Speakers of our 2025 conference

Ambassador Mladen Andrlić

Ambassador of Croatia to Hungary, Budapest

Mladen Andrlić, PhD, is the current Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Hungary (2017-), former Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein (2002-2007), and former Deputy Head of the Croatian Mission to the European Communities (1996-1997). In the Croatian MFA (1993-) he was in charge of European integration and multilateral affairs, as well as director of the Diplomatic Academy (1998-2002, 2007-2017). He lectures on ‘International relations, Foreign Policy, and Diplomacy’ at the University of Zagreb, being also an associate at the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO, Zagreb), and a member of the ISA Working Group on Public Diplomacy. He is author and editor of several books, proceedings, policy papers, and articles in the field of international relations and diplomacy.

Odeta Barbullushi

Resident Professor, College of Europe, Tirana

Odeta Barbullushi is a foreign policy expert, academic and former diplomat, who served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief of Cabinet to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2019. She currently holds the position of Resident Professor at the College of Europe, the newly established Tirana campus. Before joining the College of Europe, Dr. Barbullushi held the position of Sherpa and Advisor on EU integration and Regional Cooperation as well as Sherpa to the Albanian Prime Minister. In that capacity, she was responsible for the regional cooperation agenda, for Albania’s bilateral relations with neighboring countries as well as for the preparation of regional and EU-Western Balkans Summits. She also oversaw Albania’ EU accession process portfolio and the implementation of Common Regional Market Action Plan. Prior to her decade-long work in government, Dr. Barbullushi was a full-time Lecturer and Vice Rector for Research at the European University of Tirana. Dr Barbullushi earned her PhD in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Her expertise and research interests include EU enlargement policy, EU Foreign and Security Policy, regionalism and regional cooperation in the Western Balkans, as well as social-political transformation and state-building processes in Southeast Europe.

Krzysztof Bledowski

Visiting Adjunct Professor, University of Rseszow, Rzeszów

Krzysztof Bledowski is the Visiting Adjunct Professor of economics and finance at the Rzeszów University of Information Technology and Management (WSiZ). He is also the Treasurer and Executive Committee member of the Board of Trustees of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. His 30+ years of experience span transition economics, finance, and industrial policy. Dr. Bledowski’s prior appointments included work at the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, International Monetary Fund, Pioneer Funds, and others.

Tamás Boros

Executive Director, Equilibrium Institute, Budapest

Tamás Boros is the executive director and co-founder of the Equilibrium Institute. He was the co-founder and co-owner of Policy Solutions, a consultancy and research institute. He is a recurring guest on a variety of political talk shows and often comments about public affairs for leading international media. He previously worked for the European Commission and the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an expert on communication and EU affairs. His research focuses on Hungarian and EU political communication and populism.

Matthew G. Boyse

Senior Fellow, Center on Europe and Eurasia, Hudson Institute; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, State Department, Washington DC

Matthew Boyse is a Senior Fellow with Hudson Institute in Washington, DC and an Adjunct at Johns Hopkins SAIS and George Washington University. A former Senior Foreign Service Officer, in his last role as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the European Bureau, he oversaw U.S. policy toward Central Europe and the Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues and was Sherpa for the Three Seas Initiative. He also served as Chargé d’Affaires in Switzerland, Finland, Romania, and the U.S. Mission to NATO, among others.

James Jay Carafano

Senior Counselor to the President and E.W. Richardson Fellow, Heritage Foundation, Washington D.C.

Dr. James Jay Carafano is a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges. He currently serves as Senior Counselor to the President for International Engagement and E.W. Richardson Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Dr. Carafano is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point and served 25 years in the US Army, retiring as a Lt. Colonel. His recent research has focused on developing the national security required to secure the long-term interests of the United States.

Giorgio Cella

Foreign Policy Analyst, Med-Or Foundation, Author of "Storia e geopolitica della crisi ucraina. Dalla Rus' di Kiev a oggi", Rome

Giorgio Cella, Ph.D., foreign policy analyst for Italian Med-Or Foundation, author of the book "Storia e geopolitica della crisi ucraina. Dalla Rus' di Kiev a oggi", one of the most successful books in Italy concerning the war in Ukraine. He holds University courses (Catholic University of Milan and Unicollege Mantova) concerning post-soviet geopolitics, the conflict in Ukraine and the relations between Russia and the West. He has been international electoral observer for the OSCE in Ukraine (2019), Georgia (2021) and Bosnia I Herzegovina in 2024.
He is regularly commenting foreign policy matters for Italian media. He is as well Interlocutore Referente for the Vatican for religious matters.

