Baltic Indo-Pacific Forum 2026

The Baltic Indo-Pacific Forum 2026, organised by the Japan Chair at the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) will take place on Tuesday, June 16th, 2026 in Tallink Spa & Conference Hotel in Tallinn, Estonia

Europe and the Indo‑Pacific find themselves increasingly intertwined as great‑power rivalry intensifies and the international system drifts toward deeper multipolarisation and fragmentation. In this turbulent environment, great powers aim to justify and entrench their spheres of influence, forcing small and middle powers to rethink how geopolitical power is exercised, navigated, and contested. The third edition of the Baltic Indo-Pacific Forum (BIPF) explores how Europe’s strategic outlook intersects with the Indo‑Pacific’s rapidly evolving security dynamics. It assesses how actors in both regions seek to tackle a shifting international landscape in which alliances are fluid, partnerships are increasingly based on transactionalism, and stability and the rules-based order are eroding. In a world marked by competition, containment, and coercion, how can Europe and the Indo-Pacific cooperate based on respect for shared values such as multilateralism, sovereignty and sustainable development?  

The BIPF, organized by the Japan Chair at the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) in Tallinn, is a unique forum in the Nordic-Baltic region focusing on security in the Indo-Pacific region, the role of Japan, and Asia-Europe relations. It brings together academic experts and policymakers from both regions to address topical security-related themes. 

The Japan Chair was established at ICDS in October 2023. Supported by the Government of Japan, it serves as an independent platform to contribute to a better understanding of common challenges faced by Japan and the Nordic-Baltic states or Europe in the evolving geopolitical environment of the 21st century. The activities of the Japan Chair focus on solid research contributing to policy debates on geopolitical developments in the Indo-Pacific region, major challenges in foreign, security and defence policies of Japan, and linkages with Asian and European security contexts.  

Agenda  

9.00-9.30   Registration and coffee   

9.30-9.50 Welcome and opening remarks   

• Opening remarks by Kristi Raik, Director of the ICDS 

• Opening remarks by Koichiro Nakamura, Ambassador of Japan to Estonia 

• Keynote remarks by Margus Tsahkna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia  

  09.50-11.05 Panel I: Great-Power Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific and Middle-Power Strategies–Perspectives from Europe and Japan 

Speakers: 

• Masataka Okano, Former National Security Adviser to the Cabinet  

• Maria Castillo Fernandez, EU Special Envoy for Indo-Pacific, European External Action Service 

• Alexandra Sakaki, Deputy Head, Asia Division, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)  

• Michael Reiterer, Distinguished Professor, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, Free University Brussels (VUB) 

Moderator: Bart Gaens, Japan Chair, International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) 

 11.05-11.30 Coffee Break   

11.30-12.45 Panel II: Minilateral Alignment and Security Partnerships between the Indo-Pacific and the European/Nordic-Baltic Regions 

Speakers: 

• Giulio Pugliese, Director, EU-Asia Project, European University Institute (EUI) 

• Atsuko Higashino, Professor, University of Tsukuba   

• Nanae Baldauff, Senior Associate fellow, NATO Defence College 

• Ivan U.K. Klyszcz, Research Fellow, International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) 

Moderator: Elena Atanassova-Cornelis, Associate Professor, Catholic University of Lille 

 12.45-12.55 Closing Remarks by the Japan Chair 

13.00-13.45 Lunch buffet 

13.45 A historian-guided walking tour of Tallinn´s Old Town (with pre-registration). Duration: approximately two hours. 

Speakers 

Masataka OKANO, Former National Security Adviser to the Cabinet 

Mr. Okano most recently served as Japan’s National Security Advisor, where he advised the Prime Minister and oversaw national security policy across domains including economic security and cybersecurity. He has held several other senior positions, including Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs: the highest-ranking Foreign Service officer, and Deputy National Security Advisor/Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, where he contributed to drafting the 2022 National Security Strategy and preparing for Active Cyber Defense legislation. 

Mr. Okano has also served as Deputy Minister for Foreign Policy, responsible for UN policy, human rights, and policy planning, and as the Ministry’s Legal Advisor, overseeing international law interpretation and treaty negotiations. From 2015-2018, he served as Political Minister at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., and managed the Japan-U.S. alliance during the Obama and Trump administrations.  

Mr. Okano has taught international law at Japan’s most prestigious universities, including the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy, Waseda University’s Graduate School of Law, and Sophia University.  He also taught Japanese law at Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales in Paris. Mr. Okano holds a B.A. in Law from the University of Tokyo and an international diploma in public administration from France’s École nationale d’Administration.  

Maria Castillo Fernandez, EU Special Envoy for Indo-Pacific, European External Action Service (EEAS) 

Ms. Fernandez has been serving as the Ambassador of the European to the Republic of Korea since 2020. Previously, Ms. Castillo Fernandez served as the EU Ambassador to Malaysia (2016-2020). From 2012 to 2020, Ms. Castillo Fernandez worked at the headquarters of the European External Action Service in Brussels and, as Head of Division for India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, in charge of coordinating the EU’s overall relations with these South Asian countries. From 2008 to 2012 she served as the Head of the EU Office Hong Kong and Macao. From 2000 to 2008, Ms. Castillo Fernandez was in charge of EU political relations and economic cooperation activities with the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People\’s Republic of Korea, both with postings in Brussels (2000-2005) and as a Deputy Head of Mission in Seoul (2005-2008). Prior to this, Ms. Castillo Fernandez had an extensive career in the European Commission. 

Ms. Castillo Fernandez completed postgraduate studies in European law, economics and international relations with two masters, one obtained from the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium) and the second from the Institute of European Studies (Strasbourg, France). Prior to this, she obtained a law degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). 
Ms. Castillo Fernandez was decorated in 2008 with the Cruz de Oficial de la Orden del Mérito Civil by the King of Spain for strengthening relations between the EU and the Korean Peninsula. 

Alexandra Sakaki, Deputy Head, Asia Division, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) 

Alexandra Sakaki is Deputy Head of Research Division Asia at SWP, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, an independent foreign policy think tank in Berlin. Her research focuses on Japanese foreign and security policy as well as Indo-Pacific security dynamics. Previously, she was a visiting researcher at Keio University and the National Defense Academy in Japan.  

She holds a B.A. from Princeton University, an M.Phil from the University of Cambridge, and a Ph.D. from the University of Trier. 

She has authored numerous policy papers and articles. Her recent publications include the SWP research report Japan in Southeast Asia: Countering China’s Growing Influence and a SWP policy brief entitled The End of the Diplomatic Thaw between Japan and China: How Geopolitical Rivalry Shapes Bilateral Relations. 

Michael Reiterer, Distinguished Professor at the Brussels School of Governance (VUB) 

Prof. Dr. Michael Reiterer is Distinguished Professor at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) at the Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He is also the honorary founding editor of the CSDS Policy Brief series. 

His research focuses on EU foreign policy, EU-Asia relations (particularly Japan and Korea), the Indo-Pacific, interregionalism, security issues, cyber diplomacy, and economic security. A former EU diplomat, he served as Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Korea (2017–2020), Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein (2007–2011), and Deputy Head of Mission at the EU Delegation to Japan (2002–2006). He retired from the European External Action Service in 2020. 

He holds a Dr. jur. from the University of Innsbruck and a habilitation in International Politics. He has taught as an adjunct or visiting professor at universities across Europe and Asia, including recent guest professorships in Japan and an Erskine Fellowship at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand (2025). 

Bart Gaens, Japan Chair, International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) 

Dr. Bart Gaens is Japan Chair at the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), a position he has held since October 2024. He is also Senior Research Fellow in the Global Security and Governance Research Programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) in Helsinki. In addition, he holds the title of Docent at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki. In the past he has worked as Director of FIIA’s Centre on US Politics and Power (CUSPP), as Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Helsinki, and as Specially-Appointed Associate Professor at Osaka University, Japan. He has published widely on Japan’s foreign policy and regional role; Europe-Asia inter-regionalism and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process; India’s foreign policy and relations with the EU; domestic politics in Myanmar; and security-related issues in the Indo-Pacific region. He has also (co-)edited volumes and reports on connectivity, EU-Asia relations, the US-China rivalry, transatlantic relations, and Japan’s search for strategic partnerships.  

Giulio Pugliese, Director, EU-Asia Project, European University Institute (EUI) 

Dr Pugliese is the Director of the EU-Asia Project at the European University Institute, and an incoming Assistant Professor in Asia Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. He specialises in the international relations of the Asia-Pacific, with a focus on Japan-China-US great power politics and, more recently, on Europe’s foreign and security policy in East Asia. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge. He was a Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter at the Department of Chinese Studies in Heidelberg University, a Lecturer in War Studies and Strategic Communications at King’s College London, a Lecturer in Japanese Politics at the University of Oxford, and a recipient of a British Academy post-doctoral fellowship. In 2023, he was awarded the Nakasone Incentive Award for his research on Japanese diplomacy. He is co-author of Sino-Japanese Power Politics: Might, Money and Minds (Palgrave MacMillan, 2017, also available in Korean), and of numerous academic and policy publications – including in Japanese. 

