Kiel International Seapower Symposium
18 June 2026
In cooperation with:
How to Defend Europe at the Northern Flank
KISS26 is held against the backdrop of grave global and political turmoil. With a US administration aggressively seeking influence over Greenland while questioning its role in NATO, alliance coherence is in doubt. Further, the Iran War has the potential to create a global energy crisis that would play into the hands of Russia. Europe has to find a way to prevail under such circumstances and ask whether it has the right assumptions, capabilities and strategies to respond.
Translated into the maritime sphere, the question is: How to defend Europe at the Northern Flank?
KISS26 will discuss some of these pressing questions and aims to provide recommendations to help set Europe on the right course. It will bring together leaders from academia, the military, NGOs, the defense industry and policy-making to share knowledge for mutual empowerment.
High Level Panel: Deteriorating Security Environment: Reshaping collective defense
Session I: Thinking about the antagonists: Do we get Russia and China right?
Examining the footprint of Russia and China in the European Arctic, what can we learn about their interests, activities, and overall approaches to the region? What do their naval capabilities and procurement decisions imply for potential conflict scenarios? Do we correctly understand their tactics, doctrines, and overall strategic rationale?
Session II: A View to the High North and North Atlantic: European Interests, Threat Perception and Options
To counter threats and protect European interests in the High North region, European countries also need a clear understanding of their own assets, options, strengths and weaknesses. What can Europe bring to the table, and how do potential adversaries, allies and partners perceive European assumptions about future conflict, our level of preparedness and procurement strategies?
Keynote: What role for the US Navy’s 6th Fleet?
Session III: Gotland - Island Under Threat
The Swedish island of Gotland has again emerged as a prime geopolitical hotspot. Due to its strategic location for Baltic defense, Gotland is in the crosshairs of maritime threat actors and hybrid aggression on a daily basis. Even below the threshold of a Russian military invasion scenario, threats to Gotland now regularly involve shadow fleet vessels, maritime infrastructure sabotage, uncrewed systems, and electronic and cognitive warfare. How can allies jointly ensure the security of Gotland and other ‘islands under threat’, and how can we use the geopolitical Petri Dish of Gotland to develop better tactics and doctrines, and new ideas for future fleet design?
Session IV: Turning Words into Actions: Practical Recommendations
Reflecting on the panel discussions of the day, this session aims to identify salient lessons, highlight points of concern, and develop concrete ideas on how to put insights into practice.
