2014 ANNUAL REPORT 2014
Ambassador Rastislav Káčer President Central European Strategy Council It is safe to say that 2014 was one of the most turbulent years in recent history. The events east of our border have once again proved the value of collective security and transatlantic cooperation. In our increasingly interconnected world, we must not pretend that certain issues do not affect us. Our neighbours’ and allies’ problems are also our problems. It is our moral duty to help them just like they have helped us numerous times in previous years when the future of democracy in Slovakia and its integration to the Euro-Atlantic structures was at stake. As we celebrated ten years since our accession to NATO and the European Union and later in the year 25th anniversary since the fall of the Iron Curtain, we had an opportunity to reflect on how much we have gained from re-joining the family of free and democratic nations. My personal impression is that on one hand we underestimate the undisputable achievements of the past 25 years and on the other hand we take them for granted. The current geopolitical upheavals show that if we are not vigilant, things can deteriorate very quickly. We have to defend our values and principles. We have to reach out to the general public and explain why we should be active participants in the collective security and not free riders who hope that the bigger and more
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powerful allies will come to their rescue when the going gets tough. I am immensely proud that the Central European Strategy Council and its member organisations are faithful to their mission and shape the debate on issues ranging from defence, security and foreign policy to regional cooperation in Central Europe and the future of the European project. The Transfer of Know-How Programme, run by the Slovak Atlantic Commission, is a nice example of how we are willing to share our transition experience with other countries which are still on the path to the Euro-Atlantic structures or democratisation. Our flagship events such as GLOBSEC and TATRA SUMMIT have once again proved that we are able to organise first-class conferences and contribute to expert debates at the highest levels. Both have become respected brands and it is our responsibility to build on this capital and continue improving them. Our ambitions are high but we have never shied away from challenges. I am convinced that the young and dedicated team of the Central European Strategy Council will keep up all the good work that it has done so far and will shape our country, region and the whole transatlantic area.
ANNUAL REPORT
Róbert Vass CEO and Executive Vice-President Central European Strategy Council
One year ago, very few of us would have predicted events that dominated in 2014. The geopolitical context of our operations was more demanding than in the previous years. The European and transatlantic order has been under attack as never before and the security and stability of our region have been seriously undermined. Things that we thought were impossible in the 21st Century, such as border changes, suddenly became a reality. We have to admit that many aspects of last year’s events surprised us but, fortunately, we were able to react swiftly and unequivocally to the dynamic changes of the international security environment. Another important development that we have to deal with was a crisis of the Visegrad Group. It was very much linked to the events in Ukraine and proved that the Visegrad Group is experiencing a deep internal crisis, not only institutional but also the crisis of trust. It is our goal to look for opportunities where the regional cooperation can continue. We should also try to heal the wounds caused by the Ukraine crisis. Of course, the solution has to be in line with our values. We must not yield to external political and economic pressures and blackmailing. Fortunately, the year 2014 was not only about distressing news. I am immensely proud of my team in all three member organisations of the Central European Strategy Council, which made further progress and raised their performance to another level. The Slovak Atlantic Commission organised a highly successful GLOBSEC conference. For the first time, we hosted all four prime ministers from the Visegrad Group countries.
Maybe it is a sign that the regional cooperation still has a lot to offer in many areas. The Château Béla forum has once again proved that it is not a talking shop but it has a significant policy impact, this time represented by the Château Béla Initiative, which outlines a forward-looking agenda to confront the most pressing concerns of our society. The Centre for European Affairs had a very successful year too. It managed to “export” the TATRA SUMMIT conference to Brussels and then hold a second highly praised conference in Bratislava. TATRA SUMMIT is now an excellent platform that helps to shape the Pan-European debate on the future of EU. Now our task is to prepare adequately for the upcoming Slovak presidency of the EU in 2016. The Central European Policy Institute managed to make topics such as defence and security as well as Central European cooperation subjects of interest for mainstream media. The best proofs of its rising importance and influence are an open letter to three presidents of the EU and creation of a caucus of Central European MEPs in Brussels. These are great achievements that show we are becoming a relevant force beyond the Central European region. Overall, the year 2014 was full of difficult tests but we certainly stood our ground and ended the year stronger than we started. However, we must stay alert so that we can not only respond to the events but also anticipate them better and make our voice heard in Central Europe and the whole transatlantic area.
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Central European Strategy Council The Central European Strategy Council is Bratislava-based independent non-governmental organisation, dealing with international affairs. Based on a 20-year history of the Slovak Atlantic Comission, its goal is to strenghten and extend what the Slovak Atlantic Commission has achieved since its creation in 1993.
Our Mission The core mission of Central European Strategy Council is to strengthen the voice of Slovakia and Central Europe in European and global affairs and define and support the strategic role of Central Europe in international politics. The organisation connects key Central European personalities and experts in foreign and security policy. The Central European Strategy Council aspires to define and support the strategic role of Central Europe in international politics. We are a value oriented organisation that believes in liberal democracy, freedom and the rule of law. The Central European Strategy Council supports transatlantic partnership and principles of European coopera-
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tion. “Countries of Central Europe are increasingly aware that they can make a bolder contribution to the Euro-Atlantic agenda only through closer cooperation. The mission of Central European Strategy Council is to advance those efforts beyond the means of individual organisations or think-tanks,” says Rastislav Káčer, Honorary President of the Central European Strategy Council. The Central European Strategy Council was founded in 2013 as an umbrella entity for three member organisations – the Slovak Atlantic Commission (SAC), the Centre for European Affairs (CEA) and the Central European Policy Institute (CEPI).
