International Council

….brings together distinguished persons from politics, business, science, art, culture and civil society who are elected by the Board of Directors by virtue of their office, their activity or their proven preference for the purpose of the Institute (purpose of the association). The International Council supports the Board.

Ambassador Mag. Dr. Werner ALMHOFER

Ambassador at the Austrian Embassy in Moscow

From 1986-91 he worked as a high school teacher in Vienna and lecturer at the University of Bari. Since 1992 active in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a focus on Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, EU enlargement and European coordination. Foreign functions in Rome and Belgrade; 2008 – 2012 Head of the OSCE Mission and Deputy Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General in Kosovo. Austrian Ambassador in Sarajevo, Warsaw and since 2021 in Moscow.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Florian BIEBER

Director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, Austria

Florian Bieber is a Professor of Southeast European History and Politics and Director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, Austria. He holds a Jean Monnet Chair in the Europeanisation of Southeastern Europe and is the coordinator of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) and has been providing policy advice to international organisations, foreign ministries, donors and private investors. He studied Political Science and History at Trinity College (USA), the University of Vienna, and Central European University (Budapest) and has worked for the European Centre for Minority Issues and taught at Kent University (UK). Prof. Bieber is also a Visiting Professor at the Nationalism Studies Program at CEU. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the LSE and New York University, and held the Luigi Einaudi Chair at Cornell University. Recent publications include Debating Nationalism (Bloomsbury 2020) and The Rise of Authoritarianism in the Western Balkans (Palgrave 2020).

Dr. Katrin BÖTTGER

Director, Institute for European Politics (IEP), Berlin

Dr.in Katrin Böttger is a member of the IEP Management Board and head of the Otto Wolff Foundation-funded project "Re-measurement of EU-Russia relations: scenario and strategy development".

Majlinda BREGU, PhD

Secretary General, Regional Cooperation Council

Majlinda Bregu took office as the Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council on 1 January 2019, following her appointment by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) at the meeting held on 23 April in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia.

Dr. Michael FAZEKAS

Executive Coordinator, Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), Wien

Dr. Michael Fazekas was appointed Executive Coordinator of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on 01 July 2017.

Mr. Fazekas, born in 1971, holds a PhD in Economic History and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Vienna (Austria) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Minnesota (USA), starting his career in 1998 at the European Commission in Brussels and the Office of the European Union Representative (West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNRWA) in 2000.

From 2003 to 2013, Mr. Fazekas held a number of management and supervisory board functions in international business companies. Since 2007, he was Managing Director of the Vienna Airport Holding company. Under his leadership and initiative, the airport company expanded into a leading service provider in Eastern- and South-Eastern Europe. In 2011 he became Managing Director of Diamond Industries Holding, one of the globally leading manufacturers of piston aircrafts.

From 2013 to 2017, he was shareholder of different companies in the financial sector. He has launched numerous trans-border cooperation programs and projects in the fields of development of infrastructure, traffic, security, energy, environment and private sector for Southeast Europe. His mother tongue is German; he speaks fluent English and has a working knowledge of French.

Dr. Friedhelm FRISCHENSCHLAGER

Former Federal Minister of Defence

Born 6.10.43, Salzburg,

Dr. iur. University of Vienna 1969

University activities International Law, Political Science 1969-2003

Abg. Z. NR 1977 – 1996 (FPÖ until 1993, then Liberal Forum)

Member of the European Parliament 1996 – 99

2001-2003 OSCE Mission Kosovo, Director Department Democratisation

2005 – 2007 Secretary General Union of European Federalists (UEF), Brussels

2007 – 2017 President of the European Federalist Movement Austria

2017 - Vice-President European Movement Austria

2015 - Member of the Parliamentary Federal Army Commission

Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, IDM
(Board Member 2007-2019, 2007 – 2013 Admin. Head of the Balkan course of the IDM/University of Vienna)

Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Dr.h.c.mult. Martin GERZABEK

Professor at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) President Christian Doppler Forschungsgesellschaft

Martin H. Gerzabek studied agriculture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences
Vienna (BOKU) and received the Doctor of Agricultural Sciences (plant nutrition) in 1987; 1984 -
2003 he was a scientist at the Austrian Institute of Technology, 1997–2003 Head of the
department of environmental research there. Since 2001, he has been a full professor for
environmental toxicology and isotopic methods at BOKU, where he was Vice-Rector for research
2003-2010 and rector 2009-2018. He was the founding President of ICA-CASEE and was president
of the Danube Rectors’ Conference and vice-president of ICA. He received four honouree
doctorates, the Emil-Ramann medal of the German Soil Science Society, the honouree
membership of the International Union of Soil Sciences and is holder of the Grand Decoration of
Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria and the Federal State of Lower Austria. He
is a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, member of the Academia
Europaea and acatech. He published approximately 520 scientific publications in the field of soil
science and on environmental issues, as well as 58 book chapters and 4 books.

