MED opening programme 6 December and Highlight 7 December
MED opening programme 6 December and Highlight 7 December

Challenges to the EU:
The East-West divide

7 December 15:00 - 16:30

The Maastricht Debate Series continues with a critical debate between András Kocsis and Ben Bot. Mr. Kocsis is ambassador of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry and Mr. Bot is former Minister of Foreign Affairs. On the table: the challenges facing Europe, and especially relations between East and West.

With their extensive experience on national and European administrative level, Mr. Kocsis and Mr. Bot will provide the audience with rare insights on how different European member states deal with the fundamental values of the EU and particularly the preservation of the European rule of law.

Registration

  • Registration: 14:00 - 15:00
  • Doors open: 14:40
  • Start debate: 15:00

Language

English

Location

Maastricht University, faculty of law, Statenzaal, Lenculenstraat 26.

Speakers

Ambassador András Kocsis joined the Hungarian Foreign Ministry in 2003. For several years he worked in Kenya and at the Ministry in Budapest on West-Africa, International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance. He has briefly worked for the Deputy State Secretary for EU Bilateral Relations before joining the Embassy of Hungary in the Hague in 2012.

Mr. Ben Bot served as a minister of foreign affairs and cabinet member under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende from 2003 to 2007. Before taking office as minister, Mr. Bot already worked as a diplomat for Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He gained extensive experience in European politics during his appointment as a second secretary (1964) and ambassador (1989-1992) at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands in Brussels as well as during his appointment as ambassador in East-Berlin (1973-1976) and as chargé d’affaires at NATO (1986-1988). As minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Bot was in charge of the Dutch Presidency of the European Union in 2004. Mr. Bot is member of the CDA, the Dutch Christian Democratic party.

Moderator

  

Ms. Marcia Luyten is a journalist and grew up in the South of Limburg. She has written a book about the history of coal mining in this region (Het geluk van Limburg, 2015). She briefly worked at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs but became a journalist for among others, VPRO Buitenhof, NRC Handelsblad, de Volkskrant and Vrij Nederland. Ms. Luyten is currently working on a biography of Queen Máxima.