Panel Debate
The panel debate will involve 2 guests, Dr. Petra Ditrichová, and Martina Heranová, Ph.D.
It will revolve around the topic of the position of the Czech Republic and its citizens in the institutions of the European Union, including their influence and representation. It will focus on the EU’s instruments for strengthening European defence and defence capabilities as well as the main challenges related to the cooling of transatlantic relations with the US. In the second part, the cooperation between the EU and NATO, their security specificities and the position of the Czech Republic in NATO will be discussed. The debate is structured in a way to leave room for questions from students during the discussion.
Dr. Petra Ditrichová
works at the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic as a senior legal advisor. From 2013 to 2014 she worked as Deputy Legal Advisor at NATO/ACT SEE in SHAPE, Belgium. From 2017 to 2018 she acted as Czech Liaison Officer to NATO/NSPA in Luxembourg. She specializes in international humanitarian law (IHL) and NATO and EU legal framework for military operations. She is a co-founder of the Committee for the Implementation of IHL and Czech Red Cross expert on IHL. She served as President of the General Affairs Committee of the International Society for Military and Law of War from 2015 to 2018. As of 2021 acts as Vice President of the Society. She also teaches at Law Faculty of the Charles University and cooperates with Institute of International Relations.
Martina Heranová
is a security analyst, currently working as Head of Department of Security Studies at the private CEVRO University, based in Prague. Previously, she worked for the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2002-2013), holding various diplomatic positions including Deputy Head of the Czech Embassy in Lithuania, and for the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade (2000–2002). She specializes in international security issues (especially geopolitics and global security challenges, hybrid warfare and influence operations) with an emphasis on Central Europe. She holds a doctorate in International Relations from the Charles University in Prague.
Zuzana Augustová
Moderator
is a long-time member of EYP Czech Republic. She has held a variety of roles in the organisation, for example the Head Organiser of a Regional Selection Conference in 2022 or the Member of the Board responsible for Human Resources. Zuzana studies journalism at the Faculty of Social Science at Charles University. Last year, she joined the Institute for European Policy EUROPEUM and currently works there as an Office and Project Coordinator.