In December 2025, the ACRONYM project team gathered in Bratislava at the Institute for Central Europe (ICE) for its final in-person working meeting of the year. The meeting brought together team members, including representatives of all three project partners – François Gemenne, Anneliese Depoux, and Katarína Cséfalvayová, marking an important moment of reflection and coordination as the project enters its concluding phase.
The working session focused on reviewing the project’s key achievements, consolidating research findings, and identifying the final steps ahead — including publications, policy-oriented outputs, and dissemination activities. It also marked the conclusion of Anneliese Depoux’s long-term mobility in Bratislava, during which she contributed extensively to collaborative research and exchange across the project.
Beyond the meeting room, the team took time to enjoy Bratislava’s Christmas markets, sharing informal conversations and celebrating the collective work accomplished so far. This final gathering of the year captured the spirit of the ACRONYM project: rigorous research, close collaboration, and the value of human connection across borders.
On 8 December 2025, the ACRONYM project organised a closed-door Policy Dialogue on Migration at the Conférence des Évêques de France (CEF) in Paris. The dialogue brought together clergy, theologians, researchers, migration experts, and representatives of Church institutions to reflect on the relationship between Christian teaching, pastoral practice, and contemporary migration debates in Europe. The dialogue took place against a backdrop of growing political polarisation, disinformation, and public anxiety around migration. Its aim was to create a protected space for frank exchange, grounded in empirical research and lived pastoral experience, and to explore how faith-based actors can contribute to more coherent, human-centred approaches to migration governance. Migration beyond emergency thinking A central point of convergence throughout the dialogue was the recognition that migration is not an episodic crisis but a structural and enduring feature of contemporary global life. Participants stressed that both public debate and ecclesial responses remain too often reactive and emergency-driven, despite the Church’s long-standing theological and pastoral tradition rooted in dignity, solidarity, and hospitality. Theologian Fr. Aldo Skoda, Director of the Scalabrini International Migration Institute, emphasized that migration should be understood as a “sign of the times”, challenging the Church to rethink core dimensions of Christian anthropology, ecclesiology, and mission. He highlighted how dominant public categories and narratives often dehumanize migrants and distort integration processes, calling for a renewed theological and pastoral imagination centred on encounter, communion, and responsibility. ACRONYM research as a foundation for dialogue The exchanges strongly resonated with findings from ACRONYM research, including surveys, interviews, and focus groups conducted with priests and lay Catholics across Slovakia, France, Belgium, and Italy. Empirical results were repeatedly confirmed, nuanced, and deepened by clergy’s lived experiences shared during the dialogue. Participants identified a persistent gap between ethical consensus at the level of Church teaching and the fragility of implementation in pastoral and institutional practice. Structural constraints — legal uncertainty, administrative complexity, limited resources, and political pressure — were cited as major obstacles, often leaving clergy to navigate deep moral dilemmas with insufficient institutional support. Education, interdisciplinarity, and institutional support Across interventions, education emerged as one of the most urgent priorities. Participants pointed to insufficient formation on migration, interculturality, and disinformation in seminaries, diocesan structures, and continuing pastoral training. This deficit was directly linked to vulnerability to polarising narratives and fear-based framings that dominate public discourse. The dialogue also underlined the importance of interdisciplinary approaches, bringing theology into closer dialogue with social sciences, legal expertise, and empirical research. Participants agreed that durable responses to migration require integrated frameworks and long-term strategies rather than isolated initiatives. A crisis of narrative coherence Rather than a crisis of numbers, migration was repeatedly described as a crisis of narrative and moral coherence. Political rhetoric, sensationalist media, and disinformation shape public perceptions, while Church actors often feel ill-equipped to respond strategically. Participants stressed the need not only to correct misinformation but to cultivate alternative narratives centred on dignity, encounter, and shared responsibility. The presence of senior representatives of the French Bishops’ Conference was widely interpreted as a hopeful sign that the concerns raised may inform higher-level ecclesial reflection and future institutional action. Looking ahead By organising this Policy Dialogue, ACRONYM strengthened its role as a bridge between research, theology, and policy-relevant discussion. The exchange clarified concrete directions for future work, including strengthened education and training, closer interdisciplinary collaboration, improved institutional support for clergy, and sustained efforts to reshape public narratives on migration. The Paris dialogue reaffirmed that migration is not only a policy issue, but a profound moral test—one that will continue to shape both the Church’s public voice and its credibility in contemporary European societies.
