Albania and EU Enlargement: Progress, Aspirations, and Expectations from the Irish Presidency

In his book Blue Heart, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett (Rtd.), former Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces and former Chief of the Irish Naval Service, argues that the defining crises of the twenty-first century - climate change, energy insecurity, geopolitical instability, food vulnerability, and the erosion of democratic resilience - are converging at sea. Drawing on a lifetime in naval command, international security, and ocean governance, Mellett examines how the ocean has quietly sustained the modern world: regulating climate, absorbing carbon, carrying global trade, supporting food systems and enabling the undersea digital networks on which economies now depend. Yet this vast living system is under mounting pressure from warming waters, biodiversity collapse, overexploitation and intensifying strategic competition. From the North Atlantic to the deep waters west of Ireland, from vulnerable undersea cables to contested energy infrastructure, Blue Heart reveals an ocean becoming both more fragile and more geopolitically significant. Mellett explores the rise of hybrid maritime conflict, the risks posed by failing governance systems, and the profound implications of climate disruption for migration, sovereignty, and global security. He argues that ecological security and human security can no longer be separated, and that we must recover our sense of belonging to nature if we are to protect the blue heart of the planet that keeps us alive.

To mark the UN International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, Mary Robinson will deliver a keynote address entitled “Women Farmers as Agents of the Change We Need in Farming.”

In this webinar, Tim Christophersen, Vice President of Climate Action at Salesforce and author of Generation Restoration, will deliver an address on the case for treating nature as critical infrastructure for a climate-resilient Europe. Against the backdrop of increasingly frequent extreme-weather events, Tim will examine how investment in ecosystem restoration and other nature-based solutions can strengthen climate resilience, reduce flood, drought and wildfire risks, support water and food security, and protect communities and economies. He will consider the policy and investment shift required to embed nature within European infrastructure, competitiveness and resilience planning.

In this event, Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for European Affairs and Cristina Gherasimov, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration of the Republic of Moldova will discuss Enlargement and Moldova’s journey towards EU membership. The Ministers’ keynotes will be followed by a panel discussion with experts to discuss Moldova’s key reform priorities and the challenges shaping the accession process.

Kirsty McNeill is the Scottish Labour and Co-operative MP for Midlothian and was appointed Minister of State for International Development in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on 21 July 2026. In her ministerial roles, she has responsibility for: Africa; development and humanitarian; international finance; and climate and energy security. She was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland in the Scotland Office between July 2024 and July 2026. Before entering Parliament, McNeill was an Executive Director at Save the Children, leading work on global health, education, poverty, and humanitarian issues, and earlier served as an adviser to former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. She has also held a number of leadership and advisory roles across public policy, international affairs and civil society.