VMU to Host Idea of Europe Forum
On Friday 26 April, 2.15–4 p.m., the international Idea of Europe Forum will be held at VMU Great Hall (28 S. Daukanto g., Kaunas), which will gather the continent’s heads of state, politicians, intellectuals, and scientists. The event’s participants will include the presidents of Lithuania and Poland.
“We are living in an era when global challenges like climate change, migration and war in Ukraine are posing new questions that have to be answered by everyone: not just European leaders, but ordinary citizens as well. The Idea of Europe Forum is a place where the brightest minds of Europe and the world meet regularly to discuss the most important challenges facing Europe at this moment in history and to look for solutions together”, the organizers explain.
The forum’s participants will exchange ideas, insights and best practices that will shape the European future. On the occasion of Lithuania joining the European Union 20 years ago, the three main thematic issues for this year’s forum will be the expansion of European Union and associated challenges, migration, and Europe’s global competitiveness in the foreseeable future. Two panel discussions will be organised during the event: the first one, expert panel, will be dedicated to the EU and its possible futures, while the second one will be a presidential panel.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to organize such an important and meaningful event at Vytautas Magnus University, which has always nurtured democracy and upheld European values: freedom, openness, tolerance, and liberty”, VMU Rector Prof. Juozas Augutis says.
The participants of the expert panel on the EU and its possible futures, which will begin at 2.15 p.m., include former Permanent Representative of Sweden to the EU Lars Danielsson, the Rector of Mariupol State University (Ukraine) Mykola Trofymenko, the Rector of the University of Latvia Gundars Bērziņš, the Vice-Rector for International and Domestic Cooperation at the University of Silesia (Poland) Tomasz Pietrzykowski, and Acting Head of the European Commission’s Representation in Lithuania Agnė Kazlauskaitė. The event will be moderated by VMU Research Fellow Emilija Pundziūtė-Gallois.
The presidential panel, which will start at 3 p.m., will be participated by H.E. the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda and H.E. the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda. The discussion will be moderated by the Dean of the VMU Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy Prof. Šarūnas Liekis.
The first Idea of Europe Forum took place in November 2022 as part of the Kaunas the European Capital of Culture 2022. At the time, the event brought together the presidents of Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, and Romania, along with intellectuals from all across Europe. “The Schuman Declaration, the precursor of the European Union, proclaims: “Europe will not be created at once.” Drawing on the idea that the creation of Europe is a continuous task, the Forum will become a regular event to ask what Europe is and what its place and role in the world are”, the organizers note.
