Matjaž Gruden

Speeches

15 speeches given by Matjaž Gruden as Director for Democracy at the Council of Europe, on democracy, young people, education, culture and the media. They are published as delivered, in the language in which they were given (mostly English).

2026

  1. Five Ingredients of DemocracySpeech at the opening ceremony, Caux Democracy Forum 2026·Maison de la Paix, Geneva

    I'd like to start by congratulating and thanking the young artist for beautiful music. One of the things we believe in, in our work on democracy, is that there's no democracy without…

  2. Libraries, Culture and DemocracyOpening keynote, 40th Annual General Meeting of the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL), “Commemorating the Future”·Luxembourg

    You already introduced me with my function, and I think I probably have one of the most pretentious titles in the European institutional architecture: Director for Democracy. It started off…

2025

  1. Older Than TurtlesOpening speech, “Unleashing Human Rights” – Human Rights Education Youth Forum·European Youth Centre, Budapest

    Thank you very much, Ida, and good morning, everybody. Welcome to the Council of Europe Youth Center in Budapest, the wildest place in town, where all sorts of cool and important things are…

  2. Closing Conference of the European Year of Digital Citizenship EducationSpeech, “The Way Forward”, closing conference of the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025·Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Dear Minister, dear participants, There is only one thing better than a very, very well prepared and interesting conference, and that is a very, very well prepared and interesting…

  3. Ungrateful, for Good ReasonSpeech, Youth Event of the 10th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth·Floriana, Malta

    First of all, thank you so much for being here, sincerely. It is important. I'm going to do my best to meet the high expectations about explaining the new Democratic Pact. I prepared for…

  4. Jamie Oliver and DisinformationPanel remarks, High-Level Conference “Building Democratic Resilience to Disinformation”, Maltese Presidency of the Committee of Ministers·Villa Bighi, Kalkara, Malta

    Thank you very much. Let me start by thanking the Maltese Presidency for this event, before I forget. I may do it again at the end, but they deserve all our gratitude, for this event and…

  5. Be Critical Like HellSpeech, Global Forum on Higher Education 2025: Renewal of the Democratic and Civic Mission·Charles University, Prague

    Villano has already extended the official thanks on behalf of the Council of Europe, so I could skip that part—but still, I want to once again thank our hosts here: Charles University, the…

  6. Youth Work WorksClosing ceremony, 4th European Youth Work Convention·Valletta, Malta

    Good afternoon, everyone. As the representative of the Council of Europe at this concluding ceremony, I believe I am expected to do two things. First, to express gratitude — to say thank…

  7. EuroDIG 2025: Humans, With and Through TechnologyClosing remarks, European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) 2025·Palais de l’Europe, Strasbourg

    Good morning, everybody. A few years back, we organized a visit of the American historian, Professor Timothy Snyder. And one thing that he said at the beginning of his lecture really stayed…

  8. Youth Centres and the Naked IslandOpening speech, European Platform Meeting for Quality Label Youth Centres and Friends·Marienthal Youth Centre, Luxembourg

    Your Royal Highness Minister, dear friends. First of all, I'd like to thank our hosts for welcoming us here in this fantastic setting, this youth centre. I'd like to thank you all for being…

  9. Lviv, European Youth Capital 2025Speech, Official opening of Lviv – European Youth Capital 2025·Lviv, Ukraine

    First of all, I would like to say how happy I am to be here in Lviv today. I can tell you there's a lot of jealous people back in Strasbourg, because, if you believe in young people, if you…

  10. Deliberative Democracy: A Must-HaveClosing remarks, Seminar “Deliberative democracy – from nice-to-have to essential for thriving democracies”·Council of Europe, Strasbourg

    Last week, I attended a conference organized by the Luxembourg presidency of the Committee of Ministers, focused on youth participation in the digital era. It was a two-day event at the…

  11. Les jeunes et la démocratie FrenchRemarks in a panel discussion, Europe’s democratic challenges after the German elections·Mesa, Strasbourg

    Question : Vous voyez, nous avons eu une vue d'ensemble des défis auxquels l'Europe fait face. En observant les élections en Allemagne, nous avons constaté que les jeunes sont également…

  12. Launch of the 4th European Youth Work ConventionRemarks, Media event announcing the 4th European Youth Work Convention and the Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth·Valletta, Malta

    Thank you. Thank you very much, Miriam, dear Parliamentary Secretary, Nina Emusha, colleagues and friends. First of all, I'd like to extend really our gratitude to the Maltese authorities…

2024

  1. Young People, Democracy and Climate ActionOpening remarks, Symposium “Young people, democracy and climate action”, EU–Council of Europe Youth Partnership·European Youth Centre, Strasbourg

    A very warm welcome to all of you at the Council of Europe Youth Center here in Strasbourg. I’d also like to extend a heartfelt greeting to those who are very much at home here but still…