Atlantic Council

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From May 31 – June 2, the 2012 Wroclaw Global Forum brought together important decision-makers and business leaders from the United States and Europe to discuss Central Europe’s role as a critical partner in US efforts to promote political, security and economic ties across the Atlantic.

For more information, visit www.wgf2012.eu or contact Maureen McGrath at mmcgrath@acus.org.

PROGRAM AND VIDEOS

View the Forum program (pdf)

Thursday, May 31

Welcoming Remarks - VIDEO

• Rafal Dutkiewic, Mayor of Wroclaw
• Frederick Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council

Opening Keynote - VIDEO

• Lech Walesa, Former Leader of Solidarity and Former President of Poland
• Moderator: Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, Chairman, Council of the Polish Institute of International Affairs

Panel Discussion - The Path Forward for the Eastern Partnership - VIDEO

• Valeriy Khoroshkovskiy, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine
• Vitalie Marinuta, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Moldova
• Moderator: Kalman Mizsei, Chairman, Roma Policy Board, Open Society Foundations

Panel Discussion - The Transatlantic Partnership: Global Superpower or Fading Giant? - VIDEO

• Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Member, Conseil d'Etat
• Andrzej Klesyk, Member of the Management Board, PKPP Lewiatan; CEO, PZU S.A.
• Jiri Schneider, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
• Hu Shuli, Editor-In-Chief, Caixin Media
• Moderator: Frances G. Burwell, Vice President and Director, Atlantic Council

Panel Discussion - Ukraine: Teetering on the Edge - VIDEO

• Hanna Herman, Adviser, Office of President Viktor Yanukovych
• Vitali Klitschko, Chairman of the UDAR Party, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
• Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of the Republic of Poland 1995-2005
• Moderator: Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, Chairman, Council of the Polish Institute of International Affairs

US Keynote - VIDEO | Nides' Prepared Remarks (PDF)

• Thomas R. Nides, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, US State Department
• Moderator: Frederick Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council

Break Out Session - New Protest Movements and the Crisis of Democratic Capitalism - VIDEO

• Elżbieta Matynia, Professor, New School for Social Research; Professor, University of Lower Silesia
• Jordi Vaquer i Fanés, Director, Barcelona Center for International Affairs
• Jacek Żakowski, Columnist, Polityk
• Moderator: Jacek Kucharczyk, President of the Executive Board, Institute of Public Affairs

Break Out Session - European Energy Security: Will Shale Gas or Nuclear Lead the Way? - VIDEO

• Jarosław Pietras, Director General, DG for Environment, Council of the European Union
• Wiesław Prugar, CEO, ORLEN Upstream
• Alan Riley, Professor, the City Law School, City University London
• Konrad Szymański, Member of the European Parliament
• Adam Witek, Energetyka KGHM
• Moderator: Ian Brzezinski, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council

Break Out Session - Investing in Europe: Difficulties, Hopes and Promises - VIDEO

• Piotr Freyberg, Former Managing Director of 3M Poland
• Roman Rewald, Partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Former AmCham Chairman in Poland
• Jake Slegers, Executive Director, American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia; Chair, AmCham Europe
• Paweł Wideł, Governmental Relations Director, General Motors Poland
• Moderator: Joanna Bensz, Branch Director at AmCham Wrocław

Friday, June 1

Keynote - VIDEO | Commissioner Füle's Remarks

• Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy
• Marcin Zaborowski, Director, Polish Institute of International Affairs

Panel Discussion - The Future of Europe - VIDEO

• Elmar Brok, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, Co-Chair of the Transatlantic Legislators'
• Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy
• Ana Palacio, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain
• Quentin Peel, International Affairs Editor, Financial Times
• Moderator: Marcin Zaborowski, Director, Polish Institute of International Affairs

Panel Discussion - CEE's Rise in an Unstable World - VIDEO

• Norman Davies, Fellow, The British Academy
• Danuta Hübner, Member of the European Parliament
• Horst Köhler, Former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, 2004-2010
• Jan Kulczyk, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kulczyk Investments, Founder of the CEED Institute
• Moderator: Janusz Reiter, President, Centre for International Relations, CEED Institute Partner

Break Out Session - Russia in a Post-Medvedev Era - VIDEO 

• Richard R. Burt, Managing Director, McLarty Associates
• Evgeny Gavrilenkov, Chief Economist, Troika Dialog
• Paweł Kowal, Member of the European Parliament
• Dmitry V. Suslov, Deputy Director, Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies
• Moderator: Robert Nurick, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council

Break Out Session - Digitizing Democracy: Technology and Its Impact on Freedom - VIDEO

• Erika Mann, Director of EU Affairs, Facebook
• Igor Ostrowski, Deputy Minister for Digitalisation and Administration of the Republic of Poland
• Rafał Trzaskowski, Member of the European Parliament
• Iryna Vidanava, Editor-in-Chief, 34 Multimedia Magazine
• Moderator: Igor Janke, Salon24, Rzeczpospolita

Break Out Session - Powering the Future: The Geostrategic Implications of Energy Shifts - VIDEO

• Edward C. Chow, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Matthew Hulbert, Senior Research Fellow, Clingendael International Energy Program
• Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Member of the European Parliament
• Moderator: Stephan Richter, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, The Globalist

US Keynote - VIDEO | Tauscher's Prepared Remarks

• Ellen Tauscher, Special Envoy for Strategic Stability and Missile Defense, US State Department
• Moderator: Frederick Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council

Panel Discussion - Democracy and Prosperity: The Inevitable Link? - VIDEO

• Hédi Ben Abbes, Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia, Americas and Asia
• Lee A. Feinstein, US Ambassador to Poland
• Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy
• Radosław Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
• Moderator: Quentin Peel, International Affairs Editor, Financial Times

