The breakout session “Upgrading democracy – what can we learn from populism?” was devoted to analyzing the roots of populism in Western democracies and answering the question of how can we reform our systems without compromising on its foundations. Director at the Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies, Ms. Theresa Fallon, Senior Fellow at McCain Institute, Mr. David Kramer, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Mr. Konrad Szymański, Member of Hungarian Parliament (1990-1994, 2014-2018) Zsuzsanna Szelényi and Chair of the Centre d’étude & de réflexion pour l’Action politique Nicolas Tenzer engaged in a heated debate about the future of democracy.