Please join the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center for the next edition of Central Europe Week, a virtual event series taking place between November 15 and 19, 2021. This series will highlight how the United States and Central Europe can together lead in shaping transatlantic responses to global challenges, while also underscoring our unique cultural connections.
In the midst of the historic coronavirus pandemic, the transatlantic community continues to face mounting pressure from aggressive autocrats, economic and technological challenges, and internal doubts about democracy’s ability to address present needs. Yet democracy, unity, and cooperation remain key pillars that will help our community address these global challenges and build lasting resilience. The United States and Central Europe are natural partners in enabling transatlantic action to build a more secure, democratic, and prosperous future.
This event series builds upon the Council’s 2020 Central Europe Week, “Charting a post-COVID-19 future together.” The conversations throughout the week will explore themes including defense cooperation, Three Seas, and post-COVID-19 resilience, featuring high-level policymakers, experts, and cultural figures from across the US and Central Europe.
Video Playlist
Agenda
Monday, November 15
| Time of Event | Event |
| 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST | Panel: Responding to transatlantic challenges: The Belarus border crisis |
Tuesday, November 16
| Time of Event | Event |
| 1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. EST | Spotlight Interview: A conversation with H.E. Mark Boris Andrijanič and H.E. Petr Očko on accelerating regional digitalization for long-term resilience |
Wednesday, November 17
| Time of Event | Event |
| 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. EST | Panel: Energy resilience and the Three Seas Initiative |
| 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. EST | Panel: Innovation as a tool for building economic resilience, co-hosted with GLOBSEC |
Thursday, November 18
| Time of Event | Event |
| 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. EST | Spotlight: A Conversation with Mr. Péter Márki-Zay, newly elected leader of the Hungarian opposition |
| 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EST | Panel: Defending the west: US-Central European defense cooperation for a stronger transatlantic alliance |
Friday, November 19
| Time of Event | Event |
| 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. EST | Panel: Navigating the next geopolitical challenges, co-hosted with Equilibrium Institute |
Speakers
Additional speakers to be confirmed
H.E. Mark Boris Andrijanič
Minister for Digital Transformation of the Republic of Slovenia
Dr. Anders Åslund
Senior Fellow, Stockholm Free World Forum
Mr. Dániel Bartha
Director of International Relations, Equilibrium Institute
Mr. Ian Brzezinski
Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
Dr. Frances Burwell
Distinguished Fellow, Europe Center, Atlantic Council
Amb. Paula Dobriansky
Vice Chair, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council; Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project, Harvard University Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs
Amb. Daniel Fried
Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council
Ms. Julia Friedlander
C. Boyden Gray Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Geoeconomics Center, Atlantic Council
Ms. Katia Glod
Nonresident Fellow, Russia Program, Center for European Policy Analysis
Mr. Benjamin Haddad
Senior Director, Europe Center, Atlantic Council
Ms. Melinda Haring
Deputy Director, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council
H.E. Jan Havránek
Deputy Minister for Defence Policy and Strategy, Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces of the Czech Republic
Amb. John Herbst
Senior Director, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council
Gen. James L. Jones, Jr.
Executive Chairman Emeritus and Chairman of Three Seas Initiative Programming, Atlantic Council
Mr. Jonathan D. Katz
Senior Fellow and Director, Democracy Initiatives, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Mr. Valery Kavaleuski
Representative on Foreign Affairs of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Mr. Brian Kelly
Vice President of Government Affairs, Sempra
Ms. Alena Kudzko
Vice-President, GLOBSEC; Director, GLOBSEC Policy Institute
Mr. Jeff Lightfoot
Program Director, Europe at Center for International Private Enterprise
Mr. Péter Márki-Zay
Newly Elected Leader of the Hungarian Opposition
Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer
Chairman of the Board of Directors, GLOBSEC; Former Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister of the Republic of Austria
Amb. Richard Morningstar
Founding Chairman, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council
Amb. Georgette Mosbacher
Co-Chair, Three Seas Initiative Programming, Atlantic Council
Dr. Gergely Németh
Deputy State Secretary for Defence Policy, Ministry of Defence of Hungary
H.E. Petr Očko
Deputy Minister for New Technologies, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic
H.E. Arnoldas Pranckevičius
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
H.E. Marcin Przydacz
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
Dr. András Rácz
Senior Fellow, Security and Defense Program, German Council on Foreign Relations
Ms. Rachel Rizzo
Senior Fellow, Europe Center, Atlantic Council
H.E. Edijs Šaicāns
Deputy Secretary of State for Energy Issues, Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia
Mr. Martin Sklenár
Defense Policy Director, Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic
Mr. Paulius Vertelka
Government Affairs and Public Policy Manager, Google
H.E. Andžejs Viļumsons
Under-Secretary of State and Political Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
Amb. Jakub Wiśniewski
Secretary of the Board and Special Advisor to the President, GLOBSEC
Ms. Linda Zeilina
Founder and CEO, International Sustainable Finance Centre
H.E. Dóra Zombori
Ambassador-at-Large for Energy and Climate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary
Special Remarks
H.E. Adina Vălean
European Commissioner for Transport
“We learned the value of resilient connectivity at the height of the Covid crisis when uncoordinated actions nearly halted supply chains…Now, as we gradually emerge from pandemic restrictions, we need to embed resilience in transport.”
Reports
Related reading
Recap 2020 Central Europe Week
Charting a post COVID-19 future together
Catch up on last year’s virtual Central Europe Week exploring how the United States and Central Europe can together help shape a common post-COVID-19 agenda.
Europe Center
The Europe Center promotes leadership, strategies and analysis to ensure a strong, ambitious and forward-looking transatlantic relationship.