Over 30 World Leaders to Attend Munich Security Conference in February

More than 30 world leaders and twice as many ministers are expected to attend the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany, the MSC chairman said Wednesday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) – This year, the traditional annual conference in Munich, in southeast Germany, is scheduled for February 12-14.

Announcing the conference in Berlin, MSC chairman and German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger predicted an "extraordinary" attendance.

"There will be over 30 heads of state and government – more than at EU summits – as well as over 60 ministers, EU commissioners and other high-ranking politicians," Ischinger told journalists at a press conference.

Russia will be represented by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Ischinger added. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to speak at the start of MSC. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and US State Secretary John Kerry are also attending.

The MSC is an international, nongovernmental, independent conference for discussing major security issues. Founded in 1962 for consultations between NATO member countries, it now involves representatives from Central and Eastern Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East, as well as former Soviet states.