Speakers

European Values Summit 2023

Alicja Bachulska, PL

Alicja Bachulska is a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, based in ECFR’s Warsaw office. Prior to joining ECFR, she worked for over six years as a China analyst at the Asia Research Centre, a think-tank based at the War Studies University in Warsaw. Since 2019, she has been part of MapInfluenCE, an international project researching Chinese and Russian influence in the V4 region. Bachulska is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School for Social Research (GSSR), Polish Academy of Sciences. She graduated from the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) with a BA degree in Chinese and Development Studies and completed a Master’s Degree in International Politics (Chinese Politics and Diplomacy) at Fudan University, Shanghai.

Beata Balogová, SK

Beata Balogová is a Slovak journalist. She is a graduate of Columbia University in New York, United States, where she studied journalism in 2006 and 2007. Since 2014, she has been the editor-in-chief of the Slovak daily SME. Her collection of essays, A Book Full of People, was published in 2019. In 2020, she won the European Journalism Award in the Opinion and Commentary category. She is an active advocate for press freedom and the protection of journalists at home and abroad.

Patrick Boehler, AT

Head of Digital Strategy of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Prior to joining RFE/RL, Mr. Boehler was an executive editor at SWI, the Swiss international public broadcaster, a staff writer and digital editor at The New York Times, and a reporter at The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He co-founded and led the Environmental Reporting Collective, a global group of reporters and editors. Before becoming a journalist, he worked for Austria's ministries of foreign affairs and defense. Mr. Boehler holds a doctorate in political science and taught journalism at the University of Hong Kong.

Charles Burton, CAN

Charles Burton specializes in Comparative Politics, Government and Politics of China, Canada-China Relations and Human Rights. He received a PhD in 1987 from the University of Toronto after studies at Cambridge University (Oriental Studies) and Fudan University (History of Ancient Chinese Thought Program, Department of Philosophy). Between 1986 and 1988, he was an Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Post-Doctoral Scholar in Political Science at University of Alberta. He has served extensively with the Canadian government: with the Communications Security Establishment and Canadian diplomatic service, also being posted at Canadian Embassy in Beijing twice. Charles will continue serving as Senior Fellow at the Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Julie Buzalková, CZ

Julie Buzalková works at the Centre against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats (CTHH) of the Ministry of the Interior. The CTHH's activities consist of monitoring threats to the internal security of the state, proposing substantive and legislative solutions based on an assessment of these threats, and communicating these issues to the public and within the state administration. The CTHH focuses on (especially hybrid) threats to the security of the Czech Republic falling within the scope of the Ministry of the Interior, such as terrorism, attacks on soft targets or security aspects of migration, extremism, mass events, disturbance of public order and various criminal activities or security aspects of disinformation campaigns related to the internal security of the state.

Denis Cenusa, MD

Denis Cenusa is an Associate expert at the Eastern European Studies Centre (Lithuania) and the Think Tank "Expert-Group" (Moldova). He is based in Germany, where he is conducting his doctoral studies at the Justus-Liebig University of Giessen. He offers consulting on risk and crisis management, energy security, geopolitics in the post-Soviet space, and geostrategy at the Russia-China-Global South intersection. Mr. Cenusa has a Master‘s degree in European Interdisciplinary Studies from the College of Europe in Poland (2013). He is also a student of the Advanced Program in EU Law and Economics at Riga Law Faculty (2014) and of the London School of Economics Online Course on Risk and Crisis Management (2022). He is an alumnus of the US Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (2020) and completed a fellowship at the Eastern European Studies Center in Vilnius (2022).

H. E. Daan Huisinga, NL

Currently appointed as the Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Czech Republic, H.E. Huisinga joined the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1995 after three years with the Netherlands gas trading and transport company “Gasunie”. Worked in the Asia Department, with the OSCE in Albania, and at the Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels. He obtained a MA in Political Science at the University of Leiden and a Msc. in Political Economy at the London School of Economics. From 2013 till 2017 he was the Deputy Head of Mission at the Netherlands Embassy in Ankara, Turkey. From 2017–2021 he served as Deputy Director-General for International Migration Management at the Ministry of Justice and Security in the Hague.

Julie Chen, TW

Julie Chen is a Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Chen serves as one of the Editor of the Journal of Chinese Political Science. She is co-representing Finland in COST ACTION: China in Europe Research Network. Chen is also board member of the European Association for Chinese Studies. From 2023–2025, she is in the EU winning project „The EU in the Volatile Indo-Pacific Region“ where she leads the preparatory research and provides supervision and counselling to junior researchers.