Katarína Cséfalvayová was a guest on the podcast Slovensko a svet očami diplomatov (Slovakia and the World Through the Eyes of Diplomats), hosted by Martin Klus and produced by Hospodárske noviny. In the interview, she explains why the international environment has changed more profoundly in recent years than during the entire period since 1989, what this means for Slovakia, and what Europe can do to become better prepared and more resilient.
The world in accelerated geopolitical change
At the beginning of the discussion, Katarína notes that the pace of geopolitical change is unprecedented: “Over the past five to six years, the world has changed more than during the three decades following the fall of the Iron Curtain,” she says. Today’s international politics is marked by the return of war to the European continent, the forceful assertion of spheres of influence, and the emergence of a multipolar order that resembles a competition among powers rather than a balanced multipolar system. At the same time, the so-called weaponization of interdependencies is increasing. What was once meant to bring prosperity and stability — energy, raw materials, semiconductors, and critical technologies — is now often being used as a tool of pressure.
Underestimated hybrid threats and the erosion of trust
Katarína recalls that already during the annexation of Crimea, the West failed to respond adequately to Russia’s hybrid operations: “The biggest mistake was that we underestimated hybrid warfare,” she warns. Disinformation and long-term influence operations have weakened trust in institutions, media, and democratic processes in many countries. This is why, according to her, peace can no longer be taken for granted and must be actively protected.
A stronger Europe as part of collective security
One of the key topics of the interview is the development of European defence. Katarína stresses that this should be seen as a complement to NATO, not an alternative: “If Europe becomes more capable of defending itself, it will also strengthen the North Atlantic Alliance.” She also points to years of underinvestment in defence research and innovation. Dual-use technologies, which can be applied for both civilian and defence purposes, will be crucial in the future. Slovakia, she argues, has significant but largely untapped potential in this area: “We have a long history and strong industrial foundations in the defence sector, yet we barely talk about innovation in defence,” she adds.
Why the Institute for Central Europe (ICE) was established
The interview also addresses the reasons behind the creation of ICE. Katarína describes a growing gap between political debate and academic research — two worlds that should cooperate rather than bypass one another. “Political debate has drifted away from expertise and research, and academia often hesitates to enter the public space. ICE was established to reconnect these two worlds,” she explains.
ICE is built on close cooperation with universities, researchers, and expert institutions in Slovakia and abroad. Our work focuses on areas such as:
defence and security,
technological innovation,
migration,
green transformation,
European policies and legislation.
Central Europe and the future of regional cooperation
Another topic of the discussion is the state of the Visegrad Group. Katarína acknowledges that political cohesion weakened after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, yet she argues that regional cooperation still makes sense. “I would not want to dismiss the V4 altogether. There are still areas where it can be useful, from infrastructure to innovation. Smaller states achieve greater results when they cooperate,” she says. At the same time, ICE seeks to bring a Central European perspective into debates in Western Europe, where the region is often discussed through stereotypes or without sufficient understanding of its specific context.
Regional transformation as a shared task
In the final part of the interview, Katarína addresses issues that affect the entire region: migration, energy, and the green transition. She emphasizes that Central Europe needs not criticism, but constructive solutions and the involvement of partners, from businesses to universities.
“There is much more that unites us than divides us. If we can build on that, our region can become one of the leaders of the green transition,” she concludes.
Listen to or watch the full interview here (in Slovak):
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