EU ENLARGEMENT LECTURE SERIES: 20th Anniversary of the EU Enlargement
As part of our continued efforts to bring together experts with diverse perspectives to discuss contemporary issues facing Europe, the European Studies Center/European Union Center of Excellence (ESC/EUCE) along with the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REEES) offers a new lecture series to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the EU Enlargement. This virtual lecture series will be held on the last Thursday of each month.
2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the biggest enlargement of the European Union in its history. Ten countries, mainly former socialist Eastern European states, almost doubled the EU from 15 to 25 member states. May 1, 2004, was the triumphal return to the European Family for many. But for some, it initiated a process of disenchantment with the EU and the West.
Each month, the ESC/EUCE, together with REEES at the University of Pittsburgh, will focus our attention on a specific country or a group of countries in the EU by inviting experts and eyewitnesses to discuss the hopes and realities of the EU integration before and after expansion to address what hopes were fulfilled and what new hopes exist for the Union in the present.
Each session is recorded and later posted on the internet with suggested additional readings and further resources. Please check out our webpage for more details and mark the last Thursday of the month to attend this event.
Moderator: Pawel Lewicki
Panelist:
Pavel Telicka, Czech Diplomat, Politician and Businessman
A former negotiator of Czech access to the EU and a former member of the EU Parliament (2014-2019), he contributed to the country’s integration into the EU throughout his career. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament. Pavel Telicka was the 2nd Vice-Chair of the ALDE Group and, in the second part of his mandate, Vice-President of the European Parliament and coordinator of ALDE MEPs in the Committee on Transport and Tourism. Additionally, Pavel engaged in the Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy, where he was responsible for several pieces of legislation, especially on circular economy, cybersecurity, and energy policy. His other political interests and activities included the digital economy, better EU regulation, foreign policy, human rights, and democracy worldwide.
Carol Leff, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Dr. Carol Leff is Professor Emeritus from the Department of Political Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she was a long-term executive and former director of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Center. Her research and publications focus on Czech and Slovak politics, including EU relations and the post-communist transition. Additionally, she was the Editor (1991-1998), Board Member (2005) and President (2004-2008) of the Slovak Studies Association of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. Her publications include Interwar Czechoslovakia - A National State for a Multiethnic Population, Interwar East Central Europe, 1918-1941: The Failure of Democracy-Building, the Fate of Minorities (2020); Building Democratic Values in the Czech Republic since 1989, Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989 (2019); Slovakia and the Making of Czechoslovakia: Controversies and Legacies, Kosmas: Czechoslovak & Central European Journal, New Series 2 (2019).