LtGen (R) Koichi Isobe, JPN

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Koichi ISOBE retired from active duty in August 2015. Prior to this final appointment, he held several other senior positions in Japan’s defense institutions, such as Director of J-5, Japan Joint Staff (JJS), Commanding General of 7th Armored Division, as well as Vice Chairman of JJS. After the retirement, he served as senior fellows at Harvard University Asia Center (2017-2019) and Asia Pacific Initiative (2017-2021). LTG Isobe obtains a Master of Arts in Military Studies from the U.S. Marine Corps University in 1996, and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the U.S. National Defense University in 2003. He is the author of “Operation Tomodachi: Process and Recommendations – The U.S.-Japan Alliance after Fukushima Nuclear Accident”, August 2019, which was awarded the INOKI Masamichi Special Prize in November 2019.

Jakub Kalenský, CZ

Jakub Kalenský has joined the Centre’s Hybrid Influence COI as a senior analyst focusing on safeguarding democratic processes. Jakub has specialized in disinformation and Russian hybrid activities since 2015 when he joined the newly created East StratCom Task Force in the European Union’s diplomatic service, the EEAS. In the team, Jakub was responsible for raising awareness about Russia’s disinformation campaigns, and he and his colleagues founded the EUvsDisinfo campaign. In 2018, Jakub joined the Atlantic Council, where he worked in the Ukrainian Election Task Force, and in the Digital Forensic Research Lab, where he focused on Russian disinformation and the countermeasures against it. He testified in the European Parliament or in the US Congress on Russian disinformation attacks in Europe and the countermeasures against it.

Zuzana Košková, CZ

Zuzana Košková is the Head of Red Watch Program at European Values Center for Security Policy. She is experiences in organization, international relations, diplomacy, management of research, tourism, media, education, and administration. During 2022-2023, she served as Junior Diplomat at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to that, she worked as Administrator and Innovation Scout at Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague. She received her Master’s degree in Modern China Studies at the University of Freiburg.

Mariia Kovach, UA

Mariia Kovach-Butsko has experience as a media expert and communications manager with Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. In 2020 she worked as the Communications Manager to provide Strategic Communications Support to the Cabinet Ministers of the Ukraine Project after serving as the Press Secretary of the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. Previously, Mariia held management and fellowship positions with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, as well as the EU project “Association 4U”. Within the EVC’s Information Defense Hub, Mariia focuses primarily on Ukraine’s integration processes with the European Union, Ukraine-NATO dialogue, international relations, and the Russian disinformation narratives in Ukraine.

Richard Kraemer, US

Richard Kraemer is the President of the US-Europe Alliance and a Eurasia Program fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, where his recent research is largely focused on Turkish and Balkan affairs. Previously, Richard managed the National Endowment for Democracy’s program portfolio on Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey. Prior to NED, he oversaw programs in those states and the Levant at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). Richard also taught law and researched at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. He is an affiliated expert of the Public International Law and Policy Group, where he advised the governments of Georgia and Montenegro. A member of the New York State Bar Association, Richard holds a JD from American University and a BA from the College of William and Mary. He’s appeared in numerous international and U.S. media. He is professionally proficient in Polish, Farsi, and Dari.

Tomáš Kriššák, SK

Kriššák is an information security expert who works in a Slovak technology company, Gerulata technologies, where he is dedicated to improving the monitoring capabilities of digital platforms for public and private sector clients. Outside of that, he likes to further spread awareness and resilience to misinformation in his educational projects focused on critical thinking and media literacy. In addition to workshops and lectures for students, adults, and seniors, he created the educational platform Project HOPE. As an activist, he leads the Self-Confident Slovakia community and is the co-author of the first chatbot, Checkbot, capable of detecting misinformation on Facebook. Tomáš graduated in Political Science at the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations in Banská Bystrica.

Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová, CZ

Diplomat Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová was ambassador to Egypt and Sudan, ambassador to the UN and the OSCE, worked as a political advisor to the Permanent Delegation of the Czech Republic to NATO, and was one of the main negotiators for the placement of the US radar in Brdy. At the State Department, she headed the Department of Security Policy and is now the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Non-European Countries and Economic and Development Cooperation.