Viktor Daněk

Deputy Director and Head of the Prague Office, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Prague

Before entering the NGO sphere, Viktor Daněk worked for almost ten years as a journalist. During his time with the public service Czech radio, he focused mainly on covering EU affairs. He spent almost five years as a permanent correspondent in Brussels, where he cooperated with other media outlets. Before his career in journalism, he gained experience in the area of marketing and communication in the Česká spořitelna banking group and at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He holds university degrees in Media Studies and International Relations.
Viktor Daněk joined the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in October 2023. He continues to be active in the media as a freelancer. His main areas of interest are institutional questions of European integration, globalisation and the EU’s climate and migration policy.

Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka

Presidential Ambassador and Special Envoy for Three Seas Initiative; Chancellery of the President Duda, Warsaw


In her career, between 2016-2024 she has been a President of the Polish State Development Bank (BGK), which initiates and implements programs aimed at sustainable economic development. She has prepared and executed a new bank strategy mostly focused on increasing the competitiveness of the Polish economy. She is the creator of the financial project - 3 Seas Investment Fund, which financing transport, energy, and digital projects.

Attila Demkó

Head of the Strategic Foresight Program, John Lukacs Institute, Ludovika University of Public Service, Budapest

Dr. Attila Demkó started his career at the Security and Defence Policy Secretariat of the Prime Minister’s Office in 1998. Between 2002 and 2010, he worked at the Defence Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence. From 2010 to 2012, he was head of the Defence Planning Department. Between 2012 and 2014, he led the Defence Policy Section at the Permanent Representation of Hungary to NATO. From 2014 to 2018, he was the head of the Defence Policy Department in the MoD. Since 2018 Dr. Demkó worked in think tanks and media, currently is the head of the Strategic Foresight Programme at the John Lukács Institute for Strategy and Politics.

Robbie Diamond

Founder, President and CEO, SAFE, Washington DC

Robbie Diamond is the Founder, President, and CEO of SAFE. SAFE enhances energy security and supports U.S. economic resurgence and resiliency, by advancing transformative transportation and mobility technologies while ensuring that the United States and allies secure key aspects of the technology supply chain.
Diamond is also the Founder, President, and CEO of the Electrification Coalition, SAFE’s sister organization, which works with consumers, businesses, and policymakers, to launch award-winning “real-world” programs and enable the needed polices to accelerate transportation electrification.
Diamond helped found and was Chair of Rhombus Energy Solutions, a company that provides intelligent power conversion solutions including high powered bidirectional charging. It was sold in 2022 to BorgWarner. Diamond also helped found and serves on the Board of HCTSun, a rooftop solar company that focuses on commercial and industrial rooftop development and operations in Mumbai, India and its surroundings.
Diamond earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in Peace and Conflict Studies and Political Science, as well as a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School.

Alexandra Dienes

Senior Researcher, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Bonn

Dr. Alexandra Dienes is Senior Researcher at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe, based in Vienna. She is a political scientist specialising in European security, the OSCE and Russia’s foreign policy and political economy. She leads the survey ‘Security Radar’. In addition, Alexandra regularly comments on the media and teaches at Central European University and the University of Vienna. She also heads the Austria branch of Women in International Security (WIIS).

Konstantin Eggert

MBE, Columnist and Programme Host, Deutsche Welle, Vilnius

Konstantin Eggert MBE is a Russian affairs analyst for Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster. Mr Eggert’s previous positions include programme host and commentator for TV Rain, Russia’s groundbreaking independent TV channel (2016-2018) as well as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Kommersant FM radio (2011-2015). In 1998-2009 Konstantin was with the BBC World Service, including 7 years as the BBC Russian Service Moscow Bureau Chief in 2002-2009. In 2008 HM the Queen created MR Eggert Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Zoltán Fehér

Geostrategist, Nonresident Fellow, Global China Hub, Atlantic Council, Washington DC

Dr. Zoltán Fehér is a diplomat-scholar and a geostrategist with more than twenty years of experience working in government, academia, and the private sector on international relations, grand strategy, and geopolitical risk. He is currently a Nonresident Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub as well as a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, Elliott School of International Affairs, and a Professorial Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, both at George Washington University. Previously, he served as a professional diplomat for Hungary for 12 years, working as foreign policy analyst at the Hungarian embassy in Washington DC, and as Hungary’s Acting Ambassador in Turke

Orsolya Ferencz

Ministerial Commissioner for Space Research, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Budapest

Dr. Orsolya Ferencz was born in 1970 in Budapest. She is an engineer and space researcher by education, and in recent years, she has also entered the political arena. She earned her degree in 1993 from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, then continued her studies at the Institute of High-Frequency Techniques and Electronics in Karlsruhe. In 2000, she obtained her PhD from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

Since 1996, she has been a senior research fellow at the Department of Geophysics and Space Science at Eötvös Loránd University. Between 2013 and 2015, she worked as a researcher at the Geodetic and Geophysical Institute of the Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, part of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

In 2018, she was appointed Ministerial Commissioner for Space Research at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. From 2018 to 2024, she led the Hungarian delegation to the European Space Agency. In 2020, she was granted the title of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. Since 2023, she has been a Member of Parliament, the founder of the Parliamentary Space Policy Working Group, and a member of the Fidesz parliamentary group.

