Mobilising Visegrad 4 Youth Conference 2023

Members of the AIAS organization from Jagiellonian University in Krakow represented Poland in the Mobilising Visegrad 4 Youth Conference in Gyor, Hungary from 29th March to 2nd April 2023. The conference ran for three days and included university students from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

(Roundtable discussion at the Gyor Town Hall, Hungary)

The events of the first day started with a roundtable discussion led by experts Gergely Salat and Andras Varga and moderated by AIAS members Victor Senisse and Paulina Mataseje. The topic for the discussion was ‘Eastern involvement in the V4 countries and its impact.’

Later in the afternoon, expert international coordinator Nora Kertesz from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade gave a lecture to the students regarding the cross-border opportunities within the V4 region followed by a workshop aimed at building a policy draft that would be presented to the relevant actors and included in the final publication.

On the second day of Mobilising Visegrad 4 Youth Conference in Györ, Hungary the AIAS committee visited Györ's Town Hall where a discussion named "Past-Present-Future of the V4 cooperation" was held, the renowned experts were: Krisztina Varju, Deputy State Secretary, Foreign Ministry of Hungary, His Excellency Pavol Hamžík, Ambassador of Slovakia to Hungary, His Excellency Tibor Bial, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Hungary, His Excellency Sebastian Kęciek, Ambassador of Poland to Hungary. After that, students had an exchange with the experts. Later in the afternoon, there was a visit to the Pannonhalma Archabbey and wine tasting. The Archabbey was founded in 966, one of Hungary's most outstanding historical monuments.

The third day of the Mobilising Visegrad 4 Youth Conference in Gyor, Hungary was about Simulation of an International Climate Summit (Energy Summit - Net Zero Conflict). Participants of 4 organisations were divided into different 4 committees, representatives played the role of an expert, diplomat or a politician of 14 countries from all around the world and had to negotiate and come up with a final resolution of the current crisis.

Later on, there was a series of Workshops with 6 different topics, in the First round: Small States in Changing World Order by Dr. Máté Szalai, Energy Security in the V4 by Miriam Matejova and Hybrid Threats in Contemporary World by Patrik Szicherle. Then in the Second round: Growth Mindset and Youth Mental Health by Dr. SzilviaFodor, International Relations and Arts by Katalin Turai, and Sustainability in the Visegrad Region by Rafal Fabianowicz.

By Mehar Allidina, Victor Senisse, Sara Nazari