In March, the Club of Three organised a fireside chat with Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, Head of the upcoming UK Strategic Defence Review. Lord Robertson, a Labour peer, is a former British Defence Secretary and NATO General Secretary. The event was hosted by Hélène Duchêne, French Ambassador to the UK, at her residence in London.
The fireside chat was followed by a panel discussion on Ukraine and European defence chaired by Dr. Ruth Harris, Director Defence & Security at RAND Europe, with Philippe Errera (Executive Vice President, International and Public Affairs, Safran), Dr. Stefanie Babst (Senior Associate Fellow, European Leadership Network), and Professor Malcolm Chalmers (Deputy Director General of the Royal United Services Institute) as main speakers.
Some 50 senior figures from business and diplomacy and defence experts from France, Germany, the UK and other European countries participated in the meeting, which was held on 18 March as negotiations took place on a ceasefire between the U.S, Ukraine and Russia – followed shortly after by the launch of a ‘coalition of the willing’ at a summit of 18 leaders hosted by the British Prime Minister aimed at guaranteeing peace in Ukraine.
Participants included: Éric Béranger (MBDA); Miguel Berger (German Ambassador to the UK); Trevor Cayless (Babcock International Group); Elisabeth Braw (The Atlantic Council); Marie-Laure de Bergh (EU Representation to the UK); Jeremy Greaves (Airbus); Steffen Hoffmann (Bosch Europe and UK); Inigo Lambertini (Italian Ambassador to the UK); Amiral Luc Raynal (French Defence Attache); Anja Richter (Ditchley Foundation Germany); Richard Spearman (Vodafone); Alex Zino (Rolls- Royce); Shahin Vallée (DGAP); Dame Deborah Bronnert (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office); Brigadier General Torsten Gersdorf (German Defence Attache); Przemysław Nowakowski (Polish Embassy London); Stéphane Levy (Equinor UK), and Véronique Bardelmann (Safran UK).