Carrie Filipetti

Executive Director, Vandenberg Coalition, Washington D.C.

Carrie Filipetti currently serves as the Executive Director of the Vandenberg Coalition. Prior to this role, she was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cuba and Venezuela in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and the Deputy Special Representative for Venezuela at the U.S. Department of State, where she received a Superior Honor Award. From 2019–2020, she also served as the Senior Advisor to the Havana Incidents Task Force, coordinating an inter-agency effort to address unexplained health incidents affecting U.S. personnel and develop long-term care mechanisms.

Rumena Filipova

Chairperson, Institute for Global Analytics, Sofia

Dr. Rumena Filipova is the Founder and Chairperson of the Institute for Global Analytics in Bulgaria. Her research focuses on the politics and international relations of Central and Eastern Europe, with particular emphasis on identity, media, and hybrid threats, as well as authoritarian influence by Russia and China in the region.
She holds a DPhil and MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Dr. Filipova has extensive experience in the think tank sector, including her time as a Denton Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Jörn Fleck

Senior Director, Europe Center, Atlantic Council, Washington D.C.

Jörn Fleck serves as senior director with the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council with primary responsibility for the center’s European Union (EU) efforts, programming related to Western Europe, Brexit, and US-EU trade relations. Fleck also leads the Council’s Transatlantic Digital Project which seeks to promote closer US-EU cooperation on digital policy matters. Fleck previously was director at the Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN), and prior to that, he worked extensively on US-EU relations, trade policy, and EU foreign and security policy as chief of staff for a British member of the European Parliament (MEP).

Peter Flory

Senior Fellow, European Initiative for Energy Security, Former NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment, Washington DC, Brussels

As NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment and a U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, Peter Flory worked with European leaders on a range of security issues and he maintains extensive contacts in Brussels and European capitals. Before joining EIES, he advised the Pentagon, U.S. Navy, and private industry on topics ranging from industrial policy and semiconductors to management and China strategy. He also served as Special Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and worked in industry as Vice President, International for QinetiQ North America. Peter speaks German and French and holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and an Honors B.A. from McGill University.

Ambassador Dan Fried

Former US Ambassador to Poland, Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council, Washington DC

In the course of his forty-year Foreign Service career, Ambassador Fried played a key role in designing and implementing American policy in Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. As Special Assistant and NSC Senior Director for Presidents Clinton and Bush, Ambassador to Poland, and Assistant Secretary of State for Europe (2005-09), Ambassador Fried helped craft the policy of NATO enlargement to Central European nations and, in parallel, NATO-Russia relations, thus advancing the goal of Europe whole, free, and at peace. During those years, the West’s community of democracy and security grew in Europe. Ambassador Fried helped lead the West’s response to Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine starting in 2014: as State Department Coordinator for Sanctions Policy, he crafted U.S. sanctions against Russia, the largest U.S. sanctions program to date, and negotiated the imposition of similar sanctions by Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia. Ambassador Fried is currently a Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council. He is also on the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy and a Visiting Professor at Warsaw University.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth

Director, Oxford-educated economist, Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment and The Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow in Energy and Environmental Policy, Heritage Foundation, Washington DC

In President Trump’s first term, Diana served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the U.S. Department of Treasury, where she represented the United States at international meetings. She worked in senior roles in the White House under Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. She has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation; Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the U.S. Department of Treasury; Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, among other roles.

Anna Hőgyész

Sustainability Manager, Nestlé Hungária Ltd., Budapest

For the past five years, Anna Hőgyi has been the Sustainability Lead of Nestlé in Hungary, responsible for driving and supporting local sustainability projects to help meet the company’s Net Zero commitment. Her focus has been leading the local regenerative agriculture transformation project to de-risk the value chain in close cooperation with suppliers. Her background is in Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs; she has held various communications roles at Nestlé and other companies such as MOL and bp.

Tomi Huhtanen

Executive Director, Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, Brussels

Tomi Huhtanen started his career by working for the Finnish delegation of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament. From 1999 to 2007, he was a Political Adviser and subsequently a Senior Adviser for the EPP. During this period, he launched the European View policy journal, of which he became Editor-in-Chief. In 2007, Tomi was put in charge of launching the Centre for European Studies (renamed the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in 2014); in the same year, Tomi was nominated as the Centre’s Director and is since October 2015 its Executive Director.

