On 21 September, Professors Jozef Batora (Comenius University), Daniel Bochsler (University of Belgrade and Central European University), Natalia Letki (University of Warsaw) and Michal Parizek (Charles University), who are all academic partners of the SPS Summer Academy, met EUI President Renaud Dehousse, Head of Strategy and Development, Sébastien Huber, SPS Director of Studies Arnout van der Rijt, and the Convenor of the SPS Summer Academy, Filip Kostelka.
During the meeting hosted at the EUI, the members discussed the existing and new opportunities for collaboration between the EUI and the universities in their respective countries.
"The SPS Summer Academy has greatly benefited from this partnership. We hope to extend the collaboration to other EUI initiatives targeting the region," said President Dehousse.
Subsequently, the professors shared their insights and research results in a roundtable on current democratic developments in Central and Eastern Europe in the context of Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Professors Batora and Letki insisted on the critical importance of the upcoming legislative elections in Slovakia and Poland for these countries' future democratic trajectories. Professor Bochsler explained how the war in Ukraine put EU enlargement in the Western Balkans back on the political agenda. Finally, Professor Parizek presented preliminary results from the Glowin research project, revealing how Russia's aggression on Ukraine receives significantly more media attention in Central and Eastern Europe and how the conflict is increasingly reported in relation with NATO.