The Nanovic Forum 2022
BY GRÁINNE MCEVOY“O lijepa, o draga, o slatka slobodo,
…
Sva srebra, sva zlata, svi ljudski životi
Ne mogu bit plata tvôj cistoj ljepoti!”
“Oh beautiful, oh dear, oh sweet liberty,
…
No silver, no gold, no human lives nor security, can equal your priceless, your radiant purity.”
—Ivan Gundulić, from “Himna Slobodi,” 1628 (“Ode to Freedom,” trans. by M.V. Wickerhauser)
On October 4, 2022, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies welcomed Her Excellency Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, the former president of the Republic of Croatia (2015-2020), to deliver the 2022 Nanovic Forum lecture. She delivered a lecture titled “War in Ukraine, Peace in Europe?
Geopolitics, Economics, and Security after Russia’s Invasion,” both online and to a full Hesburgh Center auditorium at the University of Notre Dame. As explained by Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute and professor of social ethics, the Nanovic Forum is an opportunity to bring Europe’s leaders to Notre Dame. Describing Grabar-Kitarović, Sedmak said: “even though she is a citizen of the world, she is a true European.”
“Peace can never be taken for granted”: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Russia, Ukraine, and Europe’s future
The speaker was introduced by Scott Appleby, dean of the Keough School for Global Affairs, who said that the topic of her lecture “could not be of greater significance to Europe and to the world.” He shared how Grabar-Kitarović had recently made a number of public appearances during which she was asked about her view on Russian aggression and the current situation in Ukraine. “She too,” Appleby explained, “spreads the message of solidarity with the people of Ukraine, even if it means that we all have to sacrifice some of our own taken-for-granted comfort and security.” GrabarKitarović has warned that although the war has weakened Russia’s economy, military and standing in the world, “Putin would rather die than admit defeat.” She has delivered what Appleby described as a simple message to the younger generations who have not known the bitterness of war: “we must not let bullies run the world.”
Grabar-Kitarović began her lecture by explaining her own vantage point on the question at hand: what might happen next with the war in Ukraine and how we might secure peace in Europe?
On these issues, she speaks from the perspective of someone with high-level diplomatic experience and service in NATO — which stands with Ukraine — but also as someone with personal experience “in basically maturing through war, conflict, [and] reconciliation.” Although she is able to draw upon her lived experience of the Yugoslav Wars and the Croatian War of Independence, Grabar-Kitarović noted that “there are no blueprints, there no one-fit-all solutions, and we have to be very mindful, very careful of the peculiarities of every situation.” She explained that the goal of the evening’s presentation and discussion was to discuss a way forward in a very difficult moment with regard to peace in Europe and globally.
Grabar-Kitarović also began by emphasizing the importance of rejecting any Russian propaganda that the war in Ukraine is about enlargement or defense against aggressive NATO expansion. “It is not,” she said, “this is a war of aggression against a sovereign independent country.” The invasion, she explained, was long premeditated and long planned and is in contravention
“Peace can never be taken for granted”: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Russia, Ukraine, and Europe’s future Nanovic Institute for European Studies | Keough School of Global Affairs | University of Notre Dame2
“There are no blueprints”
of all principles of the United Nations Charter, of international laws on territorial integrity and sovereignty, and of our shared values of liberal democracy. Reflecting on what she has learned throughout her life, Grabar-Kitarović said that the most important right the Russian invasion had trampled on was “the right to choose your own future and not have someone else determine it for you.”
Over the course of her lecture, Grabar-Kitarović provided what she described as a brief summary of the situation in Ukraine and what might happen next. This included an overview of the causes of the war, a brief history of what has happened to date, the current situation, and the potential consequences of this conflict for Ukraine, Russia, the European Union, and the transAtlantic alliance. After a thorough but succinct overview, Grabar-Kitarović drew her audience’s attention to how things have changed in recent weeks since Russia has had to reconsider its goals and purported ambitions and the degree to which European governments are considering how to respond to any use of chemical, biological, or any other unconventional weapons. She emphasized their consensus that a nuclear war could never be won and should never be fought, would provide Russia with very little military advantage and would isolate the country even from its current allies.
