Dr. Robert LICHTNER

Robert Lichtner is Head of the Danube Strategy Point (DSP), the secretariat of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), based in Vienna and Bucharest since 2018. Hosted by the City of Vienna, the DSP supports the implementation of the EUSDR – a large-scale strategy for territorial cooperation and regional development. It was established on the initiative of Austria and Romania in 2010 by the European Commission and nine EU Member States (Bulgaria, Germany, Croatia, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary), five – now – EU candidate countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine), and adopted by the Council of the European Union in 2011. From the origin of the Danube in the Black Forest to the Black Sea, the EU Strategy brings together 14 states and represents a total of 115 million inhabitants.

Mr. Lichtner has a broad professional background across both the private and public sectors, with experience in media and publishing, non-university research, and leadership roles in associations and interest groups. Dr. Lichtner holds a PhD in Slavic Studies from the University of Vienna and speaks seven languages.