Common Sense Society–Hungary Welcomes the 2023 Class of Europa Fellows

Mr. Francesco Alimena is the president of Confassociazioni Young World and works in Germany in the business development & strategy department at an MBDA company. Francesco obtained an M.A. in politics and international relations at the LUMSA University in Rome, winning the Rome Foundation Scholarship. He has participated in multiple study abroad experiences at the Technische Universität Dresden and at the Herzen State Pedagogical University in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Ms. Blanka Bartos is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Burgundy, where she is pursuing research on contracts for better access to advanced therapy medicinal products. She received her law degree at the University of Szeged, and she holds two LL.M. degrees, one from the University of Toledo, and one from the University of Panthéon-Assas, Paris II.

Mr. Carson Becker holds a B.A. in history from the University of Virginia, and is currently writing his first book, about the World War II resistance movement in Poland.

Mr. Xavier Bisits is head of section for Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt for the pontifical foundation C.A.N. International, and was previously a management consultant at Bain & Company in the U.S. He holds a B.A. in human, social, and political sciences from the University of Cambridge, and an M.S. in commerce from the University of Virginia.

Ms. Blandine Chausse is a corporate finance analyst at A.X.A. Her previous work was in the M&A and private equity industries, and at the French Central Bank, Lazard, and P.A.I. Partners. She is passionate about history and literature and aiming to become a C.F.O. in the near future. She holds an M.A. in economics, data analytics, and corporate finance from the École Polytechnique, a B.A. from both Sciences Po Paris and Panthéon-Sorbonne, and has studied at the University College London.

Mr. Václav Florián Dvorský is a corporate lawyer and a joint doctoral student at Charles University in Prague and Catholic University Leuven. He is also involved in civic society, including as a member of the Czech Civic Democratic Party and German and Belgian Catholic student fraternities. He also gives legal advice to a Czech pro-family organization and participates as an election observer in Hungary.

Dr. Sara Garino is the chief of legislative office at the Italian Chamber of Deputies, coordinator of a geopolitical analysis’s group and political secretary on the territory. She has studied astrophysics at the University of Turin and economy and communication at the University of Pavia. She is a journalist for one of the main Italian newspapers and also works as an institutional relations manager for the National Microcredit Agency. 

Mr. Tim C. Goeglein serves as a legislative assistant for Indiana Representative Jim Banks in the U.S. House of Representatives. Notably, he worked with Justin Shubow, former chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts, to help draft a bill to codify President Donald Trump’s executive order to make classical architecture the model for new government buildings. He is a graduate of Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia.

Ms. Maria Kądzielska is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warsaw. She graduated in philosophy and Polish philology from the University of Warsaw, and also studied at the Frei Universität in Berlin. She is a newspaper and television journalist and is currently affiliated with the “Poland Daily” television program and the weekly “DoRzeczy,” where she hosts the series “Asia Now,” and is the author of the novel Model and co-author of Business the Chinese Way.

Ms. Lilla Kakuk is an adviser to Dr. Gladden Pappin, the president of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs. Previously, she worked in the ministerial cabinet of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and served as deputy to the director of international relations at Mathias Corvinus Collegium. She holds a law degree from the Faculty of Law at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and studied as an exchange student at the Aix-Marseille University in France. She is a member of the board of trustees of JÖSz, a foundation supporting law students and young lawyers.

Ms. Aleksandra Marchewicz is a journalist and Ukraine war correspondent at TVP World, Poland’s biggest English-speaking broadcaster. She is also a TV host of “World Talks,” a program that focuses on geopolitics and world politics. She graduated cum laude from the humanities and management programs at Universidad de Navarra, Spain. She holds an M.A. in history from the University of Warsaw, Poland.

Ms. Olivia Németh is a political advisor in the European Parliament working on E.U. justice, home affairs policy, and human rights issues, and a Ph.D. student in E.U. and international law at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest. She previously worked in the cabinet of the state secretary for parliamentary and strategic affairs at the prime minister’s office in Hungary. She studied at Mathias Corvinus Collegium, obtained her law degree from Eötvös Loránd University, and completed a French and Hungarian Maîtrise of Law program by the Panthéon-Assas Paris II University and ELTE.