Susan Hutchison

Former Chairman, Washington State Republican Party, Washington DC

At Seattle’s KIRO-TV (CBS) Susan spent more than two decades as primary news anchor, executive editor, and executive producer. In 2009, Susan ran for King County Executive, placing first in the primary. She was elected chair of the Washington State Republican Party in 2013. Her efforts earned her the honor of being named the first and only “Chairman Emeritus” of the state party. She has extensive international experience, including work in China, Russia, the Middle East, Central Europe and Southeast Asia. In 2017, she was with President Trump’s first delegation to Taiwan. She got appointed to the board of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars by George W. Bush.

David Krasner

Book Author, Columnist, CEO, MCK Group IT, New Orleans

An experienced, Hands-on IT leader. Dave has extensive Knowledge in Change management, infrastructure, design support and development, Technical surveying to include Penetration testing and Vulnerability scanning assessment and reporting / remediation. Having worked from some of the Biggest companies as either a senior director or consultant, it provided Dave with a wealth of Knowledge Insite into the back room of I.T. From the early years of ISDN to now using multi fiber connections and firewalled VLANs.
Having served in Hospitality as a Vice president for a Major Hotel group, the experience only grew into more Business minded and logistics related IT combinations melding the Business side with IT or technology to complete a mindset that led to his first startup. Which was sold to Tech Aid Corp a Billion $ Private firm out of Massachusetts.
Dave has founded another startup with his wife Maritza where she is the Owner, and he has taken on the role of Director and management, MCK Group, In which they deliver services to Firms around the country (U.S.) seeking Cyber security solutions, Compliance management, Penetration Testing and Vulnerability scanning , as well as Change management and ViCTO services.

Dave is also former Military and occasionally does volunteer to do things with NATO, as well as a Non-Profit helping Military Combat Veterans, Having served in Multiple Wars himself and wanting to give back.
Dave Holds Degrees In Electro Mechanical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, IT, BA of Business and Masters in Business from Phoenix University as well as multiple Course in IT and Business from Sloane Business school and Boston University.

Dr. Christina Catherine Krause

Head of Department International Politics and Security Affairs, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Berlin

Dr. Christina Catherine Krause is Head of the Department for International and Security Affairs at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in Berlin. Having joined KAS in 2005, she served in multiple positions at KAS headquarters and abroad as representative in the KAS Sarajevo Office from 2005-2009. Prior to joining KAS, she worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Berlin mainly dealing with protection and resettlement of refugees from former Yugoslavia. Christina Krause holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Kiel.

Michał Kurtyka

Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council, Washington DC; Former Minister of Climate, Poland

Michał Kurtyka served as the first minister of Poland’s Ministry of Climate, responsible with energy and climate. In 2018 Kurtyka was appointed as Government Plenipotentiary for the Presidency of COP24—the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Poland. From July 2018, he also held the position of Secretary of State in the Ministry of Environment. In December 2018, he became the COP24 President. In 2019 he assumed the role of Ministerial Chair of the International Energy Agency and in 2021 he was designed as Ministerial Chairman of the United Nations of Food and Agriculture.

Nico Lange

Senior Fellow, Zeitenwende-Initiative, Munich Security Conference

From 2019 to 2022, he served as Chief of Staff at the Federal Ministry of Defense of Germany.
Previously, he held several senior positions including Deputy General Manager of the CDU Deutschlands and Director of Strategic Planning and International Politics at CDU Headquarters. He also served as State Commissioner for Innovation and Strategy to the State Government of Saarland, Director of the USA office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Washington D.C., and Deputy Director for political consulting at its headquarters in Berlin.

Adam LeBor

Deputy Director of Research, Danube Institute, Budapest

Adam LeBor is Deputy Director of Research at the Danube Institute, a Budapest think-tank. An author and veteran former foreign correspondent, LeBor reported on Hungary and Central Europe for publications including The Times (London), the Independent and the Economist. His most recent non-fiction work is the critically-acclaimed The Last Days of Budapest, the first account of the Hungarian capital throughout the Second World War, praised by The Times (London) as one of the Best Books of 2025 so far. He is currently researching and writing The Promised Land, a new history of Israel to be published in 2028 on the eightieth anniversary of Israel’s independence.

Silke Maes

Research Fellow, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Prague

Silke Maes is a European Studies graduate from Ghent University in Belgium. She studied abroad at Sciences Po Toulouse and has completed an Erasmus Mundus master's programme in European Politics and Society at Charles University in Prague and Leiden University. Her research interests revolve around European social policy and the external aspects of European migration management. Within Europeum, Silke's research focus as part of the Just Europe Programme spans the realms of digitalisation, the Digital Single Market, and the future of work.

