Academic debate on Catalonia in Vilnius
DIPLOCAT – The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (DIPLOCAT) together with the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University has programmed a debate on “Self-Determination Processes in the EU”. The event will take place on September 4 at the Institute building in Vilnius.
The objective is to explain self-determination processes within the EU, focusing on the current situation in Catalonia and exploring the consequences that demands for self-determination have on the European integration process and security in Europe.
The event will be opened by Ramūnas Vilpišauskas, Director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, and Albert Royo, Secretary General of the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia.
The conference will be divided into two parts. The first round table will deal with the current situation in the Catalan self-determination process from a Lithuanian perspective. Participants: Kęstutis Girnius, Associate Professor, Institute of Political Science and International Relations, Vilnius University; Vicent Partal, Journalist, Director of VilaWeb (Catalan Digital Newspaper); and Gediminas Vitkus, Professor, Institute of Political Science and International Relations, Vilnius University.
Afterwards, the second round table will be focused on self-determination movements in Europe. Participants: Kai-Olaf Lang, Head of the EU Integration Research Division for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), who will give a presentation concerning possible effects of secession on the EU in general; Norrie Macqueen, Honorary Research Fellow, International Relations, University of St Andrews, who will talk about the Scottish case; Ana Stanič, Slovenian lawyer, specialized in International Law, who will talk about the Slovenian case; and Rene Värk, Associate Professor of International Law, University of Tartu, who will explain the return to independence in Estonia.
