EFA22 Interviews

The opening of EFA22 under the theme New Europe was a great success.

We have interviewed Shalini Randeria, President and Rector of Central European University, right after the stage and asked her about her critical approach and her ideas for a new Europe.

We interviewed musician Clemens Wenger about his sound installation "Start by Listening".

On the forecourt of the Congress Centrum Alpbach and on the village square, two listening stations with joint sound recordings, collaged into new compositions, invited to reflect on the moment: "listening versus hearing".

Let us practice listening as an important democratic tool in society!

On the way through the village, participants of the EFA22 and inhabitants of Alpbach discovered word pairs, which were part of the installation "The Common Separation" by Theresa Hattinger. Is it time to decide?

Artist Yana Barionva curated a photo exhibition titled /SPALENA/.

In 2018, Yana Barinova served as an advisor to the Minister of Culture and Information Policy on reforms in the field of preservation and protection of Ukraine's cultural heritage.

We interviewed her and asked her what she wants to achieve with her exhibition.

Timothy Snyder, Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University, stated in an EFA22 Chat today that Russia has to lose this war, otherwise imperialism might be back in Europe.

We asked him if he thinks that Europe has lost its taste for imperialsm for good.

The stage THE EU’S GEOPOLITICAL AWAKENING? hosted

• Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania
• Tanja Fajon, Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Jan Lipavský, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Ivan Korčok, Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
• Alexander G. Soros, Deputy Chair of Open Society Foundation
• Velina Tchakarova, Director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES)
• Alexander Schallenberg, Austrian Federal Minister for European and Internationl Affairs
• Matthew Helmut Karnitschnig, POLITICO Chief Europe Correspondent

Right after the stage, we asked Wojciech Przybylski, Political Analyst at Visegrad Insight for an analysis.

The last Stage of Coference Week I was all about CROSS-SECTORAL PERSPECTIVES ON MIGRATION.

We asked one of the panellists, Ottilia Anna Maunganidze, Head of Special Projects Institute for Security Studies (ISS) how she thinks Europe can change its policies on migration, education and development.

Ben Wagner, Assistant Professor and Director of the AI Futures Lab, TU Delft, was one of the speakers at the EFA22 WORK session 'The (R)evolution of Socio-Technical Hybrids'. In the session he discussed the increasing fusion of people and technologies, in this interview he explains to us what this means and whether there are threats in this field.

The stage BATTLEGROUND INTERNET: BETWEEN CYBERWAR AND INFOWAR has been a topic of conversation all day at EFA22.

One of the speakers, Markus Reisner, Colonel at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence said that Russia has its own narrative on the war and is already fighting us on the cyber realm - we interviewed him for you directly after the session.

After the EFA22 stage CRISES: FAILING TO SEE THE LONG-TERM WOOD FOR THE SHORT-TERM TREES? with

• Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative and Vice-President at the European Commission
• Florence Gaub, EFA Vice President and Foresight Advisor at the Council of the European Union
• Viviane Ogou Corbi, Founder & President at Puerta de África
• Alexandra Brzozowski, Global Europe & Defence Editor at EURACTIV
• Joshua Polchar, Strategic Foresight Lead at OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation

we interviewed the younger speakers of the panel.

We interviewed Michael Kofman, Director of the Research Programme at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), after the session THE FUTURE OF RUSSIA, also featuring:

• Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Board of the Centre for Liberal Strategies
• Kirill Rogov Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences
• Katarzyna Pisarska , Founder and Director of the European Academy of Diplomacy

One of the highlights of EFA22 was definitely the stage INFLATION: CAN CENTRAL BANKS COPE? with five renowned governors

• Robert Holzmann, Österreichische Nationalbank (OeNB)
• Madis Müller, Eesti Pank
• Stefan Ingves, Sveriges Riksbank
• Yannis Stournaras, Bank of Greece
• Pierre Wunsch, Banque Nationale de Belgique

who had to stand up to questions from four scholarship holders.

We asked Alexander Barkawi, Founder and Director at Council on Economic Policies Council on Economic Policies to analyse the session for you.

After the EFA22 Chat on SOLUTIONS FROM GEO-ENGINEERING: JUST A LOT OF HOT AIR? with

• Gerald H. Haug, President, German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• Tara Shirvani, Senior Fellow, @climatecrisisag
• Marcus Wadsak, Meteorologist and Weather Presenter

we interviewed two of the panelists.

EU 2025 - HOW WILL THE WAR IN UKRAINE CHANGE EUROPE? was the big question of one of the last stages of the EFA22 with

• Thomas Mayr-Harting, Chairman of the EFA - International Advisory Board
• Karoline Edtstadler, Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution Federal Chancellery
• Ivan Krastev Chairman of the Board of the Centre for Liberal Strategies
• Carl Bildt Co-Chair European Council on Foreign Relations

We asked Mr Bildt how he envisions the EU in 2025.