INVITATION: Perceptions of EU in Central Europe amid COVID-related crisis

We would like to invite you to the webinar Perceptions of the EU in Central Europe amid COVID-related crisis organized by the Think Visegrad platform which brings together 8 think-tanks from Central Europe.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the biggest challenges the EU has ever faced, further exacerbated by the narratives of some member countries, which eagerly use the EU as a scapegoat for its own negligence and to advance their domestic political agenda. Moreover, with the vaccination campaigns facing delays, countries have begun seeking other sources of vaccines, providing an additional space to foreign influence of Russia and China, who already have a strong impact on the region of Central Europe and view the region as part of their geopolitical agenda.

Why are these countries open to the usage of Russian or Chinese vaccines? Does it show a lack of solidarity among the V4 members towards other Member States and their own citizens, who will face woes due to unapproved vaccinations? And how are the EU’s efforts to fight COVID-19 perceived in Central Europe? Can this crisis have a long-lasting effect on the reputation of the EU in Central Europe?

Key-note speech: Vladimír Bilčík, Member of European Parliament

Speakers:

• Vladislava Gubalova, Research Fellow, Globsec

• Vít Havelka, Research Fellow, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy

• Velina Tchakarova, Director, AIES - Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy

• Karolina Zbytniewska, Editor in Chief, EURACTIV.pl

• Nikolett Garai, Research Fellow, Külügyi és Külgazdasági Intézet / Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Chair: Žiga Faktor, Head of Brussels Office, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy

To be able to actively participate in the webinar, please register by using this link: https://bit.ly/EUinCEWebinar

The event will also be live-streamed on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/thinkvisegrad/live). If you don't wish to register, you can still watch the event here, but without a possibility to ask questions or add comments.

To learn more about Think Visegrad, visit this website: https://think.visegradfund.org/

Brussels Office
Avenue de Broqueville 40, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert

Vít Havelka
Senior Research Fellow

Expertise: EU institutional relations with member states, europeisation, transformation role of EU

Žiga Faktor
Deputy Director & Head of Brussels Office

Expertise: European integration of Western Balkans, EU enlargement, Slovenian Politics and EU-Turkey relations