US President Joe Biden will join German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week at what the Munich Security Conference (MSC) calls a special edition of its annual meeting, organizers said on Friday, confirming a list of speakers at the event.
Biden visited the Bavarian capital to attend the conference in 2009 and 2013 when he was vice president to Barack Obama. He also went in 2019. In 2021, he will be the first sitting US president to participate in the meeting, though he’ll be attending virtually rather than traveling to Germany.
The president will address “the need for the United States and Europe to take on global challenges together,” said White House Press Sectary Jen Psaki.
Who else will take part?
The special edition of the MSC, which normally would have run from February 19-21, will also see contributions from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and US climate envoy John Kerry.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will also give an address, as will Microsoft’s Bill Gates.
The event normally hosts scores of heads of state and government, business leaders, security specialists and diplomats discussing transatlantic as well as foreign and defense policy.
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