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Welcoming Address: JÁN NOSKO, Mayor of Banská Bystrica ANDREI ZUBOV, Professor of History, Columnist, Novaya Gazeta, Moscow ST

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Welcoming Address: JÁN NOSKO, Mayor of Banská Bystrica ANDREI ZUBOV, Professor of History, Columnist, Novaya Gazeta, Moscow ST Welcoming Address: JÁN NOSKO, Mayor of Banská Bystrica CONFIRMED ANDREI ZUBOV, Professor of History, Columnist, Novaya Gazeta, Moscow CONFIRMED STANISLAV MIČEV, Director General, Museum of the Slovak National Uprising, Banská Bystrica INVITED PETR KOLÁŘ, Senior Advisor, Squire Patton Boggs, former Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Prague INVITED MILAN NIČ, Managing Director, Central European Policy Institute, Bratislava INVITED Led by: LUKÁŠ FILA, Editor-in-Chief, Denník N, Bratislava CONFIRMED MARIÁN MAJER, Senior Fellow for Security and Defence, Central European Policy Institute, Bratislava INVITED MILAN ŠÁŠIK C.M., Bishop, Eparchy of Mukacheve, Mukacheve INVITED JULIJ HOJDASH, Head, Department of International Relations, Uzhgorod National University, Uzhgorod INVITED ŠTEFAN FÜLE, Former European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Prague INVITED Led by: MARTIN EHL, Head, Foreign Affairs Desk, Hospodářske noviny, Prague INVITED (Upon separate invitation only) (Upon separate invitation only) AMB. RASTISLAV KÁČER, Honorary President, Central European Strategy Council; Honorary Chairman, Slovak Atlantic Commission, Budapest CONFIRMED H. E. MIROSLAV LAJČÁK, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic CONFIRMED 1 One year before NATO leaders reconvene for the summit in Warsaw, we need to evaluate how the taskings and commitments of the Wales summit have been transformed into reality. Another important question will be what the priorities of the upcoming gathering in Warsaw should be. In Wales, the Allies have reconfirmed their commitment to collective defence and tasked urgent measures to make NATO’s defence and deterrence both credible and relevant to the security challenges emanating from Russia and the Middle East. Has the gap between threat perceptions narrowed? Are we really willing to use force to defend one another? In case of a cyber attack or a hybrid challenge, where is the threshold for triggering common action and how can NATO bolster national responses? Have we managed to tackle the erosion of transatlanticism? H. E. JENS STOLTENBERG, Secretary General of NATO CONFIRMED H. E. TOMASZ SIEMONIAK, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Poland CONFIRMED BOGDAN AURESCU, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania CONFIRMED AMB. VICTORIA NULAND, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Department of State, Washington, D.C. INVITED Led by: BROOKS TIGNER, NATO/EU Affairs Correspondent, Jane's Defence Weekly, Brussels CONFIRMED H. E. FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE, President of the French Republic PREL. CONF. Hosted by: ISABELLE KUMAR, Presenter, Euronews, Lyon CONFIRMED The Visegrad Group is facing the most significant challenge to its own security since the end of the Cold War. Since three out of four member states are direct neighbours of Ukraine, the whole Group founds itself on the geographical periphery of the European Union. Therefore, the Visegrad Group has to do its best in order to avoid being moved to the political periphery as well. In economic dimension, V4 continues to demonstrate its potential to grow as new challenges are put on the table. The most crucial of those remains energy infrastructure in the broader region that will directly influence further chances of Central Europe to increase its competitiveness. What can the V4 countries do to improve their position on the energy markets and to negotiate better prices of energy supplies? What can be done within the Visegrad Group to make our economies stronger competitors? How will the current trend of start-up entrepreneurship contribute to the region moving forward in terms of stable economies and greater capacity? How else can the Visegrad Group strengthen its position within the European Union? H. E. ROBERT FICO, Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic CONFIRMED H. E. BOHUSLAV SOBOTKA, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic PREL. CONF. H. E. VIKTOR ORBÁN, Prime Minister of Hungary PREL. CONF. H. E. EWA KOPACZ, Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland PREL. CONF. Led by: tbd RÓBERT VASS, Executive Vice-President and CEO, Central European Strategy Council, Bratislava CONFIRMED IVO NESROVNAL, Mayor of Bratislava CONFIRMED 2 HON. MIKHAIL SAAKASHVILI, former President of Georgia INVITED URMAS PAET, Member of European Parliament, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia, Brussels INVITED ANDREI KORTUNOV, Director General, Russian International Affairs Council, Moscow INVITED PAVEL ANDREEV, Founder, Center for Global Strategies and