Dr. Valentin Inzko

Diplomat, former European Union Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Rastislav KÁČER

Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the Czech Republic

Ambassador Rastislav Káčer has served as President and Chairman of the Slovak Atlantic
Commission since 2008, after completion of his five-year term in Washington D.C. as Ambassador
of Slovakia to the United States.
Prior to this, Mr Káčer served at different decision-making levels for 16 years. He began his career
as a policy analyst at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, rising to head of the Analytical Unit. Between
1994 and 1998, he served at NATO headquarters in Brussels and on his return from Brussels
became Head of Policy Planning Staff and Director General for Security Policy and Multilateral
Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2001, he became Secretary of State at the Ministry of
Defence responsible for the negotiation and accession process of Slovakia to NATO. In July 2008,
Mr Káčer was elected President of the Slovak Atlantic Commission, which is a member of the
Atlantic Treaty Association. More recently, Mr Káčer served as Ambassador of Slovakia to
Hungary. He is widely recognised as an expert on US domestic and foreign policy, transatlantic
relations, defence and security issues.

Dr. Christoph LEITL

Honorary President of the European Chamber of Commerce (Eurochambres) and Honorary President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber

Christoph Leitl is an Austrian entrepreneur and politician. From 2000 to 2018 he was President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO) and from 2018 to 2021 President of the European Chamber of Commerce Eurochambres.

Alena KUDZKO

Vice-President of GLOBSEC, Bratislava

Alena Kudzko is Vice President of GLOBSEC and the Director of the GLOBSEC Policy Institute think tank in Bratislava, where she oversees policy development, research, and programming in the areas of defence and security, the future of Europe, global order, technology and society, and strategic communication. Before joining GLOBSEC, she worked at various NGOs and academic institutions in Belarus, Estonia, and Hungary, specializing in the area of foreign relations, democratization, and community development. Alena graduated with honours and as the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award winner from Central European University in Budapest/Vienna with a Master’s degree in International Relations and European Studies. She previously studied international politics, languages and music at California State University, Bakersfield (as a U.S. State Department Global Undergraduate Fellow), Belarusian State University in Minsk, and the Estonian School of Diplomacy in Tallinn.

Mag.a Ulrike LUNACEK

Former State Secretary; Long-standing Member of the National Council (1999-2009) and the European Parliament (2009-2017), 2009-2017 EP rapporteur on Kosovo, 2014-2017 Vice-President of the European Parliament

Ulrike Lunacek, born 1957 Krems/Donau, trained interpreter (English/Spanish, Mag.phil Univ. Innsbruck 1983), from 1984 activist and employee in various NGOs, 1989-1995 journalist and project collaborator in feminist and development organizations,1995-2020 long-standing federal and European politician of the Greens, including Vice-President of the European Parliament (2014-2017) and Kosovo rapporteur of the EP (2009-2017). 1-5/2020 State Secretary for Arts and Culture. Since June 2020 again working as an author and moderator.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stefan NEWERKLA

University Professor at the Institute of Slavic Studies, University of Vienna

Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Stefan Michael Newerkla is Professor of West Slavic Linguistics at the University of Vienna. In addition, he is a full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Academic Assembly and the Scientific Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and co-chair of the Standing Conference of Austrian and Czech Historians on Common Cultural Heritage.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Arkadiusz RADWAN, LL.M.

