Central & Eastern Europe Strategy Summit 2024

About the Summit

Hudson Institute’s Center on Europe and Eurasia is pleased to present its second Central and Eastern Europe Strategy Summit, which will focus on geoeconomics and feature senior officials from Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Germany, and the European Union.

Taking place on the eve of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings in Washington, DC, this conference is an opportunity to take stock of business and economic developments in the region, especially in Ukraine.

The summit will cover: 

• Energy
• Connectivity
• Manufacturing
• Finance
• National security

Hudson Institute strongly believes that Europe’s significance extends beyond the capitals of Western Europe and that Central and Eastern European voices deserve more attention. Through in-person gatherings like these, Hudson’s Center on Europe and Eurasia aims to highlight the opportunities in the transatlantic alliance while guarding against pitfalls that may arise in the relationship.

We are grateful for the support of the PPF Group and the partnership of the Embassy of Romania in the United States for making this summit possible.

Agenda

9:00-9:15 a.m.: Opening Remarks

• Joel Scanlon, Executive Vice President, Hudson Institute

9:15-10:00 a.m.: Welcome Address and Conversation

• Dan Quayle, Forty-Fourth Vice President of the United States

Moderator:

• Thomas J. Duesterberg, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

10:00-11:00 a.m.: Geoeconomics Panel 1 

• Kamil Šaško, First State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of Slovakia
• Jan Růžička, Chief External Affairs Officer, PPF Group
• Marcin Piatkowski, Lead Economist, The World Bank, Washington DC, and Professor of Economics, Kozminski University, Warsaw
• Michael Harms, CEO, Eastern Committee of German Business

Moderator: 

• Rebeccah Heinrichs, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute 

11:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m.: Financing National Security

• Ambassador Tomáš Pojar, National Security Advisor of the Czech Republic
• Luke Coffey, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

12:00–1:00 p.m.: Ukraine’s Economic Prospects

• Jean P. Froehly, Head of Task Force for the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 (Germany)
• Tyson Barker, Deputy Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery (US)
• Daniel Kochis, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute 

1:00–2:00 p.m.: Geoeconomics Panel 2 

• Marek Mora, Deputy Minister, Czech Republic Ministry of Finance
• Vassil Terziev, Mayor of Sofia, Bulgaria
• Dragos Stefan Roibu, Chief of Staff, Romanian Ministry of Energy
• Tibor Tóth, State Secretary, Hungarian Ministry of Finance

Moderator: 

• Jamie Fly, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

2:15–3:15 p.m.: Closing Remarks

• H.E. Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President, European Commission
• Matt Boyse, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

3:15–5:00 p.m.: Rooftop Cocktail Reception