Pavol Demeš
Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the U. S.; Minister for International Affairs of the Slovak Republic (1991 – 1992)

Pavol Demeš serves as the Senior Transatlantic Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Slovakia. Prior to this position, he had been Director of Bratislava office for Central and Eastern Europe of the same institution since January 2000. Previously, he served as the Executive Director of the Slovak Academic Information Agency-Service Center for the Third Sector, a leading NGO in the country. He also served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Slovak Republic (1993 – 97), and from 1991 – 92 he was the Minister of International Relations. An internationally recognized NGO leader, Mr. Demeš, was an elected spokesperson of the Gremium of the Third Sector, a volunteer advocacy coalition, and served on the boards of national and international associations and foundations. In 1999 he was awarded a six-month public policy research fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. He received the EU-US Democracy and Civil Society Award, the USAID Democracy and Governance Award, Royal Dutch decoration Knight of the Order of Orange Nassau, Yugoslav Star of First Class.

Amb. István Gyarmati
President and CEO, International Centre for Democratic Transition, Budapest

Prof. Dr. István Gyarmati is the President & CEO of the International Centre for Democratic Transition. He has been a Foreign Service officer since he graduated from the Budapest University of Economics, Faculty of Diplomacy. Ha holds Ph.D. in Political Science and is a candidate of Strategic Studies. Ambassador Gyarmati is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Centre for Euro Atlantic Integration and Democracy in Budapest and Co-Chairman of the International Security Advisory Board for Southeastern Europe of the Geneva-based Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces. Between 2008 and 2009, he was the head of the Defense Minister's Task Force, created to draft the National Military Strategy of the Republic of Hungary. He is a member of the ISS, European Council for Foreign Relations, European Advisory Group, NATO Defense College and numerous scientific projects as well as an Associate Professor at the Zrínyi Miklós National Defense University.

Alexander Goncharenko
President, Center for International Security Studies, Kyiv

Since 2007, Mr. Goncharenko has been working in Ukrainian –Arabic Institute of International Relations. He began his career in 1992 when appointed the Counsellor on Political Affairs and Relations with NATO. Also later he has held many significant positions such as Research Fellow in Royal Institute for Defense studies in London, Chief Research Fellow in Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Ukraine (1995 – 1997). In 1997 he became Head of Department of National and International Security in National Institute for Strategic Studies until 2001. In 2002 – 2006 Mr. Goncharenko worked as Professor of Department of International Relations for Kyiv Institute for Humanities. He is member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, President of the Center for International Security and Strategic Studies and Executive Director of Black Sea-Caspian Democratic Control Consortium.      

Olga Shumylo-Tapiola
Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Europe, Brussels

Olga Shumylo-Tapiola is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, where her research focuses on EU and Russian policy toward Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus. Shumylo-Tapiola is a member of the supervisory board and former director of the International Centre for Policy Studies. She is also deputy head of the board of PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society), a network of European civil society organizations.  From 2006 to 2010 she participated in the development of the European Commission’s Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area formula, leading a team of Ukrainian experts to assess the impact of the future EU-Ukraine DCFTA and the readiness of the Ukrainian government to implement the EU-Ukraine Association Agenda. In 2008, she served in the Ukrainian government, advising the deputy prime minister on European integration. Between 2002 and 2004 she served as a seconded expert, advising the Ukrainian Ministries of Economy and Foreign Affairs on EU-Ukraine relations.

Iryna Bekeshkina
Director, Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Kyiv

Iryna E. Bekeshkina is the Director in Democratic Initiatives Foundation in Kyiv. She started her career in 1974 as Associate Editor in Journal “Philosophical Thought” and between 1977 and 1991 worked for Institute of Philosophy where in 1980 became Senior Research Fellow. In 1991 she became Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Sociology as well. In Democratic Initiatives Centre in Kyiv she worked as analyst since 1993 until 1996. From 1992, she is also a member of Ukrainian Sociological Association. Iryna E. Bekeshkina is author of more than 100 publications, including 3 monographs and 3 brochures.