Final Conference

The second part of the project consists of a three-day conference, which will traditionally be opened by the reception accompanied by a rich cultural program. The reception represents a unique opportunity for participants, as well as conference guests from the V4 countries and Austria, to establish contacts in a less formal way and thus ensure full participation of participants in other parts of the program. The following day, the program will continue with a panel discussion with invited bona fide experts from the governmental and non-governmental spheres from the V4 countries and Austria, through which participants will have the opportunity to participate in a professional debate on the current challenges of Central European cooperation. After panel discussion, program continues with workshops where the participants will be given the opportunity to discuss their opinions and propositions about current topics and future prospects of the potential cooperation between the V4 countries and Austria mainly focused on their presence and further development within NATO framework and in case of Austria through the Partnership for Peace. The main task of the participants will be to develop common positions and recommendations to deepen future cooperation not only between the Visegrad Group and Central European region, but also within Euro-Atlantic framework. The conference will culminate with the NATO summit simulation which will be focused on the strategic NATO 2030 concept, its priority areas, challenges concerning the future of warfare and a role of new and emerging technologies. Every participant, set in the role of the state representative of the NATO member state will be tasked to negotiate their demands and to achieve a consensus, which will be satisfactory for all involved parties. At the same time, participants will improve their critical thinking and the ability to deal with crisis situations. In the event of an unfavorable pandemic situation, the second phase of the project will take place online, with which the organizational team has experience based on the previous year of the project, and thus would not be a complication for the main project program.