VI Youth Kyiv Security Forum – one of the biggest youth forums of Ukraine – started in Kyiv on Saturday.
More than 70 young leaders shall be discussing for two days the challenges that the Ukrainian society and the European countries are facing against the background of hybrid warfare and Russian aggression.
"Such forums are organized not only to exchange thoughts and subsequently forget all the information and each other. First of all, they are aimed at some practical result. I am convinced that these two days spent together will be very productive", Barbora Maronkova, the Director of NATO Information and Documentation Center to Ukraine, stated in her welcoming remarks to the Forum.
She expressed hope that the year 2018 would prove successful in overcoming many problems in the world due to the effective use of diplomacy and international cooperation. "We need to communicate, to be diplomats and to try finding a solution to any problems that arise... Let’s remain open to each other, let’s be flexible, let’s search some common solutions", Barbora Maronkova noted.
Marcel Roethig, the Director of Friedrich Ebert Foundation Regional Office to Ukraine, in his welcoming remarks emphasized that the Foundation attached great importance to the training of young leaders, as the future, including in the security field, belongs to them. "We are training young leaders, we help the youth to feel confident. We understand that the security issues are the matter of the future. And the security is in the hands of people who would soon hold the key positions in both the state and the private sector. That is why we support such events as the Youth Kyiv Security Forum", Marcel Roethig noted.
The topic of this year’s Forum is "When democracy at stake: new security challenges in hybrid warfare and role of society". During the event, the participants will discuss the topical issues of international relations and foreign policy of Ukraine and seek ways to solve these problems. Young Ukrainian leaders will also come up with suggestions on how they can contribute to overcoming these threats through their specific projects and actions.
On the first day of the Forum, the participants shall have the opportunity to listen to the speeches of well-known experts, to talk to them and to hold a discussion. The list of invited speakers includes Corina Rebegea, an international expert on information security at the Center for European Policy Analysis (US), Beata Bialy, a representative of the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence (Latvia), Pail Honig, a representative of the European Space Agency, Taras Berezovets, a political expert and others. This day’s work shall result in the initiatives that will be recorded in a special form. The next day, these ideas will be finalized and presented at the Forum. The most interesting ideas will be supported by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation within the framework of the Young Leaders Program.
FOR REFERENCE:
Youth Kyiv Security Forum is the platform for discussion of current issues of international relations and foreign policy of Ukraine by young experts. The purpose of the forum is to strengthen the role of the new generation of experts, to improve their ability to participate in the process of political analysis and development.
PARTNERS OF THE FORUM:
NATO Information and Documentation Centre in Ukraine (NIDC)
Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Organizer of the Forum is the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation.
