Katarína Cséfalvayová is the co-funder and director of the Institute for Central Europe. She served as the Chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Vice-chairwoman of the European Affairs Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic. As a strong advocate of Slovakia’s pro-Atlantic and pro-European foreign policy underpinning, she has frequently voiced criticism of populist and extremist politicians and movements that question Slovakia’s membership in the EU and NATO.
Prior to joining the National Council she served as Vice Dean for Foreign Affairs at the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Economics in Bratislava. She holds a Master´s degree in economic diplomacy and a PhD in international relations. Having lived, studied and worked in different countries and specializing in foreign and european affairs in her professional life, she strongly believes in international cooperation and dialogue as the way forward. Unafraid to call herself european federalist, she is looking for ways to enhance european cooperation and to make Europe great again.
In her research as well as in her political agenda, she emphasised the importance of dealing with climate change as the major challenge of our times. She also advocates the role of women in society, aiming to raise public awareness on these issues in the central European region.