ANU Centre for European Studies Research Fellow Dr John Besemeres is this year's guest of honour and speaker at the Polish Constitution Day Commemorative Dinner, addressing the topic 'Poland in the New World Disorder'.

This prestigious event has taken place annually since the inaugural event in 2002, featuring a different guest of honour each year. Guests of honour and speakers from previous years include retired Australian jurist and 25th Governor of Victory Sir James Gobbo AC CVO QC, former Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Poland Margaret Adamson, Federal Minister and former Prime Minister of Australia The Hon Tony Abbott MP, classical concert pianist in Poland Roger Woodward AC OBE, and former Deputy Prime Minister, Ambassador to the Holy See The Hon Tim Fischer AC.

Patrons for the 2017 dinner include the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Australia His Excellency Pawel Milewski, Honorary Consul General for the Republic of Poland in Victoria Dr George Luk-Kozika OAM, and former Prime Minister of Australia The Hon Kevin Rudd MP, together with many other distinguished guests, much of whom are first, second and third generation Polish.

Dr Besemeres is very pleased to be part of the 2017 event in commemoration and celebration of 3 May 1791 Polish Constitution Day. He brings diverse and extensive insight on Russia and Eastern Europe, spanning academia, government and living in the region. Dr Besemeres taught politics at Monash University, and was head of Polish and later Slavonic Studies at Macquarie University. He spent five years working as a translator in Belgrade and Warsaw, and served for some 30 years in several Australian government portfolios, including Prime Minister and Cabinet, Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, and Foreign Affairs and Trade. Dr Besemeres has published extensively on Russian and Eastern European affairs, including numerous articles in the Lowy Institute for International Policy's publication The Interpreter. In October 2016, Dr Besemeres published a book entitled A Difficult Neighbourhood - Essays on Russia and East-Central Europe since World War II (ANU Press, Canberra, 2016), available to download free from the ANU Press website. Dr Besemeres is also the author of Socialist Population Politics; The Political Implications of Demographic Trends in the USSR and Eastern Europe (M. E. Sharpe Inc., New York, 1980).

For more information on this event contact Teresy Kamińska: +61 419 817 579