P R O G R A M

“DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS”

16 OCTOBER

Arriving and accommodation of the participants

19:30 h. – Informal dinner

17 OCTOBER

9:00 – 9:30 REGISTRATION

9:30              OPENING OF THE SEMINAR

–  Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zdravko Popov, President of the Public Policy Institute;

–   Bogdan Mirtschev, Head of the Office of Hanns Seidel Foundation-Bulgaria;

–  Dr. Klaus Fiesinger, Regional Director for South-East Europe of Hanns Seidel Foundation – “The Role of German Political Foundations for the Democracy”

10:30             DEMOCRACY – PAST AND PRESENT

• Assoc. Professor, Dr. Grigoris Zarotiadis, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – “Bourgeois Liberalism and Democracy: The Story of an Affair”
• Assoc. Professor, Dr. Todor Todorov, Faculty of Philosophy, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “The Hatred of Democracy”

• Evangelos-Alexandros Perrakis, PhD candidate, Department of Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – “(Post) democracy and (Post) capitalism. Towards a Politics of the Commons”

• Hristo Kutiev, PhD candidate, Institute for the State and Law, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences – “Those Who Sacrifice Liberty for Security Deserve Neither”

• Ioanna Markou, PhD candidate in International Relations in the Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Macedonia – “Democracy Promotion and Neoliberal Economic Globalization: a Critical Approach”

• Jordan Yankov, PhD candidate in Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “Informed Vote and the Horizon of Democracy”

13:00 – 14:00   LUNCH

14:00                  DEMOCRACY AND EUROPEAN UNION

• Professor Dr. Dencho Georgiev, VUB, Centre for Economic Law & Governance, Brussels – “Deficits of Democratic Legitimacy of the EU and How to Overcome Them: the Role of Solidarity and of the Rule of Law”

• Elena Fotiadou, PhD candidate in European Law – “EU Democratic Deficit: An Old Issue Seeks New Answers”

• Dr. Virginia Tzortzi, Adjunct Lecturer at the Law School of Democritus University of Thrace – “Rule of Law under Pressure: the Limits of Mutual Trust under the Recent Judgments of the ECJ”

16:15             COFEE BREAK

16:30             MIGRATION AND TERRORISM – THE THREATS FOR DEMOCRACY?

• Assoc. Professor, Dr. Despoina Anagnostopoulou, Department of International and European Studies, University of Macedonia, Jean Monnet Chair “New Dimensions in European Legal Studies” – “The Role of Poverty, Inequality, Social Exclusion, Migration and Terrorism for the Crisis of Democracy”

• Professor Dr. Lyubov Mincheva, Department of Political Sciences, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “The Crime-Terror Nexus: Dynamics of Global and Regional Illicit Markets”

• Evangelia Dedousi, Graduate Student of the Faculty of International and European Studies (Political Studies and Diplomacy) at the University of Macedonia – “The Challenge of the Refugee Crisis: an Expression of the Existential Crisis that Democracy is Facing in Europe”

• Emil Markov, PhD candidate in Political Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “Migration and EU – Threat for Democracy and Christian Identity of Europe or Chance for Economic and Demographic Revival of the Continent?

• 20:00                    OFFICIAL DINNER

18 OCTOBER

9:30               DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND DEMOCRACY

• Ambassador, Dr. Lyubomir Todorov, Public Policy Institute, Sofia – “The Challenges of Digital Democracy”

• Stefanos Loukopoulos, Executive Director of Vouli Watch – “Rebooting Democracy: Civic Tech – Open Data – Freedom of Access to Information”

• Stoil Tzitzelkov, Political Analyst, Board Member (representing Bulgarian Charter) of the European Association for the Defense of Human Rights (Brussels) – “Massive Digitalization: More Inclusive Political Process or Digital Dictatorship?”

11:30             CLOSING REMARKS AND CONCLUSIONS

12:00             LUNCH 

13:00             DEPARTURE OF THE PARTICIPANTS          

                                        “Democracy in Crisis”

                           Participants and their presentations

1. Assoc. Professor, Dr. Grigoris Zarotiadis, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – “Bourgeois Liberalism and Democracy: The Story of an Affair”
2. Assoc. Professor, Dr. Todor Todorov, Faculty of Philosophy, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “The Hatred of Democracy”
3. Evangelos-Alexandros Perrakis, PhD candidate, Department of Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – “(Post) democracy and (Post) capitalism. Towards a Politics of the Commons”
4. Hristo Kutiev, PhD candidate, Institute for the State and Law, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences – “Those Who Sacrifice Liberty for Security Deserve Neither”
5. Professor Dr. Dencho Georgiev, VUB, Centre for Economic Law & Governance, Brussels – “Deficits of Democratic Legitimacy of the EU and How to Overcome Them: the Role of Solidarity and of the Rule of Law”
6. Elena Fotiadou, PhD candidate in European Law – “EU Democratic Deficit: An Old Issue Seeks New Answers”
7. Dr. Virginia Tzortzi, Adjunct Lecturer at the Law School of Democritus University of Thrace – “Rule of Law under Pressure: the Limits of Mutual Trust under the Recent Judgments of the ECJ”
8. Assistant Professor Dr. Serbos Sotiris, International Politics, Democritus University of Thrace, Research Partner at the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence of the University of Athens – “The Rise of European Populism: Challenges to Democracy and EU Governance in a Crisis-Ridden Europe”
9. Ioanna Markou , PhD candidate in International Relations in the Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Macedonia – “Democracy Promotion and Neoliberal Economic Globalization: a Critical Approach”
10. Assoc. Professor, Dr. Despoina Anagnostopoulou, Department of International and European Studies, University of Macedonia, Jean Monnet Chair “New Dimensions in European Legal Studies” – “The Role of Poverty, Inequality, Social Exclusion, Migration and Terrorism for the Crisis of Democracy”
11. Professor Dr. Lyubov Mincheva, Department of Political Sciences, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “The Crime-Terror Nexus: Dynamics of Global and Regional Illicit Markets”
12. Evangelia Dedousi, Graduate Student of the Faculty of International and European Studies (Political Studies and Diplomacy) at the University of Macedonia – “The Challenge of the Refugee Crisis: an Expression of the Existential Crisis that Democracy is Facing in Europe”
13. Emil Markov, PhD candidate in Political Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “Migration and EU – Threat for Democracy and Christian Identity of Europe or Chance for Economic and Demographic Revival of the Continent?”
14. Ambassador, Dr. Lyubomir Todorov, Public Policy Institute, Sofia – “The Challenges of Digital Democracy”
15. Assistant Professor Stefanos Loukopoulos,  Executive Director of Vouli Watch – “Rebooting Democracy: Civic Tech – Open Data – Freedom of Access to Information”
16. Stoil Tzitzelkov, Political Analyst, Board Member (representing Bulgarian Charter) of the European Association for the Defense of Human Rights (Brussels) – “Massive Digitalization: More Inclusive Political Process or Digital Dictatorship?”
17. Jordan Yankov, PhD candidate in Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “Informed Vote and the Horizon of Democracy”
18. Dr. Klaus Fiesinger, Regional Director for South-Еast Europe of the Hanns Seidel Foundation – “The Role of German Political Foundations for Democracy”
19. Bogdan Mirtchev, Head of the Office of Hanns Seidel Foundation-Sofia, Bulgaria
20. Ambassador, Assoc. Professor, Dr. Zdravko Popov, President of the Public Policy Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria.