome Remarks
Dr. Eric Patterson, VOC President and CEO
Panel 1: From Captive Nations to a United Alliance
Amb. Paula J. Dobriansky, Ph.D., VOC Trustee, Vice Chair, Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy & Security, and former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs
Jan Havránek, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Czech Republic
Amb. Aldona Woś, M.D., VOC Trustee, President of the Institute of World Politics, and former U.S. Ambassador to Estonia
The Hon. Bruce Weinrod, VOC Trustee, former Secretary of Defense Representative for Europe, and Defense Advisor to the U.S. Mission to NATO (moderator)
Exclusive Interview
VOC’s Dr. Eric Patterson will interview Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Head of the United Transition Cabinet, and 2020 Belarusian presidential candidate against Alexander Lukashenko
Panel 2: Free Ukraine: Breaking the Kremlin’s Legacy of Oppression
Amb. William B. Taylor, Vice President for Europe & Russia, U.S. Institute of Peace, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
Margus Särglepp, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Estonia
Sandis Šrāders, Research Fellow and Lecturer in Russian Strategic and Military Studies, Baltic Defense College
David Keene, Editor at Large, The Washington Times (moderator)
Thank you to our sponsors for their support:
Hero
Dr. Carol and Ken Adelman
Dissident
Estonian American National Council, remembering the Mass Flight of 1944
Friends of Falun Gong
Solidarity
Brent Baker
Orest Deychakiwsky
Jody Gatwood, in honor of the late Congressman Tom Lantos
Susan LaMountain
Michael Lurye
Dr. Tara O
David Pinell
Andrew R. Rokita Jr.
Alexandra Wankowicz
Anonymous
