The 11th edition of the Visegrad Youth Forum (VYF) took place in Banská Bystrica between November 30 – December 2, 2022. Young academics and students from the Visegrad Four countries and Austria discussed the democratic identity of the Central European region and the importance of democratic values in further deepening regional cooperation.
The three-day forum was preceded by online workshops that focused on the V4 countries from the perspectives of the crisis of democracy, green and digital transformation, the challenges of the region’s growth and the security of NATO’s eastern wing.
In addition to many workshops, this year’s forum highlighted several panel discussions focused on the state of democracy and increasing democratic participation in the V4+ countries or the views of young leaders on the future of the V4 group. The panelists involved were from both the governmental and non-governmental sectors and among others included Grigorij Mesežnikov from the Institute for Public Affairs, Branislav Kováčik, lecturer from the Matej Bel University or Karen Henderson, researcher at the Comenius University in Bratislava
The VYF 2022 was finalized with a simulation of the negotiations of the extraordinary summit of NATO heads of state and government. During the simulation, participants negotiated as leaders, trying to reach a consensus on the different agenda points within the topic “Strengthening Europe’s Security Architecture”.
Every year the Visegrad Youth Forum dedicates one night to culture. In 2022 the participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Slovak culture through songs and dances performed by the folklore ensemble Mladosť and performance of singer Vanesa Opšenáková.
The Visegrad Youth Forum is a flagship project of the Euroatlantic Center an independent, non-partisan, non-governmental student organization specializing in the field of international relations and security policy. The eleventh year of the Visegrad Youth Forum was financially supported by the SPP Foundation and the International Visegrad Fund.