Deputy Director, Polish Diplomatic Academy

Arkadiusz Radwan is Professor of Law at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas and Deputy Director
of the MFA Diplomatic Academy in Warsaw. Before joining the Diplomatic Academy, he served as
Director of Polish Academy of Sciences – Scientific Center in Vienna and had over 15 years of
international career in legislative consulting and legal counselling. He was admitted to the bar in
Kraków as a licensed Attorney-at-Law (advocate). He is also a seasoned NGO activist – i.a. being
one of the founders and until 2022 longstanding President of the Krakow-based Allerhand
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. He is honorary Co-Director of the Centre for Company Law &
Corporate Governance at the Babeș Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca and guest lecturer at many
European universities. Besides business law, Professor Radwan’s research interests embrace i.a.
constitutional law, European law and comparative law. In particular his work revolves around
questions such as law and memory; institutional response to polarization; legal designs of public
services such as judiciary or higher education. Apart from his native Polish, Professor Radwan is
fluent in English and German and he also speaks Spanish.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ulrich SCHNECKENER

Professor of International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies at the Center for Democracy and Peace Studies (ZeDF) at the University of Osnabrück; Chairman of the Board of the German Foundation for Peace Research

Since 2009 Professor of International Relations & Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Osnabrück, since 2016 Chairman of the Board of the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF), 2002-2009 Scientist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Research Group Global Issues. Areas of Research: Global and European security policy, International conflict management, peacebuilding, fragile statehood, political violence & civil wars.

Goran SVILANOVIĆ

Former Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)

Goran Svilanović (PhD in Law) served as Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (2013-2018). Between 2008 and 2012 he was Co-ordinator of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (2008-2012), and the Chairman of Working Table I (democratization and human rights) of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe (2004-2007).

From 2000 to 2004, Mr. Svilanović was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Between 2000 and 2007, he was a Member of Parliament.

Mr. Svilanovic is consulting for Abkons and is heading their offices for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.

Prof. Maria N. TODOROVA

Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Maria Todorova is the Gutgsell Professor of History and Center of Advanced Study Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She teaches and researches the history of Eastern Europe, in particular the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire in the modern period. A graduate of the University of Sofia, she has taught at the Universities of Sofia and Florida, and has held visiting appointments at Harvard, Rice, Maryland-College Park, California-Irvine, University of Graz, Bosphorus University, and the European University Institute. Her publications (monographs and edited volumes) include The Lost World of Socialists at Europe’s Margins: Imagining Utopia, 1870s - 1920s (2020), Scaling the Balkans” Essays on Eastern European Entanglements (2018), Remembering Communism: Private and Public Recollections of Lived Experience in Southeast Europe (2014), Postcommunist Nostalgia (2010, 2012), Bones of Contention (2009, 2011), Remembering Communism: Genres of Representation (2010), Balkan Identities: Nation and Memory (2004), Imagining the Balkans (1997, 2009, translated in 15 languages), Balkan Family Structure and the European Pattern (1993, 2006), English Travelers’ Accounts on the Balkans (1987), England, Russia, and the Tanzimat (1980, 1983), Historians on History (1988), Selected Sources for Balkan History (1977, 2006), and other edited volumes and collections of essays, as well as some 170 articles on social and cultural history, historical demography, and historiography. The recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, she has been a fellow at the Wilson Center, the National Humanities Center, the Institute for Human Sciences (Vienna), the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. She is doctor honoris causa of the University of Sofia (Bulgaria), the European University Institute (Italy) and Panteion University (Greece). In 2022 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Botschafter i.R. Dr. Ferdinand TRAUTTMANSDORFF

Professorship at the Faculty of International Relations, Andrássy University Budapest

In his first years in the Austrian Foreign Service, he worked as a consultant at the Austrian
Representation in Geneva. In 1985 he became a first-time assignor at the Austrian Embassy in
Bucharest. From 1985 to 1986 he took a leave of absence due to his political activities in the
presidential election campaign.
In the following years he became a cultural councillor at the Austrian embassy in Washington D.C.
and then first assigned at the embassy in Budapest. From 1999 to 2004 he was Ambassador to
Cairo and accredited to the government in Khartoum. From 2004 to 2005 he was Ambassador to
Lisbon. As head of the International Law Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna,
Trauttmansdorff was Chairman of the 2008 Task Force for International Cooperation in Holocaust
Education, Remembrance and Research and has been particularly attached to Austrian memorial
servants ever since.
From January 2010 to the end of 2015, Trauttmansdorff was Austrian Ambassador in Prague.
He is head of the Chair of Diplomacy I at Andrássy University Budapest.

