Energy Crisis in Europe: Strategic Thinking in Times of Emergency

A roundtable discussion with Common Sense Society–Hungary

Event Overview

The European energy market is going through a fundamental and unprecedented transformation. The war in Ukraine, together with the preceding COVID-19 recovery measures, have led to skyrocketing energy prices unseen for decades. At the same time, a new race for energy sources has started in Europe with the intention of securing electricity and heating fuel for the coming winter and beyond without Russia.

From shale gas extraction to the cutting of ancient forests, the European landscape is also under large pressure. Most European countries are taking extraordinary measures to save energy or subsidize utilities, yet consumers, businesses, and local municipalities are still hard-pressed paying their utility bills.

Is long-term, strategic thinking still possible under such geopolitical challenges? Does Europe have a chance for an affordable and climate-friendly energy system? Can we be good stewards of our natural resources in times of emergency?

Join Common Sense Society–Hungary on January 11 for a roundtable discussion with Dr. Márton Ugrósdy, Dr. János Zlinszky, and Mr. András Huszár. The program starts at 6.00 p.m. and the discussion will be followed by a reception.

Chatham House rules apply.

Please note that this event is for members and alumni only.

Not a member yet? Consider becoming a member of Common Sense Society–Hungary. If this is your first event at CSS and want to get to know us, you are welcome to join for a teaser.

Featured Speakers

Dr. Márton Ugrósdy is the head of the Office of the Prime Minister’s Political Director within the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister of Hungary. He was previously the director of the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade, between 2018 and 2022. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of kitekinto.hu, a foreign affairs news portal, where his main area of focus was the Visegrad Four, Russian influence in Central Europe, energy security and transatlantic relations. He is a political scientist and international relations expert, having received his Ph.D summa cum laude in 2021 from Corvinus University of Budapest in political science and government.

Dr. János Zlinszky is an associate professor within the Department for Water Policy and Environmental Policy at the National University for Public Service. He is also an associate professor at the Ferenc Deák Postgraduate Studies Institute of Péter Pázmány Catholic University. Dr. János Zlinszky received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in biology and later studied international relations and public administration at a postgraduate level, working all his career on the interface of natural sciences and policy-making. He was a founder of the Department for Environment Studies (now Department for Environmental Law and Competition Law) at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University in 1996. Between 2018-2021, he served as a member of the Management Board and the Bureau of the European Environment Agency. He is former head of department for strategy and research in the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations, Hungary, and served as senior adviser for environmental policy to H.E. Prof. László Sólyom, President of Hungary. During the development of the United Nation’s sustainable development goals in 2014, he served in New York as senior scientific adviser for the co-chair of the U.N. Open Working Group. He served the Regional Environmental Center in different senior positions between 1993-2017, lastly as the director of its Sustainable Development Academy.

Mr. András Huszár is co-founder and director of Green Policy Center. The Green Policy Center is a Hungarian climate policy think tank, established to address climate change and other urgent green policy issues in a balanced, honest and non-partisan manner, using scientifically sound information. Mr. Huszár is a lawyer and a climate policy expert. For seven years, he worked on international climate policy at the Hungarian public administration, between 2018 and 2020 as head of the Climate Policy Department at the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.