What: The Atlantic Council hosts a hearing to launch the Free World Commission, a high-profile group of influential legislators from the United States and key democratic allies, including Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, committed to defending democratic values and a rules-based order. US Representative Bill Keating will join German Bundestag member Jurgen Hardt in presiding over a hearing on threats to democracies. The hearing will also feature a panel with pro-democracy activists on the front lines, including Hong Kong Umbrella Movement student leader Nathan Law, Moscow-based Opposition Leader Vladimir Milov, and Iranian human rights activist Azadeh Pourzand. The Commission will seek to coordinate passage of legislative measures on shared concerns, such as Russian election meddling, Chinese 5G networks, Iranian influence, and North Korea sanctions.

Who: The following officials will be in attendance:

  • Bill Keating, Representative, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment, United States
  • Jurgen Hardt, Member of the Bundestag, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Foreign Policy Spokesperson of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group, Germany
  • Michael Levitt, Member of Parliament, Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Canada
  • Tom Malinowski, Representative, Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, United States
  • Kati Piri, Member of Parliament, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, European Parliament
  • Lia Quartapelle Procopio, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Secretary of the House Committee on Foreign and Community Affairs, Italy
  • Christian Schmidt, Member of the Bundestag, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Germany
  • Radek Sikorski, Member of Parliament, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, European Parliament
  • Hiromi Takasi, Member of the House of Councillors, National Diet, Japan
  • Sabine Thillaye, Member of the National Assembly, Chairwoman of the Committee on European Affairs, France

Note that the following individuals are members of the Commission, though are unable to participate at the hearing:

  • Eliot Engel, Representative, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, United States
  • Mike Gallagher, Representative, Member of the House Armed Services Committee, United States
  • Norbert Rottgen, Member of the Bundestag, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Germany
  • Andrew Hastie, Member of Parliament, Chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence, Australia
  • Tom Tugendhat, Member of Parliament, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, United Kingdom

When: Saturday, February 15; 10:00am-11:30am

Where: The Karmeliterkirche at the Munich Security Conference (across the street from the Bayerischer Hof).

For media inquiries or to RSVP, please contact press@atlanticcouncil.org

Politics & Diplomacy