ANNUAL REPORT
Management Ambassador Rastislav Káčer President Central European Strategy Council
Róbert Vass CEO and Executive Vice-President Central European Strategy Council
Jaroslav Naď Deputy CEO and Corporate Partnership Director Central European Strategy Council
Jana Štefániková Chief Finance Officer Central European Strategy Council
Milan Solár, Managing Director Head of Strategic Forums Slovak Atlantic Commission
Milan Nič Managing Director Central European Policy Institute
Andrea Ferjenčíková Managing Director Centre for European Affairs
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Central European Strategy Council in Numbers 2 TATRA SUMMIT conferences 9 years of the GLOBSEC conference 20 policy briefs and another 35 publications by CEPI 150+ speakers at GLOBSEC 2014 200+ journalists at GLOBSEC 2014 700+ participants at TATRA SUMMIT in Bratislava 1000+ articles and reports about GLOBSEC 2014 1500 tweets at GLOBSEC 2014
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Slovak Atlantic Commission
Mission and Vision The Slovak Atlantic Commission (SAC) was founded in 1993 by Slovak diplomats and other public leaders to support Slovakia’s ambitions to join Euro-Atlantic institutions. Later, it became a member of the international network of Atlantic Treaty Associations (ATA). SAC is the main organiser of the GLOBSEC Bratislava Global Security Forum, which was founded in 2005 by a group of students led by Róbert Vass. Over the years, the Commission has grown and founded two sister organisations, the Centre for European Affairs (CEA) and the Central European Policy Institute (CEPI). In late 2013, these three entities became members of a new umbrella organisation – the Central European Strategy Council. The mission of the Slovak Atlantic Commission is to support transatlantic cooperation, to actively shape the foreign policy and security debate in Europe and beyond, and to foster dynamic engagement of the Slovak Republic
and the entire Central European region in international affairs. The Commission does this primarily by cultivating dialogue and productive cooperation among policy makers and experts, both inside and outside government. Drawing on the collective strength of the Central European Strategy Council, the Commission has emerged as one of the most visible, vibrant and policy-relevant non-governmental organisations in Central Europe and the transatlantic community. The Slovak Atlantic Commission has developed three distinct pillars representing its core activities. The flagship of the Strategic Forums Programme is the annual worldclass GLOBSEC Bratislava Global Security Forum. The Transfer of Know How Programme reaches out to partner nations in order to transfer Central Europe’s recent experience with democratic transition. The Youth Leadership Programme underlines the Commission’s long-term commitment to supporting young professionals.
Slovak Atlantic Commission
1. Strategic Forums Programme Representing the core pillar of the Slovak Atlantic Commission, the Strategic Forums programme (SF) provides platforms for advancing Central Europe’s point of view within European and transatlantic foreign and security policy-making. The Programme achieves this by organising a diverse spectre of regular and ad hoc events, which connect international decision-makers, opinion-leaders, experts, think-tankers, members of the business community, the media and the public. The underlining mission of these events is to engage this community in a focused debate that constructively contributes to shaping the European and transatlantic foreign and security agenda.
as participation in the FORUM 2000 conference, where it co-organised a debate on democracy and its discontents, and the Central European Forum where it held a panel discussion on transatlantic community’s performance in Eastern Europe.
In 2014, the Strategic Forums Programme expanded beyond its basic framework. SAC became involved in a number of public diplomacy activities such as GLOBSEC City Talks and GLOBSEC v Lampe as well
GLOBSEC became more open to the general public by launching projects such as GLOBSEC City Talks and GLOBSEC v Lampe, reaching up to 500 followers
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HIGHLIGHTS For the first time, all four prime ministers of the Visegrad Group countries attended the GLOBSEC Forum, attending also a meeting with NATO Secretary General at the side-lines of the conference
1.1 GLOBSEC Bratislava Global Forum 2014 With more than 800 guests from 65 countries, travelling to Bratislava from places as far away as Washington, D.C., Moscow, or Wellington – GLOBSEC 2014 was the largest to date. The Forum managed to attract up to 150 top notch speakers, including 5 prime ministers, 12 ministers of foreign affairs and defence, almost two dozen deputy ministers of foreign affairs and defence as well as a number of special guests, including the Secretary General of NATO; Michael Chertoff, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; Gen. John Allen, former Supreme Commander of ISAF; Mario Monti, former Prime Minister of the Italian Republic; Rt. Hon. Lord John Reid, former UK Home Secretary and Defence Secretary as well as one of the most distinct political thinkers of our times, George Friedman. In 2014, GLOBSEC cooperated with 45 institutional, corporate and media partners from all over
the world and the three-day-event was covered by approximately 150 journalists from major European, US as well as international media.
Ukraine at GLOBSEC 2014 As prior to GLOBSEC 2014, the Ukraine crisis escalated and gained prominence in the region as well as on the international arena, the Forum introduced a number of formats devoted to this prominent foreign policy and security challenge. Nik Gowing, formerly of the BBC, opened the conference with a brainstorming session on developments in Ukraine – engaging not only prominent panellists but also other distinguished guests present at the event. During a separate event, a closed expert roundtable session, policy
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makers and experts discussed possible ways of approaching the Ukraine crisis as well as how to further engage the civil society sector into finding and implementing appropriate solutions. As a part of the public City Talks series, key policy makers addressed some of the most fundamental aspects of the West-Russia rift and events unfolding in Ukraine. Finally, GLOBSEC 2014 welcomed the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Natalia Galibarenko, who travelled to GLOBSEC to share and discuss the latest developments in her homeland – a week prior to the widely-anticipated Presidential elections.
All V4 Prime Ministers at GLOBSEC
Slovak Atlantic Commission
For the first time in the Forum’s history, prime ministers Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Bohuslav Sobotka of the Czech Republic, Donald Tusk of Poland, and Robert Fico of Slovakia discussed some of the most compelling challenges facing the region. At GLOBSEC, the prime ministers emphasised the importance of solidarity in the region as well as within the wider EU in regard to the current crisis in Ukraine. Despite suggestions that the Visegrad Four has failed to find unity in its reaction to the developments in Ukraine, Prime Minister Fico highlighted that Visegrad was now experiencing one of its most productive periods, focusing on “strategic and sophisticated cooperation” and at times “agreeing to disagree”. In respect to the Ukrainian crisis, the heads of V4 cabinets agreed that the main regional priority is to ensure energy security.
