Biographies - Opening of the Conference
OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen
Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen has been the Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania since 2020. First elected to the Seimas in 2015, she sat on numerous committees of the Seimas, including the Committees on European Affairs, on Human Rights, on Education and Science, and on Environment Protection as well as on the Commissions for the Rights of People with Disabilities and for Ethics and Procedures. In 2019, she became the Leader of the Opposition and Chairperson of the Liberals Movement.
She is a professional chess player to hold the men’s grandmaster title in Lithuania. In addition, she is a European Champion, a prize winner of the World Championship, a winner of the World Chess Olympiads, and a long-standing member of the Lithuanian national chess team. She has authored an autobiographical book Tarp juoda ir balta (Between Black and White) which covers this period of her life.
Her many other awards include the Fifth Class Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (1996); the Cross of Officer of the Order for Merits to Lithuania (2011); and the title of Honorary Citizen of Šiauliai City.
Marija Pejčinović Burić
Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Marija Pejčinović Burić is the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the pre-eminent Pan-European international organisation in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Prior to being elected to her current position, Ms Pejčinović Burić was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, having served previously, on two occasions, as State Secretary for EU Affairs.
During her time as a Deputy in the Croatian Parliament, she chaired the delegation of the Croatia-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee, headed the delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and served on a range of foreign and European-themed committees, including in the position of Substitute Member of the Croatian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Earlier in her career, Ms Pejčinović Burić held a number of senior positions relating to the Croatia’s EU accession process. She went on to be a Negotiator on several chapters in the context of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations. She has written, lectured and consulted widely on European affairs, has served as a president and board member for a number of organisations and is a former Secretary General of the Europe House, Zagreb. Ms Pejčinović Burić holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb, and a Master in European Studies from the College of Europe.
Delphine Ernotte
EBU President
Delphine Ernotte Cunci has served as the Chief Executive Officer of France Télévisions since 2015 after spending five years as the Deputy CEO of French biggest telco cie, Orange Group. In July 2020, she was appointed for a second term as France Télévisions CEO.
In January 2019, she was elected Vice-President of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) then elected President in 2020, as the 1st female head of this industrial union covering 56 countries. She has been re-elected in 2022 for a second term as President of the EBU.
After graduating engineer from École Centrale Paris, Delphine started her career at France Télécom as a financial analyst and then as an engineer economist at FTR&D.
Moreover, she is also President of the Board of École CentraleSupélec Paris and a member of the Board of “Centquatre.”
She was awarded both the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite.