On September 8-10 2023, The College of Eastern Europe hosted the kick-off meeting of members of our expert group which will monitor threats to democracy in European Union member states until 2025 at the Wojnowice Castle. The meeting was organized within the framework of the project “Protecting European Values. A proactive approach to strengthening and building European democracy by countering hostile threats aimed at diminishing EU values and bridging existing divides”. The project is co-funded by the European Commission.
The meeting began with an ice-breaking session which included a comprehensive introduction of the members of our expert team. We played games concerning democracy and authoritarianism aimed at the team’s integration. The experts then described the political situation in their own countries and in other EU member states. During the meeting, the group discussed the main threats to democracy in the EU states on the European and global levels. The final stage of the meeting was dedicated to the presentation and discussion of the draft research methodology for the project and its timeline and outputs.
The inaugural meeting was attended by Zsuzsanna Végh, Andrei Cosmin Macsut, Kristina Tsabalo, Anaïs Marin, Florian Lippert, Maria Winclawska, Sanna Salo and Agnieszka Bryc. The College of Eastern Europe implements the project under the direction of Adam Balcer, its program director. The event was co-organized by Arkadiusz Zając.
