Former Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Iveta Radicova, delivered a lecture, "The EU Crisis What Next" as part of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES)'s 50th Anniversary Seminar Series and was held in conjunction with the Graduate Centre for Europe, the European Research Institute and the School of Government and Society.
Former Prime Minister of Slovakia Iveta Radicova visited the University of Birmingham on 27 February along with the current Slovak Ambassador to the United Kingdom Miroslav Wlachovsky. Prof. Radicova delivered a lecture on the European Union to a large gathering of staff, students and the general public.
Drawing in part on her experiences as a prime minister of a small member state of the European Union and having sat around the European Council table with David Cameron, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, Prof. Radicova’s penetrating analysis focused on the crisis of trust in the European Union and highlighted many of the political, economic and demographic challenges facing the Union. She emphasized the eroding trust between citizens and politicians, citizens and institutions, and between states. She answered questions for nearly an hour after the lecture and continued the discussion with staff and students over dinner.
Dr Tim Haughton who organised the former Prime Minister’s visit remarked that Prof. Radicova offered the staff and students in the audience a "unique combination of expertise". Not only, he remarked, is Iveta Radicova "someone who has honed her ability to think critically during her time in academia, she has also experienced the highs and lows of politics some of which have been intimately linked to European themes, and who has first-hand experience of the political system of the EU and knows many of the key decision-makers personally."