Sylvie Matelly

Director, Institut Jacques Delors, Paris

Sylvie Matelly holds a Master’s degree in international economics, specializing in financial and commodity markets. In 2000, she earned her doctorate from Université Pierre Mendès France in Grenoble with a thesis on "The Economic Determinants of Military Spending." She also pursued studies in Barcelona and Montpellier. In 2001, she joined the French Institute for International and Foreign Affairs (IRIS) as a researcher specializing in defense economics, later becoming Research Director in 2008. In 2009, she joined the Ecole de Management Léonard de Vinci as a faculty member and later became Head of the "Economics, Finance, and International Relations" department. She left EMLV in 2016 to become Deputy Director of IRIS, and in 2023, she became Director of the Institut Jacques Delors. In 2003, she launched the "Economics and International Relations" Master’s program, now titled "Geoeconomics, Risk Management, and CSR," at IRIS-Sup, the IRIS school.
During 2001/2002, she worked with the Groupe Transition et Développement in Grenoble and the Institute for the Economy in Transition (Moscow) to establish a development agency in Kaliningrad as part of a European TACIS project. From 2009 to 2016, she was an associate professor at the Ecole de Management Léonard de Vinci in La Défense, where she led the Finance, Economics, Law, and International Relations Department from 2014 to 2016.
Her research and work sit at the intersection of economics and geopolitics, addressing topics such as industrial and defense policy, economic coercion (including export and investment controls, sanctions, and anti-corruption measures). Her most recent research focuses on the financing of defense companies in light of ESG and sustainable finance constraints. She also examines corporate geopolitical responsibility. She has authored numerous articles and three books: L'Europe peut-elle faire face à la mondialisation? (2015, published by Documentation Française), Argent sale: à qui profite le crime? (2018), Géopolitique de l'économie (2021), and L'économie, tout simplement (2023, published by Eyrolles).

Marek Matraszek

Chairman, CEC Group, Warsaw

Marek Matraszek was born in the UK in 1962, and studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1984 and obtained a Master's degree in Russian and East European Studies in 1987. From the mid-1980s, Marek worked closely with The Jagiellonian Trust, supporting anti-communist networks in Poland and Hungary. In 1992 he was appointed to represent the Margaret Thatcher Foundation in the region, and he then established The Windsor Group, an influential think-tank working to bring the countries of Central Europe closer to NATO and the EU. He is currently Chairman of CEC Group(www.cecgr.com), providing strategic political intelligence for Western multinationals, with a special expertise in defence procurements and security policy. He is active philanthropically, supporting the Matraszek Fellowship at Pusey House, Oxford, and is a Board Member of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation.

Dora Meredith

Director, Overseas Development Institute, ODI Europe, Brussels

Dora is Director of ODI Europe the new global affairs think tank in Brussels, bringing research, ideas and dialogue with the wider world into the European policy debate. Dora’s work focuses on the European foreign policy agenda and global governance.
Before joining ODI, Dora was the Head of Programmes at the Institute for the Future of Work. Prior to this, she worked in a variety of public policy roles in the UK and internationally. She was based in Brussels for the UK’s national innovation agency, and she undertook a secondment to the British Embassy in Washington D.C.

Ia Meurmishvili

International Broadcaster, Voice of America 2009-2024, Washington DC

Ms. Ia Meurmishvili is President of IM Productions and a Washington, DC-based prominent international broadcaster, renowned in her native Georgia for years of anchoring Voice of America’s flagship Georgian-language television program. Having served 15 years at VOA, including as Managing Editor of the Georgian Service, she now provides independent journalism and commentary with the aim of providing foreign audiences a unique insight into Washington policymaking.
Ms. Meurmishvili specializes in American foreign and national security policy, transatlantic relations including NATO and the EU, U.S.-Russia relations, Ukraine, Black Sea security, and U.S.-Georgia relations. She is a frequent guest commentator in international media outlets and at international conferences.
In addition to her broadcasting and publishing work, Ms. Meurmishvili has lectured at universities on U.S. politics, disinformation, the role of journalism in democracy, and policy trends in the South Caucasus. Prior to her time at VOA, Ms. Meurmishvili held positions at the Eurasia Foundation, Finmeccanica, and in the office of U.S. Representative Allyson Schwartz.
Ms. Meurmishvili is also the founder and director of Villa Chven Winery, which produces premium Georgian wines using only indigenous varietals. She is passionate about helping revitalize quality Georgian winemaking after over a century of disruption by the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.

