Sixteenth Andrei Sakharov conference begins in Vilnius with focus on rising authoritarianism

The sixteenth international Andrei Sakharov Conference, titled Authoritarianism on the Rise, opened in Vilnius on Thursday, with two days of discussions dedicated to global conflicts and the influence of authoritarianism, the organisers announced.

Hosted at the Presidential Palace, the event will examine “the return of autocratic tendencies, the collapse of trust in international law and institutions, and dependence on superpowers,” said Neringa Gališanskytė, deputy director of the Andrei Sakharov Research Centre at Vytautas Magnus University (VDU).

“We often feel completely powerless in the face of nearby wars or when trying to plan for the future in a world that has become entirely unpredictable. This affects our psychological resilience, civic engagement, and faith in democracy,” she added.

Participants include politicians, diplomats, scholars, and activists from the US, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine, the UK, and Denmark. The opening remarks will be delivered by Lithuania’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Audra Plepytė, VDU Rector Ineta Dabašinskienė, and the centre’s director, Robert van Voren.

Keynote speakers feature former Dutch and UN diplomat Robert Serry, who will address the current crisis in international law, and Ukrainian historian Yaroslav Hrytsak, discussing Ukraine and the global crisis. Other speakers include former US diplomat and Donald Trump critic George Kent and Georgian psychology professor Jana Javakhishvili.

Over two days, the conference will host five panel discussions, a screening of a film about the late Ukrainian psychiatrist and human rights activist Semyon Gluzman, who died this year, and a concert in his memory.

The VDU Andrei Sakharov Democratic Development Research Centre organises the annual conference around Sakharov’s birthday on May 21, focusing each year on the most pressing human rights issues. The centre is named after Andrei Sakharov, the renowned physicist, humanist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.