25 Years of the Central European Initiative and 25 Years from the Fall of the Iron Curtain
Date: Thursday, 10 April 2014, 2:00pm to 7:00pm
Venue: Denys Holland Lecture Theatre (UCL Faculty of Laws)
Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens
WC1H 0EG London
On the occasion of the Austrian chairmanship of the Central European Initiative (CEI) this symposium will bring together academics and former political decision makers to analyse and discuss the fundamental changes in Central Europe since the fall of the Iron curtain 25 years ago with a particular focus on the role of the CEI in renewing regional cooperation in an area which covers today 18 countries and reaches from Trieste to Kijew.
The organisers are thankful for the sponsorship provided by Erste Group Bank and for the support of the London embassies of Italy, Romania and Poland as well as of the Austrian Cultural Forum.
Programme
14:00 Welcome
Professor Slavo Radošević, Acting Director, SSEES
Dr Emil Brix, Ambassador of the Republic of Austria
Featured speakers
14:10
Professor Paul Lendvai
(Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF; Co-Publisher “Europäische Rundschau”):
The past 25 years viewed through the prism of European and regional history
15:10
Professor Zoran Milutinović
(Professor of South Slav Literature and Modern Literary Theory,
SSEES-UCL):
The Balkans in the European Mirror
16:10
Professor Florian Bieber
(Professor of Southeastern Europe and Director of the Centre for South East European Studies at the University of Graz):
The Crisis of Democracy in Central and Southeastern Europe
17:10 – 17:30: Coffee
17:30 – 19:00: Round Table: ‘Perspectives for Regional Cooperation’
Participants
Gianni De Michelis (former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy)
Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu (former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Romania)
Dimitrij Rupel (former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Slovenia)
Olaf Osica (Director of OSW, Centre for Eastern Studies, University of Warsaw)
Chair: Eric Gordy (SSEES-UCL)
