News
Energy Security Conference held on 7 May
On Friday, 7 May, the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID) and the International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT) held the conference „Energy Security 2011 – Challenges of the Hungarian EU Presidency” where Hungarian and international experts discussed the priorities of the energy security issue of the Hungarian EU presidency, scheduled for the first half of 2011. The event excited a considerable interest, attracting nearly a hundred participants and a number of media appearances.
Please click here for further information on the event.
Energy Security 2011 - Challenges of the Hungarian EU Presidency
The Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID) and the International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT) cordially invites everyone to the conference
Energy Security 2011 – Challenges of the Hungarian EU Presidency
on Friday, 7 May 2010, from 1.00 PM to 6.00 PM
at the Art’otel, Bem rakpart 16-19., Budapest, Hungary
The language of the conference is English. Hungarian translation is provided.
RSVP by Wednesday, 5 May to Ms. Ágnes Novák at a.novak@icdt.hu or 06709344575.
Please click here for the agenda and further information on the project.
20th Anniversary of the Pan-European Picnic
On August 17-19, 2009 the local administration of Sopron celebrated, in cooperation with the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID), the ICDT, and others, the 20th Anniversary of the Pan-European Picnic and the border breakthrough in Sopron in 1989.
CEID contributed, together with the ICDT, to the "Conference of Historians," on August 17, by holding a "Round Table Discussion with Leaders of the System Change." In the discussion, Iván Bába, István Hegedűs, Csaba Kiss, Imre Mécs, and Zsolt Németh pictured the complexity of the 1989 events and shared their personal experiences with the audience. The round table offered due to the interaction of the participants an outstanding approach and was a great asset to the event.
The Centre could also secure the participation of the former Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, László Kovács, who provided a first-hand insight into the historic events and spoke about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' attitude regarding the 1989 events in Sopronpuszta. In addition, he recalled and analyzed the ministry's behavior and reactions in response to the first signs of the worldwide changes in the 1980s.
One of the event's highlights was a video message from former U.S. President, George H. W. Bush, recalling his personal memories of the summer of 1989, provided by CEID and ICDT. President Bush visited Hungary in July 1989 and experienced the time right before the August events in Sopron. The video message was shown during the "Conference of Historians" and will be broadcasted by the official media partner of the Pan-European Picnic, Duna Television, in the next weeks. The message of President Bush will also be available on the event's website soon. (see link below)
Furthermore, a "Memorial Conference" commemorated 1989 with speeches of witnesses and protagonists and discussed the results of the Pan-European Picnic and Hungary's special role in the events at the border, and on August 19, a \"Jubilee Celebration\" with the guests of honor Dr. László Sólyom, President of the Hungarian Republic, and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, was held.
CEID and the ICDT contributed not only to the program of the 20th Anniversary Pan-European Picnic, but also to the composition of the participants. Guests of the event included Alexander Kozulin, former Leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, and Andrej Sannikov, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus as well the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, and Pavol Demes, the Director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States Bratislava Office.
The Centre’s contribution to the Pan-European Picnic was enabled through the generous support of the International Visegrad Fund (IVF).
For more information on the event, please click here to visit the official Pan-European Picnic website.
1989 - The Year of Change
Co-organized by CEID, nine Budapest-based embassies and the ICDT commemorated the 20th anniversary of the CEE countries’ transition to democracy with an international conference in the Italian Institute of Culture on March 5. Entitled “1989 – The Year of Change,” the conference was held under the patronage of the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kinga Göncz. Guest of honor was Klára Antall, President of the Curatorium of the Antall József Foundation, and wife of the late József Antall, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary. The conference’s four panel discussions were moderated by journalist Dr. Andreas Oplatka, historian János Tischler, ICDT President and CEO Ambassador Prof. István Gyarmati, and ICDT Vice President, Dr. Tamás Magyarics. For more information, please visit the event’s website: www.1989.icdt.hu.
Moldovan Constitutional Court Visits Budapest
From Tuesday, December 2, to Friday, December 5, 2008 the Constitutional Court of Moldova visited Budapest. Amongst others, the Chairperson of the Moldovan Constitutional Court, Dumitru Pulbere, and the judges met their counterparts of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, Dr. Judit Csiha, Head of the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Hungarian Parliament as well as legal and constitutional law experts. The main aim of this study trip was to learn best practices by means of the Hungarian example and to find answers to concrete legal question regarding planned reforms.
Second Annual Conference of the ICDT: Globalization and Democracy
Dr. Imre Szekeres, Minister of Defense of Hungary, inaugurated the ICDT’s Second Annual Conference on “Globalization and Democracy,” co-organized by the Centre for EuroAtlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID), in the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal on Monday, November 10, 2008. Afterwards, internationally renowned and distinguished leaders and experts presented and held open discussions on the influence of globalization on security, society, economy, and democratic transitions. These leaders and experts included, among others, Ricardo Lagos, former President of the Republic of Chile; Dr. Sima Samar, Chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission; Dr. MS Gill; Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports of the Republic of India; Governor George E. Pataki, Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Climate Change Issues; David J. Kramer, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Alyson Bailes, former Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute; Dr. Andrei Illarionov, Director of the Institute of Economic Analysis in Moscow; LT Gen. László Tömböl, Commander of the Hungarian Joint Forces; and Robert Benjamin, Senior Associate and Regional Director of Central and Eastern Europe Programs at NDI.