Break Out Session - Competitiveness in a Shifting Global Economy - VIDEO

• Peter Chase, Senior European Representative, US Chamber of Commerce
• Jacek Levernes, Vice President and Executive Board Member, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Hewlett-Packard
• Prince Michael von Liechtenstein, Chairman of the Board, Industrie- und Finanzkontor
• Mateusz Morawiecki, President of the Management Board and CEO, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A.
• Tzvetan Vassilev, Chairman, Supervisory Board, Corporate Commercial Bank
• Moderator: Jan Cienski, Warsaw Bureau Chief, Financial Times

Break Out Session - The Transatlantic Partners: Building the Arab Spring into Summer - VIDEO

• Emma Bonino, Trustee, Arab Democracy Foundation
• Patrycja Sasnal, Analyst in Middle Eastern Politics, Polish Institute of International Affairs
• Samir Radwan, Former Minister of Finance of Egypt
• Moderator: Michele Dunne, Director, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, Atlantic Council

Break Out Session - Is Security Needed for Democracy? - VIDEO

• Zeljka Cvijanovic, Minister for Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation, Republic of Srpska Government
• Kadri Liik, Senior Researcher, International Centre for Defense Studies
• Alexander Rondeli, President, Georgian Foundation For Strategic and International Studies
• Tomas Valasek, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence, Centre for European Reform
• Moderator: Damon Wilson, Executive Vice President, Atlantic Council

Freedom Awards Dinner

VIDEO PART I | VIDEO PART II | TRANSCRIPT

Honorary Co-Chairs:
Lee A. Feinstein, US Ambassador to Poland
Robert Kupiecki, Polish Ambassador to the United States

The following individuals received Atlantic Council Freedom Awards:
Władysław Bartoszewski, Chairman, International Auschwitz Council
The National Endowment for Democracy, Represented by NED President Carl Gershman
Emma Bonino, Vice President of the Italian Senate and Trustee of the Arab Democracy Foundation
Moncef Marzouki, President of Tunisia on behalf of the people of Tunisia (award presented in absentia)

We will also pay special tribute to Ales Byalyatski, Chairman of the Human Rights Center „Viasna" and one of the Atlantic Council's 2011 Freedom Awardees.

Featuring: Andrzej Seweryn, Actor and Director with Comedie-Francaise and Teatr Polski

Saturday, June 2

Panel Discussion - The Wrocław Debate: Does Europe Need New Europeans? - VIDEO | Q&A SESSION VIDEO

• Leszek Czarnecki, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Getin Holding S.A.
• John Martin, Professor of Medicine at University College London and Yale University
• Brendan Simms, Professor of European International Relations, Cambridge University
• Jan Zielonka, Professor of European Politics, Oxford University
• Chair: Norman Davies, Fellow, The British Academy

The 2011 WGF featured the participation of US Senator John McCain; former US National Security Advisor General James Jones; Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Vladimir Filat; and top ministers and CEOs from the region.

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Click here for highlights and videos from last year’s Forum.

NEW ATLANTICIST ANALYSIS

• Ending Poland's Absurd Exclusion From Visa Waiver Program - James Joyner
• US-European Economic Partnership Key to Everything - James Joyner

SOCIAL MEDIA AND VIDEO

• TWITTER: Follow the Forum’s events on @2012WGF and @AtlanticCouncil and with hashtag #WGF.
• FACEBOOK: Like us on Facebook to view photos from the event.

FORUM DOCUMENTS

• Informational Flyer (PDF)

PRESS RELEASES

• Atlantic Council Recognizes International Lineup of Political Activists for Promoting Freedom
• Atlantic Council Bestows Honorary Membership to Wroclaw Mayor Dutkiewicz
• International Leaders to Converge on Poland for Wroclaw Global Forum and Freedom Awards

MEDIA MENTIONS

English

• Visa-free travel to the US possible this year - Warsaw Business Journal
• ‘No Europe without Ukraine’ says former president - thenews.pl
• Ukraine could help EU emerge from crisis - The National Radio Company of Ukraine
• Global Forum against Belarusian tyranny - Charter 97
• An Era of Global Competition - kulturaliberalna.pl
• Wrocław Acts Globally - New Eastern Europe 

Polish

• LIVE BLOGGING: Salon 24
• Wrocław Global Forum. Ostatni panel z udziałem Normana Daviesa - WP.pl
• Bartoszewski podniósł głos sprzeciwu. I nagrodę - TVN24.pl
• Freedom Awards na Wrocław Global Forum - PAP/Gazeta Wyborcza
• Nagrody Wolności rozdają we Wrocławiu. Kto je dostał? - Michał Kokot, Gazeta.pl Wroclaw
• O sytuacji na Ukrainie na Wrocław Global Forum - PAP/Gazeta Wyborcza
• Kliczko: nie bojkotujcie Euro na Ukrainie - TVN24.pl
• Wałęsa, Kwaśniewski, Kliczko i "Nowe oblicze Zachodu" - TVN24.pl
• Obama odpowie na list Komorowskiego - Rzeczpospolita
• Ukraina: dostrzegajcie nasze reformy, a nie tylko Tymoszenko - Rzeczpospolita
• Departament Stanu USA: zniesienie wiz dla Polaków możliwe do końca roku - Bartosz Węglarczyk, Rzeczpospolita
• Rafał Dutkiewicz zaprasza na Wrocław Global Forum 2012 - Money.pl

 Photo credits: Kamil Czaja