GLOBSEC 2021 Bratislava Forum Summary

The year 2021 - the second year of the pandemic and worldwide restrictions to eliminate the spread of the coronavirus. Civilization still seems to bear with the struggle of the new normal, but we seem to have adapted to it more over the last year. Wearing facemasks and following frequently changing regulations have become a part of our everyday lives. Vaccine rollouts have given us hope out of the crisis.

To ensure the safety of all our guests at the GLOBSEC 2021 Bratislava Forum, we adopted comprehensive health and hygiene measures. Thanks to our healthcare partners, we tested all participants and organizers prior to their entry into the venue using PCR and Lamp tests - administering over 1600 tests in total. We successfully safeguarded the conference area using thermovision cameras, air purifiers and frequent disinfection of the premises.

The names and numbers of our speakers and audience say it all - participation of guests from 98 countries, over 50 partners supporting us, 3 presidents visiting in person, 30 ministers of many government departments, and a large number of political representatives. We were thrilled that this year His Holiness, Pope Francis accepted our invitation and sent a powerful video message encouraging everyone to take the opportunity to come out of this crisis stronger and better than ever before.

GLOBSEC 2021 Bratislava Forum was covered by more 100 international media including The New York Times, POLITICO, Le Monde, Deutsche Welle, AP, AFP, Reuters, Bloomberg, Foreign Policy, Euronews, New Statesman, Vox, CNN and others resulting in more than 1 000 media outputs around the world.

The event also enjoyed the huge social media coverage with more than 2.5 million impressions and 30 000 people watching its livestreaming.  

The wide range of panel discussions of the GLOBSEC 2021 Bratislava Forum was delivered in a hybrid format over three days. Rather than synthesising the discussions in chronological order, this summary provides a useful overview of the panels under each of the key four pillars that need rebuilding after the crisis: Democratic Renewal & Rebuilding of Trust, Economic Growth & Recovery, Global Europe in a Post-Pandemic World, Tech Governance, and two focused streams that need further attention in the post-pandemic world: Security in the 21st Century and Resilience in Health.

You can find the full summary with all the highlights and remarks in the documents section below.