Leading politicians, military officers and diplomats from around the world will gather in Munich on Friday for a security conference that will be dominated by the wars in Israel and Ukraine, as well as fears over the US commitment to defend its allies.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy are among the top officials attending the Munich Security Conference (MSC), an annual global gathering focused on defense and diplomacy.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh are also expected to attend the conference, which starts Friday and runs until Sunday at the luxury Bayerischer Hof hotel in the southern German city.
The conference takes place as the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian extremist group Hamas, which has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians and some 1,430 Israelis, enters its fifth month with no end in sight.
It is also set shortly before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its third year.
Both wars have stoked fears that will likely be addressed in Munich about possible regional spillovers.
“The world has become more dangerous,” Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO's western defense alliance, told Reuters on Wednesday.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said officials from European countries that help finance the occupied Palestinian territories and key Arab and Gulf states would meet on the sidelines of the Munich meeting to discuss the future for Israel and the Palestinian people after a possible to discuss a ceasefire.
It is expected that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also join.
“There are a lot of things we need to talk about now,” Cameron said in a speech to the House of Lords. “Whether it's about how to offer people in the Palestinian territories a political horizon, or even how we deal with Israel's very real security problems.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he would set foot on German soil for the first time to deliver a keynote speech at the conference, having refrained from doing so because he grew up in a family of Holocaust survivors.
“I will do everything for Israel's security, securing our future and returning the hostages,” he said.
UKRAINE AID BILL FACES OBSTACLES
Zelenskiy is expected to call for more aid for Ukraine as the US House of Representatives blocks a multi-billion dollar military aid package for the country.
“The stakes could not be higher,” said a senior State Department official, who said the slowdown was already being felt on the battlefield. “Our support is absolutely essential to achieving the goals that Ukraine has.”
European and American officials are increasingly warning of the risk that Russian President Vladimir Putin could attack other countries if his military operation in Ukraine is successful.
“It is clear that Putin will not stop at Ukraine,” a second State Department official said.
For the second year in a row, no Russian officials were invited to the MSC because they did not appear interested in meaningful dialogue, organizers said.
TRUMP CASTS SHADOW
The event comes at a time when the US commitment to defend its broader allies is in doubt, as the prospect of former President Donald Trump's re-election looms.
Such concerns have reignited the push for greater strategic autonomy in Europe. Until recently the idea was championed by only a handful of countries, most notably France, but it is gaining traction and is likely to be raised at the security meeting.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nominee, suggested last Saturday that he would not defend NATO allies who failed to spend enough on defense, sparking consternation in Europe.
Harris will deliver what aides billed as a major speech on Friday on “the importance of fulfilling America's role of global leadership” before meeting with US lawmakers Zelenskiy and Scholz.
Harris is also likely to be closely watched for her ability to lead after a special report from the Justice Department last week described US President Joe Biden, 81, as an older man with a “poor memory.” Trump is 77.
Other major international issues will also be addressed at the conference, such as conflict in the Horn of Africa, which is increasing food insecurity and displacing millions of people, and relations between the West and China.
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