Krisztián Mészáros

Director for Partnerships, Political Affairs and Security Policy Division, NATO, Brussels

Krisztián Mészáros is the Director of Partnerships and Global Affairs at NATO Headquarters. In his capacity, he leads five outstanding teams within the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division of the International Staff responsible for overseeing NATO’s political relationship with partner and non-partner countries across the globe. He has worked six years in the NATO Secretary General’s Private Office. Prior to joining the International Staff, Krisztián worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, dealing with NATO and security policy.

Vilma Misiukoniene

Board Member, Cyber Security Community Association, KSEA, Vilnius

Vilma Misiukonienė is an EU digital policy expert with an interdisciplinary background in both technology and law, and strong ties to the international digital industry. She has collaborated with six national, EU, and international digital industry associations and has designed and led five major digital policy campaigns. In 2013, Vilma served for Digital Europe associaton as Digital Affairs Advisor for Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Vilma has contributed to the development of position papers, digital strategies, and the national digital agenda, as well as to legal frameworks related to technology and cybersecurity. She is recognized as a co-author of the EU flagship initiative “Harmonizing Digital Markets between the EU and Eastern Partnership countries (HDM).”
She has played a key role in shaping national cybersecurity legislation and building expert communities, currently serving as a board member of the Cybersecurity Experts Association (KSEA). Vilma has provided expert support both nationally and internationally, including her role as a member of the Industry Advisory Group at ENISA, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity. Since 2018, she has been advising the Ukrainian government on digital strategy and EU integration tech framework. She has been deeply engaged in the eIDAS ecosystem in recent years and currently co-leads a large-scale European Digital Identity Wallet pilot, a partnership involving 18 EU Member States and Ukraine. Vilma holds an MSc in Applied Mathematics and IT, and an LL.M. in Law. In her leisure time, she is also a musician and artist.

Mariann Molnár

Adjunct Professor, The University of British Columbia, Budapest

Dr. Mariann Molnár is an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia's Animal Welfare Program. Her research explores problematic human-nature and human-animal interactions, and is focused on the critical assessment of large-scale, highly specialised intensive farming practices, aiming to ensure the use of more ethical, environmentally and economically sustainable, and welfare-friendly alternatives within and beyond the European Union. Mariann holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences and Policy from the Central European University and has extensive expertise in the academic, civil service and non-governmental sectors.

Balázs Nagy

CEO, NewPush, Google Digital Transformation Leader, Washington

Balázs has worked with billion-dollar corporations as well as start-ups, building a strong professional background in cybersecurity. After co-founding NewPush in 1999, Balázs went on to design and supervise the deployment of complex cybersecurity solutions, fast credit card payment systems, fare collection systems, and analytics systems. More recently, he has designed compliance systems for SOX, PCI, HIPAA, and leveraging the HITRUST CSF. Balázs now focuses on the Connective Platform™.

Zsolt Németh

Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, Hungarian National Assembly, Budapest

Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian National Assembly since 2014. Founding member of Fidesz in 1988, Member of Parliament since 1990. 1998-2002 State Secretary for Political Affairs, 2010-2014 State Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2014 he has been the head of the Hungarian delegation in the Council of Europe and between 2014-2022 the deputy leader of the group of the European People’s Party, and since 2022 the European Conservatives Group / Democratic Alliance.

Aleksander Olech

Head of International Cooperation Defence 24, Warsaw

Dr. Aleksander Olech is a lecturer at both national and international universities, a NATO associate, analyst, and publicist.
Previously, he served as Deputy Director of the Department of Africa and the Middle East at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has worked closely with various NATO centers, including NATO ENSEC COE, NATO StratCom, NATO CCD COE, and NATO COE DAT.
Dr. Olech is a graduate of the European Academy of Diplomacy and the War Studies University. His main research interests include French-Russian relations, security challenges in Africa, and NATO security policy.

Arnoldas Pikžirnis

Vice Minister for Energy, Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania

Arnoldas Pikžirnis has more than 10 years of experience in public administration, national security and public policy. Prior to taking up the post of Vice-Minister for Energy of the Republic of Lithuania, Mr. Pikžirnis worked as the Head of Administration of the Democratic Union “Vardan Lietuvos” (English: In the Name of Lithuania), as an Adviser to the Prime Minister on national security, domestic and foreign policy issues, and as an Adviser to the Minister of the Interior. He has also gained experience in public relations, investment attraction and risk management, having worked for the public relations agency “Fabula” and the public institution “Invest Lithuania”.Mr. Pikžirnis holds a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies from Maastricht University in the Netherlands. He also holds a Master’s degree in Geopolitics and Territorial Security from King’s College London. His research focuses on Critical Infrastructure Security, Public Policy, Strategic Communication and Resilience Building.

