The second edition of the Visegrád School of Political Studies was inaugurated on 26 March 2014 in Warsaw, followed by three sessions held in Prague, Bratislava and Budapest. Participants were also invited to attend the annual World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg, France.
During the first session, participants met the representative of the Hungarian Embassy as Hungary held the presidency of the V4 – Dr. Dávid Gorombolyi; editor-in-chief of Visegrad Insight, Mr. Wojciech Przybylski; director and founder of the European Academy of Diplomacy, Dr. Katarzyna Pisarska; political campaigning advisor Mr. Radek Ciszewski; and Anna Dryjańska representing “Fundacja Feminoteka”. The last panel discussion focused on LGBT regulation in V4 and was held by Mr. Tomasz Szypuła and Ms. Anna Grodzka – the first transgender MP in Europe.
The second session of the Visegrád School of Political Studies organized by the Diplomatic Academy at Chateau Trnová near Prague started on Wednesday, 28 May 2014, with a focus on the role of the Visegrád in the European Union. MVDr. Milena Vicenová from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Dr. Hana Lenghartová provided a practical focus and introduced the participants to the rules and nuances needed for successful negotiation and mediation. Participants also met with former Minister of Finance of the Czech Republic and Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Ivan Pilip and Director of the Diplomatic Academy and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Cyril Svoboda.
The third session of the Visegrád School of Political Studies, co-organized by the Slovak Atlantic Commission, started on Wednesday, 16 July 2014, with a focus on the role of theVisegrád in the European Union. Róbert Vass from the Central European Strategy Council and György Varga from International Visegrad Fund spoke about the role that the Visegrád can and should play in the EU, as well as the importance of regional cooperation in European institutions. The following sessions were led by Peter Košinár representing ESET; Milan Nič, the Managing Director of Central European Policy; and Jaroslav Nad, representative of the Central European Strategy Council. The last day of the workshop was focused on the use of critical thinking in decision making and mediation. All three sessions throughout the day were provided by Dr. Nasrin Davis, representing SwissInnovation.
The fourth session of the Visegrád School of Political Studies organized by the Antall József Knowledge Centre (AJKC) started on Wednesday, 24 September 2014, with a focus on the Corruption trends in Central and Northern Europe, represented by Peter Varga, the regional coordinator for Central and Northern Europe at Transparency International. The afternoon session was on integrity education of civil servants by Dr. Katalin Pallai from the National University of Public Service, followed by a visit to Hungarian Parliament and meetings with Mr. Mayer Zoltan, representing the Ministry of Interior of Hungary and Jan Alexander Wessel from AJKC.