GLOBSEC Keynote: Standing up for freedom and security This year’s keynote speech was delivered by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Reminding the audience that twenty-five years ago, this part of Europe was the front-line in the fight for freedom, the Secretary General emphasised that it was NATO’s Open Door policy and the EU’s enlargement, which
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had made Europe whole and free again. Defining the Ukraine crisis as a wake-up call for those who ever doubted the importance of defence, SG Rasmussen judged Russia’s actions in connection to Ukraine as a clear sign of Moscow trying to establish a new sphere of influence, with profound, long-term implications for our security. Hence, he vowed that NATO would bolster its collective defence to secure its members. In doing so, the Secretary General outlined the core principles of a new Readiness Action Plan currently under NATO’s consideration. In order to increase this capacity, Mr. Rasmussen urged the Allies to stop the cuts and gradually increase defence budgets to reach the NATO target of 2% of GDP. In an attempt to bridge the gaps in military capabilities, NATO needed to stimulate further involvement in its multinational “Smart Defence” projects and promote closer regional cooperation. Emphasising that every country should have the right to choose its own future, including its relationship with the Alliance, NATO would deepen its partnerships with Ukraine and other NATO partners and keep NATO’s door open for those who connect their future with the Alliance.
George Friedman: Addressing the new rift between the West and Russia In a dynamic interview format, the Founder and Chairman of Stratfor, George Friedman, pointed to three developments that heralded the dawn of a “post-Cold War world”: the American withdrawal from jihadist wars; the massive
divergence within the EU between the South and the North, creating tension and indecision; and the return of China to normal and sustainable growth. In respect to Russia, Friedman emphasized Moscow’s historical dependence on maintaining strategic depth: “Russia has survived its long history by depth, which makes it an essential characteristic of Russian strategy.” Given this mindset, the ousting of a pro-Russian President and the installation of a pro-Western government in a zone vital to Russia’s security triggered an intervention. According to the Stratfor founder, Russians will continue to be aggressive and that the US, with some of its allies, would respond in ways that Russia would find hard to withstand. Ultimately, this – coupled with economic inefficiency and the unbearable costs of maintaining the Empire – will lead to the dissolution of the Russian Federation. In the context of Central Europe’s position on the Ukraine crisis, Mr. Friedman applauded Poland for having assumed the role of a leader.
Czech and Slovak Transatlantic Awards Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and former Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to NATO, Karel Kovanda, were recipients of the 2014 Czech and Slovak Transatlantic Awards. The ceremony was a part of the GLOBSEC Gala Dinner that
took place on 14 May in Reduta, the historic building of the Slovak Philharmonic. Anders Fogh Rasmussen is being awarded for the support he extended to the Central and Eastern European countries´ NATO membership aspirations at the 2002 Prague NATO Summit as Prime Minister of Denmark, his contribution to the strong transatlantic bond and for the unequivocal action over the crisis in the Ukraine. Karel Kovanda is recognised for his instrumental role in the integration of the Czech Republic to NATO. The awards are a joint initiative of the Slovak Atlantic Commission, a member of the Central European Strategy Council, and the Czech Euro-Atlantic Council Jagello 2000. They recognise personalities who have substantially contributed to freedom and democracy in Central Europe, strengthening of transatlantic relations and the integration of Central Europe to Euro-Atlantic institutions.
GLOBSEC City Talks The Slovak Atlantic Commission, in cooperation with the City of Bratislava, hosted series of GLOBSEC City Talks, which were organised on the side-lines of the GLOBSEC Bratislava Global Security Forum. The objective of GLOBSEC City Talks is to discuss key foreign policy and security issues publicly with a broader professional audience, including secondary school and university students, young professionals, civil servants, business and civic society representatives, members of the diplomatic community and the media. Over two days, GLOBSEC organisers arranged five dynamic, in-depth debates with prominent policy-makers and expert figures. GLOBSEC City Talks focused on the ongoing crisis in Ukraine; the most challenging current threats; the future of investigative journalism; the global outlook for the next decade; and Slovakia´s role in NATO 10 years after accession. During two days, organisers welcomed more than 300 participants, which confirmed its relevance, as well as the public interest in discussing acute foreign policy and security issues.
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GLOBSEC v Lampe Building on a success of the GLOBSEC City Talks, the Slovak Atlantic Commission decided to maintain and even strengthen its public diplomacy activities. Therefore, in close cooperation with .týždeň, a leading Slovak intellectual weekly magazine, a new project GLOBSEC v Lampe was introduced. This series of public debate aimed at bringing foreign policy, security and European topics closer to broader public and clarifying how sig-
nificant these topics are for their lives. Through public debates, the organisers wanted to create a space for the public to be not only informed but also to participate in a dialogue and express its opinion on the role of Slovakia, in European and global affairs. The topics included NATO, 10 years after Slovak´s accession, Atlanticism in Central Europe and current development, affected by the threat of the Islamic State. These public debates were also broadcasted by the Radio and Television Slovakia as a part of the TV programme Večer pod Lampou.
1.2 Château Béla Central European Strategic Forum
Slovak Atlantic Commission
During the first weekend of December 2014, a historical venue of Château Béla in southern Slovakia hosted the sixth annual Central European Strategic Forum – a two-day closed brainstorming on the most pressing regional and international challenges from the Visegrad perspective. The Forum welcomed more than forty top thinkers, NGO and government representatives as well as businessmen from Central Europe, Brussels, London and the USA, who again had an opportunity to discuss international developments freely and openly, under the Chatham House Rule. The Forum aims to contribute to policy-shaping in the Visegrad region via constructive discussions on issues
that are of crucial importance to the region as well as Europe and transatlantic area – such as the situation in Ukraine, Russian soft power, future of transatlantic relations after the mid-term elections, regional defence cooperation after the Wales Summit as well as new cycle of the European Union. Château Béla was organised in cooperation with the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, International Visegrad Fund, NATO Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic and Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia.
2. Transfer of Know-How Programme Over the past two decades, the four Visegrad countries have gone through an intensive transformation and integration process. Working hard to address the post-communist challenges and launching systemic reforms, the region quickly found itself economically growing and moving from periphery to the centre of the European decision-making.
solid institutional capacities and impressive human capital that the region has generated in the transition process, the mission of the Transfer of Know-How Programme is to provide relevant assistance and motivating stories to the nations that aspire to democracy and prosperity.
