Tuesday–Friday
From Wednesday to Friday, ECR MEPs will gather in Riga, Latvia, for an external Bureau meeting.
This important meeting will bring together European conservatives and centre-right leaders to reflect on the role and priorities of conservative forces within the European Union.
The programme will feature a series of panel discussions focused on Europe’s evolving security environment:
Panel 1: Civil Protection and societal resilience in Europe
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally transformed Europe’s security environment. Today’s threats extend far beyond conventional military aggression and increasingly include hybrid attacks, sabotage, cyberattacks, strikes against critical infrastructure, the instrumentalization of migration, disinformation campaigns, and the growing use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
In this context, civil protection can no longer be viewed solely as a mechanism for responding to natural disasters or isolated emergencies. It has become a vital component of national security and societal resilience. Governments across Europe are therefore being compelled to rethink how societies can continue to function during prolonged crises, military escalation, major infrastructure disruptions, or large-scale attacks affecting civilian populations.
This panel will examine how European countries are adapting their civil protection systems to address these evolving challenges, strengthen societal resilience, and ensure preparedness for a rapidly changing security landscape.
Panel 2: Cognitive Warfare
The most consequential conflicts of our era are no longer fought exclusively with weapons - they are fought over perception, trust, and reality itself. Cognitive warfare describes the deliberate use of disinformation, psychological operations, narrative manipulation, and algorithmic exploitation to corrupt the decision-making capacity of individuals, institutions, and entire societies. Unlike traditional propaganda, modern cognitive warfare is systematic, technologically supercharged, and often nearly invisible to its targets.
Countries such as Russia, Iran, and China have developed and deployed sophisticated cognitive warfare capabilities, posing a growing challenge to Western democracies.
This session examines the strategic, operational, and policy dimensions of cognitive warfare, with a focus on what the EU and its member states must do to build genuine resilience.
Panel 3: Military Mobility in the EU
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the growing number of hybrid and conventional threats at the EU’s borders have highlighted the importance of strengthening the capacity to move military personnel, equipment and supplies swiftly and rapidly across EU territory, without ending up stuck in border formalities. Currently, there are heavy administrative barriers, fragmented national procedures and infrastructure limitations that hamper the swift deployment of armed forces across the EU.
In order to address these issues, the proposed Military Mobility Regulation introduces a harmonised framework to streamline cross-border military transport. Both on the EP and the Council side, negotiations on this Regulation are ongoing.
This panel will examine the current state of military mobility within the EU, the key challenges facing implementation, and the potential impact of the proposed legislation. It will also explore how improved military mobility can strengthen European security, enhance NATO-EU cooperation, and contribute to a more resilient and responsive defence posture across the continent.
The discussions will feature contributions from MEPs, security experts, academics, and military professionals, providing a range of perspectives on Europe’s evolving security challenges.
When: Tuesday–Friday
Where: Riga, Latvia
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Arrival of guests
14:30 Opening remarks by ECR Co-Chairman Patryk Jaki
Welcome speech: MEP Zīle, Vice-President of the European Parliament, Head of the Latvian Delegation
ECR Bureau Meeting
First Working Session: Civil Protection and Societal Resilience in Europe
Moderator - MEP Reinis Pozņaks
16:00 Presentation of the Study findings “Trump, Russian propaganda and the Baltic resilience” (1hr)
Jānis Ikstens - Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Latvia
Thursday, 11 June 2026
09:30 Second Working Session: Cognitive Warfare
Moderator - MEP Rihards Kols
11:00 Coffee break
11:15 Third Working Session: Military Mobility in the EU
Moderator - MEP Roberts Zīle
13:00 Transfer to Ādaži Military base
19:00 Dinner
Special Guest: Mr Andris Kulbergs, Prime Minister of Latvia
Speeches by:
- Ms Ināra Mūrniece, MP, Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima, the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia
- Ms Antonella Sberna, MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament
Friday, 12 June 2026
07:00 - 09:00 Working breakfast
Wednesday 24 June @ 13:00 – 14:30
