Former Slovak ambassador to speak Nov. 12 at KU on elections, democracy

LAWRENCE -- Martin Butora, former Slovak ambassador to the United States, will be at the University of Kansas Nov. 12 to discuss "Elections & Democracy in East Central Europe: How Democracy was Saved in Slovakia." He and his wife, Zora Butorova, will speak during a brown bag luncheon from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Walnut Room of the Kansas Union.

Butora is honorary president and director of foreign policy studies at the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava, Slovakia. He was the Slovak ambassador from 1999 to 2003 and is a co-founder and leader of Public Against Violence, the leading Slovak movement in the Velvet Revolution against communism. From 1990 to 1992 he served as the adviser to President Vaclav Havel for human rights issues and was the director of the Section for Human Rights in the Office of the President of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic.

Butora and his wife co-wrote "The Parliamentary Elections and Democratic Rebirth in Slovakia." Butorova, a sociologist and author, is a scholar of public opinion polling and gender studies.

The KU Office of International Programs sponsors their appearance.