Marta Poślad

Director, CEE & Transatlantic Public Policy, Google; Chairwoman of American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, Warsaw

Marta Poślad joined Google in 2012 and she is the company’s Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs for CEE since 2016, also overseeing transatlantic policy since 2020. Based in London, she previously handled privacy & security policy for EMEA. She's a multiple-term board member and current Chairwoman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, a member of the Digitization Council, a Millennium Fellow at Atlantic Council, and holds master's degrees from Cambridge and University of Warsaw.

Péter Siklósi

Senior Research Fellow, Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, Budapest

Geopolitical expert, dealing with security and defence policy since the early 90s. Adviser to the deputy chairman of the Defence Committee of the Hungarian parliament, then senior government adviser at the Prime Minister’s Office from 1998. Civil servant at the Ministry of Defence from 2000 to 2023, first as the head of the Defence Policy Department, then for eight years as deputy state secretary for defence policy and planning from 2010. Also served two terms (2007-2010 and 2018-2022) as defence advisor at the Permanent Representation of Hungary to NATO in Brussels. He lead the research and analysis team at EuroAtlantic business consultation PLC in 2024 and joined HIIA in 2025.

Adam Sikorski

Co-founder, UNIMOT Capital Group, Zawadzkie

Co-founder of the UNIMOT Capital Group (since 1992) – one of the largest private companies on the energy market in Poland.
In 2012, he became the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the main shareholder of PZL Sędziszów S.A. – a leading domestic automotive filter manufacturer, and from 2015 to 2018, he assumed the position of the President of the Company’s Management Board.
Since August 2018, Adam Sikorski has been the President of the Management Board of UNIMOT S.A.
In 2023, he received a PhD degree in social sciences in the discipline of management and quality at the Faculty of Management of Czestochowa University of Technology.

Vladimir Socor

Senior Analyst of East European Affairs, Jamestown Foundation, Washington DC

Vladimir Socor is a Senior Fellow of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation and its flagship publication, Eurasia Daily Monitor (1995 to date). An internationally recognized expert on the former Soviet-ruled countries in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia, he covers Russian and Western policies, focusing on energy, regional security issues, Russian foreign affairs, secessionist conflicts, and NATO policies and programs. Mr. Socor is a regular guest lecturer at the NATO Defense College and at Harvard University’s National Security Program’s Black Sea Program.

Attila Steiner

State Secretary for Energy and Climate Policy, Ministry of Energy, Budapest

A graduate of economics of the Corvinus University in Budapest, Attila Steiner was appointed as the State Secretary for Energy at the Ministry of Energy, in December 2022.
Prior to his appointment, he worked as the State Secretary for the Development of Circular Economy, Energy and Climate Policy at the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, and before that as the State Secretary for EU Affairs at the Ministry of Justice. Earlier stations of his career include the position of a political advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office, where his work focused on energy policy. Previously, he served as a political advisor in the European Parliament, also in the field of energy policy.

László Szabó

Director, REKK - Regional Centre for Energy Policy Research, Budapest

László Szabó has been Director of REKK since 2018. He is an energy economist specialising in renewable energy, climate change policy and energy infrastructure development, with a PhD in economics. He previously held several positions in the Hungarian public administration and worked at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (IPTS). He has been coordinating REKK's regional and European research projects for more than ten years, focusing on energy sector developments, infrastructure assessment, renewable technologies and their diffusion and infrastructure development. He teaches energy policy at the Corvinus University of Budapest.

Attila Szalay-Berzeviczy

Former President of the Budapest Stock Exchange, Budapest

Attila Szalay-Berzeviczy is an author, an accomplished banking and capital markets executive, as well as a noted Hungarian economist with a Master’s degree from Corvinus University of Budapest, with over 30 years of experience in investment banking. In his career he has served in progressively senior roles with three major financial institutions including Budapest Bank in Hungary (1990-1999), UniCredit Group in Italy (1999-2011), and Raiffeisen Bank International in Austria (2013-2020) where he was responsible for running the global securities services business line for the entire Central Eastern European (CEE) region. From 2004-2008 he served as the President of the Budapest Stock Exchange and a member of the Managing Board of the Federation of European Securities Exchanges. Between 2012 and 2013 he worked for the Warsaw Stock Exchange as a Senior Adviser to the CEO and President of Polish bourse. In 2008 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, Knight’s Cross, in recognition of his leading role in the development of the Hungarian securities market and pension system. In 2014, on the eve of the centenary of the start of the First World War, he began to work on his two-volume book "In the Centennial Footsteps of the Great War" that came out in 2022 and 2024. In January 2021 the Hungarian Olympic Committee appointed him to the Chairman of the Budapest Olympic Games Commission with the mandate to assess the feasibility of hosting the summer games in Hungary after Brisbane 2032 and exploring the city’s bid.

