Partners
Better Europe
Leaders Forum
powered by Poland
A 3-day high-level forum bringing together leading European think tanks, policymakers, experts and business leaders to discuss the future of Europe, EU enlargement and strategic resilience, taking place in Warsaw, Poland.
22–24 June 2026Warsaw, Poland
Organized by the Centre for International Relations Foundation and THINKTANK
In cooperation with strategic partners
Leaders Forum: Better Europe is a high-level platform for strategic dialogue on the future of Europe in an era of accelerating geopolitical and geo-economic transformation. Bringing together leading European think tanks, policymakers, experts and opinion leaders, the Forum creates a space for open exchange on the key challenges shaping the European Union and its neighborhood.
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Agenda
The Forum will convene approximately 50 prominent participants from across all EU member states, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and EEA countries, including heads of leading think tanks, former and current government representatives, diplomats, academics and business leaders. In addition, over 50 participants from Poland will join the Forum, representing opinion leaders, experts, academia, business and public administration, creating a unique platform for high-level European dialogue and cross-sector exchange.
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Speakers
Dalia Bankauskaite
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Dalia Bankauskaite
Dalia Bankauskaitė is an interdisciplinary expert in security policy, strategic communication, and policy advice. She is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), working on its Democratic Resilience Program, teaches strategic communication as a Partnership Associate Professor at the University of Vilnius, and provides expertise to the Swedish Defence University. She is also an associate member of the Viadrina Center of Polish and Ukrainian Studies and leads the Baltic States desk of Warsaw's Center for International Relations (CSM). Drawing on decades of experience across government, academia, and consulting, she focuses on advancing the understanding of total defence doctrine and a whole-of-society approach to security. Her work includes analysing hybrid aggression and influence operations, as well as developing comprehensive programmes for media literacy, societal resilience, and capacity building. She has extensive professional experience in strategic communications across Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Baltic Sea region. Positions held throughout her career include leading Lithuania's EU Public Information Unit ahead of the country's accession to the EU, serving as an information officer at the European Commission Delegation, and working at the Lithuanian Embassy in Moscow. She holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Evarist Bartolo
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Evarist Bartolo
Małgorzata Bonikowska
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Małgorzata Bonikowska
Susanna Cafaro
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Susanna Cafaro
Susanna Maria Cafaro is a Full Professor of European Union Law at the University of Salento in Lecce, Italy, where she holds a Jean Monnet Chair focused on the legal theory of European integration and models of supranational democracy. Her teaching and research span European law, economic and monetary union, EU external relations, global economic governance, and the governance of institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. A specialist in EU institutional and economic law as well as international economic law, she has long worked on questions of democracy beyond the nation-state and the reform of global governance. She founded the think tank The Group of Lecce for fair global governance, sits on the Bretton Woods Committee, and organises the Supranational Democracy Dialogue, an interdisciplinary forum bringing together academics, civil society leaders, and creative thinkers. She has also served as an independent legal expert for the European Parliament Research Service and taken part in successive Civil Society Policy Forums at the IMF–World Bank annual meetings. She is the author or editor of eight books and more than fifty scholarly articles and book chapters, and serves on the editorial and scientific boards of journals including European Papers and the Revue de l'Euro. She earned her PhD in EU law at the University of Bologna in 1998, with a dissertation on the legal aspects of Economic and Monetary Union supervised by Paolo Mengozzi.
Jean-Louis De Brouwer
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Jean-Louis De Brouwer
Jean-Louis De Brouwer is Director of the European Affairs Programme at the Egmont Institute (Royal Institute for International Relations) in Brussels, which he joined in October 2019. His work focuses on Justice and Home Affairs, social policies, and sustainable development. He spent much of his career at the European Commission, where as a director he was successively responsible for immigration, asylum, visa and border policies (DG Justice and Home Affairs); the implementation of the EU2020 agenda and employment policies (DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion); and humanitarian aid operations and policies (DG European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations). Before joining the Commission, he held positions in the Belgian civil service at the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Home Affairs, and served as Director General of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences. He is a frequent author on EU migration, asylum, and humanitarian policy. He teaches Public Law, Political Science, and EU Politics at Saint-Louis University Brussels (USL-B) and the Catholic University of Mons (FUCAM), lectures on International Relations theory and the EU's Area of Freedom, Security and Justice at UCLouvain and USL-B, and leads a course on immigration and humanitarian policy at the College of Europe's Parma campus. He holds a Master's degree in Law, Sociology, and Public Administration/International Relations from the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL).
Constantinos Filis
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Constantinos Filis
Constantinos Filis is the Director of the Institute of Global Affairs at the American College of Greece and an Associate Professor there, teaching international relations and European affairs. He also heads the Russia, Eurasia and Southeast Europe Centre at Panteion University's Institute of International Relations, where he previously served as Executive Director (2019–2021) and Director of Research Programs (2012–2019). A specialist in Russian foreign policy, energy geopolitics, and Greek-Turkish relations, he is a frequent commentator in the Greek and international media. After his PhD, he was elected a Senior Associate Member at St Antony's College, Oxford, and held a research fellowship at SEESOX. He lectures at Greece's principal defence institutions and sits on the boards of the Greek-Turkish Forum, the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe, and the Delphi Economic Forum. He has published extensively. His recent books include "Assertive Patriotism," "Greece in its Neighborhood," "A Closer Look at Russia and its Influence in the World," "Turkey, Islam, Erdoğan," and "Refugees, Europe, Insecurity," alongside a more recent work on how the war in Ukraine is reshaping the global landscape. He holds a BA in Political Science and History from the University of La Verne, an MA in Global Governance from the University of Reading, and a PhD in Russian foreign policy, also from the University of Reading.
