Join the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University (LISD) for a public seminar on Friday, February 19, at 12:15 pm (Eastern Time) about “Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Russia: An Assessment From the Region" with Amb Martin Sajdik, frmr. High Representative for the Ukraine and Chair of the Minsk Talks; Senior Adviser at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva; Eka Tkeshelashvili, Head, European Anti-Corruption Initiative to Ukraine, former Vice Prime-Minister and State Minister for Reintegration of Georgia; and Wolfgang Danspeckgruber, Founding Director of LISD. The discussion is also part of the Seminar on Global Diplomatic and Security Challenges (GDSC), a yearlong interactive seminar for graduate and undergraduate students. 

The event is open to the public and rsvp is required.

Amb. Martin Sajdik is an Austrian diplomat with a long career of appointments in Belgrade, Nairobi, Geneva and Moscow, to name a few. Sajdik is currently a Senior Adviser at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, Co-President of the International Center for Advanced and Comparative EU-Russia/NIS Research (ICEUR-Vienna), Board Member of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES), and Lecturer at the Vienna School of International Studies (Diplomatic Academy of Vienna). From 2015 to 2020, Ambassador Sajdik was the OSCE Ukraine Special Envoy in charge of the Minsk talks on a conflict settlement in eastern Ukraine, and as Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to the Trilateral Contact Group on the implementation of the peace plan in the East of Ukraine. Prior to this, Sajdik was as the Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations (2012 -2015). In January 2014, he was elected as President of the UN Economic and Social Council and held this function until July 2015. He also served as Chairperson of the UN High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development. From 2007 to 2011, Sajdik was Austrian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, North Korea and Mongolia. From 2003 until 2007, Ambassador Sajdik held the post of Director General for Economic Affairs and European Integration. Between postings at the Austrian Embassy in Moscow (1980-1985 and 1989-1991) and with the Executive Secretariat of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in Vienna (1986-1987), he held executive positions at a major Austrian construction company and an Austrian Bank in Moscow. Earlier in his career, he served at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the United Nations Office at Geneva and as head of the Department for EU Enlargement, External Economic Relations, and Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe. Sajdik has a doctorate in law from the University of Vienna, and studied international law at the Lomonosov University in Moscow, and international relations at the Johns Hopkins University in Bologna, Italy. He is the author of several books on the enlargement process of the EU, published in Austria, Germany, the United States, and most recently in China.

Eka Tkeshelashvili is Head of Programs at the European Anti-Corruption Initiative to Ukraine. Prior to this, Tkeshelashvili was the Vice Prime-Minister, State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration and in this role she oversaw the implementation of state policy towards the occupied territories of Georgia and the national policy on minority integration. She previously served as Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia. After serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prosecutor General and Georgia’s Minister of Justice leading the criminal justice, civil and public service reforms, Tkeshelashvili served as the National Security Adviser to the President of Georgia and as the Secretary of the National Security Council (2008-2010) heading the National Strategic Review Process. She also held the position of Chairperson of Tbilisi Appeals Court and was member of the High Council of Justice of Georgia. Before joining the government, Tkeshelashvili was a Deputy Chief of Party at IRIS Georgia implementing USAID rule of law projects. She also worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and was responsible for the national implementation of international humanitarian law. She has also worked in academia and taught public international law and accountability for human rights atrocities as an associate professor at various Georgian universities. Tkeshelashvili has a master’s degree in International Law from Notre Dame Law School (USA), a certificate in Human Rights Law from Oxford University (UK) and a Diploma in Law from Tbilisi State University.

Wolfgang Danspeckgruber is the Founding Director of the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University, LISD. He is also the founder and chair of the Liechtenstein Colloquium on European and International Affairs, LCM, a private international diplomacy forum. Danspeckgruber researches, teaches and writes on the theory and practice of international diplomacy, private diplomacy, and crisis diplomacy; on the interactions between religion, values, and diplomacy; and on self-determination, security, and stabilization. Regions of interest and involvement, also in private diplomacy, comprise Europe, the wider Middle East, and Central Asia. As of January 2017, Danspeckgruber has been advising the Austrian Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). From 2008 to 2010, during Austria's Membership in the United Nations Security Council, he served as advisor to Austria’s delegation to the United Nations. He also has advised the Permanent Mission of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United Nations. Danspeckgruber was educated at the Universities of Linz and Vienna, Austria, (ML; DLaws) and at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, University of Geneva, Switzerland (PhD). Following his Austrian military service (First Lieutenant, Reserve), he served as special assistant to the Commander of the Austrian National Defense Academy. Danspeckgruber was a visiting scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and has held fellowships at the Center of Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and at Princeton's Center of International Studies.