Dr. Márton UGRÓSDY

Director of the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT), Budapest

Dr. Ugrósdy is the Director of the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade in Budapest, Hungary. His
research interests cover transatlantic issues, energy security, and US foreign policy in Central and
Eastern Europe. He joined IFAT in 2015 as a part-time Research Fellow. Before his assignment at
IFAT, Márton worked as the Editor-in-Chief of Kitekintő.hu, at the time Hungary’s only online
news portal dealing exclusively with international relations for seven years. Márton is a graduate
of Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest with a major in political science, where he also received
the prestigious Republican Scholarship for academic excellence twice during his studies. He
earned his PhD from the Doctoral School of Political Science and International Relations at
Corvinus University of Budapest, where he also works as a part-time lecturer. He is an alumnus of
the Hungarian-American Enterprise Scholarship Fund, which allowed him to gain work experience
at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.

Dr. Andreas UMLAND

Senior Expert Ukrainian Institute for the Future, Kyiv

Analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies of the Swedish Institute of International Relations and lecturer in the Department of Political Science of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. Editor of the book series "Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society" and "Ukrainian Voices" of the ibidem publishing house Stuttgart. Co-editor of the "Forum for Eastern European Ideas and Contemporary History" (Eichstätt). Member of the Advisory Boards of the International Association for Comparative Faschismusforschung Budapest, Zeitschriften „World Affairs“ (Washington), „Fascism: Journal of Comparative Fascist Studies“ (Amsterdam) und „Ideology and Politics Journal“ (Kyjiw) sowie des Boris-Nemzow-Zentrums für Akademische Russlandstudien Prag und Sacharow-Forschungszentrums für Menschenrechte Wilnius. Studium in Leipzig (Staatl. gepr. Übersetzer Russisch), Berlin (Dipl.-Pol.), Oxford (M. Phil. Osteuropastudien) und Stanford (A. M. Politikwissenschaft) als Friedrich-Ebert, DAAD and ERP scholarship holder of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. 1998 Doctorate as Dr. phil. in History in Berlin (Meinecke Institute) and in 2007 Ph.D. in Politics in Cambridge (Trinity College). 1997-99 NATO Fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, California. 1999-2001 and 2002-03 Lecturer at the Robert Bosch Stiftung at the Urals State University of Yekaterinburg and Kyiv Mohyla Academy. 2001-02 Thyssen Fellow at Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University Cambridge, Mass. January-December 2004 Substitute Lecturer for Eastern European Studies in Oxford (St. Antony‘s College). 2005-08 DAAD lecturer at the Institute of International Relations, Shevchenko University Kyiv, Ukraine. 2008-10 Research assistant at the Chair of Central and Eastern European Contemporary History at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. 2010-14 DAAD lecturer at the Master’s programme "German and European Studies" of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. 2014-2019 Research associate of the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation Kiev.

Magdaléna VÁŠÁRYOVÁ

Honorary Chairman Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA), Bratislava

Magdaléna Vášáryová is Slovak diplomat and politician, former member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic (2006 – 2016). Chairwoman of the oldest Slovak women’s association „Živena“ and chairwoman of the Institute for cultural policies. Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Poland (2000 – 2005), between 1990 – 1993 Czechoslovak Ambassador to Austria. In the past, she served as the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. Founder and in years 1993 – 2000 the director of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association - SFPA (today honorary chair).

Prof. Milena ŽIC-FUCHS

Milena Žic Fuchs is Full Professor of Linguistics at the University of Zagreb

Milena Žic-Fuchs is Full Professor of Linguistics at the University of Zagreb, Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences and member of Academia Europaea.

Prominent areas of expertise are Cognitive Linguistics, Semantics, Pragmatics and Cognitive Science ‒ currently actively engaged in multidisciplinary research at the Croatian Brain Institute, Medical School of the University of Zagreb.

She served as the Croatian Minister of Science and Technology and was Chair of the Standing Committee for the Humanities of the ESF. During her various mandates in EU bodies, she instigated policy incentives for Multi/Transdisciplinary Research as well as Digital Humanities. Currently she is a member of numerous Science Advisory Boards at European level in the domains of SSH and Research Infrastructures. Prof. Žic-Fuchs was a member of the EC High Level Group on Maximising Impact of EU Research and Innovation Programmes, chaired by Pascal Lamy. She is Member of the ERC Scientific Council.

International Council