BMI and TUM hold a joint conference on the challenges facing Europe

On 14 and 15 October 2026, the Boris Mints Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions to Global Challenges (BMI) at Tel Aviv University and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) held a joint conference, “Addressing European Challenges”. The conference took place at TUM’s academic center in Raitenhaslach, Bavaria. It brought together scholars, students and practitioners from Israel, Germany and across Europe to discuss the pressures that Europe faces from within and from outside its borders.

Dr. Boris Mints, Founder and President of BMI, opened the conference with Prof. Itai Sened, Head of BMI. Prof. Miranda Schreurs welcomed the participants on behalf of TUM. In the opening keynote, Prof. Eugenia da Conceição-Heldt of TUM spoke about how geopolitics now shapes the policies of the European Union, from its Global Gateway investment plan to its industrial policy. The first panel asked whether Europe is moving towards division or unity, while the second discussed war and conflict management on the European continent. The speakers included Prof. Igor Lukšić, former Prime Minister of Montenegro, Prof. Erik Jones of the European University Institute, Prof. Daniela Giannetti of the University of Bologna and Prof. Dima Adamsky of Reichman University. BMI Director Petr Pesov presented his research on how the words of leaders and publics changed in the weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On the second day, the conference turned to energy security and the energy transition. Doctoral and graduate students from TUM and Tel Aviv University compared the energy transitions of Germany and Israel. The conference closed with a negotiation simulation, in which students worked through the future of an imagined continent.

The Barak Leadership Center at Tel Aviv University, headed by Prof. Udi Sommer, joined the conference, and Prof. Sommer took part as both a speaker and a moderator. BMI thanks the Boris Mints Foundation, the German-Israeli Foundation, TUM and Tel Aviv University for their support.