The complex transitions would not have been possible without support of our partners, though. At the Slovak Atlantic Commission, building on more than two decades of our own experience, we therefore believe it is now our moral obligation to help too. Drawing on the broad expertise,
The launch of a series of European Café debates in several regions of Moldova
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HIGHLIGHTS
The continuation of assistance to Tunisia, Montenegro and Georgia
The Partnership for Serbia and Partnership Newsletter initiatives in Serbia
Activities The programme is designed to realistically contribute to positive changes in countries and regions of intervention through application of the Visegrad experience. Special emphasis is placed on careful evaluation of the local needs as well as thorough understanding of the local realities, so that the tailor-made assistance brings the most relevant Visegrad expertise and practices and provides added-value solutions to tackle current challenges. Working closely with the Central European Policy Institute and bringing together a growing network of experts, partners and institutions of diverse background and expertise, the Transfer of Know-How Programme employs an array of tools, including expert dialogue, capacity building, civic and public diplomacy and policy research, which offer an ideal flexibility to work closely with local government authorities, political parties, non-governmental and civic organizations, as well as the general public, on challenges they face in these particular areas: security sector reform, including NATO integration democracy-building and good governance, including EU integration
Projects Since its establishment in 2008, the Programme has developed a strong focus on the EU’s neighbourhood regions, namely the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership, where the Visegrad-inspired assistance takes stock of the historical, geographical and cultural proximity. Yet, as engagements in North Africa demonstrate, the programme is not geographically limited as it offers flexible solutions drawing on the Visegrad experience and stories that are tailored on a countryto-country basis in order to meet the specific local context and needs.
Tunisia Immediately after the Jasmine revolution, the Transfer of Know-How programme launched a technical assistance initiative in Tunisia to assist the country tackle the security sector challenges it came to face in the newly established democratic environment. Tunisia lacked proper security sector legislation and it did not have a suitable framework to guide the democratic functioning of the involved government institutions, particularly with the decisive role of the constitutional assembly.
As the Slovak transformation experience and security sector reform expertise proved appealing to the Tunisian elites and government officials, the programme continued its involvement in the country in 2014 through a series of public and expert debates, study trips, conferences and trainings, working both with Tunisia’s lawmakers and political parties, as well as its civil society. With active engagement and support of the Slovak members of parliament and security sector high-ranked experts, the Transfer of Know-How programme helped enhance theoretical and practical expertise of Tunisian political elites, eventually contributing to drafting and adoption of a completely new set of security sector legislation.
Montenegro Through the Transfer of Know-How Programme, SAC has been involved in Montenegro since 2009, intensively supporting the country in its EU and NATO integration ambitions. Montenegro´s integration path has not been an easy one, marked by laudable successes combined with frequent setbacks; yet also with the help of SAC and Slovakia´s own integrational experience and expertise, gradual improvements have been visible, particularly in the area of public perception of the EU and NATO integration as well as in the quality of expert and public dialogue on the integration issues. In 2014, continuing its work with the country´s political and expert elites along with the general public across the country, mainly through international conferences, regional public speaking tours, training seminars and expert publications, the programme contributed to maintaining momentum of the integration discourse, often despite unfavourable political circumstances.
Moldova As Moldova was making crucial steps on its way closer to the EU, its society was left deeply divided on the country´s identity and its future strategic direction. The public support for the EU integration plummeted
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Partnership for Serbia and the Partnership Newsletter. The first one was a series of public events focused on different target groups of Serbian society with the aim to engage them in discussion about security related issues, NATO and regional defence cooperation.
significantly since the pro-European government took charge in 2010 while the pro-Russian support was reaching new heights, with the lack of a credible EU communication campaign being one of the several reasons.
Slovak Atlantic Commission
Advocating for a research-backed approach, in 2014 the Transfer of Know-How inspired and contributed to enhancing the communication efforts in Moldova through providing insights into public attitudes towards the EU and Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union, and fostering a reality-based debate among the expert community. At the same time, the programme also launched the initiative of regional European Café debates, intended for local community leaders and general public, which has provided a unique room for establishing a tradition of community-level public dialogue in Moldova, as well as for increasing awareness and understanding of the EU integration processes and efforts among members of the country´s society.
Serbia As the Slovak Embassy in Belgrade continued in 2014 its mandate as the NATO Contact Point Embassy (CPE) for Serbia, the Slovak Atlantic Commission continued with support of this effort with public diplomacy events focused on fostering discussion about the EuroAtlantic partnership and values. This has materialized in the Transfer of Know-How Programme’s projects
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In 2014, the project Partnership for Serbia focused on a young generation – Serbian university students who were invited to participate in the essay contest with the five best authors of essays visiting Slovakia within a week-long study-trip. The second target group included experts and members of the Serbian National Assembly (parliament) who also made a study trip to Slovakia, during which they had an opportunity to discuss the Slovak experience with joining NATO and EU with Slovak experts and state officials. The Partnership Newsletter is a periodical publication on defence, security, NATO and Serbia, which is distributed electronically to target groups in Serbia. The newsletter is distributed also in the Serbian language to broaden its outreach. Furthermore, the Slovak Atlantic Commission was the strategic partner of the Belgrade Security Forum (BSF) for the fourth time in a row. The BSF is the biggest regional security and foreign policy oriented forum that was inspired by GLOBSEC. The Transfer of Know-How Programme staff organized a discussion panel on energy security within the BSF conference.
Georgia The Transfer of Know How Programme also continued with its engagement in the region of South Caucasus where it partnered with the Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies and co-organised the successful Transformational Leadership Forum. The first part of the Forum took place in Tbilisi, Georgia and the second part in Bratislava. The Forum was attended by young professionals from each of the Eastern Partnership countries. The goal of the programme was to expose these young professionals to the transitional experience of the V4 countries and Georgia as well as to strengthen links between young experts from the Eastern Partnership and V4 countries.
3. Youth Leadership Programme The main goal of the Youth Leadership Programme (YLP) is to assist young professionals in the field of the international relations, security and politics, in achieving their full value-based leadership potential and improve their academic performance. The Slovak Atlantic Commission is proud of its reputation as an organisation that provides young people with opportunities to participate in various projects and activities, including SAC´s flagship event GLOBSEC and its youth version the GLOBSEC Young Leaders’ Forum. These help them to gain experience and abilities that can further boots their careers.
HIGHLIGHTS The GLOBSEC Young Leaders´ Forum proved to be a gathering of young, talented people from various backgrounds with distinguished speakers
In cooperation with the Afghan Deputy Ministry for Youth Affairs and Kabul University, a public book collection for pupils and students in Kabul was organised, resulting in more than 250 books donated to this cause.
