Published
August 30th, 2023
Summer University Croatia 2023
Written by: Ulli Jentsch
Zagreb, July 11-14th
The event
The Summer University in Zagreb is organised by the foundation New Direction1
under the Polish MEP Tomasz Poreba that is connected with the party of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). This year the university was held in partnership with the Croatian Centre for the Renewal of Culture.
Besides personal from the organising groups there was a visible amount of participation by staff of the Acton Institute and the Political Network for Values (PNfV) with Antonio Kast at the top. See more below in the participants section.
According to the website, this years "overarching theme of the discussions will be 'The Conservative Challenge Today'. An intense and decisive struggle is under way in Europe and beyond. Reheated versions of old fashioned Socialism and new Left movements, masquerading as liberal, are trying to subvert traditional Western values. That confrontation involves not just government but nationhood and the identity of the human person."
Since its founding in 2010 under the patronage of Margret Thatcher, New Direction is constantly working on topics related to (far-right) conservatism throughout Europe but also in other regions of the world: "(...), we have been working tirelessly to expand our network of centre-right think tanks, foundations, and academic organisations, bringing together groups from across the full spectrum of belief, and from every corner of the world."
In the recent years New Direction held around 12 events every year like Western Balkan Summits, Young Leaders Academy, Foreign Policy Councils, Summer Universities and others all over Europe.
This year's Summer University did not attract much media attention, most of the speeches and panels are documented on the Youtube channel of cok.hr and have only little response (from 10 views to max. 230 views of a video of Joze Dezman).
Number of speakers: 23
male/female: 20/3
| Countries | Participants |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 1 |
| Croatia | 8 |
| Argentina | 1 |
| USA | 1 |
| Chile | 3 |
| UK | 1 |
| Slovenia | 2 |
| Czech Republic | 1 |
| Italy | 1 (Mario Fantini) |
| Spain | 2 (Alejandro Macarrón, Lola Velarde) |
| Hungary | 2 (u.a. Raymond Fekete) |
| Time Schedule | Event |
|---|---|
| 16:30 Welcome remarks |
Witold d’Humilly de Chevilly, Executive Director of New Direction Stephen Bartulica, Founder and president of the Center for the Renewal of Culture |
| 16:45 Panel discussion The moral and philosophical basis of liberty |
Alejandro Chafuen, Managing Director, Acton Institute Michael Miller, Chief of Strategic Initiatives at Acton Institute Stephen Bartulica, Founder and president of the Center for the Renewal of Culture |
| 18:30 Panel discussion The Chilean Case: Why it matters to Europe? |
José Antonio Kast, President of Political Network for Values |
| Time Schedule | Event |
|---|---|
| 9:30 Panel discussion The Free Market and Conservatism |
Alejandro Chafuen, Managing Director, Acton Institute Robin Harris, Vice President of the Center for the Renewal of Culture Andrej Grubišić, Founder of Grubisic & Partners and Professor of economics and management Michael Miller, Chief of Strategic Initiatives at Acton Institute |
| 11:00 Panel discussion The Chilean economic model: Why it matters to Europe |
José Antonio Kast, President of Political Network for Values Agustin Romero, Deputy Chief of the Republican Party’s parliamentary group Cristian Valenzuela, Executive Director of Republican Ideas Alejandro Chafuen, Managing Director, Acton Institute |
| 15:30 Special presentation Republic of Slovenia and war graves - unfinished transition |
Jože Dežman, Historian, museum curator, philosopher and editor |
| 16:45 Panel discussion The Crimes and Legacy of Communism |
Robin Harris, Vice President of the Center for the Renewal of Culture Mario Jareb, Professor of History Nikica Barić, Professor of History Višnja Starešina, Journalist |
| 18:30 Panel discussion National Identity and Globalism |
Miro Kovač, Former Minister of Foreign and European affairs and Historian Boris Havel, Associate Professor, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb Višnja Starešina, Journalist |
| Time Schedule | Event |
|---|---|
| 10:00 Panel discussion National Identity and Globalism |
Roman Joch, Executive Director, Civic Institute in Prague Mario Fantini, Editor-in-Chief of The European Conservative (TEC) Stephen Bartulica, Founder and president of the Center for the Renewal of Culture Lola Velarde, Executive Director. Political Network for Values |
| 11:45 Visit to the Croatian Parliament |
|
| 16:30 Panel discussion The Crimes and Legacy of Communism |
Raymond Fekete, Director of the Institute for the research of Communism Roman Joch, Executive Director, Civic Institute in Prague Jože Dežman, historian, museum curator, philosopher and editor |
| 18:30 Keynote speech Global Strategy |
Janez Janša, Former Prime Minister of Slovenia |
| Time Schedule | Event |
|---|---|
| Panel The European demographic crisis: Causes and solutions |
Ms. Anna Lakó, international coordinator, Center for fundamental Rights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lUY6gojKGg) Alejandro Macarrón, president of the Foundation for Demographic Renewal Mate Ćurić, general secretary of COK |
| Institution | Country |
|---|---|
| New Direction - Foundation of European Reform Center for fundamental rights |
Hungary https://newdirection.online/about, president Tomasz Poreba, MEP |
| Foundation for Demographic Renewal | Spain |
| Institute for the research of Communism | |
| Civic Institute in Prague | Czechia |
| Political Network for Values | |
| Center for the Renewal of Culture | Croatia |
| The European Conservative (TEC) | |
| Acton Institute |
Further sources
- https://www.youtube.com/@COKVideo/videos
- https://newdirection.online/event/summer_university_2023
- mp3 file and transcription of the speech of Anna Lako available from our project.
- Pictures of the event from the New Direction facebook account
Redaction: Ulli Jentsch
Footnotes
- "New Direction is registered in Belgium as a not-for-profit organisation and is partly funded by the European Parliament." Head of New Direction, Witold d’Humilly de Chevilly, was former secretary at the ECR. ↑