Bringing Europe's Leaders Together

Lunch discussion on social networks and political participation
13 May 2016, Berlin

The Club of Three organised a lunch event in Berlin on 13 May to discuss with a small group of senior media representatives, academics and business people the opportunities and challenges posed by social networks for modern democracies.

This topic was one of high societal relevance: social networks had been instrumental in changing the way protest movements are emerging and evolving, as shown by the Arab Spring, Euromaidan demonstrations in Kiev and, more recently, the ‘Nuit debout’ movement in Paris. As well as participants from France, Germany and the UK, several Russians took part in the meeting, reflecting the Club of Three’s focus on engaging Russia in 2016.

The discussion was chaired by Jochen Wegner (Editor-in-Chief of Zeit.de) and led by three speakers: Philippe-Moreau Chevrolet (President of MCBG Conseil), Pavel Lokshin (Moscow-based journalist) and Sergey Lagodinski (Head of EU/North America Department at the Heinrich Böll Foundation).