VYF 2016 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the V4
For the fifth time, the Visegrad Youth Forum (VYF) returns to the “Heart of Slovakia”, Banská Bystrica. VYF 2016 will take place from December 7 until December 9, 2016. Participating in the event will be young academics and experts from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine. VYF 2016 will be held under the auspices of Miroslav Lajčák, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
The Visegrad Youth Forum is a unique project with the goal of uniting the opinions of young participants with the knowledge of the attending experts. The topics of the discussion are the 25th anniversary of the V4, the group’s successes and its future perspectives and the Warsaw Summit and its aftermath. The goal of the project is to encourage public discussion about the importance of the Visegrád Group, its current state, as well as the direction the group is heading to, mostly concerning common foreign and security policies.
The fifth edition of the Visegrad Youth Forum will be attended by public figures and experts representing not only the governmental, but also the non-governmental field. Representatives of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic have confirmed their attendance at the event. Furthermore, speakers from each V4 country will appear at the conference.
Aside from workshops, various panel discussions on the topics of the successes of the Visegrád Group during its 25 years of existence and its future perspectives, and the current challenges for Central Europe in the aftermath of the Warsaw Summit highlight the event’s programme. The forum will be capped off by a NATO – Ukraine summit in the event of a cyberattack, which will take place in the Center of Crisis Management (CEKR) at the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations of the University of Matej Bel.
A rich cultural programme will also be part of VYF 2016, as the participants will visit the Tri Duby airbase in Sliač, home of the Tactical Wing of Otto Smik and take part in a cultural evening, which aims to showcase Slovak culture to the participants of the event.
The Visegrad Youth Forum 2016 is a project organized by the Euro-Atlantic Center in cooperation with the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations of the Univeristy of Matej Bel. The fifth edition of the Visegrad Youth Forum is supported by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, the city of Banská Bystrica and the Rotary Club Banská Bystrica.