Experts

Laurynas Vaičiūnas

Laurynas

Laurynas Vaičiūnas is the deputy director of the Jan Nowak-Jezioranski College of Eastern Europe in Wroclaw, an NGO working to stimulate intellectual exchange between Eastern Europe and the rest of the world. Its main publications include bimonthlies New Eastern Europe and Nowa Europa Wschodnia. Laurynas is responsible for publishing, international contacts and the organisation’s headquarters in Wojnowice Castle. Laurynas has a background in history, politics and international relations with degrees from the University of Bath and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies UCL.

György Varga

György Varga

Deputy Executive Director of the International Visegrad fund. A translator (V. Havel, B. Hrabal, M. Kundera, I. Klíma and other authors) and literary historian dealing mainly with the Czech and Czechoslovakian literature. A close associate of the Czech opposition of the 1970s and 1980s. He became Budapest correspondent of the Czech Section of Radio Free Europe (1988–90). Following the change of the political regime he was appointed as Ambassador of Hungary in Prague (1990-95). Later he served as the head of the Central European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary (1998-2000) and Consul General in Slovakia(2000-04), the Chief Counsellor at the Department of Cultural and Science Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary (2004-05) and the Director of the Hungarian Cultural Centre in Prague (2005-10), He was awarded by the I. Level Medal of Merit by President Havel the Knight of Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic by President Göncz.

Magdaléna Vašáryová

Magdalena Vášáryová

A member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic. Chairwoman of the oldest Slovak women’s association „Živena“ and chairwoman of the Institute for cultural policies. In the past she served as a State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Poland (2000 – 2005), between 1990 – 1993 Czechoslovak Ambassador to Austria. Founder and in years 1993 – 2000 the director of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association - SFPA (today honorary chair). Lectured at the Institute of International Relationships and Law Harmonization at the Faculty of Law of the Comenius University in Bratislava, and currently she is lecturer at the CEVRO Institute (Prague). In 2010 she was awarded with a Gold Medal for Meritorious for Culture – Gloria Artis. An author of several books and articles in domestic and international press.

Michal Vašečka

Doc. PhDr. Michal Vašečka, PhD. is sociologist by background and public intellectual by choice. Michal serves as a program director of the Bratislava Policy Institute in Bratislava since 2017, as an Associate Professor he operates at the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts since 2015. Michal studied at the Comenius University in Bratislava and at the Masaryk University in Brno. He focuses his interests on issues of ethnicity, race, and migration studies, as well as populism, extremism, antisemitism, and social movements. 

Michal previously worked at the Masaryk University (2002-2017) and at the Comenius University (2006-2009). Michal is a founder and former director (2006-2012) of the Center for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK), in 1998-2005 he worked at the Slovak think-tank Institute of Public Affairs (IVO) and he has been a consultant for the World Bank in 2000-2012. Since 2012 Michal serves as a representative of the Slovak republic in the ECRI, human rights body of the Council of Europe, he is a chairman of the Editorial Board of the Denník N, major daily newspaper in Slovakia since 2016, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Aspen Review Central Europe in 2012-2016.

Michal Vašečka

Doc. PhDr. Michal Vašečka, PhD (1972) is sociologist by background and focuses his interests on issues of ethnicity, race, antisemitism, and migration studies. As an Associate Professor he operates at the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA) since 2015 and he is a director of Bratislava Policy Institute. He operated at the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University in Brno in 2002-2017 and at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences of the Comenius University in 2006-2009. As a visiting scholar he operated at the New School University in New York (1996-1997) and at the University of London (1998), in 2008-2009 he lectured at the Georgetown University in Washington, DC, in 2015 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in 2016 he was a scholar-in-residence in the ISGAP at Oxford University. Michal Vašečka is a founder of the Center for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture, he served a director of the CVEK (2006-2012). In 1998-2005 he operated at the Slovak think-tank Institute of Public Affairs as a program director on expert analysis of the Slovak transformation process with a focus on national minorities and the state of civil society in Slovakia. He has been a consultant for the World Bank in 2000-2008 and in 2011-2012. Since 2012 Michal Vašečka serves as a representative of the Slovak Republic in the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), human rights body of the Council of Europe. He is also as a vice-chairman of the governmental committee VRAX tackling extremism and racism in Slovakia. Michal Vašečka serves as a non-resident research associate at the European Centre for Minority Issues in Flensburg. In 2018 Michal became a laureate of the Award for special contribution in the field human rights of Minister of Justice of Slovakia. 

