Dr. Mihai Dragnea, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National and International Security (INIS), participated in the fourth edition of the international conference series Worlds of the Slavs. Titled “The Power of Emperors, Elites, and the Veche. Who Needs It?”, the conference took place from 16 to 18 September 2026 at the Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno, Poland.

On 16 September, Dr. Dragnea presented his paper, “The Making of a Pagan Identity in Eastern Saxony during the Ottonian Era,” in the panel “The Right to Resist, the Right to Identity.” His presentation contributed to the conference’s discussion of identity, political authority and resistance in medieval societies.

The conference was organized by the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Polish Young Academy of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Committee of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno, the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, the Academy in Piotrków Trybunalski, and the Lithuanian Institute of History.

Dr. Dragnea was listed in the conference programme with the University of South-Eastern Norway and the Balkan History Association. His participation highlights the contribution of INIS researchers to international and interdisciplinary academic exchange.