The first College of Visegrad+ Weekend University achieved its goal (April 2024)
The John Lukacs Institute for Strategy and Politics held its first "College of Visegrad+ Weekend University" between the 3rd to 9th of April 2024. It brought together university students, young professionals and guest lecturers from all four Visegrad countries (Czechia, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary).
The Weekend University started on the 4th of April with a major conference entitled "V4 33 - EU 20, Visegrad and European integration". It featured welcoming addresses by Rector Gergely Deli and Márton Ugrósdy - Deputy State Secretary responsible for the Office of the Political Director of the Prime Minister of Hungary. A keynote lecture was held by Petr Mareš, Executive Director of the International Visegrad Fund. The opening speakers all stressed the cohesive power of Central European identity and the importance of unity, in spite of our differences. Following the opening speeches, representatives of the partner universities, Piotr Szwedo, Associate Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Ladislav Cabada, Vice-Rector of the Metropolitan University of Prague, Dominik Šoltys, Lecturer at the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, and former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Iván Bába, highlighted the importance of face-to-face meetings in the development of the Visegrád Group at the round table chaired by Gergely Prőhle, Programme Director of the John Lukacs Institute. Afterwards, government representatives from the V4 countries shared their insights on the past, present and potential future of the Visegrad Group. The round table discussion was moderated by Dénes András Nagy, Programme Coordinator of the College of Visegrad+, with the participation of Czech Ambassador Eva Dvořáková, Polish Ambassador Sebastian Kęciek, Gabriel Szőke, Head of the V4 States Unit from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia and Zsófia Légrádi, Hungary's National Visegrad Coordinator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The closing speech was given by the new International Director General of our University, Liliana Śmiech, who is originally from Poland.
On the same day, the participants were also able to attend a book launch celebrating the 80th birthday of the former Hungarian Foreign Minister - János Martonyi - who was always committed to the Central European cause, with celebratory speeches by distinguished guests including Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, Hubert Védrine, former French Foreign Minister and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, former Austrian Foreign Minister.
The aim of the five-day long Weekend University was to give participants the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the different aspects of Visegrad Cooperation, to get to know each other's positions and to expand their network of contacts among young people from the V4 countries with similar values and interests.
To this end, the lectures and interactive discussions on the other days of the programme covered a wide range of topics such as the economic situation of the V4, the possibilities for future cooperation within the European Union, security policy issues in the light of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the challenges posed by artificial intelligence and green policy. On these topics, participants had the opportunity to engage with distinguished speakers and experts such as Piotr Łubiński, lecturer at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Petr Just, Head of Department at the Metropolitan University of Prague, Daniella Deli, Deputy State Secretary for Climate Policy, László Jónás, CEO of the Design Terminal, Dániel Bagi, Head of Department at ELTE and Csaba Zalai, former Deputy State Secretary for European Policy, as well as Zsolt Ződi, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of the Information Society, in addition to Tamás Csiki Varga from the John Lukacs Institute.
In addition, the participants discussed and collected their ideas via authoring a joint position paper on the future of the V4 ("College of Visegrad+ Students' Position Paper on the Future of the V4") during a full-day team-building training programme.
The programme also included a thought-provoking pro-con debate led by Prof. Dr Boglárka Koller, entitled "Is the V4 a special form of differentiated integration?", during which participants were able to express their views on the topic.
The college students also visited the Parliament building, where Zsolt Németh, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, gave a presentation on V4 Parliamentary Cooperation, followed by a guided tour of the Country Assembly’s history.
Visiting the Otto von Habsburg Foundation’s headquarters, the participants were given an insight into the work of the Foundation, which focuses on promoting the legacy Otto von Habsburg, a great Central European statesman. The Weekend University programme was enriched by several cultural activities (e.g. a concert, boat trip).
We believe that the first College of Visegrad+ Weekend University has achieved its goal. It was a pleasure to see so many young people interested in the Visegrad region, who had an active, constructive and forward-looking exchange of ideas on the future of the region. By the end of the week, the college students had formed a truly Central European team. We hope that the friendships and professional contacts that have now been forged will contribute, albeit in small but steady steps, to the maintenance, strengthening and further development of Visegrad Cooperation.
The College of Visegrad+ Weekend University was organised in cooperation with the John Lukacs Institute for Strategy and Politics of the Ludovika University of Public Service, the Metropolitan University of Prague, the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University of Košice, with the support of the International Visegrad Fund and the Otto von Habsburg Foundation, for which we are grateful.