Press release: Banská Bystrica to welcome young academics from V4 countries for the seventh time
Banská Bystrica will become the venue of the Visegrad Youth Forum (VYF) for the seventh time in total. VYF 2018 will take place from December 5 until December 7, uniting young academics, students and experts from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in various discussions and debates. For the very first time in the history of the project, the final conference was preceded by events in each respective capital city of the Visegrad Group, organized in cooperation with the project’s partner organizations.
Aside from an intensive, two-part workshop, the program of this year’s edition of the Visegrad Youth Forum will be highlighted by a panel discussion on the topic of the current political climate in the Visegrad region and prognoses of its future development, taking into account the membership of V4 states in Euro-Atlantic structures. Speaking at the event will be experts from both the governmental and non-governmental spheres from Visegrad countries.
VYF 2018 will be capped off by a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit simulation titled “Is PESCO the future of European defence?”, during which the participants will be put into positions of state officials aiming to reach a consensus on the issue of strengthening and improving European defence. The simulation will take place in the Center of Crisis Management (CEKR) at the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations of the Matej Bel University.
The program of VYF 2018 will also include a cultural evening held at the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising, during which the participants will have the unique opportunity to learn more about the traditions and culture of each respective V4 country, while emphasizing their uniqueness and diversity. The cultural evening will culminate with a dinner at a traditional Slovak restaurant.
The Visegrad Youth Forum is a project organized by the Euro-Atlantic Center in cooperation with the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations of the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica. The seventh edition of the Visegrad Youth Forum is financially supported by the International Visegrad Fund, NATO – Public Diplomacy Division, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, the city of Banská Bystrica, the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region and the Rotary Club Banská Bystrica.