Conflicts on the South China Sea continue deteriorating relations not only between Asian country, but also in the West. The EU countries seem to be guided by their own interests on that matter - said Dr. Malgorzata Bonikowska, the CIR president during the conference "EU-ASEAN. Models of integration", organised by the Faculty of Political Science of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin. The conference, held on 18-20 September, seeked to bring together the academia and practitioners focused on integration processes in the EU and ASEAN. 

Other participants of the discussion were prof Salvatore Babones from the University of Sydney, CIR's senior fellow and scientific advisor, Dr.  Jakub Zajączkowski, Dr. Tomasz Łukaszuk and prof. Edward Haliżak from University of Warsaw. The conference started with the diplomats debate with the participation of Ambassador of Japan to Poland, Shigeo Matsutomi, Ambassador of Philippines to Poland, Patricia Ann V. Paez, representatives of the European Commission to Poland, representatives of the Asia-Pacific Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland and former Polish Ambassadors: Tomasz Łukaszuk (Indonesia), Andrzej Jaroszyński (Australia), Xawery Burski (Malaysia, China) and Dr. Stanisław Kozłowski, former counsellor to Singapore.