Kyoko Kuwahara, JPN

Kyoko Kuwahara specializes in public diplomacy, strategic communications, disinformation and soft power strategies. She is a research fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), and a visiting fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI). She served as an officer at the Office for Strategic Communication Hub at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 2018-2019 before joining the JIIA. Her most recent published books are about public diplomacy and disinformation including Disinformation Warfare: The War in Your Heads (Japanese), co-author (2023), and her most recent published articles include Strenghtening International Cooperation: The case of a Taiwan Strait Contingency (MLI Commentary, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, March 2023).

I-Chung Lai, TW

Dr. I-Chung Lai is currently the President of The Prospect Foundation. Prior to that, he was also the Executive Director for DPP Mission in the United States from 1999 to 2000, a Special Assistant for Policy to the Taiwan Representative to Japan from 2000 to 2003, and the Vice President of the Taiwan Thinktank from 2013 to 2016. From 2006 to 2008, he subsequently served as the Director General for the Department of China Affairs and the Director General for the Department of International Affairs in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He received his Ph.D. degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and was a Visiting Researcher at Cornell University.

Borja Lasheras, ES

Mr Lasheras served at the Spanish Presidency of the Government between 2018 and late 2021, where he held the position of Senior Foreign Policy Advisor (2020-2021). Previously, he was Director at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) office in Madrid. He has extended field experience, having worked for the OSCE’s field missions in Bosnia and Albania (2010-2013), and he regularly spends time in Ukraine. Mr Lasheras is an Associate Faculty member at the IE Business School Madrid (IE), where he teaches foreign policy. He has published in Spanish and international media. He has recently published a book on Ukraine titled "Estación Ucrania: el país que fue" (Libros del K.0, 2022).

Halyna Leontiy, DE

Dr. Halyna Leontiy studied German linguistics, sociology and law in Chernivtsi (Ukraine) and Konstanz (Germany) and subsequently completed her doctorate in sociology on German-Ukrainian business communication at the University of Konstanz. She has been teaching and implementing research projects at various universities in Germany. On her research she focuses on micro-sociology, sociology of culture and intercultural communication, migration research (migration and family), gender, sexuality and diversity, and sociology of humor and satire in the context of migration. She uses qualitative, interpretative and reconstructive methods of empirical social research, in particular ethnography of communication, hermeneutics of the sociology of knowledge, discourse analysis. Since October 2021 she is standing in for the Chair of “Foundations of Social Sciences” at the University of Goettingen. For the past year, she has been conducting research seminars together with her students on the discourses about Ukraine in Germany.

Dimitar Lilkov, BE

Lilkov is a Senior Research Officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies focusing on energy and climate, as well as digital policy. On the digital front, the respective research topics include novel European regulation in the online domain, privacy, disinformation, as well as technological competition with the People’s Republic of China. Dimitar’s professional résumé features the EU Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament, where between 2014-2017 he acted as Head of the Bulgarian office of an EPP Group MEP. Dimitar has a Master’s Degree in Politics and Government in the EU from the London School of Economics (LSE) and holds a BA in International Relations from Sofia University. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD at the European Studies Department of Sofia University with a specific research focus on the decision-making dynamics within the Council of the EU.

Tomáš Lindner, CZ

He spent his student years at the secondary school in Ostrov and at the Institute of Political Science of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. He studied at the University of Konstanz in Germany, spent six months in southern Africa and spent six months in Iceland as a volunteer camp leader. He joined Respekt in 2008 and has been responsible for foreign news since then. His favourite topics are Germany, migration, sub-Saharan Africa and the relationship between rich and poor countries in general. He has received three Journalist Awards for his reporting (he has been nominated for four others), the Czech-German Journalist Award twice and the Johnny Klein Award once, and in 2009 he won the European Young Journalist Award for his coverage of the Bulgarian mafia.

Zuzana Lizcová, CZ

Zuzana Lizcová is an academic at the Institute of International Studies of the Charles University and a journalist. She worked at the Association for International Affairs (AMO) as the coordinator of the Czech-German Young Professionals Programme (CGYPP) until the end of 2019. Her research focuses on German-speaking countries, their activities in the international context and bilateral relations with the Czech Republic. In 2011 she completed her PhD in International Area Studies at the IMS FSV UK and in 2005 her MA in German and Austrian Studies. From 2004 to 2013, she worked in the documentary department of the Czech Press Agency (CTK), where she specialized in German-speaking countries and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Mariia Makarovych, UA

Mariia Makarovych is particularly experienced in the collecting, processing, and analyzing of policy and financial data related to Ukrainian community development and the promotion of reforms through her previous work with the Donetsk Separated Subdivision of the Social Government Development Center, the NGO the Institute for Social and Economic Research as a regional expert in local budget programs, and the Association for Community Self-organization Assistance as an analyst. Since 2018, she has implemented several projects related to community education, land management, and local funding in the Donetsk region with funding from the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme as a part of the NGO Local Communities Development team. Mariia’s primary focus at the EVC’s Information Defense Hub is the economy.