The launch of a new online magazine - EuroAtlantic! think.act.lead
Using an online platform for vivid, diverse and fruitful discussions in the run-up to the conference, participants elaborated ideas and recommendations for the main panel sessions of the GLOBSEC Forum, including:
The launch of the Alumni network in December
GLOBSEC Brainstorming on Ukraine
GLOBSEC Young Leaders’ Forum 2014 The GLOBSEC Young Leaders’ Forum 2014 (GYLF 2014) took place on 13-16 May. The Slovak Atlantic Commission organised with the support from the NATO Public Diplomacy Division and the Embassy of the United States to Slovakia.
Afghanistan Check-List: Writing a New Chapter Power Shifts: Renewing Western Leadership Wake Me Up When September Ends: NATO after the Summit
GYLF 2014 convened 33 emerging leaders from more than 20 countries for four days of engagement in offthe-record sessions with distinguished speakers. Participants came from a variety of professional and academic backgrounds and included elected officials, CEOs, academics and military personnel. GYLF presented a unique opportunity to discuss the most pressing international security and foreign policy issues and to network with fellow participants. The event offered many formats to connect the young professionals with the seasoned diplomats, policymakers and experts who participated at GLOBSEC 2014. GYLF 2014 featured several innovative formats aimed at intense interaction, such as the Twinning Lunch, a workshop on leadership, the City Talks sessions, or the GYLF Pub Quiz. Most sessions took place on the GLOBSEC Boat on the Danube, which was chosen to symbolise the driving force, energy and dynamism of the next generation.
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These recommendations were sent to the chairs of the sessions prior to the Forum in order to ensure the presence of the young leaders’ ideas at GLOBSEC. Their voice could also be heard from the audience at most sessions, which contributed to the overall success of GLOBSEC 2014. “This forum is not just about networking but we also give you an opportunity to be fully involved in the Forum’s meetings, initiatives and research and interact with the Forum’s wider multi-stakeholder community. Be aware that you have a powerful role at GLOBSEC 2014, so make the very best out of it,” said Róbert Vass, the founder of the GLOBSEC Forum and Vice President and CEO of the Central European Strategy Council.
precisely choose topics that are of great interest and are essential for students of international relations and their general knowledge and future potential careers. In 2014, some of the most interesting and inspiring lectures and debates included a lecture by Pavol Hamžík, former ambassador to Ukraine, on the Ukrainian crisis. Former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikuláš Dzurinda talked about Slovakia’s position in NATO and other Euro-Atlantic structures as well as the role of
EURO-ATLANTIC! think.act.lead. The Euro-Atlantic! think.act.lead. e-magazine aims to become an innovated web edition of the of the Euro-Atlantic Quarterly magazine. The objective of the magazine is to constantly bring together foreign policy experts, scholars and motivated students to share their ideas about the latest development in foreign policy and security issues, mainly from the Central European perspective. Its aim is to evolve into an important forum for generating discussion, particularly on security, international affairs and the transatlantic partnership. The first issue was published shortly before Christmas, featuring various views and takes on the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
Slovak Atlantic Commission
Study and research trips/ Internship exchange programme The programme supports young people on their way towards professional development via study and research trips, and internship placements in our partner organisations. The Commission has systematised the Trainee Programme and launched several complementary education subprograms focused on leadership development and the promotion of values which the Slovak Atlantic Commission adheres to. Partnering with us will give your interns or young professional to other YLP programmes that could further enrich your company.
Other Activities in the Banská Bystrica Office The office in Banska Bystrica regularly organises lectures and discussions with experts in the fields of international relations and security policy. It aims to expand the choice of the formal education options and to enrich universities with a wider range of discussions, lectures and simulations with experts who bridge the existing gap between the academic, public and business spheres of life. We
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NATO in today’s world. The lecture to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Slovakia’s accession to NATO, given by CEPI Senior Fellow Marian Majer, focused on similar issues. Besides unquestionable achievements, it also highlighted deficiencies and challenges that Slovakia has to address in the next few years. The Banská Bystrica office also held a debate with Managing Director of CEPI, Milan Nič, on the future of Serbia-Kosovo relations and the EU’s role in stimulating Serbia-Kosovo dialogue. The office in Banská Bystrica also continued organising the project Economic Seminar: Through an Economic Lens. The main objective was to expand the choice of economic subjects at the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations, which are essential for students at the faculty and their general knowledge and future potential careers. The other aim of the project was to encourage young professionals to develop knowledge, skills and organisational techniques BB, which will help them acquire responsibility and independence in managing other projects.
Centre for European Affairs
Mission and Vision The Centre for European Affairs (CEA) was founded in September 2011 as a sister organisation of the Slovak Atlantic Commission. It is now a full member of the Central European Strategy Council. In 2014, the CEA became a member of the European Policy Institute Network. The CEA focuses on economic, financial and political aspects of the EU integration dynamics, strategic EU policies and puts a notable accent on Slovak and Central European positions within the processes of decision-making and agenda-setting on both the local and European level. CEA is now firmly established at both the local and the regional Visegrad level and continues to build its presence within the wider EU context with its flagship event, the TATRA SUMMIT. Besides the TATRA SUMMIT, CEA also shapes the public, expert and political debate in the region through its other projects - the National Convention on the European Union with all its formats and QUARTETORIUM as well as through the partnership in the pan-European New Pact for Europe project.
HIGHLIGHTS Two TATRA SUMMIT conferences – in Brussels in January and in Bratislava in November The second season of the National Convention on the European Union concluded by the Plenary Session in May Three QUARTETORIUM debates focusing on the election to the European Parliament, the economic growth and the progress of the Europe2020 strategy
1. TATRA SUMMIT
Centre for European Affairs
The TATRA SUMMIT initiative was launched by the Centre for European Affairs and its partners with an ambitious goal – to shape the future of Europe. While scrutinising the most burning economic and political issues of today, it incorporates a variety of perspectives and builds trust among the representatives of the EU institutions, member states´ ministries of finance and foreign affairs, business leaders, think tanks and international media. By bringing together an immensely diverse pool of participants and creating an open forum, TATRA SUMMIT conferences aim to make a lasting contribution to defining the future of the economic and political governance of the European Union.