News room
03/02/2026 | NEWSWEEK
Leaders Forum Powered by Poland: Poland at the Center of the Global Debate During the World Economic Forum
Nearly 50 debates and panel discussions, dozens of high-level conversations, and the participation of key figures from global business and politics—this is what Leaders Forum Powered by Poland, held alongside the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos, looked like. The event served as a key platform for dialogue, clearly positioning Poland as an active co-creator of global strategies.
06/02/2026 | Business Insider
Leaders Forum Powered by Poland in Davos: Polish Business Increasingly Visible on the Global Map
Leaders Forum Powered by Poland, organized as an official side event of the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos, was one of the most visible elements of Poland’s presence at this year’s WEF.
Our Events
Leaders Forum Davos - 19–23 January 2026
A 5-day forum bringing together leaders from business, policy and science to discuss growth, trust and technology taking place in Davos during the week of The World Economic Forum.
THINK TANK FORUM May 8-11, 2025, Warsaw, Poland
Forum founders
About
Autopay is a European brand developing an international ecosystem of fintech solutions for businesses and consumers. Through its services, it connects companies and customers, helping them save time and increase their independence from single providers. Autopay solutions are used by 15 million users, while 50,000 companies have chosen its payment, biometric, verification, and mobility technologies.
The brand has based its operations on the values of independence, freedom, responsibility, partnership, and trust, creating solutions that offer real choice, control, and a partnership-based model of cooperation. Today, Autopay is one of the largest technology companies in Central and Eastern Europe, rapidly expanding its operations across Europe, South America, Southeast Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula.
What brings to the project
Autopay is a European company with global ambitions. Our presence in Davos during the World Economic Forum is a natural decision and another opportunity to strengthen international collaboration. Our mission is to connect businesses and consumers within a partnership-driven, comprehensive ecosystem that saves time and drives shared growth through recurring payments. By expanding its operations in Europe, South America, Southeast Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula, the company builds the position of a global player in payment automation.
About
Żabka is an example of a Polish business success story which, over the course of more than 27 years, has transformed from a domestic network of traditional stores into one of the most dynamic modern convenience ecosystems in Europe. Founded in Poland, the company has built a unique operating model based on proximity, technology, and scalability.
Today, Żabka Group is a comprehensive convenience ecosystem whose mission is to create value by simplifying customers’ everyday lives. Each day, Group serves more than 4 million consumers seeking convenient solutions, while promoting a responsible approach toward customers, franchisees, suppliers, and the broader environment, including the sustainable use of products and packaging.
Within the Group’s ecosystem operates Żabka, Poland’s leading modern convenience retail network with more than 12,000 stores, as well as Froo-branded stores operating in Romania. The ecosystem is complemented by a network of autonomous Żabka Nano stores, enabling shopping without checkouts or queues. This format operates 24/7, offering maximum convenience and complete shopping freedom.
Group also includes Maczfit, one of the leaders in the dietary catering market; Dietly.pl, an e-commerce platform that allows customers to compare, choose, and manage meal kit subscriptions across Poland; and the start-up Lite e-Commerce, responsible for developing q-commerce and e-commerce services through the Jush and delio applications. An integral part of the ecosystem is Żappka app, which consolidates Group’s key services within a single digital environment.
Since October 2024, Company’s shares have been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
What brings to the project
During 56th World Economic Forum in Davos, we aim to challenge the stereotypical perception of Polish retail. Today, Żabka Group is not only one of the leaders of modern convenience in Europe, but also an organisation powered by advanced technologies that actively help shape the future of the entire market. We are proving that a company founded and developed in Poland can grow into a European leader, creating innovative solutions that stay ahead of the curve — from autonomous stores and advanced customer-needs analytics to an AI-enhanced digital ecosystem.
Product innovations, data-driven tools, process automation, and our unique convenience model enable us not only to keep pace with emerging trends, but to co-define them.
About
Adamed Pharma is a Polish family-owned pharmaceutical and biotechnology company manufacturing nearly 900 products (so-called SKUs) in Poland and abroad, offered to patients in dozens of countries around the world. The company employs almost 2800 people. For more than 20 years the company has been carrying out innovative R&D work, for which it has allocated PLN 2.4 billion. Adamed has been working with leading universities and scientific institutes domestically and abroad. The company’s intellectual property is protected by 256 patents in most countries of the world.
What brings to the project
We will be in Davos to show that thanks to innovation and our own scientific thought, a Polish company can successfully compete on the global stage. Over the past 40 years, Adamed has grown from a family business into an international company whose medicines reach patients in several dozens of countries. Today, we have manufacturing facilities in Poland and Asia as well as eight representative offices worldwide. With our presence in Davos, we want to strengthen the visibility of Polish innovation and demonstrate the strength of our domestic economy. Poland, as the world’s 20th-largest economy and one of the fastest-growing in the European Union, deserves a stronger voice in places where key economic and technological trends are shaped.