Civil society´s impact on electoral processes and 2024 European Parliament elections debate

Ewa Kulik-Bielińska is a distinguished Polish civic activist, translator, and the director of the Stefan Batory Foundation. She played a pivotal role as one of the co-founders of the legendary Polish movement Solidarity in 1980. This movement epitomized an extraordinary mobilization of citizens from diverse backgrounds, united in protest against the communist regime. In 1989, Solidarity's efforts were instrumental in the successful pro-democratic initiatives that ultimately led to the end of communist rule in Poland.

Throughout the Third Polish Republic, Kulik-Bielińska has been actively engaged in non-governmental and industry organizations. These include the Association of Polish Translators (since 1992), the Polish PEN Club (since 1995, serving on the board from 1997 to 1999), and the Association of Polish Writers (since 1996). From 2000 onwards, she held the position of director of information and development at the Stefan Batory Foundation, eventually assuming the role of director of the foundation in 2010. During these years, she has been a leading advocate for creating a conducive legal environment to foster philanthropy and civic activism in Poland and Europe.

Ewa was the initiator and founder of the Polish Donors Forum, an association of Polish private grantmaking institutions. From 2004 to 2008, she served as a civil society organization (CSO) sector representative at the first Council for Public Benefit Activity, an advisory body to the Minister of Social Policy in Poland. From 2010 to 2015, she was a member of the Working Group on Enabling Fiscal and Legal Environment for Civil Society at the Chancellery of the President of Poland. Furthermore, from 2014 to 2017, she served as the Chair of the European Foundation Center, an association comprising the leading European and international philanthropic institutions dedicated to supporting civil society, social justice, culture, and research in Europe and globally.

Tarmo Jüristo is a well-known civic activist, columnist, founder and head of SALK (Liberal Citizen Foundation). An active member of Estonian civil society, Tarmo Jüristo was one of the original members to sign Harta12 (a civil initiative focusing on problem areas in state governance) and publicly stood for the ratification of the Registered Partnership Act in autumn of 2014. As a playwright at Von Krahl Theatre and NO99, Tarmo has led two plays that are considered flagships of modern Estonian theatre.  He graduated from the University of Tartu with a degree in Finance and Credit and worked in the financial sector, in fields of commercial and investment banking and risk capital management, for 15 years. Currently, he is finishing his PhD in Cultural Studies at the University of Tallinn. 

In order to become a successful moderator, Margo has developed and refined his moderation skills for over 20 years. Since 1998, he has been conducting argumentative persuasion, debating and decision-making trainings for adults and leading discussions at seminars and conferences. Margo has advised the launch and development of debate programs in several foreign countries (Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal) and has worked as an educator at the international level (lectures at Chiang Mai University, Thailand, Istanbul).In addition to his work as a moderator and trainer, Margo is a co-founder and a technology evangelist at CitizenOS, an Estonian NGO, which develops e-democracy.

Bart Cosijn is a professional moderator, moderator trainer, and the founder of the Estonian Dialogue Academy. He is an advocate for stronger democracies through better public conversation and civic participation. With over fifteen years of experience, he specializes in facilitating public discussions, dialogues, participatory processes, and political debates. Bart is committed to training moderators and facilitators, providing coaching services to individuals at public institutions, universities, and public conversation centers. Read more about Bart here: https://www.bartcosijn.com/

Since December 2019, Dubravka Šuica is Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Democracy and Demography. Mrs Šuica a Croatian politician from the city of Dubrovnik, where she served for two terms as its first female mayor and was awarded the 2006 World Mayor Award. Dubravka Šuica entered politics in the 1990s as a Member of the Croatian Democratic Union and served as a Member of the Croatian Parliament and Vice-Chair of the EU Integration Committee. Between 2004 and 2009 she was a Board Member of the Union of the Association of Towns and Municipalities of the Republic of Croatia. During ten years she was the Vice-President of Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. From 2013 to 2019 Dubravka Šuica served as a Member of the European Parliament and Vice-Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee. In June 2019, Šuica was elected as first Vice Chair of EPP Group in the European Parliament. Since 2012, she is the Vice-President of EPP Women.

H.E. Marius Dirdal has been serving as the Ambassador of Norway to Estonia since 2022. He has been a member of the Norwegian Foreign Service since 1995, with a focus on Russian affairs, Arctic affairs, energy, and regional European and Nordic cooperation. He has held previous postings in Moscow, Copenhagen, and Washington, D.C. Dirdal holds degrees in Political Science and Russian language from the University of Oslo and the University of Bergen.