PhD Krzysztof Dębiec
Krzysztof started working for the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in January 2018 as an analyst in the Central European Team and is currently also the deputy head of the team. His main research areas at OSW are the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and regional cooperation in Central Europe.
Previously, he worked as First Secretary for the Department of Trade and Investment Promotion at the Polish Embassy in Prague, where he supported Polish companies on the Czech market. To that end he provided them with information on local regulations, potential business partners or tenders on the Czech market, organised and operated Polish stands at trade fairs, and prepared market analyses, wrote economic news and helped update the guidebook to the Czech market.
As an employee of the Economic and Trade Department of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the European Union in Brussels (as an attaché) he was Deputy Chair of the EU Council Competitiveness and Growth Working Party during the Polish EU Council Presidency. At the Ministry of Economy he worked in the European Affairs Department and the Innovation and Industry Department, where he dealt with issues of EU economic competitiveness, innovation, SME support programmes, non-energy raw materials and the development of a low-emission economy.
He graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics, SGH (with an MA in international relations) and the College of Europe (with an MA in European Interdisciplinary Studies). In 2011 he defended a PhD thesis on the economic implications of the immigration of citizens from the Central and Eastern European countries to the United Kingdom and obtained a PhD in economic sciences from the SGH Collegium of World Economy. He has the highest available language certificates for Czech, English and French, and also speaks Slovak and German.
- Czech Republic’s domestic politics and foreign policy
- Slovakia’s domestic politics and foreign policy
- Regional cooperation in Central Europe
Reports
- O. Sklenář, D. Dokupilová, B. Takácsné Tóth, J. Berei, K. Dębiec, Energy Poverty – Between the Energy Crisis and ETS2, V4ETTP, December 2025
- K. Dębiec, To už se nevrátí. Czechoslovakia and contemporary Czech–Slovak relations, OSW Studies, OSW, May 2025
- A. Łoskot-Strachota, K. Dębiec, A. Sadecki, Nuclear energy in V4 - the current situation and perspectives, V4ETTP, November 2024
- K. Dębiec, Czech Republic and K. Dębiec, Slovakia [in:] A. Łoskot-Strachota, Energy policy in times of war and transition. Priorities of the Central and Eastern European countries and Germany, OSW Report, OSW, March 2025
- Drought in the Czech Republic. The political, economic and social consequences, OSW Report, OSW, July 2021
- A country with non-existent unemployment. The special characteristics of the Czech labour market, OSW Report, OSW, July 2019
- Frustration and hope. Slovakia after Kuciak's murder, OSW Point of view, July 2019 (co-authored with Jakub Groszkowski)
Commentaries
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K. Dębiec, Deeper reconciliation or reopening old wounds? Controversy over the gathering of the German expellee association in the Czech Republic, OSW Commentary, June 2026
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K. Dębiec, Faster – lower – stronger: the policies of Fico’s fourth government in Slovakia, OSW Commentary, May 2026
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K. Dębiec, Parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic: Babiš on the verge of returning to power, OSW Commentary, September 2025
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K. Dębiec, Slovakia’s depopulation: balancing support for children and senior citizens, OSW Commentary, May 2025
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K. Dębiec, Czech demography: once a model, now a cause for concern, OSW Commentary, March 2025
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K. Dębiec, Fiala’s government halfway through its term: security reinforcement overshadowed by economic problems, OSW Commentary, February 2024
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K. Dębiec, Slovakia before the parliamentary election: back to the past, OSW Commentary, September 2023
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The Czech nuclear showdown enters the final straight, OSW Commentary, March 2023
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Czech presidential election: change on the horizon, OSW Commentary, January 2023
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Slovakia: strategic dilemmas after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, OSW Commentary, May 2022
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Lignite in the Czech Republic and Germany: controversies and prospects, OSW Commentary, April 2021 (co-authored with Michał Kędzierski)
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The Bohemianisation of the media. The acquisition of the Czech media sector by local billionaires, OSW Commentary, February 2021
Other analyses
- K. Dębiec, I. Gizińska, The enduring legacy of Beneš: Slovak–Hungarian tensions in a historical context, OSW, 22.06.2026
- K. Dębiec, Czech defence conglomerate CSG becomes the most valuable company in Central Europe, OSW, 29.01.2026
- K. Dębiec, Babiš’s new government: Czechia first, OSW, 18.12.2025
- K. Dębiec, Czech Republic without power: lessons from the blackout, OSW, 9.07.2025
- K. Dębiec, The Czech Republic no longer depends on Russian oil, OSW, 18.04.2025
- K. Dębiec, Slovakia: Fico’s government in trouble, OSW, 28.01.2025
- K. Dębiec, Slovakia’s actions in preparation for the expiry of the Ukrainian-Russian transit agreement, OSW, 20.12.2024
- K. Dębiec, ‘Dr Fico and Mr Hyde’: Slovakia’s game with Ukraine and Russia, OSW, 8.10.2024
- OSW's Central European Department, Hungarian-Slovak Dispute with Ukraine: Suspension of Lukoil Oil Supplies, OSW, 26.07.2024
- K. Dębiec, The attempted assassination of Slovakia’s prime minister, OSW, 16.05.2024
- K. Dębiec, Pellegrini becomes Slovakia’s new president: consolidation of the ruling camp, OSW, 8.04.2024
- K. Dębiec, Slovakia: controversial changes to the criminal law, and a dispute with Brussels on the horizon, OSW, 12.02.2024
- K. Dębiec, Fico meets Shmyhal: Slovakia’s two-track Ukraine policy, OSW, 26.01.2024
- I. Gizińska, K. Dębiec, The Fico-Orbán meeting: an Article-7 alliance, OSW, 18.01.2024
- K. Dębiec, Slovakia: the Fico government has presented its platform and won a vote of confidence, OSW, 21.11.2023
- K. Dębiec, Ódor’s technocratic government in Slovakia: the calm before the electoral storm, OSW, 16.05.2023
- K. Dębiec, The Czech President’s visit to Berlin: a call for German leadership, OSW, 24.03.2023
- K. Dębiec, Czech Republic: General Pavel wins the election, OSW, 30.01.2023
- The TAL is expanding: the Czech Republic is gaining independence from Russian oil supplies, OSW Analysis, December 2022
- Central Europe facing a new wave of migration from the Balkans, OSW Analysis, October 2022
- Czech Republic: disputes over farm support strategy, OSW Analysis, January 2022
- The legacy of Petr Kellner – assets, interests, the significance for Central Europe, OSW Analysis, April 2021
- The Czech fiscal reform: a major income tax cut, OSW Analysis, November 2020
- Slovakia: the Matovič government with an agenda for hard times, OSW Analysis, April 2020
- Slovakia: the end of Smer’s rule, the triumph of Igor Matovič, OSW Analysis, March 2020 (co-authored with Mateusz Gniazdowski)
- A crisis in the Czech Republic’s relations with China and Russia, OSW Analysis, October 2019
- The presidential election in Slovakia: a vote for change, OSW Analysis, March 2019 (co-authored with Jakub Groszkowski)
- The Czech-Chinese dispute over Huawei and ZTE, OSW Analysis, January 2019 (co-authored with Jakub Groszkowski, Michał Bogusz and Jakub Jakóbowski)
- Czech Republic: The government of Babiš and the left, OSW Analysis, July 2018
- Chinese investments in the Czech Republic: changing the expansion model, OSW Analysis, June 2018 (co-authored with Jakub Jakóbowski)
- Czech Republic: a second term for President Zeman, OSW Analysis, January 2018
Selected external media and commentary (EN, CS, SK, FR)
- Dębiec, K. (2025). Slovakia and the Three Seas Initiative: In Search of Added Value. Studia Polityczne, 53(1), 68–91. https://doi.org/10.35757/STP.2025.53.1.04
- P. Novotný, Od energetiky po obranu. Kde môže Slovensko ťažiť z rastúcej sily Poľska v regióne?, Hospodárske noviny, 28.05.2026
- V. Collen, Chantage, menaces : quand un oléoduc russe sème la zizanie en Europe orientale, Les Echos, 20.02.2026
- F. Meyer, Pourquoi la menace russe divise les pays d'Europe centrale en deux blocs, Les Echos, 3.12.2025
- F. Meyer, Elections en République tchèque : au pays de Skoda, le Parti des automobilistes cristallise la colère vis-à-vis de Bruxelles, Les Echos, 3.10.2025
- V. Jack, C. Gijs, K. Verhelst, Czech crisis manager set to become EU’s top global dealmaker, Politico.eu, 23.09.2024
- F. Zelenka, Česko vs. Polsko: v porodnosti i inovacích jsme lepší, Poláci se zase nebojí velkých cílů, e15.cz, 6.05.2024
- V. Jack, Slovakia asks EU for extra year to kick Russian oil addiction, Politico.eu, 20.11.2023
- M. Petříček, Dálnice, letiště, evropské fondy. Polsko nalákalo investory a čeká další růst, ekonom.cz, 27.09.2023
Selected OSW multimedia
- The next Czech prime minister?, OSW film, 7.10.2025
- What Robert Fico's assassination attempt tells us about politics in Slovakia today, OSW film, 16.05.2024
- Czechoslovakia: the full history beyond the Velvet Divorce (with A. Sadecki and OSW Media Team), OSW documentary, 15.11.2023
- A pro-Russian government in Slovakia? SMER and Robert Fico wins the parliamentary elections, OSW film, 3.10.2023
- Is Slovakia pro-Russian?, OSW podcast, 26.07.2023
Selected other broadcast interviews
- in English
- The reports of Visegrád Group’s death are greatly exaggerated, TVP World, 1.09.2026
- Trumpism is spreading in Central Europe and that means problems for Ukraine | On Air, TVP World, 13.06.2026
- Czech–Slovak reset or illusion in central Europe, TVP World, 31.03.2026
- The end of coal in the Czech Republic, TVP World, 10.11.2025
- Life after the divorce: 30 years since Czech–Slovak separation and crucial elections|How We Got Here, TVP World, 16.09.2025
- in Czech
- Polsko se stalo významným ekonomickým hráčem. Nechápe české spory kvůli zadlužování, tvrdí analytik, Rozhlas Plus, 17.10.2023
- in Slovak
- Na slovíčko, Radio Kraków, 5.10.2025