TATRA SUMMIT Brussels In January 2014, CEA in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, the Institute for Financial Policy and Bruegel brought the special round of the TATRA SUMMIT series to the centre of European politics - Brussels. The conference titled Economic and Monetary Union Governance: Impact on the European Union and Beyond took place concurrently with negotiations on the Banking Union, and thus provided a unique platform for discussing its crucial prerequisites. It was the first major opportunity to focus on exploring the extent and impacts of how the European heads of states transformed
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crucial aspects of the Banking Union into vehicles on the road towards the common objective – a long term financial stability in the Eurozone and Europe itself. The Brussels chapter of TATRA SUMMIT brought together more than 200 opinion leaders and top political representatives such as Finance Ministers of Slovakia, Poland and Sweden - Peter Kažimír, Mateusz Szczurek and Anders Borg; Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Jon Cunliffe, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, Vitor Constancio, and others.
TATRA SUMMIT Bratislava In November 2014, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, Brussels-based think tank Bruegel and the Slovak Investment Holding, CEA organised the TATRA SUMMIT conference on the topic of ‘’The New EU Political Cycle: Addressing the Growth Agenda’’ and, for the first time, the TATRA SUMMIT Investment Forum focusing on ‘’Restart After the Crisis- Funding Growth’’
The newly born TATRA SUMMIT Investment Forum officially launched the Slovak Investment Holding - a tool for boosting growth and investments - and presented its activities. It provided a platform for government, investors and project sponsors to exchange views on growth funding and it addressed both public and private financing of growth as well as the models of financial investments in the EU. TATRA SUMMIT 2014 was innovative in its approach because it did not focus on roots and consequences of the crisis in the EU but it discussed solutions and initiatives and accentuated the growth agenda. The debates have confirmed that there are efforts to look for various growth stimuli without a negative impact on consolidation of public finances. Speakers have also rejected bending and redefining of agreed rules that could jeopardise trust in stability of financial markets as well as trust of European citizens. TATRA SUMMIT Bratislava welcomed honourable guests and top political and economic representa-
The TATRA SUMMIT offered a unique opportunity to review the unfolding design of the 2014 EU political cycle, shaped by changes in the leadership posts in the EU institutions and their outlined policy goals for the next five years. The event addressed the strategic growth agenda and looked at key priorities of the new political cycle in Europe.
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Centre for European Affairs
ANNUAL REPORT
tives, such as former prime ministers Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, Gordon Bajnai and Enrico Letta; Slovak and Czech Finance Ministers Peter Kažimír and Andrej Babiš; Vice-President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič; Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico; former Legal Counsel of the Council of the EU, Jean Claude Piris; State Secretary from the German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Jörg Asmussen; former Vice-President of the European Commission, Günter Verheugen; Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Lászlo Baranyay; Chairman of the Energetický a Prumyslový Holding, Daniel Křetínský; President of the US Steel Košice, George F. Babcoke, and others.
QUARTETORIUM 2014
Centre for European Affairs
QUARTETORIUM is a public debate series where representatives of four different sectors meet and exchange their views on multiple aspects of the European project. Thanks to its format it holds a unique place within the discourse on the EU issues in Slovakia. While scrutinising the most pressing issues of European politics and economy of today, QUARTETORIUM also helps create contacts and build trust among experts from four distinct areas of public discourse: think-tanks and academia, government and international institutions, businesses and the media. In 2014, CEA and its partners organised three rounds of QUARTETORIUM debates focusing on the impact of the European Parliament elections; the evaluation of European Semester as well as the Europe2020 Strategy. The first of 2014 QUARTETORIUM debates took place in May and it reflected on the outcomes of the European Parliament elections and their impact on the mandate and set-up of the European Commission.
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Another QUARTETORIUM debate was organised in June and focused on how to ensure long-term economic growth of the EU when austerity measures adopted by individual member states prevail. The discussion looked at the 2014 Country Specific Recommendations, especially the budget deficit reductions achieved through the austerity measures which, in the long-term, might endanger overall economic development in the EU. The last of the 2014 QUARTETORIUM debates evaluated the progress the EU has achieved in the 2020 Strategy and the path it should choose for the next five years. It examined where things stand as we approached a halfway point of the strategy and whether the EU and Slovakia, in particular, are on the course to meet its 2020 targets.
2. The National Convention on the European Union 2014 Along with the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Centre for European Affairs is the co-organiser of the National Convention on the European Union. The project is a platform for a society-wide discussion about the European Union, its future and Slovakia’s role in further European integration. In 2014, CEA, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, organised six working groups, one Plenary Session and the Discussion with Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, and his Czech counterpart, Bohuslav Sobotka.
Working Groups The three working groups of the National Convention on the EU met six times to discuss their main thematic focuses: the current challenges facing the EU integration, ten years of the Slovak membership in the EU and preparation for the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU. The overall objective of this series of meetings was to prepare the positions of each working group and present them to the Slovak Government at the Plenary Session of the National Convention, which took place in May.
missed opportunities, reforms of the economic and monetary union, strengthening the democratic legitimacy of the EU processes, upcoming Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU and its challenges. These were also the areas, in which the Convention prepared recommendations and sought to steer the course of the European policy in Slovakia.
Robert Fico and Bohuslav Sobotka at the National Convention In February, a special public event was held in the framework of the National Convention and it was dedicated to the topic of ten years of Slovakia and
Plenary Session of the National Convention
Czech Republic in the EU. Prime Ministers Robert Fico and Bohuslav Sobotka also presented paths that both countries will follow in the upcoming decade.
The Conference titled Decade of Slovakia in the EU: What Europe Do We Want? brought together highlevel Slovak politicians represented by then Slovak President, Ivan Gašparovič, Prime Minister Robert Fico, Vice-President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák and others. They reflected on ten years of the Slovak membership in the EU including benefits of the membership,
VOTeuZEN The CEA launched the youth branch of the National Convention through the VOTeuZEN project supported by the European Commission. The ultimate goal was to open a provocative but pro-European debate and illustrate the added value of the EU integration in front of youth audience.