Mr. Pál Osztovits is a law student at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law and Mathias Corvinus Collegium (M.C.C.) Law School, a former AURUM Foundation fellow and will start as a research fellow at the M.C.C.’s Center for Private Law in September 2023. In 2021, he founded the V4+ Law Student Summit project, an annual international conference series for law students in Central Europe.

Ms. Lidia Papp is a visiting fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington, D.C. and also works for the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based think tank. She holds an M.A. in international relations from Corvinus University of Budapest and a B.A. in economics from the Budapest Business School. She studied Arabic language at the University of Haifa and humanitarian response management at the Óbuda University. 

Mr. Bart Reijmerink is editor-in-chief of the conservative medium Nieuwrechts.nl. Previously, he worked as an editor and writer at Uitgeverij Aspekt, a historical publishing house. As a writer, he has co-authored several works on Russian history, World War I and the political landscape in The Netherlands. He has an M.A. in Russian and Eurasian studies from Leiden University and a B.A. in history and education from University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.

Dr. Matthew Rowley is president of Training Leaders International Canada. He is also lead pastor at Cremona Country Fellowship church. He holds a Ph.D. in historical theology from McMaster Divinity College, as well as an M.Div. from Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary and a B.Th. from Living Faith Bible College.

Mr. Dominick Sansone is a doctoral student in politics at the Hillsdale College Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship. His writing has been featured at publications such as the National Interest, The American Conservative, and RealClear Defense. He is the previous recipient of a Fulbright grant to Bulgaria and attended graduate school at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy. 

Mr. Soma Török-Tóth is a Ph.D. student at the Doctoral School of Law at Eötvös Loránd University and a Ph.D. researcher at the Centre for Modern Law Studies of Mathias Corvinus Collegium, in Hungary. He has previous market experiences as a practicing lawyer, and his research addresses private law and ecological issues. 

Mr. Pepijn van IJperenburg is the deputy director of Common Sense Society–The Netherlands, where he is responsible for the branch’s day-to-day development and operations. He was formerly an editor for Me Judice, an online journal that focuses on public awareness of economic policy in The Netherlands. He received a B.S. in philosophy, politics, and economics from Utrecht University and is currently pursuing a M.S. in management at the Rotterdam School of Management.

Mr. Patrice Yaro is an independent political analyst. He previously worked as research assistant at the Bush School of Government and Public Service. He holds an M.A. in international affairs, national security, and diplomacy from Texas A&M University and a B.A. in economics and business from Corvinus University.

Mr. Benjamin Crocker is academic programs manager at UATX in Austin, Texas, and since 2022, has been research fellow in music studies at Common Sense Society. He is from North Queensland, Australia, and most recently taught at the King’s School in Sydney. Ben has lectured and guest conducted at the University of Sydney and recorded for nationwide radio broadcast at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In 2021, he was appointed as an inaugural Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation scholar to Washington, D.C. His columns have been published by The Spectator, The Federalist, and Australia’s Quadrant magazine.

Theodore Dalrymple (the pen name of Dr. Anthony Daniels) is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. He is a retired physician who, most recently, practiced in a British inner-city hospital and prison. Denis Dutton, editor of Arts & Letters Daily, called Dalrymple the “Orwell of our time.”

Botond Feledy is a lawyer, foreign policy expert, and commentator, currently researching cyber security and Russian influence in Central Europe. Recently he was elected as member of the #NewEurope100, a joint initiative of Google, Financial Times, Visegrad Fund and the Polish Res Publica Foundation to choose yearly Central Europe’s hundred most transformative people. Mr. Feledy earned his J.D. at Lorand Eötvös University, studied French law at Aix-Marseille III and Paris II-Panthéon-Assas in France, and finished an M.A. in international relations at Sciences Po Bordeaux.

Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon is a senior fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization. The author of eight books, including The Utopian Conceit and the War on Freedom and Why America is Such a Hard Sell: Beyond Pride and Prejudice, she has published over two hundred articles and reviews and makes frequent appearances on radio and television. Over three decades, she has also taught at the National Defense University, George Washington University, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the Institute of World Politics, and currently at American University.

Prof. Ferenc Hörcher is head of the Research Institute of Politics and Government of the University of Public Service, Hungary, and a senior research fellow of the Institute of Philosophy of the József Eötvös Research Network, Hungary. He is a political philosopher and a historian of political thought. His last book publications include: A Political Philosophy of Conservatism and Art and Politics in Roger Scruton’s Conservative Philosophy.

Dr. Joshua Mitchell is a senior fellow at Common Sense Society and a professor of political theory at Georgetown University. He has also been chairman of the government department and associate dean of faculty affairs at Georgetown University in Qatar. He has published several books including The Fragility of Freedom: Tocqueville on Religion, Democracy, and the American Future and American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time.

Mr. John O’Sullivan is a journalist, author, lecturer and broadcaster. He is president of the Danube Institute in Budapest; assistant editor of the Hungarian Review; international editor of Sydney’s Quadrant Magazine; co-founder of Twenty-first Century Initiatives, a Washington, D.C. think tank; a fellow of the National Review Institute; and the founder and co-chairman of the New Atlantic Initiative. He served as a special adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was the former executive editor of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty in Prague, and a vice-president of the RFERL Corporation, as well as editor-in-chief of National Review.

Dr. Roger Pilon is a senior fellow in the Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies, which he founded in 1989 and directed until 2019; the inaugural holder emeritus of Cato’s B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies, Cato’s first endowed chair, established in 1998; the publisher emeritus of the Cato Supreme Court Review, which he founded in 2001; and Cato’s vice president for legal affairs, which he was named in 1999. Prior to joining Cato, Pilon held five senior posts in the Reagan administration, including in the Departments of State and Justice. He holds a B.A. from Columbia University, an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law.

Dr. Jay Richards is the William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, and the executive editor of The Stream. Richards is author or editor of more than a dozen books and is also executive producer of several documentaries. His articles and essays have been published in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and The Federalist, among other outlets.

Dr. Aaron Rhodes is a senior fellow at Common Sense Society and the president of the Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe, an independent nongovernmental organization. He previously served as the executive director of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. He is the author of The Debasement of Human Rights: How Politics Sabotage the Ideal of Freedom.

Dr. Jean Yarbrough is a professor of government and the Gary M. Pendy, Sr. Professor of Social Sciences at Bowdoin College. She has twice received research fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities (N.E.H.). She is the author of American Virtues: Thomas Jefferson on the Character of a Free People and Theodore Roosevelt and the American Political Tradition, and editor of The Essential Jefferson. Dr. Yarbrough is also the author of numerous articles and essays in American political thought and public policy, as well as other topics in political philosophy. She recently completed a Senate-confirmed appointment to the N.E.H.’s National Council. In 2021, she was awarded the Henry Salvatori Prize for her scholarly work and public service in upholding the principles of the American Founding.

Mr. Mikola Ivanovich Roman is a Hungarian violinist born in Munkács/Mukachevo, Ukraine, into a family of musicians. Mikola started his studies with his father, a well-known violinist and teacher, continued them at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, and studied for a year at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He has been a member of several top orchestras, including the Hungarian National Opera Orchestra. Currently, Mikola is a member of Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra and several Hungarian and international ensembles.

Dr. László Stachó teaches at the Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. Over the past decade, he has been involved in a countrywide planning of music education curricula across Hungary. As a pianist and chamber musician, he has performed in several European countries, Israel, and the U.S. He conducts workshops of his attention training and chamber music coaching sessions at international masterclasses in fifteen countries. He was visiting fellow twice at the Faculty of Music of Cambridge University, and in 2023, he was guest professor at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.