Paris Peace Forum 2025: Strengthening Resilience in Europe and Beyond

FPI underscored the European Union's dedication to building resilience against evolving digital challenges and advancing support for Ukraine.

FPI co-organised the panel session "Shielding Against Authoritarian Censorship: Resilience, Legitimacy, and Global Norms", with the participation of digital rights and technology governance practitioners from diverse regions, moderated by the President and CEO of the Crisis Group, Comfort Ero.

FPI Director/Head of Service Peter M. Wagner participated as a speaker in additional discussions and the panel "Ending the War Against Ukraine: Building Pathways to Peace and Recovery", together with Baiba Braže - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Latvia, Benjamin Haddad - Minister Delegate for Europe, French Republic and Olexandr Mischenko - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (via video message).

This years' forum brought together over 300 political, social and business leaders from around the world to address issues related to global peace and sustainable prosperity.

Under the theme "New Coalitions for Peace, People and the Planet," discussions focused on forging alliances to tackle ongoing conflicts from Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, the climate emergency, and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. Marking the 10th anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, the forum also renewed calls for global cooperation to advance peace, democracy, and sustainable development.

Shielding against Authoritarian Censorship

With authoritarian regimes employing censorship, surveillance and information control to suppress domestic dissent and influence audiences abroad, panelists examined how societies can strengthen resilience, legitimacy and shared norms for an open internet.

By bringing together voices from across regions and sectors, they emphasised the importance of credible, coordinated European action to safeguard freedom of expression and strengthen democratic resilience. They highlighted the need to prioritise the experiences of frontline activists, invest in education that safeguards individual freedoms, and develop technologies that genuinely serve user needs rather than corporate or state interests.

Nighat Dad, Executive Director of the Digital Rights Foundation, underlined:"The communities on the ground are your real power, so there is need to invest in their resiliency - it's not only about tools."

Participants stressed that support for open-source technologies and user-centred design remains key to a rights-based internet. Open technologies, they noted, enable transparency, collective innovation and resilience - allowing journalists, activists, and citizens to communicate securely and independently.

The discussion also explored how the EU can play a leading role in building coalitions with democratic partners worldwide to safeguard an open, interoperable and human-rights-based internet.

Marietje Schaake, Fellow at the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Stanford University, stated: "We need to see more political leadership, more spending, more principled engagement with partners around the world (…) building new democratic coalitions to build a stronger and more coordinated counterweight."

Speakers also highlighted the need for Europe to fund independent journalism and public-interest information, treating it as essential democratic infrastructure. Ensuring that reliable, fact-based reporting can thrive - both within and beyond Europe - was identified as a cornerstone of resilience against disinformation and authoritarian narratives.

Building resilience through EU support for Ukraine

Speaking on the panel "Ending the War Against Ukraine: Building Pathways to Peace and Recovery", Peter M. Wagner, Director/Head of FPI, underlined the importance of translating Europe's unprecedented financial commitments into the next steps for tangible long-term results on the ground.

While Europe must become better at transposing budgets into concrete results and the most needed deliveries, Wagner said: "[When it comes to] the Ukrainian and the EU's ability to use the funds, just having money is not enough - we must find ways to translate this money into weapons."

Ensuring accountability and coherence in the use of funds is vital to sustaining public trust and to ensuring that every euro strengthens Ukraine's defence, reconstruction, and long-term resilience.

The discussion underscored that any credible peace process will require sustained European engagement - not only through military and financial support, but through a long-term vision for Ukraine's security guarantees, institutional reconstruction, and reintegration into the European and global economy.

"Money for Ukraine is one part, but us being able to do it also requires that Europe continues working on what we call resilience and preparedness," Wagner said.

Beyond Ukraine, this means Europe must reinforce its own preparedness in the face of hybrid threats - from cyberattacks to disinformation - which continue to test the EU's unity and democratic resilience.