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Centre for European Affairs
ANNUAL REPORT
The goal of the project was achieved by an information and public awareness raising campaign, which included a speaking tour (discussions at several universities across the country), a nation-wide quiz (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?), a meeting with the new Slovak MEPs, active involvement in the European Youth Event in Strasbourg, media and social media campaign, and a creation of the Youth National Convention on the EU as a youth platform of the already established National Convention on the EU. The latter was supported by
a nationwide PR campaign including original billboards, posters, leaflets, and pins. The VOTeuZEN took place in more than 12 different cities among Slovakia and Strasbourg, France. More than 1,500 people were directly involved in the project activities. The project has integrated young leaders focused on the European issues and allowed them to confront their views with field experts and academics.
3. New Pact for Europe In March 2014, the CEA teamed up with a consortium of 11 European foundations and organised two events as part of the New Pact for Europe project. The project aimed to foster the debate between Slovak policy-makers and the public in order to generate the responses of Slovak society to the different challenges that the EU is facing. It did so through the following format: Policy makers debate, which gathered representatives of the government, business and think tanks, to discuss the Slovak perspective of the EU’s future behind closed doors;
Centre for European Affairs
Public stakeholders debate, which brought together almost 100 various national stakeholders and involved media to reach out to as many people as possible
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The debates were based on the Strategic Options for Europe’s Future report, which sought to find the positions of member states towards the future development of the EU. The conclusion of the debate was the recommendation to effectively address the challenges through strengthening economic and financial cooperation, the EU’s political-institutional setting and its democratic legitimacy.
Central European Policy Institute
Mission and Vision CEPI’s activities is well-argued and highly readable publications, with political impact and innovative suggestions. CEPI organises its work around five pillars, four of which are already operational: Security and Defence Policy, Central Europe, South-East Europe and Eastern Partnership of the EU Programmes. The fifth pillar, Energy Programme, is being launched in early 2015. Each of the programmes is coordinated by in-house analysts who work in partnerships with experts from governments, international institutions and other think-tanks. We believe that by fostering such a close and focused cooperation of the region’s leading experts and institutions, we can help Central Europe make a valuable impact beyond its immediate neighbourhood.
HIGHLIGHTS Initiation of an informal 10-member V4 MEPs’ caucus in Brussels
Central European Policy Institute
Starting a public discussion on the main problems of Slovak defence The Central European Policy Institute (CEPI) was launched in February 2013 by the Slovak Atlantic Commission. First executive director of CEPI was Tomáš Valášek, formerly of the London-based Centre for European Reform, who currently serves as Slovakia’s ambassador to NATO. CEPI is now a full member of the Central European Strategy Council. Its mission is to help decision-makers and opinion-makers in Central Europe craft joint responses to current challenges and to improve the quality of their contributions to the EU and NATO debates. It does so by engaging the region’s top experts and institutions, promoting innovative solutions and working closely with governments to turn recommendations into policy and action. From regular face-to-face meetings with key decisionmakers to roundtables with government professionals and briefings for expert communities, CEPI continuously works on building wider support behind its recommendations and drives domestic debates on relevant foreign policy and security issues. The backbone of
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Presentation of Serbia-Kosovo dialogue policy recommendations to EU diplomats, the European Commission’s policy makers and members of a team of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy, Federica Mogherini Publication of 20 policy briefs and another 35 publications
1. Central Europe in the European Union CEPI and the Warsaw-based demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy started this joint project in January 2013. The goal is to examine how Central Europe can best position itself in the redesigning of EU integration which is currently taking place. How efficient the Central Europe is at voicing its interests depends in large part on how it can organise itself on the regional level and on what specific issues it decides to tackle in a collective effort. The two think tanks established a 15 member high-level Reflection Group that published a report titled Central Europe fit for the future - Visegrad Group ten years after EU accession in January 2014. The report explored the main political and economic challenges facing Central Europe, the existing potential for enhanced regional cooperation and possible elements of a common EU agenda in the future. It pointed out that Central Europe is one of the EU’s most astounding success stories but its second decade in the Union requires new plans and ambitions. The high-level working group is also focusing on increasing the influence of the region in Brussels and on raising awareness of EU institutions to the interests of Central Europe. In October 2014, members of the High Level Reflection Group published an open letter to the three presidents
of the European institutions (President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz). The letter spells out Central Europe’s policy priorities for the EU agenda in the next five years. It suggests that Central Europe should aim at consolidation, reinvention and protection. But consolidation is about building infrastructure for growth by deepening regional integration and connectivity, reinvention describes the need to revamp the region’s economic model and enhance its innovative potential, while protection has to do with filling the gaps in the region’s defences and projecting stability in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. CEPI and demosEUROPA also initiated an informal 10-member V4 MEP Caucus in Brussels on 3rd December, 2014 where participants agreed to start series of discussions on key topics throughout 2015. Such format will also serve as platform for articulating the interests of our region and informal coordination of positions. In the second year of the project the report was presented at numerous international events in Bratislava, Brussels, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague, Warsaw and Zagreb.
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Central European Policy Institute
ANNUAL REPORT
2. Digital Agenda for Visegrad CEPI and its partners focus on digital economy as the driver of systemic change and new source of economic growth in the Visegrad countries. CEPI aims to collect joint concerns, policy ideas and expectations of the most influential digital economy leaders in the V4 countries and turn it into a comprehensive report with practical agenda for the V4 governments. The V4 region faces the risk of “middle-income trap”, in which traditional sources of growth deplete unless we find new ones. One good opportunity is continuing modernisation of our economies through the adoption of digital technologies. Over the last few years, a number of successful IT companies have emerged in the V4 countries (such as Avast in the Czech Republic, Prezi in Hungary, Asseco in Poland or ESET in Slovakia), and managed to become global leaders in their business segment. But the success of digital economy is more than the story of these companies. It includes the capability of traditional sectors to renew and widen their services through incorporating new technologies.
The project collects ideas from think tanks, ministries and V4 level research to map out, formulate and channel policy recommendations that can create an effective V4 digital agenda. As a result, CEPI produced a policy brief offering recommendations to the Slovak Presidency of the Visegrad Group and hosted several debates of V4 stakeholders and experts from EU institutions, ministries, NGOs and private sector.
