European Conference 2025: EU at the crossroads – can it rebuild stronger?

A yearly European conference in Slovakia each year focuses on different topics, based on what is currently the most relevant within the EU affairs. In 2022, Conference on the Future of Europe was addressed, in 2023, the focus shifted towards the Russian aggression against Ukraine, while in 2024, the issue of further enlargement of the EU set the agenda. This year, the conference will focus on the EU's potential to become an even more resourceful global actor. It will consist of three panel discussions, combining expertise from across Europe.

Miroslava Pisklová

European Affairs

Date: 28.05.2025, 09:00

Place: Hotel Devín (Riečna 4)

Please find the full conference programme and the link for registrations below.

Registration

8:30 – 9:00

Registration

9:00 – 9:20

Opening Remarks

Tomáš Strážay – Director, Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA)
Christos Katsioulis – Director of the Cooperation & Peace Office, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Regional Office for International Cooperation, Vienna

9:20 – 9:35

Keynote Speech and Q&A Session

Peter Kmec – Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the use of EU funds

9:35 – 10:50

Panel 1: EU as a global actor – can it fulfill its potential?

Panelists
Alexander Duleba – Senior Research Fellow, Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA)
Jana Kobzová – Visiting Fellow, Wider Europe Programme, European Council on Foreign Relations
Guillaume Lasconjarias – Director of Research and Studies, Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defence (IHEDN)
Florent Marciacq – Deputy Secretary General, Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (AFC)

Moderator
Zuzana Gabrižová – Euractiv Slovakia

10:50 – 11:10

Coffee Break

11:10 – 12:25

Panel 2: EU´s competitiveness in the global arena

Panelists
Vladimír Šimoňák – 2nd State Secretary, Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic
Radim Dvořák – Head (acting), European Commission Representation in Slovakia
Ioannis Gutzianas – Economist, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)

Moderator
Andrej Matišák – Pravda Daily

12:25 – 13:30

Lunch

13:30 – 14:45

Panel 3: European defence as a key to its resilience

Panelists
Nicolas Suran – French Ambassador to Slovakia
Michael Reuss – Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Slovakia
Christos Katsioulis – Director of the Cooperation & Peace Office, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Regional Office for International Cooperation, Vienna
Federica Mangiameli – Defense and Security Senior Programme Manager, Globsec

Moderator
Soňa Weissová – Denník N

14:45 – 15:00

Closing remarks

Tomáš Strážay – Director, Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA)

Organizers/partners: Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (AFC)

European Conference 2025: EU at the crossroads – can it rebuild stronger?

Contact

Headquarters Bratislava

Office Prešov