On May 6, 2025, the John Lukacs Institute for Strategy and Politics at Ludovika University of Public Service, in cooperation with the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, hosted the second Hungarian-German Strategic Discussion, an invitation-only international workshop focused on key strategic issues in Central Europe.
This event followed the successful first edition held in July 2024, reaffirming the shared commitment of both institutions to strengthening bilateral dialogue and fostering long-term academic and policy cooperation. The purpose of the Hungarian-German Strategic Discussion series is to facilitate a deeper understanding of German and Hungarian perspectives on topics of mutual strategic importance. By bringing together experts from both countries, the initiative aims to encourage constructive exchange, joint reflection, and informed policymaking on regional and European challenges.
The workshop was opened by Markus Ehm, Regional Director for Central Europe at the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, and Balázs Tárnok, Director of Research at the John Lukacs Institute for Strategy and Politics. In their remarks, they emphasized the growing need for bilateral and regional cooperation in today’s increasingly complex geopolitical environment and the need for extended scholarly discussion over this year’s two highlighted issues, regional cooperation in Central Europe and the EU enlargement in the Western Balkans.
The first panel titled ‘Regional Cooperation Projects in Central Europe – Challenges and Opportunities’ featured: Andreas Kalina (Academy for Political Education Tutzing), who addressed the broader context of regional cooperation projects within international politics; Kristina Kurze (Georg August University of Göttingen), who examined regional energy cooperation through the lens of the Energy Community and its role in integration and energy security; Melinda Istenes-Benczi (LUPS-CESCI Research Group), who presented evaluation methods for cross-border cooperation projects; and Ágnes Vass (Hungarian Institute of International Affairs), who analyzed the functioning of the Visegrád Group and compared how the concept of Central Europe is interpreted in Germany and Hungary. The panel was moderated by Zoltán Felméry, Research Fellow at the John Lukacs Institute.
Following a coffee break, the second panel focused on ‘EU Enlargement in the Western Balkans’ and included: Sascha Arnautović (Cologne Forum for International Relations and Security Policy), who discussed what added value the Western Balkan countries can bring to the EU and outlined the German perspective on the region’s accession; Boglárka Koller (Jean Monnet Chair at the Ludovika University of Public Service), who explored the geopolitical imperatives driving enlargement, the role of nation-building, concerns about democratic backsliding post-accession, and emphasized the importance of a gradual, structured accession process; Csaba Zalai (Professor of Practice at the Ludovika University of Public Service), who introduced a new methodology in the EU’s enlargement policy and assessed the credibility of the accession process alongside public support for EU membership in the Western Balkans. The panel was moderated by Bence Felde, Sales Director of EuroAtlantic Consulting and Investment.
Text: Balázs Tárnok
Photo: Dénes Szilágyi, Balázs Tárnok