2020: Year of Protest in Central and Eastern Europe
11:00pm - 12:30am EST
5:00am - 6:30am CET
6:00am - 7:30am EET
About this event
Speakers
- Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Assistant Professor, Kozminski Universiry
- Marin Lessenski, Program Director, European Policies Program, Open Society Institute
- Olga Shparaga, Lecturer, European College of Liberal Arts in Belarus
Moderation
- Daniel Hegedüs, Fellow for Central Europe, German Marshall Fund of the United States
The year 2020 has seen a remarkable wave of civic mobilization and citizen protests in Central and Eastern Europe.
The demonstrations for free and fair elections in Belarus, for the right of women to physical and sexual self-determination in Poland, and for transparent and responsible government in Bulgaria have not only shaped politics in three countries. They have also left their mark on the international political agenda and gripped the attention of global audiences. To them, the protests showed that the spirit of democracy is alive and that the authoritarian slide of late does not go unopposed by citizens throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
What is, in the short and long term, the transformative impact of recent protests in the three countries and the region broadly? How sustainable is this new civic resistance in the face of authoritarian politics? How can the demands of grassroots protests find their way into institutionalized politics? Will alliances with party politics amplify or weaken the messages of protest movements? And what can the international community, civil society, and diplomacy do to support the fight for more freedom, democracy, and accountability in the region?
The German Marshall Fund of the United States is pleased to invite you to an online event and discussion that examines these and other questions related to Central and Eastern Europe’s most significant protest movements in 2020.