Luboš Veselý

Born in Prague. Graduated at the Institute for International Studies at Charles University (BA) in 2002. Student of Russian and Eastern European Studies at the Institute for International Studies at Charles University (MA). Part-time employment at the Foreign Politics Department of the Office of the Czech President in 2001-2002. Founding member, and since 2001 President of the Association for International Affairs. Former member of Prague Model United Nations Secretariat. Since 1998 works for People in Need Foundation (Human Rights and Democratization Projects). Author of several articles in International Policy, Respekt and Literární noviny magazines. Co-author of the Czech part of The Dictionary of Dissidents.

  

Michal Vít

Michal Vít

He is an assistant professor at Metropolitan University Prague. Michal graduated in European studies at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic where he obtained his doctorate in 2017. Previously he was associated with the Institute for European Policy (IEP) in Berlin. His research focuses on the process of national identities forming of political parties in Central-East Europe. He underwent research fellowships at the University of Konstanz and the University of Vienna. Currently runs web portal ceeidentity.eu.

Alexander Vondra

Alexander Vondra

Born in Prague. In 1984 graduated from School of Natural Sciences in Charles University and in 1985 earned the degree of Doctor of National Sciences from the same school. In 1980’s participated in the activities of Czechoslovakia’s democratic opposition. In retaliation for his organization of demonstrations in January 1989 and for the petition A New Sentences”, he served a two-months sentence in prison. In November 1989 Co-founder and leading member of the Civic Forum movement. 1990-1992: Foreign Policy advisor to President Vaclav Havel. Former First Deputy Minster of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Former Ambassador to the United States. Awarded National Endowment for Democracy’s Democracy Service Medal. The Czech Deputy Foreign Minister for Security. Governmental Commissioner of the Czech Republic for NATO Summit. 

Taras Voznyak

Taras Voznyak

Ukrainian culture expert, political scientist, editor-in-chief and founder of Independent Cultural Journal "Ї".Studied at the Lviv Polytechnic National University. After Gorbachev’s thaw he became an activist of democratic movement and coorganised the first general strike in Ukraine (at Lviv Factory of Milling Machines). Associated with an informal group of intellectuals “Lvivska Shkola” (Lviv School). He translated a large number of texts and published within samizdat. He isthe editor-in-chief and publisherof theIndependent Cultural Journal "Ї", which has transformed into an influential NGO and a think tank covering issues of civil society, human rights, interethnic relations, cross-border cooperation, multiculturalism, European integration, regionalism, globalisation and anti-globalist movements, ecumenical dialogue, political changes in the region. Initiator and organiser of community campaigns on the promotion of cultural heritage of Halychyna. Co-initiator of an honorary distinction "Order for Intellectual Bravery". Author of more than 400 publications in Ukrainian and foreign media. Awarded with an honorary distinction "Knight of Halychyna" in the nomination "Public Figure" (2001), a distinction “20 Years of the First Democratic Convocation of Lviv Regional Council” (2010), a distinction by Lviv Mayor “Saint George Distinction of Honour” (2011).

Ed Vulliamy

Ed Vulliamy

International reporter for the Guardian and the Observer in London. Honoured with several British journalism awards for his coverage of the war in the former Yugoslavia, including the James Cameron Award in 1994. Named International Reporter of the Year 1993 and 1994. Gratuated from Oxford University and the University of Florence.

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