In response to the question of what happens next, Grabar-Kitarović expressed her opinion that the war is not likely to continue for the foreseeable future in part because there will have to be a negotiated solution, which neither side is currently motivated to consider. Neither Russia, Ukraine, nor NATO is being explicit about their next move, a strategy of deliberate ambiguity that leaves all options — offensive, defensive, or otherwise — on the table. At this point, she believes our best hope should be for “a frozen conflict” where operations will continue “with all of us supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes because the sovereignty and independence of the country [are] crucial for our own independence and security.”
“Peace can never be taken for granted”: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Russia, Ukraine, and Europe’s futureNanovic Institute for European Studies | Keough School of Global Affairs | University of Notre Dame
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Solidarity in response to aggression
Grabar-Kitarović followed this survey of the war in Ukraine with what she believed to be the most important takeaway from her discussion: any lessons that might be learned from this conflict that we can apply elsewhere and to life in general. She set out a series of priorities that European and indeed global leaders and citizens must work toward in order to protect Ukraine’s right to self-determination and to be prepared for strategic and military shocks whether they be inflicted by aggressors like Russia or by broader forces like pandemic or climate change.
These priorities included those that might be described as requiring leadership and coordination at the state and interstate levels in the areas of preparedness and resilience. She called for a process of identifying and mitigating “strategic vulnerabilities and dependencies,” which includes not just diversifying energy and resources but also reconsidering infrastructure, supply chains, health systems, human security, pandemic response, and, of course, climate change. Related to this, Grabar-Kitarović emphasized the need to develop resilience on the state level as well as within local communities. Resilience against military aggression, cyber warfare, and health crises, she said, must be built from the bottom up.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović also laid out strategies that would require ordinary citizens, in Europe and beyond, to remain firm in their support for Ukraine’s independence. She signaled the coming winter when, with the interrelated nature of the war in Ukraine and the rising cost of energy and food, many people will be affected. “We will lose some of our comforts, we will be losing money.” But she remembered her own experience of war and reminded the audience that “we have to remember that Ukrainians are losing so much more: people, lives, future for young generations, and we have to keep that balance in mind.” Secondly, Grabar-Kitarović emphasized that how we respond to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine must become the standard for how we respond to crises worldwide. “That is the way we should respond to … armed conflict, to grave violations, to mass atrocities so that we do not make a difference based on geography.”
“Peace can never be taken for granted”: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Russia, Ukraine, and Europe’s future Nanovic Institute for European Studies | Keough School of Global Affairs | University of Notre Dame4
“Peace can never be taken for granted”: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Russia, Ukraine, and Europe’s future
Drawing on her own experience, Grabar-Kitarović closed her lecture with a reflection on the fragility of freedom, a lesson that Croatians, Bosnians, Kosovans, and now Ukrainians have learned the hard way. She appealed to younger generations, those who have never known war and conflict, and who sometimes have to be reminded of the values, rights, and obligations of every citizen in a stable society. “The fact that we have peace [and stability] in our countries,” she warned, “does not mean [an] absence of threat. It means there are men and women out there working so hard to secure our peace and stability, and that peace can never be taken for granted.”
To illustrate this point, Grabar-Kitarović gave her translation of the “Ode to Freedom,” written by the Croatian poet Ivan Gundulić (1589-1638) to celebrate the Republic of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik), which is read at the beginning of the annual Dubrovnik Summer Games, a series of theatre performances. “All the silver, all the gold, all the human lives,” she said, “the cost of all of that does not equal the pure beauty of freedom and of peace.” In her own words, Grabar-Kitarović echoed this sentiment: “Freedom is priceless and we have to appreciate that.”
The event ended with a rigorous question and answer session in which Grabar-Kitarović engaged with the audience’s questions on the relationship between China and Russia, the possibility of nuclear warfare and how NATO might respond in such a situation, the strength of Ukraine’s defenses, and how to hold Putin and Russia accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine. To hear Grabar-Kitarović’s responses to these questions and watch her lecture in full, please visit the Nanovic Institute’s website or YouTube page.
The Nanovic Forum, facilitated by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, deepens Notre Dame’s rich tradition of connections to Europe by bringing prominent figures to campus in a wide range of fields to explore, discuss, and debate the most pressing questions about Europe today. Generously sponsored by Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic, the Forum invites its distinguished guests to interact with Notre Dame in ways they most wish, which can be surprising. For the complete archive of lectures, visit nanovic.nd.edu/forum
Nanovic Institute for European Studies | Keough School of Global Affairs | University of Notre Dame5