The Visegrad Youth Forum in Banská Bystrica for the fourth time
For the fourth time, the Visegrad Youth Forum (VYF) returns to the „Heart of Slovakia“, Banská Bystrica. VYF takes place from December 2 until December 4. Young academics and experts from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine will participate in the event. The event is 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 connecting the opinions of young participants with the knowledge of the attending experts. The topics of the discussion are the possibilities of cooperation between the countries of the Visegrád Group, as well as the challenges these countries have to face. The goal of the project is to encourage the 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. It provides a platform, which offers the participants an interactive learning method to learn and gain new knowledge about the V4. The purpose of the project is to unite young academics with similar interests from the countries of the Visegrád Group and Ukraine. This year’s project is enriched by the participation of participants from Ukraine, who will have the option to present their vision of cooperation between the Visegrád Group and the Eastern Partnership.
Public figures and experts representing not only the governmental, but also the non-governmental field will be part of the fourth edition of the Visegrad Youth Forum. Among the honored guests are Igor Slobodník, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Róbert Ondrejcsák, the director of the Center for European and North Atlantic Affairs (CENAA) or Lászlo Póti, Senior Research Fellow at the Hungarian Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade. The event is also held under the auspices of Ján Nosko, the Mayor of Banská Bystrica.
Aside from workshops, the main points of the program are various panel discussions concerning cooperation between the V4 states and the states of the Eastern Partnership. The topics also include security challenges the countries of the Visegrád region will have to face in regards to the annexation of Crimea. The highlight of the event will be the simulation of a V4 leader summit, which will be held in the Center of crisis management (CEKR) at the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Matej Bel.
The Visegrad Youth Forum 2015 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 event is supported by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, the town of Banská Bystrica and the Rotary Club Banská Bystrica.