On 19–20 May 2025, we hosted the Budapest Energy and Security Talks conference under the subtitle “Awakening or Disintegration” — Hungary’s leading international security policy event, organized by the Equilibrium Institute in cooperation with NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division.
Over the course of the one-and-a-half-day event, more than 80 speakers from 15 countries shared their insights on the future of transatlantic cooperation, energy security, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and global strategic challenges, in the presence of more than 250 leading Hungarian experts and decision-makers.
Among the distinguished speakers were:
- Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council
- Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defence and Space
- Zsolt Németh, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian National Assembly
- Arnoldas Pikžirnis, Vice Minister of Energy of Lithuania
- Boris Ruge, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy
- Kurt Volker, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO
- Lech Wałęsa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former President of Poland
The conference highlighted a number of key strategic areas related to urgent global and regional security challenges, as well as the future of transatlantic cooperation:
- Transatlantic and global security policy – the future of NATO, U.S. foreign policy, the war in Ukraine, defence cooperation, and strategic alliances in the Indo-Pacific and the Western Balkans.
- European strategic autonomy and defence – Europe’s defence capabilities, the development of the defence industry, strategic identity, and the role of the EU and NATO in global security.
- Energy, climate and technological transformation – energy security, the green transition, the security implications of climate change, artificial intelligence and innovation, as well as transatlantic technological cooperation.
- Geopolitical realignments and regional dynamics – the strategic importance of Central Europe, the Western Balkans and the Indo-Pacific, as well as future relations with post-war Russia.
Through this conference, the Equilibrium Institute has once again contributed to positioning Hungary as one of the key platforms for Euro-Atlantic security and strategic dialogue in Central and Eastern Europe — and this year’s BESTalks marked another important milestone on that path.
One of the core missions of BESTalks is to bring together decision-makers and leading experts in foreign and security policy around one table, creating space for strategic dialogue on the future of Central Europe, Euro-Atlantic values, and today’s most pressing security challenges, with a special focus on energy security.
We are deeply grateful to our partners for their support and trust: NATO PDD, Atlantic Council, Casimir Pulaski Foundation, Casla Institute, Defence24, European Climate Foundation, European Initiative for Energy and Security, Europeum, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Google, The Heritage Foundation, Hudson Institute, Hungarian Business Leaders Forum, Newpush, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, ODI Europe, Strategy and Leadership for a New Central Europe.
Our partner embassies: Embassy of Australia in Hungary, Embassy of France in Hungary, Embassy of Lithuania in Hungary.
Visit the conference website: https://bestalks.eib.hu/
