Speaker

Vilém Kolín is a Czech national. Professionally, he has extensive experience in defence and defence industry policy, planning, and monitoring. He has held various positions in the European Defence Agency (EDA), the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, and the European Commission. His roles have included Policy Officer, Project Officer, and Senior Policy Officer, where he has worked on the major European defence initiatives such as PESCO, CARD, EDF, ASAP, and EDIRPA. He is currently a Policy Coordinator at the European Commission, DG DEFIS, where he coordinates and manages activities related to defence industry and space programmes, as well as support to Ukraine. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from Charles University in Prague, which he completed in 2010. His academic background also includes a Master of Global Studies from the University of Denver supported by the Fulbright scholarship.