Amb. Petritsch, former Austrian Ambassador to Belgrade, is well-known as former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and EU Special Envoy for Kosovo. Currently, is the President of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, President of the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation and Senior Expert Counsel at LGP.
Welcoming words and opening remarks were contributed by Zoran Drakulić, President of the Serbian Business Club “Privrednik”, Gabriel Lansky, Managing Partner at LGP and Christian Ebner, Austrian Ambassador to Serbia.
„He was bright, dedicated, moderate and worked well with everyone. I was delighted to have him as a colleague and to have Europeans as partners in this entire process.” – Mr. Lansky quoted Christopher R. Hill, United States Ambassador to Serbia writing about Amb. Petritsch in his book Outpost; A Diplomat at Work.
A keynote by Amb. Hill touched upon the defining geopolitical and economic developments of our times, topics taken up again in the subsequent a panel discussion between Amb. Petritsch and Amb. Hill, and moderated by Zoran Stanojević, News Editor at RTS. The discussion revolved around the current challenges of the global political order. At a time when the cornerstones of our current world order are beginning to falter, we are experiencing phenomena such as post-democracy, the resurgence of authoritarian forces, and the displacement of liberalism as the guiding principle of the Western world. Amb. Petritsch, a diplomat of international repute, provided expert insights into global political scenarios and outlined the contours of our forthcoming global order in his book.
The evening concluded with a reception where the guests had an opportunity to expand upon the discussions of the event in the intimate atmosphere of the the Serbian Business Club “Privrednik”, which incidentally was the residence of Amb. Petritsch during his posting as Austrian Ambassador in Belgrade. The event was a resounding success which garnered great media interest and contributed to important conversations about the future of the global order.