Renate Nikolay, DE

Nikolay is the Deputy Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology at the European Commission. She is a highly qualified legal professional; Nikolay holds several academic qualifications, including a Second Legal State Examination with honors from the High Court in Berlin and a Master of Laws with honors from the American University in Washington D.C. Renate has held various high-level positions within the European Institutions. She has also served as Head of Cabinet for Vice-President Jourova and Commissioner Jourova, focusing on justice, consumers, gender equality, and values and transparency. Renate has a strong background in international coordination, trade policy, and multilateral affairs.

Olga Richterová, CZ

Olga Richterová studied translation and interpreting (English-German) at Charles University in Prague. She pursued a Ph.D. in corpus linguistics at Charles University, where she also worked and taught various courses. She transitioned from civil activism to politics, joining the Pirate Party and establishing a strong local branch. She served as a councilor in Prague 10, focusing on ICT outsourcing. Olga was elected as a member of the Czech Parliament, where she served two terms and held the position of party vice-chair. In 2021, she successfully defended her parliamentary mandate and became the Vice-Chair of the Chamber of Deputies and the Vice-Chair of the parliamentary group of the Czech Pirate Party. Her work in the Parliament revolves around social and healthcare proposals, as well as housing matters.

Julia Soldatiuk, NL

Julia Westerveld-Soldatiuk is a Researcher at the EU & Global Affairs Unit of the Clingendael Institute. Her research is focused on contemporary politics, economic and security issues in Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on post-war reconstruction and reforms in Ukraine and Ukraine’s EU candidate status. Julia holds master’s degrees in International Relations and Global Governance from the University of Groningen and in Physical and Economic Geography from the T. Shevchenko University. Prior to joining Clingendael Julia worked for VNG International and PAX, advising national and local governments in Eastern Partnership countries (Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia), Egypt, Turkey and Kosovo on topics ranging from support of the EU accession and decentralization reforms to post-conflict recovery, peace building, IDP management and strengthening civil society.

Ulrich Speck, DE

Dr. Ulrich Speck is an independent foreign policy analyst based in Heidelberg. He writes a weekly geopolitical column for Neue Zürcher Zeitung, a Swiss newspaper, and is a member of the DGAP Zeitenwende Action group. Speck has been a fellow at GMF Berlin, the Transatlantic Academy in Washington/DC, Carnegie Europe in Brussels, Elcano in Brussels. He has worked for RFE/RL in Prague and for various newspapers in Germany. Speck has a PhD in modern history from Frankfurt University and has co-edited a number of books on foreign policy.

Lorin Stan, DE

Lorin Stan is advisor for European Affairs to Thomas Hacker, member of the German Bundestag for FDP, Member of the Committee of European Affairs, Rapporteur for Central Europe, the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership. Lorin holds a bachelor in “Public Governance across Borders” and “European Public Administration” in Münster (Germany) and Enschede (Netherlands) and a master in European Interdisciplinary Studies of the College of Europe Natolin (Poland). He has done various internships in Chisinău, Sofia, Brussels and Berlin.

Zsuzsanna Szelényi, HU

Szelényi is a Program Director at the CEU Democracy Institute, foreign policy specialist, author of ‘Tainted Democracy, Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary’. In 2012 she was founding member of the opposition party ‘Together’ and was elected Member of Parliament in Hungary, where she covered foreign policy, migration and constitutional affairs. She has also served at the Council of Europe, developing democracy all over Europe, including conflict regions such as the Western Balkans and the countries of Caucasus. Szelenyi completed GMAP of International Politics and Economics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, holds an MA of Psychology of the University of Eotvos Lorand, and an MA of International Relations of the Corvinus University.

Tereza Šídlová, CZ

Tereza Šídlová is a journalist at Seznam Zprávy, where she focuses mainly on Czech diplomacy and the international context of domestic political events. She also follows election campaigns - how politicians handle their finances, how transparent they are and who their "spin doctors" are, i.e. their marketing advisors. She started in journalism in 2004 and covered the first ever Czech Presidency of the European Union in 2009. She also covered the negotiations with the US on the Brdy radar and the strategic nuclear tenders at Temelín and currently at Dukovany, which are not only about electricity production but also about Czech security.

