GlobalNeighboursbringsabridge-buildingperspectivetoEurope’srenewalatEFA26

ALPBACH, AUSTRIA — Global Neighbours brought its mission of strengthening cooperation between Europe and Asia to the European Forum Alpbach 2026, where Chief Executive Officer Siddharth Chatterjee joined the session “Envisioning the Europe We Build” on 3 September. The discussion asked what it would mean for Europe not only to compete more effectively, but to renew the democratic, social and international foundations of its strength.

An Advanced Partner of EFA26, Global Neighbours is a Vienna-based “think-and-do tank” that connects political, business, academic, and cultural leaders across Europe and Asia, turning dialogue into practical cooperation. Chatterjee brought this outward-looking perspective to a panel moderated by Reiner Reitsamer of ORF III, alongside Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Executive Chair of Earth4All, and Maria Kalesnikava, Belarusian civil rights leader and Charlemagne Prize laureate. Together, their contributions connected economic transformation, democratic freedom and Europe’s role in a multipolar world.

The exchange reflected Global Neighbours’ conviction that Europe does not have to choose between confidence in its own principles and constructive engagement with partners beyond its borders. The speakers challenged a narrow definition of “winning”: competitiveness, defence capacity and technological sovereignty matter, but Europe’s renewal also depends on whether it can protect human dignity, distribute the benefits of change fairly, defend democratic courage and keep channels of principled cooperation open across geopolitical divides.

“The real question isn’t only ‘How does Europe win?’ It is: what kind of Europe helps the world win?”

Siddharth Chatterjee, Chief Executive Officer, Global Neighbours

From left: moderator Reiner Reitsamer, Maria Kalesnikava, Sandrine Dixson-Declève and Siddharth Chatterjee during “Envisioning the Europe We Build” at the European Forum Alpbach 2026. Photo: EFA/Philipp Huber.

A discussion shaped by clarity and contrast

Reiner Reitsamer set the tone by returning the Forum’s theme — “How Europe Wins” — to the choices beneath the slogan. He asked whether Europe’s answer would be measured only through markets, military capability and technological power, or through the kind of society and global actor it chooses to become. His questions kept the discussion moving between economic urgency and democratic purpose, and between Europe’s internal confidence and its responsibilities beyond the continent.

Reitsamer gave each panellist room to develop a distinct argument while drawing out the tensions between them: growth and ecological limits; security and openness; values and geopolitical realism; and the distance between European principles and the experience of people who must defend those principles at personal cost. The result was not a sequence of prepared statements, but a focused exchange in which the speakers’ different backgrounds continually reshaped the central question.

Sandrine Dixson-Declève: An economy designed for people and planet

Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Executive Chair of Earth4All, makes the case for an economic model that combines sustainability, resilience and social fairness. Photo: EFA/Philipp Huber.

Dixson-Declève argued that Europe cannot build lasting strength by treating competitiveness as an end in itself. Economic policy must also respond to the climate emergency, widening inequality and declining trust in institutions. A model that delivers growth while leaving households exposed to insecurity, she suggested, will struggle to command the public legitimacy needed for long-term transformation.

Her intervention placed fairness at the centre of the green transition. Climate action and social policy cannot be designed on separate tracks: the costs, risks and benefits of change must be shared in a way that people can experience in their daily lives. Europe’s industrial renewal therefore requires investment not only in clean technologies, but also in public resilience, decent livelihoods and the capacity of communities to participate in change rather than merely absorb it.

Europe’s distinctive contribution, Dixson-Declève maintained, could lie in proving that an economy can remain innovative and productive while respecting planetary boundaries, reducing inequality and protecting human well-being across generations.

Maria Kalesnikava: Democracy is lived, defended and renewed

Maria Kalesnikava, Belarusian civil rights leader and Charlemagne Prize laureate, reflects on democratic courage, solidarity and human dignity.

Kalesnikava gave the discussion its most personal account of what European values require. Drawing on her experience as a leader of Belarus’s 2020 democratic movement and as a former political prisoner, she brought the debate beyond institutions and policy frameworks. Democracy, her contribution made clear, is not an abstraction: it is sustained by people who decide that fear will not determine what they say, create or defend.

Her presence also underscored the human cost of authoritarian repression. The courage associated with a single public act is rarely individual alone; it depends on solidarity, relationships and the knowledge that others will continue the work when one person is silenced. That experience gave particular force to the question of whether Europe will stand consistently with people who claim democratic freedoms beyond the European Union’s borders.

Siddharth Chatterjee: Strategic autonomy without strategic isolation

Siddharth Chatterjee, Chief Executive Officer of Global Neighbours, argues that Europe’s strategic autonomy must not become strategic isolation. Photo: EFA/Philipp Huber.

Chatterjee began from the proposition that Europe’s future cannot be secured through competitiveness, military strength or technological sovereignty alone. Those capabilities are necessary in a more contested world, he argued, but they must remain anchored in the qualities that made the European project compelling: human dignity, democratic courage, social justice and responsibility to the generations that will inherit the choices made today.

He cautioned that the pursuit of strategic autonomy must never become strategic isolation. Europe needs confidence in its own principles and greater capacity to act, but that confidence should enable engagement rather than withdrawal. In a multipolar world, Europe does not have to choose between defending its values and working constructively with China, Asia, Africa and the wider Global South.

Drawing on nearly three decades in the United Nations, including service as UN Resident Coordinator in China and Kenya, Chatterjee stressed how closely Europe’s prospects are tied to developments beyond the continent. Supply chains, climate risks, public health, technology standards and security spillovers cross borders regardless of political tension. Resilience cannot be built by pretending those interdependencies have disappeared; it requires clearer priorities, diversified risks and relationships able to carry difficult conversations.

“Strategic autonomy must never turn into strategic isolation.”

Siddharth Chatterjee

China formed an important part of that argument. Chatterjee did not minimise disagreements over governance, rights, security or economic competition. Instead, he distinguished engagement from endorsement. Europe can state its principles clearly while maintaining channels through which risks are understood, practical interests identified and global problems addressed. Treating every contact as a concession would reduce Europe’s influence precisely when sustained communication is most necessary.

Chatterjee listens as the panel examines how Europe can renew its strength without losing sight of democracy, social justice and international engagement.

Dialogue as strategic infrastructure

“Dialogue is not concession. Engagement does not require abandoning values,” Chatterjee said. When the international system fragments and official channels narrow, bridges matter not as sentiment, but as strategy. Relationships across universities, cities, businesses, cultural institutions and younger generations can preserve trust, provide early warning and keep open possibilities for cooperation that political cycles might otherwise close.

He described Global Neighbours as part of that strategic infrastructure: a neutral “think-and-do tank” connecting political, business, academic, cultural and young leaders across Europe and Asia. The purpose is not dialogue for its own sake, but dialogue capable of moving towards joint research, exchanges, pilot projects and practical cooperation. Climate and clean energy, responsible artificial intelligence, public health, food security and resilient supply chains offer areas where interests and responsibilities can meet even when wider relations remain difficult.