The project “Face à la guerre – dialogues européens” consists of a series of events bringing together professionals from the fields of research, think tanks, the media and the public sphere to support discussion and debate surrounding the upheavals in Europe brought about by the war in Ukraine. By bringing together these expert voices from across the continent and other world regions, supporting cross-disciplinary collaboration and facilitating direct interactions with the general public, the project aims to compare the global challenges facing the European project and the local contexts in which populations are tackling them. 

“Face à la guerre – dialogues européens” is based on two key elements: 

• An events base consisting of themed public meetings in different European cities; 
• A central theme entitled “Où est l’Europe ?” (“Where is Europe?”) enabling each host city for the event (“Where is Europe in Prague?”, Where is Europe in Vilnius?”, etc.) to highlight past or current “experiences of Europe”. 

A “Dialogues européens” podcast will be produced in partnership with Ouest-France in order to document the meetings and allow others to listen to the varied and complementary voices of these dialogues. 

The series is being launched this autumn in Prague and Vilnius, before being held in five European cities in 2024 – Warsaw, Amsterdam, Sofia, Helsinki and Rennes – followed by other stops in 2025. 

In Lithuania, a country deeply mobilised and affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting war, the “Dialogues européens” will take place at the Vilnius University on 30 November and 1 December on the theme of “Culture and imagination in the face of war”. The Season of Lithuania planned in France in autumn 2024 will represent a perfect setting for hosting the event. 

The two days of debates will allow participants to discuss the shock and impact of the war from the perspective of ideas and culture. 

Representatives from around ten European countries will take part in round-tables, among them: 

• Christine Cadot, professor of political sciences at Université Paris 8 and director of the CRESPPA research laboratory (Paris 8, Paris Nanterre, CNRS) (France)
• Kateryna Chuyeva, former director of the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv and former Deputy Minister of Culture (Ukraine)
• Maria Drèmaité, professor of history at Vilnius University (Lithuania)
• Michel Duclos, former diplomat and Senior Fellow at the Institut Montaigne (France)
• Maximilien Durand, Director of the Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art at the Musée du Louvre (France)
• Eeva Eek-Pajust, member of the policy planning group of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former director of the Lennart Meri Conference (Estonia)
• Arunas Gelunas, Director of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius (Lithuania)
• Maciej Hofman, European Union consultant for the European Cultural Foundation (Netherlands)
• Corinne Poulain, Director of Les Champs Libres in Rennes (France)
• Fabrice Puchault, Director of the Society and Culture unit at Arte France (France)
• Valerio Rocco Lozano, Director of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid (Spain)
• Elisabeth Roudinesco, historian and psychoanalyst (France)
• Constantin Sigov, philosopher, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine)
• Dejan Ubovic, Director of the GRAD European Centre for Culture and Debate in Belgrade (Serbia) 

See the full programme 

The project “Face à la guerre – dialogues européens” is organised in partnership with Ouest-France, Université Paris 8 and Arte.