The Atlantic Council is hosting the 2024 edition of Central Europe Week, entitled “Forging a transatlantic response to challenges within and beyond,” from December 9 to December 13. Central Europe Week is the Europe Center’s annual flagship conference that aims to raise Central European voices in transatlantic debates while fostering a dynamic US-Central European partnership prepared to jointly tackle pressing challenges in Europe and beyond.
The transatlantic community is at a crossroads, facing both domestic challenges such as “war fatigue” and the propagation of disinformation by internal and external actors, as well as global threats ranging from Russia’s continued aggression to instability in the Middle East and increasing Chinese assertiveness. Against this backdrop, elections across Europe and North America will impact the transatlantic relationship in a period of political transition as new leaders enter office.
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Agenda
Monday, December 9
Programming in Vilnius
Tuesday, December 10
Virtual programming from Vilnius
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET Previewing the next chapter in transatlantic relations
Amb. Daniel Fried, Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council; Former US Ambassador to the Republic of Poland
Amb. Asta Skaisgirytė, Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic of Lithuania
Moderator: Mr. Linas Kojala, Director, Geopolitical and Security Studies Center
Wednesday, December 11
Virtual programming live from Warsaw
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. ET Navigating 2025 and beyond: Will the US meet the moment?
Keynote remarks by:
The Hon. Mark Brzezinski, US Ambassador to the Republic of Poland
Speakers include:
Sławomir Dębski, Visiting Professor of Strategy and International Relations, College of Europe at Natolin
Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, Vice Chair, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council; Former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs; Senior Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Ambassador Daniel Fried, Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council; Former US Ambassador to the Republic of Poland
Ambassador Kurt Volker, Distinguished Fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis; Former US Ambassador to NATO
Moderator: Rachel Rizzo, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Europe Center, Atlantic Council
Thursday, December 12
Virtual programming live from Prague
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. ET Ukraine’s security, Europe’s stability
Keynote remarks by:
Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic
Speakers include:
Mykola Bielieskov, Research Fellow, National Institute for Strategic Studies
Ian Brzezinski, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
H.E. Tomáš Kopečný, Government Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine of the Czech Republic
Moderator: Shelby Magid, Deputy Director, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council
Friday, December 13
Virtual programming
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET Next steps for the transatlantic tech agenda
Speakers include:
Mark Boris Andrijanič, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Europe Center, Atlantic Council
Rita Balogh, Europe Lead, International Government Affairs, Google
Frances Burwell, Distinguished Fellow, Europe Center, Atlantic Council; Senior Director, McLarty Associates
Moderator: Jörn Fleck, Senior Director, Europe Center, Atlantic Council
Speakers
With special thanks to
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Related Reading
Recap previous Central Europe Weeks
The 2023 Central Europe Week discussed the region’s role in bolstering transatlantic resilience in areas from security to tech sovereignty.
The 2022 Central Europe Week focused on Central European leadership in shaping the transatlantic response to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.
2021’s Central Europe Week virtual event series considered the transatlantic response to global challenges ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to democratic resilience.
The 2020 edition of Central Europe Week focused on the future of transatlantic relations after COVID-19.
In 2019, the inaugural Central Europe Week conference marked the thirty-year anniversary of the fall of communism by celebrating the future of a free Europe and its connections with the United States.
The Europe Center promotes leadership, strategies, and analysis to ensure a strong, ambitious, and forward-looking transatlantic relationship.