Michal Šimečka, SK

Michal Šimečka holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford and an MPhil from St Antony's College. He has worked as a Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague and as a Political Risk Analyst in London. He has been actively involved with Progressive Slovakia, serving as Vice-Chairman and a Board Member. In the EU institutions, he is the Vice-President of the Renew Europe Group and a Member of the European Parliament. He has also served as an Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Šimečka's diverse background encompasses academia, research, journalism, and politics.

Jakub Šimko, SK

Jakub is an Expert at Kinit Slovakia. Jakub focuses on the intersection of human computation, machine learning and user modeling. He has recently been working on social media algorithm auditing, misinformation modeling and promotes interdisciplinary approaches to computer science research. In the past, Jakub has participated in international research co-operation with Bar-Ilan University and the University of British Columbia. Jakub has worked on more than 10 national and international research projects and participated in several industry projects. He has authored more than 30 publications, received more than 200 citations and is a reviewer for several Springer and Elsevier journals. He was a member of the PeWe (Personalized Web) research group and worked at the User Experience and Interaction Research Center.

Mikael Tofvesson, SE

Mr. Mikael Tofvesson is head of the Operations department at the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency. He was previously head of the Counter Information Influence Section at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and also headed three task forces to protect the national general elections in 2018, 2022 and the European Parliament election in 2019, against foreign malign information influence. Between 1989 and 2009, Mr. Tofvesson held various positions within the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters.

Michal Vašečka, SK

Michal Vašečka is a Program Director at Bratislava Policy Institute and Sociologist by backround with expertise in ethnicity, race, migration studies, populism, extremism, social movements, and civil society. He has held positions at various universities including the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts and the Pan-European University. He is a founder and former director of the Center for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture and has worked as a consultant for the World Bank. Michal has also served as a representative of Slovakia in the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance and has held various advisory board positions. He is recognized for his contributions to human rights and is actively involved in journalism and media.

Nathalie Vogel, DE

Nathalie Vogel is a dedicated advocate for democracy and has focused her career on defending and promoting democratic movements globally. She holds a degree in Political Sciences from the University of Innsbruck and has taught international relations at the University of Bonn. Nathalie has worked as a project officer and consultant for youth and civil society at the NATO Office in Moscow and as a Fellow at the Institute of World Politics in Washington DC. She specializes in info-warfare and has been monitoring influence operations in Germany since 2007, advising lawmakers and think tanks. Nathalie is currently a Senior Fellow at the Kremlin Watch Program, where she focuses on internal security, cyber incidents investigation, and countering disinformation.

František Vrabel, CZ

František Vrabel is the founder and director of Semantic Visions, a Czech company that analyses 90 % of the world's news content. He has a deep understanding of the entire media ecosystem and how this system is being abused by adversaries whose goal is to destroy democracy in the West. He operates on the front lines of the information war with Russia and publicly highlights the threats to democracy posed by the business model of big tech companies. František Vrabel is a serial entrepreneur with Silicon Valley experience.

Theresa Caroline Winter, DE

Theresa Winter is a political scientist specializing in security and defense policy. She works at the Security Hub at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. She has worked at Lockheed Martin in the Berlin Liaison Office. Her expertise is in military capabilities, transatlantic relations, EU/NATO initiatives, and industrial partnerships. Theresa holds a Master's degree in Crisis and Security Management (Leiden University) and her final topic was Russian Crisis Management in the North Caucasus.

Tomonori Yoshizaki, JPN

Prof. Tomonori (Tom) Yoshizaki has served as Professor of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) since April 2023. He gives lectures and seminars on Japan’s national security policy, alliance management, and peace operations. Prior to the TUFS position, he had worked for the National Institute for Defence Studies (NIDS) of Japan MOD for thirty-six years. At NIDS, he served as vice president for academic affairs (2022-23), director of policy simulation (2015-22) & director of security studies department (2011-15).

Chihhao Yu, TW

Chihhao Yu is a system architect and information designer. He is Co-Director, Taiwan Information Environment Research Center (IORG), Taiwan, coordinating scientific research, data engineering, community engagement, and international exchange at the organization to counter information manipulation, facilitate public discourse, and strengthen democratic discourse in Taiwan. He is also a contributor to gov, Taiwan’s civic hacking community, and an organizer of Facing the Ocean, an East Asia civic hacking network.