Central European Policy Institute
3. Defence Agenda in the Visegrad Region (DAV4 III) The DAV4 III project promotes the defence collaboration efforts in the Visegrad region (V4) by publishing an in-depth report identifying opportunities in the field of industrial cooperation and joint acquisitions; and a shorter policy brief on collaboration in the field of military education and training. The documents will address the needs and capacities in the region, how to set-up the existing capacities more effectively and what the concrete co-operation projects could be. The first key document was Military training and education: An opportunity for V4 co-operation by Milan Šuplata and Jaroslav Naď. If the first projects, which are highly needed, are successful, they would help the V4 secure otherwise unaffordable military hardware. Related events supported the research and advocacy part of the project.
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4. Save the Defence In Slovakia, the defence budget has decreased by 27 percent since 2008 even though the economy has grown by five percent in the same period. Many capabilities are on the edge of survival and cannot be sustained beyond this decade without major investments. The project makes the case among the key decision-makers and the public that the Slovak defence budget reached critical level and needs to be gradually increased. It identified ten main problems of the Slovak defence and provided a series of recommendations to tackle them. These were summarised in the publication titled 75 solutions for Slovakia’s defence - a comprehensive list of recommendations on how to save the Slovak defence. Thanks to this project, CEPI has become a leader in setting the defence agenda in Slovakia. Its analysts and their publications have been widely quoted by the media of all kinds (print, TV, radio, online). As with the DAV 4 project, posts about activities in this project had significant impact on social networks.
During 2014, a series of events took place, including expert roundtables, meetings with political representatives, briefings for the media and a workshop. CEPI organised a major event with more than 50 participants and speakers from all V4 countries. Advocacy activities, including building a closer relationship with the media in the V4 countries and Brussels, are a very important part of the project too. Additionally, a special two-minute video “explainer” promoted through a national news provider and the YouTube channel will be released in early 2015.
5. Visegrad Support for Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue CEPI has been encouraging parallel dialogue among young researchers from Serbia and Kosovo* and their counterparts from the Visegrad Group countries (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary). The project’s outcomes were presented at two major foreign policy conferences in Belgrade (September 2013) and Pristina (November 2013), at public debates in V4 capitals, as well as during a study trip to Brussels (Spring 2014). As part of an 18-month research project, the policy paper Mogherini’s chance for true rapprochement between Serbia and Kosovo was published in mid-October 2014 and presented to COWEB working group members, diplomats and expert community at the Slovak Permanent Representation to EU in Brussels, officially bringing a Kosovar diplomat to its premises for the first time. CEPI’s policy recommendations for the new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy, Federica Mogherini were also presented directly to her team members and include: Generate new momentum and use conditionality effectively Insist on full implementation, including the ASM
Ensure an ever-broadening scope of regular SerbiaKosovo talks Introduce greater clarity and aim for real approximation of positions Contribute to a confident elite among Kosovo Serbs Advance a three-track approach
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
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Central European Policy Institute
ANNUAL REPORT
Central European Strategy Council Team Aneta Timoranská, Project Office, Office Assistant, Central European Strategy Council
Lucia Milanová, Executive Assistant and Corporate Partnership Coordinator, Central European Strategy Council
Alexandra Stará, Junior Event Manager, Event Development Department, Central European Strategy Council
Jana Chocholová, Head of Event Development, Central European Strategy Council
Martina Hollá, Event Manager – Audience, Event Development Department, Central European Strategy Council
Martin Šuplata, Event Manager – Technical Support, Event Development Department, Central European Strategy Council
Ján Lopušek, Graphic Designer and Technical Support, Event Development Department, Central European Strategy Council (until May 2014)
Ivan Rudolf, Head of Media and External Communication, Central European Strategy Council
Tomáš Mrva, Editor, Media and External Communication, Central European Strategy Council (since April 2014)
Kristián Klima, Editor/Copywriter, Media and External Communication, Central European Strategy Council (until March 2014)
Kristína Mizeráková, Junior Manager, Media and External Communication, Central European Strategy Council (since April 2014)
Juraj Hajko, Junior Social Media Manager, Media and External Communication, Central European Strategy Council (since July 2014)
Andrea Barcajová, Finance Coordinator, Finance Department, Central European Strategy Council
Ivona Tóthová, Accountant, Finance Department, Central European Strategy Council
Jana Poláčiková, Finance Assistant, Finance Department, Central European Strategy Council (since September 2014)
Michala Hrnčiarová, HR Coordinator, Finance Department, Central European Strategy Council (until June 2014)
Linda Nováková, External HR Consultant, Finance Department, Central European Strategy Council
PEOPLE
Ján Cingel, Project Manager, Transfer of Know How Programme, Slovak Atlantic Commission
Michal Skala, Head of Transfer of Know How Programme, Slovak Atlantic Commission
Tomáš Špavelko, Head of Transfer of Know How Programme, Slovak Atlantic Commission (until March 2014)
Lucia Martišková, Project Manager, Strategic Forums, Slovak Atlantic Commission
Michal Číž, Project Coordinator, Strategic Forums, Slovak Atlantic Commission
Mário Nicolini, Project Coordinator, Strategic Forums, Slovak Atlantic Commission (since August 2014)
Daniela Richterová, Project Coordinator, Strategic Forums, Slovak Atlantic Commission (until July 2014)
Miroslav Križan, Project Assistant, Slovak Atlantic Commission
Radka Čížová, Head of Youth Leadership Programme, Slovak Atlantic Commission
Lucia Colníková, Head of Banská Bystrica Office, Slovak Atlantic Commission
Dániel Bartha, Head of Central Europe/V4+ Programme, Central European Policy Institute
Martina Balejová, Project Assistant, Central European Policy Institute (until October 2014), Funding and Finance Coordinator, Finance Department (since November 2014)
Marian Majer, Head of Balkan Programme, Central European Policy Institute
Milan Šuplata, Head of Defence and Security Program, Central European Policy Institute
Andrej Chovan, Project Coordinator, Central European Policy Institute
Júlia Miklasová, Project Assistant, Central European Policy Institute (since November 2014)
Katarína Marušáková, Project Coordinator, Centre for European Affairs
Klariskรก 14 811 03 Bratislava Slovak Republic Phone/Fax: +421 2 544 106 09 E-mail: stratcouncil@stratcouncil.org