Réka Szemerkényi

Director of International Relations, Equilibrium Institute, Budapest

Réka Szemerkényi is the Senior Foreign and Security Policy Advisor at the Equilibrium Institute. She is a leading geopolitical expert on transatlantic security and Hungary’s former Ambassador to the United States, with over 20 years of experience in governmental, academic, and private sector roles. She previously served as Executive Vice President of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), a Washington-based think tank. Her governmental roles include serving as Hungary’s Ambassador to the U.S. and as Senior National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Hungary. In the private sector, she has been a senior advisor to the Chairman and CEO of the MOL Group and a consultant to the World Bank.

Péter Sztáray

State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Budapest

From 1993 he worked as a NATO and Western Europe Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and from 1996 to 2000 he served as a diplomat in Brussels as a seconded diplomat of the Permanent Mission of Hungary to NATO. From 2002 to 2003, he served as Head of the NATO Department. From 2007 to 2009, he was appointed Deputy Director of Security Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Head of Department. Since 23 June 2018, he has been State Secretary for Security Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Velina Tchakarova

Founder, Geopolitical Strategist, FACE For A Conscious Experience, Vienna

Velina Tchakarova is a geopolitical strategist and founder of FACE For A Conscious Experience in Vienna, Austria. Previously, she was Director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES).

Márton Ugrósdy

Deputy State Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, Budapest

Márton has been serving in the Hungarian government since June 2022. In his current role, he is responsible for preparing analytical and background briefing materials pertaining to the most recent developments of geopolitics, the internal dynamics of the European Union, as well as the activities of various key players in foreign affairs. Before joining public service, Márton was working at the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hungary’s eminent foreign policy think tank from 2015 till 2022. He joined the Institute as a part time research fellow, covering transatlantic relations and Central Europe with a special focus on the Visegrád Four. In 2017, he was appointed as one of the deputy directors of IFAT, and in 2018 he assumed the post of director. In these roles, he appeared frequently in the Hungarian and foreign print and broadcast media, and spoke at various events from the United States to Japan on Hungarian foreign policy.

Tamás Vargha

State Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Hungary, Budapest

Since 2010 he has been a Member of Parliament representing the city of Székesfehérvár. In the early years of his mandate he was a member of the Foreign Affairs and the Defense Committees of the Hungarian National Assembly. Between 2012 and 2018, he served as Deputy Minister of the Hungarian Ministry of Defense. Between 2018 and 2022, he served as State Secretary for Civil Intelligence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary. Since 2022, he serves as the Parliamentary State Secretary and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Defense of Hungary. He is also the founding member of the Defense Forces, Society Friendship Circles and as well as the Hungarian War Grave Association.

Ambassador Kurt Volker

Distinguished Fellow at Center for European Policy Analysis, Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Former Permanent Representative of the US on the North Atlantic Council, Washington DC

Ambassador Kurt Volker is a leading expert in U.S. foreign and national security policy with over 35 years of experience in a variety of government, academic, and private sector capacities. He served as U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations from 2017 to 2019, and as U.S. Ambassador to NATO from 2008-2009. Ambassador Volker is the Founder and President of Alliance Strategic Advisors, LLC and a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. He co-founded the American University Kyiv in 2022, is a Trustee of the American College of the Mediterranean, and serves on the advisory boards of the U.S. Institute for Peace, the GW University Elliott School of International Affairs, and BGR Group. From 2012-2019, Amb. Volker was the founding Executive Director of The McCain Institute for International Leadership, a part of Arizona State University based in Washington, DC.

Valbona Zeneli

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Europe Center, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Washington DC

Dr. Valbona Zeneli is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center and at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Transatlantic Security Initiative. Zeneli is also a senior fellow for peace, security, and defense at Friends of Europe in Brussels, and a visiting fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. From 2011 to 2023, she served as a professor of national security studies and chair of strategic engagement at the US Department of Defense’s George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, where she continues her affiliation as a visiting adjunct professor.
She specializes in transatlantic relations, strategic competition, NATO, globalization and international economy, European Union enlargement, and the Western Balkans. Zeneli has published numerous papers and book chapters and is a frequent contributor to leading international magazines. Zeneli is a frequent lecturer and visiting professor at the NATO School in Oberammergau, the US Foreign Service Institute, the US Department of State, and defense academies across Europe. Zeneli was a nonresident visiting fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna as a 2021-2022 Europe’s Future Fellow, focusing on her research on Chinese influence in the Balkans, and as a 2023-2024 visiting scholar at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University. Zeneli is the 2023 winner of the Inspiration Award for Women.

More speakers coming soon