Communications, Moscow INVITED Led by: NIK GOWING, International Broadcaster, London CONFIRMED Years after the economy crisis and the crisis of values and leadership hit the European Union, struggles from internal and external environment keep appearing. The 28-member bloc still faces economic difficulties, which are accompanied by continuing internal division, threat of the United Kingdom leaving the community and most recently new political leadership in Greece. Sanctions towards Russia, sensitivity of energy market and further influx of radical extremists pose major challenges that require unity, strong leadership and clear vision. Is Europe able to protect its vulnerabilities towards these crucial challenges and come out of the crisis stronger? What institutional reforms should be adopted in order to better address current state of affairs? H. E. DONALD TUSK, President, European Council, Brussels INVITED Hosted by: STEFAN KORNELIUS, Foreign Editor, Süddeutsche Zeitung; Munich CONFIRMED YEVHEN FEDCHENKO, Director and Co-Founder, StopFake.org, Kiev CONFIRMED ZAHED AMANULLAH, Senior Programme Manager, Institute for Strategic Dialogue, London CONFIRMED Led by: BEN NIMMO, Analyst and Consultant, Haddington CONFIRMED Have we entered into the era of pure geo-economics when financial shifts profoundly affect the distribution of power in the world? Has oil price become a geopolitical weapon? What position has Europe and North America in the changing dynamics of global order? Do the institutions created by the West still sufficiently influence the current dynamics? Are we able to engage the BRICS countries and other states into this system or will they establish their own politico-economic platforms? Will the global economic system evolve into one not so favourable to the West and not so much managed by the West? How to gear ourselves up to these changes? To what extent is foreign policy dependent on economy in the 21st century rather than based on values? How can states use economic tools to influence foreign policy of other states? Do sanctions work? HON. ÁNGEL GURRÍA, Secretary General of OECD, Paris CONFIRMED SANJAYA BARU, Director for Geo-Economics and Strategy, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Bahrain Office, Manama CONFIRMED 3 GEORGE FRIEDMAN, Founder and Chairman, Stratfor, Austin CONFIRMED CELSO LUIZ AMORIM, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence of the Federal Republic of Brazil, Rio De Janeiro CONFIRMED Led by: KATHLEEN KOCH, former CNN Correspondent, Washington, D.C. INVITED A mortal extremist element is spreading fear, violence and instability across the whole Middle East. ISIS seems to have appeared suddenly, causing both local actors and Western leadership to reshape policy towards region. What are the root causes underlying the rise and success of ISIS? What makes ISIS unique as a terrorist organisation? What are the lessons learned from this and other operations against terrorism? What role should regional actors play? Introductory remarks: GEN. JOHN ALLEN, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, Washington, D.C. CONFIRMED KHALED KHOJA, President, Syrian National Coalition, Istanbul INVITED AMB. MEHMET FATIH CEYLAN, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Turkey to NATO, Brussels CONFIRMED HASSAN HASSAN, Journalist and Writer, The National, Abu Dhabi PREL. CONF. Led by: ANTON LA GUARDIA, Correspondent, The Economist, London CONFIRMED H. E. KOLINDA GRABAR-KITAROVIĆ, President of the Republic of Croatia CONFIRMED H. E. GJORGE IVANOV, President of the Republic of Macedonia CONFIRMED ŠTEFAN FÜLE, former European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Prague CONFIRMED Led by: IVAN VEJVODA, Senior Vice-President, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, Washington, D.C. CONFIRMED Geopolitics has returned to an unprepared Central and Eastern Europe. What is the state of affairs after Kiev’s make- or-break winter of 2014? Has the region been effective in its reaction to Russia and its assistance to Ukraine? How has Central Europe performed for its part? What must be done by all sides to buttress Ukraine’s aspirations, including that of EU membership? Is there a common narrative in foreign and security policy? What contingencies lay ahead and how do we build solidarity to address them? H. E. ANDREJ KISKA, President of the Slovak Republic CONFIRMED H. E. BRONISŁAW KOMOROWSKI, President of the Republic of Poland PREL. CONF. H. E. PETRO POROSHENKO, President of Ukraine INVITED Led by: DAVID IGNATIUS, Opinion Writer, The Washington Post, Washington, D.C. PREL. CONF. (Upon separate invitation only) 4 Have we reached a common understanding on the nature and magnitude of the Russian challenge? Have sanctions and the overall Western strategy worked thus far? Have policies in Ukraine and elsewhere served or damaged Russia’s own interests? Could Putin’s Russia be re-engaged into the international
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