Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight

🛡️ In this session from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Todor Tagarev, former Minister of Defense of Bulgaria, Kirsti Pohjankukka, Ambassador of Finland to Bulgaria, and Øistein Knudsen, National Civil Defense Commissioner and Chief of Civil Defense of Norway, discuss what the Nordic model of total defense can teach NATO allies about turning military deterrence into resilience across the whole of society.

The panel examines how Finland and Norway have built preparedness into schools, local government, businesses, and households, why public trust and clear crisis communication are critical defenses against disinformation, and which parts of the Nordic model can be adapted by Eastern Flank allies like Bulgaria, which face tighter budgets and lower institutional trust.

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🏛️ In this session from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Ruslan Stefanov, Program Director at CSD, Erlin Agich, Associate Anti-Corruption Officer at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and Preslav Tonkov, Senior Advisor for Global Analytics at Gallup, discuss how corruption threatens the integrity of democratic decision-making and what it takes to defend it.

The panel examines how corruption weakens institutions from within, how it erodes public trust in democratic governance, and what policymakers, international organizations, and civil society can do to protect the core of democratic systems.

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🧠 In this session from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Zlatin Krastev, Cyber Ambassador at Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mira Suchowiejko-Opolska of the Department of Strategic Communication and International Disinformation Counteraction at Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Brigadier General Giuseppe De Magistris of Italy’s Arma dei Carabinieri, Co-Director of the Institute of Higher Defense Studies, discuss how NATO allies can move beyond detecting and exposing foreign information manipulation to actively contesting the information space.

The panel examines cognitive warfare as a battlespace that targets emotions and values as much as beliefs, the role of law enforcement and legal frameworks that protect without censoring, and why whole-of-society resilience, youth engagement, and projecting democratic values beyond Europe’s borders matter. It closes on a central argument: democracies’ strongest response to adversaries who rely on division is staying true to the rules-based order they seek to undermine.

💰 In this session from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Tihomira Kostova, Senior Analyst in CSD’s Geoeconomics Program, Elżbieta Kaca, Head of the International Sanctions Project at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, and Nicola Yankov, Managing Partner at Expat Capital and Senior Associate Fellow at CSD, discuss how offshore finance has become essential infrastructure for Russian strategic corruption.

The panel traces how Kremlin-linked capital moves through offshore jurisdictions and returns to host economies disguised as foreign investment, and why, despite sanctions, Russia’s corporate network in Europe has grown more complex rather than smaller. It also looks at how sanctioned actors use trusts, proxies, and crypto to evade detection, and what it would take to shift enforcement from individual targets to the wider system that enables them.

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⚖️ In this address from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Georgi Kandev, Secretary General of Bulgaria’s Ministry of Interior, speaks on clean governance as a law enforcement priority and the role of law enforcement institutions in countering corruption and protecting the integrity of democratic decision-making.

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🔐 In this session from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Boyko Karadzhov, CTO of Payhawk, Stephen Ezell, Vice President of Global Innovation Policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, and Rigel Robinson of the Bay Area Council discuss how democracies can secure the full technology stack, from critical minerals and semiconductors to AI infrastructure.

The panel examines the Pax Silica initiative, the US-led effort to build trusted supply chains for advanced technologies among allied partners, and what it means for Europe’s technological sovereignty, competitiveness, and economic security.

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🤖 In this session from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Carl Miller, Fellow and Co-Founder of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos, Gloria Trifonova, Defense Analyst at CSD, and Rositsa Dzhekova, Director of CSD’s Democracy Shield Task Force, discuss an emerging shift in foreign information manipulation: operations that no longer target people directly, but the AI systems they rely on.

The panel examines how networks such as Pravda mass-produce content designed to be absorbed into the training data of large language models, why smaller language markets like Bulgaria are especially vulnerable, and what responses are needed, from industry-wide blacklists of sanctioned sources to making credible content more visible to AI systems and building national frameworks to address these vulnerabilities.

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⚡ In this session from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Traicho Traikov, Minister of Energy of Bulgaria, Marius Koeppen, Senior Analyst in CSD’s Energy and Climate Program, and Kalina Tsolova, Analyst in CSD’s Energy and Climate Program, discuss how Europe can rebuild the energy and industrial base that underpins its economic security and defense.

The panel examines how EU energy security risks have eased since their 2022 peak while major gaps between member states remain, and how Europe’s reliance on Chinese supply chains for critical raw materials and clean energy technologies exposes its industrial base to new vulnerabilities.

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⚡ In this session from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Martin Vladimirov, Director of CSD’s Energy and Climate and Geoeconomics Program, Malwina Qvist, Nuclear Energy Program Director at Clean Air Task Force, and Stephen Comello, Executive Vice President of the Energy Futures Initiative, discuss how AI is becoming a major driver of electricity demand and turning power availability into a constraint on economic growth.

The panel examines grid bottlenecks and permitting, the open question of who pays for new capacity as hyperscale tech firms emerge as energy investors, and the role of nuclear and other firm low-carbon power in keeping Europe and the US competitive.

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⚡ In this session from CSD’s Defense and Democracy Dialogue: Why We Fight, Nadejda Gantcheva, Coordinator of CSD’s Energy and Climate Program, Luke Wickenden, Europe-Russia Energy and Sanctions Analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, and Kiril Temelkov, Deputy Minister of Energy of Bulgaria, discuss Bulgaria’s shift from short-term energy crisis management to long-term system redesign.

The panel examines Europe’s incomplete energy decoupling from Russia, gaps in sanctions enforcement as energy flows move through third countries, and Bulgaria’s role in secure transit and alternative infrastructure, including the Vertical Gas Corridor.

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