On 31 January 2023, Crisis Group launched its EU Watch List 2023, our yearly publication that identifies ten countries and regions at risk of conflict or escalation of violence, where stronger engagement and early action driven or supported by the EU and its member states could help generate stronger prospects for peace and stability. The Watch List 2023 includes a President’s Take on global trends, followed by detailed conflict analysis and EU-targeted recommendations on the ten following cases: Afghanistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Brazil’s Regional Role, Global Commodity Shocks, Gulf Regional Security, Iraq, Mozambique, Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine.

This event starts with a moderated high-level panel between the Secretary General of the European External Action Service Stefano Sannino and Crisis Group’s President and CEO Comfort Ero discussing ‘The Role of the EU as a Global Peace Actor’. A second panel features senior Crisis Group staff who present Crisis Group’s Watch List 2023 in more detail, discussing regional trends in Europe, Africa and the Middle East that the EU should watch in 2023 and unpacking some of the Watch List’s main recommendations for the EU. Both panels are followed by a short Q&A exchange with the audience.