Speakers:
- Karen Donfried President, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
- Mária Kolíková Minister of Justice, Slovak Republic
- Josh Rudolph Fellow for Malign Finance, Alliance for Securing Democracy
- Moderator Jonathan Katz Senior Fellow and Director, Democracy Initiatives
The German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Washington, DC held a timely event focused on the Slovak government’s internal efforts to strengthen democracy and combat corruption. The current government in Bratislava led by Prime Minister Igor Matović has made combating corruption, strengthening rule of law, and restoring public faith in the judiciary top priorities since taking over leadership in March 2020. The conversation with Justice Minister Mária Kolíková, who has played a central role in these efforts, will focus on the government’s effort to tackle these issues, undertake key reforms, and strengthen democratic institutions in Slovakia. In addition to efforts to address these challenges at home, Minister Kolíková will also focus on the wider transatlantic and international effort to address corruption, kleptocracy, and malign finance.
Combating corruption and efforts of malign actors in Europe and globally will be an area of focus of the new Biden administration, including with transatlantic partners, seeking to strengthen democracy and promote rule of law. The United States is seeking partners, including Slovakia and transatlantic allies, to help shape a democracy and anti-corruption agenda and to plan a 2021 Democracy Summit, that has both domestic and global implications. Joining Minister Kolíková was Josh Rudolph, a leading U.S.-based anti-corruption and malign finance expert with the Alliance for Security Democracy (ASD). A recent report by Rudolph focused on steps the U.S. and new administration can take to address corruption and kleptocracy at home and globally. Rudolph has also published extensively on malign finance and interference in democratic processes.
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