Atsuko HIGASHINO, Professor, University of Tsukuba, Japan 

Dr. Atsuko Higashino is Professor in the faculty of International Studies at University of Tsukuba, Japan. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Birmingham, the United Kingdom, and an MA and BA in Political Science from Keio University, Japan. Before working at University of Tsukuba, she was a Lecturer at University of Birmingham and Associate Professor at Hiroshima City University. She also worked as a special assistant for the Japanese Delegation to the OECD in Paris, where she was in charge of research on the outreach activities of the OECD. Dr. Higashino is currently teaching International Relations, International History, and politics and policies of the European Union. Her research interests include EU enlargement (Turkey and the Western Balkans), European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), Eastern Partnership (EaP), EU-China relationship. She has written extensively on the Ukraine Crisis (since 2014) as well as Russia-Ukraine War (since 2022) and EU’s response to it.  

Nanae Baldauff, Senior Associate fellow, NATO defence College 

Dr. Baldauff is an Associate Research Fellow at UNU-CRIS (Bruges, Belgium) and Senior Researcher at Keio Research Institute at SFC (Shonandai, Japan). She recently completed a Ph.D. in Political Science (Ghent University, Belgium) and holds a master’s degree in European Governance (University of Luxembourg). She has a certificate of International Law from the Beasley School of Law (Temple University, Japan Campus). Her Ph.D. focused on Japan’s defense cooperation with strategic partners from the perspective of Japan’s national security objectives. The research examined the purposes of Japan’s defense engagement in the areas of defense equipment and technology cooperation, military exercises and capacity building. She is a recipient of the Japan Foundation fellowship. She has been a guest lecturer at the University of Luxembourg, Trier University (Germany), and Ghent University. 

In addition to her academic carrier, Nanae has extensive professional experience at the United Nations University headquarters in Tokyo as governing board and legal administrator. She has a wealth of experience in institutional strategy development and partnerships linking government ministries, education/research industries, and commercial companies. She has managed large budgets, off-shore offices, and oversight of a range of portfolios including drafting and negotiating agreements, donor relations, planning and management of board meetings, administration and liaison support. Prior to that she worked for major US investment banks in the compliance and risk management administration. 

Her area of interest is Japan’s foreign and defense policy, Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific regional vision and security community, geopolitics and geoeconomics in the Indo-Pacific, defense industry cooperation, cybersecurity and security of the space domain. 

Ivan U.K. Klyszcz, Research Fellow, International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) 

Dr. Ivan Klyszcz joined the ICDS as a Research Fellow in September 2022. Previously, he was a full-time doctoral researcher at the University of Tartu, where he obtained his PhD in International Relations. Dr. Klyszcz’s research is centred on issues of international security, namely, great power competition, the grand strategy of major powers, and Russian foreign policy. In recent years, Dr. Klyszcz has investigated the drivers, methods, and impact of Moscow’s global international relations—particularly with Africa, Latin America, and South Asia— and their implications for European strategy. In addition, he has studied Russian domestic politics, with a focus on centre-region relations, Chechnya and the North Caucasus. Since 2019, he has published over 60 articles, including research reports, peer-reviewed articles, and policy memos, as well as delivered presentations at academic and policy conferences across Europe and North America. Dr. Klyszcz has been quoted in international media such as Al-Jazeera, BBC, France 24, and The Economist. His work has been cited by peer researchers and attracted the interest of diplomats, governments, and major NGOs. Dr. Klyszcz is a member of PONARS Eurasia and a frequent contributor to Riddle Russia. 

Elena Atanassova-Cornelis, Associate Professor, European School of Political and Social Sciences, Catholic University of Lille 

Elena Atanassova-Cornelis is an Associate Professor in International Relations at the European School of Political and Social Sciences (ESPOL) of the Catholic University of Lille. She is also a part-time Professor of International Politics at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, an Associate Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) in Tallinn, Estonia. 

Her teaching and research interests include international relations in East Asia and the Indo-Pacific with a particular focus on regional security, strategy and geopolitics, as well as Europe-Asia relations. 

Previously, Elena Atanassova-Cornelis was a Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, the Japan Chair at the ICDS in Tallinn, Estonia, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Kent in Brussels, and the Lille Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po Lille), France. She was also a Senior Associate Analyst at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) in Paris, and a holder of the Taiwan Fellowship of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China on Taiwan. She was a recipient of the Monbusho Scholarship of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and pursued graduate studies at Sophia University in Tokyo. She holds a PhD in Japanese Studies from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.