ETH Evening Talks: "Reconstruction Ukraine"
On October 19th, 2023, the CSS held an evening talk on the reconstruction of Ukraine building on the knowledge of speakers Alexandra Bauman and Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff.
The Russian aggression against Ukraine is causing extensive damage. Repairing this damage requires internationally coordinated reconstruction aid on a considerable scale. Switzerland is already involved in the Ukraine Recovery Conference. Proposals for a Marshall Plan for Ukraine go even further.
Against this backdrop, this evening talk saw two short presentations shed light on the issue from different perspectives.
On the one hand, Ambassador Alexandra Baumann, Head of the Prosperity and Sustainability Division at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), discussed Switzerland's role in international reconstruction efforts in Ukraine. Prior to her current position at the FDFA, she was a diplomatic advisor to the head of the Federal Department of Finance (FDF), as well as a diplomat for the FDFA, including posts at the UN Mission in New York and at the Embassy in Berlin.
On the other hand, Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, former head of the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund (GMF), presented findings from the study external page Toward a Marshall Plan for Ukraine, published in May 2023. Currently, he is Guido Goldman Distinguished Scholar for Geostrategy at the GMF. From 2013 to 2017, he served as Head of the Planning and Speech Staff of the then German President Joachim Gauck.
The keynote speeches were followed by a lively Q&A that were deepened in bilateral discussions after the event.