Erhard Busek
is former Vice-Chancellor of Austria, minister for education, and chairman of the Christian-conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). In the past he served as a City Councilor and was elected Deputy-Mayor of Vienna. He is the Chairman of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe. He was President of the European Forum Alpbach (EFA) from 2000 until 2012. In 2005, Mr Busek became Chairman of the Advisory Board of Trustees of “ERSTE Foundation” and President of the Vienna Economic Forum. He is also President of the EU-Russia Centre since 2010, and in 2009 he was an adviser to the Czech EU-Presidency. His most recent book is Mitteleuropa revisited: Warum Europas Zukunft in Mitteleuropa entschieden wird (2018), co-written with Emil Brix.