The Cambodian Center for Regional Studies (CCRS), in supported by the Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia will organize Public Lecture on “Russia’s war in Ukraine as a fundamental threat for the post WW2 rules-based order, by Distinguished Speaker, H.E. Mr. Pavlo Klimkin, Former Foreign Minister of Ukraine, on Thursday, 22 February 2024, at Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh.
This public lecture is by-invitation only.
| Program | |
|---|---|
| 2:00 – 2:30 PM | Registration |
| 2:00 – 2:30 PM | Welcoming Remarks by Mr. Him Raksmey, Executive Director, CCRS |
| 2:30 – 2:40 PM | Keynote Address by H.E. Igor Driesmans, EU Ambassador to Cambodia |
| 2:40 – 2:50 PM | Group Photograph |
| 3:00 – 3:30 PM | Special Presentation by H.E. Mr. Pavlo Klimkin, Former Foreign Minister of Ukraine |
| 3:30 – 4:20 PM | Discussion and Q&A, moderated by Amb. Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor, CCRS |
| 4:20 – 4:30 PM | Closing Remarks by Amb. Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor, CCRS |
| 4:30 – 5:00 PM | Refreshment and End of Public Lecture |
About the Eminent Role Players:
Mr. Pavlo Klimkin is co-founder of the Centre for National Resilience and Development and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He holds a Master’s degree in Physics and Applied Mathematics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He worked as a researcher in the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, before joining the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in 1993, where his main profiles were arms control and security, nuclear safety, energy security, the EU and NATO. He was head of the negotiating team for the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and the EU visa-free regime for Ukraine. He has been posted to Germany and the UK, including as Ambassador to Germany. Klimkin is a Member of the Board of the Come Back Alive foundation.
H.E. Igor Driesmans is currently Ambassador of the European Union since late 2023. Before coming to Cambodia, H.E. Igor Driesmans was the EU’s Ambassador to ASEAN, in Jakarta. Since 2022, Igor Driesmans also serves as EU Special Envoy for Myanmar. He previously served inter alia as a Member of the Cabinet of Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, as Principal Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer of the European External Action Service, Desk Officer for ASEAN, and Deputy Head of the Political, Economic, Trade and Information Section of the EU Delegation to South Africa. Igor Driesmans is a Belgian national, he is married and has two children.
Ambassador Pou Sothirak is a retired academic currently serving as the Distinguished Senior Advisor to the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies (CCRS). He was the Executive Director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace from May 2013 to August 2023. He was appointed as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia from September 2013 to January 2014. He was a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of the Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore from January 2009 to December 2012. He also served as Cambodian Ambassador to Japan from April 2005 to November 2008. He was elected Cambodian Member of Parliaments twice during the national general election in 1993 and 2003. He was appointed as Minister of Industry Mines and Energy of the Royal Government of Cambodia from 1993 to 1998. He has written extensively on various issues concerning the development of Cambodia and the region.