H.E. Mikuláš Dzurinda
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic

H.E. Mikuláš Dzurinda has been appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in July 2010. Prior to his appointment, he held many positions in the National Council of the Slovak Republic as well as the Government; the most significant being the position of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic in 1998 – 2006. In 2004, during his government, Slovak Republic became member of the NATO and the European Union. He was member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic (1994 – 1998 and 2006 – 2010) for the Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ-DS) that he founded in 2000 and since then he has been the Chairman of the party.

Amb. (Ret.) Rastislav Káčer
President and Chairman of the Board, Slovak Atlantic Commission

Amb. Káčer was elected the President of the Slovak Atlantic Commission, a non-governmental organization in July 2008 after completion of his five-year term in Washington D.C. as the Ambassador of Slovakia to the United States. Between 1994 and 1998 he served at NATO Headquarters in Brussels and on this return from Brussels became head of Policy Planning Staff and the Director General for Security Policy and Multilateral Affairs at the Ministry. In 2001 he became the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence responsible for the negotiation and accession process of Slovakia to NATO.

H.E. Iurie Leancă
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova

H.E. Iurie Leancă started his career in 1986 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1993 – 1997 he served as Minister – Counsellor at the Embassy of Moldova to the USA and later as Ambassador on Special Mission of European Integration. In 1999 he became First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the position that he held until 2001 when he became Vice-Chairman of ASCOM Company. In 2005 – 2007 he worked as Senior Adviser to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. In the meantime, he was Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Policy Association until 2009 when he became member of the parliament and later, in September of the same year, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova.

H.E. Grigol Vashadze
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Georgia

H.E. Grigol Vashadze was born in Tbilisi, on 19 July 1958 to his father Nodar Vashadze and mother Elene Bakradze. In 1981 he graduated with honours from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Faculty of International Law. In 1981 – 1988 he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, Department of International Organisations, Department of Cosmos and Nuclear Weapons. During 1988 – 1990 he attended Diplomatic Academy as post-graduate student.  In 1990 – 2008 he was engaged in private business and headed the companies founded by himself: 'Georgia Arts Management' and 'Gregory Vashadze and BR'. On 6th February 2008 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. On 1st November 2008 he was appointed Minister of Culture, Monument Protection and Sport.

Bruce Jackson
President, Project on Transitional Democracies, Washington, D.C.

Bruce Jackson is the founder and President of the Project on Transitional Democracies. From 1979 to 1990, Bruce Jackson served in the United States Army as a Military Intelligence Officer. From 1986 to 1990, he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in a variety of policy positions pertaining to nuclear forces and arms control. Upon leaving the Department of Defense in 1990, Mr. Jackson joined Lehman Brothers, where he was a strategist in the firm's proprietary trading operations. In 1993 – 2002, Mr. Jackson was Vice President for Strategy and Planning at Lockheed Martin Corporation. During 1995 and 1996, he was National Co-Chairman of the Dole for President Finance Committee. In 1996, he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention where he served on the Platform Committee and the Platform’s subcommittee for National Security and Foreign Policy. During the 2000 Presidential Campaign, he was a delegate committed to Governor Bush and chaired the Foreign Policy Subcommittee of the Republican Platform Committee. From 1995 until 2003, he was the President of the US Committee on NATO. In 2004, Mr. Jackson became a member of the International Commission on the Balkans and the Board of Directors of the "We Remember" Foundation.