Toomas Hanso
Junior Research Fellow
April 27, 2026
ICDS Hosts 2-day European Think-tank Network on China Meeting
On 23-24 April, the International Centre for Defence and Security hosted the European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC) to discuss Europe-China ties and Sino-Russian relations amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The 2-day meeting organised by Toomas Hanso, Junior Research Fellow at ICDS, included updates on each European country’s bilateral relations with China, a session on Sino-Russian relations in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine with contributions from ETNC China experts and ICDS Russia experts, as well as a meeting with diplomats from the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss Estonia-China ties.
Over 20 ETNC attendees travelled to Estonia to participate in-person, including those from Austria Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES), Corvinus University of Budapest (BCE), Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS), Clingendael Institute Netherlands, Italian Institute for International Affairs (IAI), Czech Institute of International Relations (IIR), French Institute for International Relations (IFRI), Finnish Institute for International Affairs (FIIA), King’s College London Lau China Institute (LCI), Latvian Institute of International Affairs (LIIA), Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), Swedish National China Centre (NKK), Elcano Royal Institute (RIE).
Discussions highlighted convergences and divergences in various European countries’ approaches to China, shared NB8 and EU-level perspectives vis-à-vis China given the China-Russia Strategic Partnership of Coordination, and economic and security issues related to Chinese technologies.
Photos: Flickr
